“Mary has chosen the needful†– Jesus Christ
Every time I drive to work, I always notice things that keep me wondering. Today, two very normal events spoke volumes to me; one was a young girl dressed in uniform going to school in a clean Toyota Pajero jeep while the other was a young girl dressed in a dirty rag begging for money. I started wondering what the difference between these ladies were; two innocent young girls born into this world but both in a different world of their own unaware of the intricacies of their circumstances. These particular events made me to understand the power of relationships and the effect of relationship to success.
Taking a cursory look at the work place, we would realize that functions that require more of interpersonal skill are more favored than functions that require more of problem solving skill. If two guys were recruited into a company (lets use bank as an example) at the same time on the same level but with different function; let say Guy A was deployed to Sales Department and Guy B was deployed Human Resources, we find that after 5 years in the same company Guy A would be commanding a higher level than Guy B. This is the reality that takes place in most companies but why is this?
In life we find out that people are rewarded more for what is difficult to accomplish; I have found out that relationship management is much more difficult to accomplish than problem solving. While the latter requires a lot of skill-learning and accomplishment to obtain, the former requires common sense but the former is difficult to exude by man due to his fallen state and nature. Elements like pride, self-centeredness, fear of rejection and ego hinders man from relating to his fellow man on levels that demand the said man in question being humble. If we have 20 new recruits in the banking sector, 95% of these recruits would despise Sales which is definitely the shortest route to promotion; 95% of these new recruits would prefer to be in problem solving related task because of fear of rejection and perceived humiliation that comes with the Sales turf.
Now coming down to the basics, Christians are expected to embrace what the ordinary man despises for example selling which involves Customer Acquisition, Retention and Management which is the basis of our existence- introducing and managing men to the Kingdom of God which delights God. The guy that knows how to manage relationships definitely moves higher in rank than the guy that doesn’t. This was well emphasized by Jesus in the “cumbered story†of Mary and Martha where Martha went about solving issues during the visit of Jesus and Mary decided to stick to the relationship by sitting at the foot of Jesus listening to his word. Jesus commended Mary for choosing the needful while Martha complained about her being cumbered with much work.
On a quick note, the paradigm that Mary exhibited is not common though it appears simple. Humans prefer activity than quietness, humans prefer doing things than relating to his fellow men; these are the justifications why Interpersonal skill seems to thrive better than problem solving. What human beings don’t know is that you need the quietness first to do the activity, you need to relate well with members of your team to perform the task effectively because what you would take time solving just a revelation from your relationship can solve it seconds. On a lighter, when I was asked why I wanted to join the MBA programme, I am running. I gave three reasons – improve my Curriculum Vitae, have a deep understanding of Business Management and improve my Network base with other professionals. I knew deep down within me that the major reason was to improve my Network base because once that is achieved others would follow without me engaging in an MBA programme.Â
Now all said and done, relationships are very important but do they eliminate the need to have problem solving skills. Another story comes to mind; the story between David and Jonathan. Though the two of them are highly skilled in war, the challenge of taking Goliath out differentiated the two warriors. Jonathan was related to the king while David was not but David’s relationship with God stood him out. God took David through the process of fighting the bears and the lion, training him for the challenge ahead while Jonathan was in the King’s palace training with live warriors. David’s training paid off as per the challenge with Goliath though he wasn’t training with live warrior. This is a revelation for Christians who complain that they are not in the field they want to be; which ever field you are God is using it as a training ground for the challenge that will usher you to your destiny.
Now just like those two innocent ladies I mentioned in the first paragraph due to their relationship are experiencing different lifestyle; one living comfortable and the other living in penury. We may not be able to choose the parents we come from but we have a choice to establish a stronger relationship with the one that own the whole world who would show you what to undergo in order to solve the pending issues in your life. Won’t you rather relate with God?
