Destination Success Turning Point!

Tony Bradford stared at the audience as they complained loudly about the changes the company was about to make and who they thought should be fired for whatever reasons. Chris Ellis, the manager was about to intervene. Tony stopped him by grabbing his right hand, as he raised the cordless microphone to speak.

Silence from the small podium in the conference room alerted them and they gave Tony, the President and owner of Bradford Corporation, along with the manager, their attention.

Tony took the microphone away from Chris and spoke, “Andrea Hudson, you just said Chris demand that you put your phone away while working.”

“Yes,” flew quickly from her mouth as if it was sitting on the edge of her tongue. “My son is having problems at school and I had to keep in contact with him,” she explained.

“But James Bingham High School your son attends, prohibits cell phones on the school compound during school hours,” Tony reminds her, watching the shock exploding on her face. He continued, “Is it Raymond?”

“Yes,” she answered slower with a sigh, shock still lining her face.

“Didn’t Chris save him from being expelled the second time three months ago?” Tony interrogates her.

She nods this time.

“He was finally expelled because he isn’t listening and Chris refused to help you again?” Tony went on.

“My child is my responsibility and if he is having issues, I should be able to communicate with him no matter what!” she fumed.

“Your job is also your responsibility. Your son needs to eat and live,” Ton reminds her.

“My son is more important!”

“Then you will have to choose your job or your son!”

While she fumed, he turned to Jorge, “You live three minutes' drive away from your place of employment and are constantly late. Chris lives thirty minutes away and he is never late. You don’t think punctuality will contribute to your success, Mr. Malcom?”

“All I am saying is that he is too tight. He needs to loosen up the rules a little bit,” Jorge defends.

Tony uses his middle finger to scratch the center of his brows then says, “My mother died three hours after I was born. My father blamed me and abandoned me. My seventy-five-year-old grandmother lost her husband of fifty years at the same time too. So, I lost a mother and she lost a husband and a daughter,” he paused fighting to push the pain away. “My life had a Turning Point at birth.”

After composure returned, he continued, “She raised me. I hated her for the first seventeen years of my life, because like you said, she didn’t loosen the rules. I had an impatient life and had to grow up fast. She had a business to run without her daughter and husband. I replaced them. I woke up at four am Mr. Malcom, helped her to prepare for the day. Go to school. Come back for lunch to help. Then after school, I worked until late into the night.”

Tony paused again, staring into their eyes, who stared back in shock. He nodded forcing a smile, then went back into his life. “For seventeen years that’s all I did and she demanded my best because she believed,” he recalled his grandmother’s warning as a child when she gave him chores. “She demanded my best because she believed that’s the only thing that can and will take me to Destination Success.”

More than twelve pairs of eyes hold his attention. “I planned my escape through the Dream project. I finished high school at seventeen and just wanted to get out. The Dream project was offering a full scholarship to any university of my choice. She couldn’t afford to send me to college and I wasn’t qualified because of her income. I wanted to go to Princeton University to do business management. I ran her business from I was ten years old and wanted to be my own boss. My life had another turning point. They gave us a two-hour test. I don’t remember finishing it, but when I woke up hours later, Marie Salmon was the only person in the room. Who was the head of the Dream project? She had my test results in her hand.”

“You fell asleep in the middle of that difficult exam that many children can’t pass?” someone in the audience asked.

“My son got extra high SAT scores and couldn’t pass that test too,” regrets poured from the heart of one of the workers.

“She stayed behind because I completed that two-hour exam in forty-five minutes, according to the teacher who administered the tests. I was so tired that I just gave my best and fell asleep. I was the only student who passed,” he said, smiling, remembering the incident.

Mouths agape and he went on, “My grandmother says, when your best is all you have, Destination Success awaits. All of my life, her actions, and how I was raised she was pulling the best from me. I am not successful because I am smart. I am successful because I was raised to always give my best. Mr. Ellis,” Tony paused his eyes turned to Chris standing beside him, “Chris, gives all of you, his best. He is the only employee here that does that and many times, it’s not only job-related. Outside of the office, he helps everyone and their children.”

“He is right,” someone agreed.

“True,” another voice said.

“The turning point my life handed me at birth, sent me on a path where I was taught to give my best. If it didn’t become a habit, you wouldn’t have a job to feed your family and live. His best is why my business doesn’t fail. You giving your best will help you to keep your job. His best is taking him to Destination Success. Where is your best taking you?”

Silence spoke as Tony waited for someone to answer. No one did so he went on.

“Success is promised to the ones whose best is a habit. All of us want the best from everyone, in everything they do. Allowing you to break the law or rules set to ensure productivity isn’t giving anyone their best Mr. Malcolm,” Tony’s eye rested on Jorge then moved to Andera. “Allowing you to disrupt the flow because you didn’t give your best to your child before isn’t giving your best.”

“I am so sorry,” Andera apologized. “I wasn’t looking at it from that angle. My life too, had a turning point.”

Tony nodded, then said, “Chris’ best also educated you all and added new skills to your resume. Fifteen of you are employed here. It takes ten employees. to run the plant.”

They gasp.

“We have no intention of letting anyone go. But Chris ensures that each employee is equipped with the necessary skills that will keep the plant running if any employee is unable to fulfill their obligation,” Tony explained to popped eyes and agape mouths. “By giving his best, he boosts productivity while teaching everyone a new skill.”

Chris glowed in appreciation.

“That is Success for everyone, even if they have to leave us. You leave with more than what you came in with. That is enough to send you to Destination Success. Don’t you see, you have success in your hands and don’t know it!”

“Damn!” They cried out in unison.

“Why do you think the only problems this plant has is human ones.”

“So, we are our own failure!”

“We are the ones sending ourselves to Destination Failure instead of Destination Success!”

“And we do it according to how we do our job!” someone said.

“And how we live too,” Tony adds.

“What became of your father?” Jorge asked.

With a smile, Tony explained, “He got over my mother’s death to marry and divorce three more times. Had more children and drank himself to death in the assisted living I paid for to make his last days happier.”

Eye widened, then blinked sending shock back.

“You were the only one available to help him, ah?” Jorge questioned.

Tony nods, sending bitter memories back.

“It’s a good thing your life had a turning point,” dropped from Jorge’s thoughts, extending Tony’s smile.

After your life issued a turning point, how you live, can and will take you to Destination Success or Destination Failure. The choice is yours.

If your heart could speak, what would it say?

Where do your actions, choices, and decisions take you after your life experiences a turning point?

Thank you for reading this piece. I hope you enjoy it.