day 1332: Respecting Those Who Came Before Us

"The godly walk with integrity; blessed are their children who follow them."

Two weekends ago Patti and I visited her past boss from PepsiCo.  Even after all these years, I still see him as the senior executive who led the company into and through some of its most exciting days.  We are all "grown up" now, but some things can't be let go of and being with him always gives me a special feeling of being in the presence of one of those people who was the best of the best in industry.  Corporate memory is short and once a person is gone from the company, they will soon be forgotten.  Apple announced yesterday that their long time CFO is retiring.  I remember when Steve Jobs promoted him up from being the Controller of the company.  But, will a new college Finance hire, five years from now even know of Peter Oppenheimer?  Will she/he ever benefit from his experience and learning?  We need to find a way to better institutionalize corporate and executive history.  Maybe it's time to provide oral/video histories as a way for new employees to be oriented and have self development?  I don't know, but its something for us to think about.

In our spiritual lives we have giants in faith that have come before us and who still walk among us today.  Rather than letting them come and go, we can deepen our own spiritual being by reading these men and women, listening and watching them teach, and even reaching to them to meet and spend time.  More people are accessible than we imagine. All we have to do is ask.  That is the example of our God.  He is always accessible.  All we have to do is ask.  We should also be living in that example as there is someone in our workplace today who is struggling and needs us to be there for them, for them to learn from and carry that lesson forward.  Let's open ourselves up today for that moment to be there. We have no way of knowing if that moment might not be the one that opens their future that will always remember.

Reference: Proverbs 20:7 (New Living Translation) 

day 705: R-E-S-P-E-C-T

"Show respect for everyone. Love your Christian brothers and sisters. Fear God, show respect for the king. You who are slaves must accept the authority of your masters. Do whatever they tell you - not only if they are kind and reasonable, but even if they are harsh."

It's not unusual to hear cheap shots and disses being thrown around the office about the competition, the boss, and other co-workers. Why is it so easy to just spout off and say something that is so disrespectful? It may be that the other party is not standing there to provide a rebuttal. But, it's also too many times part of the bravado of building ourselves up by tearing down others. When I hear CEOs do it against other companies and other leaders, I think it just pulls down their own credibility and authority. The truth of the matter is that if we can't find someway to respect others and give them the credit that they are due, then we will never fine-tune and sharpen ourselves to become better. If we lower the bar on others then why should we or our organizations and teams jump higher? The greatest respect comes from giving credit where credit is due, examining and finding where they are better than we are, and ensuring that we then make our own improvements.

As we work with others, we are to show our proper respect to everyone, regardless of position, stature, opinions, or how we are treated by them. Wow, is this ever hard? Especially when just about everyone and everything around us is taunting us to do just the opposite? The crowd loves to tear down the weak, but we are to stand up for the weak and the broken! As we go through today, can we pick out the people who are due some respect and reach to them and pay them the respect we are taught that they deserve. A simple act and word of respect can go an unlimited number of miles. Let it dwell in our spirit and find ways to pay a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T!

Reference: 1 Peter 2:17-18 (New Living Testament)

day 472: Where We Give Our Attention

I was reminded recently of the term "social climbing". This is the term that refers to being someone who maneuvers to be in the right place, at the right time, with the right people to be able to gain the attention of those who are in higher social ranking, with the hope that we will be pulled up and into that group strata. When put this way it seems pretty superficial and our minds immediately go to socialites or celebrity circles as the people who do this. The fact is that we all do it at one time or another and the place where it happens the most is in the office. Whether consciously, or subconsciously, we try and find our way to the group or people who are most like us but at the same time can assist or help us in our work and to help us move up the ladder. It's hard to see but every organization has this informal ladder that people are constantly moving up and down upon. What is ironic is that all of the people who are only paying attention to those who are above and ahead of them usually do not end up being the people who become the most successful. That is using the word successful with a capital "S". The people in our jobs who we remember and who we respect most are the people who may have still have ambitions but are people who pay attention to everyone on the ladder, no matter how far below. Jesus was our greatest role model on this front. Where did he spend His time and attention? It was not with the rulers, it was with the working people. Who were His Disciples? Not, rulers and important people, they were the working-class far down on the ladder. Today, there is someone in the office who needs your attention and who needs to be seen, known and recognized. Can you find that one person and say hello and strike a conversation and pay your attention to them today? The rewards are many if we direct our attention down the ladder as much, if not more, than up the ladder.

day 210: "I (For)gave At The Office"

It's a line from a time gone by; "I gave at the office". It was a phrase used at one time when someone would solicit you for a contribution like the United Way, and you could say, "I gave at the office". Sometimes you would hear it in the context of donating blood when the blood mobile would come to a workplace and you would donate there versus at church or somewhere else in the community. "I gave at the office", you could say. What is for sure is that we all "give" at the office when it comes to our time, energy, efforts and emotions. However, how often can we say that we "forgave at the office?" Work is one of those places where forgiveness is not talked about much. Seldom is someone coached to be more forgiving of others. Instead we are taught and conditioned to be suspicious, doubtful of others, and always guarded about getting "burned" or taken advantage of by our co-workers. And if someone does cross us, let us down, get political, or take a stab at us, then we are told to "watch out for that person" and "don't let that happen to you again". So, forgiveness is not high on the culture attributes of many businesses and yet, we know that we are to be forgiving in our nature and we are taught as believers that forgiveness is at the heart of how we are to conduct ourselves. But, how to reconcile these two directions? Proverbs 19:11 brings the two together for us; "Sensible people control their temper; they earn respect by overlooking wrongs." We can be forgiving in our nature and still earn respect in the workplace by being controlling of our emotions when we are wronged and by not allowing ourselves to be dragged down into the muck of looking for the wrongs and blame in others. I don't believe that this means we are to walk around allowing ourselves to be hurt and attacked by rolling over and not pushing back, but it does mean letting it go quickly and getting past whatever the issue might be with a true sense of forgiveness and a clear and peaceful mindset. Writer and pastor David Wilkerson says this about how to act when we have been wronged and we have let our emotions take over; "we’re to do nothing until our anger has subsided. We’re never to make a decision or follow through with any action while we are still angry." Today, we are going to be asked to "forgive at the office". It is likely to happen multiple times. We are going to be given the choice to take a path of forgiveness, humility, and peacefulness, or take the path of anger, vindictiveness, and harboring of ill will. I think we all know the path we are supposed to take. At work true forgiveness is the path less taken, but it is the one that we are supposed to be walking. Let's see if tonight when you get home we can say, "Today, I forgave at the office"!

Reference: Proverbs 19:11 (New Living Testament)