CROSSFIRE
CROSSFIRE
We Can Search For The Right Actions In Some Difficult Situations And Find Them !
By Herman Githinji
I am rushing out of the house to get to church on time . I am always late , but on purpose . I like getting there just in time for the main sermon . I like praise and worship but I give it a pass most Sundays . My friends say I purposely do that to escape the offertory ; far from right .
Anyway , this Sunday , I got there a few minutes earlier . Just in time for personalized prayers . Congregants here write their prayer requests on a paper . You exchange the papers and pray for each other . You are given about 3 minutes to do that .
I sat next to this tall dark gentleman , we exchanged our prayer items . He has been praying with a passion . His prayer request was also purposeful . In order to personalize the prayers , you are encouraged to know the name of your prayer partner . So , Bob was his name .
His prayer request - divine intervention to achieve sales targets at his work place . I didn ’ t ask for details about his work place , but I could tell he was a rep with a big company . His wacky request threw me off balance , nevertheless , I went ahead and said a silent prayer for him .
Through the entire service , I was looking forward to talking to Bob about what exactly is happening in his company . Is it really that bad ? After church , I thought I would catch up with him at the Cafeteria . I always hang around to take coffee as I chat whoever cares to socialize . But after church , Bob immediately disappeared .
That prayer item from Bob got me thinking the whole week . I know divine intervention is important , but for Bob , has he explored all other feasible options ? Is the company offering the necessary support , training and tools , to support sales ?
I know we all need divine interventions in everything we do . I have relied on it many times . But , divine intervention should aid our effort and not substitute it . Divine intervention won ’ t help you wake up in the morning , but it gives you a little bit of luck when you need it . Divine intervention won ’ t make you win , it makes you break the record .
I know we all need divine interventions in everything we do . I have relied on it many times . But , divine intervention should aid our effort and not substitute it . Divine intervention won ’ t help you wake up in the morning , but it gives you a little bit of luck when you need it . Divine intervention won ’ t make you win , it makes you break the record .
Divine intervention won ’ t make a star , but it stops the clouds from blocking the star . Divine intervention gives you that extra advantage after you have fully applied yourself to a task . It gives you a foothold where you already have acquired a toehold .
I was interested to talk to Bob because he reminded me of a company I worked for as a sales rep many years ago . The company was under immense pressure to grow sales . And as it usually happens , the manager bore most of that pressure . In every sales meeting , he would read us the riots act .
Sales targets had to be achieved no matter what . How and where , nobody cared . Most of us were young and sales rookies . Natural flare helped those who had it , but most struggled . The sales team lacked effective sales abilities , approach , and tools . The team failed .
In that company , we felt vulnerable and exposed . Standards were raised without means of reaching them . We were hopeless and helpless . So , we sat on our hands and looked upwards for help .
In her book Grit , Angela Duckworth explains how people reach such hopelessness . In 1964 , Marty Seligman and Steve Maire put dogs in cages . They received electrical shocks to their back paws . The shocks come randomly and without warning . If the dog does nothing , the shock lasts five seconds , but if the dog pushes its nose against a panel at the front of the cage , the shock ends early .
In a separate cage , another dog is receiving the same shocks at exactly the same intervals , but there ’ s no panel to push on .
04 MAL24 / 18 ISSUE