Meaningful Work
- Excerpt from The Wisdom of the Flying Pig -
"Be subject to one another! Don't you think you might find some relevance in Verse 21?" - The West Wing, Season 3
I am in no way qualified to comment on the instructions of Saint Paul in the Book of Ephesians, but I did understand Martin Sheen - in his role as President Jeb Bartlett - to suggest that we should serve one another. This is especially true for managers. In fact, in a certain light, service is the core function of management. Here’s why. The best tests of service are these questions: Has the person being served grown? Is that person more knowledgeable and more capable? Is that person more confident and, therefore, more likely to contribute to the success of the organization?
If a manager’s subordinates are more knowledgeable, capable, and confident, that manager has served well and succeeded in one of the vital management functions.
"The work exists for the person as much as the person exists for the work." - Robert K. Greenleaf, Servant Leadership
In his wise and wonderful book, Servant Leadership, Robert Greenleaf suggests that a business exists as much to provide meaningful work for the employee as it exists to provide a product or service to the customer. A good number of managers, leaders, and owners I’ve met might take exception to this idea, and maybe you do as well. So let’s think it through.
What happens as a result of providing meaningful work? Meaningful work usually inspires significant effort. Significant effort often leads to exceptional performance and achievement. And achievement is the single most important factor in motivation and job satisfaction - both of which, by the way, dramatically impact productivity, retention, and profit.
Meaningful work has both bottom line and metaphysical benefits. Makes it worth thinking about.
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