Purpose of Work: Joy

Joy, joy, joy!

In our last episode, The Purpose of Work, Bradley J Moore got a wake up call when Dr. Payne — Monty Python with a briefcase — declared, “The purpose of our work is to glorify God.”

So the purpose of my work is to glorify God, is it? I needed to think that one over. The truth is, for the past few months I had experienced a bout of career angst that was driving me nuts. As a side effect, I was sure my work wasn’t really glorifying God.

Here’s what happened: Several months earlier, I had been offered a very exciting CEO position with a high-visibility, rapid-growth company; but it ended up falling apart because of some “accounting irregularities” that were uncovered at the company. Oops. That sent the business into a tailspin for a while and eventually the owners sold out to an investor group, who of course wanted to choose their own CEO.

Thank God the mess oozed out of the woodwork before I committed to it. But afterwards, I was left with this empty feeling, wondering how I was going to go back to my real, now very boring by comparison, existing job (the one that was still paying me) with any enthusiasm. By contrast, my current job seemed entirely mundane and beneath my capabilities. Maybe, I thought, the job offer was a nudge from God pushing me forward, a sign for me to move on, to start looking for another CEO position somewhere else — a hint that I had outlived the useful life of the current company and position I was in. God does that sometimes, right?

I kept ruminating on it, getting more and more disappointed and disgusted with my current station. Yes, I’m sure of it: God has Bigger Plans For Me! This is the Purpose and Direction I have been waiting for! This CEO opportunity must have been God leading me toward the next chapter of my life — the one in which I step into some fantastic leadership role and have huge influence and make gobs of money so I can become a well-known philanthropist and God will be so pleased and say, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” and I can take the family on expensive European vacations a few times a year, even though the dollar has been at an all-time low, and I can finally start that art collection I’ve been dreaming about, etc, etc, etc.

I had big ideas for God’s plan for that particular chapter of my life.

I decided I must consult with my new British Leadership Coach friend Dr. Payne about this. I desperately needed a spiritual/business advisor to help me make some important career decisions and discern God’s point of view on the whole thing. I cornered Dr. Payne after his next Sunday session with the men’s group at church and we scheduled some time to talk at my office.

I could hardly wait to get Dr. Payne’s advice and assistance in charting out a roadmap for my new, exciting career path.

+ + + + +

The next week, I met Dr. Payne in my office at work. I shut the door and immediately unloaded my great burden on him, working myself into a lather about my untapped, underutilized, unacknowledged leadership potential that was completely going to waste. The good doctor let me rant for a while. And then he gave me some advice:

“As we get older and approach mid-life, it becomes more important to find joy in what we are doing rather than what we can achieve. Do you agree?

“Sure thing, Doc”

(What I was really thinking): “I don’t want joy, I want a kick-ass career upgrade! I want the stock grants and the IPO in two years and those business trips to Europe and the Caribbean!”

Dr. Payne definitely has the advantage here because he is about 15 years older than me — so he might know something I haven’t thought about yet. He talked about how things that are important to us when we are young do not bring us the same fulfillment as we get older. In order to stay happy and productive, we need to shift the way we look at our lives. This started to make sense. He continued:

Because when we do things that bring us joy, it will ultimately bring joy to others. And then God opens up his pathways for us and we begin to experience his abundance. I have no doubt you will find your way to discover God’s purpose for your career. But right now I want you to spend the next few weeks paying very close attention to the things that bring you joy as you go through your work day. Write it down for me.

OK, well, actually, joy isn’t so bad. I’m sure I could benefit from identifying the activities that bring me joy, since I’ve been so restless and cynical lately. In fact, to be honest, I haven’t really thought about joy in my life much at all. Joy is good. Good idea.

Over the next few weeks I kept track of the things I did that brought me joy at work. Surprisingly, this was not difficult. It turns out there were many things about my job that were enjoyable. And keeping track of them kind of helped me to gravitate more towards those joyous activities. For me, they were things like working on high-level strategy projects, initiating major change, mentoring other guys in their jobs.

When I stopped to pay attention, there were actually a lot of interesting things going on in my job that I truly enjoyed. I think I had been so focused on what I didn’t have, or what I thought I should have, that I was missing the opportunity to make the most of what was right in front of me. And maybe Dr. Payne was right. Maybe if I could just stay focused on the things I’m good at, the things I enjoy, then that tremendous new
Chief Executive job would kind of show up at the right time; if it was part of God’s plan for me. I decided I was going to trust God on this and have a better attitude about my current work.

Which, of course, begs the question: “What about you? What brings you joy at work?” Pay attention to that. Write it down.