You Negotiated The Price

I hate to admit that I often have felt treated unfairly by my leaders and management. Recently, another person was chosen to attend a meeting that I was clearly entitled to be at, because of course I was the best person to represent. Why would my manager do this to me? Doesn’t she know the value that I could have provided the best insight and value? Pretty arrogant right? I had to swallow my pride and ask for forgiveness.

Matthew 20 provides a great parable about this kind of attitude. The first workers in the field felt like they were treated unfairly because people that worked less than them got the same compensation. Let’s examine this from a business perspective:

 You Negotiated the Price

How many times have you “found out” that another person got compensated more than you or got a better salary. Did this cause you to be bitter. The words of inequity and unfairness are engrained in every conversation and thought for the next week. Everything interaction with your boss or coworker is tainted with disdain and negativity. This is your issue. You negotiated your pay from the beginning. You entered into a fair and equitable contract based upon the agreement you made with your employer. At the beginning of the parable in Matthew the landowner “agreed” to pay an amount for the day worth of work a specific amount. The lesson here is to be content in what you have negotiated and be joyful that God has provided that opportunity.

 Be Grateful for the Opportunity

The landowner was willing to pay the workers that he picked up later probably for a very good reason. He had lots of work that needed effort and it demanded workers. The interesting part here is that the next 2 sets of workers didn’t negotiate and took the word of the landowner that he would pay them a fair price. This means that our character should be one of thankfulness for the opportunity to do work that was provided. They worked hard and received a fair wage.

 The Leaders Responsibility

The flip side to this was that the landowner made a good decision to pay “what he felt” the work was worth. Good leaders reward good work appropriately. When leaders don’t make this good decision, the word gets out. Discouragement and grumbling sets in, and sometimes there is revolt. When I look at my attitude, I should always have one of gratitude because I am making the choice to work where I am. I do also recognize that my leadership must be one of high integrity to keep great people and get the work done.