I’m a multipreneur, and SD Nuggets is designed to be a multi-disciplinary blog. So, expect to see links on the new Tayo’s Guest Posts page to my guest posts published on blogs in different niches.
If you run a high profile blog, website or print publication, and would like me to write for you, get in touch via my Writing Service page.
(This article was originally published on a static HTML page on my (spontaneousdevelopment.com) website in March 2006 – from where I’ve now moved it to THIS blog platform)
I do not know what your experiences so far in business have been, but mine and those of a surprising number of others I have read – this year alone – tell me that the market in which we look for clients and prospects is awash with all kinds of characters. I have as a result adopted a philosophy that contradicts what the popular saying “The customer is always right” suggests. My purpose for writing this article is to: a). Help entrepreneurs who read my writing learn how to protect themselves from exploitation while trying to meet clients’ needs (b). Help those who patronise entrepreneurs learn how NOT to behave if they are to avoid being guilty of Entrepreneur Abuse™. Read this article to learn more about Entrepreneur Abuse™, and why you may need to distance yourself from a client/customer who practices it. Continue reading
When I posted information about my new report (shown in the above -e-flyer on my Facebook timeline yesterday (9th August 2012), someone posted the question: “Are you into agriculture(?)“.
I gave him a short answer first, and then went on to elaborate for the benefit of others who would come across the post in future.
I believe YOU will find my response potentially beneficial. Which is why I’ve reproduced it below.
But just before you go on to read that, you should know that every person who has (or WILL) ever purchase(d) a copy of my Feed Formulation handbook from me, gets it at no cost. You pay absolutely NOTHING. Just send me an email via tayo at tksola dot com, to get details of what you need to do.
So, here’s the response I gave to the question about my work.
What you are about to read are tested and proven ideas for succeeding under some of the most challenging situations possible in paid employment.
It Can Happen To You – So Get Prepared
Just in case you’re telling yourself this cannot happen to you, let me assure you that it can. By this, I refer to a situation in which you assume a new position at short notice, and without the benefit of a handover from the original job holder.
It happened to me a number of times in a space of about three years while I was still a middle level manager working shifts. There were other competent persons that could have been chosen for the roles assigned to me. Some were more than a few years senior to me in age, on the job and/or in the company.
The fact that I got picked so often suggests the decision makers believed I would add worthwhile value. My success in handling those early career opportunities, eventually won me high profile senior management roles, later in my short career (I quit after 7 years, to pursue a long standing dream of self employment, despite mouth watering career prospects). I narrate some examples later in this article.
Adapt the strategies described below to your unique situation, and you’re likely to achieve similar or better outcomes to mine.
1. Visualize The Possibilities: There’s no guarantee you’ll get it right. But you need to carefully consider what positions in the company (within and outside your current company location), you can reasonably expect to be assigned, in the event that the need arises.
Check out the backgrounds of senior or more experienced colleagues and/or bosses who started out from your kind of position. That’s one reliable way to know what can happen. If they could have gotten where they are today, by starting from where you are now, then it’s possible you can too.
And sometimes, even if it took them 5 years to get there, circumstances could make it take you just 6 months to do the same. Somebody could resign (or get fired) without warning, and there may be no other person except you with the needed training, background, education, skills, experience or maturity, to fill in the gap.
"Solagbade! Do you want to do what some people did in 5 years in 5 months?"
A senior colleague actually made the above statement to me, less than two years after I joined the company. And he was not exactly smiling when he said it either.
Among other things, I had been identified for my spreadsheet automation skills, which got me nominated into a company wide computerization project team, alongside senior managers. This put me in the spotlight, to the extent that departmental heads courted me to help automate their routine reports. I got a lot of attention – and some priviledges too. This apparently irked him, and at some point, he could no longer hide his feelings.
Expect that this may happen to you too, if you excel. Be as glad as I was if/when such person(s) voice their "frustrations". You’ll be able to steer clear of them if necessary. As Robert Kiyosaki noted in one of his books, vicious backstabbing is common in the workplace. If you plan to go far up the ladder, watch your back.
2. Get Familiar With Job Descriptions and Workplace Instructions/Guides: Every position in a company – no matter how small – requires a clear definition of roles and responsibilities to be played by the job holder. A job description is a document in which such details will normally be found. In addition, key processes and operations need to be documented in a way that ensures continuity and consistent quality/output, regardless of which employee is involved.
In other words, these documents would provide step-by-step guidance for carrying out every key operation or process in the company. If followed diligently work gets done to completion with minimal or no errors. It is to be expected that your company will have a formal system for creating and updating such documents in place.
Their existence in companies referred to as "world class" or "ISO certified" enables them routinely churn out top quality products and services based on a Right First Time philosophy. So, to get up to speed with the right way your job should be done, and also how people under your supervision should be operating, job descriptions and work instructions/guides will prove invaluable.
If it so happens the company does not have job descriptions and/or work instructions, view that as an excellent opportunity to make a difference while there. Get approval to have them developed, and (if time permits) champion the process. Your achievement will not go unnoticed, I assure you.
3. Read Books and Study Workplace Archives: I did this a lot anytime I got seconded. I never told anyone though. It was my little secret. Usually during the first week or two, I would spend many extra hours AFTER close of work (whether shift or normal working hours), reading through old handover notes in the file cabinets; daily, weekly and monthly reports; special project files and as many other documents relating to the job I was to do as I could find.
This helped me quickly internalize useful details about the job, and what had happened before I came in. I used that knowledge to ask questions when I spoke with those I had to work with. It was always amusing to see their surprised looks when I spoke with familiarity about stuff that took place before my time. Quite often I won their trust, respect and cooperation subseqently – because they saw that I was prepared to work.
Of course, by studying experience based books on management (by gurus like Peter Drucker for instance), and applying the mostly simple concepts, I was able to leverage the knowledge I gained from studying archival material in the workplace, in doing my "temporary" job effectively.
4. Identify The Competent/Long Serving – And LEARN from them: Whenever the opportunity presented itself, I got close to older and more experienced colleagues, to have informal coaching conversations with them. Those sessions usually revealed valuable insights I later found use for. I also periodically courted senior managers or departmental heads. Usually when they called on me to use my spreadsheet skills to generate reports based on their data. While with them, I casually studied the work they did, and how they did it.
All of this helped me greatly, as I was able to over time demonstrate the ability to "think" like a senior manager while still a middle level manager. By the time I got assigned to act as Production Manager in February 2000, I already knew quite a lot about what the job entailed – including complex aspects like calculating capacities, planning production etc.
Anytime I found myself around top level executives from my function in the workplace, I was never shy about showing what I could do. You should not be either – because the company needs people who can help it progress. This strategy got me noticed by those who mattered. It can work for you too.
5. Acquire Knowledge and Skills That Enable You Make A Difference: The company did not send me on any special management courses to prepare me to do those "surprise" jobs. I had to learn on-the-job. There was often no time that could be spared. So I resolved not to let those who gave me that opportunity down. I invested hundreds of hours before and after my shift periods/normal working hours, to learn anything extra that could help me do a good job. If you are sincere about contributing to the company’s progress, opportunities will appear to you, to achieve that purpose.
One Example: During my one year induction in Lagos brewery, I showed active interest in the custom Lotus spreadsheet based report automation I saw my expatriate Training Manager – RAC – doing for the company.
That won me his trust. Especially when I demonstrated the aptitude to quickly grasp the little he exposed me to. He soon gave me a laptop, so I could help check for errors in the massive formulas used in the Variable Cost Analysis Spreadsheet application he built for use in the different breweries.
By the time I was redeployed to Benin Brewery on completing my training, I got thrust into the spotlight when (on RAC’s recommendation), I successfully corrected an error in the Benin Brewery version of his spreadsheet application. After that, all kinds of opportunities to work with other senior managers began coming my way. When you work with senior managers that early in your career, and succeed in impressing, you WILL get talked about.
This last point is the key to succeeding perpetually at work . You do not need necessarily need to acquire a special skill like I did. But it would be worthwhile to LEARN to do useful (not fancy) things that can help you overcome obstacles, or make others happy to have you around.
Why You Should Take The Ideas Offered Here To Heart
I successfully employed the strategies described here – REPEATEDLY – to achieve superlative workplace performances in the large corporate multinational I worked over a 7 year period.
Within a year of joining the company, I went from being a green horned production shift brewer to packaging shift manager (actually back and forth between packaging and production departments over a 2 year period – at least three times).
Once, while working as a brewer, I was informed of my immediate "temporary" redeployment to packaging, to fill a vacancy arising from a recent promotion exercise. The Packaging Manager explained that the suddenness of the incumbent’s promotion made it imperative to pick a replacement, who could quickly fit in, even if brought in at short notice. I apparently fit the bill. Some weeks later, after a replacement manager had arrived, I returned to the brewing department. Indeed, almost all my movements at the time had one thing in common: They were implemented at short notice.
Between late 1995 and the end of 1997, I went from being management trainee to packaging shift manager, production shift brewer (actually back and for the between packaging and production departments over a 2 year period). Not long after that, I was removed from shift duties and re-assigned as Brewer-In-Charge of the Malta processing section (which was like a separate department, with its own multi-shift workforce).
In 1998, I was nominated twice to act as Technical Training and Development Manager (a high profile and sensitive position, one step above middle management level). The first time, it was for a month. And I got a handover from the job holder who was going on annual leave. The second time around, it was for a 3 month period. And I got NO handover.
What’s more, my new boss (i.e. the Technical Manager) chose to go off on leave during this second period. I was – as they say – O.M.O i.e. On My Own! That was a classic example of a trial by fire situation I was put in. Management sometimes does this to "test" a young manager’s mettle and see if s/he will crack under pressure. I never did "crack". Instead I excelled repeatedly. And my appraisals reflected it. When I chose to leave the company, the brewery head felt he had seen enough in 11 months of working with me, to stick his neck out by writing the following glowing comments about me (see below) in a send forth greeting card:
Summary
Going on secondment to do another person’s job – even if it’s not in a higher position – is an opportunity to show decision makers what you can do. How you handle it can determine how far you go in the company. It’s like competing for a place on the team to the world cup or Olympics. Or presenting a popular TV show on prime time. You need to make the most of it. But do so, with the aim of making a useful or positive contribition and impact. And not just for selfish glory.
What helped me succeed was my willingness to learn from ANYONE and EVERYONE I felt could help me – even if I had to seek them out myself. This was in addition to plenty of hard work and personal sacrifice to acquire useful knowledge/skills and use them to make things work the way I wanted them.
If you really want to fly high in the corporate world, you must be ready for sudden or surprise assignments – because they will come. And those who nominate you to will expect you to deliver. Every time you do, they may become more willing to send greater career advancement opportunities your way.
Opportunities that many others may not get easily would tend to come to you as if magically. You will have become a high performing employee, regarded highly by your company’s decision managers as an asset to be used to boost the company’s ability to achieve its goals.
A few years ago, I was invited by the Center for Management Development, to deliver a one hour lecture based on a management research paper I’d just written titled “Self-Development As A Tool For Achieving Career Advancement“.
In delivering that paper, I decided to look at the subject from both perspectives i.e. that of the employer, as well as the employee’s. It’s always the best way, because both parties must work together to take the company forward. This article is based on excerpts from that lecture.
What follows below, are 5 Proven Steps You Can Take To Develop A Perfect Employee Workforce.
1. Demonstrate Management Buy-In
This is a fundamental requirement. Aim to demonstrate at all times to all parties involved that you (i.e. management or decision makers) are unflinchingly committed to helping employees develop their capacities optimally, in order to meet the company’s workplace performance expectations. In other words, you must back your words with action. Or better still, walk your talk.
For instance, let’s say you demand that sales reports be e-mailed in by field officers country wide over the weekend, for use in generating weekly reports for the 11a.m Monday review meetings. If some sales personnel work in locations with unreliable Internet access, you will need to arrange viable alternatives (e.g. a mobile wireless internet enabled laptop). Without this, reports are likely to come in late…and your employees could get discouraged or even frustrated. The same reasoning applies to asking factory workers to improve weekly output, without resolving a long standing problem of late input delivery by suppliers.
Do not give your employees any reason to believe you do not mean what you say.
Challenge them by showing you are committed to doing whatever it takes to support them towards achieving the goal you have announced. There’s however no need to go on a spending spree to make this happen. Simply assess viable options for making your plans work, then explore ways to implement them, as cost-effectively as possible. About eighty percent of the time, there will be a lower cost way to get things done, than the first ones that come to mind. Do more thinking, questioning and searching, to get it. Once everything is in place, let employees see that it is, and make you rules about non-performance clear to all concerned.
With management buy-in established and demonstrated, the next steps outlined below, should be easy to implement.
2. Focus On In-House Training
Too many times business decision makers feel they only need to throw money at employee training and development, to improve workplace performance. The truth however is that human beings are simply too complex to be treated like machines. With people, input does not always result directly in the output you want. And that’s why personalized (experiential) learning in a familiar environment tends to work better for us.
Why send another group of employees out to attend a training course, when a competent, experienced employee who has already been on THAT course (and has shown evidence of using what s/he learnt to improve job performance) is available?
Apart from being familiar with the peculiarities of the working environment of her colleagues, such an employee would also be able to develop case studies by drawing from her personal experiences. She could use such case studies in giving illustrations, which the others would possibly be able to relate to, making the learning experience more real.
Project based in-house employee training could also be considered. In this case, a group of employees could be made to learn by working together in multidisciplinary teams on meaningful problems drawn from their working environment. This kind of approach produces a self-help, mutual leaning atmosphere that enables the organization to identify and utilize “trapped” pockets of “experience and wisdom”.
Years ago, the above approach afforded me a very rapid rise from the lower cadres into senior management roles in a large corporate multinational, in less than 7 years of joining the company. The company’s decision makers were smart enough to see that I made good use of any learning I was exposed to. So they repeatedly chose me to go on high profile secondment assignments (e.g acting as departmental head, and also working as a member of key project groups comprising senior executives – even though I was not one). I was also nominated to attend key learning events, in and out of the country, with a view to subsequently returning to conduct similar learning events for other employees. The benefits to the company were multi-faceted.
Apart from my personal experiences, verifiable studies have equally shown that in-house training delivers more value for the money invested – in many cases. There will of course always be exceptions. However if your company really wants to move ahead in this regard, you will find it useful to follow the guidelines offered above.
3. Entrench A Reading/Thinking Culture
A good library, well stocked with relevant books, magazines etc all loaded with up-to-date information, will not get visited if employees are not made aware of its existence. In addition, employees must be encouraged to invest in useful (“How To”) books and do it yourself tools (e.g. Typing Tutor CDs, audio books, e-books, pod casts, webinars, teleconferences, membership websites etc).
Managers, executives and other leaders who are in a position to influence, should themselves set the example by adopting healthy reading/thinking, learning and re-learning habits. They could for instance, take time to stimulate the thoughts and interests of their reports by sharing insights they get from their own learning. Before long the culture will spread across the organization as a whole with very noticeable benefits.
There is of course the need to strike a balance between reading, and reflection on what is read – as captured in the quotes below:
“Reading can be a powerful catalyst for thinking; it has the potential for stimulating wisdom.” – Michael Angier
“Reading without thinking gives a disorderly mind, and thinking without reading makes one unbalanced” – Confucius
4. Deliberately Use Job Secondments For Employee Development
Secondment of employees to higher or parallel positions to the one they are already familiar with, could be utilized to develop them. The organization will however have to make EACH employee realize that going on secondment is not an end in itself, but a means to an end.
In other words, let them know that going on secondment is meant to be a developmental move for them. What’s more, upon completion of the acting assignment, the boss to whom the seconded employee reports needs to challenge her to outline what learning she has picked up. It is infact advisable that every such employee, be made to take a short break (could be a day or two) to reflect on her experiences and submit a written report upon returning to work.
Nothing helps to cement learning acquired from experience better than a review via personal reflection. During this activity, all actions carried out during secondment are “re-visited”, and decisions reached by the employee on how she would behave when confronted with similar challenges in future.
Successful employees interviewed by researchers often mentioned their on-the-job experiences – both good and bad – as having the greatest impact on their development. This is very useful information, that has guided smart business decision makers to continually explore better ways to provide job-based developmental experiences for their employees. By implication therefore, organizations that truly want “ideal” employees (i.e a well-motivated, effective and efficient workforce) will need to systematically expose individual members of their workforce(s) to relevant job-based experiences.
5. Institutionalize “Experience Sharing” By Older Employees With Newer Entrants
In this final step, the key objective is to shorten the learning curve of new (or less experienced) employees. It is a highly effective strategy that’s been in use for years (in various forms) by successful organizations the world over.
Consider this analogy: For those of who had the opportunity of growing up with aged parents, grandparents or relatives, the value of life learnings picked up from these older people, who had experienced them, often remains immeasurable. The foregoing is why one such young person can get described as having an “old head on his/her young shoulders”.
There’s no sense in letting younger/less experienced persons go through the painful process of making all the same mistakes and traumatizing discoveries that older/experienced employees already know how to avoid. Parents who spend time/share their own learning with their children actually spare the latter the pains of finding out those same things the hard way i.e. by themselves.
To put it another way, why should we waste valuable time re-inventing the wheel?
Relating this to the workplace, your company’s employees could benefit more if you engage a competent workplace/career coach(or even a retired, but highly skilled ex-employee) to spend time with them as individuals and/or groups – sharing experiences, and helping them make more sense of them. We need to enable our organizations to rise beyond our current levels of achievement, by equipping those coming after us with knowledge/skills we have gained.
A few hours with an accomplished individual can dramatically enhance the ability of the exposed employee(s) to perform better at work, to meet the company’s expectations. You will spend less and get more long lasting benefits to your people using this approach, than if you simply sent them on a generic external training course. (Fill/submit this form, and a free PDF copy of my 47 page management research paper titled “Self-Development As A Tool For Achieving Career Advancement“, which offers more information on this subject, will be sent to your inbox).
Summary
In today’s rapidly changing world, organizational decision makers must realize that if they want sustainable improvements in employee productivity, it WILL NOT happen through repeated resort to salary increases or even promotions.
Instead, getting employees to willingly give their best efforts at work, can only be reliably done by setting up a self-sustaining environment that perpetually makes the employee feel good about doing his/her job. The 5 steps outlined above, if intelligently adapted, can help you achieve that goal.
Make Your Comments or Requests!
What are your thoughts about the steps outlined in this post? Have you any experiences or observations to share on how well they might work in different organizations? Can you share any steps you believe can help a company effectively develop its employees to perform satisfactorily on the job? If you have a topic in mind you’d like me to write about in future, why not let me know? Or maybe you need help getting your staff to deliver(?). I’d love to hear from you in the comments section below, or via tayo at tksola dot com!
Self-Development/Performance Enhancement Specialist – Tayo Solagbade– works as a Multipreneur, helping individuals/businesses develop and implement strategies to achieve their goals, faster and more profitably.
Depending on his availability, Tayo accepts invitations to deliver customisable talks, keynote speeches and training/coaching programs on topics relating to his areas of experience based expertise and interest. Visit http://www.tksola.com to learn how you can invite Tayo, to speak at your next meeting/event.
As a multipreneurial freelance writer, Tayo Solagbade’s versatility, and use of in-depth research (on and off the Internet), equip him to quickly produce 100% original – and easy to understand – write-ups. When he’s not amazing clients with his superhuman writing skills (wink), Tayo works as the creative force behind:
a). The Self-Development Nuggets blog:
www.serenediary.spontaneousdevelopment.com
b). The Public Speaking IDEAS blog:
www.spontaneousdevelopment.com/blog
“Patience is a virtue that carries a lot of WAIT.” – Anon
Whether you’re marketing online or off the web, one very important virtue you must develop, if you lack it, is PATIENCE. That is, IF you are to succeed with your business marketing for the long term.
You need to be patient. VERY PATIENT. You have to think like a hunter on the trail of nervous wild deer. Successful business marketing requires the foregoing as a basic minimum. That’s what will equip you to extract useful insights from the different efforts you make to sell your products and services.
Rarely can you reasonably hope to get overnight results. You are more likely to engage in testing and re-testing, till you get something that works just right for you.
That nurturing process can be quite taxing and time consuming. If you lack patience, you are likely to cut corners and not do it right. But that will show in what you send out to the market place – and the results will be just as disappointing.
Making sure you are in a business you absolutely LOVE doing, is what determines whether you will be able to find enough PATIENCE to keep going till you get IT.
"Unless the person running your marketing is patient, it will be difficult to practice commitment. View marketing as an investment, be consistent, and make prospects confident. Patience is a guerrilla virtue." – Jay Conrad Levinson in "The 15 Secrets of Guerrilla Marketing" – http://www.gmarketingcoach.com
If It Was Easy, Everyone Would Be Succeeding At It
In order to succeed, a business must make sales. Not credit sales, but sales that result in money received and in the bank. Marketing creates selling opportunities. However, very often marketing must be repeated or continued for considerable periods before the desired sales happen.
Records show that more businesses fail every year, than those that succeed. The latter are usually those able to make enough sales happen to cover expenses and keep them going. The fact that not every business succeeds in doing that proves that it’s not easy to do.
Which is why you will need to creatively leverage unconventional strategies, tools and technology, to get high impact marketing exposure. A willingness to be patient is a crucial requirement for making that happen. Business marketing requires unrelenting persistence, and is unlikely to yield 100% profitable returns overnight. Accept that reality, and be prepared to do what is needed, or you may not make it.
Measuring Your Business Marketing Success : An Index You Can Use
On a final note, it’s useful to measure your progress. You can, for instance, correlate your marketing expenditure to your client conversion. One useful parameter to periodically measure in this regard is your COCA i.e. Cost of Customer Acquisition. With patience, you get enough information to realistically determine what marketing method(s) wins you customers most cost-effectively. You would then improve on it to boost your conversion rates. Your patience would have paid off.
This morning I came across the following quote while reviewing past tweets by Corey Jahnke (@CWJahnke):
“The only man who makes no mistakes is the man who never does anything.” – Eleanor Roosevelt.
Do you have dreams or ambitions that haunt you because you keep letting a fear of making mistakes hold you back? Are you one of those who start each year setting ambitious resolutions only to falter when others question your sanity or ability to achieve? Have you ever felt “isolated” by disapproving friends and family members because you persisted in the pursuit of your valued goal, in spite of their advice to the contrary?
If yes, know that you are not alone. People, who achieve success by achieving the uncommon, often have to travel a lonely road to success.
Ask Nelson Mandela about the 27 years it took him (while “roasting” in jail) to bring apartheid rulers round to his line of thinking. The truth – as all success conscious people know – is that your conviction is what will see you through. Mandela’s conviction about his purpose led him to become a living legend today. But the road was not smooth.
When many people start out, they will often have heard stuff like those I’ve outlined above. However, as human beings we hear a lot, but consciously apply too little. Today’s fast paced world makes us even more distracted. We never pay close attention until something hits us where it hurts. Then we start looking for solutions – often desperately.
Human beings have a need to experience things in order to retain what they learn for the long term. That’s the reason why even when we were told as kids that the kettle is hot, very many of us never really listened to our parents until the day we got burnt while fooling around in the kitchen. The cycle repeats itself with our own kids.
To consistently succeed at anything you set your mind on, you must accept that intelligent mistake making will help you learn. You’ll need to take risks. Leave your comfort zone. Do the unfamiliar. Without going out on a limb, it is unlikely that you’ll be doing anything out of the ordinary or note worthy.
Making mistakes means you will not always come across as being “cool” to those other “safe playing” friends, relatives or associates watching from the sidelines. During the time you’re trying and failing at reaching your goals, some may be sneering or laughing in the background…sometimes to your face.
After the news has filtered out that you have (once again) “failed” at your new attempt, even those who stayed in touch may begin to carefully distance themselves. The could for instance fear mockery from others.
It is important that you welcome and relish periods like this, because they present you a perfect opportunity to know those who really like you for whom you are, and NOT just for what you are (e.g. a celebrity) or what you own (riches).
A lot of people miss out on gaining this extremely liberating insight into life. I come from a culture in which “friends” and relatives (no matter how distant) frequently announce their relationship to successful people to gain the respect and admiration of others.
Indeed, some celebrities get accused of failing to pay such friends and relatives visits whenever they are “in town” for instance They’ll say: “So, you’ve forgotten us so quickly now that you’re successful? When was the last time you visited us at home? You’ve got to come over and stay the weekend next month. We absolutely insist.”
Fast forward to 2 years later, after the “celebrity” has run into a patch of bad times. Maybe he’s been the victim of an elaborate scam that forced him to adopt a modest lifestyle while trying to start over. The news would have spread quickly.
And when he shows up at the same relatives’ place to ask for a loan, he may be accorded a guarded reception. Suddenly there may be little if any enthusiasm to see him. And the entire proceedings during the short lived visit would be tense and uncomfortable for all present. When he gets up to leave, they most likely won’t ask: “What, you’re leaving so quickly?” If anything, they will appear in a greater hurry to get to the door than he is!
And that’s probably the closest most people not afflicted with leprosy, may ever get to experiencing what it feels like to be a leper. Like I tell people based on my personal experience, if you want to know those who really like you for who you are, watch what happens if/when bad times appear. If such times don’t show – and you’re keen – try the trick of “pretending” that things are not going well for you.
Note that it may take a while to see the ripple effects. People like this generally stick around to see if things will get better. If you keep it up long enough, they’ll show their true colours. Some will come to see what they can get off you in your vulnerable state. But most will simply disappear – and won’t even return your calls. You would have become a leper in their eyes. And no matter how “friendly you try to act, they’ll be resolute about keeping you at more than arm’s length.
The irony is that when a person is successful, but won’t let them get close to him/her, these same friends and relatives (and even strangers!) readily accuse him/her of being “unfriendly”.
Isn’t it funny how the successful person who chooses to be friendly and makes him/herself available to them, gets conveniently dumped or even ostracized as soon as misfortune befalls him/her?
Here’s what you should take away from this: You can never be sure why people choose to befriend or associate closely with you – especially when you’re doing well. Develop the ability to better identify those who seek you out for selfish gain, so you do not waste energy investing emotionally or otherwise in building relationships with them.
To become successful – and stay that way – you must surround yourself with the right kind of people. True friends will readily support you regardless of what happens – even if you get falsely accused and it’s in the news. When the inevitable challenges come, if you don’t have such people in your inner circle, you could end up being a friendly leper no one likes!
Unlike machines which once exposed to the same inputs and conditions, are able to turn out similar performances, human beings are incapable of delivering uniform output when subjected to similar stimuli.
Recall back when you were in school. All the students in a particular group attended the same classes/lectures for weeks. Often, the teacher or lecturer would be the same person, possibly even using the same old notes from many years before. Yet, at the end of the semester or term, some students would score “A”s while others would score “C”s – and some would fail!
I have always wonderered what could possibly cause so much variation in the final performances of people exposed to the exact same “learning sources”. Admittedly, some students may do well because they are gifted in “class work” or academics. Oftentimes however, the reality tends to be that those who did not do well actually failed to make adequate personal efforts, to ensure they understood what was taught in class and prepare properly for the exams.
Similarly, whether or not an employee’s workplace performance improves will depend mainly on his/her readiness or otherwise, to use the resources around him to do so. If s/he decides for instance to practice some self-development, then reading a book on “How to apply Statistical Process Control” in the department’s manufacturing process, could prove just as useful as an expensive course on the same subject in a business school class.
Waiting for the company to send you on business school courses each time you want to improve yourself, may however not be realistic. Employees who become high flyers often do so by taking the initiative of managing their own training and development. I recall attending a management-training course in 2001, at Ijebu-Ode while employed as a middle level manager in a large multinational manufacturer.
During the course, we were taken through what my boss later summed up – quite aptly – to be a training on “Best Practice Management concepts”. About 14 management competencies, considered desirable in every good manager were elaborated upon. At the close of the course, the UK based expatriate facilitator encouraged us to read management books that could help us build on learnings from the course.
The books he recommended covered topics such as “Influencing others/Managing disagreements”, “Motivating others”, “Coaching others”, “Fostering teamwork” etc. After listening for some time as he elaborated on the benefits of the books, and the fact that we might have to part with some good money to get hold of them, I raised my hand. He signalled for me to speak, and I said (though not in the exact words below):
“Just a suggestion John, but I believe most of the competencies we’re discussing are actually quite well covered in a book written by Dale Carnegie titled “How to win friends and influence people” in very simple yet concise language. Many people will find the book invaluable as a practical guide to developing most of these competencies. Copies of the book are now locally available in Nigeria at N400.00. It’s that cheap because it is now reprinted in Nigeria – with permission – by an African pastors’ group based in Benin City”.
John went on to express his agreement with my comments, and confirmed that the little book did actually offer useful practical tips in the areas we had been discussing. The point being made here is that oftentimes what we think will require a complex solution, actually might be easily addressed using the simplest resources/methods well within our capability/control. There’s no point trying to kill a fly with a hammer.
Your development into a high flyer in your current workplace, is unlikely to require exclusive attendance of expensive courses. Most of what you need is already in your company – especially the on-the-job workplace experiences you can expose yourself to, in any department you fancy. You also stand to gain a lot from experienced employees (both subordinate and superior), from whose well of wisdom you can reliably drink to quench your thirst for knowledge that will take you to the top.
If you’re not lazy, and you adopt a pragmatic approach, you’ll rise quickly to any position you set your sights on by quietly acquiring useful knowledge and skills, then using them to excel in a way that impresses your company’s leaders. Sooner than later, they’ll call on you to show them more of what you can do. Why? Because your performance will make it obvious you can be more USEFUL to the company, if given a chance.
If your peers who joined the company at the same time as you did, fail to diligently pursue their on-the-job development in the same way, you’ll climb up the corporate ladder to recognition and prominence, leaving them behind.
Then they’ll find themselves getting asked by others in the company how come you’re up there, and they are still down there! The human tendency for non-uniform performance would have again manifested.
But at least for you, it would be a story with a good ending.
Good luck.
Do you know what happens when you type a web address or URL (like www.tayosolagbade.com) into your Internet Explorer browser’s URL entry bar, and click “GO” or press “Enter”? Read this article to learn what happens, and how/why this process sometimes can become slow to the point that it frustrates users like yourself!
(TIP: This article is 10 years old this month. It was first published online via spontaneousdevelopment.com – now defunct – on 1st March 2007 | I republished it via tayosolagbade.com on Jun 29, 2012 – and I’m re-purposing it here, as a public service via tayosolagbade.com/sdnuggets – my blog – today, 27th March 2017)
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Tayo K. Solagbade* Self-Development/Performance Improvement Specialist *Best Practice Farm Business Support Specialist & Founder of the MS Excel Heaven Visual Basic Automation Club and Competition Mobile: +234-803-302-1263 (in Nigeria) or +229-66-122-136 (in Benin Republic) Tayo K. Solagbade is a Location Independent Performance Improvement Specialist and Multipreneur (i.e. a highly versatile/multi-skilled entrepreneur), with a bias for delivering Best Practice solutions to Farm Businesses and others. Since 2002, he has earned multiple streams of income providing individuals and organizations with personal development training and coaching, custom MS Excel-VB solutions, web marketing systems/web hosting, freelance writing services, and best practice extension support services (for farm business owners). Tayo is the author of the Self-Development (SD) Bible™ and the popular Livestock Feed Formulation Handbook. He is also the developer of its accompanying Excel-VB driven Ration Formulator™ and the Poultry Farm Manager™ software. He has delivered talks/papers to audiences in various groups and organizations, including the Centre for Management Development, University of Lagos, Christ Baptist Church, Volunteer Corps, Tantalisers Fast Foods and others. In May 2012 he was the Guest Speaker at the Centre for Entrepreneurship Development’s Annual Semester Entrepreneurial Lecture at Yaba College of Technology in Lagos. On 1st April 2013, Tayo (who reads, write and speaks the French language) relocated to Cotonou, Benin Republic to begin slowly traveling across the West African region. His key purpose is to deliver talks, seminars and workshops on his key areas of focus and interest to interested audiences (Email tayo at tksola dot com for details). In a previous life, before leaving to become self-employed, Tayo served for seven years (October 1994 to December 2001) as a high performing manager in Guinness Nigeria. He rose from Shift Brewer to Training & Technical Development Manager, and later acted in senior roles as Production Manager and Technical Manager. In addition to constantly challenging the status quo and influencing positive work changes, he built a reputation for using self-taught spreadsheet programming skills (starting with Lotus 1-2-3, and later moving to Excel Visual Basic) – in his spare time – to develop Automated Spreadsheet Applications to computerize manual report generation processes in the departments he worked. Over four(4) of his applications were adopted for brewery level reporting. Tayo holds a B.Sc degree in Agricultural Extension Services from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, having graduated top of his class – with Second Class Upper Division honors – in 1992. He is an Associate Member of the UK Institute & Guild of Brewing, a 1997 National Finalist of the Nigerian Institute of Management’s(NIM) Young Managers’ competition, a Certified Psychometric Test Administrator for Psytech UK, innovator of Spontaneous Coaching for Self-Development™ (SCfS-D™), and Founder of the Self-Development Academy (SDAc). When he’s not amazing clients with his superhuman skills (wink), Tayo works as the creative force behind his Daily Self-Development Nuggets blog – on which he also publishes The Farm CEO Weekly Newspaper (sent via email to paid subscribers) and his Weekly Performance Improvement IDEAS newsletter. You can connect with him on Twitter @tksola.com and Facebook. Visit Tayo Solagbade Dot Com, to download over over 10 performance improvement resources to boost your personal and work related productivity. ====
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Not many people have the ability to competently carry out multiple tasks simultaneously, and deliver satisfactory results on each task – consistently. Fewer still are comfortable with continually learning to do many things at the same time. Yet, in every society we find there are always a select few who seem to thrive doing just that. Expressions in daily conversation coined to describe such persons include “man-of-many-parts”, “one-who-wears-many-hats”, “multi-talented”, “multi-skilled”, “versatile” etc. This article describes an unusual – but well established – practice in which certain individuals intelligently combine their(sometimes self-taught) skills in a variety of related fields to successfully – and repeatedly – deliver desired results( to employers), or products and services(to clients/ customers).
First published online: 2006
(This article is one of twenty-five(25) contained in Tayo Solagbade’s Ebook titled “25 Articles/True Stories On Self-Development, Entrepeneuring & Web Marketing To Help You Succeed More Often“) Continue reading
