Pits and Falls of Building on Another's Foundation

After toiling tirelessly at 'another man’s' enterprise, my friend Tendwa was requested to take her labour and passion elsewhere. The suddenness of her firing, has left me sad and awakened to the fickle nature of twenty-first century employment.

You see, Tendwa is a pro. Her peers look to her to catch a glimpse of where the industry is going. She has clocked the mandatory 10,000 hours that experts say is required to make one a guru in their field. That, coupled with the fact that she is endowed with killer talent makes her a deadly weapon in the competitor's hand. So, if anyone's job was secure, hers was..., or so we thought.

Her career , began to unravel when a new ‘pharaoh' came to town. His efforts at re-deploying, taming or at least reconditioning her were thwarted and out-wiggled by her clever maneuvering. Eventually, the boss unleashed his ace -termination of contract.

Her scarlet list of corporate sins was long and unpardonable. Under the new regime, she had fallen into the pit of overconfidence and over-competence. On the omission spectrum, she had trespassed by not understanding the reality of the boss’ insecurity and thereby overlooking a fragile ego that needed periodic stroking.

In the end, a cock-and-bull story about why they were letting her go was concocted. It was said that the company could no longer afford her. However, they were also not willing to let the fact that she was ready to take a pay cut bother them.

In the absence of proper communication from the higher-ups, the rumour mills in the industry are churning speculations by the day. The staff are looking to jump ship and take their labour to less turbulent waters.  Their own insecurity has them asking: ‘If they did this to our captain, what will they do to us, mere mortals?’.....

The Bottom line:
As you serve your employer diligently and whole-heartedly, never lose sight of the fact that as long as you are building on another man’s foundation, you are only a signature away from the Pink slip! Think about your future. Hone your skills and competence to ensure that you are easily absorbed into the job market, or are marketable enough to trade your sweat with the highest bidder. Dear employee, options belong to the enterprising and competent souls.

..... Thankfully, Tendwa shouldn't have a hard time going either way! #DivineDiversions!