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Using Your Power at Work to Benefit Others

 So thanks for stopping by the blog this week and sharing how you are going to use the power God entrusted you with to benefit others. It's all part of our new series about work called Everything I Needed to Know About Work I Learned from Classic Rock. 

As promised, here's what I did this week at Connexus to use my power differently.  Please please please, share what you intend to do this week and let us know how it works out.  Just use the comment section below this post to tell your story.   It's Monday…so what have you done or what are you intending to do? Orillia, it's your turn now – I'd love to hear more!

I'm so excited to see what you've learned and what others have learned as you apply Jesus' teaching to your world this week!

– Carey

About Justin Piercy

Justin was an integral part of our volunteer team before joining us on staff in the spring of 2009. He uses his gifts in leading our digital ministry strategy at Connexus, and has a passion for reaching and connecting people online.

Justin loves thinking about the future, a good cup of hand crafted pour over or espresso, making beautiful things, and can fly through a good book.

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19 Comments

  1. Tracey says, April 12, 2010 at 11:23 am

    HAHAHAHAHHHA LOOK AT THAT MESSY DESK!
    Oh word.. Justin is stoked about using your office and I’m
    just laughing my butt off that you have to use that messy area!

    Reply
    • carey says, April 12, 2010 at 8:59 pm

      I go into the cubicle tomorrow. The mess won’t last long around me. Might bring my pressure washer. We’ll see.

      Reply
  2. Susan Kohring says, April 12, 2010 at 12:44 pm

    My children and I attended your church for the first time on Sunday. We had attended the Christian Reformed Church previously, very Dutch, but we are not. The children loved the structure of your church, the music, the seats and the Minister’s running shoes. Having heard your sermon I have been racking my brains trying to think what I can do at work. I am the print manager at Gage Print & Design. The only thing is everyone here is equal, they get treated equal, we have our specific jobs and we all carry them through expertly. I wouldn’t want to change a thing. The one thing I found out is everyone else here is either agnostic or atheist. So where do I start? I already told one of them about the church and sermon and the project for the week. He had no ideas for me. Any ideas?

    Reply
    • carey says, April 12, 2010 at 8:59 pm

      So glad you could make it to Connexus. Never had anyone mention my running shoes before. Fun!

      You make a great point – everyone here is equal. That sounds like a great atmosphere. Let me answer your question with a question: what would you love your boss to do for you? Once you know that, do that for someone you manage. Does that help?

      What about others? Does anyone else have some good ideas?

      Reply
  3. Doris Schuster says, April 13, 2010 at 9:14 pm

    I’ve been thinking about this work challenge for a couple of days now and I finally came up with an idea. I’m self employed and I work from home, so there are no co-workers or subordinates around me. However, I currently have 8 customers who are past due on the money they owe me for services I’ve provided to them (some way past due). Carey, when you wrote “what would you love your boss to do for you?” I instantly had an idea. If I owed someone money and couldn’t pay immediately, I would want the creditor to be lenient and NOT charge me interest, and give me more time to pay. So, I’ve decided to write to all the customers who owe me money and tell them that I WILL NOT CHARGE THEM INTEREST but I would appreciate payment as soon as possible. That’s biblical, according to Deuteronomy 23:19 “Do not charge your brother interest, whether on money or food or anything else that may earn interest.”

    Reply
    • carey says, April 13, 2010 at 10:33 pm

      Doris…I think that’s a great idea. Interest is something the Bibe discourages…which itself is intriguing. You are entitled to be paid for sure, but to show mercy shows the grace of God. What an interesting idea. What do others think?

      Any other ideas out there?

      Reply
  4. Jeff says, April 14, 2010 at 11:34 pm

    I’m spending Fri/Sat at a retreat helping out a “young” student ministry from Toronto. Great to leverage resources to help them create momentum and reach students. Looking forward to it.

    Reply
  5. Susan Kohring says, April 15, 2010 at 12:39 pm

    Well I racked my brain and couldn’t come up with much. This is an amazing place to work where we all help each other out in any way we can and when we can. So being the only woman in the office I bought the boys some goodies from the bakery which they have truly enjoyed for two days now. Nothing like serving them through their stomach! I’m sure there is a bible verse for that but I am rusty.It was a good exercise that has made everyone even sweeter over here! I can’t wait for this weeks sermon, I hope the cubicle is giving you some inspiration.

    Reply
  6. Justin Piercy says, April 15, 2010 at 1:51 pm

    I’ve been pretty stumped on this one. Since I was the one who won Carey’s office, I’ve kinda been the subject of the object lesson and application for this week. I didn’t know what to do.

    How could I personally leverage the power I was given by winning Carey’s office to benefit others? Give it back to Carey? Lame. Give it away to someone else? So not original.

    For anyone who knows our staff members well, you know we all run (at least partially) off of caffeine through the work week. Also, I have a really nice espresso machine, and I’ve gotten really good at making it. So I decided to take charge a bit and get creative.

    I came into work today and TOTALLY rearranged Careys office (mine for a week) into a walk in espresso bar for the rest of staff! So far I’ve enjoyed serving them (believe me, the visits have been frequent), and really using the power I gained through the office “contest”.

    Read all about it and see pics here: http://blog.justinpiercy.com/

    At your place of work, how are you leveraging whatever power you have to benefit others?

    Reply
  7. Yvonne Gravel says, April 18, 2010 at 12:18 pm

    Just before my 27th birthday, my husband was diagnosed with cancer. He died just 4 months later. Our kids were 2 and 1 at the time. Just like that, I entered the world of low-income single parenting. People felt sorry for me and were very kind. One lady gave me her old couch, another family donated clothes their boys had outgrown for my sons and still another person gave me a bicycle. I appreciated the generosity but it still made me a little sad. Other people had stuff they wanted and liked. I just had stuff that people didn’t need or want anymore. I’m not even sure I could describe my style then as “garage sale chic”. It was just “garage sale”.

    I’m no longer a single parent and I’m not as cash-strapped as I once was but I’ll never forget what it’s like. There’s a single mom at church I talk to sometimes. I can relate to parts of her life. A couple of Sundays ago she showed up at church with her long hair down. I commented on it and she said she hardly ever wears it that way because it’s so frizzy. I told her some good hair products could solve that. She looked a little sad and said that was true but good products are kind of pricey.

    I have a some expendable income now. I went out and bought her some good anti-frizz hair care products. I would have been thrilled with that when I was a single mom. It would have felt like a little luxury in a tough, tough world. I hope she likes it. It made me so happy to buy it for her. I don’t know if that counts as a “work perk” but I hope someone else sees this and their eyes are opened a bit. It’s nice to give away your junk to “needy” people but it’s even nicer to give away really good stuff to someone who probably wouldn’t be able to buy it for themselves.

    Reply
    • carey says, April 18, 2010 at 4:36 pm

      Yvonne, so sorry to hear about the loss of your husband and the situation you found yourself in. But this is a wonderful example of how to apply what we talked about today. I think your point about giving away what others actually want rather than what we don’t want it so true. My guess is you’ve done something for her she won’t forget for a long, long time.

      Reply
  8. Sarah says, April 20, 2010 at 9:28 am

    I have a secret… I can paint and draw. No one really knows this anymore because I don’t do it anymore! God gave me an artistic gift that I’ve been neglecting… I would like to use this to benefit others in my workplace — so I am going to create a painting for the office!!!

    The only thing is – I haven’t picked up a paintbrush in years! Wish me well…. :o)

    Reply
  9. Yvonne Gravel says, April 21, 2010 at 3:14 pm

    Right now I’m a part-time carrier for the Packet and Times. One of the perks of my job is that it is flexible. It doesn’t matter if I start at 8 am or 2 pm as long as I get subscribers their newspapers by 5:30. This means that I am sometimes able to help others who are on more difficult schedules.

    Last night a mom from school called. Her son had made the baseball team (as had mine) but her work schedule didn’t allow her to get him to practice on time. She wondered if I could pick him up and get him there. I’m flexible so I was able to help her out.

    I finished deliveries early today and headed over to the library to return some books. I met someone I knew there who was obviously distraught. She asked me if I had time to talk. I did. We discussed her situation for about half an hour. I’m not sure if anything I said helped but I tried my best. At the end, I asked if I could pray for her. We bowed our heads right there in the library and I whispered a prayer for her. I’m not sure that would have happened if I didn’t have the laid back sort of job I do.

    The best part is this is helping me to see my job a bit differently. Sometimes I feel sorry for myself because I don’t have a “real” job like other women do. Now I see that my job, as humble as it is, allows me something that perhaps one of those “real” jobs wouldn’t. It gives me time to be a helping hand.

    Reply
  10. carey says, April 22, 2010 at 7:55 am

    Yvonne…what an amazing perspective. I think you just taught a lot of us something valuable. Thank you!

    Reply
  11. carey says, April 22, 2010 at 7:55 am

    Sarah…can’t wait to see your art!

    Reply
  12. Whitney Wihlidal says, April 22, 2010 at 12:32 pm

    I may be able to help you out Sarah. We have a 4×4 foot canvas that we started to paint on, but it hasn’t turned out so well (I was not blessed with appreciable artistic ability). If it would benefit you, I would be more than happy to donate it to Connexus for your work of art. If you were planning on getting back into it with something a little smaller, I understand. Whitney

    Reply
  13. Sarah says, April 22, 2010 at 1:22 pm

    Whitney — that would be wonderful!! That’s so nice, thank you! :o)
    Sarah

    Reply
  14. linda yates says, May 11, 2010 at 12:03 am

    Hi Yvonne
    Noticed your posting about your job – and just wanted to encourage you – my husband and I are carriers for two local papers. we started with a couple of routes – about 800 papers, we now prep and deliver about 5000 papers including collating anywhere from
    20 – 35 flyers each week and bundle drops to local businesses – lets just say – we have had ALL the comments that people can muster up of … how you should get a “real” job and
    i used to deliver newspapers when i was little … and where can i get a job like that (when all they see is you throwing the paper out your window)

    you know at first i felt much the same as you described but i have come to realize that God is glorified not with how important our job is but in how well we do the job he has blessed us with – you could clean outhouses but if you do it to the BEST of your ability
    that will glorify Him – especially when it is done with a happy heart and when “You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things”. People say it is not a real job – but funny thing is it pays REAL money. i now say – my job may not be pretty but it certainly pays the bills and allows us to bless others. so be encouraged and it is wonderful that you have time
    to be a servant to all that God puts in your path.
    Blessings
    Linda

    Reply
  15. Yvonne Gravel says, May 12, 2010 at 1:07 pm

    Thank you Linda. My job may not be high status but it lets me work outside, get exercise (I’m on foot delivering) and is flexible enough that I can be available for my family and on occasion others. It’s hard overcoming people’s perceptions but I’m focusing on doing my job “as unto the Lord”. The verse about being faithful in little things has been the one I’ve been clinging to since I moved out here from Ottawa. Thanks for sharing it. It reminds me that I’m on the right track.

    Reply

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