Do your job well

“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michaelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, 'Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”

I ran across this quote by Martin Luther King,  Jr. in a book I am reading called "Discovering Your Soul Signature."  This quote speaks to me.   

Whatever my job is,  I try to do it well. 

This year, one of my mentors, Steve Eckman retired.  I am so grateful for his influence in my life.  He helped me learn so much about doing a job well done. 

When he started at Ohio Valley University, I had been there for three years and was quickly burning out.  The idea of having a new boss was disruptive and I wasn't interested in having to deal with the transition.  But my voice of reason, Mitch, told me I should at least meet the guy.  I am so glad I did.

Steve had a knack for assigning me tasks that were way out of my scope of experience.  I would always tell him that it was "possible but I didn't known if it was doable". He laugh at me and leave me with it.   Because of him I stretched my limits and did all kinds of work I hadn't previously done, and I always tried to do it well.  Sometimes my best had mistakes in it,  and he would just let me fix it and move forward.   Learning from my mistakes was a great teacher!  I am a very well rounded worker because of his faith and confidence in me. 

Another lesson I learned from Steve was to remember that employees are people and that loving them as a person should take precedence over work.  He taught me to be graceful and merciful as a boss.  I still encountered some difficult situations where I had to let employees go,  and I did,  but I did it in love.   You don't need to destroy a person when a job isn't the right fit for them - the person has value and worth and should be treated as such,  even when you are communicating hard messages.  This lesson is one that needs to be taught more in the workplace.   So often managers are harsh to help ease their own personal challenges,  but it leaves broken people on the other side of their message. See the person first. 

Another lesson I learned from Steve is that most people say they are busy,  but in fact they don't really know what busy means.   I have found this to be true. Often we fill our time with procrastination and claim we are busy when we aren't accomplishing much at all.  It is important to intentionally fill the hours you've been given to be a good steward of time.   This doesn't mean never resting or having fun,  it just means being intentional.  Under him I learned to fill my days intentionally and get stuff accomplished,  but I also learned balance.  Steve would encourage balance - intentionally going to things with my kids,  taking time off,  and making space for me.  This has been an important lesson in all aspects of my life, not just work.   Now I try to live life full. Others might think I'm very busy, but most of the time I'm just being intentional with the time I'm given.   This allows me to get a lot accomplished with my time.   

I'm so glad to have been mentored and loved by Steve.  He did his job well and I am so grateful. Because of him,  I understand so much more about what it takes to do a job well done.  Thanks Steve! I hope you are enjoying retirement.