When Facebook announced its acquisition of WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2014, the world watched in awe. But few knew that behind the headlines was a remarkable story of persistence, flexibility, and what leadership expert Sam Adeyemi describes as “obedience that precedes overflow.”
Brian Acton, a former Yahoo engineer, had spent over a decade building his career in Silicon Valley. In 2009, after applying to Twitter and Facebook and being rejected by both, Acton found himself without a job and uncertain about his next move. Rather than seeing the rejections as career-ending, he took a break, traveled, and later teamed up with former colleague Jan Koum to develop a new messaging app. It was a project that, in the early stages, showed no sign of becoming the global powerhouse it would later become.
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The initial versions of WhatsApp were unstable and buggy. Growth was slow, funding was scarce, and morale dipped. Acton would later invest $250,000 of his own money to keep the project afloat. Still, they pressed on. Within a year, WhatsApp had attracted a million users. By the second year, ten million. And by the third, a hundred million. Just four years after Acton was turned down for a job at Facebook, the same company bought his product for a historic sum.
Speaking on how business leaders and entrepreneurs should respond to delays, frustrations, or unclear paths, global leadership consultant, Sam Adeyemi has mentioned that success often follows uncomfortable instructions.
“Overflow is connected to obedience,” he said. “Sometimes, what you’re being asked to do doesn’t look reasonable or doesn’t make sense at all. But it’s your flexibility and willingness to follow through that creates room for your breakthrough.”
Adeyemi is a global leadership consultant with specialist insight on developing economies has trained thousands of people in leadership for more than two decades. This work has been done primarily through the Daystar Leadership Academy (DLA), which has graduated over 40,000 people since 2002, as well as through seminars, workshops, and conferences. He currently serves as mentor to hundreds of top CEOs in Nigeria.
Adeyemi believes that modern entrepreneur must learn to detach from fixed expectations and adopt a mindset open to change. “Many of us are too rigid in our thinking. When a system isn’t yielding results anymore, we still keep pouring energy into it because we’re afraid of starting over,” he noted. “You can’t put new wine into old wineskins. If you want a new outcome, you must be willing to change the structure.”
He warns that both failure and success can lead to stagnation if not properly managed. “Failure can paralyze you. But so can success, especially when you get comfortable. The key is movement—continuous, responsive movement.”
As a global conference speaker, Sam Adeyemi has addressed audiences in the United States, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Nigeria, India, and several other countries. In 2015 and 2017, he spoke at the Global Leadership Summit, a global conference attended by over 400,000 leaders in more than 130 countries.
In Brian Acton’s case, it wasn’t brilliance alone that led to success, it was responsiveness. He didn’t get what he wanted at first, but he remained alert, humble enough to start over, and disciplined enough to persevere.
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Adeyemi emphasizes that what looks like a detour may actually be the direct route to impact. “If you don’t make room for new instructions, if you’re not willing to obey even when it’s inconvenient you may miss the opportunity of a lifetime.”
He holds a Master of Arts degree in Leadership Studies from the University of Exeter, UK, and a Doctorate in Strategic Leadership from Regent University, Virginia, USA. Adeyemi is also a member of the International Leadership Association. He is the Principal Consultant of Sam Adeyemi GLC, Inc., a leading global leadership consulting company with the mission to raise high-impact leaders to shape the fortunes and destinies of nations.
For those in business wondering why growth seems elusive despite all efforts, perhaps the next move isn’t about trying harder, it’s about listening differently. Sam Adeyemi, who is married to social entrepreneur Nike Adeyemi, says it’s in the space of listening and acting that real growth begins.
