It’s close to midnight and something evil’s lurking in the dark (stories he told to get them in his bed)Under the moonlight you see a sight that almost stops your heart (that would be the porn, boss)You try to scream but terror takes the sound before you make itYou start to freeze as horror looks you right between the eyes,You’re paralyzed (that’s some of the effects of the alcohol)
- Michael Jackson Thriller, jokes aside the man has been acquitted on all 13 counts and I say well done to him, he seems an odd sod, but I cant help but think that some of these people are trying to take him for a ride, who in their right minds leaves their child in a strangers house and allows him to sleep with them in his bed, I wouldn’t, don’t care how famous u r…(one huge assumption was made in this statement…that I had/will have kids)

The rain still falls in the fairest cape, and even though its blissful to the soul, the sound of rain drops on my roof, u cant help but spare a thought for those staying in tents at the moment, or living in shacks. I remember going on one scripture union camp, when I was younger, we slept in little tents and one night it rained, even though the rain was light when we woke up or beds were soggy and it’s one of the worst ways to start off your day, I can only imagine (maybe not even) what some people are going through before they head out to work…in the rain…it’s a hard knock life I tell u, ur lot in life may not be all that at the moment, but trust u me, u are better off than maybe 90% of this continent…
Last weekend I was bling-blinging, the top dogs of Standard Bank corporate banking, Stanbic Africa and Standard Bank London, Mauritius and the Isle of Man, went to the Lost City for a conference, they needed someone to carry their bags and fetch stuff, so they asked me to come along too. Not a bad first visit to Sun City I tell you, the Palace was my home for 3 nights, happy people all around you telling you welcome every time they see u, or welcome, was a bit over the top, but being on the other side of sober and being driven to the doors of the hotel was so schweet.

Anyway my peeps hope u guys are all well, those in the North, I hope the summer is upon u and shiny happy people surround you. Winter has definitely descended up on us.

You work in an organization, something is grating you six love, you speak to a colleague and the same thing is grating them six love, speak to another and they have the same thoughts on the matter. Come staff meeting and the boss asks are there any concerns you want to raise…all that is heard is the sound of the skin stretching and contracting as everyone nods their heads in agreement of everything said. Or have you ever been asked a question where your honest answer could cause some sort of uneasiness or discomfort so instead you chose to opt for the easy answer, the answer that ruffles the least feathers. We all do it. The question is why?!!

Brings me to this weeks topic. A term known as candor, which the dictionary describes as “Frankness/sincerity of expression; openness; freedom from prejudice; impartiality”. You come across interesting things in the oddest of places. I came across this topic yesterday. One of my colleagues Smut, made us all copies of an extract of a book called Winning by Jack Welch, it was an interesting read.

Back to the topic at hand… How many of us shy away from giving our honest account of things, be it critcism, be it opinion, be it advice? We always try find polite ways to make things sound. Why do we do this? Well fair enough its human nature, but the truth is we all want to make our lives easier, its clear as daylight to us all I quite enjoyed reading that passage, it says that we try and steer clear of ruffling a few feathers because it generally creates a mess, someone will generally get bleak. The part that we find difficult is trying to sort out that mess, which is generally a mission so what we do is weigh it all up and choose the easy way out and massage the other persons ego.

I am not the biggest fan of criticism, but I enjoy criticism, in every shape or form. Be it from the way I dress, the way I wear my facial hair (and boy did I come in for a roasting this weekend about that), how I perform in relation to other people or in terms of my work, what I am doing wrong in terms of my sports. Without criticism how will you ever grow or learn. Imagine at work u are plodding along and every one keeps on telling u, u r doing a splendid job, when infact everyone is saying how below par u r, u carry on as is but u get nowhere, what do u learn, how do u grow? I think we should all embrace frankness. Tell me what u think about me, give me your honest opinion at all times, the make or break part of this is how you handle the information that is being downloaded into your ear. Do you let it get to you and let it be a bane of your existence or do you let the emotion run its course, and feed off the message to enhance your being? Therein my friends lies the true test.
Some of the benefits of candor (as per the passage here are the ways it leads to winning, in relation to business, but can be applied to life in general):
1) it gets more people involved, hence more people in the conversation and what results is more ideas being thrown around open up a few minds;
2) generates speed cos the ideas are in everyones face and they can be debated rapidly, expanded, enhanced and acted upon;
3) eliminates costs, cuts out arb meetings debating things everyone already knows.

Its not easi for us to be frank at all times or even half the time, but I think being honest at all times is the best policy. If someone asks u a question they should expect any answer, favourable or not. So shoot from the hip say what u gotta say, deal with the consequences later, maybe you were wrong, maybe they need to shape up, whatever, only time will tell and corrective action will be taken. Cos if you don’t and it comes out that you thought contrary to what you portrayed well what mess would be created then…you are a dishonest person…not trustworthy…etc. It is concluded in the passage that in the short-term you may keep the peace, but in the long run you end up destroying trust and ultimately eroding society.

Birthdays
12th Mark E, Carl DC, Sam Singh
13th Fiifi
17th Laila
18th Sarah and Lebo Comfort
May it be all that and then some!

The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that you’ve got it made – Jean Giraudoux
To be able under all circumstances to practice five things constitutes virtue; these five things are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness and kindness – Confucious


I am out, maximum respect

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