21 Comments
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Nusaybah A.'s avatar

It's how you write so articulately for me. barakaLlahu feekum!

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Hameed's avatar

Ameen thank you!

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OOS's avatar

Jo big time, nice perspectives as usual and may Allah make us from those who internalize the admonitions given to Ibn Abbas.

I will say our shit shoveling could also make for a good experience and be more effective if we take time to see the (sometimes less obvious) benefits behind it. Taking meeting notes as the most junior guy for example has some real but undervalued benefits. Notable among which is that it trains you to be present in meetings, remember the most important details and summarize them in short but concise passages.

This sounds very easy peasy but it's a difficult and invaluable skill. Especially as you move up the ladder and your job is now almost exclusively attending different meetings on diverse topics (like 15 daily!) and making decisions based off the information you get form them or providing your takeaways to those who would. One who has had a few years of "shit shoveling" will definitely fare better than the one who hasn't.

So I say shovel that shit all day and have a nice experience while doing so.

Happy world shit shoveling day!

Grüß

OOS

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Hameed's avatar

Allahuma ameen to the dua.

"One who has had a few years of "shit shoveling" will definitely fare better than the one who hasn't." 💯

Really like your perspective Sheikh, thank you for sharing.

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Wale Musa's avatar

A good read as usual .

I really like the concepts you used when categorizing the kinds of people.

And yeah I agree one has to shove shit at some point .

But I guess my question is how much and how long would one have to do this .

Cos you could decide to shove for a while and just get stuck there

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Hameed's avatar

I think we can continue to shovel shit as long as it is still a path to get what we aspire towards. I will definitely not encouraging shovelling shit just for the sake of it 😅

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Ameenah bello's avatar

I learnt something beautiful this morning😁Barakalaufihi, May Almighty Allah increase you in Knowledge.

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Hameed's avatar

Allahuma ameen, thank you so much!

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Chimenum Welebe's avatar

A very insightful read, especially on a Monday morning.

It gives a whole new way towards one's attitude to work.

Thank you, Hameed!

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Hameed's avatar

Thank you so much Chimenum!

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Asiyah's avatar

Such a beautiful and relatable piece

Barakallahu feekum

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Hameed's avatar

Allahuma ameen, thank you Asiyah!

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Semiat Aderibigbe's avatar

A lot of takeaways! Thank you Hameed for all these nuggets you throw our way.

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Hameed's avatar

Thanks for reading Semiat!

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Taiwo Shittu's avatar

Blessed 🙏

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mythoughtsandco's avatar

Very relatable, thank you 👌🏾. As Wale said, what's the limit to it? And is it possible for shit shovelling to be mistaken for bullying.

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Hameed's avatar

To be mistaken for bullying?

I really don't know. Personally, I would gladly tolerate the 'shit' that comes my way as long as it is standard 'shit' that gets thrown in the way of people at that level / in that industry / in that organization. Anything more than that, I probably would not be comfortable with.

What's the limit to me?

Again, I don't know for sure, this is just what i would do...my personal limit is 50% of my time at work. If more than half of my time is focused on productive work and I have to tolerate some shit shovelling to be successful in the role, then so be it. But should shit shovelling now constitute up to half or even a majority of my time, then that is more than I can deal with.

Thanks for reading and commenting Toibat!

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T~M's avatar

Thank you for this great piece Hameed!

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Hameed's avatar

Thank you for reading Mariam!

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VeiledEnigma's avatar

As usual so much knowledge to take from here. Thank you Hameed ✨

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Hameed's avatar

Thanks for reading Munirattttt ✨

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