Skip to main content

Posterity Will Judge You

 


A few days ago, Yunga and I were discussing how to deal with the sound challenges in our parish. Catholic Church sound issues… hmmm.

At some point, I got tired of the conversation and said we should just leave the matter. After all, we are not the ones leading the church. If the priests are comfortable with the sound the way it is, no wahala. We will keep managing it until we can no longer cope, and then perhaps move on to places with better sound systems.

I honestly expected him to agree with me.

Instead, he said something that stopped me.

“𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐮𝐬.”

He went on to explain that we had not implemented all the strategies we had in mind. We had not even shared all our ideas with the priests before deciding to give up. According to him, if we did nothing, a day would come when people would walk into that church and wonder what kind of people once worshipped there.

They would say, “Chuka, Yunga, Hilary and others were here… and this was the result? Why?”

That hit me deeply.

One of the first lessons I took from The 33 Strategies of War by Robert Greene is this: people do not care about the reasons behind success or failure. At the end of the day, they simply look at the outcome.

It either worked or it did not.

And your name will be on the result sheet.

That conversation started with church sound, but it applies to every area of our lives.

So it is worth asking yourself:
How many things succeed or fail because your name is attached to them?
  • 𝐈𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐩𝐮𝐭?
  • 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞?
  • 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦?
  • 𝐈𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞?
  • 𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐝?
These are not easy questions.

We may not win in every area. That is reality.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐬, 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬:
𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

Have a lovely week.
Shalom.



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

DEBT IS A VERY BAD THING

  You may not know me personally, but take this from me: DEBT COULD BE A TERRIBLE THING. As long as you owe someone, you remain their servant, no matter how talented or respected you are. Yesterday, while driving to work and enjoying my heavenly sandwich, I spotted Emeka in traffic and nearly lost my appetite. Why? I remembered how badly I suffered in his hands after I was duped of the money I had borrowed from him to fund a certain business opportunity. Let me gist you. When I went back to Emeka to explain what had happened, he empathised with me and even offered a payment plan since it was clear I couldn't return the money all at once. Sometime after, we were both invited to serve as panellists at a supply chain management event. I was the first to share my thoughts on a topic, which Emeka later disagreed with. But my take must have sounded more compelling, because I was asked to expand further. Crazy me (forgetting that my oga at the top was seated beside me), I took a whiteboar...

My Learning Today – 16th August: IF YOU DO NOT WANT IT TO GO VIRAL, DO NOT SHARE IT

Can you really keep a secret once it leaves your lips? A few years ago, a close friend of mine was fired from his job over financial misappropriation, something our firm does not tolerate. Because he had served diligently, management recalled the dismissal letter and allowed him to tender a resignation instead. (Those in HR will understand the difference.) Since he was one of the most popular staff members and close to me, colleagues kept asking about him when he suddenly stopped showing up for two weeks. Under pressure, I let slip that he had been fired, not knowing the official story was that he resigned. That was enough for the office rumour mill to catch fire. Staff began digging for details, and when they finally pieced it together, my words confirmed the truth. Some reached out to him with sympathy. Others confronted him harshly, asking why he would ever stoop to behaviour “expected only from criminals.” He didn’t bother verifying the source. He simply called me, blasted me, warn...

My Learning Today – 20th August : STOP GOING TO PARTIES AND EVENTS EMPTY HANDED. E GET WHY.

Your little gifts today may be the open doors tomorrow. My friend Musa was in my office when I got an invitation to our mutual friend Paul’s birthday party. The invite clearly stated: “Access card valid for one person only.” For over an hour, Musa quietly waited for his own IV, until he finally asked: “Paul never send my own IV oh, abi him no want make I come?” Awkward moment. Weeks earlier, Paul had told me he wanted the party to be very exclusive. When I checked his guest list, Musa’s name was missing. I assumed it was a mistake, so I asked Paul. Smiling, Paul explained: “I don’t want people who never hold parties and never bring presents. They are always the first to arrive and the first to leave, with nothing in their hands.” Let me not lie, he hyped me small. He said he couldn’t remember me ever attending his house or events without a gift, even if it was something little from Jewel Publishers (like mugs, t-shirts, sports jerseys) or gadgets from Jewel Multiservices (like laptop...