Ulysses S. Grant said it best, “Labor disgraces no man; unfortunately, you occasionally find men disgrace labor.”
When I have consulted businesses, it still surprises me that ownership and management are still shocked to see the behavior of the labor force in today’s society when all the signs were there but no one would admit to it. It is a sad state here in America when we for years agreed to high wages and mediocrity only to be surprised that our business has gone out of the country. The auto industry is probably the most flagrant violator of standards. It took the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs, billions of dollars in revenue lost to finally get Detroit to wake up and realize that what they were doing wasn’t working. They seem to have picked themselves up now and are gradually coming back to where they should have been.
Egos get in the way of decisions that need to be made and with today’s laws favoring the worker over the employer, it is increasingly more difficult to get people to work. Management should not look for mistakes but train and retrain so that mistakes are not made and if they are, it was not for lack of trying.
What makes an employee want to use up all of the allotted sick days during a year when doing so costs the company money? If an employee is sick, that is one thing, but to have a stomach ache, headache, back ache or ear ache which can be helped with medicine and call in sick is beyond me. What incentives do we feel we should get as employees of a business?
William James tell us “There is no more miserable human being than one in whom nothing is habitual but indecision.” Are you indecisive about training, are you indecisive about sharing your information that was shared with you early on in your career, are you indecisive about what is right and what is wrong, are you indecisive about being decisive?
As servants, we are soul bound to help others, even if it hurts, even if it takes more of our time that we have, even if we have to repeat ourselves, even if we have to give up something, yes, even at the cost of a so-called friendship. Life has many twists and turns but eventually we end up on the right road, having made the right turn.
Everyone who reads this is working in some capacity. What is your capacity for servanthoood? What is your empathy rating in the work environment? What are your predetermined thoughts prior to going to work? At work? After work? Do you say that you have done a good job today but have fooled yourself into thinking this when deep down inside you know that you did not? Have you put up a roadblock with someone at work to cause them to not be able to do the best? Have you forgot how you started?
James Chapter 3:14…But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. Do you tell the truth to yourself first? Do you wish to believe the truth? Can you handle the truth? A servant handles the truth with kindness and spreads this kindness to others. As you labor, do not labor in vain but labor knowing that whatever the outcome, your labor has helped someone, perhaps even one you will never know.
Thomas Dekker tells us, “Honest Labor Bears a Lovely Face.” Are you beaming?
Now, that really is a discussion for another day.
Blessings.