Yesterday, a video went viral in which Nigerian billionaire and Group Chairman of UBA, Tony Elumelu, inadvertently drew the attention of a young female mentee at a public event to the fact that she could not simply refer to him by his first name.

🇬🇭 Here's What Happened

The lady subsequently corrected herself. The incident has, understandably, generated widespread debate.

In the midst of the conversation, someone dug up a video of an interview Tony Elumelu gave in the UK, specifically at Stanford Business School. In that video, the female host addressed him simply as “Tony”.

Because I had shared the initial video, someone tagged me in the Stanford video and asked for my opinion.

📌 Key Details

I think this Stanford video actually helps us put the matter in proper perspective and reinforces the argument some of us have been making in support of Tony Elumelu.

There is something called: high-context culture and low-context culture. African and Asian societies are largely considered high-context cultures, while Europe and many Western societies are generally regarded as low-context cultures.

If you move through life without understanding cultural nuances in different places and spaces, you will constantly offend people without even realising it.

For instance, in Ghana and many parts of Africa, it is considered disrespectful to interact with people using your left hand as a gesture. In Europe and elsewhere, you can do the same thing and nobody may even notice or criticise you.

My argument is that this whole conversation about using first names is ultimately about context, environment, philosophy, and familiarity.

I have worked for 21 years, but Multimedia Group was the first place where I encountered an HR policy that was very clear about the use of first names. I struggled with it, especially when it came to top managers.

📰 Source: Joy Online Ghana