Married To The Job

Episode 38:  Hot Lips And Empty Arms

Margaret:   I married the army.  And what have I got to show for it? Rotten living conditions, no social life, surrounded by insolent doctors and nurses who don’t give me an ounce of respect.

Frank:     Darling…it’s only the people who know you that don’t give you any respect.  And that’s because you hide all your goodness.

Margaret:   I have nothing.  Nothing…

Frank:     Margaret you’re serving your country in the most noble way a woman can, in the finest tradition of nursing.  You have your commission…

Margaret:   War can’t last forever Frank.  They’ll declare peace, and then where will I be?

Margaret receives a letter from a friend who has the life that Margaret feels she has missed out on because of her career in the Army.  This prompts her to impulsively request a transfer to escape her feeling of being undervalued and of an unfulfilled life.

There is much to be said about work taking over a disproportionate amount of our lives; when what we do becomes more important than whom we are or those closest to us.  When work robs us from life, then maybe there is an imbalance that needs to be addressed.  However, if work fulfills our lives and adds value to the lives of others around us, then maybe there is an alignment between work and life that becomes our defining purpose.  I am in a unique place in life where what I do flows directly out of who I am.  I am completely fulfilled by a calling that has led me into a role that aligns with who I am as a person.  In a way, it can be said that I am ‘married to the job’ in the sense that my life and calling have become one.  Are there dangers in such a “marriage”?  Absolutely!  I think they are self evident.  But there is an enormous sense of fulfillment knowing that what I do and who I am leave me feeling completed instead of depleted.

Discovering Your Purpose

Episode 30:  Kim

Trapper:  Maybe this is why I was sent to Korea.
Hawkeye:   Maybe, but I wouldn’t underestimate your draft board.
Trapper:   Up until now I felt my being here was senseless. For  
           the first time I think I have a real reason for being            here.

A wounded Korean boy who was brought to the 4077 was thought to be an orphan, prompting Trapper to write to his wife at home about adopting him.  After receiving positive news from home, the mother of the boy turns up looking for her son. 

For most of my life I have been driven by a clear purpose which has come from a strong calling from a young age.  Yet, there was a season in my life before that calling became a reality when I found myself in an interim job where I lacked any real sense of purpose.  The difference between then and now is that without purpose I was unmotivated and lacked incentive, but with purpose I am highly motivated and have a clear vision for the future.  I believe John Maxwell is right when he says, “Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life.”  Discovering your vocation or mission is like having the fuel that drives an engine. Purpose gives you focus, energy and passion to pursue your particular calling, leading to a life of meaning and fulfillment.  Leaders with purpose build successful teams by inspiring those they lead to discover and fulfill their purpose also.

Bias Toward Action

Episode 29:  Dr Pierce And Mr Hyde

Henry:     Your cuckoo stunts…Taking a general for a ride to North Korea in a latrine.  McIntyre, what makes him do these things?

Trapper:    He’s just unstable.  He took this weird oath as a young man never to stand around and watch people die.

Henry:      I took the same oath, pal.  I didn’t ask to be here.

Trapper:    Me neither.  I guess that makes about 80,000 of us. 

After three straight days of surgery, Hawkeye, asleep on his feet, tries to figure out why they are there in Korea.  He attends Frank’s orientation lecture and takes him literally when he suggests that North Korea wants American plumbing, leading to a comedy of events that results in General Clayton being taken for a ride in a latrine in an attempt to try and stop the war.

By nature, leaders are hard-wired with a “bias toward action” (Bill Hybels).  They are action oriented people who are discontent with the status quo and are driven towards solving problems and fulfilling a purpose.  A leader will never settle for a “that’s just the way things are” response to issues, but will always seek to understand the ‘why’ behind the ‘what’.  While this leadership trait will often step on toes and get leaders into trouble, it is this characteristic that facilitates change and gets things done.  At the end of one of my favourite movies The American President, starring Michael Douglas as President Andrew Shepherd, the President makes a passionate plea at a press conference that captures this bias toward action; “We have serious problems to solve, and we need serious people to solve them.”  Leaders don’t stand around and wonder why things happen, but resolutely work towards making things happen!

Protocol or Purpose

Episode 1:  The Pilot

General Hammond:    You and Pierce are both under arrest

Hawkeye:            What’s the charge General?

General Hammond:    Breaking orders by having this party

Colonel Blake:      And handing out unauthorised passes

Hawkeye and Trapper disobey orders by having a party in Colonel Blake’s absence to raise money for the education of a local Korean boy.  When they are reported to the General, they manage to avoid being court-martialed by impressing the General with their surgical skills.

In leadership there is a fine line between doing what is required and what is right.  Sometimes the boundaries get blurry when protocol gets in the way of purpose.  While I am not advocating for a disregard of authority, there have been times in my leadership where I have made a conscious choice to bypass protocol in the interest of getting the job done.  Similarly, there have been other occasions where an unintentional breach of protocol evoked more concern than the correctness of the issue at hand.  Right or wrong?  I’ll let you be the judge.  However, whenever protocol or process inhibits an organization from fulfilling its purpose, a decision needs to be made by leaders whether to maintain the status quo or to proactively pursue change.  In making a decision between protocol and purpose, one thing I do know, honesty and humility must lead the way.

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