Principle Number 5
Discover the ingredients of success Part 3
Pastor Maselo Mosomane
“And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability.” Matthew 25: 15. Why didn’t he give them equal amounts? What decisive measure did he use to see who qualify for what? Jesus tells us in this parable that he gave to every man according to his several abilities. ABILITIES.
I don’t think that this man had only three servants. My mind keeps telling me that he had other servants; most probably unskilled as compared to the three and could not be trusted with a task without supervision. That’s how I believe they were excluded. Since their master was going to be away for a long period, he wanted men with self-drive; men who could carry out the task without close supervision: entrepreneurs and not just employees, so to say. He wanted the cream of the crop: yes, men of substance.
You see everything breeds after its kind. If you want quality crop, sow quality seeds. If you want quality products, employ quality people, employ skillful people and they will produce after their kind. Wouldn’t this be a wise idea to follow the example of this man? He seems to have started right where you are right now mister manager – with a box full of application forms. He short-listed and ended up appointing three. One failed and two were not just successful; they were extremely successful. One with five made another five and one with two another two. This is a hundred percent turnover. Remarkable! He appointed three people and two-thirds was successful – a whole sixty seven percent success rate. Can you beat that?
What do you think these servants’ success could be attributed to? SKILL. Someone once said, if you think acquiring knowledge is expensive, try ignorance. With the same breath I would like to say; if you think acquiring skill will waste your time; try life without skill. Grown-ups; I wish you would treat this as a wakeup call. You too need to increase your skills. If you don’t; soon you will be outdated and laid off. You must compete for the very position you are holding right now. You may say; “I am well secured.” Well, maybe. But I have some unpleasant news for you. There are hundreds if not thousands of people out there who are applying for your position. Many of them failed to make an impression when you succeeded, and when that happened, some enrolled for afternoon courses and made themselves better and they are coming back; this time with better qualifications than yours. Soon you will be without a job. Every employer is looking for the best candidate in the market. Are you the best at what you are doing? If yes, good but for how long will you remain the best?
There is no longer any such thing as job security. You are going to have to make yourself the first choice until the game is over: and the game is not over until you retire. That’s where you will have your so-called job security without fear of any competition. You don’t need any skill to be a pensioner. Do you? All are welcome. A pensioner is part of the furniture. He will remain a pensioner until he dies. Have you ever seen a pensioner concerned about retrenchment or losing his position? No! Once a pensioner: always a pensioner - pensioner for life. How about that?
This man selected the best three and appointed them for their special tasks. What do you think he did with the rest of the application forms? Well, I suppose he appeased the applicants with regret letters and promised to consider them should an opportunity arise in future. What next? Shred their application forms and carry on with his business. Friend, are you still waiting for consideration? Did they promise to call you in the near future? When is the near future? How near is the near future? This is what might have happened to your application form. Shredded. Sorry.
Do you still qualify for the position you are holding? Maybe you were appointed long time ago when there were not many skillful people: when the one-eyed man was king among the blind. Beloved, if you can be quiet and listen carefully you will hear this whispering statement behind your neck, “Once I was blind, but now I see.” As you pay more attention you will hear this words increase with a little intensity; “I was blind, now I see.” Friend, the blind can see and positions may be swapped. You have one eye and this may be your turn to be led, for the once blind, can now see. The once unqualified do qualify now. Once so-called unskilled are now skilled.
What will leave you with shock unspeakable is that this whispering voice comes from quarters you never expected. Yes, it comes from boys and girls you never paid attention to. From poor men and women you never felt any threat. From old boys and girls you used to call strugglers at school. Indeed Jesus was right when He said; “many that are first shall be last; and the last first.” How do we explain this? Simple. They aspired to be like you and started out to prepare themselves while you relaxed and congratulated yourself. They were so hungry that in the meantime they bypassed you and you did not notice. They empowered themselves with skills and became the choicest icons while you remain complacent.
Shake yourself loose and empower yourself too. Many people who are better qualified for that position are in the street trying to locate it and soon; they will. Have you ever thought of what would happen to you should a better-qualified person show interest in your job? Think about this for a moment. It goes down pretty rough. Often times we come to our senses when it goes down that rough.
In the past, you would count on your long service. Today, things have changed. Companies are competing for quality production and better service. New technology is employed to facilitate mass production. You can hardly find a job that does not require computer literacy. This is the era of Information Technology. Companies no longer send letters and memos to their staff members. They run paperless offices. How do you measure on that benchmark? I encourage you to see things differently. What made you successful in the past may not even be looked at today. The playing field has changed drastically. The rules of the game are no longer the same. You too must change.
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