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Individual Attitude and wealth part I PDF Print E-mail
Written by Namucana Musiwa   
Tuesday, 16 February 2010 00:00
Ask any person why they go for work and they will most likely tell you that it is to make money.  Ask any villager why they till the land and rear animals, they will most likely say that they want to raise money to be able to meet their children’s school needs or to sustain themselves.  Ask any marketeer why they wake up at 04.00 hours in the morning to go and buy farm produce and they will most likely tell you that they have to earn a living.  Every politician, especially at a time like now when elections are just around the corner, will tell you that they want to join (or continue in) politics so that they serve the people of Zambia when, in actual fact, some of them see politics merely as a way of making money or buying a four-wheel-drive on very attractive terms.

Whatever your profession, we all need money to make ends meet and to prosper.   Basic theories of motivation tell us that man’s satisfaction through the  fulfillment of a want, is but gives rise to demand for another want.  I am yet to come across a person who is so rich that they do not want to make any more money.  Even Bill Gates is forever coming up with ways of making more money.

There is a common saying that “There is No Sweet Without Sweat”.  This means if you want to live well, you must work extra hard.  My former boss and now Associate, Peart Siwale taught me to differentiate between hard work and smart work.  He always urged us as employees and individuals to work ‘smarter’ and not ‘harder’. His emphasis was that there is less effort when you are doing the right thing.  You can put in eight hours of work into a process and produce rubbish but you will most likely still be paid for it if you are a salaried employee. 

It is also true that when you have struggled to purchase an item, you will look after it jealously.  Sometimes I wonder what those who won lotteries like Pick-A—Lot and Kwachamania (at the time), did with the money.  I also wonder what armed bandits do with the millions of kwacha that they steal once they have stolen the money.

How many people will invest money earned through allowances (especially unexpectedly) into something lasting, something meaningful or something that can raise more money?  If you are a breadwinner or pillar of your family, what have your unemployed brothers, sisters and other relatives done with the money you have given them to invest in education of some income-generating project?

Things that come easily disappear just as quickly.  Just look around you and see what has happened to orphans of men or women who were once rich by Zambian standards:  some fight so much over the property of the deceased that in the end, for the sake of keeping the family together or maintaining peace, the assets are sold off and returns shared among the beneficiaries.

It is difficult to find a starting point of what could have shaped our current attitudes as a people.  Being such a wealthy country in terms of resources but rated among the poorest countries in the World, our status has been caused by a combination of several factors.

Individual attitude, in my view, is prime to the state we find ourselves in.  Countries like Botswana and Zimbabwe have a similar colonial history as we have but their attitudes in general are quite different from ours.

We all know that money is the means to achieve our objectives but how much care or support do we extend as individuals towards people who make it possible for us to make money:  the Customer?  It is general knowledge that the Customer is King (or Queen) and therefore the most important person in any business but our actions, usually are the exact opposite.  How much appreciation do we show the people who help us serve customers efficiently and effectively:  the staff?  What percentage of our profits do we spend on our staff?  How do we treat our maids and domestic servants without whose help we would be overly stressed?  At a Novena at St. Ignatius a few years ago, Fr. Chungu in his homily bemoaned how certain households will feed their domestic staff on nothing but relish that is spelt with letter ‘k’  such as kalembula, katapa, kachesha, kanunkanunka (local vegetables) etc while they themselves eat nothing but relish that is spelt with letter ‘i’ such as ‘inkoko’ (chicken), ‘inama’ (beef), ‘isabi’ (fish) etc.

Where in your life have you placed God?  Most of us cry to God when we are having problems but put him away in suitcases and drawers once the problem is solved.  When we are making money and business is good we get so engrossed in the business that we do not even find time to pray.  Whether you believe in God or not, the bible tells us that “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you.”

In his article entitled “Development at Forty” David Punabantu gives a brilliant historic account of Zambians’ propensity to shop.  He compares the shopping through the ‘small window’ of the colonial era to the current shopping through the ‘big window’ at shopping malls and foresees this as continuing for the next forty years as Zambians do not seem to see anything wrong with buying chickens, fish, meat, vegetables and maize meal from the shops even when they have back yards, small-holdings and farms on which they can grow some of these foods.  David explains that a basic necessity to the independence shopping ceremony  was and still is the thirst for money, which will continue to grow in urban Zambia, as more money is needed to buy the same chicken.  It is against this perception of independence that urban Zambia defines progress in economic development as job creation.  He argues that job creation should give rise to wages needed to pass and enter the independence shopping paradise.  Commenting on the attitudes towards domestic help, David says that a colonial paternalistic and expressions of humanity attitude has persisted in urban Zambia where even when one earns K3 million a month or makes K100 million profit a week they still pay the servant or maid K100 000.00 per month.

When you do not show your staff that you appreciate their efforts, it will be difficult for them to share your vision and support your business objectives.  If anything, they may deliberately engage in actions where they reward themselves and ultimately bring you down because they know you will never show that they are of any value to your organisation.  An honest employee however, will not act in any manner that may affect your current operations but will leave you for a better employer at the next opportunity and will take with him all the knowledge and experience gained while he was serving you taking you several steps backwards.

For the next several weeks we will discuss the different aspects of the effects that individual attitudes have on wealth.
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