Ridwan

Functionalist | Alumni @LASUOfficial @MiddlesexUni
Lover of @chelseafc 💙 🖤

[Ridwan @OfficialReal1__]

My Striker 9️⃣

[Chelsea FC @ChelseaFC]

Staying where he belongs.

[Ridwan @OfficialReal1__]

Coventry! Your season is going to be very long. The entire back line is abysmal.

[Ridwan @OfficialReal1__]

@Blue_Footy 💯

[Ridwan @OfficialReal1__]

Coventry are playing Championship level footy here tonight, they are about to have a very long season.

[Ridwan @OfficialReal1__]

Coventry, what do you have for me tonight?

[Rufybaba @Rufyb]

I am afraid, this does not fly, in my opinion.

If you deliberately establish a “first-name” culture, it should apply broadly, including to senior leadership, unless the policy explicitly carves out the board (by the way, imagine setting a culture and it is not starting from the top).

Yes, non-executive directors occupy a different governance position from employees and executive management, but their unique position within the company does not inherently exempt them from the first-name policy.

If a company says “we operate a first-name culture. Irrespective of seniority, employees address one another by their first names”, then having an unwritten exception “but obviously you don’t call a director or person xyz by their first name” undermines the philosophy behind the policy.

After all, the purpose of a first-name culture is usually to reduce unnecessary status signaling, make senior people more approachable and create a less hierarchical working environment.

If management wants the convention to be “first names for everybody below the board, formal titles for directors”, then say so.

It is highly problematic when the written or communicated policy says one thing while an invisible hierarchy says something else.

What is all these talk about “wisdom”, “culture”, etc.? If those things indeed were a big deal, why the performative stunt of “first-names policy”?

Or why is no one directing the “wisdom” yarn to TOE that the young lady is still very young, maybe inexperienced, and does not understand yet how things ideally work, and so you do not come off as conflicting what the laid-down principle is publicly?

If the irritation comes from “I am way older and way above you in status”, was that not considered before setting a policy? You all didn’t know that?

You import the form of an institution without accepting the behavioural implications that give the institution meaning. The company gets to present itself as having a flat, progressive culture without senior people actually surrendering any of the status markers associated with the old culture.

This is how we bastardise concepts and principles.

If the organisation is not comfortable with the consequences of that philosophy, there is much cleaner solution… “Simply don’t adopt the policy”.

Be hierarchical. Be formal. Require whatever title or whatever conventions you consider appropriate.

I wouldn’t call TOE by his first name too, but that’s me. But saying “we are on a first-name basis here” and then humiliating someone doing that is an inconsistency that is worse.

At the heart of it, this really speaks to a broader problem of weak institutional culture and “big-manism ” in the corporate world, where formal policies supposedly apply to everyone until they clash with status and hierarchy.

“Can you call Aliko or Femi Otedola by their first name?” Let them not implement first-name policy if it would be an issue or if the “cultural context” is that very strong (and that would be perfectly fine).

Institutions should be stronger than personalities. Let’s quit all that performative nonsense.

[Ridwan @OfficialReal1__]

You see all these forced respect dynamics and Western work culture isn’t working. Return to default and just stop the first-name BS. Don’t confuse your employees or make them do mental gymnastics before addressing a senior colleague, MD or Chairman lol. Let’s pick a side.

[Ridwan @OfficialReal1__]

I disagree that the lady shouldn’t have addressed TOE by his first name simply because he is the Chairman and not an employee. I get the culture argument, but, if something is a policy, then the Chairman has a leadership obligation to uphold those values.

[SAPPHIRE💎💎 /CybersecurityGirl @sapphire_nifemi]

One of the lady graduating from UBA banking school said “Good Morning TONY” and Tony Elumelu corrected her immediately

As much as I understand she was supposed to say Good Morning Sir without mentioning his name

But I think it was the training they gave them to address people with their first name

She was supposed to know when to draw the line

[Geekay @gkbalogs]

Let's just stop all this first name nonsense in corporate Nigeria, we are not wired that way and it's ok. Stop confusing people.

[ijustin @justinijeh]

Circa 2007/8, I was part of the training faculty for a bank wide culture change campaign at Access.
We had a mandate to train every single staffer on the new cultural DNA we desired for the bank.

Team lead was Mathew Coker who later moved to AMCON as ED or so…

One of the concepts we explored was ‘Multiple Bells’.

The idea was that certain behaviors by senior executives and supervisors were problematic - particularly when dealing with subordinates. It was common place for certain things to be expressly stated as desired outcomes, but then the actions of seniors would often be contrary and negate those stated outcomes…and create confusion or dissonance in the system.

“We aim to be X, we always do Y”….but then you would act differently in reality.

Culture is what you do…not what you say you want or intend to do…

So…that aspect of the campaign focused on supervisors, managers and above. The message was simple: stop ringing multiple bells for your staff. It confuses them and creates friction and fragments the culture.

The bank expected everyone to address people by first name- including Aig and Herbert. It was often a disciplinary issue if you acted differently. Managers who came from other systems weren’t used to that and would sometimes ‘bully’ people to act differently - multiple bells.

What TOE did to that girl is like ringing multiple bells.

If you have told your staff that it’s a first name convention institution ( I hear that’s what it is in UBA now) and then they act that way with you, why react that way?

That lady will experience serious dissonance after that public correction especially now that it’s gone viral.

Culture eats strategy for breakfast as they say.

[Ridwan @OfficialReal1__]

@tobyasky If he takes the penalties, then this should be easy.

[Ridwan @OfficialReal1__]

@Rufyb Lol. APC? Master propagandist party

[Ridwan @OfficialReal1__]

@WANDECOAL @Vicetee_Cole Lol.

[KHAN'✨ @khanofkhans11_]

Wande: Davido come jump on this song.

“Davido jumps on it”

Wande: We will release it as a remix.

Davido: Nooo let’s release it as a normal feature. I no record am as remix.

Wande: Nooooo.

Davido: No wahala

Wande: Oya na clear your verse make I drop am as remix

Davido: Noooooo.

Kosija ni church. Wetin come cause this gbasgbos?

[Ridwan @OfficialReal1__]

@NigAffairs @woye1 Chief Rigger 😂

[Ridwan @OfficialReal1__]

@blaccmajek @pprime23 I watched it till the very end. I actually stopped watching lots of Davido’s interviews because it felt like I have watched them before, just the same thing.

[Ridwan @OfficialReal1__]

@FwBalo Congratulations bro 👊🏾

[Ridwan @OfficialReal1__]

@hypetribeng I listened to this and felt it was good, but the comment section thinks otherwise, what do I know 🤷🏽‍♂️

[Ridwan @OfficialReal1__]

@Sir_jaay01 Solid No. 2 for now.

[Davido @davido]

TELL EVERYBODY ft @leonthomas

Official video drops tomorrow at Noon ET / 5pm WAT 🔥let’s celebrate 🎉