When God Doesn’t Save You From An Unfair Boss
To him, he had the unfortunate luck of ending up with an unfair boss. He was doing his best but for some unexplained reason, he was always the one picked last
Last for commendation and last for promotion if he ever got any. His appraisals were very good but he wasn’t recommended for promotion. This happened more than once. It was clear to him – his boss probably had it in for him.
Fortunately, things were starting to smile his way.
A friend of his had told him told him about a position that opened up in another company. More pay and a better role – just the combination his skills deserved.
“And maybe a boss that appreciates my skills”, he said to himself.
He was about to send his CV and for some reason, he could not commit himself to the process. He was sure he would get the job so it was the fear of failing that was holding him back.
He remembered something he heard in church. “Don’t stay where you are not celebrated”, the preacher had said.
He was not getting the “celebration” vibe from his boss. He was sure it was ok to make the move.
“Time to go where I will be celebrated”, he convinced himself.
But what was holding him back from making the move?
Could God be telling him to stay in a bad situation?
Read MoreHow To Cheat Work For Home Sake
Recently, I listened to Mr. Olu Onakoya speak at an event.
If you haven’t heard of him, you are not alone, I hadn’t heard of him till that event. He was the first Nigerian Managing Director of Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc, an ExxonMobil affiliate company, from 2004-2008.
He chose to retire from the job and the company at the age of 57 – well before the required age of 60. The company had hoped they could keep him longer but he kept to his decision.
His reason for this was more personal than professional. In his words, he was missing out of the important times that his family needed.
You Just Might Save That Colleague’s Life
Tim Sanders, leadership coach, former Chief Solutions Officer at Yahoo! and author of book Love Is the Killer App, tells a remarkable story about a young manager named Steve, who was challenged by one of Sanders’s radio interviews.
Steve made a decision to visit all of his six employees whom he had not seen face to face in over six months even though they worked in the same building and on the same floor. His plan was to tell each of them how much he appreciated them and name one thing they did excellently.
After the visit from Steve, one of his software engineers, Lenny, presented him with an Xbox gaming console. Steve was surprised, as he knew Lenny had taken pay cuts over the last year.
How A Finance Guy Ends Up With An IT Certification
After I graduated, my first job was in an asset management firm. As you can guess, with a job like that, it was all numbers and the analysis that come with them. At that time, I started thinking of adding another set of alphabets after my name.
I had studied accountancy in school and like any good student, I had achieved my Charter qualification (CPA for my Yankee buddies) during my undergraduate studies. Yes, sometimes, it was like carrying two hot potatoes in both hands but I somehow pulled it off.
Now, I was in the “real world” and the quickest way to get ahead was to add more alphabets – so I was told. I wasn’t planning for an MBA until after I had a couple of years of experience under my belt so the next best thing would be more certifications. I made a choice to choose an IT related certification even though at that time, it made practically no sense.
Work-Place Advice from Joseph, Prince Of Egypt
Have you ever been in that situation? There is a problem at work that you seem to see the solution quicker than everyone else. So, all eyes are on you as you start to make the explanations and possibly offer your thoughts on the best solution.
You get to the point in your narrative that you either give all the good stuff or keep something close to your chest. Conventional advice is that you need to keep some of the good stuff to yourself to maintain your continual relevance to either your boss or your organization.
You think to yourself, “if I tell it all, they can get someone else to run the idea and I’ll just be forgotten. Having them wanting more could just be the golden ticket to make sure that I always get invited to the table.”
Most of us work with the sense that someone better is just around the corner to make us look redundant. It’s nothing new. This is one of the reasons why we are always planning for the future and looking for new ways to improve our competencies in life.