What I’m Thinking

People want their work to matter. I don't believe that the average person is lazy. I think motivation is tied to do meaningful work. And when I say meaningful, I am not just talking about going abroad to be a missionary or on a doctors without borders team. When I say meaningful, I mean that the work they do makes a difference now and in the future. We want to work at something and come back in 5 or 10 years and at least see that the foundation of what we worked so diligently on is still there. This is missing from so many leaders today. Some people are just happy to have a job. But if you have something going on. If you are aware of your gifts, skills and abilities, you're not just about punching a clock and collecting a check. You want your effort to make a difference. The Scriptures say that the days of our years are three score and ten. We are given a coloring book. We have to paint between the lines of the date of our birth and the date of our death. And since we don't know the second date, all the more reason why we should engage in work that is meaningful. So working in organizations and for leaders who don't take seriously their role to make your work fulfilling by really hearing you, providing resources, streamlining processes and removing unnecessary bureaucracy is something that the kind of people who are aware of the reality I have just described can't do but for so long. And honestly, I'm shocked that people are shocked when gifted people finally walk away. Like, you didn't see that coming? Leaders who embrace their opportunities to make courageous decisions inspire those that follow them to do good work and to feel good about it. Their organizations expand. Excellence becomes a part of such organizations because gifted people are not soured and seeking somewhere else to flourish. They are happy producing right where they are. I remember years ago hearing H. Beecher Hicks tell me how they valued Richard Smallwood at Metropolitan Baptist even on the Sundays he wasn't there!