I know. It can be discouraging and downright annoying, dealing with a boss, colleague or even a friend who has forgotten your value. Do you know someone like that?
What would you do if those who usually trust you or depend on you suddenly forget your value and start treating you strangely because of a simple mistake.
This post is specially for anyone out there who is feeling any of these:
A: These people have forgotten my worth
B: These people don’t know my worth
Shehu knows how you feel and I know what you can do to help the situation.
Shehu was the Financial Adviser to the President of Supplied Rite Enterprises. His job involved managing payments to vendors, managing the accounts and being the eyes and ears of his boss, Mrs. Okoro. He monitoring all transactions involving money and ensured everything was done by the book. During the 5 years that he had worked for Mrs. Okoro he had uncovered and prevented fraud worth millions of Naira. Over time, he became Mrs. Okoro’s right hand man, she trusted his judgment and went with whatever decisions he suggested.
One day things changed, for the first time! Unfortunately for Shehu, he made a big blunder in preparing the financial statement and left out important information. Mrs Okoro was shocked and afterwards became skeptical. She realized how much she depended on his advice and wondered if he had actually been stealing from her and intelligently covering it up all along. She thought, maybe his recent error was God’s intervention to make her see who he truly was. From that day, her attitude toward Shehu changed. She stopped letting him in on her plans and made decisions without consulting him. He understood her change in behavior for a while but after sometime, he got very upset.
“At least the 5 years of loyalty should count for something. Am I a thief? why is she requesting these unnecessary reports?” One day Shehu was so upset that he decided, “There is no need killing myself for someone who does not appreciate and trust me, does she think she would have caught me if I was actually stealing? Okay let’s see.” From that day, Shehu began to cut corners, take bribes and cover his tracks. When Mrs. Okoro finally caught him, she was flabbergasted at how he managed to fool her for 6 years. He was arrested.
His 1 year of misbehavior tainted the previous 5 years of a perfect record. It would have been better for him if he had left the organization and gone to start afresh proving himself somewhere else. It may have been best, if he had taken the advice I am about to give you.
lt is great to be celebrated and appreciated. Congratulations if you are currently in this position. However, a day may come when the people around you forget the wonderful things you once did. Maybe you are having a personal issue that is affecting your performance at work, or you may be newly in-love suddenly distracted at work. Anything can make you fall below your usual level of performance. It could be that your leader, boss, friend or partner hurt your feelings and you have become discouraged. You could made a mistake and everyone suddenly forgets your perfect record.
Many ideas will run through your mind when you realize that you are being treated less than you deserve: LEAVE, GET REVENGE, COMPLAIN, STOP BEING AMAZING, BECOME WHO THEY THINK YOU ARE e.t.c, but there is a great way to deal with this…Remind Them!!!
How?
· If you try to remind them talking about your past record, it may not be convincing enough
· If you try to remind them by taking them on a guilt trip for not asking you if everything is okay and why you have changed, it will not work either
· The worst way to try to remind someone of your value is by acting in line with their suspicions just to prove them wrong and show them the difference, you will only confirm their worries and even erase the good they felt you were doing before
· The best way to truly remind someone of your worth is this: Start Fresh, Keep being you and Do More
If Shehu had known this, he would have showcased his uprightness, worked hard to uncover more errors, apologized and allowed Mrs. Okoro time to remember who he really was and how valuable he is to her business. His actions were what convinced her in the first place and his consistency would have reminded her. He could have also left and gotten another job where he would still need to do all these things to convince a new boss anyway. He didn't know this, but now you do, so next time you are tempted to slow down at work because of an issue, ask yourself if you are really willing for the organization/person to forever forget how valuable you are.
IN SHORT:
If you are in a new environment and they don’t know what you are made of or what you can do…Prove Yourself.
If you were once the yard stick of fidelity, integrity, honesty and faithfulness but for one misunderstanding or another, you lose the respect you once got….Start Over
If you feel you’re not being appreciated and your good goes unnoticed…Improve Yourself
Accept the fact that you are human and it is possible that you may slip sometimes. If saying sorry does not make a person believe that you are still who you used to be, do not fly of the handle reinforcing the things they are complaining about. Instead of simply trying to convince them…Remind Them
Thank you for reading. Please post a comment, question or even advice for anyone in this situation if you have faced it before.
God bless
Ukinebo