Earlier this month, Albert Ocran won a Millennium Excellence Award for Inspirational Motivation. This was due in part to his fantastic work on his project 'Springboard' which he developed in cooperation with the Africa Leadership Initiative, one of Databank Foundation's programmes. You will have experienced his phenomenal motivational skills first hand as he spoke during our Leadership Conference earlier this year.
B&FT (Business and Financial Times) recently caught up with Mr Ocran and had a little interview which I would like to share with you. Enjoy!
B&FT: You have recently won a number of Awards. How do you feel about this Millennium Excellence Award in particular?
Albert: I rarely compare awards or prizes because each of them is symbolic in its own way. The MEA is a huge honour considering that it happens once every five years. I consider it a joy to serve God, country and continent with my gift. Anything I do is my own response to a divine call to duty, and any form of recognition or appreciation only serves as a bonus for doing what I would do anyway.
B&FT: Who exactly is Albert Ocran?
Albert: For someone who does so many things, it is always going to be difficult to describe oneself with one or two words. The closest summary is to call myself a “Knowledge Entrepreneur”. Every single intervention I make is about the acquisition, application and dissemination of knowledge. I am also a lay minister of the gospel and very committed to serving God with my talents, gifts and abilities.
B&FT: What are the main areas you operate in?
Albert: As a broadcaster, I host a weekly motivational radio programme called ‘Springboard, the Virtual University’ on Joy FM every Sunday from 7pm to 8pm. I also broadcast messages on personal and career development daily across the entire nation on various radio platforms. My favourite preoccupation is writing, and together with my wife Comfort I have already published 14 books with a couple more waiting to hit the shelves. We also have weekly motivational newspaper columns including the “Springboard Zone” in B&FT. As a motivational speaker, I have been able to speak on average 120 times every year for the past five years to different kinds of audiences in different countries and continents.
B&FT: Your conferences typically have an array of accomplished speakers and big crowds in attendance. What is the objective of these events?
Albert: We have three main annual conferences. The Springboard Road Show which travels around the country every year and equips young executives with tools for personal and career development. The timing in the first quarter is because it is aimed at helping people start the year right. The Festival of Ideas (formerly Infopreneurship Conference) is aimed at CEOs, Corporate Executives and Senior Professionals, while the Kiddipreneurship Conference is an entrepreneurial foundation for teenagers. Our objective is to harness the thoughts and experiences of various resource persons to help others.
B&FT: Which of your various activities are you most passionate about?
Albert: Undoubtedly it would be writing. It is the strongest drive that keeps me going. When I think about my writings, I think about how they can impact the lives of people centuries after I have gone. The words of Inspirational Writer and Poet, Haki Aitoro, are really poignant when he says “Let us all be remembered for the lives we touched, the communities we inspired, the youth we guided, the risk we took and for the world we changed. Let us write down our stories. Let us tell our experiences and record our tales and struggles for our children, grandchildren & generations to see and hear as a source of hope, wisdom & guidance. So what will be your legacy?”
B&FT: What is the main thrust of your message?
Albert: I started life from a relatively disadvantaged position, having lost my father before I was two years old. We also started our first business, Combert Impressions, with no capital and very little in terms of resources. My focus is always to give people HOPE that a little seed can become a mighty tree. I believe that dreams can live even in the face of difficulties.
B&FT: What has been the impact so far?
Albert: Week after week we get responses from individuals who have been encouraged by our various interventions and I thank God that the effort spent is helping somebody. It is interesting to know that the little one does is able to accomplish so much in the lives of others. Whether it is feedback from a blue-chip company as a result of corporate training or from an individual in a remote town somewhere who has been able to pick up his or her career or business, the feeling is always very gratifying.
B&FT: What did you enjoy most about the Awards ceremonies over the weekend?
Albert: Shaking hands with Otumfuo Osei Tutu at the Durbar at Manhyia and receiving his personal congratulations for our work was humbling. I also enjoyed sharing the stage with and interacting with Professor Wole Soyinka and Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa, both of whom we have written about in our books.
B&FT: Who do you dedicate this award to?
Albert: I see this award as a joint award for both Comfort and I because we do all these things together. Our two mothers, Dora Ocran and Flora Wentum, sat together in the audience beaming with smiles and they are the ones who deserve to be congratulated. I am a product of the kindness of many mentors in the course of my life, including my pastor Dr. Mensa Otabil, Ken Ofori-Atta, Prof. Stephen Adei, Uncle Ebo Whyte and Mrs. Agnes Phillips. Of course, I appreciate our three children who sometimes have to battle with the homework when we happen to be on the Road Shows. May they become far greater than us! This award is also for the many who have committed their entire lives to helping people fulfil their God-given potential.
B&FT: What is next for you?
Albert: I can’t afford to get complacent. I have a charge to keep and a God to glorify. I want to make life better for other people and to honour God with all I have. I am guided by the saying that “One hundred years from now, it will not matter what kind of car I drove, what kind of house I lived in, how much money I had in my bank account nor what my clothes looked like. But the world may be a little better because I was important in the life of a child.”
B&FT: Congratulations and best wishes to you.
Albert: Thank you very much. I appreciate your support over the years. God bless you all.
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