Make it last

When he first set foot with this Company, years ago, he was but a mere youth with huge dreams and plans. He began setting things into motion; building his career. His job scope, amongst others, was to implement The Company’s computer system – a feat he was immensely proud of, for it meant the world to him. A legacy of sorts – moulded from blood, sweat and tears. This became his life. A constant sacrifice, of which he surmised, was warranted for anyone who craved success.

I recall vividly through hazy days caused by sleepless nights, how he toiled so that this very ‘gem’ he built, would ensure The Company’s means of revenue is guaranteed. He became Mr. ‘Fixit’ – the go-to Man when problems arose. He went about in this pattern and not once took credit for such dedication. He did not need to he thought. This was his given duty, his vocation. Little did he realise that this, this selfless act would be his undoing.

He watched as colleagues took credit that belonged to him. Ah well, he said, It does not matter in the long run.

He allowed people to take advantages of him; they began to take him for granted.

Like a cat pushed to a corner, his mind began to race.

Was youth a factor? Or the fact he had neither voice nor conviction? Or perhaps, in the corporate jungle where promotions are forged via maligning others is the norm, he has not quite acquired such ruthless acumen?

As the clock ticked, seconds, minutes into hours and days, it dawned upon him that perhaps, it was now time to employ a different strategy. His superiors have to be made aware of his contributions, that this was his brainchild.

He discovered his self-value. His sense of worth.

Since the 60s, the discovery of self value represents a breakthrough in the fields of psychology and creative personality. 'Self image’ is the key to human personality and behavior. In a nutshell, you change the self image and you transform personalities and behavior.

To me, self image actually determines the level of accomplishments of an individual. A person with a strong self image but without tertiary qualifications will have a better chance of making it in life than those with paper qualifications but who suffer from a poor self image. Self image defines what you can and cannot do. When you enlarge your self image, you enlarge the 'area of possibilities' in a person.

So that's what he did; but ran into a wall, a major glitch. His superiors were still oblivious.

He asked himself, "What was it that I missed this time?"

Some people said, "You must believe in yourself first!”

Of course he believes in himself (duh!). He knew for a fact that the starting point for both success and happiness is to obtain a strong self-image (again it is a self image issue). Learn to accept yourself before you can really like others, or before you can accept the fact that you deserve success and happiness.

If that wasn't the concern, what was?

And then... he found out through the grapevine, that what was standing between his successes was paper qualification.

Eeeppp...

So do you think, once he acquires the necessary papers, he will be given a chance to forge ahead? Tell me. After all the hard work, image transformation and finally the (I hope) paper qualification, will he be given the chance? For real?

Subjective isn't it? Oh well.

This guy, he doesn’t believe in giving up. It is not part of his genetic make-up. So now he opts for trust. He chooses to trust them.

In the mean time, he is hot on the paper-chase trail.

Trust is beautiful. I myself believe that time fortifies trust. Well, 5 years is long enough (no?). When someone trusts you, you learn about honesty. When you entrust someone, you are in fact teaching him or her to be honest. Inculcate others to develop honesty by trusting them a little more each day. I truly wonder if the bosses are aware of this. Are they aware that they can gain more than hard work (or money) from their employees by trusting them? I hope they do.

They better do, I tell you.

How about encouragement? Is it too difficult to give a little encouragement to your people? A leader who gives encouragement to his or her people is actually teaching them to have confidence in themselves.

Hey, he does that! I know he does. He encourages his team mates, every single day, in his own unique way.

Everyone has their own way of getting things accomplished, right?

BUT, but this is the reason why the bosses think he is not a leader, because there is no staff development under him. Oh oh, did I tell you that the bosses have hired a new fresh guy to SUPERVISE him? Sorry, my bad. Totally forgot to mention this.

So yes, since there was no staff development under his direct supervision, they (whom he prefers to refer to as ‘team mates’) have been instructed to report to this new honcho, including HIM.

Hilarious, right? So now he is back to square one.

Further elaboration at this point would be an exercise in futility.

One of the bosses said, he needs to compromise. Haha, yeap. Compromise. Compromise your dignity. Compromise your respect. Compromise your life. After all, it is just a diagram.

Moving on.

His way of motivating his team mates was perceived as a weakness; therefore, he is not leader material.

Hmmm. I am a little confused here; I learnt that a good leader is one who motivates his or her people. An iron fist is never necessary when there are so many other morality-building techniques out there utilising patience and kindness.

But why does this make him a bad leader? The killer-instinct so admired by many?

Would it be fair if I say that he did his part to get them to develop their work skills? Yes indeed, albeit instilling the brand of discipline warranted by the bosses. (As if the other HODs managed to accomplish this. Duh!).

There are moments when I am not sure if he deserves to be treated like this. But he trusts the bosses. He trusts that if he manages to fix his shortcomings, his day in the sun will arrive.

Tell me if I am wrong, but I think he shouldn't be treated like this.

I think he should find his way out of this madness, and before he does that, he should go to these bosses, and ask them straight to their faces if their parents ever taught them the fine art of awarding merit when it’s deserved.

Mine did. His too. That's it.

Define success. Define failure.

By,

Yan Lim

October 28, 2009