A male Christian S (hereinafter “S”) has been working for a cross-border group company since 1900.
He recalled that he did not enjoy either working in the city where he was, or the business atmosphere there, so buying a house there was not in his plan, as he just preferred working several years there and then returning to his hometown. At that time, when he realized that he preferred purchasing an apartment, the housing prices had soared several times already.
When we invited S to share his experience and ideas in the workplace, his conclusion was simple, yet thought-provoking - "without conflicts, there will not be breakthroughs in the workplace".
To many people, conflict is a negative and terrible thing, that's why most of us will be afraid of it, but S has been looking at conflict from a positive angle. He suggests that the reason that some people have never experienced conflict is simply that they may either not need a breakthrough or a breakthrough is simply not required in their workplace.
S shared his experience from the workplace from four angles.
Human relationships
S said that in the 1990s, it was very difficult for him to find a job. When he was being interviewed to work for a company, it took three hours to finish the interview. He was very nervous during the interview because the interviewer was not very polite to him, asking him different complicated and terrible questions and even attacked him with ad hominem. When he looked back at this experience, he realized that this was the best interviewer sent from God, since his job largely required his ability in handling pressure. If the three hours of the interview was not arranged or the mean words were not said by the interviewer, later on, he would have been unable to undergo the pressure from his work.
S said, “What I learned was to be obedient. Breakthrough is needed among people.”
People and matters
Since S works for a cross-border company, the markets of this company are globally oriented. He mentioned that their company now covers the 14 countries of the Asian Pacific Market, and ranks among the top companies in the Chinese market. Since the Asian Pacific Market is not the largest market of their company, they can take more resources from the Europe Market there. China, as the largest single market, their company can also get many resources from there; however, they are able to just take resources mainly from China and not from other countries. As a result, although there is a rapid growth in the Asian Pacific Market, the company's headquarter has not paid much attention to it.
Working for the department of the Asian Pacific Market, he confessed that after the many hard-working years of his colleagues, the Asian Pacific Market is getting better and better. They have been adhering to the principles to strive for more resources for the Asian Pacific Market.
People and things
His boss, who is Swiss, seems to be superstitious. When S entered the company, he realized that there was a huge Terracotta Warrior standing at the door of the office. Later he learned that the Terracotta Warrior was put by his boss. Although the ceramic product is not a real one but a replica, the eyes would sparkle every night, seeming scary.
In 2015, S removed the Terracotta Warrior, keeping it in the storage room of the company. "Our business was not going down but up after the removal of the Terracotta Warrior. As Christians, we have to remove the idols to keep our faith, because we know that God is our protector,” he added.
People and Self
S stated that among all of the relationships, our relationships with ourselves are the most difficult relationship to break through as our greatest enemy is ourselves. “This is not the case which can be solved by money. Cases are not that big when they can be solved by money.” Instead, every one of us has our own stubborn thinking, unwilling to walk out of our comfort zones.
So how we can conquer ourselves? We can only rely on God, the one who gives us strength. “I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave.” We should let God’s power change us and cover our weakness so that we can live out a new self in Jesus Christ.
- Translated by Jessie Cheong
S弟兄从1990年代末开始在一家跨国集团公司工作。
他说那时候他不太喜欢工作所在的这座城市,也不喜欢这里的商业氛围。所以那个时候压根就没有买房子的想法,打算工作个两三年就回去老家。那时候完全没有想到,等到后来想买房子的时候,房价已经大幅上涨了好几倍。
邀请他分享在职场工作这么多年的感受和心得,他的总结非常简单却又发人深省——没有冲突就没有突破。
很多人都害怕冲突,觉得冲突是不好的、糟糕的事情,但是S弟兄却是从正面看待职场上的冲突的,他说有的人之所以感受不到冲突是因为他的工作根本就没有来到突破或者那份工作根本就不需要来到突破。
S弟兄从四个纬度来分享了关于职场中的冲突。
人与人
S弟兄说,90年代他找第一份工作的时候非常艰难。当时在一家公司面试,面试的过程长达三个小时,面试过程中他非常紧张。面试官非常不友好,问他一大堆乱七八糟的问题,甚至对他进行人身攻击。但是S弟兄分享说,等到后面回过头来他发现这是神给他的最好的一个面试官。因为当时的那份工作需要他承受很大的压力,如果没有这三个小时的面试和那个面试官的话他根本无法承受这份工作带给他的压力。
S弟兄说:“所以我第一个学习到的就是顺服,人与人之间必须要来到突破。”
人与事
S弟兄工作的公司是一家跨国公司,这家公司的市场也是面向全世界的。S弟兄说他们公司的亚太区市场包括14个国家,其中中国市场最大。但是亚太区并不是他们公司最大的市场,最大市场是欧洲市场,所以欧洲区能够拿到很多的资源。中国作为最大的单体市场之一也能够拿到很多资源,但是亚太区除了中国之外的其他国家,一直拿不到多少资源,虽然亚太区市场成长的很快,但是很长的时间里面公司总部一直不太重视。
S弟兄在公司的亚太区部门工作,他说,经过同事们和我这么多年的努力,亚太区的市场业绩越来越好。我们没有放弃,一直坚持我们的原则,为亚太区争取更多的资源。
人与物
S弟兄的老板是瑞士人,但是在他看来他老板挺迷信的。在他入职的时候他就发现亚太区办公室门口放了一个很大的兵马俑,后来他才知道这是他老板放的。当然这个“兵马俑”并不是真的,是仿制品。每到晚上“兵马俑”的眼睛还会闪闪发光,非常吓人。
2015年的时候S弟兄就把那个兵马俑给搬走了,放在了公司储藏室。但是S弟兄说“我们的业务并没有掉下去,反而在不断上升。作为基督徒需要坚持信仰的原则,去掉偶像,因为神才是我们的保护者。”
人与己
S弟兄认为这个在所有的关系当中是最难突破的,人最大的敌人就是我们自己。S弟兄之所以认为这个是最难的,一方面是因为他认为“这是钱不能够解决的问题,能用钱解决的问题都不是大问题。”另外一方面则是因为每个人都有自己的非常固执的的想法,很多的时候人都不愿意从自己的舒适区走出去。
那么怎么才能够战胜自己呢?
S弟兄认为只能够是靠着我们所相信的这位神的力量,“攻克已身,叫身服我”,让神的能力来改变我们,让圣灵的能力覆庇我们的软弱,在耶稣基督里面活出来新造的我。
基督徒分享| 职场上没有冲突,就没有突破
A male Christian S (hereinafter “S”) has been working for a cross-border group company since 1900.
He recalled that he did not enjoy either working in the city where he was, or the business atmosphere there, so buying a house there was not in his plan, as he just preferred working several years there and then returning to his hometown. At that time, when he realized that he preferred purchasing an apartment, the housing prices had soared several times already.
When we invited S to share his experience and ideas in the workplace, his conclusion was simple, yet thought-provoking - "without conflicts, there will not be breakthroughs in the workplace".
To many people, conflict is a negative and terrible thing, that's why most of us will be afraid of it, but S has been looking at conflict from a positive angle. He suggests that the reason that some people have never experienced conflict is simply that they may either not need a breakthrough or a breakthrough is simply not required in their workplace.
S shared his experience from the workplace from four angles.
Human relationships
S said that in the 1990s, it was very difficult for him to find a job. When he was being interviewed to work for a company, it took three hours to finish the interview. He was very nervous during the interview because the interviewer was not very polite to him, asking him different complicated and terrible questions and even attacked him with ad hominem. When he looked back at this experience, he realized that this was the best interviewer sent from God, since his job largely required his ability in handling pressure. If the three hours of the interview was not arranged or the mean words were not said by the interviewer, later on, he would have been unable to undergo the pressure from his work.
S said, “What I learned was to be obedient. Breakthrough is needed among people.”
People and matters
Since S works for a cross-border company, the markets of this company are globally oriented. He mentioned that their company now covers the 14 countries of the Asian Pacific Market, and ranks among the top companies in the Chinese market. Since the Asian Pacific Market is not the largest market of their company, they can take more resources from the Europe Market there. China, as the largest single market, their company can also get many resources from there; however, they are able to just take resources mainly from China and not from other countries. As a result, although there is a rapid growth in the Asian Pacific Market, the company's headquarter has not paid much attention to it.
Working for the department of the Asian Pacific Market, he confessed that after the many hard-working years of his colleagues, the Asian Pacific Market is getting better and better. They have been adhering to the principles to strive for more resources for the Asian Pacific Market.
People and things
His boss, who is Swiss, seems to be superstitious. When S entered the company, he realized that there was a huge Terracotta Warrior standing at the door of the office. Later he learned that the Terracotta Warrior was put by his boss. Although the ceramic product is not a real one but a replica, the eyes would sparkle every night, seeming scary.
In 2015, S removed the Terracotta Warrior, keeping it in the storage room of the company. "Our business was not going down but up after the removal of the Terracotta Warrior. As Christians, we have to remove the idols to keep our faith, because we know that God is our protector,” he added.
People and Self
S stated that among all of the relationships, our relationships with ourselves are the most difficult relationship to break through as our greatest enemy is ourselves. “This is not the case which can be solved by money. Cases are not that big when they can be solved by money.” Instead, every one of us has our own stubborn thinking, unwilling to walk out of our comfort zones.
So how we can conquer ourselves? We can only rely on God, the one who gives us strength. “I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave.” We should let God’s power change us and cover our weakness so that we can live out a new self in Jesus Christ.
- Translated by Jessie Cheong
Without Conflicts, Breakthrough Will Not Appear in the Workplace