Our life is the sum total of all the decisions we make every day, and those decisions are determined by our priorities.
Myles Munroe
Priorities will tell you everything you need to know about a person. If asked what your top priority in life is, what would be your answer? My conversation with James* during a ride on one of the evenings revealed what he values most.
James worked as a taxi driver in one of the large taxi companies in Nairobi until he lost his job in circumstances he viewed as unfair. His regular clients kept on calling him and eventually he had to disclose to them that he no longer worked for the taxi company. Some of them suggested that he gets his own taxi, but he could not afford a car. A friend invited him for a drink and told him about Uber. He could not figure out how you could run a taxi business on an phone App. When they were ready to leave, his friend requested for an Uber taxi to take James home.While on the way, James enquired as much as he could on the Uber business model. He was advised that there were many people with cars that were looking for drivers as partners through Uber.
The following morning, he was up early to submit his documents to Uber. He was invited for an interview, went through all the screening processes and passed the interview,. He was advised that he would receive all the details through the mobile phone. Having waited for a week with nothing forthcoming and yet he had a family to take care of, he looked for a job in Eldoret as a trailer driver. For James, driving long distances and being away from his young family was not ideal. One of the days when he was driving, he received a text message advising him that his Uber partner was ready and that he should report immediately to start work.
James left the trailer business and joined Uber. After a year and half working with a partner, he managed to save enough money to put a deposit in the bank and get his own car, something he says was never in his wildest dream to ever own a car.
James associates his turn around to hard work but more so to faithful friends who wish him well. It is through a friend he got to know about Uber. It’s the value for his young family that he was willing to leave the trailer business to be close to them.
Stephen Covey said, “The bottom line is, when people are crystal clear about the most important priorities of the organization and team they work with and prioritized their work around those top priorities, not only are they many times more productive, they discover they have the time they need to have a whole life.”
As a leader, do you have people around you who care for you and are willing to advise when you are not on track? Are there things or people that you value enough that you will go out of the way for?
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