Sister Rose said to me, “Pastor, I have been attending many deliverance sessions, and I think I need more prayers to overcome this unemployment situation”. Why, If I may ask? Sister Rose replied, “I have been applying for jobs for months, and till date, not one single employer has called me or acknowledged my application”. I think there is a “generational curse” on my CV!

Is your CV a generational trash?

In my usual curious nature, I requested to see Sister Rose’s CV (not her real name). When I sighted it, it was in shambles. The length of her name occupied virtually the entire length of the page; her work experiences over the years were grossly inconsistent; the format was poor; and typos littered the CV. In short, I said to myself, “I will not employ Sister Rose if she were my biological sister”. Then, the mentorship and creativity in me jumped out, and I said to her, “Sister Rose, you do not have any generational curse. On the contrary, your CV is a “generational trash”. You are not excellent! You are applying for jobs with this kind of CV, in direct competition with graduates from world class Universities? I am busy now but send your CV to me for a quick makeover.

Total CV makeover

I flipped the CV over, turned it around, cut down on her names; edited and re-formatted the CV, and sent it back to her. Before the week ended, she got her first interview.

Spirituality does not confer automatic excellence on people!

Are you reading this post, and have become a full-time customer of deliverance ministers, even when you know that you are not excellent at your work? Spirituality does not confer automatic excellence on people. Excellence is intentional and deliberate. You can be spiritual and not be excellent. But you cannot be excellent as a Christian and not be spiritual. Why?

A life committed to excellence will do everything well including serving God. Fellow believers, it is painful to realise that the African culture is deeply rooted in spirituality, is also unfortunately badly deficient in excellence. Of course, both are needed, but not at the expense of either of them! What excellence will do for you; spirituality will not do.

There is presently a massive protest in hell. I call it a fictional protest against wrong accusations from Christians. Satan has just convened an emergency meeting to discuss the unjust accusations being levelled against him – mostly by African Christians. Given the focus of his ministry – which is to steal, kill & destroy, Satan is very happy to see so many people attribute the cause of their current problems to him – as opposed to attributing it to their lack of excellence. At least, by diverting their attention away from the real source of their problems – which is their lack of excellence, they will remain stagnated and frustrated in their families, careers, ministries, and businesses.

There is a pandemic of mediocrity in our societies

There is a pandemic of mediocrity in our societies. A lot of young people attend colleges and Universities that are very deficient in preparing them for excellence, and sadly, many false pastors are taking advantage of their ignorance – by further polluting their minds with false deliverance and generational curses narratives. If there is a nation on earth that should carry the fullest weight of the world’s generational curse, that should be Germany. The Germans worked directly against the Jews – killing more than eight million of them under the brutal Nazi regime. Yet, Germany, today, remains today one of the greatest countries on earth in education, economy, and technology. Same as Great Britain, and the United States: who invested in massive slave trades! But these nations stand poles apart from many African countries that have not even done as much evil as many of these nations.

Excellence speaks to doing things so well, and above average and with so much distinction and dexterity. It speaks to putting the “WOW” factor in your work. It speaks to ensuring that to the best of your ability, not one single error or mistake can be found in your work – to the admiration of everyone.

Excellence is a culture, so is lack of it!

Excellence is a culture. Lack of it is a culture – a culture endemic in most failed nations. It is a value. Excellence is not the icing on the cake – but the cake itself. While undertaking my Systems Engineering post graduate degree at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, I submitted an engineering assignment to one of my professors. A couple of days later, I received his feedback, with the following words: “If I decide to grade your present work, you're going to fail”. I was stunned. I asked him to tell me why my work would attract a “failed grade”,

to which he replied, “THERE IS NO WOW FACTOR IN YOUR PAPER”. That is it! I did it all over again – drenching my work with the expected wow factor – and till date, it has been about being excellent.

Excellence does not come by impartation, but by hard work

Excellence does not come by impartation, but by hard work – and the embracing of a culture of “doing things well” – whether people are watching you or not. Daniel was branded as one of the most excellent individuals in the bible. You know why a lot of Africans struggle to attract patronage in the Diaspora? Many of them hold professorial degrees in mediocrity.

An example of a rare mindset of excellence

The famed painter, Michelangelo got a contract to paint the roof of a church. Together with one of his workers, Michelangelo went to the church to commence his work. He spent hours upon hours painting the roof of the church, with the assistance of his worker. But something strange happened. The employee who followed Michelangelo noticed that his boss was spending a lot of time on a section of the church’s roof – that is not visible to the public. In other words, when people seat inside the church auditorium, they will not see this portion of the roof – yet Michelangelo spent more time on this portion of the roof. In total frustration, the young man asked Michelangelo, “Why are you spending so much time on a section of the roof that no one will see”? Michelangelo replied, “God will see”. No wonder Michelangelo rose to the very top of his profession and became one of the world’s most celebrated painters.

If you are not good enough, the devil is not after you. You are after yourself. A lot of us are fighting demons and doing deliverances all around town on issues that only require excellence.

How excellent are you?

How excellent is your CV? How excellently do you clean that house you are employed to clean? How excellently do you package your product? As a pastor, how excellently do you prepare your messages? Do your scriptural references match your messages? As a government contractor, how excellently do you do the job you have been paid for? A former US Navy Seal, John McLaren was invited to speak to the graduating class of a University in the US. He mounted the podium and said the following words to the graduating class: “Do you all want to conquer the world, and become the best?” They all said yes. Then, John McLaren said, “Start making your beds every morning”. If you can be so excellent at making your beds every day, you will conquer the world.

Average is always rejected

Excellence is contagious. Excellence is like a perfume. You are being rejected because you are too average. Step up your quality and watch how men will compete to hire you. I did not say it will be easy. It always comes at a cost. Recently, I read the story of a sculptor with a paralyzed hand. One day, he was engaged to draw the image of a famous man. As he struggled to create and complete this drawing, someone, out of pity confronted him, “why are you going through these pains, just to create a drawing”? The man replied, “THE PAIN PASSES, THE PLEASURE STAYS”.

To stand out, learn to sharpen your axe

It was Abraham Lincoln who said: “If I had six hours to cut down a tree, I will spend the first four hours sharpening my Axe”. Sadly, the main difference between Africans and the West is excellence! Most of our Universities and colleges neither teach nor model excellence – an indirect consequence of failed leadership in the larger society. A lot of our graduates do not know how to write CVs. Many do not know how to stand before their peers to make professional presentations. Consequently, the basic components and rudiments of excellence – such as communication skills, writing skills, relationship skills, critical thinking skills, and an innate desire to do things well even when no one is watching – are absent in the formative years of young Africans. Except for the foreign education that many African parents are now leveraging, the African society would have become a pariah (outcast) generation of mediocres.

Super Intelligence versus spiritual excuse

I will not believe that your case is spiritual until I am sure that you have done all that is to be done – by being super excellent. Excellence speaks to applying for jobs with a world class CV. In fact, life has been made so easy for us in this generation. There are so many organizations whose main business focus is to design CVs. Excellence speaks to going for a 1st class in your academic pursuit – regardless of the cost. Excellence does not cut corners; excellence does not compromise quality for profit. Desire and determine from today that when people see your work, it will provoke a “wow” from them, and with the grace of God on your life, watch how many doors will open to you of their own accords. You can be spiritual and may not be excellent. But you cannot be excellent as a Christian and not be spiritual, just like Daniel. Why? A life committed to excellence will do everything well including serving God well. However, spirituality will never compensate fordeliberate mediocrity

•Dr. Ayo Akerele, a leadership and system development strategist and minister of the word holds a doctorate degree in employee turnover and human capital development from the prestigious Edinburgh Business School, Edinburgh, Scotland. He is based in Canada and can be reached at: ayoakerele2012@gmail.com

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