Richard Yeboah: Manager, dreamer and global forwarding expert

Yeboah, Richard Yeboah. A man that is so cool, calm, collected, and charismatic that if Ghana were to do a James Bond movie or TV series, chances are he would be the leading man. Working for DHL global forwarding, he is currently the branch manager for the Ashanti region overseeing all the activities in Kumasi and has been plying his trade with them for just over 10 years now.

Of his career to date he says, “I was with the export department at DHL when I started learning with Nexford. At the time I spotted a position for the branch manager in Kumasi which I applied for. Of course, I included on my CV that I was doing and MBA with this progressive online university. I have no doubt that putting Nexford on my CV made me a standout candidate to get the initial meeting, and then with my newfound skills and confidence procured from the university, land the job.”

It's not who you know, it’s what you know!

Of course, with the new job, Richard’s responsibilities have increased, so he is grateful for those future-proof skills learned at Nexford. Now he says he manages all the affairs at Kumasi, taking care of the customer service and operations departments, plus for his troubles, he also does a bit of finance and accounting. Guess then you could say that currently there is no rest for the wicked for Richard.

He says he thinks that Nexford is really helping him in his job, because if you look at an MBA and the courses he is learning, he thinks that it’s giving him more of an advantage. Again, he pays homage to Nexford mentioning that his MBA to date has helped him develop the crucial knowledge and understanding of how his department works.

“If you don’t have the knowledge about a particular department, or it’s difficult for you to be able to manage it, you need all the help you can get, and I think that Nexford has helped me to effectively manage all these areas. Happy to say that right now, everything is going perfectly, and I am confident that I can take on so much more responsibility.”

A chance encounter

After hearing Richard heap so much praise on Nexford, it only seemed right at this point to ask him about how he came across the university. He casts his eyes slightly skyward to think about the answer and then hits his straps saying that it was all a bit of luck really. He really wanted an MBA but made it clear that it needed to be one that was accredited outside of the borders of Africa. Although finding Nexford was a chance encounter, Richard did do his due diligence, taking loads of time sifting through many universities.

He says, “I got so many universities come up from the UK and the US, but the blocker was the fees. They were too high, and I couldn’t afford it. I was beginning to lose hope and then one day I was just scrolling through my Facebook feed and I came across an advert for an excellent university. In fact, I nearly glossed over it because I thought it was one of those universities with those outrageous fees. But then a little voice told me to go back and have a second look and I am so glad that I did. I was surprised to see the flexibility of learning and that the cost was highly affordable. I was ecstatic and just couldn’t believe it was really that good.”

A dream come true

Richard couldn’t believe how it all fell into place so quickly and how easily he became enrolled in Nexford. Regarding speed, he was also extremely impressed about the university’s faculty and how super responsive, friendly, and helpful they have been during his studies. He says that they respond to emails in double quick time when he does not understand things.

But he says it’s not about how quickly the faculty respond to you, but most importantly the rich modules that they create for you to learn from.

He says, “I wanted to do an MSc in planning, and then supply chain, so, I asked whether Nexford had a programme in logistics and supply chain. They did. But it was not just a degree in supply chain, it was a degree in Supply Chain & E-Commerce. This was amazing because when it comes to DHL global forwarding, we have divisions like airfare, ocean freight, and route freight Right now, E-Commerce is also part of the division, so knowing that Nexford offered a degree in E-Commerce, I realized, okay, this can help me too. But even if I don’t get into logistics or supply chain, I think having that knowledge in E-Commerce will also be of help to me in my company. So that was even more reason why I enrolled with Nexford.”

They say that all work and no play make Jack a very dull boy, but right now for Richard it’s all hands to the pump. He has a very busy schedule at work and as such, he is ever so grateful for the flexible learning that Nexford offers.

Richard says to be frank his work schedule is terribly busy, and he must be very disciplined in the way that he works and learns. But he did say that he is never left alone and always has someone at the university to call on should he hit a wall. He now also sings the praises of the Nexford Advisor (NA) assigned to him. Richard says that he was having trouble initially fitting in his orientation, but his NA stepped in and calmed him down saying that they would be available for him to get it done so that he could get going with his learning ASAP. And for that he is eternally grateful.

When he did start, he was quickly off to the races and was soon finding it easy to meet Nexford’s learning timelines. That time management discipline is also helping him to get things done quickly and effectively at work.

But it was not as easy as that. Achieving greatness as we all know does take a lot of time and effort. That said, Richard outlines that regardless of his busy work schedule, Nexford always seems to help him get his assignments done on time. He agrees that whenever he is online, he is never alone. There was always someone to support him and help him through the tough times. But he didn’t just rely on others to help him across the finishing line as he was always very disciplined when it came to his assignments.

Richard remembers having to burn the midnight oil, saying that sometimes he felt like a bit of a zombie. He looks down momentarily mentioning that he would often be the last to leave the office at night getting home at 11pm, or sometimes slightly later. Much as he would have wanted to go to sleep straight away, nine times out of ten he would have to stay up late and get his assignment done.

The start of things to come

Based on his drive and ambition, which was very apparent in just an hour in his virtual company, Richard has always been a hard worker, especially when it comes to his education. “He says, Education is undoubtedly one of the most important things in your life, as it is the building blocks for a successful life.”

His post high school education began at Bluecrest University where he did a degree in oil and gas. It was a good foundation for things to come at Nexford, but it was really time consuming having to attend lectures all the time. That’s why he loved Nexford as it is 100% online so he could earn and learn at the same time. Plus, he did not have to pay heaps of money to travel to the university.

He maintains that all that convenience was only the tip of the iceberg. He says that doing his MBA at Nexford is really opening more doors for him. The first was landing his current job at DHL and he firmly believes that there are many more doors that will open for him once he has finished his Nexford MBA. What that is right now he has no idea, but what he is sure of is that it will be massive.

“I am pretty much 100% sure that flashing the word Nexford and an MBA was instrumental in me standing head and shoulders above the other candidates when I was applying for the job at DHL. I am sure that trend will continue for the next five to ten years at least.”

What’s interesting is that Richard says that not only is Nexford equipping him with the global skills to succeed in the modern workplace by understanding all about profit and loss, economics, finance and accounting, and business strategy, they are also equipping him with a vital understanding of the wants and needs of local customers. He maintains that this is incredibly important if he should one day want to set up a business in a different country.

It's all about family!

Throughout his life growing up, Richard has never been alone as he is the last born in a family of four children, but he is a standout, as he is the only one so far that has taken the leap of faith to go out and pursue a master’s degree. This has not been without sacrifice though, as his mom had to go without a lot of things to help Richard get his masters. Sadly, she passed away and as such he will have to take solace from knowing that wherever she is, she will be overjoyed when he does come to graduate from Nexford.

He reminisces, “I might have been an inspiration to my mom, but she was and still is a real inspiration to me too. She never attended school, but always pushed me to get as much of an education as possible. I want to use my education to get into a managerial position and grow my career. Maybe I won’t get that in Ghana, but because DHL is a global company, who knows where in the world I may be in 5 years’ time and what opportunities that might present to me. Hopefully sitting behind a desk in an important managerial position I will also be able to use my sphere of influence to provide advice to people and tell them all about the university that made all this possible.”

If he were indeed to move from Ghana to another country, Richard won’t be making the trip alone. He will be taking his wife and two kids of two and four years along. Getting promoted and moving to a better job and exciting new country he says will be a pay back to his family who have had to make do with not seeing much of him whilst doing his Nexford MBA. That reward would mostly be for his wife who has had to take on a lot of the responsibilities around the house whilst he undertakes his studies.

As a man who is always on the go and seems to skip a good night’s sleep a lot, when Richard does have some downtime, he spends it enjoying the pursuits he loves. He tells us that he loves to read a lot along with playing and watching football. He has a local team to support, but his global team is Arsenal.

Having lots more downtime when he finishes his Nexford MBA may well be short lived though as he intimates that he would like to specialize his MBA one day at the university, but for now he just wants to keep his head down and concentrate on nailing his MBA.

Nobody has a crystal ball and the ability to predict the future, but what seems quite evident is that the next days, weeks, months, and years will be exciting and successful ones for Richard, and we wish him well with the remainder of his MBA days with Nexford.

Seeing is believing, so check out Richard’s video.

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