The Workplace is the Best Place to Teach
The Workplace is the Best Place to Teach
The Workplace is the Best Place to Teach
The Workplace is the Best Place to Teach
There is no better place to back up what you believe than in the work place. If you say people are important and you care for them — you get to prove it. Everyday at work you get to demonstrate — to share and to teach — what you believe about life and work.
I love to work and I especially love working with people. There is nothing like the work environment for meaningful growth-oriented engagement — people working together to capitalize on opportunities, solve problems, and to deliver products and services to make the lives of others better.
Most of our workplaces are places of learning, development, and growth. No good organization or team is satisfied or complacent with the status quo. Customers always want something new, so organizations must keep learning and must keep growing.
Most of us have experienced our largest successes and most devastating failures in the workplace. If this is not true for you, you’re clearly just getting started!
Work is where we learn the most and work is where we should teach others what we have learned so that they can build on our successes and learn from our failures. This is the way we grow and add value to our workplace and to the world. We add the most value to our workplace communities when we are committed to lifelong learning and to teaching others from our growing knowledge and experience.
Followers of Jesus have a distinct advantage in growing through learning and teaching at work because we understand that we are all a “work in progress” and that ultimate success, happiness, and satisfaction is not up to us. You see, since we know our ultimate success is not in this life, we are able to give our very best in response to the One whose greatest work was to lay down His life for us (Romans 12:1).
Work is Where Growth is Expected
Our colleagues and clients expect to learn and grow at work. The best workplaces are places of continuous learning and decisions. This is as true for clients as it is for coworkers. The best products and services are making peoples’ lives better and it’s our responsibility to understand and teach people how to use our products and the services for optimal benefit.
“Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.” - [.no-reftag]Proverbs 3:27[.no-reftag]
Teach by first helping colleagues with everything they need to know to do well in their jobs so that they can do excellent work. Your individual meetings with those who work for you should be full of questions to discern how they are doing in life and work. Their answers should be the basis of how you help them learn what they need to know.
Help clients use your products and services to their highest possible benefit. The more questions you ask of your clients, the more you know how to help them improve their lives.
When you are clear that you’re here to serve them and teach them what you know, you will be building enormous amounts of trust. As you become their trusted advisor, they will tell you more about their life — resulting in opportunities to teach them the most meaningful things they need to know.
Work is More Than Words
There is no better place to back up what you believe than in the work place. If you say people are important and you care for them — you get to prove it. There are opportunities daily.
Everyday at work you get to demonstrate what you believe about life and work. Your colleagues and clients know if you mean what you say. They are absolutely convinced that you care for them by what you do, not by what you say.
“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” - [.no-reftag]Matthew 7:12[.no-reftag]
We must do for others what we would want for ourselves. This is more than a command, this is the way one life overflows (Psalm 23:5) on another person.
Your colleagues and clients also know exactly why you work. They know if you work for greed or money. They know if you work for accomplishment or personal success. They know if you work for yourself or if you work for others. Motives are impossible to hide over the long haul at work. Take advantage of this scrutiny to teach them why you work.
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.” - [.no-reftag]Colossians 3:23-24[.no-reftag]
If your colleagues and clients become convinced that you work for the Preeminent Power in the universe, they will want to know more. You will have the opportunity to tell them about an unimaginable, innumerable, extraordinary, inheritance that’s available to them.
Work is Where the People Are
Work is undeniably the place where the most number of people are that need to know the Good News. People are striving to add value and to become more valuable as they seek to find meaning at work. Many people at work are harassed and helpless like a sheep without a Shepherd (Matthew 9:36).
The command to make disciples is clear that we are to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:19). Where are we going the most? Where are we “on the go” the most? At work, of course!
As we go about our work we have the opportunity to demonstrate all that we have learned and been commanded by Jesus. Work is where our true character is most on display. Let’s display all that we have learned and been commanded so that the whole world — starting at our workplace — will know the Treasure worth finding!
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” - [.no-reftag]Matthew 13:44[.no-reftag]
Resources:
Article: Why You Should Be Teaching | Howard Graham
Article: How to Teach | Howard Graham
I love to work and I especially love working with people. There is nothing like the work environment for meaningful growth-oriented engagement — people working together to capitalize on opportunities, solve problems, and to deliver products and services to make the lives of others better.
Most of our workplaces are places of learning, development, and growth. No good organization or team is satisfied or complacent with the status quo. Customers always want something new, so organizations must keep learning and must keep growing.
Most of us have experienced our largest successes and most devastating failures in the workplace. If this is not true for you, you’re clearly just getting started!
Work is where we learn the most and work is where we should teach others what we have learned so that they can build on our successes and learn from our failures. This is the way we grow and add value to our workplace and to the world. We add the most value to our workplace communities when we are committed to lifelong learning and to teaching others from our growing knowledge and experience.
Followers of Jesus have a distinct advantage in growing through learning and teaching at work because we understand that we are all a “work in progress” and that ultimate success, happiness, and satisfaction is not up to us. You see, since we know our ultimate success is not in this life, we are able to give our very best in response to the One whose greatest work was to lay down His life for us (Romans 12:1).
Work is Where Growth is Expected
Our colleagues and clients expect to learn and grow at work. The best workplaces are places of continuous learning and decisions. This is as true for clients as it is for coworkers. The best products and services are making peoples’ lives better and it’s our responsibility to understand and teach people how to use our products and the services for optimal benefit.
“Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.” - [.no-reftag]Proverbs 3:27[.no-reftag]
Teach by first helping colleagues with everything they need to know to do well in their jobs so that they can do excellent work. Your individual meetings with those who work for you should be full of questions to discern how they are doing in life and work. Their answers should be the basis of how you help them learn what they need to know.
Help clients use your products and services to their highest possible benefit. The more questions you ask of your clients, the more you know how to help them improve their lives.
When you are clear that you’re here to serve them and teach them what you know, you will be building enormous amounts of trust. As you become their trusted advisor, they will tell you more about their life — resulting in opportunities to teach them the most meaningful things they need to know.
Work is More Than Words
There is no better place to back up what you believe than in the work place. If you say people are important and you care for them — you get to prove it. There are opportunities daily.
Everyday at work you get to demonstrate what you believe about life and work. Your colleagues and clients know if you mean what you say. They are absolutely convinced that you care for them by what you do, not by what you say.
“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” - [.no-reftag]Matthew 7:12[.no-reftag]
We must do for others what we would want for ourselves. This is more than a command, this is the way one life overflows (Psalm 23:5) on another person.
Your colleagues and clients also know exactly why you work. They know if you work for greed or money. They know if you work for accomplishment or personal success. They know if you work for yourself or if you work for others. Motives are impossible to hide over the long haul at work. Take advantage of this scrutiny to teach them why you work.
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.” - [.no-reftag]Colossians 3:23-24[.no-reftag]
If your colleagues and clients become convinced that you work for the Preeminent Power in the universe, they will want to know more. You will have the opportunity to tell them about an unimaginable, innumerable, extraordinary, inheritance that’s available to them.
Work is Where the People Are
Work is undeniably the place where the most number of people are that need to know the Good News. People are striving to add value and to become more valuable as they seek to find meaning at work. Many people at work are harassed and helpless like a sheep without a Shepherd (Matthew 9:36).
The command to make disciples is clear that we are to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:19). Where are we going the most? Where are we “on the go” the most? At work, of course!
As we go about our work we have the opportunity to demonstrate all that we have learned and been commanded by Jesus. Work is where our true character is most on display. Let’s display all that we have learned and been commanded so that the whole world — starting at our workplace — will know the Treasure worth finding!
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” - [.no-reftag]Matthew 13:44[.no-reftag]
Resources:
Article: Why You Should Be Teaching | Howard Graham
Article: How to Teach | Howard Graham