Taking Someone's Position (2)

If you know me long enough, you'll know that I don't dream big myself. I don't have dreams of setting up my own epic business empire or such. My life goals are much more niche!

That said, I am always very keen to see the people around me dream big, set big goals for their lives, and go out boldly to pursue them. Now because life has bashed my head against the wall quite a few times, and because I am a keen student of the mistakes of others, I have some sense of what is necessary to make things happen. Not everyone else has that same sense...

A boss recently talked with me about one of her new hires, an employee who wanted to leave her small company after less than two weeks on probation. Reasons he gave include 'This company is too small, I cant see any progression. I dont want to be photostating stuff. i want to lead'.

(No, I did not miss the typos in the texts, I left them there on purpose.)

He told her he wants to do business. He wants a lot from his life. And when that is given as a reason for leaving her employment, it's clear he thinks he is not going to get anywhere working at her company.

Good thing David did not think that way.

When we last saw David, it was in 1 Sam 16:12 when he was anointed king by the prophet Samuel. And very soon in the Scripture account, David had his big break, his first open door, so to speak. He was appointed official court musician out of nowhere, it seems. And it was one huge step towards his destiny, yes?

1 Samuel 16:19-22 (NIV) - Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.” So Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them with his son David to Saul. David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked him very much, and David became one of his armor-bearers. Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, “Allow David to remain in my service, for I am pleased with him.”

But what if David disdained the opportunity? If he was anything like the young man mentioned earlier, David could have said that he was meant to be king, and wanted to be groomed as such, and not have to waste his time as merely an entertainer or just a musician.

Thank God David was too humble for that!

1 Samuel 17:17-18 (NIV) - Now Jesse said to his son David, “Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance from them.

By the next chapter, we discover that even the court appointment was not a full-time gig. He had to go home from court at times, and when he was at home he went back to his menial duties. Over here, we see that David had to do GrabFood delivery!

David had to cycle being available to minister unto Saul and going back to his original shepherd job. He could have let the lowliness of the situation overcome him with resentment. He could have even pulled rank on his family, so to speak, by reminding them he was anointed to be king; he ought not to be thrown the work the rest of his brothers refused. David did not do that.

1 Samuel 17:28 (NIV) - When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.”

The passage implies:

1) his brothers did not take seriously the call upon David's life;

2) David himself was unassuming, doing whatever he was ordered to do by his father. His promotion in the eyes of God did not fill him with pride; he remained in submission to the authority of Jesse, his father.

Important

Even David's first big break, being appointed Saul's personal musician, did not come out of nowhere either. Consider this passage.

1 Samuel 16:18 (NIV) - One of the servants answered, “I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the lyre. He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the LORD is with him.”

We can argue about the spiritual and practical significance of the criteria David fulfilled to be chosen for that job. But this is indisputable: David qualified for his first official appointment through all the work he put in during his shepherding days. We will see from the rest of his journey to the throne that after his first appointment, he still had other tests to pass along the way. Some of those tests were not as straightforward to overcome!

The point of what I am saying is this: a lowly position is where you get to build up faithfulness. That is where you get to practice and try out skills AWAY from the harsh glare of public scrutiny. That is where humility and patience are trained and cultivated. Why? Because if you make any mistakes in humility and patience at that point, matters are less likely to blow up in your face than if you make the same mistakes when you are in a higher position.

Conclusion

I am not saying that you should always choose the lower position if doors open at the same time and you get to decide. What I am saying is that if you find yourself stuck in a lowly position, or if the opportunity you have is the only one that is available to you, then don't despise it. Don't look down on doing cleaning, low grade paperwork or even just zapping enough copies of lesson materials for children's classes.  

If all you have to do is run errands, then run errands. Use the opportunity to pray and look out around you for things to notice and people to observe (and maybe help). In the course of the mundane life, you do not know when your burning bush experience will come, when God uses something a little out of the ordinary to catch your attention and speak to you. You do not know when the mundane tasks will turn out to be training you in skills you need in the future, or if the smaller challenges you have to overcome now in private are preparing you to overcome your Goliath in public.  

Luke 16:10 (ESV) - One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.

This one single passage is probably responsible for almost everything of worth I have achieved in my life so far. May it encourage you in your own journey also. There is still more to share about David's journey to being fit to become king in Saul's place. See you at the next post!

Fatal Mistake Bosses Make

I recently had lunch with an old friend of my wife, who was also a former music student of mine. She was telling me about the little ways her current employer tried to short-change her and how she foiled them.

For example, she was placed on 3 months of probation when she was first hired. And just about the time her boss was supposed to tell her if she was to be confirmed as a permanent staff of that company (with the appropriate pay increase), her boss arranged to go for a very long trip to Europe. That would have left her hanging in the air for more than a month while waiting for his decision.

Other employees would have just waited for the boss' return and hope to be confirmed then. She sent the boss an email informing the boss that she did not wish to waste her time in that company if she was not going to be confirmed as a permanent staff. Her boss called her immediately just before he left the country to promise her that she would be confirmed as staff. And he kept that promise, she got the pay raise she deserved.

Another case: the company was expanding and she found out that the new staff hired were going to be paid more than she was, even though she was doing the bulk of the work. She told her boss directly that if she was not going to be paid what she was worth, she would resign. She got her pay increased to match that of the new staff.

In Asian societies this type of behaviour from an employee is unthinkable. But because my friend was so forthright with her boss, he knew that she would not backstab him or sabotage him behind his back. Also, when she joined her current company to do admin work, she found the whole company's admin all in a mess and she spent lots of time and effort to sort everything out for them. The people hired for that job before her quit within 1-3 months, and left everything in chaos. She single-handedly fixed up everything without any help from the other staff (they didn't know anything) or the boss (who didn't know anything either).

In other words, she could get away with this type of behaviour because she had already proven her value and loyalty to the company!

People with that kind of drive, initiative and forthrightness are an asset to any company they choose to work for. But if you want to lead employees of that calibre, you must know the value of your people and pay them accordingly.

Colossians 4:1 (NIV) - Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.

One tendency we have as fallen human beings is to boast about how cheaply we managed to buy something. It's nothing new, even Solomon commented on buyers who try to drive a hard bargain.

Proverbs 20:14 (NIV) - "It's no good, it's no good!" says the buyer; then off he goes and boasts about his purchase.

But if you try that when it comes to buying the labour of your staff, especially with employees who genuinely know their market value, they will resent you. And eventually leave. Don't deceive yourself. You can try your hardest to find staff who will work for you for less than their market value, but let me tell you that you are losing time and peace, as well as risking the reputation of your business when the lousy staff you hire produce work that is worth as much as you pay them.

Pastor John Lim of Living Faith Church regularly preaches to employees that if they work as unto the LORD (Col 3:23-24) the LORD will often move them out of a company that is exploiting them and underpaying them. Christian bosses, please meditate on this. If you find that your staff retention rate is low and your good staff keep leaving, the problem may not be the devil, the economy, how greedy employees are these days or any other excuse you cook up. It might just be that God really doesn't like how you underpay your staff!

Another way bosses cheat their staff is by paying them late.


The hired men of that era were daily-rated workers. They were economically even worse off than the slaves, who would have food and lodging provided for them. The principle we see here is not that we should pay our staff daily (that would be a huge admin hassle) but that we pay them on time, on the day and date we promised to pay them. Don't use weekends, public holidays or your own overseas business trips as excuses to make your staff wait for their wages.

Why would some bosses delay the wages? You see, the longer the wages stay in the company's bank accounts, the more interest the company stands to earn on that bank account. Yes, given today's interest rates it isn't really a lot of money compared to the resentment and ill-will you build with your staff if you do that. But some employers are penny-wise, pound-foolish.

What about shrewd bosses?

Shrewd bosses pay their staff above market rate. That way they will always have their pick of the best employees available for their business. Some people call this foolishness, or say that it is bad stewardship of the money God has entrusted them. Let me show you two examples of shrewd employers from Scripture.

Genesis 41:38-44 (NIV) - So Pharaoh asked them, "Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?" Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you."

So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt." Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph's finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and men shouted before him, "Make way!" Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt."

Background – Joseph had just interpreted Pharaoh's dream, saving the lives of the people of Egypt. I do not know the market rate for diviners or dream-interpretation in those days, but I can safely assume that you don't hand over the kingdom to them for successfully interpreting only one dream!

But Pharaoh was shrewd. If he paid Joseph overwhelmingly well, he knew that he would secure Joseph's loyalty AND have Joseph's wisdom and insight near him when he needed it. Also, what kind of threat would Joseph be to Pharaoh if Joseph was employed by another kingdom?

(Quick tip: the staff you should pay the most are the ones that you most fear working for your competitors…)

Of course it was a gamble. But in those days you don't survive long as Pharaoh unless you are a good judge of character. In the few minutes Pharaoh saw Joseph in action, he quickly weighed up Joseph's character and trusted his gut-feeling that said this strange foreigner who was hidden in his prison was the kind of person he wanted on his staff. And in the years to come Joseph would prove him right.

Luke 19: 16-17 (NIV) - "The first one came and said, 'Sir, your mina has earned ten more.' 'Well done, my good servant!' his master replied. 'Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.'

In the parable of the minas, the newly crowned king awarded his best performing servant a huge promotion. Which makes sense, if he can grow one mina into ten, what do you think he can do with ten cities? Some Singaporean bosses I know will tell this servant "Sorry, the economy is bad, this time I give you half a mina but you must still grow it into ten minas for me, otherwise your job is in danger…"

Of course, within a month these bosses will be complaining about how this ungrateful servant left them for greener pastures!

If you had this servant working for you, how much of your money would you entrust to him? For me I'd probably hand this servant all I have and mortgage my home further! By the way, this attitude of investing your money and attention to where you see results does not apply only to high performing staff. It also applies to marketing campaigns as well. If you are the boss you must track the advertising campaigns you pay for and see which are the ones that bring you the most customers, the highest spending ones and the most loyal ones. And invest in those campaigns accordingly.

It is foolish to cut spending on advertising blindly or solely on advertising cost. You need to track your returns from each campaign. And if you are not directly supervising each campaign yourself, your marketing director must be ready to account for these campaigns to you, to tell you which are the highest-performing campaigns and recommend that you invest further in those marketing channels.

Final note: I left out the last reason why my friend was so daring, and would take no nonsense from her boss. She had a background in sales and marketing. As long as you know sales and marketing, you will always have work, because every business needs people who can increase their sales. And that is why she often has people offering jobs to her.

Conversely, if you do not know sales and marketing but only possess specific skills, then you are in trouble should market changes ever render your skills obsolete. And if you are a boss or business owner who is unable to bring in sales for your business, you are at the mercy of those who can, because your business cannot survive without those people.

OK, this post has gone on long enough! I know I'm supposed to write more on worship ministry, and I will do so soon. Please email me or leave a comment if you find this post on Christian business helpful or if you'd like me to write more on this topic. In the meantime, be blessed!

Deuteronomy 24:14-15 (NIV) - Do not take advantage of a hired man who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother Israelite or an alien living in one of your towns. Pay him his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and is counting on it. Otherwise he may cry to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.