Proverbs 12:24

The diligent person will rule,
but the slothful will become a slave.

I’ve heard John Maxwell make the following statement, “If you reward your eager beavers the same as your goof offs, soon you’ll have more goof offs than eager beavers.” And that is a true statement. You don’t have to have spent very much time in the workforce to know, that indiscriminate rewards don’t help anyone out.

Because you are trying to be a diligent hard worker, you will be the one who goes to work every day and works hard all day long. You will do what you are supposed to do, and then when you finish it before everyone else, you’ll ask for more work to do. Because you are being diligent in this way, you should get a better reward than the guy who comes in late, doesn’t get his work done and spends more time goofing around than working.

However, this is not always the case. Often times, because your boss or company wants to be “fair” they will give everyone the same reward. The don’t want to make someone feel bad, so they give the goof offs the same reward as the eager beavers. If you’re an eager beaver you know this isn’t actually fair. Fair would be to deduct pay from the goof off and give it to the eager beaver for picking up the slack.

The thing is, somewhere down the road, justice will come. Because of your hard work, you will either get promoted to a higher position or to a better job. Either way, you will rise to a more powerful position, and the goof off will either stay where he is or be demoted. In fact, you shouldn’t be surprised if one day you find yourself ruling over one of the goof offs you used to work alongside. What a tremendous opportunity you will have. Sure you could get your justice by treating them the way you think they should be treated. But, you have a greater opportunity than that. You can come alongside them and teach them how to live the Proverbious life.

When you are in a position of leadership, it becomes your responsibility to lead people. Leading people doesn’t just mean getting them to do what you want them to do. Leading people means leading them in all areas of their lives. When you lead someone, you have the chance to teach them what you know and to help them grow and change and become the person they could be.

Are you a goof off or an eager beaver?