I am a believer in the ability of individuals to be successful in their endeavors if they just put in the necessary effort. On the same note, I acknowledge that in that journey they need some push, support and constant nudge to get to that position. This is why last year when we launched the YouTH Voices Network, we made a commitment to deliberately, intentionally and strategically work with young people to help them realize their potentials. On this account, we’ve consistently rolled out and structured programs with different groups of young people. Some with successes and some with their fair share of failures from which we learn. An example of these shortcomings pushed me last year to write a reflection with focus on the entitlement scourge. It’s good to see the good in people and even better to acknowledge that they actually strive to do their best towards that end.
This week as I resumed work, I’ve had to catch-up on projects of the yester-year both in my core employment and personal projects. On this account, I had an uplifting and eye-opening conversation with my boss reflecting on a case where we acknowledged the need for work ethics especially when others are counting on you to deliver on your end. Subsequent to this, when going through some of the deliverables the team we work with were to deliver on I’m in dismay. As part of the program we run, we outlined deliverables for which each of us agreed to and therefore it has been my expectation that we would uphold our ends of the bargain. The my surprise we are being forced to let go of some members of the cohort against our wish considering they’ve not been able to deliver on their commitment. It’s discouraging in development work and especially in the matrix of the broader scale of things acknowledging the potential of the work we can do with them to impact communities.
Being the first month of the year, reflecting on these experiences I think and believe that as we all work in our respective resolutions with hopes of success, may we commit to develop our work ethics even better. There’s no success without hard work. And hard work without good work ethic isn’t possible. Let us commit to do better and challenge ourselves to continuous improvement.
“If you’ve got the confidence and the work ethic, you can make any dream come true.” – Bret Har