Working Hard Is The Right Thing To Do

My wife and I were in central Florida recently. We sat in the afternoon shade on their first cool day of fall, listening to an 88-year old sun- tanned man tell how my father had given him his career. We heard how his wonderful family was so blessed. We heard tales of prayers answered, great grandkids, deer hunting, homes built, watermelon fields, and orange groves. His wife sat close and held his hand, her big smile and laughter providing more details. It was a story of hard work, character and teamwork. Ray and Jewel are dear family friends.

Ray was 16 years old when he got his job at the phosphate mine. Decades later, Ray retired at what became the most successful phosphate mining operation anywhere. Their plant had lower costs, fewer lost-time accidents, more innovations, and performed better environmentally than all the others.

My dad started out leading the miners’ union, gaining new benefits for workers. Then the company hired him. At his plant’s peak, dad had 1,000 men working 24/7, with Ray right beside him. Ray recalled how he worked for months doing grunt work and was noticed because he did his work well with no one watching. When he finished a task, he went around helping others and learning more skills. Eventually, Ray could do everything in the plant. Soon he was made supervisor of the night crew. He did that for eight years.

After a while, dad stopped by one night to talk with him. “We’ve got a problem on the day shifts. Your shift is doing so well you’re making us look bad!” Rather than telling Ray to slow down, he wanted to learn what Ray was doing so they could all do better. Before long, my dad was promoted to plant Superintendent. He brought Ray alongside him to become his associate. An amazing team formed that stayed together for decades.

At my dad’s funeral, one mining engineer called him, “Florida’s Mr. Phosphate.” No one had ever motivated men to work harder or smarter. Ray said other mines had tried to find out how they did it but they always said, “Why should we tell our secrets to you?” What was their secret? I think the secret of their success was the men they hired, trained, and in some cases, fired.

I learned at Verizon Wireless that “You can train an employee to do a task, but you can’t make a worker care about customers or be motivated to excel if they don’t want to.” In other words, attitude counts and character matters. I learned from the business books “Built to Last” and “From Good to Great” that it’s just as important who you fire as it is who you hire. If a worker doesn’t adopt the company’s values and vision, let them get off the bus quickly.

Who told Ray to work hard and persevere? What made him go and learn other skills? Why did he build a team with such enthusiasm that it got him noticed? No one! No one told him to do it. It was in his heart to do it. God put it there and good parents encouraged it. There’s a Bible verse that says, “Do your work heartily as unto the Lord and not for men.”

Men-pleasers want attention to get noticed for a better position. Ray did it because it was the right thing to do and it was in his heart to do it. The best leaders aren’t afraid to hire or promote people who are better than they are. Teams need them!

I’ve watched other people who put family first, who lived a life of integrity and honor; who believed in God, who stood for what was right; men and women who prayed, worked hard, and teamed up with faithful workers to do their labor. This, too, is the kingdom of God. If you want to mine for real wealth, you’ll find it in godly people who are like Ray.

RON WOOD IS A WRITER, TEACHER, AND PASTOR. HE AND HIS WIFE LIVE IN NWA. EMAIL: WOOD.STONE.RON@GMAIL.COM. WEBSITE AND BLOG: TOUCHEDBYGRACE.ORG. THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR.