Not for the first time, a national of Trinidad and Tobago has ascended to a leadership position in an international firm.
As reported in the Sunday Guardian, Mr Devin Badhal, who had a typical upbringing, educational training and work experience here in his homeland, is reported to have become the vice-president of Nike, one of the most internationally renowned makers of sport and leisure clothing and footwear. To make the achievement even more noteworthy, is his ascension to the position at the youthful age of 35.
In addition to his gathered and practiced skills in analytical processing, Mr Badhal read and researched for a PhD to augment his academic credentials; he having received a first degree and masters here at the University of the West Indies.
In certain instances, we in T&T and the English-speaking Caribbean search for proof of the quality of the academic education and training gained here at the campuses of the University of the West Indies.
Mr Badhal’s successful pursuit and acquisition of the PhD in the US should be sufficient to say to all of us as natives of Caricom countries, that graduates of our regional university can go on to achieve academic excellence abroad based on their grounding at regional universities.
As the native of Princes Town explained to the T&T Guardian’s reporter, the work environment in the USA was very different from the one he got inducted into at home. He, therefore, had to make adjustments. In the interview, Mr Badhal did not elaborate on the differences in how duties are fulfilled there as opposed to here. It is fair to assume, though, that there is no room for “taking it easy” in a position which requires him as analyst to make comparisons between the performance of his company against the competition and to find answers to problems.
But even before he landed the job at the sports products company, Mr Badhal also experienced life in the fast lane at Microsoft; fortified with that experience made him able to meet new challenges.
The analyst also made a couple instructive points in the interview about his work life here in T&T which need to be taken cognizance of. Firstly, his Trinidad induction prepared him to pitch new ideas in the corporate world and taught him to craft messages differently, he said.
Secondly, because of Mr Badhal’s practice of making presentations at home in the T&T business board rooms in front of often super-critical audiences, he learnt “to look at how the messages are interpreted versus what you want to say. I could just go and say what I want to say but might not be interpreted well, so I need to keep that in mind.”
There are lessons to be learnt from Mr Badhal’s telling of his story; especially by the young and those who often doubt their capacity to be able to come good in international business. At the risk of overworking the wisdom left behind by our calypso bard, Leroy “Black Stalin” Calliste: “we can make it if we try” in the world of scientific and business achievement.
