05.01.07 Part 5 of How Negative Gossip Almost Took My Life

A Defamatory Rumour Erupts as we Reject a ‘Partnership Proposal’

The improvements displayed by our client-organisations was so amazing to the extent that it attracted a nationwide conference to showcase the successes of over twenty big organisations that had used our service improvement model. The event was the first of its kind in the land thence prompting one highly-placed official to propose partnering with our firm. However, soon after the conference, the prospective partner poised a proposal that was totally against our ethics and integrity. And, given our moral standing and christian beliefs. we had no option but to decline his anticipation for partnering with our firm. The disappointed and visibly irritated official did not mince his words as his response was short and straight to the point: going forward, it would be difficult for our firm to continue doing business unless we complied.

It was after that successful conference that one client who also happened to be a friend of the ‘prospective partner’ stopped me in my tracks, conveying that some highly-placed officials from a ‘particular circle’ had approached the informer with serious and dangerous allegations about our service delivery improvement model, particularly the mystery shopping visit and the pre-course questionnaires. He suggested that I should look for the people to clear my name, a thing which I declined to do since I was innocent. Plus, I did not even know where to find the mongers. On hearing the rumour, I ran to a few high-placed officials who advised that I ignore the gossip since it would eventually subside. Their common stand was that our introductory questions were a modus operandi for any training institution since they highlighted the needs of participants thence enabling us to customise our content accordingly. On their assurance, we ignored the rumour and continued with our trainings and follow-ups. Little did we know that the rumour was brewing underneath the surface.