9 – 22 – 17 Loyalty and Opportunity (Part Two) (4 minutes)

This is part two in a two part series, read the first post here

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I perceive of this cultural myth that we owe loyalty to any organization we’ve been apart of. That if you don’t have a great reason for leaving somewhere, and to some extent their approval, you’ve wronged that party and acted selfishly. I get where this idea comes from, but I think many organizations that aren’t worthy of this consideration get it. I think we’ve done away with the idea of seniority and the obligation of loyalty on the organizational side, while still expecting it out of participants/employees.

I think the notion comes from a time when factory jobs were more plentiful. To someone who probably had no more than a high school education a manufacturing job would be somewhat of a godsend, it’s a way to make excellent money with very little formal schooling, which is growing rarer every day. You would really feel like you owed the person who hired you something, hard work, some consideration in your life decisions. You’d tell them far ahead of time when you planned to retire so they could arrange your replacement because you knew that not only would they not hire your replacement before you retired, they also wanted time to discuss your optimum pension package to make sure your retirement was as comfortable as possible.

Now I don’t suppose any real company was this magnanimous and considerate, but I think this used to be a standard people held themselves to as employers, to be not only fair but generous. They wanted to think that they had really improved the lives of not only their consumers, but their workers.

I don’t think the same concern exists today. Today’s market is much more characterized by free association and high turnover rates. Perhaps people started moving more because companies were less generous, perhaps companies became less generous because they started trusting their employees less. Either way, these were reinforcing events.

But I don’t think we owe loyalty to any organization that hasn’t given us opportunities to grow, hasn’t nurtured us, doesn’t (so far as we can tell) have our best interests in mind. I am by no means suggesting that a business should be primarily concentrated on its people and not its product, but a lack of that consideration disqualifies any claims on loyalty from workers.

The reason this comes up is that I feel I’ve been banging my head against the wall trying to get involved in the music ministry at St. Mary for a year and I see no signs of that chance widening anytime soon. Perhaps it is because there are too many music majors around, undoubtedly there is somewhat of a bias against people not pursuing music academically when it comes to awarding jobs. But then again, I don’t think most of them have seven years of experience in music ministry.

It reminds me of when my mother felt very called to be the principal at St. Joe’s. She was obviously the best qualified, the most familiar with the school, and probably (based on my knowledge of her) the most passionate applicant. Ultimately that passion is what disqualified her as I believe she was seen as too strong of a personality. I already see that mocking smile, “Oh yeah, that’s why”, that happens every time someone isn’t awarded a job and explains it by anything but personal failure. To that I say, yes, that is why. Not all of the failures in our life are our own making, we will be tripped up in the pursuit of what we believe by prejudice, fear, and competitiveness. I think anyone who has some experience of oppression or prejudice will know well, and hate righteously, that condescending smile.

So I’ll apply elsewhere. If I knock, and knock, and knock till my knuckles bleed and still no one answers the door, I must be at the wrong house! I feel no guilt for this, just as I didn’t when leaving the football team. I don’t feel they’ve treated me fairly, given me the opportunities to grow I feel that, not that I deserve, but that I desire. That is how I reconcile this with my shreds of humility. I will not claim to be justified, but I will assert that I am no wretch for leaving a place that won’t help me grow.

I was thinking yesterday, as successful as I’ve been, as gifted as I am, I’ve been insulted by people I looked up to more times than I can remember. Perhaps I’m intimidating, but I think in some cases it was out of mere cruelness. When Jay Harbaugh told me to “be more athletic”, that day, I knew I was quitting, I only wish I’d done it sooner.

I feel no loyalty! I don’t think I’m obliged to reserve my talents to the service of someone who isn’t using them.