FALLING IN LINE
It was an organisational culture for new hires popularly referred to in this clime as “Fresh graduate” to have an official mentor and I was lucky enough to have a wonderful one. Very experienced on the job and had so much influence enough to pull strings if he needed to.
And so I was called to come receive a call from my own boss’ office and alas it was my mentor who was calling for the first time so we could get acquainted. A couple of months later, my boss was moved to another branch and in came this huge, tall and very arrogant new manager that never wanted any opposition, treated his subordinates like thrash,could not stick out his neck for any of his subordinates. He particularly gave me a hell of a time that I had to do a self appraisal and even contemplated resigning at some point but I found a way of warding him off by burying myself in my work and kept on seeing that “BABE”. It was a regular practice for my mentor and I to hang out on Saturday evenings to have a few drinks and keep tab on my progress and on this blessed Saturday, I got a call as usual to “show”.
By the time I got there, I met the “biggest boys” of my organisation there and I froze but as a sharp Lagos boy, I “maintained “.
The biggest and most senior of them seated there was who firms in the industry referred to as CIA, those in the industry would know what it means. So I listened to various stories both classified and unclassified as they had become comfortable with my presence amongst them; stories after stories over bottles while some chicken went down then “suddenly” the CIA spoke about my new boss, it is safe to say this is the stage where I adjusted my seat and listened with my ears wide open to know if I could latch on to an opportunity. He regaled us of how my boss had put the organization in some kind of trouble by failing to use his discretion in a matter that could have been solved easily and which was about to cost us litigation and probably payment of damages to the customer involved and how they were going to take a decision on him soon to decide his fate. Make una see how God works in mysterious ways o, I pretended to plead on his behalf and the CIA jokingly told me I could actually put in a word for him and see if it would get him off the hook.
Eureka! I shouted inside of me that I was now going to hold the ace by the time I got to the office on Monday. Getting to the office on Monday morning with my extraordinarily starched white shirt which gave me the opportunity to “carry shoulder”, I felt so cool when we met which he found unusual cos we always shivered at his sight. I needed his signature on a transaction I just worked on and went into his office but didn’t meet him, oga was in the tea room having breakfast, I thought to myself to go spoil his mood with the story I heard over the weekend because I just really felt that way. I told him straight what the CIA had told me and that he should start ASAP pulling the strings he could but I may be of help if he changed his ways and left my babe for me jejely. There was no room for negotiations at that point but I eventually did not go with him and left him to his fate. Since that day, oga fell into line by default. Unknown to him, I pleaded his case the following Saturday and the rest is history. Don’t ask me what happened afterwards. My mentor later went on to become the “COS” to a governor somewhere in the south west.Last last, oga had no choice but to stop intimidating me cos of the babe o and started treating me like an egg. But before I kukuma carry my luck too far, HR obviously unaware of our little brouhaha transferred me to the Head office and thus ended my episode with him.
Lesson learnt, take your time, you will always get an opportunity to strike back.
