Everybody can be great….because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love. This is one of Martin Luther King Jr's famous quotes.
Mr Lewis Ndichu, the CEO and Chairman Lewison Holdings, an engineering company can attest to this, alongside how his selfless act to a security guard landed him a multi-million project. Speaking with Kenyans.co.ke on Wednesday, September 9, the CEO stated that he had not yet met the guard again.
"I need to find him and repay his favour. He doesn't even know that I shared this story with the world," Ndichu stated.
In 2018, the engineer embarked on a construction project along Thika Road. He drove daily via Limuru Road, Muthaiga towards Thika road.
In the evenings, security guards from UN offices and other residences along Limuru Road and Runda usually flag vehicles with the hopes of getting a lift. Many motorists usually snub them, however, Ndichu picked up the habit of aiding most of them on his way back home.
"I started offering them rides almost every day. I could carry three to four people. Now there is this guy who was an avid storyteller and one day he asked me 'Mkubwa nikulizeko, kwanini huwa unatubeba. Nyinyi watu wa magari makubwa ni ngumu sana kupeana lift. Lakini wewe hujali hata wakati kuna matope.
(Boss, if I may ask you. Why do you assist us yet it is difficult for most of your peers to stop and give us a ride? You are not even concerned that the weather is rainy and we may dirty your car)," Ndichu recalled how one guard he called Otis (not his formal name) marvelled at his generosity.
Otis added that he was a guard at one of the blue-chip companies located around the area. Ndichu explained that both of them were men who were hustling to feed their families and it did not cost him anything to offer a helping hand.
Ndichu further introduced himself as an engineer and joked with the guard that one day, he (Ndichu) may seek for help from the watchman.
The engineer carried on with his generous act of helping most of the watchman until he met Otis again. This time around, Ndichu gave his business card to the guard and asked him to reach out to him whenever he needed help or a job.
"Days passed, months too, until early August [2020] when I received a call from a foreigner who wanted us to meet to discuss a project.
"At the meeting, I asked him who referred me to him. He smiled and told me that his security guy spoke very highly of me. Guess who it was. Otis! So through Otis, I have landed a multi-million project proposed to start soon," Ndichu disclosed in a post on his Facebook page.
He went to advise that from his encounter with the guard, he learned that not all businesses come from networking in high-end restaurants. "Anyone can be a bridge to your success, learn to interact with people. When you help someone, God always returns the favour. What you receive today, you should give some of it back. Always be good, kind and generous to everyone, God might use them one day."
"I have promised myself I will repay Otis, maybe buy him a motorbike and offer some money for the wife to start a business. This will be my way of appreciating how he confidently convinced the client to hire us," Ndichu stated. .
