It was a typical Monday morning.
My management team and I were in our weekly management meeting, reviewing priorities, making decisions and setting the tone for the week ahead.
My phone rang.
It was an unfamiliar number.
I have a habit of answering calls from numbers I do not recognize. Perhaps it is the marketer in me. If the caller is someone I know, I can usually judge the urgency and decide whether to answer immediately or return the call later. But when the number is unfamiliar, I almost always answer.
As a marketer, I have learned never to ignore an unfamiliar number. Opportunity rarely announces itself before it arrives.
So, I answered.
"Hello Ola, how are you today? We have an offer..."
I stopped her.
"Do you know me?"
"No."
"Have we spoken before?"
"No."
"Are you the Managing Director of your company?"
"No."
"Are you the head of your department?"
"No."
I then said, "You don't call a stranger, especially someone who may be older than you, senior to you, and someone you are trying to sell to, by their first name. You begin with courtesy."
I explained that I was in a management meeting, wished her well and ended the call.
At first glance, this may sound like a story about someone calling me by my first name.
It isn't.
The Real Issue Wasn't My First Name
Anyone who knows me knows I am not attached to titles.
Within my organization, I encourage a culture of openness. I relate freely with colleagues regardless of their age, title or position. I believe leadership should be approachable, not intimidating. I have never believed that titles alone command respect.
So why did that phone call stay with me?
Because professionalism is not about titles.
It is about judgement.
There is an important difference between the culture we cultivate inside our organizations and the way we engage people outside them.
Inside the organization, colleagues may call one another by their first names because trust and relationships have already been established.
Outside the organization, every interaction is a first impression. Clients, prospects, vendors, regulators and other stakeholders deserve the courtesy of deciding the level of familiarity they are comfortable with.
Familiarity should be invited, not assumed. Respect should be offered, not requested.
The First Ten Seconds Matter
One lesson has stayed with me throughout my career.
The first ten seconds of a call shape the recipient's perception of both the caller and the company. Once that perception is formed, the rest of the conversation is often spent either reinforcing it or trying to recover from it.
Before a prospect evaluates your product, they evaluate your professionalism.
Before they consider your proposal, they consider your approach.
The greeting matters.
The introduction matters.
The tone matters.
Every small detail contributes to the impression your organization leaves behind.
Internal Culture Is Not External Etiquette
Many organizations encourage employees to use first names.
I have no problem with that.
In fact, we do the same internally.
However, internal culture should never be confused with external professionalism.
The way we relate to one another as colleagues should not automatically become the way we approach clients or prospects whom we are meeting for the first time.
Professional maturity is the ability to recognize context.
The best communicators know when to be informal and when to begin with respectful formality.
Values Are More Than Words on a Wall
After the call, I turned to my management team.
I asked a simple question.
"I hope none of our people would call a prospect by their first name during a first meeting or first phone call unless the client expressly invites it."
That conversation lasted only a few minutes.
But it reminded me of something I have long believed.
The best organizations do not just put values on walls. They coach people on what those values look like in everyday decisions.
Many companies proudly display words such as Respect, Integrity, Professionalism and Excellence.
Those words matter.
But values become culture only when leaders consistently explain how they should be lived.
Respect is not demonstrated by posters.
It is demonstrated in greetings.
In emails.
In meetings.
In telephone conversations.
In the countless small moments where people choose how they will represent themselves and the organization.
Leadership Lives in Everyday Moments
Looking back, that phone call was not significant because it interrupted my meeting.
It was significant because it became a teaching moment.
First, for the young caller.
Then, for my own management team.
One of the responsibilities of leadership is to recognize opportunities to teach, not only during formal training sessions but in ordinary, everyday experiences.
Every interaction, every experience and every challenge can become an opportunity to teach, develop people and strengthen the culture.
Culture is rarely built during annual retreats.
It is built one conversation at a time.
A Lesson for Young Professionals
To every young professional, salesperson, customer service representative and business development executive, my advice is simple.
Be warm. Be confident. Be authentic.
But never assume familiarity.
Professionalism begins with respect.
Allow relationships to grow naturally.
If a client says, "Please call me Ola," then by all means do so.
But let that familiarity be extended by the client, not imposed by the professional.
Because in business, as in leadership, first impressions are lasting impressions.
Often, the smallest moments communicate the biggest values.
As leaders, our task is not merely to achieve results. It is to develop people.
Sometimes, all it takes is an ordinary Monday morning phone call to remind us that the smallest interactions often carry the greatest lessons.
July 2026,
Lagos.