STORY TELLING: RELATIONSHIPS IN A BUSINESS & LIFE. Being a person of value will always precede doing what is valuable.

If the right ethical principles are part of everybody’s character than each customer, internal and external, will be satisfied. Jesus said many things appropriate to the work place. Let’s continue the same theme with a story based on the following Biblical quote that clearly identifies character aspects desperately needed in the workplace for people at all levels of the company.

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I have, and no doubt, most people who have had more than just a couple of years, experienced numerous management styles and have had coworkers with a wide range of attitudes and work ethics. The Bible clearly defines the attitude that drives the correct behavior and approach we should maintain in the workplace in order to be of real value.

As you read the following Bible verse, you can replace the word “Master” with customer (including internal customers), supervisor or any management position you want. “Servants” can be replaced with anyone who has a superior or a customer.

Ephesians 6:5-8   Servants, respectfully obey your earthly masters but always with an eye to obeying the real MASTER, CHRIST. Don’t just do what you have to do to get by, but work heartily, as Christ’s servants doing what God wants you to do. And work with a smile on your face, always keeping in mind that no matter who happens to be giving the orders, you’re really serving God. Good work will get you good pay from the MASTER, regardless of whether you are slave or free.

9   Masters, it’s the same with you. No abuse, please, and no threats. You and your servants are both under the same MASTER in heaven. He makes no distinction between you and them. (MSG Bible)

With that in mind, how many wrong things can you find in the following true story?

When I started my first job in a machine shop, I was very young and very naïve about working in a union shop. I ran a first piece on a CNC machining center and was waiting for it to be inspected. Not knowing any better, I leaned on the machine and began to read a little pocket Bible. It didn’t take long before my supervisor was reading me the riot act.

OK, I perhaps could have found something constructive to do.

The union president came over later and taught me the lesson of what to do. He said, “You should have a rag in your hand so it looks like you just finished doing something.” He also told me how to use a push broom, “Put the brush against the wall, put your elbow on the top of the handle and your hand on your chin.” ………. OK, you can stop laughing, that really happened back in 1975. I spent 10 years in that shop learning from negative example.

On another occasion in that factory, I was machining a high precision hole in an aluminum casting for a bearing to be installed. It measured too small. The inspector put his cigarette on it and told me if I came back in a few minutes the hole would be just fine. 5 minutes later the aluminum was hot enough to swell, expanding the hole so that it measured exactly to size. Would you call that integrity? 5 minutes later it would cool and be undersized again.

Have you ever had a supervisor that was constantly looking to find fault, always yelling and belittling everyone? I’ve had a few and they make for a very ugly, non-productive work environment. How much better it would have been for everyone if they concentrated on training, coaching and doing everything possible to help the workers get better at what they had to do, with a right attitude? If you are in a management role do you consider yourself a leader or a manager? The spectrum goes from oppressive cattle drivers desperately trying to get more out of people than they can do to wise shepherds who understand how to lead people so that they have their heart in their work. If one has honor and respect for someone he will move mountains, without it he’ll have a rag in his hand to look like he just finished doing something. Honor and respect are earned, most importantly by showing that you have it for those you lead.

So now I hope you say, “OK Andy, you’re right. That can really work, even on the home front.” If you’re honest with yourself you have probably realized that hard as you may try to be like this you frequently blow it. The problem is that in most situations, just 1 serious mistake undoes 100 “atta boys.” Dealing with ourselves in tough situations can get very frustrating, especially when there is someone, like a spouse or a boss, getting on our case for every mess-up, every word spoken in the “wrong tone of voice.” Change has to happen from the inside out and it is a life-long process. Have you come to that place in life where you understand that you can never make yourself good enough? That’s the most important place in life to come to.

You can become a person of value, in terms of the value that matters much more than earthly riches. From the book of Romans, chapter 10 (from The Message) we see the answer to all the frustration:

It’s the word of faith that welcomes God to go to work and set things right for us. This is the core of our preaching. Say the welcoming word to God—“Jesus is my Master”—embracing, body and soul, God’s work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead. That’s it. You’re not “doing” anything; you’re simply calling out to God, trusting him to do it for you. That’s salvation. With your whole being you embrace God setting things right, and then you say it, right out loud: “God has set everything right between him and me!”

Scripture reassures us, “No one who trusts God like this—heart and soul—will ever regret it.” It’s exactly the same no matter what a person’s religious background may be: the same God for all of us, acting the same incredibly generous way to everyone who calls out for help. “Everyone who calls, ‘Help, God!’ gets help.”

If something has stirred in your heart or mind, put a comment below. It is completely confidential unless you ask me to publish it.