“Don’t take me for granted for
heaven’s sake”, screamed Mukesh, a Relationship Manager in a foreign bank to
his boss, when after repeated drudgery and obedience to the boss’s whims the
boss insulted him in front of his team and sub-ordinates. A simple, hard
working, sincere and ever helpful employee left the company because of constant
misbehavior by his boss.
Personal egos, misuse of power, impatience
are some of the causes adding to employee dissatisfaction and stress, leading
to loss of good resource to the organization.
And yes, we do knowingly or
unknowingly take people for granted.
During the high flying expedition
into the corporate world, in the constant run to make a big buck, we often
forget to acknowledge the people whose efforts and sacrifices have contributed
to our journey of success. We give them
a feeling of being taken for granted. These people could be - a team member,
subordinate, senior, an office boy/ messenger, a domestic help, liftman, security
guard, parent, spouse, sibling, friend whose presence in our lives has made our
life worth living in many ways.
Instead of respecting someone for
their painstaking effort and sacrifice, we even have the shameless audacity to
say - why did you leave it for me? Why did you do this for me? It was your
decision, you had a choice, I didn’t compel you….and so on. While one might
achieve material success for some time, one will lose out on important elements
in relationships, respect and affection of team members, and maybe some numbers
from HIS account of grace.
A little patience, accommodativeness,
non-reactivity, and warmth can make life easier at both professional as well as
personal fronts, and it can add value to the numbers that one achieves.
Have a lovely weekend!
