Get The First WIN And The Lessons from Daniel and Jose Mourinho

“And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.” And the king called his enchanters, astrologers, and diviners – the wise men of Babylon – and commanded, “Whoever reads this writing and tells me what it means will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.” None helped!

Then the queen, his mother, came to the rescue, and told King Belshazzar that in his kingdom, there was a young man: “In the time of your father he was found to have insight and intelligence and wisdom like that of the gods. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners”. 

Daniel is that man; when Belshazzar took over from his father, he was demoted. Daniel was brilliant, and when Nebuchadnezzar ruled over his empires, he assembled the most knowledgeable people in all the kingdoms he controlled. He went for the best including appointing brilliant “slaves” to become heads of important positions in his government: he made Daniel the leader of his strategy team – “chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners”.  But Daniel lost that job when Belshazzar took over.

Here is the business lesson: you just need to win once, and the “queen” [your colleague, your roommate, etc] will remember you. Like Jose Mourinho, ex-Chelsea, ex-Real Madrid, ex-ManU, ex-Inter Milan, ex-FC Porto, and currently Roma’s coach, they will keep remembering you, to pick a new “football club” and manage it. What it takes is to WIN just once, on something important, and the world will NEVER forget. 

In the Igbo Nation, it takes the killing of one leopard to be called a killer of leopards. Learn from Daniel and Jose Mourinho (he won the Champions League with FC Porto and doors opened for Jose) on the pillars of enduring careers. Yes, until people can recommend you in your absence, your career ascension cannot come. Find the GREAT first #Win. Happy Sunday.

I have written about him many times and have used him as a case study in Tekedia Mini-MBA. In May 2021, I wrote “You cannot explain these things.  AS Roma, the Italian football giant, has appointed Jose Mourinho as its new head coach for the 2021/2022 season. Yes, the special one returns. There is a business lesson there: people with prior great results continue to be recycled despite the abundance of new people looking for opportunities.

”You cannot make this up, as one CEO leaves one job for another job, and another CEO from another company fills it up. Jose has moved from FC Porto, Chelsea, Inter, Real Madrid, Chelsea, ManU, {vacation in my village}, Spurs, and now is gifted another via AS Roma.”

People, the special one just won the Europa Conference League with Roma and this line sums it up: ‘”Football is about winning and Mourinho wins,” said former Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves on BT Sport’.

Records, records and records build careers. Even when they begin to fade, the kingmakers always default to the man or woman with records. Put some great records in your resume!

Comment on Feed

Comment 1: This is a beautiful piece, Prof. Permit me to add another lesson here. Never hide your talents in any circumstances. Whenever the opportunity arises, show whatever you can do. If Daniel had hidden his talents in the past, no one will remember him. No one will call you to the big stage unless you have shown your talents in the small stages, paid or unpaid. Joseph and Daniel never hid their talents, they always used their talents. That’s why people always remembered them. Sometimes, we pray that God should remember us. No one remembers the person they’ve never met or do anything of value. Your talents will make ways for you when you display them.

The Referral At The Palace

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