David Sakyi Recognized for High Performance

Since we announced our search for high performing individuals i.e. ordinary people doing ordinary things in extra-ordinary ways, we have received all kinds of nominations. The initial list was overwhelmingly long and the truth is that were not prepared for it. It took a while to go through it all. The very necessary assessment was another task in itself. We had to visit nominees at their locations to be sure they are what nominators say they are.

While some were a difficult decision to make, others made it very easy. One of the easy decisions was Mr. David Kwaku Sakyi; a well-known radio and TV personality who also runs the famous Kwaku David Photography here in Accra. Most people do not know that he also serves as a minister with the Lighthouse Chapel International. He is also a passionate speaker and has been featured on many frontline events like TEDx and PESC. He’s also been hosted on the KSM show.

But it is not his Jack-of-all-tradeness that fascinated us the most. It is more how he does what he does when he chooses something to do. Without training in radio, he very quickly became the main voice of Hebert Mensah’s Xfm when he hosted the Xpress Breakfast Show for almost 2 years. His outstanding voice and depth of knowledge won him a large following that is still growing with everything new thing he does. When he decided to move to TV, he was invited to host Capital TV’s morning show almost immediately after he had been guest on the show which was then hosted by Kwame Danso (E-nice) of Echo fame.

After leaving Capital TV, David was swooped up by TV Africa to co-host the flagship show Media Today. At the end of his tenure, David decided to concentrate on his photography business but was soon called into action by the Citifm’s breakfast show team. He had previously been a regular on Jessica’s drive time show, Traffic Avenue.

I have personally seen Kwaku David as he is affectionately called at work in his photography hat. What he does with a camera is astounding. He literally talks to the camera and makes it do the most amazing things. He talks passionately about unusual angles and going the extra mile to get shots that will bring memories to life. He puts a lot of time and energy training and retraining his team very regularly because he wants to make say they are always on point. But that is just the thing with people who go the extra mile. They always have some unusual idea in their head that needs to materialize. It is not the same with a person who shows up, points and shoots. He and his team travel regularly around the country and the continent taking pictures in the most unusual of places.

As an astute businessman, he has recently evolved his operation into what is now the KD Group where all his many hats have been brought together under one roof. Mr. Sakyi might be a jack of many trades but the various trades are not too far apart and he demonstrates passion in every one of them. Upon our assessment, it was easy to recognize him as a high performing individual who is also very likely to make the SPiD-UP® Fellowship status in the very near future. If we learnt something from Mr. Sakyi, it is passion for what you do and the ever elusive high performance mindset. 

Look around you; there are high performing people everywhere; working, pushing, fixing, growing, impacting and doing above-average things. You can brighten your little corner too by simply nominating them into the SPiD-UP® Performance Recognition Program to show your appreciation and contribute towards a better Africa. Most importantly, let Mr. David Sakyi inspire you to give your best wherever you find yourself. He will be speaking at our workshops in the very near future. Be sure to join us then. #SPiD-UP®

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Dr. Adjimani Recognized - SPiD-UP® Performance Recognition Program

It appears there are people who have no other interests besides making this world a better place. Such people seem to give their best purposefully regardless of where they find themselves. They do it so effortlessly it is almost as if they do not think about it. Dr. Jonathan Adjamini of the Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology, Faculty of science —University of Ghana is one of such personalities.

We showed up in his office unexpectedly to present him with the recognition award. It was surprise visit of a sort. Nobody had mentioned it to him of course. From the moment we walked into his office it was evident that he was a high impact individual. He was in the middle of a private tutorial with a student. We will soon learn that he keeps a list of non-performing students for special attention. Now that must sound like a simple thing to do until you see the size of the biochemistry class and the host of other things clamoring for his at attention. If you know anything about Ghanaian lecturers, you know he is not the norm.

He gives meaning to high performance. The interesting thing is that he has a whole philosophy to what he does and you know that interests me a great deal. He has decided that in spite of the myriad of challenges he still has an opportunity to brighten his little corner. If you think that sounds like something you hear every day, rest assured; the majority of people who profess this idea do not even come near practice. This man lives the idea.

He pointed out; “I do not need a huge platform or fame to make impact. I can do that here. I believe that if I can come this far, these children can go even further because they have more opportunities than I did. Besides, many of them are actually very intelligent without knowing it. I do what I can to bring it out of them and the result is exciting”. We were told in confidence by some students that it is not unusual for Dr. Adjimani to go out of his way to do things that sometimes puts his hard-earned reputation on the line. He doesn’t just teach, he builds lives.

In the middle of our conversation he dashed to his desk, spent 5 or so minutes looking for a document which he eventually printed out. “Let me show you something” — he handed me what looked like an article from a website. The heading read; Prof. Ada Yonath Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2009; for the studies of the Structure and Function of the Ribosome. I do not know what ribosomes are and I frankly have no plans of googling it—these science things give me headaches. But this one was exciting; apparently the good Prof. Yamoth and his team made 25,000 attempts just to make this discovery. You might have heard about Edison and his famously worn-out 999 light bulb attempts. You have my permission to laugh at the difference. These people are on a whole other level; 24 steps up. You have to be out of your mind to want to attempt something 25, 000 times. Prof. Yanoth is clearly not a normal person and they do say like attracts like. I am especially fascinated that Dr. Adjimani was excited about this enough to take time and print out the article for me. It is a demonstration of his performance consciousness. High performance things excite him.  I learnt something new—if it excites you, share it.

I still have the article and it is going into a frame that will sit on my desk. Not because I plan to google the ribosome thing but more because I want to see it every time I sit down to work. To say I am inspired will be an understatement. There are those just want to do their best; they are different from those who do it because they want fame and money. Dr. Adjamani of the biochemistry department of the University of Ghana is of the former breed and I was honored to have met him. I rejoice in the fact that there are still men of his kind working in our institutions. Such men and women give me hope by keeping the dream of a better continent alive.

I had to do my very best not to take too much of his time as there were students waiting outside. I really wanted to stay and talk for a while. Dr. Adjamini was nominated into the SPiD-UP® Performance Recognition Program by a former student who is now a practicing dietitian. She thought it was a good way to express her heartfelt gratitude to this seemingly ordinary man doing extra ordinary things in the lives of young people. She told us, “at a point it didn’t look like I was going to make the grades until Dr. Adjimani stepped in to do a little more than he is paid for”. Our conversation with other past and current students revealed that they have all been impacted positively by him and are in fact very fond of him. No one had mentioned this to him until the surprise visit of team SPiD-UP®. Among his many achievements is the authoring of three books in his field that are used in universities across the country. With another book under construction, I could not think of a better way to extend one's impact.

   

He epitomizes high performance. For that we celebrate him and his work as well as the institution that thought it was a good idea to hire him. There are people out there doing wonderful work and not getting recognized. At SPiD-UP® we consider this an injustice. Like Dr. Adjimani, they may not be chasing fame and as such, will not indulge in the lobbying and the bribery that many do to gain recognition. This is because such people are selfless—they give without expecting anything in return. Performance theorists have taught us, that such persons are often high performers and Dr. Adjimani exudes the traits.  In fact you will find such traits with the likes of Einstein and Tesla.

It is imperative to recognize and celebrate such persons—it is our way of brightening our little corner and making our continent more performance conscious. Look around you; they are everywhere; working, pushing, fixing, growing, impacting and doing above-average things. You can brighten your little corner too by simply nominating them into the SPiD-UP® Performance Recognition Program to show your appreciation. Just like the person who nominated him. Most importantly, let Dr. Adjimani inspire you to give your best wherever you find yourself. He will be speaking at our workshops in the very near future. Be sure to join us then. #SPiD-UP®

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