Participants: Eric Kelly (Host)
Series Code: WTD
Program Code: WTD000001A
00:31 Hi, my name is Eric Kelly.
00:35 Welcome to "Working the Dream" 00:37 I've been blessed to work in corporate America 00:40 for over 35 years. 00:42 I've held positions of director, senior director, 00:45 and even vice president in some multibillion dollar 00:48 corporations ranging from logistics and transportation 00:52 firms to oil services companies... 00:54 And today, along with executive coaching, I work with 00:57 executives of various publicly traded companies 01:00 with issues of organizational and employee development. 01:04 Now executives tell me the qualities that they value 01:07 in their employees. 01:08 They share what they believe is important for career growth, 01:13 and, by the way, they are making the choices. 01:15 Interestingly, the things they share are not taught in school. 01:20 Years ago, I was blessed with an incredible mentor 01:23 from Atlanta and he said, "Eric, the rules of career growth 01:28 in an organization are unwritten." Unwritten? 01:32 However, most successful people know them. 01:37 Now that threw me a bit because I wanted to be 01:40 successful, but I was pretty sure I didn't know anything 01:44 about the unwritten rules until he said they existed. 01:46 Now, many years later, I can assure you he was 100% correct. 01:52 During our time together on this program, 01:55 we're going to share these unwritten rules with you 01:58 and if you follow them, I can assure you 02:01 that they'll work. 02:03 Now before we get started, I want you to understand 02:05 some very important things about the workplace... 02:09 First, delete this phrase from your vocabulary...ready for it? 02:13 "That's not fair." 02:16 It may not be fair, however, it is what it is. 02:19 It's not fair that I had a huge Afro at one time 02:23 because it's all gone. 02:24 It's not fair that I was a basketball player 02:27 and now I just play the radio. 02:30 And, it's not fair that I ran track because now 02:33 I run my bathwater. 02:35 It's not fair, but that's the way it is. 02:39 Reality, it is what it is. 02:42 Now the second point I want to make is... 02:52 Nobody can achieve success by themselves, 02:56 I don't care what you see on television. 02:59 Your level of success will be in direct proportion 03:03 of how effectively you deal with people. 03:07 The last point is and may be the most important... 03:19 You can think of some people at work right now and maybe 03:24 guess who is being led by what. 03:27 I had a hard time translating sermons to my everyday 03:32 work life - the balance of spirituality and reality 03:35 of what I heard in church and practical application 03:39 to my life was hard. 03:41 In fact, I remember one week I went to church and 03:44 the minister preached a sermon on "David and Goliath." 03:48 Man, that was the greatest sermon because here's David, 03:51 he's a little guy and he's going up against a big guy which 03:55 sometimes that's how you feel at work, and in the name of 03:59 the Lord, he approached Goliath and I like the part 04:02 where he stopped and picked up five smooth stones because 04:07 I don't know if he was planning on missing four times or what... 04:10 BUT at the end of the story Goliath is out 04:14 and David is the hero. That's a great story! 04:18 Then Monday, I had to go to work and I realized 04:20 that my Goliath's name was "Darla," 04:24 and they didn't have five smooth stones in the parking structure. 04:29 So, how do we take God to work? 04:33 How do we balance spirituality in our work life? 04:36 Or, should our work life be enveloped by our spirituality? 04:41 Let's check out of friend, Shala... 04:43 Now let me tell you a little bit about her. 04:45 She completed her college education about 4 years ago. 04:49 She is a hard worker, she's always on time, 04:54 doesn't take time off. 04:55 She rarely takes sick time off even during the rainy, cold 04:59 and flu season and the boss she had in her previous 05:02 department has praised her almost from her first 05:06 day for having impeccable work ethic. Hm! 05:09 Now for the last nine months, she has been working for a 05:13 different boss - let's see how things are going... 05:29 Good morning Shala. Good morning. 05:33 It's just baffling to me how far behind we are 05:36 in producing these reports and the quality. 05:39 Don't get me started on that. 05:42 What is the deal with you? 05:44 Why are you so slow and I mean mentally... 05:47 The numbers, you're not even accurate. 05:51 You know how stupid I look when I'm going 05:53 into an executive meeting with reports like this? 05:57 You need to get it together. 06:00 But Cynthia, the... 06:02 Shhh, Ms. Green today. Okay 06:06 Ms. Green, you know we've been having issues with 06:10 the data loads, I.T. has been really slow in fixing them. 06:13 And your point is? You can't blame anybody 06:17 else for your incompetence. 06:19 Is that all? 06:21 Okay, I have good news and I have challenging news. 06:26 The good news is - Ron has been promoted to 06:28 senior analyst position. 06:30 The challenging news is that you're going to have to 06:32 take over his responsibilities until we decide 06:35 whether or not we're going to fill his position. 06:38 What? You can't handle it? 06:41 Seriously? I already have a full load and essentially 06:46 you're asking me to do the work of two people. 06:48 Can't we split up his work among the rest of the group? 06:51 I thought about that, but it's really just easier 06:53 if you do it - because you know all the ins and outs of 06:56 of the tasks - besides, it will be helping you. 06:59 Helping me? 07:01 Yes, helping you - you want to get promoted don't you? 07:07 Huh, you know what? Think about it. 07:20 This is ridiculous! Loud sigh... 07:26 I hate this job! 07:29 I always get work piled on me and the systems barely work, 07:33 and then I get blamed for that too! 07:36 Oh and that woman over there, "Ron is getting promoted," 07:41 so what! 07:43 Loud sigh... 07:45 You know what? They can have this, I'm done! 07:50 Telephone rings 3 times. 07:55 This is Shala. Who is this? 08:04 Office floor G23? Okay! Okay. Bye. 08:26 Well... Have you ever had one of those Shala days? 08:31 One where you were ready to pick up your toys 08:34 and go home... forever? 08:37 Well I think most of us have, so let's look at the 08:39 typical day that we have. 08:41 We wake up and know we spend time with God in the word 08:45 and praying and asking for that divine guidance and then 08:48 we get in our cars and we hit rush hour traffic. 08:52 I have no idea why they call it "rush hour" because 08:55 nobody is rushing anywhere. 08:56 In fact, just a little car that cuts you off, 08:59 that little sports car, and then there's a pickup truck 09:03 that almost sideswipes you at an off-ramp or an on-ramp, 09:06 and you're struggling all the way in to the office. 09:09 And then when you get to the parking structure at work, 09:13 your assigned parking space has somebody else's car in it. 09:17 How can that be? 09:19 The parking space is assigned to you! 09:21 So you tool around the parking lot looking for 09:24 anything that's empty, almost making you late. 09:26 Oh no! Then as you struggle 09:29 through the door to get to your work station on time, 09:32 there's a pile of work waiting on you. Yeah! 09:37 And just about that time, an irritating 09:40 boss or co-worker comes by and says, 09:43 "Nice of you to join us today." 09:46 Tell me how your spiritual life is right about then. 09:49 You see, some of us are moving so fast on the work treadmill 09:53 that we don't have time to plant our growth and development. 09:58 However, the difference between most people and those whose 10:02 careers are growing and thriving, 10:04 is that each one of the successful people 10:07 stops to take a measure of where 10:09 they are and does something about it. 10:11 Even if you are perfectly happy and fulfilled where you are, 10:16 there are still things that you can do to make your 10:20 work life even more powerful. 10:24 Thankfully, there's a mentor 10:27 that's about to help our friend, Shala, and her career. 10:34 Knocking at the door... Come in Shala. 10:42 How did you...? Who are you? 10:45 Well I'm certainly not your fairy godfather, Cinderella. 10:49 Okay, that's a bit corny... they call me "The Prophet." 10:52 Been around a lot, seen a lot, done a lot, 10:54 and I know a lot, so I can help you a lot! 10:57 Have a seat. Okay. 11:02 Okay let's get to it... You hate your job. 11:04 Yeah - very much. 11:06 Can you fill me in - why? 11:08 Hmm, the workload is out-of-control. 11:12 I keep getting blamed for things I have no control over. 11:15 My boss apparently hates me because she's always 11:18 riding on me and, honestly, I can't stand her. 11:21 She's rude, condescending and her voice annoys me. 11:23 Okay, I see... 11:26 Well, it doesn't make sense to keep piling work onto 11:29 one person when there are clearly other capable people. 11:32 Okay, I see... 11:34 I see? That's all you have? 11:37 Well is there anything at all that you like about your job? 11:44 I don't know, it's close to my house. 11:48 Close to your house, okay, that's a start. 11:52 Anything else? Nothing. 11:56 Nothing? 11:58 Do you get a paycheck every two weeks? 12:01 Yes. 12:03 Do you like that paycheck every two weeks? Of course. 12:06 Okay, and I suspect with that is medical, vacations, 12:12 yearly bonus - do you like that stuff? 12:15 Yeah I do. 12:18 I think we're finding out, you're just not feeling 12:20 fulfilled in your job. 12:22 I used to love it. 12:24 But what changed? 12:27 My boss was diagnosed "bipolar." 12:30 Bipolar? Yeah. 12:34 Really? 12:35 Well no, but it sure seems like it sometimes. 12:39 You should hear some of the stuff that comes out of her 12:41 mouth and how she acts. 12:42 Okay, so your boss has changed. 12:46 Yeah, and sometimes the work is just absolutely boring. 12:50 I'm not being mentally challenged anymore. 12:52 Ahhh, now we're getting to the meat of the matter. 12:56 So your boss may not have changed that much, 12:58 your job may not have changed, but YOU'VE changed. 13:02 Okay - that's not a bad thing, it's a good thing. 13:08 It sounds like you've outgrown your job. 13:12 You know, Ms. Green knew that when she gave you 13:15 Ron's extra work day. 13:16 Wait, how did you know it was Ron's work? 13:19 They call me "The Prophet," and I know a lot. 13:24 We need to look at your skills. 13:26 We need to look at what you do best and where you can 13:30 use it best - whether it's inside the company 13:32 in positions that are available there or in another 13:34 position outside of the company, does that make sense? 13:37 Yes. Okay. 13:38 Here's what I want to ask you to do... 13:40 Make a list of all your skills, all the things you do best, 13:46 and then look at all of the needs for your company, 13:49 and see if any of those skills match up with company needs. 13:52 Logical so far? 13:53 Yes, so far - so good. 13:55 Okay, the last thing I want you to do is make a list 13:58 of opportunities that are right there in those positions. 14:02 Like what? 14:04 Training. Training opportunities. 14:07 Special committees where you get a chance to work with 14:09 folks from other departments, special projects, 14:13 high visibility - people at the top look at those things. 14:17 And really what we want to do is find out who you are 14:20 professionally. 14:23 I think from there, we're going to be able 14:24 to build a program that gets you where you want to go 14:27 and definitely makes you feel better about 14:30 going to work every day. 14:31 Is that a process you think you can buy into? 14:34 Yeah, sounds good. 14:36 All right, well get started on that and we'll chat later. Okay 14:40 All right, all the best. 14:42 Thanks. 14:46 That still doesn't help me with the ridiculous workload. 14:50 Workload - would it hurt you to handle the workload 14:57 for 30 days and kinda prove what you can do? 15:01 Hmm, all right, I'll give it a try. 15:04 Okay, take care. 15:10 Just curious, does anybody else know about you, 15:14 that you have an office down here? 15:16 Uh huh, payroll. Goodbye. 15:29 Now in Shala's case, she goes to see a mentor. 15:33 Now there's nothing mysterious about a mentor. 15:36 A mentor is simply someone who has gone over the highway 15:40 ahead of you and knows where the potholes are. 15:43 So our mentor, "The Prophet," shares the insights 15:46 that he has on bosses in general. 15:49 Now even though it's a challenging day for her, 15:52 he seems to suggest that everything may not 15:55 be as it seems. 15:58 Now, I remember on my first corporate job... 16:01 I worked in a large office and my supervisor 16:05 had nominated me for the "Leadership Fast Track Program." 16:09 Now this program was supposed to create a pool of upwardly 16:13 mobile employees that could be groomed for management 16:16 positions. 16:18 I'd like to impress you and tell you how special I was, 16:22 but I must honestly disclose that there were, in fact, 16:26 quite a few up and coming employees on that list, 16:29 and the competition was fierce once a supervisory 16:33 position was available. 16:35 Now, some of my peers were just as nuts as I was, 16:40 so every morning we would hang out at one another's 16:43 desk and share humorous stories and anecdotes from the 16:47 night before and slowly slide in to something that loosely 16:52 resembled work after using a few minutes of our 16:56 employer's time for our own personal enjoyment. 16:59 Now right about that time one morning, 17:01 we were laughing uncontrollably about some story, 17:04 my supervisor strode into the office - always purposefully, 17:08 there was a group of about eight of us standing around 17:11 a co-worker's desk... my supervisor an actual 17:14 ex-sergeant in the army, ignored the other seven people 17:18 and said, "Eric sit down." 17:21 As I looked around, I became livid. 17:23 I immediately wanted to know why my supervisor 17:27 singled me out from the rest of my peers. 17:31 Seething with anger, I sat down. 17:34 Later in the morning, I could contain myself 17:36 no longer, so I walked up to the supervisor's desk and said, 17:40 "May I see you in the outside training rooms, please." 17:43 She looked up and said, "Sure," 17:46 and followed me down the hall to one of the training rooms. 17:49 As soon as the door closed, I unloaded... 17:51 "What was that you did to me earlier today?" 17:54 "That was totally unfair, I'm standing with a group 17:57 of people and you single ME out to embarrass ME, 18:00 and make ME look small in front of everybody." 18:03 My supervisor simply stood there with a rather bemused 18:06 look on her face. 18:07 She said, "Eric, let me bring you up to speed 18:10 on what happened this morning"... 18:11 "When I was walking into the room, Mr. Perry, our division 18:16 manager, was 4 or 5 steps behind me... 18:19 I didn't have time to tell you about how you were viewed 18:22 as capable, but a jokester who may not really be serious 18:26 about advancement. 18:28 Now since this criticism can slow and even end your career, 18:32 in a place here where everybody is so competitive, 18:36 I only had enough time to give you the cliff notes version, 18:39 Eric, sit down. 18:41 Luckily you sat down, with an attitude, 18:44 but you sat down. 18:45 When Mr. Perry walked in the office, he saw other people 18:49 talking and laughing, but you had your head down 18:52 working at your desk... anything else?" 18:54 Uh, uh, no ma'am, I replied sheepishly. 18:59 She turned and marched purposefully out of the office 19:03 much like I believe she had done during her entire 19:07 service in the military. 19:08 Funny, she had a slight smile on her face all day long. 19:14 As humans living in a negative world, 19:16 we often see the down before we see the up. 19:19 I have learned that not everything is what it seems. 19:24 The option I have... Trust the hand of God. 19:28 God's ultimate goal is to elevate you to a place 19:32 where all can see His hand on you. 19:35 Now He cannot elevate you if you're going to 19:40 floss and show off and be prideful. 19:43 Let me give you an example... 19:45 I have two children - I give one of them an ice cream cone. 19:51 They are enjoying the ice cream, it is tasty, it's a warm day, 19:55 it's a beautiful thing. 19:57 As a parent, I am happy to give that child some ice cream. 20:02 However, my second child walks up and my first child 20:06 looks at my second child and says, "I have some ice cream, 20:10 you don't have any," and begins to taunt 20:14 the second child. 20:15 Immediately as a parent, you know what I would do? 20:19 And probably many of you parents that are watching this... 20:21 You're going to take the ice cream away from the child 20:25 that had it - because there's no way you're going to give 20:28 a gift to one of your children so they can taunt 20:32 the rest of your children. 20:34 There's no way that God is going to bless you 20:37 so that you can look at any of the other of His kids 20:40 as less than and not being as important and as valued 20:46 as you are. 20:47 He knows things about your situation that only He 20:52 can know because He hears every meeting discussion. 20:57 Now, if there's a meeting in another room that you're 21:01 not there, God hears it. 21:03 If they're discussing your career in a management meeting, 21:08 God hears it. 21:09 Whatever is going on that's going to affect your work life, 21:13 God already knows it. 21:15 He knows them and He knows you. 21:19 Trust Him to keep you even when things look bleak. 21:24 Now, what is God's purpose for allowing you to work 21:28 where you work? 21:30 Do you think that He gave you a job just so that you could 21:33 buy things? 21:34 Do you think that He gave you a job just so you could 21:36 have more than everybody else around you? 21:39 Or, just to be able to pay your bills? 21:41 Why do you think He put you there? 21:43 Well, here's the answer... 21:45 He wants you to be His hands in that situation. 21:52 He wants you to bless and encourage all of the people 21:56 you work with. 21:57 Christ also wants you to live as He would live. 22:02 Now let's take a look at a couple of situations... 22:06 Do any of these behaviors measure up to 22:09 Christ's expectations? 22:14 We're at work and the printer... 22:18 We have to wait for it a little bit. 22:20 Ehh, not up to standard? 22:26 Ahh, it's a toner problem. 22:31 Let's fix it... ahh, ahh - it's not fixed, 22:39 and we have a bigger toner problem. 22:41 I'm pretty exasperated at this point. 22:45 I just would want a copy of what's on my screen. 22:54 Wowww... 22:57 I'm not sure at this moment if this is exactly 23:00 what Jesus would do. 23:06 Have you ever gone to work and had a co-worker 23:09 that just picked with you, said snide things, 23:13 did things, have you ever been fed up? 23:18 After one more time... 23:28 I'm sure there's a better way of impressing the Gospel. 23:36 Have you ever worked on a program that just 23:38 didn't work and instead of praying for peace and guidance, 23:44 you tried to do it yourself. 23:54 God wants you to be elevated to the highest position 23:58 that He can trust you with. 24:00 He doesn't care what your title is. 24:02 He's not concerned with whether or not you're the CEO 24:06 or the chairman of the board. 24:08 He wants to make you the head and not the tail. 24:14 I remember years ago - in my office at work, 24:18 people came in and they were asking me my story... 24:22 "How did you get here?" 24:24 One young man in particular, said, "Eric, I'm looking at 24:29 where you are - I'm not quite sure where you came from, 24:33 "Can you share your story?" 24:35 So I said, "Sure." 24:36 I said, "I was born not to wealth or privilege, 24:39 but I was born to parents who actually knew who God was 24:44 and loved Jesus Christ and they raised me the right way, 24:49 but I went sideways and a lot of the things that I 24:53 should have done, I didn't... because I wanted 24:57 to do it my way and I had dreams of making it to the top. 25:01 I had dreams of grandeur, being in charge of the whole world." 25:05 You do sometimes when you have no idea 25:07 what reality is going to bring you... 25:09 And during the journey, I lost sight of what 25:13 they had taught me and that was to hold on to the 25:15 hand of Jesus Christ along the way. 25:19 As with all stories that start with "I deviated from the 25:22 path that God wanted me to be on," my story had the 25:26 same amount of pain. 25:28 It had the same amount of challenges in things 25:31 that I could not overcome on my own. 25:34 Let me share this with you, just a tip... 25:36 The things are in front of you, you will not 25:38 be able to do without God. 25:40 So as I thought of all the things God had brought me 25:43 through, the amazing challenges, the problems that were overcome, 25:47 and it definitely was not me, it was by His power. 25:52 In fact, at that moment, as I looked at this young man 25:54 that was asking me how did you get here... 25:57 I thought, "I wonder what he's going through, I wonder 26:01 what things he is experiencing." 26:03 "God, the things that You've allowed me to go through 26:06 and overcome, the miracles that You've done for me, 26:10 can I get these across to him?" 26:12 So at that point, again he repeats, "How did you get here?" 26:17 The only answer I could give him was, "God." 26:22 I didn't give him a book, I didn't give him a Bible study, 26:26 I just wanted him to know my testimony based on 26:29 what God has done for me... here's how you get here. 26:34 Now in your life, I don't know what God has planned for you, 26:37 but it is something big. 26:40 I don't know what your talent is, but God wants to 26:43 use that to His glory and He wants to elevate you 26:47 if He can trust you. 26:48 He wants you to put you in places that when people 26:51 see you - they go, "Woww, I wonder what a relationship 26:56 with Jesus Christ really is. 26:58 You see, you're going to work, but it's not just so that 27:01 you can pay your bills, buy that nice house, 27:04 drive a nice car, wear nice clothes... 27:07 God is putting you where He wants you to be 27:10 so that He can use you to be His hands and fingers 27:15 in that situation. 27:16 Pray every morning as you read your Bible, as you talk to Him 27:22 to be a witness for Him and a power in the workplace. 27:26 Remember, you may be powerless over what they can do to you, 27:32 but never forget they are totally powerless to stop 27:37 what God will do for you. 27:39 Until next time... "Keep Working the Dream!" 27:42 This is Eric Kelly. |
Revised 2017-08-10