Matthew Kelly, a business consultant and author of The Culture Solution from which the following is taken, says “I find myself asking people certain questions all the time.” One of those questions is; “What do you do here?” I am amazed at how many employees cannot answer this question in a clear and concise way.
No doubt many of you heard the following story about the Notre-Dame Cathedral when construction had just begun. It was 1163 AD and a man was walking along the river Seine in Paris when he noticed a huge new building site. He approached the site and found men laying bricks. It was late in the afternoon and the workers were tired and sweating.
He asked one worker, “What are you building here?“ He replied, “I’m just laying bricks.“
He ask another worker, “What are you building here?“ The worker scoffed and said to the man, “Are you blind? I’m building a wall.“
Frustrated, the man began to walk away, but as he turned he bumped into one of the other men, who was also laying bricks. “What are you building here?“ he asked.
The builder stopped working. He stepped back and beckoned to the man to do the same. Then, looking up toward the sky he said, “We are building a cathedral.”
“Cathedrals are beautiful,“ the onlooker commented.
“You have never seen a cathedral this beautiful“ the bricklayer replied. “This will be the finest cathedral the world has ever seen. It will tower above the city, men and women will marvel at it, and people come from all over the world just to see it.“
It took 182 years to finish that Cathedral. Those who began building it never got to see it completed. It is 420 feet long, 157 feet wide, and 300 feet high,and with all of France’s rich history, incredible sites, and phenomenal art, it is still the most visited attraction in France each year. With 13 million annual visitors, that is almost twice as many as the Eiffel Tower and 4 million more than Louvre.
It is the Notre-Dame cathedral. Men and women of all faiths and no faith come to visit Notre-Dame de Paris and marvel at it. It is most unfortunate it suffered a devastating fire a week ago.
Mr. Kelly goes on to say that “I heard a very similar story about JFK while he was president and visiting a NASA facility. During the visit he saw a restroom down a side corridor and excused himself from the formal tour to use it.
Seeing a man mopping the floor, the president introduced himself and spoke briefly with the janitor, who beamed with pride at the unexpected opportunity. Noticing this, the president asked, “Do you enjoy your work here?“
“Oh, yes, Mr. President. It is an honor,“ the janitor replied.
“Most janitors probably don’t feel that way, I suspect,“ the president proposed.
“Well, Mr. President, I’m older than you, and it seems to me that more and more people just want to be served and don’t want to do any serving. But my father taught me that we are all here to serve one another, and we get our dignity and honor by serving.“
“What else do you do here?“ President Kennedy asked.
The janitor smiled. “I only do one thing here.“
“You mop floors all day?“ the president inquired.
“Nope,“ the janitor replied, smiling again. “People see me mopping floors, emptying trash cans, cleaning windows, but in my mind, I’m working to put a man on the moon.“
The president used the restroom and left. But as he got about 10 steps away from the janitor, he turned back to him and said, “Do you think we can do it? “
“Yes sir, Mr. President, I can see Neil-I mean, Mr. Armstrong, walking on the moon in my mind’s eye.” President Kennedy turned around, looked down, and smiled as he walked down the hallway to rejoin the dignitaries.
Mr. Kelly continues saying that when someone asks you, “What do you do here?“ there are really only two answers. Everyone should have both ready, and the awareness to know which is more appropriate at the time.
1. The Aspirational Answer
We should all be able to answer the question like the bricklayer and the janitor: “We are building the finest cathedral the world has ever seen. ““I am working to put a man on the moon. “ The world is full of the ordinary, and it doesn’t need any more. The aspirational answer connects what we do each day with the larger mission of the team or organization.
2. The Practical Answer
The second answer is more practical. It is disturbing to me how many people cannot clearly and concisely describe their role within an organization. I overheard one of my executive assistants a few weeks ago speaking with a visitor. “So, what do you do here?“ the visitor asked.
“I am Mr. Kelly’s executive assistant,“ she replied.
“OK, but what does that mean day-to-day? What is it that you actually do? “The guest pressed her.
“My role is to do anything that will make Mr. Kelly‘s role and life easier, so he can focus on doing the things that only he can do. Sometimes that means managing his schedule and sometimes it just is making sure he has something to eat for lunch.“
The visitor wasn’t finished. “But tell me truthfully, what’s the hardest part of your role?“
“Saying no gracefully,“ my assistant replied. “I spend a lot of time saying no to people. “
“What do you do here?” Get clear about that. Why? Lots of reasons, least of which is in case someone asks you. When you can answer the question, you will perform your role at a much higher level. If you don’t like the answer to the question, you probably don’t like your role, and you should do something about that because life is short. There are many people who woke up this morning who won’t go to bed tonight, and many who will go to bed tonight but not awake in the morning.
AND so, I, Merlin writing now, ask myself once more, as I have more in the past six months than ever prior in my life, “Just what am I doing here? What is my purpose?”
I tend to believe we all need a “big picture” answer (the aspirational component) regardless of our age, and more so, the older we become, just to help us focus and maintain our emotional health. I suspect many of us if we’re really honest with ourselves, tend to avoid this mental exercise of contemplating “Why am I here or what do I do?” When we’re younger and working two jobs, raising a family, we have plenty of activities to hide behind but do understand, we’re not talking about your trivial pursuits that consume both your energy and time, but rather what is the foundation of your very existence, what is it that continues to propel and sustain you through financial losses, relationship blow-ups, premature deaths, vocational transitions not of your choosing, a wayward child, etc.?
Perhaps I read too much spirituality into some of these business books, but truth be told, I’m concerned too many of us in the pews this Easter Weekend or even weekly, really need to work on answering these two Kingdom Building questions; aspirationally, and practically. Do we even know, no, lets ask rather, have we ever looked for, searched extensively for hours, to find out the “big picture” for our life in light of God’s supreme sacrifice of his Son in that kangaroo court on a cruel Roman cross that we will gather in worship to commemorate later today?
We’re not merely members of a social club here, such as with motorcycles or gardening or a high school drama club, but rather we’ve been purchased, redeemed, provided a remedy, etc. from our sin by that one weekend in history by the death and resurrection of God’s Son, Jesus Christ. And to think, after that supreme sacrifice to set me free from all my past, present, and future sin, that I just may be at a loss for words (or even thoughts) concerning my life’s purpose in “laying bricks” in God’s Kingdom? I guess the devil doesn’t really have much to worry about from me provided I never get Holy Spirit inspired and transformed so as “work out my salvation in fear and trembling.”
So what are we doing here? I suggest you take a page or so in your tablet and just write out what he brings to mind and in time, you’ll craft a succinct statement of your Kingdom purpose, including your talents and desires. Because if you are a transformed and empowered Christian, your personal brand will include being committed, coachable, aware, of indisputable value, unique, and of course, one hopes, always a professional.
Happy Easter and Blessings as You Go Forth With Purpose>>>> Merlin