Welcome to the May 15th edition of Faith & Life Lessons.
You will see this email full of tidbits from my week. My goal is simple. I hope that from how I live my life, you can find a thing or two that helps you as you try to live a life that matters. I am always trying to do one thing - make Christ-focused decisions in love, work, and life. And this was my week.
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The Story of My Week
I had a team from head office with me throughout the week.
They were in town because of a project.
The previous MD had done some work to get it started.
I picked up from where he stopped and we are ready for the A-Ok from head office to go green on the project.
I had presented the strategy for starting up with the higher-ups and that was when it got jiggy.
I’m operating in a francophone country, head office is anglophone, meaning that projects are run differently.
This was clear in the questions that came up during my session with the higher-ups.
So, they sent a technical team to get a better lay of the land.
We brought in the consultants working with us on the project.
They asked them all the questions - sometimes it works better for consultants to defend their turf instead of speaking on their behalf.
A senior member of the team from the head office told me that she was also looking at my engagement with members of my team.
The previous MD had led the team for over a decade and was Senegalese.
I am Nigerian so how would I get the team to accept me?
By reassuring them that their interests still remain a priority.
I developed an equation for my management. Staff + Customers = Shareholders.
When I take care of staff, they will take care of customers who will take care of shareholders.
My simple maths.
The senior staff said she could see that we had a collaborative work environment.
It’s not all me.
It’s also the great work of the team.
And that showed in how much work they are putting in to make this project go live.
This was clear to the visiting team.
Success will come for the group.
Things I Learnt
1-Do to Tell: I was listening to Molly Fletcher tell an interesting story during the week.
CNN refers to her as the female Jerry Maguire of professional athletes agents.
When she was in her 20s, she tried to get a meetup with Zig Ziglar. Zig was gracious to give her about 20 minutes of his time.
She told him that she wanted to do what he did. She wanted to be a public speaker.
Zig gave her his candid advice “Do something first then talk about it”
And that’s what she did.
She spent the first part of her life doing something. What she did have her a platform to have something to say.
That’s a piece of great advice to live by.
Live enough life so that you can talk about the life lived.
There is more power from a life lived than a collection of other people’s stories or life principles.
2-The Limit of Parental Control: The school had a career day for one of our kids.
The kids were asked to dress up as their future careers.
A week before, my kid had told me about the career he wanted. After which we ran ideas for his costume.
Nothing fancy. It was coming from his wardrobe.
There were a couple of design additions that would add to the story. A little here, a little there, click print, and presto-chango, it’s all here.
I decided to add a couple of special touches. It would be a surprise for him on the morning of the event.
I had added mini printouts to his jungle hat which had individual animals from the jungle.
Each one was cut out separately. A labor of love it was.
As it turned out, he didn’t like it. He thought it the not represent his noble profession.
I tried to explain it once to him. He wasn’t buying my sales pitch.
I told him he could if he wanted.
And that’s what he did.
No matter how much effort I had put into it, this is one situation that he had the deciding vote.
And it’s one of the things I talk about in parenting when I teach the 3 life relationships.
Children can have a vote, voice, or view on decisions. And it takes a wise parent to know what is what in different situations.
I’m still learning.
And this is one situation I showed my learning.
Postscript
May you live with the wisdom God gives to make the right choice in every situation
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Tola - The Everyday Disciple
I help Christians like you who want to live intentional lives incorporate their faith into everyday life so they can make Christ focused decisions in all areas of life and truly live to make an impact and make God happy.
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