Square Pegs and Round Holes

In the early stages of his career, Jide had a boss who was very impressed with his performance. He gave him a lot of exposure and ensured he was involved in the major activities of the group, in spite of his relatively junior position. Jide did well at everything assignment he was given. Oga constantly got positive feedback from stakeholders about him. He was on a roll it seemed. At every annual appraisal, he would ask Oga about his performance and areas of improvement, beyond the showers of praise and bullet points of accomplishment he had written in his report. “You’re doing well. No complaints. Just keep doing what you’re doing”, he would say.

Each time the company announced the elevation of people to positions that he had in his future scope, he would note the qualifications, behaviours, attributes, and skills that they based the selection on and  would assess himself against these and come short on a good number of them. He came to the conclusion that he was not growing. He was just good enough for the expectations and current needs of this current job, it seemed. So he elected to vie for another job.

After he was selected for the new position, he went to his wonderful boss for his blessing. Sad to see me leave, Oga shut the office door and told him two areas that he thought he should look to improve on if he was to go far in “this business”. Hmmm…and he never  said anything all these years.

Why only now?

“Because I did not want to discourage you. You were doing well above your peers and I did not see the need to dampen your spirit. I felt it was better to keep encouraging you instead”, was Oga’s response.

Jide thanked him and moved on.

The next job was more of an interregnum and a good fork in the road. Capital project assignment, lots of travel, new people, ample family time, cultural exchange, etc. Life was good! Many lessons there too. He was an independent contributor who had scant interaction with leadership. But I’ll fast forward to the one after that. Same company, new role and back to HQ.  The boss was a straight shooter. He called Jide to his office on his first day and had a chat to welcome him. He told him that of the people interviewed, he was not necessarily the best on paper, but had a key ingredient they were looking for. However, if he was to succeed, he would need, among others, those same (two) attributes/skills that the first boss (belatedly) spoke of years ago at his exit interview. He sighed inside. He had really not learned much.

So he set to work. Through the performance year, his boss would constantly ask about him from the client group and give him honest direct feedback on his progress towards attaining the unit’s goals and imbibing those skills and behaviors they had spoken about when he joined. Also, Jide opened a line of communication with the client group manager on his service delivery and behavior. Honest feedback after direct feedback, with tips and directions on how to improve and more opportunities to extend him, came from these folks. His first appraisal was his very first “just average” report since he joined the company. But it contained lots of text on his contribution, and the areas needing improvement and to be focused on for the next year.  Even with his all-time worst appraisal score, he left feeling good. This looked real, unlike the powder puffed “empty praises” he had been receiving from previous Ogas. He carefully made notes of the key areas needing improvement.

After 18 months, he left that position for another one. It was a strategic placement that took him two steps up. At the debrief session with these two managers, he was shown a matrix of how he performed, his contribution to the group and client and the legacy he would be leaving behind. They told him they would have never let him go, but that he had been noticed by someone high up in management and had been poached! He almost cried. He could not believe they were speaking about him. Apparently, he had become exceptional.

In his next job, he was a supervisor to some up and coming employees. He used the lessons learned from these last two managers in nurturing and shaping his direct reports as much as he could. Years later, moving up with a new position and different area of focus, he would routinely come across or hear about employees who had passed through him. He could see the handwork of those two managers, who though tough, were honest with him. The ones who called him out as needed, and gave direction on how to improve. The ones who were not afraid to tell him the truth, though they liked his work. Those he supervised had benefited from what he learned from two old chaps they will probably never meet. The system worked and he was glad to be part of the chain.

No matter how much you like someone or appreciate their service, never fail to call them out on their failings or weak points. Use that as an opportunity to positively affect their future. There’s always an area needing improvement in everyone…even champions.

Those that watch you go astray just to be seen as “in your corner” are not helping you. Feedback should be specific, relevant and timely while the expected outcomes from follow up should be understood, measurable and attainable.

You think you’re good? Maybe the best? You can be even better.

SAN

I woke up this morning and my friend, Aijay the Cyberagbero, pointed me to this gem of a letter from Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah, titled “Hour of Truth – Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah’s Economic/Financial Intervention (N200 per Dollar) – Volume I”.

As is my wont, I tend to forgo the substance for more important matters of “serious national importance” like these gems of quotable quotes from the long treatise.

I have numbered them serially just for reference. Let us know which one is your best quote in the comments section.

Enjoy.

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Change must be holistic and systemic; with its result being the pulling down of paradigms and establishment of new ways that enable the corporate vision to be achieved in a sustainable manner. Change must be endearing and capable of building institutions that not only replicate themselves across diverse spheres of the polity and endeavour , but grow and improve continually through different situations and times whilst gathering champions from among the citizens in its wake.

So before speaking of change, leaders have to see and communicate a vision, assemble a competent team of believers who can chart strategies and execute tactical plans towards achieving this vision and be the face of this change as champions displaying exemplary conduct.

Also, the citizens must see what’s in it for them, buy into and sustain the vision through their own day to day actions.

This is when change is complete.

SAN

The Pope recently was quoted as saying anyone who builds walls to separate families and people is not a Christian as this was not what Christ preached, etc.

Donald Trump responded by saying it was disgraceful for the The Pope to be questioning his faith. 

The US Catholic spokesman also clarified the Pope’s comment and responded to questions around the poser raised on the Vatican’s own walls with the comment below:

“The walls at the Vatican were built in the 1800s to keep out Barbarians from the city”.

Compare this with Trump’s statement on building a wall: 

“I would build a wall around the US borders to keep out murderers, drug dealers and rapists from coming to the US”.

What’s the difference?

_________________________________

Watch video from CNN here:

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/02/18/politics/pope-francis-trump-christian-wall/index.html

SAN

In the course of interviewing and screening several candidates for the position of domestic helper in my home, we requested medical test results for some basic communicable medical conditions from the candidates. These tests are usually carried out at a reputable private hospital not far from our home.

One candidate came back with a test result that had hepatitis B as positive. As is routine, we approached the doctor, with the candidate, for a proper interpretation of the results. We were told her sample showed a strong strain of hepatitis B that was active and easily communicable. On interviewing the young lady further she told us she had been suffering some of the symptoms for some time now. This was further confirmed by the doctor after a brief examination. He told us about her discoloured skin, etc.

We decided we could not hire her as a domestic helper in this present condition, as working in the kitchen and sharing utensils, etc., might expose our household to this illness. We communicated our decision, counselled her and gave her enough money to visit the general hospital in her neighbourhood, carry out a repeat test, commence treatment, buy drugs and get by for a while.

Visibly disappointed, she thanked us and left for home. She sent my wife the text message, in the screenshot below, a day later.

The summary of it is that she thanked us for the money and kindness and also rejected the notion that she was ill. By faith, He that is in her is greater than whatever sickness the devil has thrown her way. Well, true.

However, we sensed some form of denial  and decided to call her. We observed she was still adamant on her stand that the test results (and even symptoms) did not really prove she was ill, ascribing it to the enemy trying to prevent her from getting a job and things along those lines.
We managed to counsel her by giving several examples and that even pastors still went to hospitals for check ups, treatment, surgeries and other medical interventions.  We told her it was not necessarily a judgement on her faith and that the Christian faith recognizes the position of physicians in the society, etc. In the end, she agreed to visit the local general hospital for another test and consultation, etc. On a subsequent call she confirmed she had commenced consultations at the general hospital in. We shall be calling her later to get an update.

SAN

Epilogue – February 25, 2016 

It’s now been about three weeks since our encounter with “Mercy” (the meaning of her name in English). We hired one of the candidates from the pack about a week ago. We tried calling Mercy without any success. Yesterday, my wife enquired about her well being from the lady who referred her. She said she believed that the prophetess at Mercy’s Church told her to disregard the medical tests as false witness from the devil. She has since been hired by a local eatery.

Be rest assured that I’ll follow up on the location and engage in the best interest of Mercy and the public and within the bounds of empathy and ethical consideration. I’ll do an update post on it in future. .

But, what laws/regulations do we have in place for public or municipal health and how are they enforced? Also, If a private citizen can carry out this basic rigour as a pre-requisite for employing domestic help, how come some public eateries don’t do same? What if she’s actually working for a mama-put? Do these ones even fall under these regulations, or are our civil servants more interested in inspecting the shiny restaurants and eateries? As a citizen, can you ask to see the health certificates of the staff of the next place you go to eat? Do you even know your local government public health office? What is your role?

  
Truth be told, the “I am (not) a criminal” saga was a welcome distraction for many Buharists and informal presidential mouthpieces. It trended just as another piece of news snuck into the stands and disappeared in a hale of English comprehension lessons and different versions of that (London) Telegraph interview.

Lucky folks. For how would they have come back from their initial defense of the budget to Buhari now sacking all those senior civil servants for bungling the budget and padding it with a record N1.7T in pork chops or is it yams now? Same budget that “we did not understand” as we are not trained economists but empty vessel armchair critics? Same one that zero budgeting would have taken care of? Same one that had a multi billion Naira state house hospital capital expenditure that was ok, as it would stop medical tourism by the state house residents? Same budget that the health minister has now denied as not being his???

The most interesting part for me was our conversations before ministers were appointed. You know…when all those nice pictures of Mr.P breaking bread at Ramadan, with all those perm secs at the villa, was shared with glee across our online space. 

The refrain then was: 

“what do ministers do sef?”

“Perm secs do all the work”

“Ministers only drive convoys and blow sirens”

“Yes, they are noisemakers!”

“Buhari can run the government without ministers”

“Perm secs are responsible for the budget…they write it after all”

On the note of who is responsible for the budget, they did not care about our argument of responsible Vs accountable and task doer Vs task owner. They also turned a deaf ear when we told them how same perm secs must have been part of the rot of the Jonathan years, as signatories to release of illicit funds, etc. So now, how many perm secs did you call out for the budget scandal? Do you even know the name of the perm secs for any of Fashola’s or Fayemi’s ministries? Yet you went to town on these two ministers and their billion naira pork chopped official residence and bogus N800m website line items? Not perm Sec anymore?

Anyhow, you did the right thing. Fashola is accountable and even responsible and Mr. P is ultimately responsible and owns the outcomes, good or bad.

And perm secs? Well, on behalf of the ministers, they run and administer the  bureaucratic apparatus and structure that carries out actions ranging from strategy to planning and execution, in the delivery of the ends of governance. 

Opinions that will enrich my learning are welcome.

SAN