day 703: Compassion

"I have no one else like Timothy, who genuinely cares about your welfare. All others care about themselves and not for what matters to Jesus Christ."

In business we are given opportunities each and every day to show compassion and to put others in front of ourselves. While not described in most handbooks as something we should be doing, in fact, it is a well-known adage that we follow when meet customers or strangers. It is in those two instances that we usually show great compassion and put other people's needs above our own. The customer is always right, after all. And when we run into a stranger asking for simple help like directions or information, we feel good to stop and provide them with what they need. But, why is it that when we work closest to those around us that we lose the compassion and instead expect them to watch out for us, versus the other way around? Something short circuits when we go about our internal work. Another way of thinking about being compassionate is being able to know that we are putting people above other things, like profit. Let us remember that people may be the only true appreciable asset that we have in our business and compassion is a good insurance policy.

As followers of Jesus, what can stand out more about us than how we treat others? Our level of compassion is an indicator to others like no other. There is a popular band today called Mumford & Sons. They have a line in their song "Awake My Soul" that goes like this, "Where you invest your love, you invest your life." We know that we are to invest our love in Jesus and in others. God wants us to be those that define what compassion means. There is no better place for us to put others in front of ourselves than in our workplace. All day long we have the opportunity to do so. Last summer I had the privilege to hear a pastor named Hal Santos speak. He challenged the group he was speaking "to take 15 minutes for inconvenience each day". It is great challenge. Can we find 15 minutes today to spend in compassion for others?

Reference: Philippians 2:20-21 (New Living Testament)

day 16: Pain Points: A Samaritan @ Work, part 2

This is the second of a three part entry learning from a session I attended given by Dr. John Hull about the Good Samaritan story (found in Luke 10:25-37). What I am attempting to do is take this lesson and put it to work at work.

Yesterday, I pointed out the importance of being able to face reality and showing compassion with a fellow co-worker who has been beaten down. In order to face that reality, we must be able to recognize when someone else is hurting and then reach into their hurt or pain and find a way to touch them at the point that can help them become better. Words like pain and hurt are not ones that are often heard in the workplace unless someone has suffered a physical injury. However, I would say that the workplace is one of the most dangerous battlefields for the attack and potential destruction of someones ego, pride and self-worth, which are pains and hurts that can far surpass physical issues. So, to be a Good Samaritan at work before we can act, we need to be able to recognize and identify when someone is in pain. This is not hard if we slow down for a moment and listen and watch those around us, putting ourselves aside for a moment. There are tell-tale signs. Some are subtle. You can see it in someones energy level, how fast they are to answer or slow to give a response, how they react to questioning or challenging, how they respond or don't respond to the opportunity to take on more, the willingness or lack of willingness to present to others their ideas, and the list can go on and on. Other signs are more visible. You can see open frustration, throwing in the towel, or using words that are either words of defeat and resignation or words that are defensive and protective. Regardless of the signs, it will be apparent that there is pain and hurt under the surface. And as those who want to follow the lesson of the Good Samaritan what are we to do? The Good Samaritan, when he did his act of kindness was not afraid to reach with his bare hands and pick up the dirty and bloody man from the side of the road. He most likely dirtied his own clothes as he propped us and helped the broken man walk back into town. Fortunately for most of us we don't have real blood at work, but figuratively it can feel the same. For us to really reach down and help someone else we have to be willing to dirty ourselves and be willing to get some of that blood on our own hands. It means that we may need to stand up for someone else, or take on a part of their work for them for a time frame for them to dig out of the hole they are in. It means getting dirty and taking a risk for a fellow co-worker. It means reaching into their pain and hurt and putting ourselves on the back burner. It means that the other person can feel and know that you are saying to them, "it is not about me, it is about you". If we can dig deep within ourselves and find a way to make our work about others and not always about ourselves and we are willing to reach to others to help them through their struggles, regardless of the dirt we may have to take on ourselves to do so, then we can be the Good Samaritan at work and be more purposed in the work that we do.


Reference: Luke 10:25-37 (New Living Testament)

day 15: Facing Reality: A Samaritan @ Work, part 1

I recently attended a Men's Retreat at my church and was fortunate to hear the teaching of Dr. John Hull, President of an organization called InJoy. John spoke on a number of topics but one that struck me was a session that he did on the well-known story of the "Good Samaritan" (found in Luke 10:25-37). As I sat and listened and took notes from his talk, "Strength and Power of Compassion", I was hearing how this story, which I have heard so many times and is a common term in our everyday language when someone helps someone else, is so very applicable to our work lives. I am going to break down into three parts what Dr. Hull spoke about and relate it to how it is that we can conduct ourselves at work and make our work environment better for others, more purposed, and better for ourselves. This is part 1: Facing Reality.

We all know the story of the Good Samaritan and how he helped the beaten, robbed and near death Jewish business man as the man had been been traveling on a dangerous road. Two other people, a Priest and Levite, had seen the naked man lying on the side of the road and had passed him by and had not helped him. The Samaritan, who as a people were not friendly to the Jewish people, which makes the story that much more powerful, not only stops to help the man but instead but goes above and beyond to then take him with him and ensure that he gets what he needs to recover and get back on his feet. Like any of us, the Samaritan had to have stopped and weighed the consequences and ramifications of his decision to help the hurt man, before he stopped and stooped over to help him up to his feet. What was going through his mind had to be things like, "what is this going to look like to my friends, family and co-workers if I help this guy?", "how much time and/or money is this going to cost me?", "what if this guy deserved the beating and I am taking in someone who is going to rob me next?", and if it was modern day, I am sure he would have said to himself, "what is my liability if I help him, will I get sued?". These are all normal and reasonable questions to ask as he was facing a reality in front of him and deciding to run away like the other two men or be different and not run away from the problem in front of him.

Why I thought this is such a great lesson for us as we try and inject purpose into our work, is that each and every day we are faced with a reality where we can help others who are not doing so well and who have been figuratively beaten down and left to the side of the road. How many times have we been in meetings where someone was unfairly treated, talked about, or accused and without the time to defend themselves the conversation moves on and they are left to the side of the table with their egos bruised, their feelings hurt and in some cases left worrying about their future within the company. And what do we do more often than not? We let the conversation move on without defending them or we let the meeting break up and we head back to our offices or cubicles without the encouraging or helping word or hand extended to them. What the story of the Good Samaritan says is that we are to face the reality that something bad has happened and we are not to run away but instead reach forward and down to them to show compassion. What I love about compassionate people is that they don't run from reality just because reality hurts or will cost them something. They give of themselves to express their compassion. And, I will call upon the phrase, "what goes around comes around". If we are ones who face reality and show compassion to others in the workplace and try to model ourselves after the Good Samaritan (even to those in the departments that we just don't like to deal with), then on the day that we stumble and find ourselves down and out, then just maybe someone will remember that we were there for them, and they they will reach down and give us a hand to get back on our feet. The question to be asked today is, to bring more purpose to your work are you working to the example of the Good Samaritan and showing the same compassion to others that the Good Samaritan modeled for us?


Reference: Luke 10:25-37 (New Living Testament)