By Mike Klockenbrink
For many of you this is not a new idea. Now I’m not saying I had an epiphany, but I looked at something a little differently the other day. I was having a discussion with a coworker about how much work each of us had on our plate. We talked about the length of the list each of us had and how my list had lists. These lists don’t just start and end at work. Our list may start at home in the early hours, but we carry them to work and back home again. Sometimes those lists have us leaving work to pick kids up from school, running an errand, or meeting a contractor at the house. There really is no separation of work and life.
The way I’m wired is I like to know what’s going on with people. I don’t need every detail, but I need to know about the things that can and will affect what happens in the workplace.
How can we cover for you and free you up when your husband has been in and out of the hospital for the past 12 months?
I know your husband works out of town Monday through Thursday, and you have two kids at home.
Your family is off on the weekends, and church happens on the weekends.
You’re working two jobs because your husband’s pay has been cut.
Your mom is getting older; her health is declining and she is consumed with what will happen.
The list goes on and on.
As I was having a discussion with a fellow staffer, we both kidded around that we’re like an older married couple – we start to assume what the other person is doing or not doing.
I thought you were working on my priority, but you were working on your priorities.
The reality is we start to do a lot of thinking for the other person without talking to them. That’s when life kicks in and shows us what’s important. Do you really want to just go to work or do you want to go to work and share life together? This is a two-way street. If you want to be invited into the lives of the people you work with, invite them into yours.
I choose to do life from the time I get up to the time I go to bed.
Mike Klockenbrink is chief of staff at Lakeside Church in Folsom, CA. Mike worked for W.W. Grainger Industrial Supply for 16 years in many different capacities. In January 2000, Mike quit climbing the corporate ladder and started climbing the Kingdom ladder.
