Depending on the kind of work you do in paid employment, this can be a tough question to answer. In Dr. Ben Carson’s “Gifted Hands”, he provides vivid insights into the many long hours and years of sacrifice that he and members of his team often gave, to save lives.
And We’re All Grateful That They Do Often Choose to Do So…
Isn’t it strange that we accept medical professionals straining their family relationships, to save our lives? Don’t we value time off from work, because we cherish time with our families?
Aha…see how one sided our thinking can be…!
Whenever I hear people say “TGIF (Thank God It’s Friday)” or write it on their Facebook walls, I often smile to myself and recall my days as a shift brewer in Guinness.
Back then, you could be off duty and still be at work, AND not see anything wrong with it. Most of us were so tuned in to helping the “TEAM” win, that we readily pitched in, sometimes without being asked.
We only needed to see that extra hands (or heads) were needed, to make this decision on our own. Very rarely did a boss (at least in my department – Production/brewing) have to read us the riot act to get us to come in and help.
What Made Us That Willing to Give Up Our Legitimate Rest Time?
Looking back I realise it was not just bachelors or unmarried team members who offered themselves in this manner. Virtually everyone in our department had the attitude.
And it started right from the boss we had.
He led by example. Every day we saw that he gave the job his all – came in early when necessary and left late. He even took over brewer duties if a brewer fell ill or had to be away at short notice.
And on night shifts, if you were not careful, he could make you look like he was the one on site, and YOU were the one at home…with his keen awareness of work progress at key points in the process!
An unfortunate young brewer once fell asleep on night shift, only to get a phone call from our boss. When asked how things were going, he spontaneously responded using estimates based on information that he’d obtained before nodding off.
Unfortunately for him, that night, most things that could go wrong had, just around the time he’d fallen asleep! To make matters worse, the boss had – as was his habit – called the other sections to get an update, BEFORE calling to speak with the brewer.
That phone conversation did not end too well for the brewer that night! But the experience taught him to stay on top of his job, even on night duty.
More importantly, it made him respect his boss the more, and to strive to emulate him (By way of interest, this writer, was that brewer).
We Were Like a Well Trained Athletics Relay Team
The challenging atmosphere created by our boss captured our collective imaginations. Even when off duty, we rarely had problems stopping by to see how work was progressing, towards the week or month’s goal.
For instance, it was not uncommon for team members on their way to an outing with family members, to park their cars outside, and “say hello” to the person on duty.
Conversations would often revolve around how close we were to meeting the week’s brewing target, and other performance issues. Those who could not come round physically would call in by phone.
This made the person on duty understand that everyone expected him
to give it his best shot.
If you’ve done shifts before, you know it’s like running a relay race. Every person must do his best to sustain or improve on the work tempo, to ensure the target is met, or exceeded.
And if one person has a bad run today, the rest of the team do what they can to recover whatever ground has been lost. As much as possible, the blame game is avoided.
Of course we did not live in a perfect world where no conflicts occurred.
They certainly did!
But we had a sound system that kept us focussed on what really mattered: working together to achieve the team’s goal.
Final Words: Establishing Team Spirit Will Make People Willing to Do What Helps The Team
Now I know what I’ve described here is more relevant to shift workers.
However, when you really think about it, people who work 9 to 5 jobs are also on a kind of shift. In fact, back in the breweries, we had some chaps on what we called the DAY shift, covering that time span 
That means all that’s really needed is to establish a harmonious working atmosphere. And a good leader, who acts as a catalyst, can make that happen.
Like our boss – Greg – did.
Members would key in, and do their bit – without complaining – even if they have to give up free time.
Little wonder that it was during his time that our department achieved some of the most impressive output performances ever.
I will also add, that working under him proved one of the most useful development periods of my career.
In my humble opinion, the above benefits make adopting a similar approach to his worthwhile.