Today, one of my author-friends (Mr Dickson Mushabe, East African Regional Director, Dickson Mushabe; Author of “I am Not Sorry For My Mistakes”) wrote the following on his Facebook wall:
Be nice to everyone. You will surprised at how much valuable information the cleaner at your company might have. You will surprised that your tea girl at office has some bits of the discussions from the high profile meetings that happen in the board rooms. Well, she serves them tea as they discuss. Just be nice. You never know. I have been helped by the least expected people on many occasions. I doubt I am alone.
Dickson Mushabe, CEO – Hostalite
Right Help From “Wrong” Places:
That made me to think through my own life and I ascertained that he was surely not alone. Just imagine that one morning when I went to this high profile bookshop in the heart of Kampala City to check on how my book products were doing. As always, I first spent some two minutes chatting with this askari (security personnel) at the entrance. Here is the brief conversation that went on between us:
Askari: “Oh, welcome sir. So have you come to supply more copies of your book on Leadership?”
Bakutana: “No, my friend. I have only come to check on how they are actually doing.”
Askari: “No, they are finished already. There were only two copies remaining yesterday but two tall Sudanese men came and took those two copies. I thought you had actually been told to bring more copies…”
Well, after a little chat, I entered and talked with the “responsible” person who clicked a button here and another there on the business computer and confidently told me that they still had about 8 copies of my book unsold. I kindly implored her to come with me and we locate those copies on the shelves only to find no copy whatsoever.
We Better Learn Our Good Lesson:
Indeed, be good to all. You never know who will be of help the next minute. I am sure this askari did not know the details of all the books in the bookshop. But he surely was following up the books written by this other tall, dark and handsome man (“TDH” as my lovely wife calls me) who always chats with him at the entrance and sometimes leaves him with some little money just for a bottle of drinking water, etc.
JBG: Just Be Good…
Let it be known to us today that in relationships, SMALL IS BIG. Period. All the rest are lies. Go and just be good to the great and the small. Be good to the CEO and his cleaner. Be good to the MD and her gate keeper. Be good to the Chairman and his receptionist. Be good to the President and his tea girl. Be good to the Minister and her driver. Be good to the Bishop and his herdsman. JBG: Just Be Good… Your estimation of people’s worth and ability to be of help could be the farthest from truth. The small boy you are kicking around could be the next President!
Thanks Dickson for triggering this post.
#JBG
Yours faithfully,
Samuel A. Bakutana
“Inspiring transformational, exemplary and authentic leadership worldwide.”
