Why ‘Coming Out’ as a Christian at work is so very hard?
Dave is a competent young professional. He looks worn and defeated. In talking about his workplace, he said that bickering, criticism, and lack of support for Christians had spread through his organisation – a workplace he used to love. Now, he said, “The tension here is so thick I hate going to work.” he says.
Coming Out of The Christian Closet
Almost everyone has a story to tell about a bad boss, a bizarre colleague or a terrible place to work. However, as a Christian based digital media website, we have heard tons of stories of religious discrimination in the workplace.
We are blessed to have freedom of religion in the UK; (these rights are part The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and applies to freedom from religious discrimination, accommodation, and hostile work environment matters in both public and private workplaces) but recently the attacks upon Christians has increased, and people have lost their jobs and closed their businesses as a result of standing up for their belief. Practicing Christianity at the office or even sharing beliefs seems to touch on nerves, hurt feelings, and ignite high-levels of anger as well as passion in non believers. And it seems like the workplace climate may be getting worse: the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) considered 3,721 religious discrimination complaints in 2013, up from 1,709 in 1997.
“Secular ideology is so pervasive in the professional environment that we often have a difficult time fitting into the culture of the office. Many of us simply “go with the flow,” choosing to participate in the promotion of secular thought and values rather than risk being ostracized and ridiculed by defending the absolute truth of Christianity and the moral certitude of the distinctively Christian vision.”
You know what we’re talking about. Do you pray before lunch with a bunch of clients? Do you invite a new friend to church? Do you quote an appropriate Scripture during a dinner party? Do you hand someone your newsletter (FaithMD)?
However, a poppy is not just for Christmas, and a Christian is not just for the weekend.
But what does it really look like to unite our jobs and faith? After all office politics can be cruel and unfair and you’ve got to play the game”¦ haven’t you? We mean it’s easier to just to pretend you’re out and avoid that phone call”¦ isn’t it? When you’re putting in that expenses claim”¦ everyone creams a little off the top, so why lose out? And when there’s no holiday left to take but you need a day off, it’s easier to call in sick, isn’t it”¦? After all the world didn’t come to an end. So, what’s the big deal?
It’s sin — that’s the big deal.
Staying Godly in a Godless Workplace
The following are a few suggestions as to how to practice your faith at work.
Dont’s
- You don’t need to open a beauty salon called “A Cut Above” or a coffee shop called “He Brews” or have to wear a cross or leave a Bible on your desk for others to know that you’re a Christian.
- Don’t Engage in Gossip. Even if your workplace only has five employees, it’s almost a given that at least some of them will engage in gossip from time to time.
- Don’t Be a Hypocrite. One of the greatest hindrances to the gospel’s effectiveness is Christians who act one way at church and another way elsewhere. If you make your employer a billion dollars yet disgrace Jesus in the process, you’re a failure.
- Don’t Hide Away. Our right relationship isn’t just with God, but it’s a right relationship with the world around us.
- Don’t lie in the Workplace – Ever. This seems self-evident for Christians, but that’s where we’re under our greatest temptation.
Do’s
- Be Righteous.The best witness of your faith is to live it. Treat others as you would like to be treated, be kind, and do everything with love. This doesn’t mean that you have to meekly accept any wrongs at work or to avoid. “If the salt loses its saltiness, it’s good for nothing.”
- Be Hopeful. People of hope don’t lie about the reality of the world, but they are pressing on toward a new day. They inject positive direction in every dark situation.
- Be Faithful. Christians can explain their faith to others confidently and give attractive examples of the Christian life—even in just doing their jobs well. There’s no such thing as a private faith.
- Be About God’s Business and Know God’s Word. After all the Bible is more a love letter than it is a rulebook, more a reliable compass than it is a measuring rod, more a liberating gift than a heavy restraint.
- Be Merciful. Your ability to walk rightly, is not a prowess gained. It is a gift supplied by a loving, merciful God who is shaping us into the image of his Son.
- Be Prayerful. There will be people who do not like you for any number of reasons. Make it a practice to pray for the people that don’t seem to like you, who you don’t really get along with, or who just always seem to have something snarky to say to or about you.
- Be Relational. When you are asked, or ordered, to do something that causes turbulence in your Christian conscience, ask questions.
- Be Genuine. People of faith are pure in their motives and dealings with others. They don’t put on airs or sniff the air for hints of sinful behavior.
- Be Businesslike, But Not All Business. Have a laugh. Not only does laughing relieve stress, but it improves teamwork. Laughing on the job is not wasting time. It’s keeping work in its proper perspective and treating colleagues like human beings instead of tools.
- Be a Risk Taker. I realise this somewhat contradicts some of the last points, but the Christian life rests in that tension between risk and prudence. Here’s a hint, safe will always be boring, risks will always be exciting, and closets will always be dark.
- Never Forget Who You’re Really Working For Ultimately. Jesus Christ is our boss, and all our actions on the job should bring glory and honor to Him. God planted us in our current job for a particular reason. “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28).
The Powers That Be Don’t Really Care. Do You?
Did you ever have a “friend” in high school that loved causing fights? You know the kind. They act like your best friend but whisper bad things about others in your ear. Then they turn around and say nasty stuff about you to others. They strike a match, sit back and enjoy the flames.
This kind of person has no interest in right or wrong. Justice is a joke to them. All they want is blood.
The world today sees a similar attack, and many Christians fall for it. We don’t realize that powerful persons and entities seek to destabilize society by any means possible. They aren’t really interested in gender ideology or immigration. They just want to see the world fight about it to gain power from conflict. Satan manipulates our moral compass to do his dirty work.
What’s really going on here?
I’m not saying we shouldn’t have convictions. But it’s become so much more about taking sides and much less about people.
The best examples of how to rise above it all come from Scripture.
When the woman was caught in adultery, did Jesus take a side? Yes. He took the woman’s side. She was caught in the act. Adultery is wrong. According to Jewish law, it was punishable by death. Jesus didn’t condemn the woman though. He sidestepped the political argument and shot for the heart instead.
He condemned all sin. He elevated mercy above all things. Do we see current events from this heavenly point of view?
“Should we pay taxes to Caesar?” the Pharisee asked. They tried to set a trap for Jesus. It’s the same trap we fall into when we get tangled up in political debates. Beat your drum all you want, that’s fine. Do you really think you’ll change their minds? The religious powers of biblical times preached morality for generations — and it didn’t work. Stealing is bad, murder is wrong, corruption is evil”¦ we all know this, and all these things continue to thrive. How much more difficult will it be to convince someone of more ambiguous (secularly speaking) issues such as gay marriage?
We must mark the boundaries of morality, but this can never replace our testimony of the Risen Lord.
When people challenge me about the Christian position on homosexuality, what’s my reply? I present Jesus to everyone – gay, straight, whatever – since we’ve all sinned and we all need a Savior. I know the issues. I do my homework to understand the complexities. I can debate it until the cows come home. But I’m done trying to convince anyone. I only hope to inspire them to seek God instead.
How can you change a heart? How much are you praying for those on the other side of the political fence? Or are you too preoccupied with out-arguing them? Give unto God the things that are God’s.
Stop taking church teaching and weaponizing it politically. This only feeds the spirit of the Pharisee.
Our true mission
Take your eyes off the headlines and look to your community, to your family. Where is the need? Who is suffering? How can you help? Where can you share the Gospel? Don’t you trust in this method over any other? How much are you willing to love?
When we see injustice, it should be denounced. But like Jesus, condemn all sin — not just the other guys. Otherwise, it’s politics – and all politics cares about is winning. But the victory of our Lord has already been won. Believe this! Go all in and trust God’s plan. The political arena is not the essence of our faith. Instead, we are preoccupied with saving souls and helping those in need. This work is much harder, and our only hope for success is our complete dependence on the Holy Spirit.
Take up true arms
If we’re so afraid that we’ll lose the political fight, it appears to me that we’ve already surrendered the spiritual one.
Political arguments are easier since we can rely on intellect, knowledge, and wit. The spiritual war, however, requires other resources that we are afraid to trust.
It‘s paramount to understand and identify this ploy used by Satan himself to keep us off balance and distracted.
Return to the real fight. Our Captain calls us. Be not afraid.
Politics and Project Management, a Lesson in Leadership
We all know that the more power you have, the better you are able to get the job completed. The problem is most project managers have lots of responsibility, but hardly any authority and since most projects exist outside core business structures, they are forced to develop other methods of influence.
One unspoken evil that is often ignored on project management training courses is the politics of project management. While most of us view politics with disgust; there is no refuting that effective project managers are often seen as those who are equipped and able to employ fitting political strategies to further their project goals.
“In a Perfect World the Best Workers Would Be Promoted on Merit Alone and the Best Ideas Would Be Adopted Regardless of Personal Interest – but We Do Not Live in Utopia”
Have you ever included ‘office politics’ as a risk on your risk register? Probably not. Though, consider the potential implications of ignoring the ugly stepchild of project management?
“The Objective of Office Politics Is to Manipulate a Situation in Order to Achieve an Outcome That Will Benefit One Individual or Group at the Expense of Other Individuals or Groups.”
While it is unlikely that ‘office politics’ would be listed directly as a risk on your risk register, it is quite likely that one or more of the outcomes of it would. As a result, if you want to survive and prosper in the real world you need to combine good work with smart politics to ensure your own success and that of your projects. The biggest mistake a project manager can make is to assume that politics in project management doesn’t exist. After all, politics is human nature and has played an integral part in history since the dawn of civilization.
In a group where working interactions are fraught with tension and individuals have their own personal agendas or want to be “top dog” personal conflicts will often get in the way of the project aims. Issues between members of the team become the over-riding concern both for the individuals afraid and sometimes even the project manager. Meetings can consist of jostling for power or simply trying to justify your position and when that happens progress on the project will undoubtedly suffer.
For most project managers, playing politics is a form of slow, soul-destroying torture where logic, self-control, transparency and trustworthiness are replaced by deception, concealment, and sabotage. However, ignoring the external and internal politics surrounding your project or organization is dangerous. Successful project managers need to understand organizational politics and how to make them work for project success.
In the case of project politics you can use these key techniques in a constructive manner:
Carefully Manage Your Own Conduct
- The first rule is to at all times act in a way that commands respect and beyond that, respect others. That means not gossiping, spreading rumors or getting sucked into interpersonal conflicts and arguments. Maintain your honesty!
- Be positive as a positive outlook is a choice that you can always make and remain professional.
- Be confident and firm but not hostile and make sure you take organizational perspectives, not a personal one when voicing objections or giving criticism.
- Always assume things will be disclosed, so don’t rely on confidentiality.
- Over time you will learn what works in your organization’s culture and what doesn’t. Try to watch other people and identify successful behaviors that you can model to navigate the political minefield.
Review the Organization Chart
- Sit back and watch for a while. Identify the real influencers, those who are respected, champions, those who have authority but don’t use it, the mentors and last but not least the true brains behind the organization. Then re-map the organization chart in terms of political influence as politics will often bypass the formal organization chart.
Understand the Social Network
- Once you know who’s who in the organization, you have to understand the social networks. This involves identifying who gets along with whom, groups or cliques that have formed and ongoing interpersonal conflicts. Over time you will learn who has the most trouble getting along with others and the basis for the interrelationship whether it be friendship, respect or manipulation, including how the influence flows between all parties.
Build Good Relationships
- Now you need to build multiple networks but avoid aligning yourself with one group or another this way you can keep your finger on the pulse of the organization.
- Don’t be afraid of politically powerful people and instead, develop relationships that cross the formal hierarchy in all directions.
- Build your relationships on trust and respect and avoid empty flattery.
Use Your Social Network
- You will need to learn to use your social network to stay clear of negative politics. You can do this through positive political action.
- Use your network to gain access to information, build visibility of your achievements and improve difficult relationships.
- Attract opportunities where you can shine and seek out ways to make yourself, your team and your boss look good.
Counteract Negative Play
“The Expression, Keep Your Friends Close and Your Enemies Closer” Couldn’t Be Any Truer When It Comes to Office Politics.”
- Your mapping of the organization will help you to identify those people who use others for their own political purposes, and not for the common good. Know that these people typically have low self-worth (that’s why they rely on destructive politicking to get ahead). Always be very careful what you say to them. Understand what motivates them, their goals, and how to avoid or counter the impact of their politics
- Remember loyalty is not a reliable factor in the workplace!
“It is easy to become a target if you’re ambitious or if you strive for change. One of the biggest mistakes we make in our career is to assume that everyone likes progress. This is not true’Å —’Å many are content with the status quo and will defend it with their life.”
Projects are rarely easy and office politics can compound other sorts of problems that arise so they need to be dealt with swiftly and firmly.
How to Cope with a Mis-Sold Job
Everyone knows a story about a smart and talented professional who has lost his or her passion for a role, who no longer looks forward to going to the office yet remains stuck without a visible way out. Getting on the career ladder is a great thing, you start off at the bottom and work your way up, but sometimes you can get stuck and do not even realize it.
“One in Five Employees Claim They Were Mis-sold Opportunities When They Joined Their Organisation – Kelly Global Workforce Index (Kgwi).”
Commenting on the findings, Debbie Pettingill, Director, Kelly Services UK and Ireland said
“Employee retention will become an increasing challenge for employers as we move out of the recession. As we move into a more candidate driven market, this trend is likely to accelerate. Our findings indicate that this problem is being exacerbated by the misrepresentation of job role or company culture at the interview stage, leading to the dissatisfaction of new hires.”
Most of us know what we are trying to escape a “mis-sold” job resulting in a narrowly defined career, inauthentic or unstimulating work, numbing corporate politics, and perhaps blackmail including direct threats of being used as a scapegoat. A job where you are both overlooked and underappreciated. One may ring true for some of you.
“Fewer than Half of Uk Employees Are Happy with the Way Their Careers Are Progressing According to New British Research.”
Why Would A Company or Person Block Your Move?
Well, this could be because of his or her personal insecurity i.e. as the team works well, why rock the boat? Comfort zone: sometimes the team gets too comfortable? Golden child syndrome: you’re working your butt off and your sponsor or other senior is reaping the recognition from your amazing deliverables?
Working a job you don’t like can leave you feeling stuck, forgotten by God, and asking yourself questions like:
Why hasn’t God opened another door for me yet?
Why is God not moving?
Why would God leave me here in this job I hate?
But the truth is God has not left you. He’s not holding back on you. When you feel God is silent, that’s exactly when He’s moving! Your situation does not change God. He still loves you and is with you no matter what.
Instead of looking at our situation from a perspective of fear and worry, we need to look at it through faith and hope.
What Can You Do About it?
Don’t fret, you can handover your work or completely leave the organisation and still stay sane. You might worry that announcing your intentions will cause your company grief, but ultimately you have to do what’s best for you no matter what!
Think and pray long and hard about how you’re going to drop this bombshell as you will need to give notice. A sound method is required to overcome the assault and possible backlash – including of course more prayer and fasting.
So how are you going to approach it? What’s your reasoning going to be? How are you going to get them to understand exactly why you’re doing this? What do you need to do in order to prepare for the big day?
Easy, you’re going to read this guide.
Strategy 1 – Remote Working Arrangement
This could be a great approach if 80% of your work can be undertaken remotely. However, while there is a very logical argument to be made in favor of working from home, many people equate remote work to a lack of productivity and laziness. These people do not realize that the switch from an office to working from home can actually lead to significant increases in productivity.
Strategy 2 – What’s in It for Me?
What’s in it for me? That question sounds a little selfish, doesn’t it? Maybe you aren’t being compensated fairly, or you’re not happy with the effort vs return. When you know your client and team needs you and you’re willing to stay for a price, don’t mess around. Give them the real number or offer that will make it worth your while to stick it out for awhile.
Strategy 3 – The Budget Cut
The re-structuring. The downsizing. The dreaded budget cut. Whatever name you want to give it, this can be terrifying for a lot of professionals. However, if you’re already thinking about leaving, so maybe it doesn’t have to be such a scary thing. In fact, maybe it can be extremely positive for both parties.
Strategy 4 – The Ease Out
Still feeling weary about leaving the organization. Propose easing yourself out of the post. Pick a time frame, maybe four weeks or so, and come up with a plan for slowly taking yourself out of the position. This also allows you some time to slowly ramp down your time commitment.
Strategy 5 – Burning Bridges in the Industry
“Sometimes it’s about networking and being nice to people and not burning any bridges – but remembering to draw line where you must.”
There’s no harm in an early exit from a job you never plan to mention again or an interim role where you have clearly agreed on a start and finish date. But if your manager is well connected to your industry you should try to leave on a good note. Why? Because it’s a small world and the next hiring manager may put in a call to his or her former colleague (a.k.a., your new manager) to get the unofficial scoop. It happens, so if you’re going to leave anyway then try to fulfill your end of the deal.
Strategy 6 – Get Moving Fast
Imagine, for example, that you were hired to help the company manage multiple programmes and projects across the globe, but a recent change in leadership means all efforts moving forward will be focused locally.
If you’re spending your days just trying to find ways to be productive or are undertaking a role you never signed up for, you have every right to pursue new opportunities. Of course, the first course of action should normally be to discuss this with your manager to see if there are other roles you can take on. But if you know that this isn’t going to happen in the new world, get moving fast.
Strategy 7 – Your Dream Job Awaits
“When you’re being interviewed, always treat the interview as a 50-50 thing,” says Andy Dallas, a director at Robert Half International, recruitment consultants. “Ask what you can expect to be doing in your first week, month and three months. Ask what a successful year looks like.”
Dream jobs don’t come every day. So, if you have a chance at yours, take it quickly and congratulate yourself for being strong enough to leave when you were unhappy.
Strategy 8 – Remeber to Be Patient
We will not always be in a job we desire. Maybe you are fresh out of school and are working a job that has nothing to do with the degree you just earned. Maybe you are in a situation where you are working at a job where you are overqualified, overworked, and fed up. Maybe, for the most part, you love your job but get discouraged by the mundane tasks that take up time from doing the aspects of your job you love most.
“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” – James 4:10 NIV
Here’s the thing: God will still use this season to grow, develop, and prepare you. Any season that humbles us is preparing us for what God has next.
Any thoughts to share?
65% of Mega-projects Fail
There’s a reason why Mega-projects are simply called “Mega-projects.” Extremely large in scale with significant impacts on communities, environment and budgets, mega-projects attract a lot of public attention and often cost more than 1 billion. Because of its grandiose, a successful mega-project requires a lot of planning, responsibility and work. Likewise, the magnificence of such projects also creates a large margin for failure.
Mega-projects Come with Big Expectations. But a Project’s Success Is Often in the Eye of the Beholder
Despite their socio-economic significance mega-projects – delivering airports, railways, power plants, Olympic parks and other long-lived assets – have a reputation for failure. It is thought that over optimism, over complexity, poor execution, and weakness in organizational design and capabilities are the most common root causes of megaproject failure.
Blinded by enthusiasm for the project, individuals and organizations involved with mega-projects often miscalculate the complexity of the project. When a mega-project is pitched, its common for costs and timelines to be underestimated while the benefits of the project are overestimated. According Danish economist Bent Flyvbjerg, its not unusual for project managers who are competing for funding to massage the data until it is deemed affordable. After all, revealing the real costs up front would make a project unappealing, he said. As a result, these projects are destined for failure.
For example, building new railways spanning multiple countries could prove to be disastrous if plans are overly complex and over-optimized. Such a large-scale project involves national and local governments, various environmental and health standards, a wide range of skills and wages, private contractors, suppliers and consumers; therefore, one issue could put an end to the project. Such was the case when two countries spent nearly a decade working out diplomatic considerations while building a hydroelectric dam.
Complications and complexities of mega-projects must be considered thoroughly before launch. One way to review the ins and outs of a project is through reference-class forecasting. This process forces decision makers to look at past cases that might reflect similar outcomes to their proposed mega-project.
Poor execution is also a cause for failure in mega-projects. Due to the overoptimism and overcomplexity of a project, it’s easy for project managers and decision makers to cut corners trying to maintain cost assumptions and protect profit margins. Project execution is then overwhelmed by problems such as incomplete design, unclear scope, and mathematical errors in risk assessment and scheduling.
Researchers at McKinsey studied 48 struggling mega-projects and found that in 73 percent of the cases, poor execution was responsible for cost and time overruns. The other 27 percent ran into issues with politics such as new governments and laws.
Low productivity is another aspect of poor execution. Even though trends show that manufacturing has nearly doubled its productivity in the last 20 years, construction productivity remains flat and in some instances has even declined. However, wages continue to increase with inflation, leading to higher costs for the same results.
According to McKinsey studies, efficiency in delivering infrastructure can reduce total costs by 15 percent. Efficiency gains in areas like approval, engineering, procurement and construction can lead to as much as 25 percent of savings on new projects without compromising quality outcomes. This proves that planning before execution is worth its weight in gold.
We Tend to Exaggerate the Importance of Contracting Approach to Project Success or Failure
Finally, weaknesses in organizational design and capabilities results in failed megaprojects. For example, organizational setups can have multiple layers and in some cases the project director falls four or five levels below the top leadership. This can lead to problems as the top tier of the organizational chain (for example, subcontractors, contractors and construction managers) tend to focus on more work and more money while the lower levels of the chain (for example, owner’s representative and project sponsors) are focused on delivery schedules and budgets.
Likewise, a lack of capabilities proves to be an issue. Because of the large-scaled, complex nature of mega-projects, there is a steep learning curve involved and the skills needed are scarce. All the problems of megaprojects are compounded by the speed at which projects are started. When starting from scratch, mega-projects may create organizations of thousands of people within 12 months. This scale of work is comparable to the significant operational and managerial challenge a new start-up might face.
In the end, it seems that if organizations take the time to thoroughly prepare and plan for their mega-projects, problems like overcomplexity and overoptimism, poor execution, and weaknesses in organizational design and capabilities could be avoided. After all, mega=projects are too large and too expensive to rush into.
