There are many ways to do fine work. One approach starts by being grateful for being given opportunities. It then involves aiming to do good work and make good use of these good opportunities.
Different people follow this approach in different ways. They may follow it when encouraging people, playing sports, mediating conflicts, tackling challenges or doing other activities. Let’s explore some examples.
The Opportunity To Do Good
Work When Encouraging People
This was an approach that I learned from Alec Dickson. He founded Voluntary Service Overseas and Community Service Volunteers. It was Alec who gave me my first opportunity to work with people.
Travelling to CSV’s office in London in 1967, I had no idea how my life would change. Several years had been spent trying to get a full-time voluntary job helping others, but this had proved difficult.
During the visit to Toynbee Hall, I had a promising meeting with Elisabeth Hoodless, who was later to lead CSV. Alec then introduced himself. The things he said struck an immediate chord. My lack of education did not matter, he said. I had something to give.
Treating me as if I was extremely intelligent, he explained the philosophy behind VSO and CSV. Here is a summary of some things he said.
Alec believed that the giver often receives as much as the receiver. Why? Our self fades into the background when we are giving and yet we often feel more real afterwards.
Leaving the meeting, I floated along the pavement. Elisabeth and Alec had promised me they would find a place for me to serve. They gave me the opportunity to become a housefather for mentally handicapped children. Since that day I have always had the opportunity to do fulfilling work.
Many people reported similar meetings that changed their lives. Here is an extract from an obituary written about Alec after his death in 1994. It was written by Martin Stephen for The Independent.
A Meeting Multiplied Many Times
I met Dickson on many occasions but the abiding memory is of the first: being summoned by him to a meeting at 11.30pm at Sheffield Midland station (he was, as usual, in transit), to discuss my recently announced placing as a volunteer at a northern remand home.
I was barely 17 years old. Though there were clear similarities between my recent experience in a public school boarding-house and life with 50 delinquents in a secure unit, my sense of panic was held at bay only by my sense of shock.
I do not remember his exact words, but he said he trusted me, as he trusted all his volunteers, to do the job, to help someone along the way and to end up just a little wiser after.
It was a turning point in my life and I know from countless conversations that I was one of many who were similarly affected.
Alec gave me such an opportunity more than fifty years ago. Since then I have been able to earn a living encouraging people in many different situations. Other people may not have had such good opportunities.
The Opportunity To Do
Good Work In Sports
This is an approach followed by some people in sports. Being grateful for being paid for playing, they see things in perspective. They then aim to become come best they can be because it is not always possible to be the best.
Such people focus on doing good work and making good use of good opportunities. One football coach explained this in the following way.
“My role is to help the players to focus on what they can control in a situation. It then to encourage them to positive, follow our principles and do their professional best.
“My role is to help them to prepare properly, then be fully present and deliver high professional stands. Providing they do this the , as Bill Walsh the famous coach said, the score takes care of itself.”
John Wooden, the legendary American College basketball coach, inspired many people to take this approach. He never mentioned winning, but his teams won more titles than any other in College basketball history.
During his early career he began developing his famous Pyramid of Success. This consisted of guiding principles that athletes could put into practise both on and off the court.
The base of the Pyramid consists of phrases such as: Industriousness; Friendship: Loyalty; Cooperation; Enthusiasm. Behind each word there is an explanation. Industriousness, for example, is explained in detail. This includes the phrases:
“In plain language, I mean you have to work – and work hard. There is no substitute for hard work. None. Worthwhile things come only from real work.”
There are several levels to the Pyramid of Success. It culminates in the principle of Competitive Greatness. This is explained as:
“Perform at your best when your best is required. Your best is required each day.”
John Wooden reinforced the Pyramid of Success by using certain maxims to remind people of their responsibilities. These included the following.
Many people were influenced by his work. Here are two quotes about Coach Wooden. The first is from Bill Walton, a former player.
“(He) has a heart, brain and soul that have enabled him to inspire others to reach levels of success and peace of mind that they might never have dreamed possible on their own.”
The second is from Alan Castel, UCLA assistant professor of psychology, who interviewed Wooden about aging and memory during the summer 2008
“Wooden was a role model, not just as a coach and a wise man, but also for his modesty and character, and on how to age successfully.
“He was a legend in ways that go far beyond basketball. His personality, positivity, wisdom and attitude toward aging played important roles in his cognitive vitality.”
Cath Bishop, an Olympic Medal Winner in rowing, encourages people to take a similar approach. This involves exploring their definitions of success. Below is an excerpt from an article she wrote on this theme. She expanded on this topic in her book The Long Win.
What Does Winning Really Mean?
Of course, in sport it seems so temptingly obvious and simple – it’s about crossing the line first, being on the top step of the podium, holding that trophy.
Yet those are all split-second moments. Those need to be translated into meaning beyond that split-second if they are to be long-lasting positive experiences.
When they aren’t translated, that allows a world to exist where it’s possible for an Olympic gold medallist to walk back into the village feeling ‘empty’ and ‘hollow’, or where ‘winning sport stars’ can actually be suffering depression and worse.
The best sports coaches are those who are not afraid to ask their athletes what they want to do after sport, and strong enough to ask and listen to the deeper motivations that have driven their athletes to be in this unnatural high performance environment striving to be the best in the world.
That’s the beginning of building a wider perspective and deeper meaning about the extreme and often short-lived experience of elite sport. Many organisations confidently define their raison d’etre to be ‘no 1 in the marketplace.’
But is that helpful to performance? Wouldn’t it be better to define success in terms of the company’s own vision of what it wants to achieve and contribute?
Isn’t success about changing the world for the better in some way, whether through providing a better world-class service to its customers, creating a new and better product or having an impact that improves the environment and society around it?
Purpose starts a conversation about success that goes beyond winning.
It’s about a longer-term timeframe, never just a split-second. It’s about a wider perspective, not a narrow view. And it’s about people’s whole lives, as individuals and communities, not measured in short-term results, but longer-term experiences.
The Opportunity To Do Good Work
When Helping People To Find Solutions
There are many opportunities to help people to find solutions to challenges. A person may work as a counsellor, trusted advisor, technical specialist, mediator or in another role. Let’s look at one person who followed this approach
Roger Fisher has helped many people to find solutions. Known for his books on negotiation such as Getting To Yes. His obituary in the Economist described him as a lawyer, teacher and peacemaker.
His approach was different from that of many lawyers. Roger focused on creating alignment, rather than seeing negotiation as an adversarial process. He believed the keys were for people:
To sit down together side-by-side … To show respect, listen and understand each other’s needs … To focus on the job to do – which was to find a solutions … To work together to solve the problem … To building the foundations for ongoing peace.
Roger was invited to help people resolve differences in many parts of the world. He often began by helping people to get to know each other and build rapport.
This involved doing simple things such as eating together, listening actively and focusing on common interests. When appropriate, he would then say:
“We have a shared concern here. Let’s work together. How do you see it?”
Roger served in the Second World War as a weather reconnaissance officer. But he was strongly affected by the loss of his roommate and many friends.
During his service he also flew morning flights over Japan. This was before the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. According to people who knew him, the memory of these flights – and the unnecessary deaths of many people in war – weighed on him.
Although building a great reputation in Academia, he threw himself into applying the ideas in practise. This involved him working in Europe on the Marshall Plan.
Later he contributed to seeking peace in the Middle East. This involved working on President Sadat’s trip to Jerusalem and the subsequent summit at Camp David.
Roger played a significant part in helping to release the United States citizens taken hostage in Iran in 1981. He helped to resolve the war between Ecuador and Peru. He also spent considerable time in South Africa, helping to bring together people to end Apartheid.
His work became widely known as a result of the book he co-wrote with William Ury, Getting To Yes. Since its publication in 1981 it has sold many millions of copies. This described how people could follow five principles to find solutions.
Roger believed it was important for people to build on what they had in common. He taught law students to focus on alignment. This was uncommon in law, where people often took adversarial positions.
He also believed it was vital for the parties involved to show respect to each other as human beings. Wherever possible, it was important to separate the problem from the people. Providing you looked at what each of the people wanted, it was then often possible to solve the problem.
Roger used his warmth, compassion and skill to help many people find solutions to challenges. He summarised his approach in the following way.
“Any method of negotiation may be fairly judged by three criteria: It should produce a wise agreement if agreement is possible. It should be efficient.
“And it should improve or at least not damage the relationship between the parties.”
There are many ways to do fine work. One approach starts by being grateful for being given opportunities. It then involves aiming to do good work and make good use of these good opportunities.
Let’s return to your own life and work. Looking ahead, can you think of a situation where you may want to follow elements of this approach? How can you do this in your own way?
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences.
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