Are you sweeping?
“The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.” –Phil Jackson
Upon the celebration of our 57th Independence Anniversary on October 1, 2017, it’s quite propitious to know that a good number of Nigerians have made the resolution to stop complaining about the things that are not working in the country and do everything within their jurisdiction to make things work. A wise man once said; “If everyone swept the front of their own doors, the whole world would be clean.” Marcforte adds; ‘not only should everyone sweep, they should also pack what they’ve swept and dispose of it appropriately.’ The question is, ARE YOU SWEEPING?
A group of 30 company workers attended a seminar. While the seminar was going on, the facilitator suddenly stopped, then he started giving each of the participants a rectangular piece of paper; each one was told to write his/her name on it using a black pen. Afterwards, all the papers were collected in a tray and emptied into a large basket.
The facilitator positioned the large basket in front of the participants and then told them to find the piece of paper that bears their individual names. Of course it was hurly-burly, everyone frantically searching for their names for the next 5 minutes with some of the participants sustaining injuries from the long fingernails of fellow participants.
After the 5 minutes of futile tumult for most of the participants, the facilitator told the few that had found their own paper to return them, he then instructed that each participant pick a paper at random and give it to the person whose name was written on it. Within 2 minutes, everyone had their own papers and the hall echoed with applause.
The speaker reiterated the obviously comprehended lesson; this is exactly what is happening in our lives, everyone is frantically struggling to succeed, not knowing that our success lies in the success of other people. If we can successfully help them succeed, we will find out that we’ve succeeded in the process. This is the power of teamwork.
The above hypothetical illustration is a pointer to the fact that every Nigerian has a role to play as a team if we will ever see the Nigeria of our dream come to fruition. We all must be motivated by the collective good, knowing that both producers and service providers will make consumers and customers happy when they diligently do their work.
The words ‘producers and service providers’ are all encompassing, from the Politicians and Civil Servants serving the Nation, to the Industries producing goods, to the Artisans providing services and so on. As great citizens of Nigeria, which is the ‘Team’ to which we all belong, we should serve, diligently sweeping the front of our individual doors, not in search for self-aggrandisement, but for the fulfilment therein and the sanitation of Nigeria at large. Then the greatness of our Nation will be a reflection of the greatness of her citizens. Are you sweeping?
See you next month,
Best regards.