During last week’s webinar on Taking Our Faith to Work, we were privileged to have two Godly leaders, Gaveen Cadotte and Garth Steele, share their insights on what it means to take a Christ-like Character to work. The graphic above illustrates the many attributes that Christ modelled for us as identified by participants on the webinar. It is a long list and it was acknowledged that we are all “works in progress” when it comes to consistently modelling a Christ-like character at work.

Here are a few of the characteristics that were highlighted by Garth and Gaveen, and the impact they can have on our workplace.

1. Humility. The way Jesus came into the world, the way he spoke, and the way he behaved almost “yelled” humility.  Our workplaces can be competitive with people trying to position themselves to be the smartest in the room or have the best ideas.  A spirit of humility is completely counter to this, providing space for other voices.  If we have humility, it will compel us to be inclusive, to be curious, and to care about the perspectives and ideas of others we work with.

2. Inclusiveness.  Jesus’ words and actions modelled inclusiveness.  He was interested in and included everyone, especially those around the margins of the inner circle, including the socially marginalized. Engaging and involving more people builds trust which in turn provides our employees and colleagues with a sense of safety that allows them to bring their whole selves to work.

3. Compassion.  The work world today is beginning to turn its attention towards empathy as an important leadership quality but, compassion goes further. It goes beyond being able to put ourselves in someone else’s role and perspective. It is putting our empathy into action and then being compelled to act in a different way as a result. We can support those we work with by sharing what we are learning. We can make them aware that we are someone they can lean on for guidance and support or just to be honest with about their feelings.

4. Gratitude. Gratitude is not just about being thankful in your heart, but is about expressing gratitude to those we work with. When we express gratitude it makes our colleagues feel valued and an important part of our team. This creates stronger bonds between people which creates greater  work synergy, allows things to be done faster and opens up more opportunities for forgiveness when things don’t go as well as planned.

5. Honesty and Integrity.  Being honest and acting with integrity demonstrates that we are real and willing to be vulnerable. It allows people we work with to trust us more and will produce better outcomes for our business.

6. God As Our Boss.  If we model Christ’s character, we acknowledge that we are a servant first and that God is our boss. If we acknowledge God is our boss before the one who signs our paycheque, then we need to follow His rules over work rules. There is always a series of filters we need to go through in making decisions but the first filer needs to be a ‘God filter’ – is this right before God?

Every day we have the opportunity to demonstrate the characteristics that Christ modelled for us and to show the light of Christ to our colleagues through our attitude, our words, and our behaviours.

So here are a few reflection questions:

1.  What words would your colleagues use to describe your character based on the way that you “show up” at work? What words would you want them to use?
2.  What is the ONE Christ-like characteristic that you desire most to “grow into” to be more like Jesus?  What difference would this make to you and to your colleagues and/or employees?
3.  Is there a colleague in your workplace that you can share this with, who will pray for and with you and who will hold you accountable for continuing to grow in this area?

If you would like to view the full recording of this webinar, please click here to watch.

Please consider registering for our next session on Taking Our Faith to Work on Tuesday April 13th. The focus of this session is Taking Christ’s Love to Work.