Paying Our Debt to Others at Work
Last time we saw how we have a duty to make our work and the fruits of our labor socially useful. In Working Your Way into Heaven, Cardinal Wyszynski explains this clearly. To summarize his thoughts again:
Let's first acknowledge that common sense tells us that a spirit of cooperation ideally plays a fundamental role in any healthy working environment. Sadly, some workplaces don't live up to the ideal. For example, in a company in which I once worked, one of my co-workers in sales consistently produced significantly more than the rest of us. We all learned how successful he was with each quarter's sales performance reports. During our weekly sales meetings, he would report his activity and results: always impressive. After a while, it became clear that he had carved out a niche in our general marketplace and successfully pursued it. In fact, that niche was so lucrative, others inquired if and how they might try to duplicate his efforts in their own territories.
Unfortunately, our sales champion was less than forthcoming. Not that duplicating his success would have been easy. Even had any of us known just how he sourced and cultivated his niche, not everyone would have garnered the spectacular results this guy produced. Of course, had anyone tried their hand at cultivating that same niche in their territory and achieved a modicum of success, it would have been, as they say, no skin off his back. He had nothing to lose from sharing.
Some envied his success. I never did, knowing that he worked hard each day and likely deserved the rewards of his labor. But I wondered about his reluctance to share anything beyond a cursory description of what he was up to. Indeed, some in our group were struggling to meet their quotas, and it might have helped if they had another outlet for their sales development efforts. But there was never any sense on his part of lending a helping hand to any of us, not even to our struggling colleagues. He just did his thing, on his own, and really wasn't concerned with the rest of us. What would it have cost him to spend a few moments enlightening others about how exactly he cultivated and sustained his business?
Was he obligated in some way to help those who could use a tip or suggestion now and then? Strictly speaking, no. He wasn't paid to manage others - as was our sales manager - so why should he? And that pretty much summed up his attitude.
And yet when we really consider Cardinal Wyszynski's words, might we not conclude that generosity should play a prominent role in our work each day? Again,
Here's one answer: Whenever you encounter someone in need of a kind word, some helpful instruction, a guiding hand, be generous in how you respond. Don't think first of how pressed you might be to get your own work done. How much time does it really take to be helpful to others? Knowing what we now know, that we are continually helped by the efforts of others, shouldn't that naturally elicit from us a generous response to those in need? Let's all take this to work with us today, and see where it leads us.
Last time, we experienced Cardinal Wyszynski's lofty words lifting us out of ourselves in a spirit of true Christian charity. This time, we got down in the trenches to see how we might take those lofty words and apply them at work. We've seen how we must first apply our generosity to our own family and close circle, then to those around us at work. But we still need to consider our obligation to give generously to others outside of our family or those with whom we come in contact in our daily lives. We'll give this an initial stab next time.
...we are all continually receiving help from others in the material goods produced by others, as well as the moral, cultural and even national legacy into which we are born. In the natural order of things, the sacrifices of others benefit all our lives. In a real sense, we owe a debt to the others simply because of the fruits of their labor.We now look at some examples of how the existence of this debt might affect how we work each day.
Let's first acknowledge that common sense tells us that a spirit of cooperation ideally plays a fundamental role in any healthy working environment. Sadly, some workplaces don't live up to the ideal. For example, in a company in which I once worked, one of my co-workers in sales consistently produced significantly more than the rest of us. We all learned how successful he was with each quarter's sales performance reports. During our weekly sales meetings, he would report his activity and results: always impressive. After a while, it became clear that he had carved out a niche in our general marketplace and successfully pursued it. In fact, that niche was so lucrative, others inquired if and how they might try to duplicate his efforts in their own territories.
Unfortunately, our sales champion was less than forthcoming. Not that duplicating his success would have been easy. Even had any of us known just how he sourced and cultivated his niche, not everyone would have garnered the spectacular results this guy produced. Of course, had anyone tried their hand at cultivating that same niche in their territory and achieved a modicum of success, it would have been, as they say, no skin off his back. He had nothing to lose from sharing.
Some envied his success. I never did, knowing that he worked hard each day and likely deserved the rewards of his labor. But I wondered about his reluctance to share anything beyond a cursory description of what he was up to. Indeed, some in our group were struggling to meet their quotas, and it might have helped if they had another outlet for their sales development efforts. But there was never any sense on his part of lending a helping hand to any of us, not even to our struggling colleagues. He just did his thing, on his own, and really wasn't concerned with the rest of us. What would it have cost him to spend a few moments enlightening others about how exactly he cultivated and sustained his business?
Was he obligated in some way to help those who could use a tip or suggestion now and then? Strictly speaking, no. He wasn't paid to manage others - as was our sales manager - so why should he? And that pretty much summed up his attitude.
And yet when we really consider Cardinal Wyszynski's words, might we not conclude that generosity should play a prominent role in our work each day? Again,
...we are all continually receiving help from others in the material goods produced by others, as well as the moral, cultural and even national legacy into which we are born. In the natural order of things, the sacrifices of others benefit all our lives. In a real sense, we owe a debt to the others simply because of the fruits of their labor.What might my colleague have done had he taken these words to heart? But more importantly, what will each of us do today at work if we understand and take these words to heart - specifically that we owe a debt to others here?
Here's one answer: Whenever you encounter someone in need of a kind word, some helpful instruction, a guiding hand, be generous in how you respond. Don't think first of how pressed you might be to get your own work done. How much time does it really take to be helpful to others? Knowing what we now know, that we are continually helped by the efforts of others, shouldn't that naturally elicit from us a generous response to those in need? Let's all take this to work with us today, and see where it leads us.
Last time, we experienced Cardinal Wyszynski's lofty words lifting us out of ourselves in a spirit of true Christian charity. This time, we got down in the trenches to see how we might take those lofty words and apply them at work. We've seen how we must first apply our generosity to our own family and close circle, then to those around us at work. But we still need to consider our obligation to give generously to others outside of our family or those with whom we come in contact in our daily lives. We'll give this an initial stab next time.
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