I am soooo thankful God sent me to Baylor University where I was fortunate enough to find the degree called Human Resource Management. The profession that is truly the VOICE of any organization. I had no idea at the time what it was, but after reading the description, I knew it was for me. I honestly took the print out home to John that night and said, "THIS is what I want to do with the rest of my life!"
Do you have confidence in your HR Manager/Director/VP? Do you feel they will do what is best for BOTH the employee and the company? It is a fine line most days, always trying to balance the two, but the good ones really get it and can manage it well. If you do not have a relationship with your HR Manager...I encourage you to build one! You just never know when something they say will be a huge help in you getting the next big role, raise or opportunity. I have been told often that I was the voice for people, kids, employees, etc. Every now and then though, I just wish there was someone else to speak up. On occasion, trying to not be THAT mom, wife, employee or friend, I will sit on my hands, bite my lip and cheek, just doing my best to NOT speak up. But more often than not, my body or the good Lord will just not allow me to continue being quiet. And trust me, many times this is after praying about it, sleeping on it, writing the e-mail hoping I will just delete it the next day, etc.
I am sure I have said things in the past that have hurt people, and for that I am sorry. But I also know that each of us has the duty to defend the weak, speak up for those not able to talk, be a shield to those taking on verbal, physical or mental abuse, and most importantly just do the right thing. Thanks mom and dad for instilling that in the three of us!! As we used to say in a thug like accent..."You messin w/ me, you messin w/ the whole family!!!" ;-)
I am pretty sure it started in high school when I went toe to toe (literally) with Mr. Borge to ensure the guys were able to wear flip flops just like the girls. His rationale was, "Their feet are ugly!?!?!" I was so upset and just felt that this was complete and total discrimination. Don't worry, we won the fight, but the boys were required to get pedicures! Just kidding on the pedis...anyway it went on from there to go against one of my bosses in college showing her that she was paying all of us wrong. Instead of paying us 3 and 1/2 hours (3.5), she was paying 3.3 x our dollar amount. We had all been getting hosed for awhile and just think of all of the employees before us! So before the age of 18 I had already handled discrimination, payroll and compensation, and had to fire one of our volunteer annual staff editors who kept messing up our pages so badly. I do look back on that one and feel a little bad, but am then reminded that the rest of the team was so glad to see her go...I still think...Lisa, it's not like she was getting paid!?!? Oh well, as they say in the HR biz...you are only as strong as your weakest link!
Anyway...fast forward to the good Lord opening up the world of HR to me. You know he really does put us in the perfect role/job/position for each of us, if we allow him to! I cannot tell you the number of times I had to defend an intern hire (who btw usually turned out to be in the top 10 that summer out of 90+ students), get the boss to actually discipline the employee violating company policy because the good employees couldn't take it anymore, or remind a leader of all the good things his/her employee did that year during compensation review time. I have also assisted in getting one of the kids teachers fired. That's right FIRED. All of the other teachers knew she wasn't good for the students, the parents before us had concerns, but nothing had been done. We could see things getting worse and worse daily, so one day several of us parents met outside of the class room and recognized we were all experiencing the same concerns. After a meeting with the principal which I initiated, probation and further investigation she was let go on Thursday of that week. Luckily our children only had to deal with her for about 3 weeks, but the class before ours was truly traumatized.
Are you in a position right now where God is asking you to use your voice? For him quite possibly? For someone close to you? Is there someone in your life that may need help, but you have been too scared to ask her/him for fear of embarrassment, upsetting them, or can't find the right words? Is it finally time to ask that friend or neighbor to church? I have found that the best cure for not speaking up, is typing it up before hand in order to help get your thoughts together, even role playing with a friend or spouse is a great way to practice. Your voice doesn't always have to be loud or involved in something big. As we are reminded...Psalm 5:3 In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. Psalm 55:17 Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice. Maybe it is something for you that you just haven't given up to God yet. It can simply be during your quiet prayer time.
Either way though...if it is something that has been on your mind, keeping you up at night, stressing you out, making you feel sick to your stomach...It is time to speak up or pray up! Just go in with humility, humbleness and with a listening ear. It won't always go as you expected...In fact, it usually doesn't. And 1 out of 4 times, it will even go better than you expected! So, go for it. What do you have to lose? We only live once, and if someone near you, or around you is suffering...it's time to help and be the Lord's voice here on earth! Job 37:5 God's voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding. Psalm 29:4 The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is majestic.
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