Ngozi Adebiyi: Bye Felicia

Monica, Diana & Folake have recently become the names in lyrics of popular Nigerian songs.

Dirty Diana, Annie, Elizabeth and Billy Jean were made popular by the legendary Michael Jackson. So many songs have lyrics with names which are usually more than just a name, but would be the subject of another write-up.

So, on a recent trip I heard one of the ladies say “Bye Felicia!” to a guy. Felicia? Is that his name?

Well, we learn everyday!
Apparently “Bye Felicia” is a phrase used to bid someone farewell in a not so nice way. In a naija “okay-come-and-be-going” type of way. In short, a dismissive farewell.

Bye Felicia originated from the popular 1995 movie titled “Friday” made popular by Ice Cube & Chris Tucker.

In relation to work and life, when is it okay to have a “Bye Felicia” moment in your career or business? There are times in life when the most appropriate phrase and circumstantial action is “Bye Felicia!” And it’s okay for it to be the way to go, the path to walk and the road to travel on. One just needs to recognize it and respond accordingly.

How prepared are you for the ‘Bye Felicia’ moments as an entrepreneur? This is the time to develop a thick skin and grit. Entrepreneurs need to be immuned to Bye Felicia as they marketing and offer their goods and services. As they are asked to send proposal upon proposal or show up at meetings that get rescheduled for the umpteenth time. The advice is to recognize this as the Bye Felicia moments in business and be assured that grit and determination tip the scale in favour of dismissive farewells in the long haul – so long as what you offer is of value to the receiver – delay isn’t denial.

Sometimes there are career moments when we find ourselves on the receiving end of Bye Felicia! At work this may disguise as redundancy, forced leave or pay cuts. It may even be a suspension arising from an investigation that unfortunately impacts both guilty and innocent and everyone is asked to resign.
What do you then do when you have a Bye Felicia career moment?

First, you must make a plan today no matter how pedestrian or simple it is to figure out what option you may have if you have a Bye Felicia moment and are out of work tomorrow.

You must save and not hope and pray or wing it as we go. No excuses – it’s a habit. If you can’t save something from the “little” you have now, you won’t be able to save something from the “millions” when it starts rolling in.
You must be developing on your job everyday in other to dust up your CV and find another job. There are jobs for the qualified. The question is are you doing all it takes to remain qualified?

Be adequately prepared to avoid Bye Felicia career and entrepreneurial moments!

Photo Credit: Dreamstime | Mykola Kravchenko