W-1697 – Part I
For quite a few years, I traveled all over the country giving business seminars to people from every kind of job and company, and training them in customer service, communicating effectively, and getting along with people. One thing stands out loud and clear from this experience: Lots of people are just surviving on their jobs. It’s a daily battle for them to simply get out of bed and face another day in that office, classroom, plant, hospital, truck or bus—whatever environment they’re in.
I’ve done my share of “surviving” too, and learned most of my lessons through failure and experience. I was one of the first women in IBM sales—many years ago—and then moved on into marketing and management positions in IBM and other companies. Much of my career was spent in survival mode.
Finally, I realized how foolish that was and started learning to thrive on my job. It dawned on me that since I had to spend eight to ten hours (or more) a day in that spot, wouldn’t it be much better to gain and grow from it rather than just try to live through it?
As I traveled the country making these presentations, my desire was to help others catch that very simple but extremely important vision: Your job can be a growing, thriving place if you will learn and practice some basic principles. That’s especially true for Christians, because we have the added immense benefit that we can do our jobs to the glory of Jesus. We work for the Lord, not for others, so we should be truly motivated to thrive, not just survive.
I’d like to give you a survival test—you can grade yourself to see if you’re thriving or just surviving at your workplace. Here’s the first question on our survival test:
- When you talk about your job, do you often use words like “boring,” “hate,” “too much work,” “stressful”?
Be truthful! What kind of message do you feed yourself regularly about your job? If it’s full of these negative connotations, you’re probably just surviving.
Often we let ourselves focus on the more negative aspects, and fail to remind ourselves of the good things about the job. Right now, will you consciously tell yourself at least one good thing about your job? Come on; I know you can think of one! Say it out loud if you can. It’s a good start on breaking that deadly survival habit of thinking too much about the bad and not enough about the good.
- On the way to work are you usually thinking “I don’t want to go to work today,” or “It’s Monday; I know it’ll be a bad day,” or “If he does that again, I’m going to scream!”?
I find that people who start their days predicting disaster usually find their predictions come true! So, if you’re guilty of this kind of self-fulfilling prophecies, you’re not helping yourself to thrive on your job.
Make a point to start your days in positive-mode. That may mean getting up a little earlier so you’re not always in a mad rush. It certainly should include some quiet time with the Lord, focusing on him first thing in your day. In Psalm 5:3 David says, “In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.” I know not everyone is a morning person; I also know that all of our days begin in the morning, and your day is won or lost in the morning hours. If you will lay out your needs before God each morning, you’re going to find it’s much easier to thrive on your job.
Another verse in Psalm 90:14 says, “Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.” If your days are full of singing for joy and gladness, you’ll be much more than just a survivor, don’t you agree? Ask God to satisfy you in the morning with his love and his strength, and you’ll discover this is a great secret to your ability to cope with your job situation. Without it, you’re headed into a battle without any armament or ammunition.
- Which of these describes your attitude toward your immediate manager(s)?
incompetent poor communicator unappreciative
poor listener non-supportive disorganized
You may be saying, “Mary, they don’t describe my attitude, they describe my manager!” And because managers are just people, I’m sure it’s true in many cases. But I want to remind you that we are to honor people who are in places of authority.
Paul teaches us this principle in Romans 13:1-2, “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.”
This is a passage that gives many people trouble—it seems unfair and unnecessary to give respect to authority when those in authority don’t deserve respect. But the principle of authority is God’s principle, and without lines of authority, we would have chaos in any organization. Therefore, authority is of God and, as believers, we must be careful to give respect to those over us.
I want to encourage you not to focus on your manager’s negatives, but focus on his or her positives. Don’t get caught in that trap of seeing only the bad and not the good. I know they may do that to you—see only the bad and not the good—but don’t let them bring you down to their level. Besides, when you focus on just the negatives, you can easily make yourself into a victim where you imagine that you are helpless and innocent, and it’s all your manager’s fault. That victim mentality will bring out the worst in your behavior, which will consequently bring out the worst in your manager.
Remember that no one is in your life by accident. That difficult boss is there for some purpose! If they are causing you to just survive on the job rather than thrive, then you need to re-evaluate your attitude toward that person. There will always be things beyond your control, but you can control your attitude.
- Would you recommend your company to a friend?
When you’re really thriving on your job, you are proud of the company you work for and pleased to be a part of it. You may not feel that way about your company. You may feel trapped and have hostile feelings toward that employer.
I would suggest you need to either find an employer about whom you can feel positive, or ask God to change your attitude about your current employer. Often God changes us before he changes our circumstances. In fact, rarely does he deliver us from a difficult situation until we have found victory where we are.
I know learning to be content where you are seems like mission impossible, but it’s a lot easier than what you’re doing now. If you’re chomping at the bit and unhappy because of your job, that’s a pretty miserable way to live, isn’t it? Believe me, asking God to change your attitude will make your life much nicer.
- Can you name any new skill you’ve learned on your job in the last year?
If you’re in a dead-end job that doesn’t require any stretching on your part, or you’ve just allowed yourself to dry up and work in a rut every day, you’re not thriving; you’re just surviving. To thrive we must be growing.
Many people blame their job content or their boss for being stuck in a routine, dead-end job. Indeed, sometimes that may be the case. If so, get creative and look elsewhere for a job that uses your gifts and gives you an opportunity to grow. But before you do that, see if you can turn the job you have into a more challenging one.
Ask for more responsibility. Think of something you can do and simply do it without being told. Re-write your job description and take it to your boss to see if there’s a possibility for change. Ask for training opportunities. Take night classes or whatever you need to do to add new skills to your repertoire. Don’t just talk about it; do it!
You know, when you get into a rut, you get comfortable in that rut even if you don’t like it. Eventually, when you have an opportunity to get out of the rut, you don’t. So many people just plod along in their ruts, grumbling and complaining about them, but never doing anything to get out.
- Can you identify anything you’ve done on your job in the last three months which you were not required to do?
If you do no more than you have to do to get by, you are definitely just surviving, not thriving. Look for opportunities to go the extra mile.
Why? Because as Christians we have been given principles by Jesus in Matthew chapter 5 that teach us to be extra-milers. Extra-milers are more satisfied and fulfilled. You will gain good feelings from being an extra-miler. Your boss will be impressed with your extra-mile attitude. You’ll start to thrive when you’re an extra-miler.
In Proverbs 14:23 we read, “All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.” If you only talk about thriving on your job, it will lead you to lower levels than you are at now. Talk alone doesn’t make anything happen.
Jesus said, “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them” (John 13:17). I hope you will not be a hearer only, but a doer! That’s when you reap the blessings.
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