Pride, work, promotions

[Dr_Paul]

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land”

Working in academia, I am surrounded by a culture that values (requires) demonstration that one is better than the guy down the hall. Survival depends upon competition with others for research funding, based upon the premise that my work is better than everyone else in the competition. While I pray that I be given the grace to “just do my job” and not worry about what others think of me, there is a real conflict which leads strongly to the temptation of pride.

I know that this mentality is not unique to academia. It is pervasive in our western culture. I would be interested to learn from the collective wisdom of those who participate in this forum ways in which this daily conflict is dealt with.

Running away from the environment is not an option (nor is it even possible). I have found constant prayer to be essential and have found the intercession of St. Joseph and the Blessed Mother to be most helpful.

Any other thoughts?..

 

[Scanner]

I prefer to view the world in abundance. A good story is to look at IBM and how a billion dollar empire is formed. What makes a computer? Well, it’s got wires and a monitor and an electric source. What’s the main technology behind the computer? Well, the silicon chip. And where does silicone come from? Sand.

So basically, a billion dollar industry is all centered around sand, found in plenty at any beach or desert near you.

Point of the story? You may feel like you are in competition with your colleagues but you are not. God has provided a world with an abudance of resources, whether that is sand or “information” as in academia. If you let competition rule you, it will swallow you up.

If you aren’t producing, it isn’t because you have been outcompeted usually and I don’t think you should blame the system. It is usually some other reason. Yes, going to work to “just do your job” can be frustrating to an employer (which I am on the opposite side of that coin). That kind of mentality went out with the Industrial Age and we have been thrust forward into the Information Age, which is about 10 years old. Instead of selling our labor, we are now selling information.

Good luck.

 

[kaj3]

You are certainly not alone in your tempatation. I, too, have struggled with this in the past. Now, being a stay-at-home mom, the opportunity to compare myself to others has lessened.

In addition to prayer, as you mentioned, one thing that has always helped me was the constant reminder that the only reason we are put on this earth is to know, love and serve God - nothing more and nothing less. Our accomplishments and treasures of this world will fade away.

The thought that I constantly need to remind myself still today is that the measure of my success is how well I am adhering to the will of God. The measure of my success has nothing to do with the accomplishments that this world deems important. God has me right where He wants me - regardless of the circumstances.

Living this out does not come naturally – at least not for me. As I said, it is only constant reminders by the grace of God that keeps me in this mode of thought.

 

[Paul_W]

Is it really a zero-sum game?

Is your gain always at the expense of someone else? Is their promotion a demotion for you? Or can you make a comfortable living by following your conscience? Maybe you won’t get the biggest grant, but you’ll get by if you follow Catholic principles without resorting to shameless self-promotion.

 

[ktm]

I empathize because I find myself in the same situation in the research world. I’ve been on the receiving end of more than a few insults because I “don’t have enough juice” or because I supposedly don’t work hard enough. The only thing I have found to be effective is to ignore these people as much as possible and pray for them. I also had to learn the hard way to compartmentalize the sometimes vicious comments of other competitors, I mean colleagues, in my field. I have a mental box where I put all their inane and stupid comments that I do my best not to open.

And you have to remember that it always catches up with those whose goal in life is to die with 300 publications and $10 of secured funding. It affects their family life, mental health, spiritual life (if any), etc. Look at all the divorces, drug abuse, etc. of supposedly “successful” people, in any walk of life - academic, political, economic, etc. I never heard anyone say “gosh, I wish had spent more time at the office”. Man was not created to work himself to death. Just keep keep reminding yourself there are things more important than work.

I found the following article very helpful: The Idol of Work. Paula Huston seems to be a very sensible woman. She even answers email!

 

[Dr_Paul]

Paul W:

Is your gain always at the expense of someone else? Is their promotion a demotion for you? Or can you make a comfortable living by following your conscience? Maybe you won’t get the biggest grant, but you’ll get by if you follow Catholic principles without resorting to shameless self-promotion.

There are clearly limited resources for doing research. So yes, my getting a grant is at the expense of someone else not getting the funding dollars. But this is not really the problem that I have. If my research truly is better than someone else’s then the net result is a better contribution to the common good.

The problem is not with the actual work that I do. I do strive to always maintain my Catholic principles in my work. I do believe the research itself fits within God’s will, furthering the good of man. But I also believe that the reason God has me where he does has more to do with being a lonely voice in the desert, trying to provide an example to all those who see the pursuit of esteem by their colleagues, money, material security, etc as the goal.

The problem is the struggle to maintain this perspective when survival in this environment depends upon proving your worth to your colleagues. Self promotion is intrinsic to the process of writing a grant. I don’t see any real way around this. Perhaps it is possible to do this without falling into the trap of pride, but it is very dangerous. Fortunately, the job is filled with opportunities for humility as ktm relates.

With a genuine belief that my work is valuable, and a realization that I would have nothing without being given my talents by God, the best solution that I have found is to not take myself too seriously. While promoting myself and my work while writing grants and papers, I try to remain focused on the true source of the success- God, not me. Yet, due to my sinfulness, this is not always easy.

 

[JCPhoenix]

I think that my pride in the past is helping me wiht my pride now.

I’ve had a difficult time finding my niche…and I think the one I have (career-wise) is only 'temporary."

I was promoted to my current position in November…by an Act of God. In other words, although someone was promoted ahead of me, I started in the position first. Thank God that both she and I are team players and there was no resentment that I’m aware of.

Anyway, I really had to struggle with my pride, and I still do. I love my job and this is EXACTLY what I wanted when I started with the company. Of course I do hope for another promotion, but I’ve come to the conclusion that it isn’t about being the best in relation to other cowokers…it’s about finding my own place and a use for my talents.

My background prepared me for this job…and this job is preparing me for my goal. Now, to put this in perspective, the promotion I want is open now…and the woman who started with me in my position…well, she’s applying. She’s more qualified than I, but I dont’ care because I’m not applying.

My past experience taught me that if I get in over my head, I will crash hard. And I have more to learn. I learned humility in the past and I don’t want to be beat up by a repeat of my own history. So now I’m content to just “BE” and it helps that I was told today how GOOD I am at my job. I’m almost 30 and I’ve waited that long just to feel that, let alone to be told.

In answer to your question…disaster begets humility…and sometimes a little pride is justified…as long as it’s not overdone. I’m happy to have found my talents and a use for them, and I’m happy to be content, knowing that I am secure where God placed me. I worked my butt off to get to where I am (which in the scale of things isn’t really that big of a deal) but the journey was worth it.

I just want to do my job and be useful. 10 years ago I had ambition. Now I just want to live my life. Does that make sense?

 

[Maggie]

Dr Paul:

With a genuine belief that my work is valuable, and a realization that I would have nothing without being given my talents by God, the best solution that I have found is to not take myself too seriously. While promoting myself and my work while writing grants and papers, I try to remain focused on the true source of the success- God, not me. Yet, due to my sinfulness, this is not always easy.

Yep. I think this is something that we all struggle with, in our lives, our work, our successes in any part of our every day existence. I think (and it’s a personal opinion) that the key is to catch yourself in determining the source of overcoming the sin… It is by God’s grace that we overcome… He gives, we accept, the two of us together overcome. So He is an integral part of every struggle and an integral part of every victory. Self-promotion is necessary in almost every job out there - in goal setting, accomplishment writing, resume writing, grant writing, presentations, papers, books, take your pick. To keep it from going to our heads, the best thing to do is be sure that in self-promoting, we ask God to assist us in writing the truth, writing what He would have us say, that His will would be done. False modesty gives lie to the glory of God’s creation, so saying that through you much has been accomplished by God is nothing short of giving due glory to God. “My work is no better than another’s” if not true, is a lie and denies God the glory of His work through you. “God has accomplished much through me and I am grateful to be an instrument of His glory” shows true humility. Of course, on paper it’s going to show differently but the belief behind the statement that your work deserves grant money over another’s is what matters. Separately, in being humble, remember that the attempt to remain humble is not a singular act that you can achieve on your own either but also requires God’s grace. “I am humble” is also a sin of pride. “Through God’s grace, I strive to recognize my humility in the presence of His might” is real humility. See the difference? Anyway, that’s my (name removed by moderator)ut on the two separate questions… one being the grant applications, two being the trying to remain humble. The second tends to be trickier for me… I think a lot of us (or rather at least I do ) tend to fall into the trap of thinking we can be humble all by ourselves.

 

[Veronica_Anne]

Scanner:

Point of the story? You may feel like you are in competition with your colleagues but you are not. God has provided a world with an abudance of resources, whether that is sand or “information” as in academia. If you let competition rule you, it will swallow you up.

If you aren’t producing, it isn’t because you have been outcompeted usually and I don’t think you should blame the system. It is usually some other reason. Yes, going to work to “just do your job” can be frustrating to an employer (which I am on the opposite side of that coin). That kind of mentality went out with the Industrial Age and we have been thrust forward into the Information Age, which is about 10 years old. Instead of selling our labor, we are now selling information.

Good luck.

Hmmm… just tell that to companies like Intel with their Rating & Raking performance review system and where (for obvious reasons) their CEO’s (Andy Grove) book “Only the Paranoid Survive” is the best-seller among employees.

**Rating & Ranking ** is the performance measurement by which in any given performance period, even though you may out-perform the goals your boss set for you to meet, and even though you may improve even faster than the speed at which your boss set for you to meet…

the guy/gal in the same work in the same division who outperformed the goals that THEIR boss set for THEM by more than what YOU did outperforming the goals that YOUR boss set for YOU…

and/or impoved THAT much faster for THEIR goals than YOU improved for how much faster YOU performed YOUR goals…

there’s a one in five chance that it’s gonna be YOU who is written up on a 30-day “do even better or you’re outta here!” review.

It’s NOT you-against-you. It’s you-against-coworker.

Yes. At some companies, competition is forced into you. And being or even appearing “meek and humble of heart” at work is your pinkslip in the making.