by
Patrick Ogungbola
MD/ CEO, BLUEHEDGE REALTORS
We welcome you to the beautiful month of May 2019. This is also wishing every ‘true worker’ a Happy Workers’ Day. True or Real Workers are people that works and even work itself knows they are working. These are people who go beyond the call of duty and go the extra mile in the discharge of their duties. These are people who are making a huge difference in their work and workplace.
Man is created to work; no one is born to be idle. Can we imagine a world without work? Can we just imagine a situation whereby no one goes to work, everyone just eat and sleep. Can we imagine how monotonous, meaningless and clueless such a life would be. Indeed, such will be a life without a purpose; it is work that gives purpose and meaning to life. God in His infinite wisdom introduced work to beautify our lives.
It is work that dignifies a person. Our true sense of identity is tied to our work, and that’s why when they mention someone’s name, the thing that comes to our mind is where the person works or what he does for a living. Even culturally speaking, during greeting we say, ‘how’s the family?’, then we say, ‘how’s work?’ This writer has thought of it over and over again, and has come to the realization that what we’ve come to do on earth is basically to work. Once a child is born, he or she will be properly catered for and sent to school to be trained and to be well equipped to work so as not to become a nuisance to the family and society at large.
The solution to every man’s problem is packaged in work. Work is the meaningful and productive life activities we engage in. If purpose is not known, abuse is inevitable, and this brings us to the purpose of work. Why do we really work? To many people, the reason is to make as much money as possible to live the kind of life you want, so as to eventually quit working. Then, this will lead us to the next question, if money is the only motivation for work, then what happens if we make enough money than we will ever need in our lifetime, are we going to stop working? Why are the richest people in the world still working, even with all the money they’ve already made? As much as I agree that the crave for money is insatiable even to the super-rich, I also believe that there’s more to life than money. When you study the life of some of the wealthiest people in the world like Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Michael Dell, Carlos Slim, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Denise Coates and our own Aliko Dangote, amongst others, we will observe that they are not amassing wealth just for self-aggrandizement, but they are also among the best philanthropists in the world who gives to various causes. People who have deep understanding of work know that in working, they have an unexplainable fulfilment and a sense of accomplishment. Indeed, there is more to life than money, which is the desire to make positive contributions and lasting impact in the lives of people. Until someone gets to this realm, he will not appreciate the need to go the extra mile in everything he does
From the foregoing therefore, it is now very obvious that the essence of work should go beyond just putting food on the table, and having money to spend. No wonder, the greatest teacher who ever lived advised us that “I tell you not to worry about your life. Don’t worry about having something to eat, drink, or wear. Isn’t life more than food or clothing?” Matthew 6:25.
To this end, to enjoy and find fulfillment at work, it is advisable for one to do what one enjoys. Napoleon Hill puts it this way, ‘A man is most efficient and will more quickly and easily succeed when engaged in work that he loves, or work that he performs on behalf of some person whom he loves’. Confucius corroborated this point when he said that, ‘If you love what you do, you’ll never have to work a single day in your life’.
Apart from loving what you do, another very important aspect of work (which perhaps is the most important) and which many people often neglect nor pay attention to, and which by far separates the ordinary from the extraordinary, and distinguishes the mediocre from the high-flyer is going the extra mile. Someone who had devoted his life to the study and research of laws of success and had written many books to that effect – Napoleon Hill, claimed that ‘the habit of going the extra mile’ is the greatest principle or law of success.
In essence, going the extra mile is going above and beyond the norm, beyond the call of duty or beyond what is required of you. This principle is best illustrated through real life experiences, and Napoleon Hill has many of such in his books. For the purpose of this write up, we shall use just one of such examples culled from Napoleon Hills’ book – The Master-Key to Riches; and this is an encounter between William C. Durant, the founder of General Motors, and Carol Downes:
Late one afternoon, William C. Durant, the founder of General Motors, walked into his bank after banking hours, and asked for some favour which in the ordinary course of business should have been requested during banking hours.
The man who granted the favour was Carol Downes, a lesser officer of the bank. He not only served Mr. Durant with efficiency, but he went the extra mile and added courtesy to the service. He made Mr. Durant feel that it was a real pleasure to serve him. The incident seems trivial, and of itself it was of little importance. Unknown to Mr. Downes, this courtesy was destined to have repercussions of a far-reaching nature.
The next day Mr. Durant asked Downes to come to his office. That visit led to the offer of a position, which Downes accepted. He was given a desk in a general office where nearly a hundred other people worked, and he was notified that the office hours were from 8.30am to 5.30pm. His salary to begin with was modest.
At the end of the first day, when the gong rang announcing the close of the day’s work, Downes noticed that everyone grabbed his hat and coat and made a rush for the door. He sat still, waiting for the others to leave the office. After they had gone he remained at his desk, pondering in his own mind the cause of the great haste everyone had shown to get away on the very second of quitting time.
Fifteen minutes later, Mr. Durant opened the door of his private office, saw Downes still at his desk, and asked Downes whether he understood that he was privileged to stop work at 5.30. “Oh yes”, Downes replied, “but I did not wish to be run over in the rush”. Then he asked if he could be of any service to Mr. Durant. He was told he might find a pencil for the motor magnate. He got the pencil, ran it through the pencil-sharpener and took it to Mr. Durant. Mr. Durant thanked him and said “good night”.
The next day at quitting time, Downes remained at his desk again after the “rush” was over. This time he waited with purpose aforethought. In a little while, Mr. Durant came out of his private office and asked again if Downes did not understand that 5.30 was the time for closing.
“Yes” Downes smiled. “I understand it is quitting time for the others, but I haven’t heard anyone say that I have to leave the office when the day is officially closed, so I choose to remain here with the hope that I might be of one slight service to you. “What an unusual hope” Durant exclaimed.
“Where did you get the idea?” “I got it from a scene I witness here at closing time every day”, Downes replied. Durant grunted some reply, which Downes did not hear distinctly and returned to his office.
From then on Downes always remained at his desk after closing time until he saw Mr. Durant leave for the day. He was not paid to remain overtime. No one told him to do it. No one promised him anything for remaining and as far as the casual observer might know, he was wasting his time.
Several months later Downes was called into Mr. Durant’s office and informed that he had been chosen to go out to a new plant that had been purchased recently to supervise the installation of the plant machinery. Imagine that! A former bank official becoming a machinery expert in a few months.
Without quibble, Downes accepted the assignment and went on his way. He did not say, “Why Mr. Durant, I know nothing about the installation of machinery”. He did not say, “That’s not my job”, or “I’m not paid to install machinery”. No, he went to work and did what was requested of him.
Moreover, he went at the job with a pleasant “mental attitude”. Three months later the job was completed. It was done so well that Mr. Durant called Downes into his office and asked him where he learned about machinery. “Oh”, Downes explained, “I never learned, Mr. Durant. I merely looked around, found men who knew how to get the job done, put them to work, and they did it.
“Splendid!” Mr. Durant exclaimed. “There are two types of men who are valuable. One is the fellow who can do something and do it well, without complaining that he is being overworked. The other is the fellow who can get other people to do things well, without complaining. You are both types wrapped into one package”.
Downes thanked him for the compliment and turned to go. “Wait a moment”, Durant requested. “I forgot to tell you that you are the new manager of a plant you have installed, and your salary to start with is $50,000.00 a year.
The following ten years of association with Mr. Durant was worth between ten and twelve million dollars to Carol Downes. He became an intimate advisor of the motor king and made himself rich as a result.
There is nothing very dramatic about the story of Carol Downes. The main trouble with so many of us is that we see men who have “arrived” and we weigh them in the hour of their triumph without taking the trouble to find out how or why they arrived.
The incidents mentioned occurred during the day’s business, without even a passing notice by the average person who worked along with Downes. And we doubt not that many of these fellow workers envied him because they believed he had been favoured by Mr. Durant, through some sort of pull or luck, or whatever it is that men who do not succeed use as an excuse to explain their own lack of progress.
That tells the whole story. There is no other secret to Downes’ success. He admits it, and everyone familiar with the circumstances of his promotion from poverty to riches knows it.
There is one thing no one seems to know: Why are there so few men who, like Carol Downes, discover the power implicit in doing more than one is paid for? The whole world is clamouring for such men. They are needed and wanted in every walk of life.
We apologize for the lengthy story, but we believe it is necessary to drive the point home. We are of the opinion that ‘the habit of going the extra mile’ is the golden rule to outstanding success in the workplace, business and life in general.
As we mark and celebrate the anniversary of this year’s Workers’ Day, let’s ponder on the above and deliberately cultivate the habit of going the extra mile; not in the way of sycophants, but without expecting a reward, because indeed, the rewards will come on its own when we least expect.
We wish you the very best in the month of May.
As usual, we want to remind you that we care so much about you, and that when it comes to your real estate investment and advisory, we are always here to give you the very best service you can never get elsewhere. That is our promise, and will always be.
Meanwhile, please find below the powerpoint presentations of our current properties for sale in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
Thank you.
Affordable Properties For Sale in LAGOS, Nigeria
Affordable Properties For Sale in ABUJA, FCT, Nigeria
Affordable Properties For Sale in PORT HARCOURT, RIVERS STATE, Nigeria
