The Veteran

…the Veteran

 

Last week "TT" called me a veteran, I was a little shocked that I had been consigned to the upper, outgoing, category of the profession. The truth is I did not think of myself as a member of this venerated group. I thought I was young, at least youthful enough to pass as a very current professional.  Veteran made me feel old.  She made me feel that I was about to keel over and die.

 

After the initial shock wore off, I decided that if I did not want to feel insulted and sorry for myself, I needed to think positively about it. I usually do this by facing the facts. Fact number one; the lady was pretty. Fact number two; she made me feel old. That said, we can now lest move to more reasonable facts.

 

I got my first job 25 years ago. I have been both employed and an independent (another word for unemployed) consultant for more than 15 years. I have run a viable business organization for at least 10 years. Everything I have done professionally tallies is in double digit years. I am a veteran. Most employed persons doing 25 years on the job would be in line for retirement. I am just lucky I started early. Anyone holding a job for 3 years can proudly say they have valuable career experience. If they stay there any longer, they soon qualify as experts. Anyone who can survive more than 2 years as an independent consultant can only be described as that - a survivor. Anyone who has kept a business going for more than five years knows some things most people don't… Statistically then, I am a veteran.

 

Though the statistics are convincing, they also impose a tremendous responsibility on a professional veteran. A responsibility to the future. It would be a shame for a veteran to leave the stage without making any real contribution or helping to make life better. The thought of a veteran leaving the stage with only their success to show for it is disgraceful. The veteran must leave something behind for those who follow. Veterans have to leave something behind, in the open, that others can easily find and learn from, without employing archeologists to dig up and piece together ancient history. This thinking is incriminating…What have I done?

 

The young lady, apart from suggesting that I was approaching my "sell-by-date", was in the same breath challenging me to give evidence of and prove my worth. She was telling me kindly to please give an account of yourself . She was possibly implying that there was nothing on my balance sheet than a not negative sum.  Her parting remark was even more telling – "I need to look you up to learn from your experience" - she actually implied that I was not only lost, but could not easily be found.  Here I was a flattered and flustered consultant being fossilized in the flesh. How could she! I don't have eyes in the back of my head to see whether I have any grey hair but she confirmed to me that the process was already in place and on course.

 

I had to remind myself that in thinking this through I should remain cool and positive so let us get back on track…So after she had concluded her kind remarks she drove off looking every bit the youth that I am not. I had to find some place to sit as the energy drained out of my system in confirmation of the fact that I was becoming a still living relic.

 

I sat there and contemplated the veteran question and decided that I had a right to take my responsibilities seriously. There and then I decided what I must do immediately to help the future. First I need to write more. This article is a start. Next I need to teach more. I've been doing it but maybe not all I could. I need to share my experience for a fee a little more freely and perhaps more frequently (even veterans must pay their bills). I could learn more and become a real veteran. There are many fake veterans who use age as an indicator to qualify their accomplishment.

 

Finally, I must make a specific and specialized contribution to the future. I must admit to myself that I am not the savior of Africa, but I can and must do my bit. Lastly (said the preacher), this world is not about profit, problems or property, its about people and I should never ever loose that focus.   

 

Come to think of it, I am a veteran. I have a little more experience, insight and wisdom than someone else does. If I can pass on this wisdom to someone else, they won't need to make all the mistakes I have made. I could share in their joy and rejoice in their achievements by watching them succeed where I failed (and also succeeded). My own victories are meaningless without laying the foundations of future success. With this attitude, it would take me forever to get through my career by impacting the lives of people that I may never meet on this side of heaven (or the other side too). I think I want to be a veteran. Something's wrong here – my attitude is changing. The show is no longer about me, it's about the future!

 

But what say you? You are a veteran too. If you are reading this article there are things you know that no one else does and no one else in history will ever know. You know more about something than at least one other person. You may believe that it is a challenge to find that person, but try the guy next to you and the one next to that one. You will be surprised at the impact you can have in such a short time. In fact, you don't have to wait to become a veteran to do and achieve what a veteran should be doing. If we all accepted that we are aging and times are changing the more we started acting like veterans the better the times would become. Thanks "TT" for making it very clear to me in that hot and dry afternoon in the parking lot that I need to convert my aging into sage-ing.

 

Allan Bukusi, 2006

This article sums up the genesis of this blog and the varied nature of the articles in Leadership & Life.