Taiwo Popoola in Nigeria
Let’s get to know Taiwo Popoola:
City, Country: Lagos, Nigeria
Title:: ICT Program Director
Industry: Telecommunications
Number of years of work experiences: 15 years
Languages: English, French, Yoruba
How do you say project manager in your own language? Olusakoso Idawole
Diploma: BSc Engr, MSc Engr, MBA (completed), MSc Project Management (in view)
Certification: PfMP, PgMP, PMP,PMI-RMP,PMI-PBA,PMI-ACP,PMI-SP, CAPM, ITIL, CBAP,SAFe5 Agilist
3 Passions: Giving back, Self-development, Empowering others
Social Media: LinkedIn
Awards: First in Nigeria & First Chapter Leader across Africa, to achieve the 8 Core PMI certification (2023), Impactful Leader for Professional Development by LASUMEGA (2023), PMO Star Award by Ericsson Middle-East & Africa (2021)
How would you describe yourself?
I was born and live in Lagos Nigeria, where I had my Primary, Secondary, and University education up to Masters level. I started my career in oil and gas as a design engineer for one year. I switched to telecoms and worked as a network optimization engineer with several multinationals: Huawei, Nokia Siemens, and Ericsson for two years. I began my leading role in project management over twelve years ago in the telecoms industry with the privilege to work in different capacities across the Middle East and African Region. I currently work as ICT Program Director in charge of the Digital Transformation Portfolio, where I am responsible for Sales, Strategic Business Development/ Sustainability, Enterprise Market, Project & Operations Management, and Competence Development.
What do you think is the essential skill needed by a project manager?
People Management. This means putting people first before the project by leading your team with empathy and humanness.
How have your project management certifications helped advance your career?
I have used some for a career switch and other ones for career growth. Some certifications like PMI-ACP, helped me to switch from network rollout domain to IT deployment where Agile methodologies are used more, while certifications like PgMP, PMI-PBA, and PfMP helped me to achieve career growth.
Why did you prepeare all these project certifications?
I have 8 PMI certifications. I prepared for all of them because it was an intentional investment toward personal growth and career development.
As a project manager, what is one thing you would like to improve or learn in the future?
Evolution of Technology. Technology like AI, is going to be used for the automation of some works, it is therefore important for project managers to follow the evolution of technology and also lead in such deployment.
Do you have any resources to recommend to a new project manager?
PMBOK 7. PMI Kickoff series.
