I will hold your hand..

Without being too specific, (as I am supposed to keep official details off the social network) I would just say, one of these days I was asked to mentor a woman, a new joiner to the project. Even before she was introduced to me, she had already been labelled a hopeless under performer & I guess the only reason I was called in was to seal their presumptions with supporting statistics.

This girl, who is in fact older to me comes from another side of the world. The first thing I noticed about her was how often she would break into a giggle. Yet, there was something unnerving about her, she appeared nervous and unmindful. There’s no denying that her work was a mess, and I guess she knew it just as well. I would later come to know that she was laid off by her previous employer and feared the same here.

No one likes the weak. At least I have grown up seeing so. Schools and colleges have entrance exams to pick up the best brains, so do companies. Everyone wants the cream, while the residue is conveniently drained out.

I didn’t like it then, when I was a consistent topper and I don’t like it now when I am a so called ‘habitual mediocre’. They have set parameters and I know no matter how hard I work, I wouldn’t satisfy their standards or match up to their star performers.

Let’s keep aside my story, but in general how many people do you encounter who tell you what is right with you. Isn’t it much easier to point out the flaws instead? Have  you ever come across a college advertisement that reads “ We work on weak students to turn them into rank holders”.  Have any of you ever worked with a manager, who has willing selected underperformers and created a success story? I guess everyone wants a quick fix, a readily polished diamond that they can set in their ‘pièce de résistance’.

The girl didn’t require an affirmation to what was obvious; she needed help to express what wasn’t. She needed a second chance, like we all do. We all need someone to tell us what is right with us. We are repeatedly told what others are doing better than us; we need someone to tell us what we can do better than the rest of the world.

 And he who can do that is a ‘Leader’, a ‘Mentor’ or a ‘Saviour’.  Anyone can take a bunch of winners and write a success story, but not everyone can pick a bunch of losers and create a success of their collective stories.

I have silently taken it upon myself to push her or pull her till she doesn’t stumble any more. And she is not the first, I have done this before. I will not her blame her drowsiness upon her lazy bones; I would rather find out that she travels 6 hours every day. I will not label her work as trash, I would hold her hand and show her whatever little I have learnt so far. I will throw in encouraging words whenever I can, they come free, but who knows they might transform her life.

I will try to become the teacher I craved for, or the lead I never had. I will not tell her that she is good for nothing, like someone once told me. I will tell her , ‘everyone is worthy of a second chance, pass on the ladder when you climb up.’