The Canker-worm - Beware!

Dear lovely people,

They will crawl onto the buds and leaves of trees, caressing them like old-time lovers then they will with time eat them up and kill the life out of them and become such a major pest. That’s the life style and nature of canker-worms.

Millions are those who have dreams to make themselves better, to move mountains and for short to change the world then what happens, they allow the canker-worms to crawl onto their dreams, caressing them like old-time lovers and then kill them.

Somebody said “Put a rose in a sack of fish and soon the rose will start to stink too. Be careful of the company you keep.” The canker-worms eating up your dreams could be your inertia, bad planning, wrong choices, lack of patience, lack of motivation and you name them. It’s often bad company too.

I have a way of eliminating bad company especially when I notice they constitute an obstacle to my path to success. I ask myself if they are really my friends. Are they supporting and enhancing my life or are they teaching me to think and behave in darker ways that I never thought I would? And if I have the wrong answers, I flush them off tactfully.

The company you keep is so important. Friends will change you in more ways than you know. It is something that affects each and every one of us. And, it is something that becomes more obvious the older I get. We all know that friends are important in our lives. They keep you company when you are bored and they love you when you are sick or sad. But this isn’t what I am talking about. I am talking about the fact that your friends are the most influential people in your life. You spend hours upon hours with these people and after a while you start to mimic their behavior. Your friends change you.

If your friend is not a real friend who walks in when the rest of the world walks out on you, then that friend is a canker-worm.

The Clock Watchers

Dear lovely people,

I was absolutely startled and bewildered to see such a rush. Honestly I thought the office building was on fire so half-walking-half-running, I left the meeting room and went over to my office, grabbed my bag and was at the main entrance in no time only then did I get to understand what had actually happened.

Back to the beginning. I was chairing my first executive meeting on my first day at work as the newest employee and overall boss of Hilltop Conglomerates. It was a late afternoon meeting and we were busy planning for the next year starting in a months’ time. Suddenly like a coordinated army, my staff got up and everybody except me rushing for the door. I listened to the sound of any siren or wising sound indicating a fire breakout and heard nothing. Without a second thought, I found my way out of the building wondering along the way if this was the best way to start a new job.

Outside the building, I saw nothing that could have caused such a commotion. I stood there and watched my colleagues waving to me as they drove off. It took a thickset gateman to explain to me that office hours were over. I headed back into the building to enquire more only to find out that every single person including my secretary was gone. It was then and there I knew I was in for rough times.

The following day after an all-day outdoor meeting, I got to the office at a few minutes to five in the evening. Just as I was about opening the main door, it flung open and I was almost knocked down by my staff in total commotion. The gateman again surfaced from nowhere and started talking to me. “it’s sad sir, I am not impressed with their work habits. The transition between the last CEO and you gave birth to this. Shortly after he left, I noticed that our office clears out every afternoon at exactly 5:00 p.m. and worse of all, the earliest person is here as from 8:30 a.m in the morning.”

That was bad news for a man like me who grew up in the culture of a fast-moving organization. I don't see how we can meet our aggressive New Year goals with such a minimal sense of urgency. My team is out the door every five p.m., and none of them takes work home, I talked to myself walking lackadaisically into the building. I don't want to sound like the new boss who bullies people into staying late, but this is incredibly ridiculous and has to stop. It downed on me then that without bringing the hammer down, I will not be able to get my team members to put more effort into their work?

That’s the problem, the Clock Watchers as I got to call my team, come to work late, spent time chattering and file out in a rush on time every single workday. Yet, they want promotions, they want an increase in pay, they want to be happy and successful in life. I think that for a full-time staff member, a work week of at least 40 hours is appropriate, and 50 hours is not out of the question. I certainly work a lot more hours than that.

What do you recommend I do to get them back on rails?

Agents of Destruction

Dear lovely people,

Hey Everyone, Thank you so much for your wonderful birthday wishes. It is always refreshing and encouraging to hear individuals send their love on this very special day of the year. I just wanted to thank all of you and to let you guys know how wonderful it feels to have friends like you that can share in my special day. The wishes are still pouring in and overwhelming me with joy. Thanks!

I met a devastated Jacob in his office, I have hardly ever seen Jacob that beaten-up. I knew something was seriously the matter, I’ve known Jacob to be a warehouse of smiles and to meet him that sad means his world was crashing in on him. Then he recounted. “How can I afford to miss a ten million contract at such a time when my business is suffering? How can one silly staff cost me that much?” Jacob thundered out with all imprints of anger on his face.

It all started when a young man smoothly dressed, walked into the reception of Jacobs & Sons. The man paced up and down, perambulating the huge reception and nobody including the receptionists paying attention to him. He stopped before all that was displayed and even commented aloud about some yet nobody responded. Many other customers who came in after him, got served yet nobody approached him. Tired of the lack of attention, he walked up to the counter and asked the girl what he could do to be served like the others.

The arrogant girl responded derisively without looking at his direction. Her colleague was busy doing her nails equally disinterested. Feeling so disappointed, the man headed for the doors and they swung open before him. Sanda walked in with a broad smile on the face. “Hello Mr. Edwards, I am surprised to meet you here” greeting respectfully. When the girls at the reception heard the name, they winked and gaped at the direction of the two men. When the man left, they inquired from Sanda who he was just at the moment when Jacobs walked into the shop. Sanda proudly told them “That’s Mr. Edwards, the owner of Edwards Holdings. He just asked me to come pick up a ten million contract to lease out cars to his senior staff on a trip for two weeks. If you have Mr. Edwards visit your business, you can count yourself the lucky. I wonder what he was doing here.” Hearing this, the girls developed seven shades of pink. What an opportunity they just missed.

That contract should have been Jacob’s if his girls acted as the professionals they ought to be. If you aim for success in whatever you do, you have to put in your best, be as professional as you should be and give respect where it’s due. If you know that ‘the customer is king’ then give a kingly treatment to all. If you have to hire workers to help you attain your goals, go for the best and establish a good compensation plan commensurate to their skill sets. It’s better to spend heavily on quality human resources that bring in good returns on your investment than to employ what I call Agents of Destruction in the name of cheap labor that work daily to kill your business.

There is a direct link between the path you take to get to success and the results you get at the end. If you want to attain a high profile success, you must establish a high profile action plan to get there. The simple things you ignore, might be what will cost you your success.