There are three stages to a high-impact career

'No need to order a cab, we’re doing the 40-minute walk so we can talk.'

Hi guys,

Hope you are doing well. I’m doing okay, Alhamdulillah.

The last few weeks have moved fairly quickly for me, but I have also been ‘on hold’. You know that state where you can’t proceed because you’re waiting for something or someone? That’s where I am now. Typically not a very patient person, I am now forced to have some sabr and pray all works out well. Khayr in sha Allah.

Sometime in late April or early May, I reached out to CC, the author of commonplace, the commoncog blog. Commonplace is a weekly blog focused on business and career decision-making, especially for early career professionals. It tends to be fairly long and might be a little technical, but CC packs very interesting thoughts and consistently turns them into actionable insights. Top guy.

Anyhoo, I reached out to him with a simple message - I love what you do and would love to meet up and have a chat. He responded not long after that he was up for it. Thankfully, he also agreed to delay our session until after Ramadan and we ended up meeting for dinner a few weeks ago.

** beginning of long side note/rant **

I genuinely believe shot-shooting is one of the most important things a young person should learn how to do. Why? It is low-risk, high return. And this is extremely odd. Think about it. In general, low risk activities tend to have low returns (e.g. leaving your money in a savings account or investing in government bonds). And to get a super high return, you need to take high amounts of risk (e.g. angel investing in startups or quitting your job to focus on a side hustle).

But for shot-shooting, it is very low risk. You reach out to a random person or organisation through Obasanjo’s internet. You spend zero money and maybe sacrifice only a few minutes to send an email or social media message. But depending on what you’re reaching out for, it might have an immense payoff. And if the company or person ignores you (as they very often will) or you do not get the desired outcome for some other reason, then you have literally lost nothing. You live to fight another day.

And as someone who is fairly often on the shooting and receiving end of such shots (haha way more shooting than receiving), I have learnt not to take it personal. People are busy with work, people are swamped with personal stuff, people have different priorities. Be thankful for the yeses and do not beat yourself up (or even worse, have bad vibes towards the person) about the nos.

Vamosss.

** end of long side note/rant **

Ah, back to the story.

A few things about CC stood out to me almost immediately. One, he had no airs whatsoever - an admirable trait. He is a great conversationalist, and we talked about many many things. Two, he is a learning machine!

I see myself as a fairly active learner, as I tend to consume a lot of content. But my effort in this regard pales in comparison. This is a guy that recreated a personal curriculum of courses taught at the world’s top business schools and is learning everything on his own. An advocate of career moats, he also only works two days a week so he can spend the remaining time learning and building!

Three, he had a slight disregard for social norms.

** another side note: This is one of my favourite traits in a person. And it is perhaps also why I like people like Sazy. While I will gladly tell everyone who cares to listen that Sazy is a mad man, I have massive respect for that mad man because a healthy disregard for social norms is one of the clearest signs of independent thought.

One way it manifested was he didn’t just nod at the things I said like many people do, pretending they understand what they do not understand or that they agree with things that made no sense.

Instead, he angled his head in thought every time he listened to me speak as if questioning, ‘Is this logical? Does this fit into a framework I understand?’ and then either affirming my thoughts or challenging them. And he did this in front of me!

Another way it manifested was CC unilaterally deciding that we had more things to discuss and he had something to show me.

It was not ‘We have spent 60 minutes, I had a great time. Nice to meet you and all the best.’

It was, ‘I am not letting you go home until we finish discussing abc. And you must also physically see xyz tonight. No need to order a cab, we’re doing the 40-minute walk so we can talk.’

To many people, this might seem absurd. For me, I loved it.

We ended up going on and on and I did not arrive my apartment until midnight. I learnt many things from our conversation, but there was something I found particularly interesting.

When discussing future plans, he said something I had never heard before.

‘My dream is to become a capital allocator’.

Not a Professor. Not a business executive. Not a public servant. Not an entrepreneur. A capital allocator.

What on God’s green earth is that?

My hypothesis today is there are three stages to a high-impact career in business. Skill-intensive, reputation-intensive, and capital-intensive.

** side note: I use the word hypothesis very intentionally. It means something I am thinking about and hold to be true until better reason or data prove otherwise.

Technical skill

Let’s use the example of AB, a fictional young man who entered the labour force only a few years ago. AB has plenty friends, but many of them are struggling to find their feet just like him.

For AB to get a job (or achieve relevance in his role), his evaluators only care about one thing - technical skill. If he is a Web Developer, employers want to see proof of his HTML, CSS, and Javascript knowledge. He sells this by showing them previous projects he has worked on.

If AB were an aspiring Product Designer, then the key evaluation metric is his design portfolio. If AB were an Accountant, then employers care about his ACCA qualifications. If he worked in investments or financial advisory, they want to see a CFA badge. If he were a doctor, the only thing that matters is his medical license.

At this stage, an endorsement of technical qualifications should be AB’s focus. It is important to note as well that sometimes education is an approximation for technical skill. In a scenario with shortage of qualified talents, employers tend to look towards students of high achievement.

Why? While a 1st class or 2:1 is no proof of brilliance, it tells you that someone had the focus, dedication and perseverance to sustain many years of intense academic pursuits. And these are qualities that will serve well in any career.

Reputation effects

As time goes on in AB’s life, he begins to realise that his skills can only take him so far. In a world with an overwhelming supply of university graduates with good academic qualifications and basic industry experience, it becomes more difficult to stand out.

Those who manage to do so often acquire a reputation of excellence. I suspect a reputation is acquired by the combination of consistent expertise and building genuine relationships. The truth is that the vast majority of opportunities in business go to people who are known.

A (sensible) government wants to deregulate an industry? They put feelers to entrepreneurs of high integrity to apply for licenses. Shell wants to exit the majority of its onshore assets in Nigeria? They subtly let reputable people in SPE (Society of Petroleum Engineers) and other business circles know what is going as they anticipate bids from local energy companies.

If you want to know someone that plays or has successfully played this game, look at how they are referred to. You will find that their reputation precedes them.

‘Dr. Ben Carson, the surgeon who separated Siamese twins…’

‘Babs Omotowa, former CEO NLNG…’

‘Adam Grant, psychologist, bestselling author and Wharton professor…’

‘Iyin Aboyeji, cofounder Andela and Flutterwave…’

‘Akin Oyebode, founding CEO of LSETF…’

Capital allocation

You know how people say money is power?

Well, I find it to be true. The highest means through which you can have an impactful career is to become a capital allocator. Because capital allocators create the world they want to live in.

Young skilled professionals live in whatever world they meet, they have no say in this regard. The Accounting standard is GAAP? Okay. The coding standard is Python? Okay. They have to take the world as they meet it.

Highly reputable professionals are much more impactful. One key thing they do is to shape thought, both formally (as they are often interviewed by the media to share ideas and discuss policy) and informally (as they constitute local community committees, give advice in professional networks, etc). They are also excellent operators, with superstar execution expertise in a field. This is why they get called to serve as Commissioners, Ministers, Special Advisers, etc.

But you see capital allocators? They form the new world.

At an institutional level, organisations like the World Bank, Africa Development Bank or Africa Finance Corporation are sometimes kingmakers, deciding which sectors in which countries thrive or fail.

Venture capitalists, hedge funds and private equity shops often do the same, creating entirely new industries and ways of living by financing a path to the future. A classic example is SoftBank’s $100 billion vision fund. Thanks to people like Masa Son, the Adam Neumanns of this world are able to accelerate (or sometimes even create!) a larger-than-life transition to an entirely new movement.

You want to drive conversations around climate change? Allocate capital towards ESG. You want to close the gender gap in corporations? Allocate shareholder capital towards giving corporate executives clear demographics targets. If you want to get a clear appreciation of what activist capital allocators can do, then read about Total’s name change or Engine No 1 vs ExxonMobil.

I am an on-and-off fan of Chamath, but he says in it a way only he can.

“Look, here’s the thing. There’s about 150 people that run the world. Anybody who wants to go into politics, they’re all fucking puppets, okay?

There are 150 and they’re all men that run the world, full stop. Period. They control most of the important assets, they control most of the money flows. And these are not the tech entrepreneurs…

So my entire goal now is that, to be in a position to aggregate enough of the capital of the world, and then reallocate it against my world view. And I’m not saying my world view is the best or is right, but it is mine.

And at the end of the day, there are 150 other fucking guys with their world views, and they don’t give a shit what you think about their world view. That’s the truth.”

- Chamath Palihapitiya, Social Capital

So dazz eet.

Should CC’s capital allocation goals apply to all of us? Absolutely not. But it sure is an interesting way to think about impact.

—————

If you found this newsletter useful, please share it with your friends. Have them read it and subscribe. I like to share personal stories and life lessons as I learn. They will be super random, but common themes will include business, personal development, human relationships, and Islam.

Gracias, and see you around.

Hameed

** jara content:

“Convention is something made up by somebody and then repeated by others. If convention feels wrong for you, if your skin bristles and your spirit stalls at the thought of doing something 'the way it is done', then stop and act. We can make changes. We can try and craft small slices of the life we want.” - Chimamanda Adichie

Have a great week. 💫