DEGREES ARE HOT, BUT CAN YOU MOP THE FLOOR? Let’s be honest for a second — some of you are carrying degrees like they’re VIP passes to heaven. The moment someone graduates, especially in Africa, they come out of university thinking they’re about to be the next CEO, CFO, C-whatever-O. They expect corner offices with air conditioning, leather chairs, and cappuccinos brought by interns who greet them with “Good morning, Sir.” You’ll hear things like: “I studied for this!” “I didn’t go to university to carry boxes!” “Why should I mop the floor? I have a degree in International Business!” International Business — but you can’t manage a mop locally? Meanwhile, the guy without a degree, who started off selling airtime, is now running a whole shop, employing the same graduate who doesn’t want to carry a chair because “my back is not used to such labor.” Let’s break it down. Degrees Don’t Guarantee Patience — or Common Sense You’d be surprised — people without degrees often outperform those with them, especially in real-world hustle. Why? One word: Attitude. Tell someone with no degree, “Please clean the office,” they jump up: “Yes boss, can I also clean the windows while I’m at it?” Tell someone with a degree? “Excuse me? I didn’t study for four years to become a cleaner. My uncle is a lawyer!” And yet… they’re broke. The Nomadic Graduate: 15 Jobs in 10 Years I once interviewed a guy — he had a nice suit, polished English, and enough degrees to confuse a passport control officer. But when I looked at his CV? 15 jobs. In 10 years. Each one lasted less than a year. My brother, are you applying for a job or advertising yourself as a traveler? How do you work in 15 companies and still say “I’m looking for stability”? My guy, you are the instability! Even shepherds don’t move their sheep that often. Respect the Hustle, Not Just the Hat Yes, education is good. Yes, degrees matter. But in Africa, where opportunities are tight and hustle is real, what separates winners from whiners is not the paper — it’s the character. That’s why people with no degrees are often climbing faster: They’re willing to learn. They don’t feel too important to work. They treat small tasks with big respect. You tell them, “Start with this corner,” and they don’t ask for a corner office first. But give the same instruction to someone with a degree? They start looking for HR to report “task misalignment.” The Degree Is in the Mindset In Africa, we have too many graduates and not enough grounded ones. Having a degree doesn’t mean you must avoid dirt. Sometimes, the road to the top is through the storeroom, the broom, or the smallest chair in the meeting room. The question is: Can your degree handle humility? Because if you can’t start small, you won’t grow big — unless it’s your ego. So next time you meet someone cleaning the office and stacking shelves, don’t look down on them. They might just be your boss next year… with no degree, but plenty of grit. #thecharteredvendor #sellinglikeavendor #entrepereneurship #positiveattitude