Relationship management.

I am happy I took the difficult decision I did two weeks ago to let one of my suppliers go. I am managing so much better now without having to worry about the supplier's trustworthiness. That episode taught me a valuable lesson about relationship management in general. Relationships with other people have their own challenges but they should not be a burden. They should be mutually beneficial to all involved. I have come to realise that a person needs two things to keep relationships working; wisdom and strength. One needs wisdom to be able to tell what is worth keeping or throwing out. If it gets to a point were you are putting in more than you are getting, then it is probably time to re-examine the relationship (with the aim of either balancing things out or terminating it). I am sure many of us have encountered that one friend, lover, workmate or relative who wanted to benefit from situations without putting in the effort. One thus has to know what they want and how much they are willing to pay for it but this has to be proportional to what they are getting in return.

The mid- way crisis: Always have a plan B.

I am sure everyone is familiar with the mid- way crisis in any project, that point were everything looks set until someone decides to let you down. That just happened to me today. One of my suppliers decided to pull out of the exhibition. His complaint was that he was not prepared to sign a BEE form as, to quote him, "he did not want any trouble with Trevor Manuel". I guess he has not been paying his taxes and prefers to keep it that way. At first I thought I was done for because he is a central figure in arranging the exhibition. I tried to convince him to change his mind but he was adamant that he wanted out of the whole thing. After much worrying and coffe drinking, I decided to grant him his wish. He has been after all the weakest link in the chain; always complaining about the pettiest of things and wasting time. I decided that it will be better for the project and everyone involved if we sacrifice him. I told the rest of the team about this development and they all agreed that we should let him go. I now have to come up with a new plan very fast. I already have one in mind; it is costly but very quick to implement and yields results within days. I suppose it is now time to put plan B into action.

Priceless moments.

The past week was not as busy as others so I decided to sort out some archive material that had been in boxes for a while. There were boxes with letters and photos by famous struggle heroes such as Nelson Mandela. As I read some of these letters, I thought to myself that these people were trully amazing. The media has made icons of such people to the extent that they end up appearing as superhumans. We hardly ever get to hear about the personal challenges they faced to become the revered people they are today. The letters I read gave human qualities to people whose names and titles have come to suggest otherwise. I read one letter by one struggle heroin, a woman who had being imprisoned for political activity within the African National Congress. She was writing her husband and asking about the children. She was worried about one child who was ill and she wished that she could hold and hug her son. Within the same letter, she gave instructions to her husband concerning the usage of money in her account. She wanted the husband to pay several people and then buy some household goods for the home. As I read that part, I could not help but marvel at what these women had to go through. They had to deal with the prison experience as well as manage their homes from behind bars. I thought to myself that I was one of the few priviledged; not many people know of the personal struggles that political heroes and heroines had to face.

The outsider's view.

On Thursday I had a meeting with the director. He wanted to know what my perceptions of the place were and what I thought about the tasks I had done so far. He said he thought it was best to ask me seeing as I was new and had what he called an outsider's view of operations in the company. I was thus more likely to see things he would not as someone who had been in the place for a long time. He made it clear he wanted honest opinions. At first I was worried that I was in trouble and that what I might say might not be what he was hoping to hear. All the same, I took the oppprtunity to voice what I felt were my areas of concern. As an intern, I did not want to appear as too outspoken or opinionated lest this comprimises one's position with the company. I pointed out what I felt were areas that needed addressing. I was surprised to see him scribbling down as I spoke. I was thinking to myself that he was probably recording evidence to be used against me in future. I was suprised to find that he was not aware of some of the thing I brought up and that he took me seriously, even asking how I thought we could address some of these issues. He mentioned some of his own opinions about issues which I did not necessarily agree with. I pointed this out as well and provided reasons for my different opinions. I was suprised he received this well; I was not too sure if directors take kindly to differences of opinion. I made it a point to be clear and precise without being critical and I made sure I avoided pointing fingers. An hour and a half later, I walked out of the director's office feeling very uncertain. What if deep down he was seething at the thought of an intern who had dared to have an opinion? What if he really did not want honesty? What if he fires someone because of what I said? I thought to myself that I had given my honest opinion as he had asked and that it was up to him to do what he wanted with it.