0:03

Hello, Vuzzi. My name is

0:05

Edim from Ghana. I just

0:08

came across your podcast

0:10

and I've been listening for,

0:12

I think, the past three

0:14

days. I don't have a

0:17

favorite yet because each one

0:19

I listen to is enlightening

0:21

and it just gets me

0:24

thinking and, you know, inspires

0:26

me to want to do

0:28

more. However, one of the

0:30

main lessons I've learnt from.

0:32

your podcast that I've listened

0:34

to so far is self-development

0:38

and improving upon myself

0:40

and increasing value in

0:42

the marketplace. One main lesson

0:45

I've learned so far is

0:47

that the language of the

0:49

marketplace is value, you know,

0:51

the value you bring to

0:53

the marketplace and I've just

0:55

listened to, I think just about

0:57

some minutes ago, I just

0:59

listened to managing debt and

1:02

That podcast actually, you know,

1:04

like all the others, has really

1:06

moved something in me because I

1:08

am in terrible debt right now

1:10

that I have no idea how

1:12

I'm going to get out of.

1:15

I am in debt of

1:17

about a hundred and thirty

1:19

thousand seven hundred Ghana cities.

1:21

That's about roughly nine thousand

1:24

dollars. Looking at my daily income

1:26

or my daily wage. It's going

1:28

to take some miracle for me

1:30

to pay off all that. And

1:32

the sad part of it is

1:35

that I'm losing good friends because

1:37

most of the money I got,

1:39

I got from good friends. And

1:41

I'm a carpenter by profession. I'm

1:43

losing good friends. I've lost great

1:46

clients that could have given

1:48

me amazing referrals. I

1:50

have to start from scratch all

1:52

over again. This is just to tell

1:54

you that. I'm giving myself up to

1:57

next year. I'm going to come back

1:59

again next year. year to do another

2:01

voice note and I'm committing to

2:03

listening to your podcasts every day

2:06

as a matter of fact I'm

2:08

glued to them right now and

2:10

my wife is even amazed you

2:12

know so I'm giving myself one

2:15

year next year same time same

2:17

date I'm gonna come back if

2:19

the Lord granted us life I'm

2:21

gonna come back after a year

2:24

I'm trusting God to put all

2:26

what I learned from you and

2:28

other great mentors to practice and

2:30

I should come back here with

2:33

good news seeing I'm out of

2:35

debt and you have been a

2:37

real blessing. Thank you. I'll keep

2:39

listening. Bye. Hello family. A video

2:42

once saw about Amazon, where Jeff

2:44

Pizzos was being interviewed about the

2:46

amount of money the company makes,

2:49

the amount of losses the company

2:51

has made, and yet it continues

2:53

to be worth billions. And I

2:55

shared this with my brother, who

2:58

is an as parent, a accountant,

3:00

is currently an accountant. And I

3:02

told him exactly that what Jeff

3:04

Pizzos does is... absolutely beautiful and

3:07

argues with me that it is

3:09

stupid to be a such and

3:11

then I say the reason he

3:13

doesn't have any profits though he

3:16

makes billions is that that money

3:18

goes back into the business not

3:20

out to the shareholders or recorded

3:22

as profit because the business still

3:25

has work to do. Amazon is

3:27

worth, I believe 3.3 trillion, there

3:29

is a lot of money. However,

3:32

having done what they did in

3:34

the past with the current market

3:36

cap allows them even further growth

3:38

into the future. How do you

3:41

get finance people to actually get

3:43

this fundamental rule you speak of

3:45

in this video here? From me

3:47

and mine, to you and yours,

3:50

Sainar. Good day Vite. My name

3:52

is Pasey and I'm from Uganda.

3:54

I started listening to ideas that

3:56

matter last year. I was struggling

3:59

with impostor syndrome and I just

4:01

decided to start to listening because

4:03

that was the first podcast I

4:05

found and it's really been life-changing.

4:08

I already tell my friends and

4:10

people that are close to me

4:12

that I took my right full

4:15

seat at the table because that's

4:17

where I'm meant to be. That's

4:19

where I'm supposed to be. Well,

4:21

thank you so much for encouraging

4:24

messages. Thank you so much for

4:26

every amazing message that you bring

4:28

onto us. I have two questions.

4:30

First question is how do you

4:33

get your first, your immediate circle

4:35

to fit into your changed priorities?

4:37

For example, I'm a dispatcher. and

4:39

my close circle always knew that

4:42

I'm going to be a dispatcher,

4:44

I'm going to work from home.

4:46

But now it's different because I

4:48

want to fly, I want to

4:51

become a pilot because I've been

4:53

in the industry and I've become

4:55

exposed. How do I get to

4:58

tell them that guys I'm not

5:00

going to fly and I'm not

5:02

going to be in Uganda for

5:04

the rest of the time I'm

5:07

actually going to be flying and

5:09

leaving the country? How do I

5:11

get them to appreciate that and

5:13

acknowledge that my priorities have now

5:16

changed because of the exposure I've

5:18

received? The second question is I'm

5:20

like asking for a friend because...

5:22

I do a series on my

5:25

status where I teach people certain

5:27

things and things that I've learned

5:29

from people and things that I've

5:31

observed. I would say yes. So

5:34

this question someone asked me and

5:36

they were like they were had

5:38

by a specific tribe in Uganda.

5:40

Let me say a Uganda person

5:43

had this person and they can't

5:45

look at any Uganda person the

5:47

same anymore even though it's a

5:50

partner even though it's a it's

5:52

an investment they cannot look at

5:54

a particular person from that tribe

5:56

the same anymore. They feel like

5:59

you're going to hurt me or

6:01

you're bad-mannered something like that. So

6:03

What I told how was separate

6:05

your emotional life from your business

6:08

life, but I don't know whether

6:10

that is sufficient. So may you

6:12

please help me and address those

6:14

two. Thank you so much. Thank

6:17

you so much. We appreciate it

6:19

and I'm so sure whether youth

6:21

elsewhere appreciate personally in my living

6:23

testimony of what you have done

6:26

in my life. Thank you so

6:28

much and have a lovely day.

6:30

It's time to take your seat

6:33

at the table. Find out how

6:35

with Vousitembeguayo as we discuss ideas

6:37

that matter. a catalyst for bold

6:39

action. Hello family. Hello family. I'm

6:42

so glad to be back. Hello

6:44

family and welcome to another episode

6:46

of the VT podcast. And here

6:48

we talk about these ideas that

6:51

matter. I am so excited to

6:53

join all of you for our

6:55

podcast today. I join you fresh

6:57

having just kind of touched down

7:00

in Johannesburg and I'm going to

7:02

be leaving for Dubai in the

7:04

next day or two and in

7:06

between that I've got an engagement

7:09

here. I've just come back from

7:11

from Cape Town where I spent

7:13

some time with the leadership and

7:16

executive team at Amazon and I

7:18

must tell you what an incredible

7:20

time. I spent some time at

7:22

the Amazon Center. They took me

7:25

around to have a look at

7:27

their services center and some of

7:29

the people working in the AWSAI

7:31

part of the business and then

7:34

the particular reason that I was

7:36

there was to speak to business

7:38

owners, founders and entrepreneurs who work

7:40

at Amazon. or rather who work

7:43

on the Amazon platform as Amazon

7:45

sellers. So we had a fantastic

7:47

time. I love meeting entrepreneurs, dealing

7:49

with entrepreneurs, exchanging ideas with entrepreneurs,

7:52

hearing from entrepreneurs, learning from entrepreneurs.

7:54

It is, as some of you

7:56

here who know me well, it

7:59

is my absolute Achilles heel. I

8:01

love spending time with entrepreneurs. Great.

8:03

I should say that as you

8:05

join me, I have in my

8:08

hand, you probably can't hear the

8:10

crackle of it, but I have

8:12

in my hand a sample of

8:14

the VT Coffee. You guys know

8:17

that we're launching a VT Coffee

8:19

platform, and it's going to do

8:21

so, so, so well. I'm so

8:23

excited by what we're bringing to

8:26

the marketplace, the innovations we're bringing

8:28

to the marketplace, and some of

8:30

the ideas that I have about

8:32

what I want to do, particularly

8:35

in that space, And you'll hear

8:37

about it as I roll them

8:39

out. A big part of the

8:42

reason I spent some additional time

8:44

in Kenya whilst I was in

8:46

Kenya. And let me just say

8:48

to Freddie and the team at

8:51

Youth Plus Festival, thank you once

8:53

again for having me back. for

8:55

the Youth Plus Festival. We did

8:57

the first one together 2023, I

9:00

want to say. And now the

9:02

next one, as we just done

9:04

here in 2025. So it was

9:06

great, absolutely great. Love every single

9:09

part of it. And huge congratulations

9:11

to Freddie and to his team,

9:13

who have done a fantastic, fantastic

9:15

conference. Now, in part, I was

9:18

there for the conference, but also

9:20

in large part I was there

9:22

because I was meeting with some

9:24

of our potential partners. for our

9:27

coffee business who have farms that

9:29

farm coffee. So I came back

9:31

home with some great samples and

9:34

decided that it was necessary and

9:36

important for me to upgrade my

9:38

coffee machine. So I went and

9:40

bought a brand new one of

9:43

these really cool artisanal brivell coffee

9:45

machines and I've been playing around

9:47

not only with a coffee machine

9:49

but also with a product. I

9:52

can't wait. I cannot wait. I

9:54

cannot wait for me to launch

9:56

what we bring. to the marketplace

9:58

and for you guys to finally

10:01

get a sense of this coffee

10:03

business that I've been teasing about

10:05

for as long as I've been

10:07

teasing about it. Okay, so that's

10:10

part of what's been going on

10:12

with me. Today I want to

10:14

talk about the power of a

10:17

common language. I'll say that again.

10:19

I want to talk about the

10:21

power of common language. For

10:24

those of us in the scripture, if

10:26

you're in the faith and you're Christian,

10:28

you know that in the Bible there

10:30

was a story about how mankind... comes

10:32

together and decides that they're going to

10:34

build a tower that will take them

10:36

to the throne where God is set.

10:39

They're going to build a tower that

10:41

takes them directly to God's throne in

10:43

heaven. And so mankind comes together from

10:45

all sorts and all corners of the

10:47

world and starts building this tower that's

10:49

going to take them to God's throne

10:51

in heaven. And of course, when God

10:54

comes upon realizing what it is that

10:56

they've done, as a part of the

10:58

punishment, God decides to separate mankind along

11:00

languages languages. And so it's positive, isn't

11:02

it, that the reason we have different

11:04

cultures, ethnicities, races and languages is because

11:07

it was God breaking us up so

11:09

that we never again dare to build

11:11

the Tower of Babylon, this Babylonian idea

11:13

of trying to dethrone God as it

11:15

were. Now having said that... If that's

11:17

a story in the Bible, and that's

11:19

a story about how powerful common languages,

11:22

then imagine how powerful common languages today,

11:24

just common language in our world today

11:26

that we're in. If you and I

11:28

can speak a common language, it means

11:30

that we can have common understanding, which

11:32

means that we can have a common

11:34

idea of what the future looks like,

11:37

which means that we can have shared

11:39

vision, which means that we can have

11:41

aligned efforts, which means that we can

11:43

have very clear directionality in terms of

11:45

the things that we're doing. So common

11:47

language is an unbelievably powerful thing. Now,

11:49

why am I sharing this with... you

11:52

because it's a big part of what

11:54

has been my journey. One of the

11:56

things I have come to realize is

11:58

a part of common language. A part

12:00

of leading people is framing the language

12:02

people use. A big part of leading

12:04

people is framing the language people use.

12:07

If you can frame the language people

12:09

use, you can frame the relationship people

12:11

have, not only with each other, but

12:13

with the world. I'll give you a

12:15

good example of this. I was an

12:17

argument the other day with somebody I

12:19

know, who is in politics in South

12:22

Africa, who kept talking about, you know,

12:24

how the system is against the black

12:26

child. The system is against the black

12:28

child. And they kept making this reference

12:30

in this over and over and over

12:32

again. And I said, why do you

12:34

keep... reducing black people to an infant?

12:37

Why do you keep reducing black people

12:39

to a childlike state? And because I

12:41

understood what he was doing, when you

12:43

frame the plight of black people, which

12:45

by the way is a plight with

12:47

which I completely agree with those who

12:49

are saying that there is a plight.

12:52

So we're not disagreement about whether or

12:54

not there is a plight, but when

12:56

disagreement about how we frame that plight.

12:58

And I was saying to my problem

13:00

with you. calling black people children is

13:02

that you remove agency from black people.

13:04

It's this idea that suddenly we can't

13:07

act for ourselves, think for ourselves, do

13:09

for ourselves, and come together ourselves. Now

13:11

I'm not saying that we are in

13:13

charge of institutions that shape the world

13:15

we're in. That's not at all what

13:17

I'm saying, right? This is why I

13:20

don't like getting into these kind of

13:22

conversations, because what people do is they

13:24

hear you say one thing and then

13:26

want to straw man you into something

13:28

else. That's not what I'm saying, though,

13:30

that we have we have agency. I

13:33

am saying that, I'm saying that

13:35

we have agency, that we can

13:37

think for ourselves, reason for ourselves,

13:40

argue for ourselves, debate for ourselves,

13:42

arrive at our own conclusions. I

13:44

am saying that we as a

13:46

natural part of what it means

13:48

to be who we are, we

13:51

have agency. And so having said

13:53

that, why would you then say

13:55

child unless you want to frame

13:57

the agency out of the context

14:00

of power? that as a population

14:02

group we have. Do you get

14:04

that? So this is the power

14:06

by the way of common language.

14:08

The power of a common language

14:11

is that you can embed an

14:13

idea in people's consciousness that they

14:15

are not even aware of. That

14:17

the people themselves are not aware

14:19

of. You can completely embed that

14:22

idea. And you can embed it

14:24

in their consciousness. You can embed

14:26

it in how they see the

14:28

world. You can embed it in

14:30

how they interact with each other.

14:33

You can completely embed an idea.

14:35

because of how you framed common

14:37

language. And the common language cases

14:39

are so, so, so powerful. You

14:42

know, one of the things for

14:44

you to think about is that's

14:46

the role of marketing, media, propaganda,

14:48

and public relations. The role is

14:50

not only to shape ideas, emotions,

14:53

and experiences, but it's to foster

14:55

a sense of community. And how

14:57

do you foster a sense of

14:59

community? You need shared understanding. And

15:01

how do you gain shared understanding?

15:04

You design a common language. Because

15:06

the minute there is a common

15:08

language, you and I can see

15:10

things the same way, we can

15:12

experience things the same way. In

15:15

other words, what happens is our

15:17

identities collapse into the commonality of

15:19

the languages that we use. So

15:21

common language, therefore, is a very

15:24

powerful, powerful tool that leaders can

15:26

use to shape societal norms and

15:28

values. I should say that in

15:30

every single instance in modern history,

15:32

where human beings have committed an

15:35

atrocity, some sort of genocide, one

15:37

after the other. One of the

15:39

ways they have done it is

15:41

by using common language. And one

15:43

of the ways they do it

15:46

is they either name somebody something

15:48

that they are not, or take

15:50

the name that that person identifies

15:52

as and associate a meaning with

15:54

that reduces that person's humanity. So

15:57

common language is a very powerful

16:00

tool that is used by propagandists

16:02

to try and brainwash people to

16:04

act in a particular way. This

16:06

is why it's important as a

16:09

leader to understand common language so

16:11

that you can use it for

16:13

the common good. Why? First, common

16:16

language equals culture. You know, in

16:18

different parts of the world that

16:20

I get to travel to. I

16:23

notice that people... call each other

16:25

different things, right? So for instance,

16:27

I was in Nigeria recently, and

16:29

whilst in Nigeria, the people with

16:32

whom I was at conference, I'm

16:34

sat at the back waiting for

16:36

kind of things to happen, and

16:39

I'm being served, my T, and

16:41

running through my notes and the

16:43

things that I'm about to say,

16:46

and somebody that I know comes

16:48

to me, who's a brother of

16:50

mine, he comes to me, he

16:52

says, hey, you are my ogre.

16:55

And as he said that, I

16:57

understood what he meant, I understood

16:59

what he meant, You know, there

17:02

is the very famous clip, very

17:04

funny clip of the guy who

17:06

was paying. kind of homage to

17:09

somebody and he says doctor engineer

17:11

Africa to less men men without

17:13

pimpo I love that video by

17:15

the way absolutely love that video

17:18

right and so what this person

17:20

does is they deep dive into

17:22

and frame the common language of

17:25

the area because what common language

17:27

does is it creates Culture. Once

17:29

you have common language you have

17:32

a common culture. From common language

17:34

you can create a culture, what

17:36

people call each other, how people

17:39

call each other, how people communicate,

17:41

how people see each other, how

17:43

people reference one another. All of

17:45

that is a big part of

17:48

how what you use language for

17:50

and you use it precisely because

17:52

you want to use the common

17:55

language to frame culture. You want

17:57

to use common language to frame

17:59

culture. So common language then is

18:02

a very powerful tool. in framing

18:04

how people operate, how people interact

18:06

with one another, and how people

18:08

see one another. In fact, this

18:11

is the clip I'm talking about.

18:13

I love that video. I absolutely

18:15

love that video. Absolutely love that

18:18

video. Love, love, love, love that

18:20

video. And so what you notice

18:22

there is a use of common

18:25

language. Those words in the context

18:27

of the environment that this man

18:29

is saying them in have a

18:31

particular meaning. And it's the meaning

18:34

that he's diving into, that these

18:36

words create a culture. The second

18:38

thing about common language is it

18:41

helps you get your point across.

18:43

See, once you want to have

18:45

a common language, words that we

18:48

use that refer, reference a certain

18:50

thing, how we construct language, how

18:52

we construct sentences, what happens is,

18:54

what happens is we begin to

18:57

understand each. What happens is we

18:59

begin to understand each. What happens

19:01

is we begin to understand each

19:04

other. Somebody said, each other. What

19:06

happens is we begin to understand

19:08

each other. Somebody. Somebody said, you

19:11

have to understand each other. by

19:13

the way, is a principle I

19:15

live by. If I want to

19:17

hang on to relationships, I try

19:20

to not to get money involved.

19:22

And I was like, I ain't

19:24

got money, man. And she was

19:27

like, Lucy, please, you have plenty

19:29

of money. I beg. And I

19:31

understood what that abeg mean. I

19:34

would have even understood if she

19:36

said, Bico, I beg, right? I

19:38

would have understood what she meant,

19:40

because it helps her get her

19:43

point across because of a common

19:45

language. parties or as many parties

19:47

as possible can accurately understand so

19:50

that there is no misinterpretation, no

19:52

misunderstanding of the words. The third

19:54

thing about common language is it

19:57

makes for an authentic identity. See,

19:59

one of the ways in constructing

20:01

a team when you're a leader,

20:03

one of the things you want

20:06

to think about in building out

20:08

a team or building out an

20:10

organization, is what are the words

20:13

that people use to talk to

20:15

each other, right? How do I

20:17

start this podcast? Hello. family. Can

20:20

I tell you how many times

20:22

I've traveled all across the world

20:24

and there is a Q&A session

20:26

at the end of my keynote

20:29

and somebody stands up, holds the

20:31

mic and they say hello. family.

20:33

That, just those words is a

20:36

common language. It's that person saying,

20:38

I know you, I'm a part

20:40

of your community, I'm a part

20:43

of the thing that we have

20:45

built together, and so I am

20:47

completely with you in how this

20:50

thing needs to operate, right? So

20:52

it's the beauty of common languages.

20:54

It builds an authentic... identity because

20:56

it allows us to define each

20:59

other. It creates a DNA and

21:01

through that most importantly of not

21:03

only who is included because we

21:06

build stronger bonds but also who

21:08

is excluded. If you are not

21:10

part of our language, part of

21:13

our lingua franca, part of how

21:15

we speak every day, then you're

21:17

not part of our community. The

21:20

fourth thing about building and the power

21:22

of common language is you use it

21:24

to drive consistency. And for those of

21:26

you here who are managing people, you

21:28

use it to drive productivity. The two

21:30

great keys to success. Consistency and productivity.

21:32

Vital for any organization. Nor matter the

21:34

person's role in the organization, you want

21:36

to make sure that you use the

21:38

correct forms of communicating so they understand

21:40

you. And so there is unbelievable power

21:42

then in using common language. And what

21:44

are the things that I want to

21:46

challenge you to do here today? Well,

21:49

there are a few things I want

21:51

to challenge you here to do. The

21:53

first is, I want to challenge you

21:55

to think about how you're using common

21:57

language in communicating with other people. What

21:59

are the things that you say? when

22:01

you're communicating with other people? What's the

22:03

words that you're using to communicate with

22:05

other people? How you frame in conversations

22:07

as you communicate with other people? The

22:09

second is I want you to think

22:11

about common language as an expression of

22:13

identity. What are the words that you

22:15

want people in your life to be

22:17

using every day as they relate with

22:19

one another? Third, I want you to

22:21

use common language as a way to

22:23

play. Allow yourself the opportunity to have

22:25

fun with language. Fourth, I

22:28

want you to think about how you

22:30

can use common language in imaginative expression.

22:32

Right, how are, what are the words

22:34

that you could use to express better

22:36

some of the things that you're thinking

22:38

about? And lastly, use common language as

22:40

a means of emotional release, a way

22:42

to get people to communicate with one

22:45

another, share one another, and meet each

22:47

other across the divide. So I can't

22:49

wait for you to come back to

22:51

me, send me voice notes, and tell

22:53

me the following things. First, what is

22:55

the common language that is used in

22:57

your country? Somebody posted a tweet the

22:59

other day and they said, how do

23:02

you say all of a sudden in

23:04

your language? And I was like, jiggy-jiggy.

23:06

Because my country, that's what you say,

23:08

like, jiggy-jiggy. If not, the other one

23:10

is, he-get-tah. No, what's another one? Another

23:12

one is Skirleg! which comes from the

23:14

Afrikaans language Skirilik, right? It means suddenly,

23:16

right? And so all of these are

23:19

common language things that people use. And

23:21

now when you're in conversation, you're explaining

23:23

something to somebody. Instead of saying, all

23:25

of a sudden, you might say, hey,

23:27

get it. They will completely understand what

23:29

it is that you mean. So I

23:31

want you to tell me, send me

23:33

a voice note and tell me, what

23:36

are the common language expressions of phrases

23:38

that people use in your country, what

23:40

do they mean? this week's podcast. Don't

23:42

forget that the podcast is brought to

23:44

you by ourselves here at my Growth

23:46

Fund venture partners as well as our

23:48

partners at Sam. Sound Studio and

23:50

and I join you

23:53

all the way

23:55

from Johannesburg. The next

23:57

podcast will be

23:59

coming to you live

24:01

from Dubai. from Dubai.

24:03

I look forward to

24:05

seeing you soon,

24:07

family. you soon family. Cheers.