At the end of the year I will be out of a job once again. This time around, I didn’t resign or talk my way out of a job (*cough*, Olam). No, this time around, they are moving my department overseas, but on the bright side they have given notice so I can shop around and won’t have to panic accept the first job that wants me. I still think that I part of the reason I was hired in the first place was to fill their diversity quota, which up until I started was a total of zero.

In the meantime, my boss is managing the transition to the new location so she has given another lady who she manages the job of managing me so that I would have the necessary ‘support’ for me and my team.

Am I a bit miffed, yes, am I surprised. No. In all the time I have been with this company, my boss has never really coached or mentored me but is always there to criticise, meanwhile all the knowledge she could impart to me is in her head in a dark place where nobody can find it. When I do ask questions, I get piece meal answers, but I accept the fact that she is who she is and at least I have gained credibility with the people I manage and the colleagues I interact with.

My ‘new’ manager go the job on the basis that she has done the job before she took on her current role, so technically she deserves the position. I would like to give her the credit she is due but in reality I don’t see the benefit because

1. She really hasn’t been of much help but what she is good at is to come over to complain about how much work she has to do. Sorry, but we all have a lot of work to do.
2. I have been reading a book by Charlamagne the God titled Black Privilege: Opportunity comes to those who create it (a great read, if you get a chance to read it, please do). My favourite chapter is “Give people the credit they deserve for being stupid including yourself”. You can look at it from two angles. Firstly, there really isn’t a thing as a stupid question. We grow and learn by asking even if they may on the surface sound ignorant. Secondly, just give the people the credit they deserve for being just that, stupid. I chose the latter  in this case. Granted, new processes have been created and practices have been improved but it doesn’t detract from the original goal of the role. So I am not understanding why she is asking questions for a job that she originally managed. It’s not like when she moved from the role she moved to another department. She sits two desks away, her job is just an extension of what I do. Or it could be that she bumped her head 3 years ago and got amnesia, what do I know.
3. Finally, she isn’t getting any more money from this new role, but she is getting the title “head of department”. Now under normal circumstances, she has a right to be pissed. However, in a couple of month’s her regular income will be zilch, nada, nothing, zero. So what she does have is the opportunity to go to an interview and say (whether totally true or not) that her manager entrusted her enough to take on this extra responsibility. She has the opportunity now to go for jobs which are not just a team lead but head of department.

The good book tells us that although our beginning was insignificant, our end will increase greatly. Sometimes it is not just about the money but making the best of your opportunity. When I was in Ghana, I look back and am amazed at how I was able to live on the salary I did. Had I not taken advantage of that opportunity of working there though, I would have still been frustrated in a job that didn’t challenge me and I know I wouldn’t be where I am today.

It’s not about where you start from folks, it’s about where you end. Sometimes you may be in a situation that, on the surface may not be the best of circumstances for yourself or you feel you can do better, but trust me if you look deep enough you will find that gem in that opportunity.

Alas for now, I sit and I smile and bide my time until I get my “thank you for your services” and do the best job I can do while I am around to do it while looking for my own opportunity to create.