I recently wrote an article about the symbolism of the
mighty tree. The expression; a mighty
tree has fallen is used often when a great person is deceased. This was the
very essence of that article intended to honour the late Dr. Clement Hammond-Aryee
who passed away recently. For reasons I now cannot recollect, I never managed
to publish that article. I am now of the view that mighty trees must be recognized
before they fall. This is not often the case as many of our standing mighty
trees are not being recognized. The
great thing about might trees is that they are still extremely useful, serving
countless purposes even when they have fallen. If you understand the word legacy,
then you know what I mean.
I had an encounter with a standing might tree recently. Our
search for high performing personalities led me to the Roverman production offices
for a life-changing encounter with Mr. Ebo Whyte the playwright, entrepreneur extraordinaire
and motivational speaker of a special class. One can always tell when he is in
the presence of a mighty tree. The canopy of it’s leaves is a place of rest and
comfort. You experience that phenomenon instantly when you are near uncle Ebo.
Perhaps that is why he is called Uncle by everyone—he has the father to all
kind of presence.
The roots of a mighty
tree go deeper than most
of its neighbors— Uncle
Ebo is a trained
statistician, self-taught chartered accountant and marketing professional,
whose career in management cuts across the Publishing, Financial,
Pharmaceutical and Automobile industries. His wealth of knowledge and depth of
experience is of great benefit to anyone who encounters him. When the roots are
deep enough, they find sources for abundant minerals which manifest in the
quantity and quality of the fruits. If you have seen an uncle Ebo play then you
have an idea of what I am talking about.
The branches provide a place for the nesting of all kinds of
creatures. Mighty trees are not made overnight. Og Mandino puts it in an
interesting way in the book; The world’s greatest sales man;
“To create the Olive, king of
all tress, a hundred years is required. An onion plant is old in nine weeks”,
Uncle Ebo
is not an overnight mighty tree and his depth and wealth of experience is
demonstrated even in the simplest conversations. The impact of a mighty
tree on its environment is very far-reaching beyond its majestic presence and
this can easily be said of Uncle Ebo. He writes award-winning plays, produces
and stages them. He writes for the monthly Roverman report. He writes and presents
his daily food for thought on Joy FM’s super morning show and runs the whole
Roverman operation all to the highest standard. He has helped in the team building efforts and
rebranding processes for many companies and is known to have helped and
mentored numerous people in all walks of life through his hard hitting,
inspirational and realistic presentations. He has successfully written and
directed over 20 plays which have become reference points in many lives. I will
not even begin to attempt a measure of the impact of the very personality and
work of Uncle Ebo as it is not possible.
In the hour or so I spent with him, I got to meet some of
his team members— very
exciting people with high work ethics. I learnt about his abhorrence for
corner-cutting while still managing to maintain a fun filled exciting climate.
The whole atmosphere radiates with high performance. I asked questions about
the production process and was baffled at how much work is injected into it.
Uncle Ebo is uncompromising when it comes to quality and it reflects even on
his choice of people. He wants to give the best possible and going the extra
mile does not appear to cost him much in emotional labor. This will explains
why his plays have revived what was almost a dead genre of our arts. He does
not strike me as the type who is trying to be different—he is just doing his
best and you are different when you are the best because everyone else is in
the average bracket.
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