I wrote a whole monologue this morning but Ghana network it was a waste because it didn’t go through but such is life. I should be used to it by now but the British in me never does but I will try and remember what I wrote this morning.

You have to forgive the sporadic outbursts of blogs, it’s not me but the job, if you don’t believe me, call my dad, even he got annoyed at the amount of time is taken away from me when he only came to stay 3 weeks in Ghana. Yet again, I’m having issues with my boss. Maybe it is me, maybe I have issues or maybe I just don’t have the patience for people who abuse their position, who knows, but once again, the system has got me irritated.

First of all I will start by saying that it took a while before I integrated into the ghana office but finally I have. I think it has something to do with the regional sales managers all being men and for obvious reasons they have all bonded with me (bar 3 who are in small regions like volta region so I don’t care) and that my dad came to the office to tell everybody that I was his first born and very proud that I was born in Britain but came back to her roots so if he, my father, the guy who produced me is proud then so should everyone else (his best friend died recently and he has really got into the father daughter bonding, I digress but there is a point…lol).

So before he went back to London, my easy going dad told me that my boss is taking the piss (his words). I left early in the morning and left late at night and he was worried because I didn’t know that many people in Ghana already so how was I supposed to find true love (ok my words but he showed concern in the way your uncle’s do and the fact that he used the phrase “taking the piss” meant he was really concerned).

Now I have to say under normal circumstances I would enjoy my new role as a Brand manager but I’m not. The reasons are 1. I am in the office all waking hours is because the guy I was supposed to be working with resigned. Thus his work has been pushed onto me. My boss to is from Gabon. The African french guys are just as bad as the white if not worse. He was supposed to coach and mentor me, instead he is trying to use me as an assistant, and when I have pulled him up on it, he becomes defensive and increased his “boga powers”. Unfortunately he knows the way the system works and how Ghanaians are hung up on status. He treats me like a kid in meetings and interrupts me in presentations. It’s like he’s on a one man crusade to show he’s the boss.

Everybody knows his character, he doesn’t know much but if you know less than him he will bullshit you. Many of my new colleagues have complained about him to me but as I said the status thing, if I take him on, I know it will have a total number of zero backing me up. So I tried to seek advise from the one person I know went through the same experience as me. A guy name Edwin, a guy which my older cousin has re-named Judas Iscariot’s first cousin.

I thought I could trust him, I told him what was going on, he told me that he knows how this guy is but still I had to “play the game”, I told him I am but I can’t compromise on my integrity. I won’t go into the whole conversation because it bores me, but I will tell you that Edwin who I had gone to his church, gave a donation at his wedding, is no friend of mine. Especially when after everything I had confided in him, he told me that he had heard from some people that “I don’t know what I’m about and they are wondering if I can do this job”.

The thing that hurt me the most is I don’t have a lot of friends because like you, if you are then I have as much love for you as my blood brother or sister however the devil was also one of God’s angels at one point so I just have to write that friendship off as a mistake. He had said some other things that had pissed me off and I wrote it off but this one is definitely a message from God that he is not a friend of mine.

So anyway in between the time that this has happened until now I have made some good colleagues and contacts in the ghana office. As I said the regional sales managers are all men plus most of the sales team so for obvious reasons we have bonded 😉 lol…I have made good contacts and I don’t know who the snake is in the office (apart from the obvious Gabonese guy…if any one else).

I went to Takoradi over the weekend, had a good time mixing business with pleasure, but I digress (and will tell you about that another day)…apart from those two snakes I’m good…

But now I have been offered a job. Another multinational but not as large as nestle. I will be demand and supply manager. The job I was doing at the other office at woolworth’s top but this one I will be starting from scratch as they don’t have one at present. I will not have a team at the start but this may change when I put in a good case. With benefits I get about double my salary (not so much as you think).

Bonus’ are better although no car (but I don’t get one now) but I will be senior staff (I am middle management now).

As compared to waiting, 3 years in the brand (at least) and 2 years in sales (at least) unless I am poached. I am sure in a year or two from now I will make my mark but in a year or two if I am still single because I have been in the office every night until gone 8pm will it be worth it…

So after my whole story is what do you think?…lol, Stay with the big giant or take the risk? I think I know what you will say but want to know your thoughts…