Working Even When No One’s Watching

Office gossip.

We’ve all been there.

After 6 years of working for 3 different companies, I’ve come to the conclusion that office gossip is the one thing that all companies have in common, be it in the academic, corporate or creative environment.

As petty as the word ‘gossip’ sounds, it is not to be taken lightly.

However an unlikely fit it may seem for a high school pastime to exist in the quote-and-quote professional sphere.

Experience has taught me that office gossip is not completely harmless.

I’ve actually seen colleagues run into trouble with top management over a juicy rumor.

One female colleague’s love life became gossip fodder because of her ‘secret’ romance with another colleague.

They allegedly vacationed in Maldives together over one long weekend.

But a management run-in isn’t even close to a termination with immediate effect.

Which is what happened to one female colleague who lost her job when word got out she got knocked up out of wedlock.

The scandal!

I admit, I too got caught up in the gossip circus one too many times.

You don’t exactly grow out of the all-too-human need to ‘belong’ after graduating high school.

So as unsavory as it sometimes (okay, most of the time) seems, I get carried away too.

But what happens when the line between what’s personal and what’s professional becomes a blur?

When speculations of who’s getting ‘it’ on the weekends becomes “Does he/she even work hard enough to get this so-and-so amount on the payroll?”

When I ask friends and family about their work, they face the same issue.

Office gossip: Either they’re giving it or getting it.

It’s easy to get caught up in the circus when you’re part of the crowd, but what happens when the tables are turned, and you’re the dancing monkey everyone’s jeering at?

They then become moments when I stop to think that office gossip is a total waste of time and energy, a useless diversion to what really matters most: To get the job done and to do it well.

3 months into the year, top management is evaluating our job performance since January.

And I, allegedly, did not make the cut.

Not that I’m getting fired (at least, not yet).

But I was told, in private, that I ‘don’t do much’ and consequently don’t deserve the salary increment everyone else seems to be entitled to.

I wish I could say “That’s fine” and brush it off.

The truth is, when you throw yourself at your job, not even sparing 5-minute phone calls with loved ones in favor of perpetually urgent deadlines, it becomes a sore spot to be told that your best is not even close to good enough.

Welcome to the Human Race!

Expectation levels: Never satisfied.

I spoke to my dad the other day.

He wasn’t exactly in good spirits, bogged down by work-related disappointments.

I told him what I learned from last January’s retreat, which is when we do our work, we should do it for God, or at the very least ourselves, but never for our boss.

Of course, it’s also important to remain in your boss’ good books.

But getting too caught up in pleasing your boss at the expense of other people (for example, throwing somebody else under the bus to maintain your ‘spotless’ record) is another thing altogether.

I personally think that if you keep your head down and do your job well, getting in your boss’ – and other people’s – good books is part of the package.

So it shouldn’t be an end in itself.

But somehow, sharing this nugget of wisdom with my dad was a lot easier than having to practice it in my own life.

Like they say, “Easier said than done.”

Especially when you’re told you’re not doing half as much as you’re actually doing.

And this point ties in nicely with the title of this blog.

Working even when no one’s watching.

Working even when no one’s there to appreciate your efforts.

Working even when no one’s there to encourage you to do more.

“To toil and not to seek for rest, to labor and ask not for reward…”

We persevere, not for their sake, but for ourselves and ultimately, for love of God.

When I have trouble getting up in the morning (not for any health reasons – most of the time, I’m just plain lazy), I pray the ‘Morning Offering’, if only to buy more time to curl up in bed.

If not for this prayer, I don’t think I would have the strength to get up in the morning at all.

This prayer reminds me I am a child of God, and that every day, I am entrusted with the responsibility to do His Will, to continue the work of creation, in my ordinary life.

I don’t work for money, appreciation, recognition, or even a salary raise.

And I will not stop working just because my performance is not up to my boss’ standards.

He is entitled to his own opinion.

As for me, I will continue to work, not for my God, but with my God.

By doing so, I hope to inspire others to work harder and better… and gossip a lot less.