Author Archives: pholarke

WHEN THE BEST INTENTIONS FALL TO NAUGHT

Have you resolved to act or not act in a certain way, and as it were, put your money where your mouth is, only for those plans to fall to naught? Well, you are not alone.

For instance, I told myself I would be a better worker and would trigger this process by not running foul of the resumption time and I actually tried to make it happen but alas!

The other day, I even left my abode a gulping thirty minutes earlier but unbeknownst to me, the forces behind the morning traffic had other plans. So, in spite of my good intentions, dare I say that I ran foul of resumption time.

While, in traffic, I came to terms with the fact that my good intentions were falling to pieces but even with that realisation, came the resolve that, ‘I can get it if I really want…but I must try, try and try, try and tr….y, I’ll succeed at last.’ I think this resolve should resonate with anyone in a similar situation.

Cheers.

When Charisma meets Character…

Are you a team lead who seems to be having problems getting your team mates to work in sync with you? Well, you may choose to whine about it as I have done in the past; or you can get right down to work with the right attitude which is almost certain to motivate your team mates into action. That’s the essence of having character and charisma since it is almost a given that as a leader, you should possess capacity.

While capacity is that sum total of one’s ability or competence, character is that endearing trait, belief or value a person holds. Charisma on its part, is that ability to positively influence others by connecting with them physically, emotionally and intellectually.

So, when charisma meets character…success becomes a constant occurrence.

Keep ruling your world.

That little ERROR!

Just the other day, I received some printed work from the commissioned contractor and was initially all ‘ooohs’ and ‘ahhhhs’ for a job well done until I noticed a single ‘but’ which was sufficient to make me backtrack. This ‘but’ was not a typographical error. In fact, the ‘but’ arose from failure to use the Caps Lock button to begin a significant word.

To be candid, this seemingly little error was sufficient to make me request for a reprint.

This ‘error’ drove home to me the meaning of the admonition in the holy book about different kinds of vessels and the need to make oneself fit for the master’s use. Just as a single spot of red oil on a white cloth can make such cloth ill-fitted for any worthy use, is the same manner, only one ‘little’ error can make us unfit for our Master’s use.

So, let’s watch it!

Jumping to Conclusions

I am a chic who likes to learn from my everyday experiences and recently I made a friend under circumstances which made me realise the futility of jumping to conclusions.

Ok, so I met this friend at a gathering and not surprisingly, Facebook suggested this fellow’s name as a friend. Well typical me, before I add any one on Facebook, I check out our mutual friends and view the profile.

Well would you know, my friend’s profile showed the place of work as a law firm and our only mutual friend was a lecturer at law school. So would you blame me for almost assuming this friend is a lawyer?

Well my assumption was wrong as I found out during subsequent discussions.

So, my last line is that there is always a need to take care lest we break our legs from jumping to conclusions.

Practising what you preach

This note serves as a wake up call to me and any like me who may have slipped in our acts of practicing what we preach.

The other day, I was extolling a colleague on the virtues of checking the water level and what nots of a car daily before heading out. Well, I tried to do the same too, or so I thought.

I was using a ride that didn’t consume much water, judging from my daily checks and I ain’t proud to say this but I started taking the water level for granted and slipped in my daily checks. Well, your guess is as good as mine. One of these fateful days, I checked it in a rush and it seemed ok, so I rushed off to work. Well, would you believe it, when I was heading in late in the day, the car malfunctioned at a very unlikely and I might add, unsafe place. Of course, the mechanic had to come into the picture and his verdict, ‘overheating had damaged so many things in the car.’

I was downcast, not particularly because of the unbudgeted funds I had to dole out for the repair, but for the fact that perhaps, if I had been more careful to practice what I had preached, the malfunction might have been nipped in the bud.

Which brings me to my point that we need to be consistent in practicing what we preach because that occasional slip may just do us in. After all, better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof.

Knowledge’s never in vain…

Ok, so before you think that the header above’s referring to experience being the best teacher, please note that, this is not what I am canvassing in the least, although I admit that, experience is also a way of amassing knowledge.

The story which is the raison d’être for this piece goes thus…

You see, I ‘stabbed’ a tutorial session for an exam a little while ago to attend a youth empowerment session and iGnite the fire in me. It happened that one of the speakers at the iGniting session was formerly a top manager in one of the Nigerian telecommunication giants who decided to quit paid employment to follow his passion of clothing people. Of course, I enjoyed the session, being that I’m a ‘gistomania.’

So, fast forward a few weeks and I had to write the professional exam where one of the questions required justifying a statement that a fat compensation package at work is nice but is not the most important factor in motivating employees.

Of course, I remembered this memorable young clothier’s narration and threw it in to add spice to my answer.

Was the added spice, sufficient to take me to the next level? Only time will tell but my point remains that no knowledge is ever in vain.

Where is the love?

‘People killing, people dying; children hurt, can you hear them crying? can you practice what you preach? And would you turn the other cheek…’ These were the lyrics that resonated across my mind as I prepared soul and body for another week.

Recent happenings around me have made me reflect on the need for tolerance, patience and other virtues that should be held dear. Live and let live as it were.

Still feeling reflective, I sign out with these lyrics I learnt over a decade and half ago: ‘Let there be love shared amongst us, let there be love in our eyes, may now your love sweep this nation, cause us o Lord to arise. Give us a fresh understanding of brotherly love that is real, let there be love shared among us, let there be love…’

Let there be love!

The little things we take for granted…

I was recently assigned some follow-up duties and had to make time out of my somewhat cramped schedule to discharge the duties effectively. 

Well, I managed to discharge the duties reasonably well, if the commendations I got from my contacts are anything to go by.

I turned in my handover notes to my ‘supervisor’ so to speak and he thanked me for a job well done but jokingly remarked that I had not followed-up on him, the originator of the tasks.

Of course, I had a ready flippant answer but later on I meditated on his words and realised the gravity of his seemingly joking statement…

That in life, we sometimes put so much efforts into doing the big things, yet unwittingly disregard the little things which are usually significantly more important.

The above scenario gave me a wake up call (as I hope it does you) on the need not to be too busy that we take the seemingly little things for granted.

Perspective

I used to stifle a scoff anytime I saw a stethoscope hanging from the rear view mirror of a car; but view the lawyer’s NBA sticker stuck on the windscreen of a car as normal, until pretty recently when I started having a rethink…

That placing the stethoscope and the NBA sticker on cars, are both based on the same principle i.e. showcasing your profession; and the difference between the two acts may just be one of degree, as one act appears to be more overt than the other.

As I struggled to come to terms with this insight, I remembered the saying that one should remove the log from one’s eyes before attempting to remove the speck from another’s eyes; and sign out with that.

Thus far…

When I sing that …Grace has found me just as I am, it’s not mere words. My little experiences in life have continually taught me that I am a product of grace and my induction as a chartered tax practitioner today is no exception.

You see, all through my life, it had been smooth sailing academically-wise until I encountered the professional exams into the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) where I got my first tastes of failure.

The first exam I failed was expected but the second was not. Was I weighed down, damn right but did I give up, hell No! 

With each defeat came the determination to rise, and so I trudged on; and would you believe it, just  after my penultimate exams, came the window of opportunity to apply for direct membership. I took it and here I am today, about to say the magic words to be fully inducted.

Ironically, I am being inducted with the same batch as I would have been in but for the mishaps.

So when I sing, ‘Your Grace has found me just as I am…,’ I mean every word, particularly because my experiences have all culminated in making me a better ME.

*raises glass in toast.*