Faking It

When you just don't belong.

Does being in business or working for business mean one must behave stragely? By strange I mean untoward and against our principles as Afrikan people. Arrogant, disrespectful and inconsiderate.

As an Afrikan child, I can never call my elders by their first names. This is tantamount to trechory. I am expected to be compassionate and understand to others. I am especially expected to show empathy towards family problems others might be having. I am also generally expected to treat everyone with respect, irrespective of their position or job title.

I have never being able to call elder people by their first names, no matter what race they come from. This is a foreign concept to me and one which I am sure my parents would not take kindly to I were to find myself practicing. There are also certain things I find difficult to discuss with an elder, despite my position in the company. Debates and arguments are the worst. There is a thin line between raising your voice and being passionate about a particular discussion topic. You cannot raise your voice to an elder.

Discipline. This is one of the most touching areas of being a senior person at work responsible for elder people. While discipline can still be carried out to elder people, it is the compassion associate with this that sometimes makes one wish things could be different. Especially if the discipline is somewhat linked to future well being of the elder concerned. My heart bleeds everytime I sit having to be part of a team to decide the future of an elder person. I wish companies would comprise their disciplinary teams with this in mind so that elder people are generally taken care of by other elderly people.

Observing the protocol of corporate hierarchy mean that people are segregated based on their roles in the company. This to me breads divisions. In some companies there are certain floors where ordinary staff members are not allowed entry as these floors are occupied by senior and executive staff members. I have a problem of being treated differently based on my job title in a company. I cannot treat people differently simply because some happen to be in upper echelons of management. My respect and honour is based on how an individual conducts themselves, and not their job title.

There are times when I just don't know how to conduct myself. When my upbringing clashes with the corporate culture.

Language factor. I am proudly an umXhosa who also fluently speaks Sesotho. These are my primary languages and I only use English on a need to basis. I express myself best in my language plus I prefer speaking my languages to English. I do not see myslef as an agent promoting the use and advancement of the English language. I therefore use isiXhosa and Sesotho freely where ever I might be. This includes conducting meetings in these languages if the audience happen to be of these languages. Why should I speak English to a Mosotho? To me speaking English in a room full of Afrikan people is fake and makes me uncomfortable. This is one of the areas I am not prepared to compromise. I am proud of my languages and I will use them whenever I can.

And then there is the matter of policy. Being the Afrikan that I am, I have always understood that policy/law/rules are subject to discretion. As a manager/supervisor/team leader, is it not my prerogative to decide on matters affecting my team/staff? If a member of my staff has family matters to attend to, is it not for me to decide if they can go if their jobs are done? Is it not for me to decide to give an employee a day off is a child is sick? I have always argued that why should people be compelled to take leave for things that they did not plan for such as a family member being sick? Of course this done within reason.

Let's consider culture, tradition and religion. I am an Afrikan at the core who strongly adheres to culture and tradition. There are times when certain traditions must be performed, which require protocol to be observed. Let's say I must perform a thanks giving ritual. I must be home at least two days before the ritual and during the period since it was announed, I cannot be late to coming home. This means that I am not allowed to stay late after dark until after the ritual. To do any of these, I must take annual leave and I will hard pressed to make people understand what exactly it is I am talking about; including black managers. When observing the custom of "ho ila", there are certain things I cannot engage in at work and this becomes a point of contention with some companies. Since I am Afrikan by religion, I am forced to observe other people's religious symbols through public holidays while for mine I must take annual leave.

Sick leave. I generally do not consult medical practitioners. I am most at home consulting an inyanga for whatever health condition I may have. There is a lot of companies who will take issue with a sick note from an inyanga. Medical aid procedures are way too cumbersome to claim your costs from an inyanga. As a matter of principle, it is up to the company to sort it out if they happen to have issues with the use of izinyanga. This is a position for which I will never apologise nor reconsider. Some people are at peace taking flu vaccines while I am comfortable taking my herbs. Like it or don't like it, that is the real of affairs.

Many of us are expected to change to suit our jobs. Many people are miserable at work as a result. People are trying way too hard to fit into the corporate environment. The corporate environment is too hostile for many people.