My dear friends today I thought we take sometime to look at work environments and how they can affect our performance. When I say work environment, this includes those studying in different institutions, those working in different offices and departments and every kind of environment you find yourself in where you have to interact with people.
I have titled today’s discussion “Forces of Gravity at Work” what I mean is working in an environment where colleagues are pulling you down. How do I mean pulling you down, I mean working with people who are happy to see your downfall and not your success. People who try their best to block you in whatever you do, those who do their best to hide information from you because they want to be the best, this is the kind of environment that I am talking about.
After having attended a workshop involving African women scientists in Sweden and Europe and hearing their stories about their journey to success I could not help it but write this article. It was sad and at the same interesting to see how far these women have come with their struggle to fit in a society where they stand out as “different”. A society which had judged them by their background (where they come from) and not qualification, how did these women manage to stand out and fight this “force of gravity”?
Hearing their stories, one would see that most of these women while trying to integrate in the societies where they find themselves in; they have not forgotten where they come from (home countries). Most of these women are doing projects which are supporting and benefiting their societies at home and also working in the countries where they currently find themselves to the benefit of these countries.
It's not only women who are facing these kind of challenges, there are also a lot of men who have found themselves in such kind of environments where coworkers be it in research, or in industry are pulling them down. It happens sometimes that even bosses are the ones who pull down their own subordinates trying to block them from developing a better career.
My dear friends my discussion here is that you should never be discouraged by those people who are trying to pull you down. One thing you have to know is that each one of us has potential to thrive and achieve the best. Work hard where ever you are no matter what people around you are saying or think, no matter how much they try to pull you down, keep your head above the water. You have potential and you can achieve the best.
I wish you all the best as you ponder on this discussion and know that you can get your dreams and be the best.
