BEHIND THE SINS

“FIRE HIM!” these were the chillingly harsh words from the Group CEO that effectively terminated my appointment with the company I dreamt of building a long career with. The import of those words would affect the lives of several in the value chain that looked up to me as their source for sustenance. My bankers from that day would cease to receive their payments on time; my rents would not be paid when due, my parents who saw me as their monthly pension, what of the kids?

But what really was my offence if there was any? Incompetence was completely ruled out, neither was I indicted for malfeasance-I stole not from the company, neither did my colleagues complain of a loss from me. Neither was it a case of the looming economic recession; no, I was at the receiving end of one’s discretionary executive decision.

It was the cul-de-sac of a moral narcissist who would unleash maximum sanctions at the slightest provocation of her moral standards even though her personal demons remained nondescript or excused because she wields power! For while she exuded corporate piety, there were several personal failings lurking and making a mockery of her vaunted moral strength.

My sin really is that I paid commission for business-in order to grow her business- to none conventional marketers. Ethically I am supposed to pay to only those registered in the company as marketers but really if business comes from elsewhere should I pretend it’s purveyors deserve no compensation? My personal judgement of fairness and equity cost me my job.

Sadly this was not the first time I had dealings with a moral narcissist for a boss. The first was more a career chauvinist fearful of competition from any member of staffs especially his direct subordinates. At every turn he would want to prove his superiority throwing around figures to intimidate or impress- depending on whom he was talking to. His usual phrase was “Do you know that without me this company would have gone down?”

Intrigued, his listener’s interest would be piqued and desirous of more details, and then he would start reeling out his achievements with the smirk of a peacock. Sadly naiveté that I was, desirous of career advancement through achievement not sycophancy could not read beyond his façade of friendship mentorship. Each time I threw suggestions at him, to my chagrin I would see implementation without as much as a mere mention of my name. Then I chose to be more guarded with my plans and went ahead to implement them without his input, WRONG MOOOVE!

Like a deranged bull with a viper’s face he came at me with all the venom he could spit and power his physique could muster. My reputation was attacked, my work underreported or not reported at all and then I was setup by an inveterate wench. His strategy was to expose whatever moral deficiencies I had so as to satisfy his inner failings of moral rectitude. In his world every man is undisciplined and our briefs cannot contain our libidos so everything in skirts is a worthy companion so he thought but he was dead wrong.

She came to me with guile drooping flatteries of my prowess in business seeking my mentorship and ultimately I should become her lover. But I had my integrity which I held onto as a compass for navigating life’s murky waters to success. I perceived her plans but saw not the trap my back turned was my natural response to seduction yet the full extent of her deviousness was unleashed when I was dragged before a panel to explain why I victimised a junior colleague. But for the intervention of a senior management staff that would have been my end career wise.

He had no power to terminate my career but his manipulations pushed me into the arms of a more vicious seductress. For I was promised a lot of goodies before I started working with them but see how it all ended. Now I have to start life all over again because I lost most of my physical assets.

I was thrown into a season of self-introspection; I pondered severally how one person’s whim could effectively alter the course of my life so effortlessly. In evaluating my values and taking stock I got to see several I relied on turn their backs and stick up their noses and declare my comeuppance. Friends became fiends and enthusiasm replaced by forebodings of doom. The horizon seemed bleak and darkness threatened to envelope my soul.

But in all these gloom caused by an executive decision, I had the strong backing of my wife-the gift of God to my life. She did not harangue my apparent foibles, errors by benefit of hindsight I find bizarre I ever committed. She was steadfast in her calling as my helpmeet; she pointed me to the Master our Lord and Saviour the Comforter, Giver of hope, and Giver of vision and Strength

I knew I had to start life all over again but though my prospects were grim- no business plan, no savings, no contacts- no, nothing on the horizon could suggest there would be a happy re-beginning, nothing except my faith in God and His Word! Against hope I believed in hope that all things lost would be restored and future prosperity would be guaranteed by trusting in what God said. This is my reality and this is my truth ‘Never again will a human’s decision totally affect my life again’

So in a time of introspective meditations a flash of creative inspiration pierced through my consciousness, for no one knows your shoe size better than you who wears it:

LIFE GOES ON
Think not yourself indispensable
Even if you are called dependable
Every Monday, Tuesday up till Friday
You’re the toast of every weekday
But just when it’s time to boast
Without warning you become toast
Then you receive the amber card
To remind you’re just a hand
And when you try to raise your gun
The red card says life goes on

The lips of a strange woman drip honey
Creating holes for your pocket money
How then did you end up broke?
If you are bound by no yoke
The heart is deceitful, it’s not so smart
Why knew he not from the start
From flattery then comes mockery
From restaurants to roadside eatery
With your name they now make fun
Trudge on brother life goes on