TODAY'S MOTIVATIONAL PIECE 2

_culled from Muyiwa Afolabi’s Blog

 

                                                     MEDICINE IN THE MESSAGE 

Dear employee, I’m compelled this morning to write you this letter because I think; there are a few things you need to understand. Many times we see things purely from our own perspective and point of pain, we rarely feel or empathize with others especially in matters where our personal interest is threatened or can be jeopardized.First I’ll want you to realize the reason you were employed and

you’re still employed is because the management believes you have something they need. The reason you still have a job is because the management still believes in you; is convinced you have potentials and can definitely add good value to the business. If you had nothing to add, you’d have never been employed.One thing you can trust when it comes to management efficiency is, they wont waste resources, no one would keep paying you month after month if they’re sure you lack what they need and lack the capacity to improve, grow and be better.As your boss, 

I'll want you to understand my dealings with you is purely on and about the job. I have nothing personal against you; we are not siblings and not even related, the reason we interact is the job, so I have no reason to castigate, pressure and be hard on you without cause. Believe me, all I do is in your interest; it’s all to make you better and make you more productive.Dear employee, I must be candid with you, life is tough. Life is not easy at all. The economy is hard, commercial activities are treacherous, the overall business environment is highly dynamic, unpredictable and daunting; it takes the brave, the courageous, the hard worker and the hopeful to keep on keeping on and succeeding.You see, if you don’t know the story, if you’re ignorant of the history you can’t appreciate the present. I remember many years ago when this business started we were told, the owner paid a huge price in sweat, effort and determination to build all you see and appreciate today.The business owner was a dreamer; a believer in himself whom despite the threat of the business environment dared to start this business.Do we begin to recount the very many nights of study and burning of candles to perfect his art and competence on the job? The money invested in personal training and development; skill acquisition and exposure?Or we begin to talk about the desperate search for capital and investors to establish with? You want to talk about the hundreds of proposals that didn’t sail through, or many offices where he was rejected, turned down, insulted by security guards and receptionists? You want to recount the many hours in traffic and his only old car breaking down every now and again and very many visits to the mechanics. You want to talk about the many unfair arrests by traffic law enforcement agents, or the many nights he was in traffic with a headache till around one am?You want to recount days when there was not enough food in the house, school fees not paid, house rent pending and he still invested all he had in the business not sure it would yield returns? Or recount the many nights of staying awake; 2am, 3am, worried, afraid, and unsure the business would survive or sink? Hmm, dear employer you do not know; all you see and enjoy now used to be one tough man’s dream.Dear employer, there is nothing I’m asking of you now that I haven’t done or gone through before. I wasn’t just appointed your boss; I earned becoming your boss by paying the price I’m asking you to pay now.You see good growth and sacrifice go hand in hand. If you really want to become somebody or amount to anything in life you must be willing to pay the right price and make the right sacrifice.You see business growth and survival cannot be dealt with emotionally or with sentiments. Opportunities are not biased and don’t understand excuses no matter how genuine.You see the business can’t run itself and will not chose to run automatically because you’re stuck in traffic; your computer will not come on by itself, your mails will not read itself and your in-tray will not become empty automatically because it rained heavily in the morning and you’re stuck in bad traffic.The implication of not coming early to work because it rained and there was bad traffic would not just disappear because you think your excuse is genuine and there was nothing you could do.If there was to be a great opportunity for a major business breakthrough that morning; it’s missed. The business world has no emotions or sympathy.Of course you’re human and you can fall sick. And no one would blame you for falling sick but when you take those days off because you’re sick, as your boss I understand and would empathize with you but the world of business can’t feel you; If I don’t do your work for you or get someone else to do it, the work will never get done even as genuine as your reason is. I will support you alright, I will help you, but the world of business cares less.You see anytime you come up with an excuse for not delivering, I may understand but business does not.Dear employee, real growth, real performance is in doing whatever it takes. You need to constantly kill all excuses. You see, I need to see your true commitment to the life and growth of the business through your sacrifice not just doing the basic required of you.For example, when you don’t submit a hard copy of your report on time because the printer broke down and another colleague does because she used her money to go print at a business center, she looks better than you. Result is better than excuses.When you have a deadline to deliver a job and you couldn’t but your colleague did because she used her break time and closed late or took the job home, she looks better than you, result is better than excuses.When you keep taking many days off work because you’re pregnant and another colleague endures and does not proceed on maternity leave until the very day she delivers the baby, she looks better than you. Even the truth that your body type is different wouldn’t sell that much.When you keep pressuring management to send you on training and your colleague every now and again choses to pay for her own training, she looks smarter and more serious than you look, even though it’s your entitlement to be trained by your employer.As you become excited towards the end of the month because salaries would be paid, the management becomes troubled and agitated because salaries would be paid and they have to be sure there is enough cash for solvency; there must be enough cash flow for operating expenses.As an employee should the business fail you would just move elsewhere, where would the business owner move to should his business collapse?You see, employees keep feeling bad and scared of getting sacked by employers or the boss because the boss has the power, what many employees fail to realize is that very good employees keep sacking their employers and bosses every time they resign and take up a new employment somewhere else; all the investment in coaching and training and experience goes with the exiting employee.Dear employer, the whole idea of being your boss is to bring out the best in you; groom you and make you tough enough to tackle the challenges of survival as a person or a business owner when you eventually own yours. What you see as negative and abuse today you will definitely appreciate later on in life.Dear employee, believe me you have great stuff in you, you are gifted, you have great potentials and can do wonders, but you’re still a diamond in the rough. It is my job to refine you and polish you and at times take you through the fire so that you can shine.You are a great person, a potential leader, a world changer, a value builder. I must bring out the best in you even if you don’t enjoy the process. Believe me it’s all in your best interest. I hope the medicine in this message would make you better and not bitter. Enjoy your day.