Handling People@Work
By Helen M. Mitchell
So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up
the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12 (NIV)
"I'm sorry..I didn't mean to do it," I heard my eldest daughter say sobbing over the phone. It was hard to understand her through her tears. "What happened, honey?" I asked. It took a little while to get it out, but ultimately she confessed it-she had accidentally spilled a bottle of red nail polish on the beige carpet in my bedroom, and it wasn't coming out.
My mind raced from "What was she doing with nail polish in my room?" to "We have talked about nail polish and preventing spills" to admiring my thirteen year old daughter for owning up to her mistake, to checking my own heart attitude before I responded.
"Honey, I love you and I forgive you. We'll clean it up together when I get home," I said.
In the workplace, as in every walk of life, we will certainly encounter a variety of different people.
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There are those who appear to spend more time chatting with their co-workers than actually getting anything done. You see them coming and quickly turn away as if engrossed in an important matter, just to avoid making eye contact.
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Then there is the co-worker who just can't seem to get the job done right or on time. It's not so much a problem for you except when it causes you to be late with your work, and then the boss looks unfavorably at you.
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Or there's the co-worker who does great work but in ways that may not always reflect positively on the organization. In your frustration, you spend time following up, trying to undo the work they just produced or catch the draft before it goes to the printer. You are left wondering why it wasn't sent around for review by those the work impacts.
There will be people at work this week who will let us down, disappoint us, or make us look bad. There will be people who make our work a joy, believing that we have something to contribute to the organization and making us feeling valued and appreciated.
Like daughters who spill nail polish on the carpet, how we handle those people at work says a lot about us and about how we reveal the Lord in their eyes.
- How we treat others should be a reflection of our relationship with the Lord.
The more we know the God of love, the easier it will be to offer love and forgiveness, even in difficult times. Forgiveness does not excuse the need to improve performance.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 (NIV)
If you see your brother's donkey or his ox fallen on the road, do not ignore it. Help him get it to its feet. Deuteronomy 22:4 (NIV)
- How we react to others is a reflection of who we are.
What is your natural reaction when things don't go the way you expected? Do you react with anger and impatience or does forgiveness and peace flow like a river?
The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. Luke 6:45 (NIV)
As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man. Proverbs 27:19 (NIV)
- How we respond to our own reactions is a reflection of our desires.
When the boss takes us off the hot new company project and we are losing focus on our work, our reaction may reveal more about our need for significance and to be seen as important than with our real desire to work on the project.
If we are willing to bring the broken pieces of our lives to the Lord, he can show us where our responses really are coming from. If we accept his healing we will begin to see the impact of his peace on our life.
"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this.Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." Mark 12:29-31 (NIV)
We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19 (NIV)
Until next week...
Discussion Questions:
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Do you work with someone who seems to rub you the wrong way? How can you offer them love and acceptance even when it is difficult?
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Can you think of a time when a co-worker disappointed you and you responded negatively? What were you thinking and feeling at that time to stir up your emotions? Why do you think you responded as you did?
- How does knowing God's grace, love, and forgiveness impact your work on a daily basis?