DISI’S DRIVE TO SUCCESS

It’s not every day that you get to meet with an executive who is passionate about work. Ms. Ayomide Disi is a results driven, sales professional with over eight years’ experience.

She has aggressively driven sales leading to growth with profits. Ayomide is great at training sales team who are friendly always highly visible to customers and responsive to their needs.

She is fiercely competitive in her approach to acquire business, and handles complex situations from a strategic and tactical perceptive.

She has worked with leading companies in Nigeria, Ayomide holds a managerial role with Kia Motors Ltd , a highly competitive position.

We were keen to find out what kept her glued to leading a purpose driven life.

The three words that have defined my career over the years are :

Persistence – the ability to keep going even when it seems difficult or impossible. Being positive always. I just keep applying myself.

Career Success – a combination of purpose, direction and achieving set goals.

Financial Growth – As I progressed in my career while passion was a key factor so was financial growth. I needed to marry my passion with my finances to create a balance.

Above all, I always put God first.

What do you value most in life, achievement or purpose? How do you see that at play in your decision making?

I would like to think I value both achievement and purpose. Achievement being that I can look back at where I am coming from, to where I am currently and where I am still going and be thankful for all the hurdles I have had to pass through and be able to share my experiences with others. My life story will not be complete without talking about my achievements.  Personally, I do not think my entire Purpose is related to my career. My work is a job, a source of income, a source of stimulation and reward, something I am passionate about but I feel it is unrelated to my broader life purpose. For me my Purpose is deeply rooted in Service.  My Purpose isn’t particularly about me. I read somewhere that “Purpose is that sense that we are part of something bigger than ourselves, that we are needed, that we have something better ahead to work for. Purpose is what creates true happiness… But it’s not enough to have purpose yourself. You have to create a sense of purpose for others.”

What is the one behavior or trait that you have seen derail more female executives? How do you discourage that behavior in your team.

One of the major behaviors that I have seen derail female executives is Entitlement Mentality. “Always getting what you want, when you want it, even in defiance of reality and other people’s reality and other people’s wishes.” There are an increasing number of women in the workplace who believe they live in the age of entitlement and have a ‘deluded self-belief and inflated sense of importance’. Women need to stop fighting a war that doesn’t exist. I am a feminist, I am in support of Women’s right and I think we should be given equal rights in the workplace but we need to stop the false entitlement. We need to rise above the mindset that “it’s because I am a woman…..”

Name two African Women or of African descent leading in the business world that inspire you, what lessons have you learnt from their business models?

I am inspired by Tara Fela-Durotoye and Kofo Akinkugbe.

Tara is a Nigerian makeup artist and Lawyer. A pioneer in the bridal makeup profession and established the first makeup school in Nigeria. I learnt a couple of things from her story. First, never be afraid to start a new thing. Never underestimate the value of putting structures in place. Explore opportunities; never stop learning and most importantly invest in people.

Kofo Akinkugbe is the founder and CEO of SecureID – a market leader in smart card technology and digital security. Being in the corporate sector, I can relate with her journey. She worked for 12years in the financial industry, leveraged on her wealth of experience and went on to start a world class manufacturing facility. That is planning! One thing that is synonymous with these women is training and empowering entrepreneurs.

How would you describe a passionate executive or business leader?

A business leader is first a leader. So a leader is someone who leads by example and is willing to share their knowledge and experience with others in a clear, concise, and transparent manner.  Good leaders employ their experiences to determine strategic direction and coach team members based on their specific needs and interests. Most importantly, they know how to keep the team on track and focused on winning all the time, despite adversity. A Business leader is confident, persistent, and inventive in business.

The world is information driven, what resources guide you in terms of professional development and growth?

I am constantly seeking knowledge and ways to improve myself and for that I am thankful for the internet and technology because it gives me wide access to information I ordinarily might not have been privy to. From Google to blogs, e-learning sites, Reddit, e-books, Podcasts, Youtube, Pinterest, TED, CD, DVD, Books and a host of others.

List your top three (3) – must read/ have motivational or self-help books of all time?

I have a huge library and it’s quite difficult to choose which my best are but the three books that most helped me in my physical and spiritual growth are – 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey, Multiple Your Success Leads by Sam Adeyemi and The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren.