Imagine, if you will, that you perform your job every week in front of thousands of people who are critiquing your every move. Imagine, also, that they can vent their spleens anonymously about your job performance publicly.
Well, there’s no imagining it. Fox News has a story this morning about the proliferation of "Fire the Coach" web sites, created by fans who want a particular college or pro coach fired for their perceived incompetence. Doesn’t matter whether the coach is successful or not…someone who is sitting at home just watching the game always thinks they could do it better. Check out the article for the details.
As we start the Labor Day weekend and think about work (after all, isn’t that what you’ll be thinking about when you’re grilling those burgers?) it’s important to remember that no matter what you do you’ll never please everybody. In fact, sometimes if you are doing your job right you won’t please many people at all (ask any biblical prophet). Pleasing others isn’t the goal…pleasing God is.
I heard a coach once say, "If you let the fans manage your team, you will soon become one of them." That’s a pretty good observation and a good thing to remember when doing important work. I just got a copy of this week’s Sports Illustrated, where Rick Reilly describes a minor league baseball team in Schaumberg, IL, whose owner has decided to let the fans manage the team via internet on FanClub Reality Baseball. Fans of the Schaumberg Flyers (independent Northern League) can decide who plays where, who bats where in the order, the pitching rotation, the whole nine innings so to speak. The result? The Flyers have lost 13 of their last 14 games and many of the players are ready to quit.
What’s that other old saying? Oh, yes…"For God so loved the world that he didn’t send a committee."
The truth is that no matter what you do for a living, you are never as good or as bad as others say you are. But you are always valued by God, who always roots for you like no other.
