Three Signs of a Miserable Job: Anonymity

The last sign of a miserable job is Anonymity.

Here is what Lencioni has to say about it:

Anonymity – People cannot be fulfilled in their work if they are not known. All human beings need to be understood and appreciated for their unique qualites by someone in a position of authority. As much as this may sound like an aphorism from Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, it is undeniably true. People who see themselves as invisible, generic, or anonymous cannot love their jobs, no matter what they are doing.

Out of the three signs I feel like I do best at this one. The reason I feel I do this well is growing up in a pastors home my dad served in many churches where I was invisible. One of the lead pastors my dad served for 6 years as a pastor, elder and taught in the school didn’t even know my name. I remembering being very hurt that in a church of 200 people the pastor didn’t know my name. I later went to a church that I felt the leaders of that church based on decisions they made only valued what people did verses who those people were. They went so far as to say that you should lay down your dreams for the dreams of the senior pastor.

Based on those experiences in my life I made a decision to do everything I can to help people who are a part of the teams I lead know that they have value to me as a person. When people want to quit working in Uptown I never take it personally and always try to convey to them that if they are doing to much I am glad they had the courage to tell me because their personal health is way more important that what they do in Uptown. People who know that they matter as a person to you as a leader will make sure the people they come in contact with know that they matter to someone and most of all they matter to God.

So make sure you go out of your way to let people know you care about them. Talk to their kids ask them about their parents. Find out details and remember them, people love what they do way more if they know that you care about them and are not just using them to accomplish your goals. Our job as leaders is to bring the best out of our team and create environments where they can grow in the gifts God has given them so they can in turn create environments where life change can happen in the life of a kid.