Respond or React
I’ll never forget the time when I was working for someone that was known as “The Hammer”. Now, this person is a very caring, deeply devoted man, who absolutely loves his family (I witnessed this firsthand). Sometimes though his emotions would get the best of him and we would see what his nickname really meant.
In this one situation, a sale rep had messed up an order and it caused an important, large customer to receive a double shipment. This customer proceeded to call our sales manager, “The Hammer” to complain. He took the call, listened to the customer rail on and on to him about how incompetent our company was, the sales rep was, he was, blah blah blah for over 10 minutes straight. When he hung up, he immediately walked over to the sales rep that made this mistake and “laid the hammer down” on him. He basically chewed him out for 15 minutes about the entire situation!
My boss did not respond, he reacted instead.
Now as he progressed through his career, my boss learned how to channel this type of “hammer” emotional reaction and eventually used it to help many of us become great employees.
But today it makes me think:
How do you respond to negative things that happen in your workplace?
Do you “react” and fly off the handle or do you respond in a respectful way?
A Real Christian Businessman uses an example like this above as a guide on how “not” to react. It’s not easy to remain calm in situations that heat up at our workplace! But as a Real Christian Businessman we must channel our emotions and turn them into a positive response for the situation we may be in.
“My dearly loved brothers, understand this: everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for man’s anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.” James 1:19-20 CSB
Take this example as a simple reminder for you as you go about your week.
And remember, don’t use “The Hammer”.
“Whether you respond to life or react to life determines how far you’re going to go in life.” Zig Ziglar