There’s Always Someone Ahead

There is an adage in my locality that says it is only someone who has never seen another person’s farm that will claim his own farm is the biggest. This simply means that there will always be someone ahead of you, someone who has reached the height you are still aspiring to attain. No matter how rich or intelligent a person is, there will always be someone richer, more intelligent, or who has been before them.

There is nothing anyone wants to become in life that is truly new under the sun. Even the Bible buttresses this point to some extent. What does this tell us? It teaches us the importance of learning from one another. No one is an island. Where your knowledge stops is exactly where another person’s begins. This is why humility is essential.

I say this because there was once a senior officer at my place of work who believed she could do and undo simply because she had power and authority. She was always ready to exercise that power to the fullest. Nothing anyone did was ever good enough in her sight; she would always find fault or inadequacy. She was someone who could not be advised because she believed she knew it all and was neither ready nor willing to compromise. However, when it came to something that benefited her personally, she had no problem acting without considering others.

Recently, a particular situation played out in her absence. Instead of delegating duties, she decided to handle everything carelessly, which was very unusual for her. Unfortunately, it later backfired. When that happened, she began seeking advice from the same people whose ideas she had always ignored. Eventually, it was the advice of one staff member, and the willingness of others to cover up, that saved her.

There are many people like that. They believe they know everything and can do anything without consequences. But there is wisdom in learning from the experiences of others. As the saying goes, we can use someone else’s wisdom for our own benefit so that we do not repeat the same mistakes. Even when mistakes are inevitable, we learn how to adjust.

We should always be inclined to learn from one another and never feel too big or too pompous to listen. Even when things seem to be working well for us, it does not mean we should stop collaborating with others. No one is an embodiment of knowledge. No matter how knowledgeable you are, you will always encounter someone who is more vast in knowledge than you. This is where collaboration and peer learning become important.

Another group of people is those who look down on or bully others simply because they believe they are in a better position. Life has a way of humbling people. We must be careful because we never know who will be of help to us tomorrow. The person who seems ignorant today may know far more tomorrow if they are willing to learn.