Transcript & Slides: Ten Traits of Great Workers
Ten Traits of Great Workers
By David Feddes
As we think about great workers, let's first get an overview of who gets paid, who gets promoted, and who gets fired.
Who gets paid? The Bible says, “All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty” (Proverbs 14:23). “The sluggard's craving will be the end of him because his hands refuse to work” (Proverbs 21:25). A sluggard is a lazybones. So those proverbs show that if you work hard, you get paid. If you won’t work, you don’t get paid. “The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty” (Proverbs 21:5). So somebody who makes good plans is also being the kind of worker who gets paid.
Who gets promoted? “Work hard and become a leader; be lazy and become a slave” (Proverbs 12:24). If you want the lowest position, be lazy. If you want higher positions, work hard. “Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve before kings” (Proverbs 22:29). So if you're really good at what you do, you're more likely to be promoted. “He who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who looks after his master will be honored” (Proverbs 27:18). So if you want to have some fruit, take good care of that tree. If you want to get promoted in your job, do what your master likes—do what the boss wants. Serve your boss well, and you're more likely to get promoted.
Who gets fired? “The wise in heart accept commands, but a chattering fool comes to ruin” (Proverbs 10:8). If you're good at taking instructions, you're likely to keep your position. If you're too busy yakking to listen, you're likely to get fired. “Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him” (Proverbs 10:26). Now have you ever taken a nice big drink of vinegar? You spit it out. Do you love having smoke in your eyes? You rub your eyes; you want to get out of that smoke. You want to get rid of it. Well, when there's a lazybones, the boss wants to get rid of that lazybones because he's like vinegar to his teeth and smoke to his eyes. A good way to get fired is to be lazy and not somebody who can be relied on.
Another way to get fired is to be a troublemaker. “Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife; quarrels and insults are ended” (Proverbs 22:10). I know a businessperson who quoted this proverb. He says, “I found again and again that sometimes you have people who are just plain trouble, and when they’re gone, the trouble’s gone.” So if you want to get fired, be a troublemaker. Be a mocker. Be somebody who insults others, and you may be on your way out the door.
Let’s look ten traits of great workers. Here they are: punctual, presentable, diligent, reliable, skilled, proactive, positive, cooperative, teachable, and healthy. Let’s look at them in some more detail.
Punctual
A great worker is punctual. So be on time—better yet, be early. Show up for work a few minutes early rather than squeaking in at the last minute or even late. A punctual person is timely. Use your time wisely on the job, or if you're working at home, or if you're self-employed, be good at using your time and you'll be a great worker. Avoid chitchat. Avoid just wasting time. There are all kinds of ways to waste time at work. That doesn't mean you never have a conversation with your fellow workers, but if you're yakking about all sorts of things except the actual tasks you're supposed to be doing, then you're not using your time well.
For some of us—especially those in office work—you need to be able to control various forms of electronic communication. You need to handle your emails and your social media efficiently. Just stay off of social media while you're at work, unless your work involves it. Handle your emails in a bunch—answer all of them early in the day or late in the day, but don't let them keep interrupting your day. And as part of being punctual, don't put things off. Don't procrastinate and keep on waiting and waiting. Do them when it's time to do them. Don't put it off till the last minute. A great worker is punctual.
Presentable
A great worker is presentable. That means, among other things, neat grooming—how you take care of yourself, your look, your hygiene. You're clean, you wear the right clothing, and your body language is appropriate. We've talked about that in a different talk—an entire talk on body language—so I won't spend much time on it here. But being presentable and the impression you make is very important in various kinds of work.
You may say, “Well, God cares a lot more about what's in the heart than what somebody looks like.” And that's true, but when you're working at a checkout counter, people aren't actually looking deep into your heart. They're just looking at you, and they're going by first impression. When you go in for a job interview, the first impression they get may be decisive. At some job interviews, they're going to look at how you shined your shoes more than at your résumé. Your body language is your first chance to communicate anything—when you're looking for a job or when you're on the job dealing with a client. If somebody gets a bad first impression, they might not give you a second chance.
That also means not just your look but how you interact. Being presentable means you're polite. You say “please,” you say “thanks,” you use proper etiquette in dealing with people. And when you're on social media, you keep your language clean and your comments helpful. Be aware that possible employers looking to possibly hire you may well check out your social media presence—the kinds of things you say on the internet. And if they don't like it, they won't hire you. Even if you're already working, and you say some of the wrong things about your job or your work, you better just plan on having some trouble out of that. So be presentable in the way you handle yourself in public, including on the internet.
When you speak, use correct, clear, clean speech as much as you can. Keep your work area tidy if it's appropriate. Again, different people have different jobs. A construction worker shouldn't come to work in a tie and a three-piece suit. But on the other hand, a person working in an office shouldn't necessarily show up for work in a tank top. We need to understand what's appropriate—proper clothing, an appropriate, proper look for the situation that we're in. In short, don't seem sloppy, and don't seem sleazy or kind of halfway dirty or off-color in your language or in the way you conduct yourself.
This is necessary not just to be a good worker but also simply in the way you present yourself as a follower of Jesus. In Proverbs 31, it speaks about the woman of noble character: “She is clothed in fine linen and purple” (Proverbs 31:22). She's well-dressed. Well, she's really well-dressed because she's also “clothed with strength and dignity” (Proverbs 31:25). So her inner self shines through in the way that she dresses herself.
The way you talk is very important. “Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you” (Ephesians 5:4). When you're children of light, they're not for you. And they don't make you a very good worker either. So be presentable.
Diligent
A great worker is diligent. That means you work hard. It means you're organized. You don't just put a lot of sweat and energy and effort into your work, but you also put mental energy into your work—not just physical sweat but paying careful attention and staying organized and making sure you're productive, getting things done. A diligent person is somebody who gets stuff done because he uses a lot of effort and intelligence and organization to make it happen.
“Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth” (Proverbs 10:4). “Work hard and become a leader; be lazy and become a slave” (Proverbs 12:24). “Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper” (Proverbs 13:4). And there are dozens more proverbs and verses in the Bible about the importance of working hard, giving it your best effort. Bosses are looking for people who are willing to put in a good day's work—a hard day of work. If you want to be a great worker, be a hard worker.
Reliable
Great workers are reliable. So be honest and trustworthy. Be somebody that others can count on. Don’t lie or steal. Don’t lie or steal from the people you work for—your employer. Don’t lie or steal from your clients or your customers. Be somebody who’s reliable and trustworthy.
Part of being reliable is showing up. Show up for work every day. Do what you’re told to do. Do what you say you’ll do. When you promise to do something, follow through on it. And part of being reliable is being attentive and attuned to the boss—listening carefully to what the boss wants and working on behalf of the company.
“Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him” (Proverbs 10:26). If you can't be counted on, you are a major pain for those that you're working for. On the other hand, “Like a snow-cooled drink at harvest time is a trustworthy messenger to the one who sends him; he refreshes the spirit of his master” (Proverbs 25:13).
Let me just stop there. You’ve been working hard and it’s hot out, and then somebody comes up to you with a tall glass of ice water or water that’s been cooled in the snow. You’re roasting hot, and you drink that—that feels so good. And that’s what it’s like when you’re a trustworthy messenger to the one who sends him. He refreshes the spirit of his master.
Back in those days, a messenger was not something you clicked on your smartphone. It was not something that you did when you called somebody or faxed them or had some other form of communication. A messenger had two legs. You sent somebody to carry your message. And you had to send somebody who would get the message right, who would try to get there as quickly as they could so that the message would get there in time. So you wanted somebody you could count on to get it right and make it happen fast. If you had a lousy messenger, that was a nightmare. But if you had a good one, it was like ice water on a really, really hot day. You felt refreshed. Well, that’s the impact that a reliable worker has on the person who’s the head of the team, the boss, the manager. It feels great to have people you can count on.
Skilled
And of course, great workers are skilled. You have the talents to do the job well. I remember growing up, it was always obvious that I was not going to be a farmer. I was the best in the family at school and the worst at various things related to farming. I still did it. I had to work hard on the farm growing up and did what I could, but I really wasn’t very good at a lot of those things. To be a great worker, you have to have the talents. You have to be cut out for it and be able to do it well.
You need to have solid training and experience because talent alone isn’t enough. In many occupations, you need training. So you may need schooling. You may need college. You may need a professional program like law school. Or you might need graduate studies in electrical engineering. Or you might need medical school. There are certain kinds of tasks that require a lot of training, and so you need to get that.
Or you may get your training through apprenticeship if you’re in the trades—if you’re in carpentry, if you’re in bricklaying. You need to work with somebody who’s really good at it to show you how to do it, to give you the opportunity to do it yourself, and keep on mastering it and giving you feedback on how you’re doing.
You also need to develop your skills through experience. Employers want experience. In certain kinds of jobs, they'll say, “Experience required.” You say, “Well, how in the world do I get hired? How can I get any experience if everybody thinks I have to have it before they’ll hire me?” Well, sometimes take a lesser job—one maybe that doesn’t even seem as related—but at least you’ve got experience for showing up on time, for keeping an office schedule, for maybe working with some of the software that’s involved there if it’s an office kind of job.
Or in other kinds of jobs, maybe a carpenter doesn’t want to hire you to be the main contractor. Maybe all they want is a gofer to carry and pack some nails from here to there and help pack some shingles around. Well, get some experience doing that. And once you’ve had the experience, maybe you’ll get hired to do something that requires greater skill. But part of skill is getting experience. So get it wherever you can.
If you’re just young, get hired making sandwiches, flipping burgers—whatever it is. Get some experience on the job, and employers are going to be more likely to hire you and want you. Once you have a job, keep on developing your skills. Keep on gaining more training, more experience. Be alert to how you can do it better and better all the time. Expand your range of abilities because life changes, work changes.
You might be very, very good at something when you’re 26 years old, but what if things change by the time you’re 36 or 40, and you haven’t expanded your talents or your abilities? You need to keep on being versatile. Employers like that because very rarely is there a job where you only do one thing every day and you just keep on doing it. If you’re good at doing several things, you become more and more indispensable.
And if you're skilled, you aren’t just satisfied with where you’re at. You keep aiming for excellence. You want to do the best. Every employer wants people who are good at what they do. Because if you’re a hard worker, if you have a good attitude, but you’re not good at what you do, there’s a problem. So take what it takes to be skilled. Do what it takes to be skilled. “Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve before kings” (Proverbs 22:29).
When we read the book of Daniel, we read of some young men who were exceptional. They were men of exceptional character, of exceptional courage. When they were ordered to do terribly wrong things, they refused. And sometimes they faced being thrown into fire or being thrown to the lions. May that be true of us—that we’ll have the character and the courage to stand for what’s right, and if necessary, face great opposition and even harm.
But that’s not the only thing that was true of Daniel and his friends. The Bible says, “Whenever the king consulted them in any matter requiring wisdom and balanced judgment, he found them ten times more capable” (Daniel 1:20). They were just plain better at things than the other guys around them. So while you're being a person of character, while you're being a person of courage, don't forget to try to get really, really good at what you do.
Daniel was reliable and trustworthy. He was also very skilled. “Daniel soon proved himself more capable than all the other administrators and high officers. Because of Daniel's great ability, the king made plans to place him over the entire empire” (Daniel 6:3). “He was always faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy” (Daniel 6:4). Wow. Now that is a mouthful. That is a tremendous thing to be said about you—you have great ability, more capable than others, and you're faithful, responsible, and trustworthy.
That’s a great summary of some of the key features of being a great worker. And as I’ve said, there’s a lot more to Daniel than just being a great worker—but not less. And so in your own life, work on the things related to character and courage and all those other things, but make sure that skill is part of it as well.
Great workers are punctual, presentable, diligent, reliable, skilled—and they're proactive, positive, cooperative, teachable, and healthy.
Proactive
Great workers are proactive. That means you're a self-starter. You work without needing to be cajoled or nudged or pushed along or supervised. You work hard even when nobody's looking. You don't need to be told every day to get going. You're a self-starter. You're a go-getter. You don't just look at what's required and do the bare minimum—you go beyond the requirements and look for more to do. You get your work done and say, "Well, what else could I be working on? What else could I be accomplishing?" Instead of just sitting around and saying, "Well, I guess I'm done with what I'm supposed to be done with," a proactive worker is an innovator. You're creatively looking for better ways of doing things.
Now, when I've had the opportunity to be a boss or a manager of certain people who worked under me, the most important thing I did was hire the right person. If I hired somebody who was proactive, who was a self-starter, a go-getter, an innovator—once I hired the right person, I didn't have to do very much in relation to them. We'd meet once in a while, we'd chat about this or that related to the work, but they were so good at what they did that they didn't need me looking over their shoulder or second-guessing them or telling them to hurry up or to work on this or that or look for some new ways to do things—because they already did those things. They were proactive. And I loved having a proactive person working for me because once I made the right hire, that pretty well took care of itself. And hey—that's what many bosses are looking for. They want somebody who does this. So if you want to be a great worker, be proactive.
Go again to the book of Genesis, where Joseph has been sold as a slave, and he's working for a guy named Potiphar. The Bible says, “Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate” (Genesis 39:6). Maybe that's a little of an exaggeration, but the Bible is saying that once Potiphar had Joseph and put Joseph in charge, the only problem he had was what's for lunch.
Then, when Joseph was falsely accused and thrown into prison, the warden put Joseph in charge. “The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did” (Genesis 39:23). So wherever Joseph was working, the person above him hardly paid attention to what he was doing—because Joseph was already on top of it all. He was proactive. He got things done and always looked for better ways to do them, and his bosses had full trust in him.
Positive
Great workers are positive. You're cheerful, not a grump. You're enthusiastic, not just kind of dragging along. You're supportive and encouraging, not critical. Being positive is encouraged in the Bible: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10). In the New Testament: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men” (Colossians 3:23). That’s being positive.
And that’s true in the workplace. I’ve found it true in a lot of other areas as well. In church life, those people who are cheerful, enthusiastic, supportive—what great people they are to have as part of a church. And they make everybody else better. When I’ve been a basketball coach, I’ve seen a few people who were kind of downers, who were grumps, who were critical of their teammates—and those teams suffer when you have a person like that. On the other hand, when you have somebody who’s excited, who’s cheerful, who’s always saying, “Way to go,” other players are better. When you have somebody like that on your team, they make everybody else around them better.
So in the world of work as well, when you're positive, you make the people around you better—and that’s a great worker.
Cooperative
You're also cooperative. You work for the good of the business, not just for your own well-being—because you know if the business thrives, you're going to do well. If the business goes downhill, your job may be in jeopardy too.
A cooperative person listens carefully and follows instructions. A cooperative person communicates—speaks clearly, spells out expectations—because it's hard for people to cooperate with you if they don't know what you're thinking. So if you're a boss or an employer, communicate clearly. If you're an employee or a worker, speak clearly to your boss so your boss knows what you're thinking—and your fellow workers know what you're thinking.
You plan together. You work with your team. There are some kinds of work where you're mostly working on your own. And a person who's kind of a loner and excellent at just focusing on something and keeping at it—that's a valuable kind of work too. But in many kinds of work, you need to be a team player. You need to be working with others. And that means you plan together and you're involved with them.
And part of that is being friendly. A cooperative person is friendly and kind. You don't quarrel or gossip. “He who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who looks after his master will be honored” (Proverbs 27:18). So you're working closely and cooperating with the boss. “Without counsel, plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed” (Proverbs 15:22). That’s true in life in general—that it’s wise to seek advice on key decisions. And it’s certainly true in the workplace, where if there’s never any plans and nobody’s consulting with each other, a lot of mistakes are made. But when you work together, you make a lot better decisions.
My dad used to have a saying. He would say, “Two heads are better than one, even if one is a sheep’s head.” You don’t have to be a genius to be helpful to somebody else. When people get together, they may not all have the same degree of knowledge or brilliance, but they see things from different angles. And when you get together with people who see things from different angles, then you see the big picture better and you make better decisions.
And part of being cooperative is, of course, that attitude. As we mentioned, “It’s to one’s honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel” (Proverbs 20:3). A great worker is not quick to pick a fight. A great worker avoids strife wherever possible. He's cooperative.
Teachable
A great worker is teachable. That means you accept advice. When people make a suggestion, you listen very carefully. When they point out something that you've made a mistake in or done wrong, you accept the correction rather than getting all angry about it or being defensive right away.
You're eager to increase your strengths. A teachable person realizes, “Hey, here are some areas that I'm good at, and I could be even better.” So you don't rest on your laurels or say to yourself, “I'm plenty good.” You're always saying, “Well, even though that's a strength, I want to get better at it.” And where you really have weaknesses or downright faults, you want those to be corrected and improved.
So you're eager to increase your strengths and correct your faults. Part of being teachable is just recognizing that new things come along. I'm going to have new assignments, new tasks, and I need to be adaptable to those new tasks and new situations. Otherwise, you're going to become obsolete. If you can't change and have some flexibility and adaptability and teachability, then even if you're good at a job for a little while, eventually it's going to outgrow you.
Part of being teachable is sometimes you just recognize this isn't working. You recognize when your job is a bad fit or when your boss is a bad fit, and you seek a better situation. There are times when being teachable just means saying, “You know what? I don't think it's me. I think I need a change in my job.”
I'll give a couple of examples. I know one young woman who worked with a boss who was very vulgar, very chauvinist. Others in the office were kind of like him, and they talked the same way. They were very biased toward young women. She was in that situation, and after a while she got fed up with it and looked for another job. She went for a job interview on a Friday and took that day off work. That Monday, the boss called her in and said, “You're fired. You're looking for a different job.” Tuesday, she was hired to another job with many thousands more dollars of income. She escaped that bad situation and found a job with very fine coworkers, a very positive boss, and a much higher paycheck.
There are times—rather than just keep on suffering in a miserable situation—you say, “No, I think I've learned my lesson. This isn't the place for me.” And sometimes it's not a bad boss or a terrible job; it's just a bad fit. It’ll just work out better for everybody concerned if you move on.
I know another situation. This involved a nurse working in a hospital. A new manager, a new head nurse, was brought in. She was in her early 20s and had less experience than all the nurses working under her. One by one, they began quitting and going elsewhere because she was very obnoxious. She was a know-it-all. She was very harsh with them, and they didn’t want to work for her. So people kept leaving.
One day, the person I happened to know was called in by her and was read the riot act about how bad a job she was doing and was told that she was in danger of being fired and that they’d meet again in a few days. What did she do? She went out that same day to another hospital and was offered $10,000 more to work at the next hospital. When the meeting occurred two days later, she told her boss, “Well, I’ve accepted a new position, and I’m moving on.” The boss said, “Well, I didn’t want you to leave.” She said, “If you don’t want me to leave, you’ve got to treat me differently. You need to learn how to treat people if you’re going to continue to be the head nurse—and if they’re all quitting.”
There are times when a job situation is just bad, and you need to say, “Well, I can't change it because I'm in a lower position and they're in the superior position. And as long as they're in that position, things aren’t changing around here.” So part of being teachable is realizing when things are a bad fit or when you just need to be somewhere else.
But a teachable attitude is very important. “Whoever hates correction is stupid” (Proverbs 12:1). There may be times when a job seems like a poor fit, but really you're just not listening very well. So you need to realize there may be occasions where you have to leave, but a lot of the time, straightening out your own act is the thing that’s most important.
“The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice” (Proverbs 12:15). When you know it all, it's a pretty good sign that you're a fool.
“A single rebuke does more for a person of understanding than a hundred lashes on the back of a fool” (Proverbs 17:10). That is the difference between being teachable and unteachable. When you're a teachable person, somebody makes one remark to you, one suggestion—and you're on it. It changes your direction, and you get going with it.
Then there's another person—an unteachable one. That person gets a reprimand, and then a written reprimand, and then three or four written reports in their files and bad employee evaluations. Finally, they get fired. And they go on to the next job—same song, new verse. They get rebuked, they get written up, they get bad reviews, and they get fired. They move on to the next job. Then their fifth job—you know what? It’s still the fault of the employers. They haven’t learned a thing.
“A single rebuke does more for a person of understanding than a hundred lashes on the back of a fool” (Proverbs 17:10). Some people go through their entire life taking the lashes, never learning how to be a better worker and more cooperative. So great workers are teachable people, where a suggestion or a correction does more for you than all the firings and all the other stuff might do for an unteachable person.
Healthy
A great worker is healthy. That almost goes without saying, but we need to say it anyway. Vocational fitness interacts with other parts of total fitness, and the spiritual is very closely related to your performance on the job. When you're positive, when you're working for the Lord, when you have that rich sense of being close to Jesus and him working through you, it's going to make a difference in your work. And how you do your work is also going to make a difference in your spiritual well-being, because so much of who we are and how God designed us is tied into the things that he calls us to do in his kingdom and on his behalf.
So when you're really fulfilling your calling and doing your work well, it boosts you spiritually as well—in your sense of well-being and your walk with the Lord.
Physical health obviously has a huge bearing on your ability to do your work. Some jobs require a lot of physical strength, and so you need to be physically fit and strong and able to do that. And almost every job requires at least the ability to stay awake, to not be distracted by all kinds of health problems. So the more you can care for your physical well-being, the better you're going to be able to perform your job.
Now some people just have chronic illnesses or other health problems, and through no fault of their own, they just aren’t in good health. It may hinder their ability to carry out their work. But it’s just a reality that to be a great worker, physical health is very important.
And by the same token, your work affects your health. It's not just that your health affects your work—your work affects your health. If you're overdoing it, if you're a workaholic, if you're working in a very dangerous occupation where the working conditions aren’t well cared for by the employer, then your physical well-being is affected by your work.
Financial—do I really need to say that? Obviously, your work life is going to impact your finances. You need to be able to make a living. And for most of us, we’re not inheriting millions from somebody who came before us. We need to work. We need to get paid. So your finances are going to be very closely tied to your ability to earn.
And by the same token, if you learn to save, if you learn to take good care of your finances, it may help you to be a little more choosy in your work. If you’re desperate and just need your next paycheck, you can’t afford to quit a job, you can’t afford to go look for a new one perhaps. But if your finances are in decent condition, you’ve got a little more choice. And you may also, at a certain point in your life, be able to take early retirement—not just to sit around but to go into other things, to serve as a volunteer or to perform other tasks you wanted to do but weren’t able to make a living at.
So again, your financial well-being can help you to fulfill various vocations.
Intellectual health is very important. If you're sharp, if you're on the ball, if you're really understanding of things, it's going to make you a better worker. At the same time, if you do your work well—if you're alert—many kinds of work are stimulating. You learn a lot from the people you work with. You learn a lot from trying different things, from traveling different places, or from the different tasks you do. And your mind keeps working as you're doing your work.
Emotional health is so important for work. People who are perpetually angry and blowing up may find themselves getting fired by their boss or may have a very hard time doing well in sales because they're too busy blowing up their customers. Or if you’re chronically depressed, if your emotions are just shattered, it's hard to be a great worker. So again, to seek and pursue emotional health has an impact on your work. And your sense of emotional well-being and fulfillment often is related to thriving at work as well.
Relational health—we've already seen. If you're hard to get along with, if you're a troublemaker, bosses don't want you around. Your fellow workers don’t want you around. Customers don’t like dealing with you. If you're the kind of person who's easy to relate to, who's friendly, who's kind, who's quick to overlook an offense—that also serves you well in your work.
So all of these areas of fitness—of total fitness—have a tremendous impact in the realm of work.
Great Workers
- Punctual
- Presentable
- Diligent
- Reliable
- Skilled
- Proactive
- Positive
- Cooperative
- Teachable
- Healthy
We've
seen a lot from the book of Proverbs and some other Scriptures about the
everyday, street-level things that it takes to be a great worker. And let's not
think that those heavenly things are absolutely separated from those earthly
things. The real key to it all is to live all the nitty-gritty details of daily
life and daily work in light of the glory of heaven. Then even those things
that you do here on earth have the touch of God and the touch of heaven upon
them—because you're doing them for the Lord. You're working for Christ, and
Christ is working in you.
So be a great worker in the details. I've given a list here, and as with many of these talks, it's wise to just focus in on a couple of them. You can try to memorize them for a quiz—go ahead and do that if you're taking quizzes on this material. But the really important thing for your own personal development is to say, “Okay, which of those did I really need to hear right now? Which of those am I going to make a priority to work on to make myself a better and better worker? Some of them maybe I'm already strong in. Now, Lord, help me in these other areas. Help me to grow—to be the kind of worker who’s like Daniel, who’s like his friends: ten times better than others, reliable and of high character, but also skilled and flourishing as a great worker who brings honor to the Lord in everything I do.”
Ten Traits of Great Workers
By David Feddes
Slide Contents
Who gets paid?
All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty. (14:23)
The sluggard’s craving will be the end of him, because his hands refuse to work. (21:25)
The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty. (21:5)
Who gets promoted?
Work hard and become a leader; be lazy and become a slave. (12:24 NLT)
Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve before kings. (22:29)
He who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who looks after his master will be honored. (27:18)
Who gets fired?
The wise in heart accept commands, but a chattering fool comes to ruin. (10:8)
Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him. (10:26)
Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife; quarrels and insults are ended. (22:10)
Great Workers
- Punctual
- Presentable
- Diligent
- Reliable
- Skilled
- Proactive
- Positive
- Cooperative
- Teachable
- Healthy
Punctual
- Be on time. Better yet, be early.
- Use time wisely on the job, or if working at home or self-employed
- Avoid chit-chat, time wasting.
- Control emails and social media.
- Don’t procrastinate.
Presentable
Don’t
seem sloppy or sleazy.
- Neat grooming, clean hygiene
- Proper clothing and body language
- Polite in person and on social media
- Correct, clear, clean speech
- Tidy work area
She is clothed in fine linen and purple... She is clothed with strength and dignity. (Proverbs 31:22, 25)
Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. (Ephesians 5:4)
Diligent
Hard-working,
organized, productive
Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth. (10:4)
Work hard and become a leader; be lazy and become a slave. (12:24 NLT)
Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper. (13:4)
Reliable
- Be honest and trustworthy. Don’t lie or steal from employer or clients.
- Show up for work every day.
- Do what you’re told to do.
- Do what you say you’ll do.
- Be attentive and attuned to boss.
Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him. (Proverbs 10:26)
Like a snow-cooled drink at harvest time is a trustworthy messenger to the one who sends him; he refreshes the spirit of his master. (25:13)
Skilled
- Talents to do the job well
- Solid training and experience
- Ongoing development
- Versatile range of abilities
- Always aiming for excellence
Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve before kings. (Prov 22:29)
Whenever the king consulted them in any matter requiring wisdom and balanced judgment, he found them ten times more capable. (Daniel 1:20)
Reliable and skilled: Daniel soon proved himself more capable than all the other administrators and high officers. Because of Daniel’s great ability, the king made plans to place him over the entire empire… He was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy. (Daniel 6:3-4)
Proactive
- Self-starter works without needing to be cajoled or supervised.
- Go-getter goes beyond requirements and looks for more to do.
- Innovator creatively looks for better ways of doing things.
Potiphar left in Joseph’s care everything he had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate… The warden put Joseph in charge… The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did. (Genesis 39)
Positive
Cheerful,
enthusiastic, supportive
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might! (Eccl 9:10)
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men. (Colossians 3:23)
Cooperative
- Work for the good of the business.
- Listen carefully; follow instructions.
- Speak clearly; spell out expectations.
- Plan together; work with your team.
- Be friendly; don’t quarrel or gossip.
He who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who looks after his master will be honored. (27:18)
Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed. (15:22)
It is to one’s honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel. (20:3)
Teachable
- Accept advice and correction.
- Eager to increase strengths and correct faults.
- Adaptable to new tasks and situations.
- Recognize when job/boss is a bad fit and seek a better situation.
Whoever hates correction is stupid. (12:1)
The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice. (12:15)
A single rebuke does more for a person of understanding than a hundred lashes on the back of a fool. (17:10)
Healthy
Vocational fitness interacts with other part of total
fitness.
- Spiritual
- Physical
- Financial
- Intellectual
- Emotional
- Relational
- Vocational
Great Workers
- Punctual
- Presentable
- Diligent
- Reliable
- Skilled
- Proactive
- Positive
- Cooperative
- Teachable
- Healthy
Last modified: Tuesday, June 17, 2025, 3:34 PM