I’ve worked in and around Call Centers for a good number of years, and one thing that never ceases to amaze me is the negativity that seems to prevail. Part of it could be that the Call Center agents only really take calls from the customers who are having problems. Think about it, when is the last time that you called your credit card company just to thank them for being there when you need them?

The only time that you make the effort to get in touch with them is when you’re upset about something. And this is the Call Center agent’s job…   to talk to unhappy customers all day long. So I can understand that it would take a lot to keep positive when it seems like everyone you talk to has a problem. But I think that there is a deeper issue, something that we can all relate to, going on here.

Have you ever worked with someone who just hated their job?

Every day they come into work miserable, and complain about how bad things are in that job/company all day, and then split right out the door as fast as they can at the end of their day.

Seriously, why do these people continue working somewhere that they’re obviously so miserable at?

Now imagine that it’s your boss that has that bad attitude! Some of you know exactly what I am talking about. I had one once that just bashed the company that I enjoyed working for every chance they got. That attitude made it very difficult for me to work and connect with them at all.

As we look at the next qualification for the manager-leader, we come to one that requires one to “hold [the] mystery of [the] faith with clear conscience.”

There are a couple of things at play here, but in order to understand the principle that we can apply to the workplace with this one, we must first understand what Paul meant by “mystery of faith”. Some interpreters take this to mean that there are things that as Christians, only we can truly understand. These things include ideas like what salvation is, and understanding who the Holy Spirit is, and much more.

So the idea here is that there are things about being a “member” that one should not only understand but “hold” on to without question (a clear conscience). I like to think of these things as the spirit (little “s” intentional) of the family (of Christ).

I believe the same thing holds true in the workplace.

Employees, especially those in any sort of leadership role, should be able to capture the “spirit” (again, little “s”) of the company. This manifests itself in a positive attitude about the company.

The person that can capture the spirit of a company probably knows exactly what its goals are, and is an evangelist for its products and services. They are the company’s biggest fan, and they feel good about their reasons why.

When leaders have this type of attitude (as opposed to the one discussed earlier), then it makes them much easier to follow. They’ll walk with a certain excitement about being there, and have a great amount of energy to accomplish great things. These people are much more fun to follow…

Capture the spirit of your organization, and hold onto it. Better yet, understand and share it with others, even if only on a small scale.

Questions to consider:

• Is the company that you work for one that you feel like you can stand behind?
• If not, then what’s keeping you from going to work somewhere that you feel comfortable in?
• If so, how have you “captured the spirit” of the organization, and how do others know that you have done so?
• How can you share this spirit with others, or at least practice raising other people up by mentoring them with the knowledge and understanding that you currently have?

See more from the management by God series!