“Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

I was walking on the streets of San Francisco and I overheard a woman speaking to another woman and she said, “I just don’t get the social code of my company.”  The other woman said, “Well, maybe they just want you to speak out more and not stay too much to yourself.  You do that, you know.” It reminded me of the question I was asked last week about someone in a company who wasn’t very outgoing and the rest of the team thought there might be something wrong (different cities, so I know it wasn’t a question about the person I overheard in San Francisco). But, the question summed it up; she is an employee where the “social code” hasn’t been explained, or isn’t explicit enough for one employee to understand how she should communicate with her fellow workers.  And, if there is one person with the question, I can guarantee there are more. We go out of our way to orient our new employees about those things that are in black and white, but how hard do we work to give them the soft side of the business, the unwritten “codes”.  If we aren’t paying attention, we should.

We are quick to forget the social code we were given by Jesus.  Love one another.  It’s clear.  But you know what?  In the workplace, we have to go out of our way to show love.  We have to start with caring and then act. Thinking and feeling without acting isn’t obvious to anyone. So, today, make the code you live by obvious.

Reference: Matthew 22: 37-39 (New Living Translation)