The Executive In You by Patrick Lukulay

Book:            The Executive In You

Author:         Patrick Lukulay

Publisher:    Tate Publishing and Enterprises, LLC, USA, 2013

Pages:          114

Reviewer:    Ada Dike

Dr. Patrick Lukulay’s motivating story in his book, The Executive In You, brings to one’s consciousness that one can be successful in life if he or she works towards achieving it without seeing one’s background as an impediment.

The 114-page-book with 10 chapters is an inspiring story of Lukulay, whose humble beginnings did not deter from becoming successful in life. The former student of the Fourah Bay College University of Sierra Leone explains, “I had to put my life in a paper so that others will learn. This book is my story of how others helped to bring out those qualities in me. I want to let young people understand that their humble beginnings cannot dictate the end of their journey.”

 In Chapter One, he highlighted social and cultural issues. He tells a story about life in the United States of America where information technology, state-of-the-art infrastructure, automobiles, gadgets, air conditioning, electricity and high-level technology in general dominate compared with his hometown of about two thousand inhabitants (when he was growing up), Potoru in Sierra Leone, part of the Barri Chiefdom in the Pujehun district (close to Liberian border), where farmers and traders dominate the land and they receive information through a local announcer who would go around with a horn announcing the chief’s summoning of everyone to the courthouse at such-and-such time. “That is the only way information travelled, simple by running outside and yelling about it.”

The author explains family system in America where nuclear family – father, mother and one to three children is practised an opposite of his family background, which is made up of eight wives and  twenty six children in Sierra Leone. He says his father, who had a high school education was a known disciplinarian who was not afraid of higher authorities while his mother was a businesswoman who sold homemade alcohol and fish and used her income to support her children’s school fees.

Lukulay uniquely reveals how he plays prank with his twin brother, Alusine as well as his first encounter with a modern toilet in Momoh’s house. He ends chapter one by stressing that, “If someone told me what I’d become while in that juncture of life, I couldn’t have fathomed it. I was the rice-farming son of a chief, shoeless and afraid of modern toilets.”

 The story unfolds with the way life took a positive turn in Chapter Two after his elder brother Phillip takes him from their dusty village to a town where he excels in his academic pursuit. Studying in the boarding at Christ the King College (CKC) expanded his horizon and enabled him to associate and compete with other brilliant students.

While in school, he determined never to go back to their village the same. He took any opportunity he had and ran with it. He took a decision that whenever he visits his village, it should be in a position of strength where he would be blessed enough to provide for others.

Chapters Three and Four dwell on The Struggle for College Education and his Life and Aberdeen. He narrates how he and his friend Abdul, earned respects from their classmates through their performance in class and excellent grades. At Prince of Wales, he did his A-levels with Abdul and excelled. His contact with Americans in a remote village in Sierra Leone where he taught them languages and getting them acquaint with Sierra Leoneans’ food and culture got him thinking about starting life one day in America.  He later received two scholarships to study in the Universities in Sierra Leone and abroad and gave one scholarship to his cousin and later studied Chemistry and made 2.1. He proceeded to Aberdeen and completed his studies there.

He shared his life in Aberdeen, which was different from that of Sierra Leone. During his time in Aberdeen, he decided to move to the United States of America for his doctorate degree in Chemistry in the Michigan State University.

In Coming to America in Chapter Five, Patrick shares the difference among Freetown, Aberdeen and the United States of America.  He explains that everything in the US look bigger: streets were wider, the cities were more open and the culture was much more diverse.

His former tutor in Sierra Leone Mr. Kengeffey, who’s studying in Michigan assisted him in terms of accommodation while Helen, a lady that gave him a ride became his friend.

Dr. Lukulay  believes that “Success is about overcoming obstacles and sticking to the mission”. In his account of Battle Against Myself, he opens up on how the work he did for his publication would keep him awake till dawn as he was waiting to get the result.

To relax his brain after much work, he visited his cousin in Boston who introduced to him a lady with flawless mahogany skin, a gentle and humble look, Jeannette -her mother is a Sierra Leonean while her father’s a Ghanaian. They got married and had three children – Patrick Jr. (male), Hawa (female) and Mariama (female).

One day in 1990, he got a call from Alusine who told him that war had broken out in Sierra Leone, but luckily for them, they found their mother who went missing for two years and on foot from Sierra Leone to Liberia. After defending his thesis, he got a job in Wyeth Pharmaceutical Company.

Chapter Seven talks about “My First Step in Corporate America.” Patrick states that, although he was miles from Sierra Leone, he held his background close to put life in perspective. He ensured that his twin brother relocated to America where he got married, had liver problem and underwent liver transplant.

 Despite opportunities in America, some people are racists who suspect people from other cultural background as criminals. The author in this chapter shared how the police humiliated him and his friend because they were blacks but apologised when they saw their identification cards.

He shared The Importance of Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace in Chapter Eight, stressing with emphasis the true essence of positive attitude, which is everything, no matter where one finds him or herself. He explains how he got a job in Ptizer Pharmaceutical Company in the US through a recommendation from his supervisor in Michigan State University. As a supervisor, he realised that he had to be flexible if he were to succeed in life.

Chapter Nine begins with a message he received while in Pfitzer for a meeting where they were informed that Pfitzer Ann Arbor would be shut down.

Luckily for him, he got a job to head a programme to conduct training in developing countries.

Today, he is a director in that organisation and often travels on first class. His position allows him to travel to Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe.

Despites his present position of authority and influence, he keeps reminding himself of his background and continues to be thankful for it every day.

In Chapter Ten, Looking Back, as the title suggests, is a recap of his life experiences. He decided to spend his annual holidays in his village, where he settles disputes among his family members, always looking for those to help to bring out the ‘executive’ in them.

Counterfeit drugs have sent a lot of people to their graves; I was moved to tears when I read that a pharmacist told Lukulay that ‘Africans are strong. They can handle it’ when he visited an African country and saw expired anti-malaria medicines in a pharmacy.

The funniest aspect of this chapter is where he recalled when he was living in the village without knowing how to spell ‘executive’. This is applicable to many people in the village. The executive in them can be discovered and activated if all of us reach out to them in one way or the other. 

In this book, the author carefully and in very simple language, devoid of complicated technicalities took the reader in an excursion in the untold truth about helping others to succeed in life.

“The Executive in You,” neatly and colourfully designed in both lettering and outlay for easy reading, is recommended for everyone who wants to help others discover their potentials as well as those who want to learn from mentors like Dr. Lukulay.