The office is a place where many a-people
assemble for a common goal. That of course is when you remove SoHo (Small
Office Home Office) from the definition. The office is a place of business
making and transaction taking.
No business is a business if there are no
transactions and no transaction is transact-able without PEOPLE. So you get my
drift? People are important in any and every organisation. Some organisations
have 10 people working for it, some have 10, 000 and more. However, the more
the people the more the frictions, chaos and possible theft going unnoticed. Some
corporations have devised means to curb this but today I will be talking about
how individuals can relate with each other in the office and have a likeable
personality that none can fault; yeah, I mean it, none can fault YOU.
Quickly, I have 3 steps (although the steps
are limitless in my head but I don’t want to bore my reading audience so I will
make it as simple as possible) that you can take to become the most likeable person
in your office, relate easily and enjoy your work.
1) KNOW
THYSELF: The phrase 'KNOW
THYSELF' is of Greek origin. According to the Greek periegetic the
phrase was inscribed in the forecourt of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. This phrase
was written to instigate the temple worshippers to have a inner searching and
discovery of the destiny that awaits them. Fast forward to the 21st century, it
is inadvertently as important as the food we eat, to know thyself likewise. Every
soul that exist on mother earth should find out why they are here. Soul searching
is very important and if you are to work successfully with people, meander
their lives with them as much as they will with you, you need to know who you
are. Not the name you bear, or the place you hail from but the destiny you bear
and place you aim to be in your future, as seen in your inner eye. That might
be impossible if you don’t know your temperament. You know, temperament things
helped me a lot because as soon as I discovered myself, I blended into any and
everywhere I found myself. SANGUINE,
MELANCHOLY, CHOLERIC AND PHLEGMATIC. We also have the combinations of all
these attributes and characteristics but this is not a thesis paper on temperament
so I won't digress. Once you know the kind of person that you are, it just
makes simple sense that you will guide against the type of people you relate with
such that brings out the worst in you. I have heard people say stuffs like
"why do I always have bad friends?" that is a pathetic statement but
the fault lies solely at such a person's doorstep. Don’t get me wrong, fully
comprehending oneself is hard to achieve. But Rev Conrad Hock says something
very instructional in his book The Four
Temperament;
"A
person possesses only slight knowledge of himself. He neither recognizes his
good or evil disposition, nor does he understand the intensity of his own evil
inclinations and the degree of his excitability; consequently he will not have
a clear idea of his temperament. If anyone tries to assist him to know himself
by questioning him, he gives false answers, not intentionally, but simply
because he does not know himself. If such persons begin to devote themselves to
a more spiritual life, they can usually acquire a fairly reliable diagnosis of
their temperament only after they have practiced meditation and examination of
conscience for some length of time.
This simply means that a person that will
know him or herself will need a place of meditation
and examination of conscience for some length of time. Ahn ahn, now you
understand shay? On to the next one!
2) KNOW
THE WOLVES IN SHEEP CLOTHINGS: I have come to learn the hard way that in a
place like an office, as such as it is with other human gatherings; church,
political meetings or even family union, everyone is simply fighting for his or
her inalienable right to be first among equals, EVERYONE. That is not bad in
itself except for the tactics used sometimes in achieving this goal. So trust
me dear, no one's really got your back, except you work in your father's
organisation. A person who helps you sign in today is digging your grave of
career assasination. Be nice but owe no one favours in a work place. If you
ever have to do any malfeasance, make sure your working alone (no accomplice I mean).
In a work place, some people come as sheep but are worse than wolves. They are
nice et al, acting all brotherly or sisterly but all they search for are the
weaknesses in you to nail you. Don’t avoid people like that, you may need them
someday but never under any circumstances sell out to them. The ones who keep
the distance and just don’t associate too much especially with you are the ones
you should pay their transport fare when you eventually board same bus (you get
the drift?). however, the most important ones to identify and nullify are the
ones whose voices always carry weight around the office. When they speak,
everyone listens. They are funny, nice, abrasive and love to cuddle all the
ladies so as to show their masculinity. You know those people right? Yeah, they
behave as if they are the in-thing. Don’t fight them, in fact, friend them. Gradually
permeate his clique (oh trust me, he won't initially allow it but you need to
persist) with knowledge and not force. Let me share my experience. When I started
working in my present place of work (I hope none of my colleagues are reading
this though), I had this guy who got all the girls, his voice was order. It's not
like he is violent but being a founding member of the company, coupled with his
expertise in what he does and his good sense of humour, everyone had no choice
but to listen. As it is with the pride of a lion, a new lion is always a threat
so the old one guides his pride jealously and wades off the new one on the
bloc. So I had to be extremely cautious and kept a happy face always. Gradually,
when the boss is not around, we had these large chat in the office and
naturally Mr. Best (let me just give him that name for reference purpose)
moderates as usual cause he is the coolest and his words are final. I avoided
issues that will make us argue, I made sure I only responded to issues that we
both agreed on. As time went on, he discovered that I had vast knowledge on
issues as well but not in such a way to challenge his authority. (You see all
these things are in the mind not really what we discussed but actions speaks
louder than voice sometimes). I needed to do something that will also give me
credence in the office and so I searched for the challenges the office had and I
fixed it. The moment I fixed that lingering problem, I fixated the minds of
everyone and they began to see me also as an important figure in the office,
not such to displace the other but one you can't ignore. Don’t unnecessarily
create enemies for yourself. Don’t try and be the best, just be the best and
that is achievable in service and not words. Fix the problem without being told
and ask for no reward for it. Coupled with my good sense of humour, my words
carry as much weight as the former leader of the pack, that is if not more.
3.) KNOW
YOUR JOB: (and know how to do it very
wellllllllllllllllll) I will say that many a-people can't comprehend their job,
what they are being paid for to do. They take up jobs that can hamper their
health, destroy their relationships and ruin their reputation. You don’t have
to. I stayed without office job for a while, not in the want of none but
because the right job just wasn’t available. The type, like this, that will
enhance my creativity and not destroy it. The one that will give me space do
what I love doing and yet give me time to live my life even outside of it. I know
it is hard to find such jobs these days so what did I do? I went in search of
myself. I kept doing what I love to do even without pay. I rendered my services
free if I have to. I empowered others. I taught. I researched. I was
relentless. I did MC's, I DJ'ed, I sang in churches, I wrote radio scripts, TV
scripts, stage scripts. I helped organise local events. I evolved with my
talents through relentless pushing of my abilities and when the job came, I was
too ready. All the projects my boss gave me, he always said after completion;
"Wow, this is fantastic. I didn’t even envisage it will be as good as
this". Trust me, you want your boss to praise you like that in front of
your colleagues. But all of that came from not settling for "oh, I must
get a job by force even when I haven't trained myself to be ready for the
job". It came from the jobs I did without pay but garnering of experience.
If you know your job, your colleagues will respect you, your boss will praise
you and your head will, ehm ehm, give me an adjective to use, swell (for want of words…LoL)
So now you know what to do to help you go
through office hours as if you are the boss. Share with friends this page. Ehm,
not the ones you hope to outsmart tho. LOL
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