When it comes to the little things, watch your attitude!
There’s this portion of the Bible that I really love. It says don’t despise the day of small things. It is in the book of Zechariah. As we desire to make it big and “hammer” as Nigerians will say, we often forget that it is the little things that count. That’s why some people haven’t achieved anything great yet.
Are you faithful in the little things that you have been given? When someone asks you to sweep the floor do squeeze your face and murmur in annoyance or do you sweep that floor with all diligence? Your attitude with the little things will determine how fast greater things will come to you. Let me give you two scenarios to help you grasp what I am trying to say. There’s this young man, let’s call him “Person A” for the purpose of this example. Person A works very hard and has dreams of becoming the CEO of the company he is currently working with. Person A however is merely the gate man. What does Person A do? He carries out his duties with excitement. You can always count on him to give you a smile as he opens and closes the gate behind you. You can rest assured that he is paying attention, checking to see in what way he can be of help to you. Sometimes Person A is sent on errands; to buy puff-puff or fufu and efo (vegetable) at the buka joint nearby. Person A is also gifted at other things. He fixes equipment around the office amongst other things. One thing you can say about Person A is that he is dependable.
Soon enough, a position as a clerk opens up in the company and the HR manager does not need to think too hard about who to recruit for this position. Person A is the man. And so he begins; organising cabinets, filing documents and so on. In his free time he reads some of these documents and asks the staff to explain the things he does not understand. When their hands are full, staff give him minor tasks to do; researching, drafting, vetting etc. Some years later and several qualifications after, Person A becomes an Admin Manager. He rises up the ranks until he gets to … yes you got it … the position of the CEO.
In the second scenario is “Person B”. Person B starts out in the same company as Person A. She is very ambitious. She has calculated that it would take her three years to become the Managing Director. After all, she has what it takes. As a graduate of an Ivy League school, Person B is selective in the tasks she does. How do you expect a whole graduate to go and wash plates for you? She doesn’t have time for that. She doesn’t know a lot of things but when she is corrected, she finds it difficult to take the criticism. How can these local breeds be criticising her work? After some months, she concludes this firm is not for her and she moves on looking for that next job that will pay N500, 000 per month. An interview comes along and as she walks into the interview room, she spots a familiar face; a regular visitor at her previous job who she refused to sort some documents for. She is still in search of her dream job.
It’s obvious from the two scenarios who would go far in life and achieve their dreams. Your dream may be as high as the Eiffel Tower but if the foundation is filled with little bricks of bad attitude, incompetence, pride and indiscipline, that dream will fall down like a pack of cards. Little things matter more than you think. When your boss sends you on that annoying errand, don’t roll your eyes. Do it and focus on where you are going. People are watching you and they can smell a bad attitude from a mile away. Trust me, no one wants to work with someone who has a bad attitude even if they are the most competent person available. So watch your attitude when you are starting out.
The best is ahead of you but you can only get there when you are diligent and faithful in all things, especially the little ones.
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6 Powerful Ways to Make Your Boss Love You
About the Writer: Adedoyin Jaiyesimi is a Writer, Media Content Creator and Brand Manager. The various publications she has written for include Y! Magazine (now Y! Africa), Discovery, Pride Magazine Nigeria, Butterscotch magazine amongst others. She currently holds the position of Brand Communications Manager at Victor Adeyemi Ministries and she is also the founder of LRouge Media, an editorial and brand consultancy company which provides content writing and editing services for business websites, magazines and blogs. When she is not creating content, you can find her in church doing the work of her Father. She tweets @msdoyeen and blogs at
www.adedoyinjaiyesimi.wordpress.com .
