EMBRACING TRUE REALITIES (MY QUIET PLACE 45)

EMBRACING TRUE REALITIES (MY QUIET PLACE 45)

I remember when my friend Sam finally got a job after waiting for quite a bit. It was a new field for him but he braced up for the challenge ahead as it presented a new experience. Of course the road was indeed rough but through it all he made his way up the very steep ladder. I knew he was going to weather the storm because he had always been a tough nut. I had known him for a while and I knew he welcomed challenges easily. He was now an experienced facility manager after just three years on the job. I only worried that he might not stay for long because of how unattractive the take-home was. I remember he once joked that the take-home could barely take him to the bus stop.

Then came the lockdown with its own fair challenges. It hit their business really hard as their customers struggled to pay their bills. As the increase in global prices spiraled into the sector, it became even more difficult for the business to stay afloat. Reluctantly they reduced prices that had hitherto been raised when they realized that people could simply not afford their services. We spoke at length whenever we met in person but I told him it will come to pass as everyone was wading through the waters.

I remember Sam had told me that his boss had travelled out on his annual vacation to be with his children. According to him the workload had doubled and he had to work overtime to cover up for his boss’ absence. The boss stayed longer than he planned which was his normal way whenever he travelled on those yearly vacations. Sam had told me that the boss never told him the exact time he was returning from any trip. It was almost like he wanted to come and catch him doing something wrong.

According to Sam, he bought a car when his boss was away though I didn’t know anything about it until this ‘issue’ came up. On his boss’ return, he heard about the car he bought and was very upset. He called Sam, asked for the car keys and seized it. He told him, the money he used was money he stole from his business and he was taking the car from him. He claimed Sam had been embezzling his money while he was away.

Sam met with me in the evening and recounted the issue telling me how wicked and selfish his boss was. He went on to tell me about the many wrongs his boss had done to him in the past and all the unethical practices that they had engaged in. He went on and on telling me how ‘rich people’ never wanted others to get up the ladder. To him they derived pleasure in seeing how many people were at the bottom of the pyramid. It gave them some kind of sickening joy.

I allowed him air his views and watched how crest fallen he looked, then proceeded to talk. I requested to ask a few questions after allowing him speak for a long time. My questions, ‘Why didn’t you challenge him based on what he said? Did you collect the keys back? Did you really use his money to buy the car? His sad look turned into a heavy frown and he looked at me with such disdain. He wanted to spew so much but managed to hold it and walked away more angry than he came.

I’m in My Quiet Place (a place where I recount the events of the past period) and I am thinking of the events that led to my meeting with Sam. Sometimes when people approach you to seek counsel, you wonder if they really want an objective view or if want they want you to reiterate their own truth. I heard someone say, ‘no man is so foolish but he may sometimes give another good counsel, and no man so wise that he may not easily err if he takes no other counsel than his own. He that is taught only by himself has a fool for a master.#MyQuietPlace#TurnAroundThursday#

DiaryOfACorporateTrainer#WorkChronicles#Training#AllInAdaysJob#ManagingPeople#

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