WHAT MADE US FEEL GOOD THIS WEEK?


Thursday, March 26, 2009

New Management, Kind - Hearted Car Owners, And An Email from Sarah 'Bibs'

* The arrival of a new manager in our branch(The Glen). Her name is Laurinda Hendricks.
Laurinda is shaking things up here. There is a new sense of urgency sweeping the branch as far as customers are concerned. Gone are the days of saying: "It's not my job." Everybody is required to chip in to help where they can.
And Laurinda is not averse to walking the talk herself. For example, this past Tuesday when most of most of our tellers could not make it to work because of
the taxi strike, she did telling duties for that whole day.
MR Clarence Raath and his team - who were some of the people responsible for implementing the '1 and done' branch model - would be proud of her totally customer-centric style of management. I remember Clarence once telling us that the '1 and done' branch model, at its perfection, would have staff accosting customers in the banking hall to find out 'how we can help them'. And this,  indeed, is starting to happen in our branch.


* The reaching out to stranded taxi commuters by private car owners during
Tuesday's taxi strike. 'Big-up' to all the car owners who opened their hearts
and car doors to help us reach our places of work on Tuesday. This was the spirit
of 'ubuntu' in action.
While at it, may I give my bucketful of 'thanks' to:

'Papi-mey authi from my 'kasi'(Protea North)-for your lift up to
Pimville.'


'Tebogo-the Toyota- Conquest-driving lady who works in Isando-for
dropping me at The Glen mall.'


'Tumi-our Credit Analyst-for your lift to Bara(from The
Glen) after work.Sisonke Tumza.'


'Happy - my newly found Opel-Monza-driving friend - for taking me
all the way home from Pimville.'

Thank you guys.


* This email we received from Mrs Sarah Bibi Sheik-Imam.
Take it away Sarah:

"Goodday TP,

I would like to say a very big THANK YOU to Iris for always being
willing to assist me whenever I ask her, and for never saying no.
Iris: 'THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART. AND
THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME KNOW THAT I CAN COUNT
ON YOU ALWAYS.' "

Well put Sarah.
The question is: How many Irises do we personally have in our lives? How many people can we honestly count on when it really matters?


THANK YOU UNIVERSE. THANK YOU FOR OUR 'FEEL GOOD MOMENTS'.


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Our FEEL GOOD poem of the week:


Make Way
_________

Make way, make way.
A change is here.
A revolution is here.
Make way, make way.
A change is not gonna come.
It has come.
A change to make us better people.
A change to make our branch better.
Make way.
Make way for a change to make our customers kings.
Make way for a new broom.
A new broom that sweeps clean.
A new broom to re-inspire us.
A new broom to make us young again.
Make way for a change.
A change coming to you in style.
In 'militant' style.
And if you don't like it?
That's too bad.


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SO, SOUTH AFRICA AND THE WORLD OUT THERE, WHAT MADE YOU FEEL

GOOD THIS WEEK?

Let us know at - feelgoodmovement@gmail.com
=====================================



Thursday, March 19, 2009

Goodbyes for Lesego, Township Greening Initiatives, And the Resurgence of Liverpool FC

* Giving a colleague - Lesego Maloane - a nice send-off this week. She was moving to another branch( Eloff) in the Johannesburg CBD . She was not only a colleague, but also my immediate co-worker in our department.
And we did this send-off in style, if I may say so myself. We held what we call a 'Goodbye Feel Good Session' for her .In this session we got a few staff members to say in what ways did Lesego made them feel good in the past. Also ,a poem ("We Love It, Lesego" ) that was composed specially for her, was recited. It was a good and solid bye-bye indeed.
Here I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the following staff members for chipping in, at short notice, to make this session happen:

Linda - our department supervisor - for helping with the organizing, and for that
poem reciting duet.


Bessie - our new kid on the block - for giving up your 'going home time' in order
to go and buy that beautiful card and the present.


Mmalehlohonolo - Lesego's new best friend - for agreeing to say a few words in
in praise of.


Sibusiso Cindi - the 'charmer boy' and the original 'smooth operator' - for representing all the male admirers of Lesego.

Thank you guys.


* The excellent work that the Johannesburg City Parks is doing in creating
parks in the townships. Large empty spaces that had had some overgrown grass and some shrubs are being transformed into these beautiful, beautiful parks. These spaces are being re-lawned and the lawns are manicured. The parks have footpaths and some snazzy metal waste bins.
In my own 'kasi' of Protea North, for example, we have one of these new parks - THE MAPETLA PARK - on the Protea Gardens Mall side entrance, and on the Tshiawelo flats side entrance. It is such an uplifting experince to walk through here and see all these children playing with abandon on these green manicured lawns.

"Nice one JHB City Parks. You are living up to your slogan of :' beautifying
the city 4 u, with u' ."


* The mauling of Manchester United by Liverpool ('The Reds') this past weekend in a Premier League game. The score was 4-1 in favour of Liverpool F.C. This
thrashing took place in Man U's own backyard - Old Trafford - nogal.
And this win came on the back of another famous victory( 4-0) over another
giant of European soccer - Real Madrid - in a Champions League game a few
days earlier.
Liverpool are on a roll, ladies and gentlemen.
More importantly, this win over Man U demonstrates what a big win(over Real Madrid) can do for a team's self-confidence. Liverpool went to Old Trafford full of self-belief.
It is good to see this resurgence of 'The Reds', who were kings of Europe in the 80s.


THANK YOU UNIVERSE. THANK YOU FOR OUR 'FEEL GOOD MOMENTS'.


=============================================

Our FEEL GOOD poem of the week:


We Love It, Lesego.
_______________

I love it, Lesego.
I love it when you greet me,
When you greet me by name in the mornings.
I love it when customers pay you a compliment.
When they say your FNB uniform looks nice.
Or when they say:"Your hair looks beautiful."
I love it.
I love it when you roll like that,
When you roll like that with your 'nanas' in taxis.
I love it when you take the initiative,
The initiative to file all the month-end statements by yourself.
I love it, Lesego.
I love it a lot.
Linda loves it too.
She loves it when you assist,
When you assist in getting things up to date.
She loves it when you follow the bank's procedure to the 'T',
And won't give in to customer's demands.
We love it, Lesego.
We love it a lot.


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SO, SOUTH AFRICA AND THE WORLD OUT THERE, WHAT MADE YOU

FEEL GOOD THIS WEEK?

Let us know at - feelgoodmovement@gmail.com
=====================================


Thursday, March 12, 2009

Johannesburg Given Credit, A Rising Star, And Emails from bo-Londiwe

* A foreigner weighing in about our city of Johannesburg. His name is Jeremy Clarkson. He is a well-known motoring journalist form the U K.
MR Clarkson wrote a piece for U K's SUNDAY TIMES newspaper entitled "You will get your peace in Jo'burg." This article was in turn reprinted by our local TIMES( 05/03/09) newspaper.
In this article Clarkson was basically saying that, relatively speaking, Jo'burg is not as dangerous as it is made out to be. He has been visiting our city on and off for the past 3 years. And during this period he has never once been mugged, hijacked or even been ''killed''. All this talk about Jo'burg being one of the most violent cities in the world is hogwash, he wrote.
It was refreshing to hear a foreign visitor being so positive about our city. Admittedly Jo'burg does have its challenges with regards to crime. But it is still one of the best places to live in, in the world, I reckon. The vibe and energy of this place cannot be beaten.
I will leave the final on Jo'burg to Mr Clarkson:

"And so, if you are thinking about going to the ( FIFA) World
Cup next year, don't hesitate. The exchange rate's good, the food
is superb, the weather's lovely and , thanks to some serious economic
self-sacrifice, Kruger( Park) is still full of animals."

Awe, Jeremy.


* Congratulations are in order to our Ms Ilse Smuts. She is FNB's head of marketing ( core banking solutions), and has just won a Marketing Excellence Award in the Rising Star category. She won this award jointly with Ms Monique Ethelson of the company - redespresso.
A rising star is basically someone to watch; someone for the future.
Ms Ilse Smuts was asked what product( other than her own) would she like to
market .And she answered: "Positivity."
I loved hearing this from Ms Smuts. The spreading of positivity is what the
Feel Good Movement is all about.


* The colleagues of Londiwe seemed to have made her feel good this week, if
the email she sent us is anything to go by. In her own words:

"I have been feeling good this whole week. There is no particular reason.
It is just one of those very rare occasions when life is good.
Also, working with wonderful people could be the cause. For example,
Sbusiso and Nathi - the smooth operators of the branch - always charm me.
This is not to forget ubhuti wase Durban - Nhlanhla .What about Gaddafi?
His singing is horrible, but I simply love it.
Bo-mysister too. Valentine,you must stop watching "Ifa Lakamthethwa". It will
affect your sense of style my sister. Linda for always having something to say.
Now I can do the "corporate", thanks to Hlengs and Lesego.
Fourways - my former branch - was great too. I still miss you guys.
Friday sessions are not the same any more, phela you guys were the
only cockroaches in my cupboard. I still love you. Thinking about you
makes me smile."

VIVA to the people that you work with Londiwe! VIVA!



THANK YOU UNIVERSE. THANK YOU FOR OUR 'FEEL GOOD MOMENTS'.

=================================

Our FEEL GOOD poem of the week:


Where I Come From
_________________


I come from Emjepa.
From Emjondolo.
I come from Ejozi.
From Gauteng 2000.
Where I come from.
I come from a city of fast life.
A city of 'Zola Budds'.
I come from the city of gold.
A city of opportunities.
A city that draws people by their thousands.
A city where dreams come true.
I come from a city of Africa.
Harare, Maputo, Kinshasa and Abuja.
They are all here.
They are all here to make it.
This is Jo'burg.
This is my city.
This is where I am from.
Jo'burg, my Jo'burg.

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SO, SOUTH AFRICA AND THE WORLD OUT THERE, WHAT MADE YOU

FEEL GOOD THIS WEEK?

Let us know at - feelgoodmovement@gmail.com
=====================================

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Lenasia Branch Fellow Staff, Very Young Authors, And Emails from bo-Mrs Dickson

* The way two of my fellow staff members from Lenasia branch bounced back.
I had faxed through a request for a business cheque book to released on their side. The a/c was held in Lenasia, but the cheque book was for collection at our branch - The Glen.
For some reason, though, there was a delay in releasing this cheque book. I had to phone several times to follow up on my request. On my last call I got through to the supervisor - Eulicia. After asking around she told me that my fax had not been received for apparently. From here she took charge. She asked me to fax it for her attention. And in 5 minutes( or so) the cheque book release was done.
I was impressed.
Even better, Mbali- whom I had originally sent the fax to - phoned me after this release to apologise for the initial delay. This act by Mbali blew me away. Not many people can make the effort of picking up a phone to apologise; apologise to a far away fellow staff member for that matter. It would have been easier to let the matter rest, now that it had been resolved.
'Big up' to you Mbali.

* While at it. Here is a roll call of more colleagues who made me feel
good this week:
To you Amoret: "Thanks for that FIFA 2010 World Cup ticket
reversal query."
To you Iris : "Ta for that business cheque a/c card issue this
past Saturday."
To you Londiwe :"Ngiya bonga mina, for that project of ordering
1-yr statements for a business a/c on webfolders
on Monday."


* Hearing about the youngest published author in South Africa. His name is Andy Petersen and he is only 16 years of age. His feat appeared in an article in the Sunday
Times( 01/03/09) this past weekend. His first book is called "DANIEL FOX AND THE JESTER'S LEGACY".
To be published at such a young age is awesome, I think. Andy must have worked really hard to put this book together. What with all the distractions that come with being a teenager. And to be able to write something worth publishing was no stroke of luck for him. It came from reading a lot. He was quoted as saying:

"I come from a family of keen readers, and my family and
my elder sister always encouraged me to read and often bought
me books they thought I should read."

So, from one lover of books to another: "Well done Andy, my man"


* This email that we received from Mrs Dickson:

"Hi T.P.
.....reading the Feel Good material and seeing the magnificent life being led
by T.P., I feel so blessed and privileged to know you. Any Mom would feel
proud of you. You are one of a kind. The kind that keeps silent when he does
not have anything nice to say about someone....I have seen you grow, mature
and develop into Mr Feel Good and what an experience for me. I wish you
well in all your endeavours. Thank you T.P.
Thank you Universe for this 'feel good moment'. ''

There it is, ladies and gentlemen. What more can we say.


THANK YOU UNIVERSE. THANK YOU FOR OUR 'FEEL GOOD MOMENTS'.


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Our FEEL GOOD poem of the week:


With a Little Help
______________

With a little help.
A little help from my colleagues.
I can go far.
I can be a master of the business cheque acc mandates.
I can be a master of the business cheque book release.
With a little help from my fellow staff members.
I can master webfolders.
I can master FIFA 2010 ticket apps.
With a little help.
A little help from you Eulicia.
You Mbali.
And you Londiwe, Amoret and Iris.
I am now a master.
A master of my banking Universe.


===============================================


SO, SOUTH AFRICA AND THE WORLD OUT THERE, WHAT MADE YOU

FEEL GOOD THIS WEEK?

Let us know at - feelgoodmovement@gmail.com
====================================