day 256: Chameleons

I have always been fascinated about how chameleon like people can be at work. It is most recognizable in how people pick up the cues from the leaders in the organization and before long everyone is following in their habits and mannerisms. Think about it for a second, what are the words and mannerisms of your company that lots of people have picked up and imitate? It may not be obvious to you at first but if you spend enough time watching and listening you will see them. And where do you think they come from? They come from the leadership of the organization. As goes the leader, so goes the rest. I was in a meeting the other day with a person who is now the CEO of his own company, who I hadn't seen in a about six months. As I sat and listened to him talk I could see the mannerisms and the exact words of his former boss being used and coming through. In some ways it was eerie. It got me thinking about my own habits, words, idiosyncrasies and mannerisms and I could see how they were reflected and picked up on by the people in my company. It happens all the time and many times we don't even know it. And part of how we feel we succeed in business is in how well we adapt ourselves to the company so that we "fit in". There is nothing wrong with fitting in as long as we know the line where we have not given up ourselves and who we are. It's okay to take on the language and the mannerisms of a company but not if they cross over and contradict with the values and principles that we know to be true and right. If we get lost or confused on what those values and principles should be, there is no better place to return than to what God's Word says to us. Paul tells us exactly the imitation we are supposed to take on in Ephesian 5:1; "Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children." There is the true role model for each of us. If we can start with being a chameleon for God then we are less likely to adapt and change our colors for other human beings, regardless if they are the boss or not. Today, listen and watch yourself, and others and see what mannerisms, words, idiosyncrasies you have taken on at work and then make sure that they are not in conflict with the model that God has given you. If they are in conflict, then you know what colors need to be changed...starting today.

Reference: Ephesians 5:1 (New Living Testament)