He hosted a banquet of glory and wine. The hall was radiant with laughter and arrogance as King Belshazzar and his nobles drank from the golden vessels taken from the Temple in Jerusalem by his father, Nebuchadnezzar. But in that moment of human pride, a mysterious hand appeared and began to write on the wall, and words that no one could read. The laughter vanished; the king’s face turned pale. He summoned his astrologers, diviners, enchanters, and the wise men of Babylon, and promised wealth, power, and purple robes to anyone who could interpret the writing. None could.
Then came the queen, the voice of memory and wisdom, reminding the king that in his kingdom was a man who once decoded mysteries for his father. “In the days of Nebuchadnezzar,” she said, “there was Daniel, in whom dwells the spirit of the holy gods.” This Daniel had once led the king’s advisory council, the equivalent of the modern board of strategy and intelligence or director of strategy in a company, interpreting dreams, solving impossible problems, and offering clarity when confusion reigned. But under the new regime, he was demoted and forgotten. Yes, the new CEO came, demoted and transferred him out of the headquarters!
When Daniel was finally called, he did not flatter the king and delivered with professionalism. He interpreted Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin. Simply, a message of judgment and decline for the kingdom; not a great one for the king, but that is not my focus. My focus is that Daniel’s wisdom was so timeless that even in his absence, a queen had to recommend him.
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And there lies the lesson: become so competent that people mention your name in rooms you are not present in. Be the Daniel in your sector and the person whose insight is remembered when the handwriting appears on the wall of confusion in companies and boardrooms. In boardrooms and executive meetings, when leaders ask, “Who can solve this?”, may your name echo like Daniel’s, not because you seek recognition, but because your competence has become your identity.
In the Igbo Nation, we say that the hand that gathers dust must be ready for the consequences of its deeds. Yes, excellence and mediocrity both leave fingerprints. Make yours the kind that writes solutions on the wall of destiny so that you can qualify before others to recommend you in your absence.
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