WHEN GIVING UP IS NOT AN OPTION

It was 4:05 pm when my manager came to my desk; he looked at me and said "well-done Lynda, you've done your best and we (the team) can all see from the excel spreadsheet that you've really put in effort in trying to hit your target this week". He continued by saying, "I'm happy with what you've done, thank you for this week's achievement, I'm sure next week will be better". While he was speaking, my head was down and I was just not happy at all cos I always meet target and last week my team produced the highest result in our division; I felt really bad that I would let the team down this week. After my manager spoke I tilted my head upwards to look at him and I was surprised to see him still smiling, encouraging me not to feel bad about meeting my target. At this moment, ladies and gentlemen... I felt I had disappointed him. The day was almost over and I had two options, give up on meeting my targets (after all I have always met target & exceeded some times) or keep trying to get a workable case and help the team achieve our goal for the week. I was on the verge of going with the first option, but I remembered the look my manager had on his face when he looked at the scores - I went back into the pool and started fishing for cases. Have you ever said you've done your best and someone says your best isn't good enough? I told myself that I have tried but, at this point this best isn't good enough; I made up my mind to keep searching and updating the spreadsheet until it was 5pm, so giving up was just not an option for me. I was going to fight till the end.

During the early hours of the day I had whined, grumbled, moaned, complained cos my eyes were aching from non-stop staring into the computer screen. I actually forgot to have lunch so you can imagine a hungry stomach, aching eyes, head and no cases to work. At exactly 4:12, I miraculously stumbled unto a workable case...at first I didn't want to jinx it so I just told my manager I think I may have found one. I stressed the "MAY HAVE" so it doesn't end up like the other two I rejoiced about but still found out couldn't be completed. But guess what? This one was workable and so sweet mehhnnn....Now I began to smile from ear to ear but there was one more huddle to cross. Can I assess this case and finish it before 5pm??? It could take up to an hour to work a single case, different steps/processes to follow, spotting relevant information, making sure they're absolutely accurate, extra attention to details etc. How on earth was I going to get this done in less than 30 mins? At this point, I just want to shout it loud and clear that "I HAVE THE BEST TEAM-MATES EVER"...I love my team - A good manager makes a good team. Thanks Nick

You know how you add "a good team player" as one of the skills on your CV, this was exemplified and perfectly played out today. I was so amazed...Kristina split the checks into two bits and started doing some work on it wile I checked the second part; after that she printed out the main information I needed to complete my assessment to speed up the process. In no time, I was through with the assessment and Liz came to the rescue with her great quality/house style checks. After that, Kristina was already standing by the printer waiting for my documents to come out, she stapled it quickly and I signed the documents - Yayyy, case completed!!!

This post is not just another story but I'll point out some very important things:

• When you get to the point of giving up and it is evident to everyone that you have really tried your best - please don't give up. Just one last try...you never know what happens... you may be one step to hitting jackpot. Success doesn't come to those who never failed but to those who failed so many times and never gave up. Even when you think you've done your best - Just keep at it till you get a result.
  
  
  
• Appreciate the people around you - God places people around you for your good so no matter what happens - stick together in love. They may annoy you, get on your nerves but we need them to spice up our lives. Life will be boring if we all acted the same, so be grateful for having them. If I haven't said it before(I've definitely said it) - I love you Y103 team.

• Be a team player - no man is an island. The acronym TEAM means Together Each Achieve More. I had my team in mind and I wanted the team target to be achieved so I kept on trying and when I found what I needed, they came through and we all worked together.

• Leadership - A good leader is one who brings out the best in the people he/she is leading. As a leader, constant motivation and encouragement helps to bring out the best in your followers; your attitude and actions towards them could lift them up or push them down. Even when I had performed below expectation, my manager still said "thank you" and told me I was doing a great job. Appreciate and speak positive words to the people you lead despite their shortcomings; you may have someone who's slow in your team, don't tell them how slow and backwards they are. Instead say words like - I know you can do it, give it your best shot and if you ever need help on anything,  you can come to me. Words have motivating effect on people and the more you speak positive words to that person, gradually they change and become better. To know a good leader, check his followers, from my story I guess you already know what kind of leader I have - The best of the best. 

• For more inspiration on not giving up, read my article titled - QUITTING IS NOT AN OPTION HERE.

A big shout out to my team members Nick (manager), Hitesh, Ben, Liz, Kristina, Martin, Trushen, Suganya, Rumayna, Giash, and Jihat. Thanks for being so sweeeeet and creating a lovely ambience, happy work environment and for filling the goodie box with lots of chocolate, crisps, biscuits, candy lolll.