07/03/2023
True education is the soundest investment you can make in yourself. But let’s be sure we understand what education really is. Some folks measure education by the number of years spent in school or the number of diplomas, certificates, and degrees earned. But this quantitative approach to education doesn’t necessarily produce a successful person.
Ralph J. Cordiner, chairman of General Electric, expressed the attitude of top business management toward education this way: “Two of our most outstanding presidents, Mr. Wilson and Mr. Coffin, never had an opportunity to attend college.
Although some of our present officers have doctor’s degrees, twelve out of forty-one have no college degrees. We are interested in competency, not diplomas.”
Real education, the kind worth investing in, is that which develops and cultivates your mind. How well educated a person is, is measured by how well his mind is developed—in brief, by how well he thinks. Anything that improves thinking ability is education. And you can obtain education in many ways. But the most efficient sources of education for most people are nearby colleges and universities. Education is their business.
A diploma or degree may help you get a job, but it will not guarantee your progress on the job. “Business is interested in competency, not diplomas.” To others, education means the quantity of information a person has stashed away in his brain. But the soak-up-facts method of education won’t get you where you want to go. More and more we depend on books, files, and machines to warehouse information. If we can do only what a machine can do, we’re in a real fix.
And make no mistake about this. Education is a real bargain. A moderate investment will keep you in school one night each week for a full year. Compute the cost as a percentage of your gross income and then ask yourself, “Isn’t my future worth this small investment?”
Abubakar TOSHO
i|Coach|iNetwork|iMotivate
7TH MARCH 2023
14TH SHABAN 1444AH
