By BOSEDE OLUSOLA-OBASA
My main case study to drive home this conversation today are some medical professional slips. This should further help us make sense of the recent issues around JAMB examination errors, technical glitches, and the pains suffered by candidates. I would refer to two cases that happened this year, both of which involved human lives. The big picture is to show you how a professional without strong character is not only a danger to himself, but to people who interface with him. My character focus today is carefulness, which when absent becomes carelessness.
CASE ONE
A certain newlywed woman took ill and required blood transfusion at a hospital. Unfortunately, she got administered incompatible blood. Her life hung in the balance since that moment until she died.
CASE TWO
A young girl fell ill and was taken to the “family hospital” one morning. The doctor said she would require an intravenous. The administering nurse asked if she had eaten, and the minder said, “Not yet.” Somehow, the nurse thought it was okay to quickly administer the injection, instructing the minder to get her something to eat immediately afterwards. Little did they know that things won’t go that way because the little girl passed out immediately after the injection was taken, but she was thankfully resuscitated!
I leave all the “WHAT IF” questions to your mind. But please think along with me: if an apology from the hospital made sense in the second case I cited, what redeemable worth would it have in the first case mentioned? That is why professionals must choose to become careful, realising that “sorry” isn’t always truly a magic word!’ It might be too late for an apology to lift pains already inflicted. The world needs less of those bouquets of ‘apologies’ and ‘condolence messages, letters or visits’ and rather, master the character called carefulness.
Quick research shows that more people get into life-threatening medical experiences from the effects of a character deficit than lack of professional skills. Do your checks. You’ll find that more than 50% of what makes up “professional misconducts” or “unethical conducts” are a lack of certain character qualities in individuals. The rule is always – first in, then out.
The two cases I mentioned earlier revealed that the professionals involved may have been competent but were careless and negligent. The word carefulness with reference to professional practices is “the quality of being careful, thoughtful and paying close attention to what you are doing to avoid mistakes, accidents, or damage. It involves being cautious and attentive to potential dangers or errors.”
READ ALSO: Lagos seeks strategic partnerships to tackle coastal erosion
Carelessness or otherwise, therefore, shows in the outcomes of whatever you do and how you do them. I understand the saying, “to err is human,” but that mindset shouldn’t be the norm. It should be the exception. Growth-minded humans learn to prevent avoidable mistakes by intentionally building their carefulness quotient. For them, carefulness is the standard, errors are the seldom exceptions!
Are you a careless professional? Let me help answer the question.
Telltale Signs That You Are Careless and Need Urgent Help
If you have faced or constantly face any, some, or all of these negative consequences, speak with me immediately because you are a carrier of that toxic character – carelessness.
- Your actions during physical activities or machinery use often cause accidents, inflict injuries, or pains on you or others due to careless slips.
- You often make mistakes and errors through lack of attention to detail, causing avoidable personal and corporate errors that sometimes escalate significantly.
- You often turn in poor-quality work, which robs you of excellent or outstanding performance, especially due to a constant lack of attention to detail.
- You often miss personal or professional life opportunities leading you to regrets.
- You often incur financial losses and run into debts or financial instability, resulting from your careless spending habits or financial mismanagement.
- You have caused damage to personal or corporate reputation or lost trust due to repeated careless occurrences.
- You suffer health problems due to lack of control over your eating habits, exercises, etc.
- You often land in legal troubles by staying in the offences way, e.g., reckless driving or driving under the influence.
- You are often in relationship problems, especially for being careless about your communication or non-observance of the rules of decorum.
Are you guilty or not guilty? This reorientation will help you make an informed decision about what to do with your life going forward.
Quick research shows that more people get into life-threatening medical experiences from the effects of a character deficit than lack of professional skills.
*Understand that the carefulness character quality is not a gift or talent reserved for a privileged few. You have to grow it, build it, develop it, or form it, you value it.
*Character development isn’t just for children. In fact, it is more for adults. You should never stop building character across your identified weakness areas, if you wish to build anything to last. Your strong or weak character affects every aspect of life.
My focus today has been the character quality called – carefulness and how the lack of it (carelessness), eventually discredits your professional certification or rubbish your years of experience.
Dear high flyer, rather than get angry or feel personally insulted whenever an assessment indicates you are either careless, or carefree, take it as feedback and promptly turn yourself in at RCV for professional help. Once you commence this intentional personhood enhancement journey, there’s no going back o! You remain a lifelong student because no one graduates from a character development journey; you stay the course.
If you love what you read today, please let me know. Also, please reach out if you would love to book a corporate training session on best workplace attitudes, work mindset upgrade, sustainable leadership, exceptional customer service attitudes, corporate culture dynamics, and business growth, among others.
Enjoy the rest of your week!
