There was a lady who was high performer in the office. She really worked hard and was instrumental in taking her small office to a new level. The management was very happy with her performance but she also attracted lots of criticism when the organization expanded. Her work style and outstanding performance became point of contention for everyone. She was a hard task master. Many felt threatened by her. But the criticism started affecting her. It bogged her down. She spoke to the management and decided to quit her job. She felt that if everyone was unhappy with her, she should quit. Her boss really liked her and sat with her. He asked her, who is everyone here. She could point out two people out of 45. What are they saying? That she is ….. and then she had to think. One had said that she does not involve people and was it actually true? One had said that she does not appreciate others efforts. Was it true? It was not! She always acknowledged people and their efforts. She also tried involving everyone at relevant steps so that people get due opportunities to grow. But because two people had issues with her, they tried creating problems so that her work is not completed. Her boss was aware of this and told her that when we are working in a big organization, we have to deal with people and their behaviour and we need to overcome those challenges, without letting them affect us. He gave her a beautiful example. Value of Gold remains same always. It does not matter who wears it or in how many pieces it is broken. It would always be Gold and it would always have same value. Similarly, she should be like that. Does not matter with whom she is dealing, she should remain same and of high morals not because others are good or bad but because she is good. She does not have to step down from her level because others are at a lower level. It was enough to help her in overcoming the criticism which she was hearing from others.
She could let go of her resentment and also she became more supportive of everyone after that. She had started feeling she would not support those two but now she wanted to help them too because this is how she is designed.
We all need to sit and understand who we are and how we want to act in various situations of life. Sometimes, we start acting as per how others have been acting and after few years down the line we say, I was not this bad. People or this brutal world made me bad. It might be difficult to stay good when others are bad to you but you need to because you are good. Because your value is of Gold. It is easy to be good with good people. But real value comes out when you stay good even when everyone else is bad to you. Gold turns into a fine jewellery when it is beaten up more and more. Similarly, when we stand the test of times we become a finer and better human being. But if we start breaking, it means we never had that endurance. So instead of just acting and reacting, we really need to sit down and think how we want to be and then act as per that.
