Bringing God to work means loving those around us; let me give one example of how to show those around you at work that you love them: take their concerns seriously.
Do you know what it is like to have a concern and have others dismiss it like it's not important, as if it's no big deal? I think we all know when it has happened to us. Here is a very small example. I go to a store to buy a pair of pants. They fit okay but the legs are too long. The salesperson says, "no problem, just hem them up." The salesperson dismisses my concern about the length of the pants. Inside, I'm thinking "Where am I going to get them hemmed up? How do I do that? I don't have a tailor. I can't do this myself." The salesperson didn't solve my problem, he dismissed it -- and me in the process.
Or I think about a recent experience I had buying a refrigerator. The salesperson encouraged us to get one of those models that automatically makes ice cubes. I asked how that works and the salesperson said a pipe connects the refrigerator to a water pipe in the house. I know little about plumbing and this sounded complicatedto me. I was concerned about how I would connect to my home's plumping. I shared my concern but the salesperson dismissed it as insignificant. "It's simple," he said. "There are written instructions included." I ended up going somewhere else for the refrigerator.
In both these cases, the salesperson dismissed my concerns, which I admit may have seemed trivial to them. To me, nonetheless, they were serious concerns. I was the one who would have to take care of the problem, and I was the one who would have to live with the results. If I connected the refrigerator to the wrong pipe, I am the one who would be stuck fixing yet another problem. In both examples, I would have felt much better if the salesperson had discussed my concern at greater length and then offered real solutions to help me, not solutions that merely made it obvious he wanted to complete the sale and move on as quickly as possible to the next customer.
These are sales examples, but I am sure most of you reading this can think of examples in your work setting -- perhaps with a boss or colleague -- where you have been earnestly concerned about something and the other person does not take your concern seriously. This attacks your dignity. This makes you feel bad, a little less human. Knowing what it feels like to have your concerns ignored or dismissed provides motivation to fully consider the concerns of those around you. You do not want to make others feel as you might feel when your concerns are dismissed.
When someone brings a concern to you, you cannot always solve it. But what you can do is let the person tell you about their concern, listen patiently, try to understand the concern as thoroughly as possible, even if you don't think the concern is particularly serious. Don't tell them their concern is unimportant. If the concern seems unimportant to you, then share the information you have which mitigates the situation. But share the information in a manner which comforts them, not dismisses them.
If someone brings you a concern, suggest solutions. Offer to be a part of the solution, if you can. Don't downplay the cost of the solution. The refrigurator salesman told me I could get a plumber to set up the icemaker in my new appliance for "a few bucks." Hiring a plumber always costs more than a few bucks. Downplaying the cost of a particular solution is just another way to dismiss the concern.
My point is, take the time to work through concerns when people bring them to you. If people take you seriously enough to bring a concern to you, then the best way you can respect their human dignity is to consider their concern seriously enough to help them truly resolve it.
