Do you know what it means to be meticulous? Taking into consideration every itsy bitsy detail, every time you do something worthwhile, regardless of what people think? It’s an underappreciated trait these days. Why? Because some people just find it annoying. Do you? Is it because of your refusal to adhere to other people’s high standards when it comes to quality?
About a month ago, there was a new mak cik cleaner who started coming around every morning to tidy up the office. As I was sitting at my desk checking my e-mails, I heard a soft voice : “Dik, tepi sikit nak lap meja.” I was caught by surprise. God bless this mak cik, I thought to myself. Never before have I encountered a cleaner who actually made the effort to tell me to go away, so she could do her job properly. I made the mistake of sitting back down right after she finished wiping, because she proceeded to shoo me away (again!) with the vacuum cleaner 5 minutes later.
That same week as I was exiting the toilet, I saw her standing outside near the door. She asked me "Ada orang dekat dalam ke dik?" When I answered to the affirmative, she just stood there patiently while waiting for the person to come out, before she could proceed with her cleaning.
I marveled at the dedication of this mak cik. Her line of work probably isn’t as ‘glamorous’ as ours and she earns much less, but her commitment can put most of us to shame.
What about us? Yes we greet our customers when they approach us. But do we smile and make them feel welcome? Or answer everything with a single word so we can sit back down and relax? Yes we answer enquiries on the phone. But is there a genuine tone of wanting to assist the caller? Or do we just put on our ‘I’m too busy for this crap’ voice so we can get back to Facebook?
If we had more people like this particular mak cik, the world would be a better place and any organisation would be flourishing with employees like her in it. So start being meticulous. It'll become second nature once you get the hang of it.
Meticulous planning will enable everything a man does to appear spontaneous.
Mark Caine
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