The Gift of a Solid Work Ethic

The holidays are a great time to focus on “gifts.” But while we’re busy planning (“making a list and checking it twice”), wrapping, and preparing to give (“gonna find out who’s naughty or nice?”), I hope we’ll remember that some of the best things can’t be purchased online or at the store, can’t be wrapped, and can’t be handed to someone. Instead, they need to be modeled, taught, encouraged, and instilled. This series of “incites” is my gift to you this holiday season. In this series, you may discover gifts you already have (be thankful!), gifts you have given to others (celebrate that!), or gifts you and your loved ones need to add to your list (put it at the top, maybe as a New Year’s resolution, although if you need it, why not start today rather than waiting for the new year?)

One of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves and others is the gift of a solid work ethic. One definition of work ethic is “a belief in the moral benefit and importance of work and its inherent ability to strengthen character.” (Dictionary.com) The word “moral” has to do with truth, and knowing (and demonstrating that we know) the difference between right and wrong. So, according to this definition, work ethic understands that working can shape our values and who we are as people.

This definition, to me, seems to miss some of the depth and impact of a solid work ethic. If you are familiar with my “Tree Analogy,” I believe a solid work ethic is a key component of each of the four areas of a healthy, well-balanced life: nourishing, growing, connecting, and contributing.

In my work as an employment coach,  I see evidences of a solid work ethic every day…and this makes the lack of a work ethic, which we also see frequently, that much more noticeable and lamentable.

Perhaps the best way to define a solid work ethic is to explain what it looks like; how it plays out in everyday life. Here are a few of the examples we have noted. A solid work ethic enables people to:

-       Be motivated to do a task, whether or not they like it, for financial rewards, for social rewards, or simply for the intrinsic reward of knowing they are helping others as they contribute their time and talents;

-       Be joyful, working with a smile on their face, even when the work is difficult, boring, uncomfortable, or otherwise unpleasant;

-       Be grateful for the opportunity to set aside “meaningless” activities in favor of doing something “meaningful;”

-       Be flexible, willing to try new things, to adjust their expectations, schedule, and preferences according to the work that needs to be done;

-       Be increasingly independent as they gain skills, connections, confidence, maturity, and opportunities;

-       Be rewarded by others’ acknowledgements, friendships, new opportunities, a paycheck, work references, promotions, bonuses, etc.;

-       Be satisfied, knowing their contributions are needed, appreciated, and useful for themselves and others.

When asked if he had any household chores, or if he was volunteering in the community, one of our former students simply said, “No.” When asked why not, this 22-year-old able-bodied young man, who still lived at home, replied, “Because I don’t feel like it and nobody makes me!”

Another one of our students, a 19-year-old who happens to have a significant physical impairment which makes physical labor challenging, was volunteering alongside us recently at a local nonprofit. He was clearly tired and sore, but I asked him what he liked best about the work. His response was, “That I’m doing something meaningful…not sitting at home wasting my time.”

It has been our experience that students who have a solid work ethic, regardless of their unique strengths and challenges, have an easier time getting and keeping a job, and stepping toward independent living. Many of them also juggle a job with college classes. Their parents have taught them the value and importance of work, and given them opportunities to work regularly, contributing to their household and community. They know they need to work to earn something, because they haven’t just had everything handed to them. They know they may need to work without pay, as the value of that experience cannot be purchased with money. They know they can work to achieve other milestones, because they see their work (and their willingness to work) contributing to their success.

Parents, grandparents, and teachers, are you modeling, teaching, and expecting a solid work ethic from your children and students? I recently read a thought-provoking quote from Schott Shute, successful Vice President of Global Customer Operations at LinkedIn. As he reflected on the values he learned from his dad, Ed Shute, he wrote, “He loved us kids, and part of that love was putting us to work. ‘It’s child abuse not to teach your kids to work,’ he said.”

We’ve got work to do!

*Acknowledgement: You probably recognized a paraphrase of “Santa Claus is coming to town,” by John Frederick Coots and Haven Gillespie. It’s been around awhile, having been first sung on Eddie Cantor's radio show in November 1934.