"You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to
enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand."
Woodrow Wilson
28th President of the United States
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"I've got mail. Again."
I held up the oversized envelope bearing the Donaldson logo, addressed to me, and grinned.
Mike shook his head. "They sure know what they're doing, don't they?"
I reached inside the envelope and pulled out a beautiful glossy 14 month calendar. Emblazoned across the cover was a breathtaking picture of Cruz Bay in the Virgin Islands. Inside were 13 more photos, along with island recipes, trivia, and information.
In January of this year we began to receive a package in the mail every month or so from Mike's company. Labeled "Incentive Package," these oversized envelopes contained all kinds of good things and it became rather exciting to spot yet another one in the mailbox and then rip excitedly into it as soon as we were inside the house.
Inside the packages were numberous momentos - calendars, paper weights, postcards, and letters - all bearing images of the Virgin Islands, along with the constant reminder: "Meet me in reef!"
The reminder was of Donaldson's sales contest. For each territory manager that met a certain sales goal PLUS for the 2007 fiscal year would receive an all-expense, six-day five-night paid trip for TWO to the beautiful island of St. Thomas. These photos and island recipes that kept finding their way to our mailbox were certainly appealing. It was rather easy to see why the packages were clearly labeled "incentive."
But the amazing thing is that each of these packages is addressed to me, Mike's spouse, and all the goodies inside? Yep, that's right. They're meant for me. Marketed to appeal to a woman's love of all things island-like, I - along with the other wives - continued to receive incentives in the mail.
Incentives that would, no doubt, help us to spark a fire beneath our spouses in an effort to make this year wildly successful and profitable. Certainly profitable enough to earn us a trip to St. Thomas.
That is - if incentives worked like that in our home. I've thought a lot about this these past few months and I'm just not sure that they do.
The boys have received an allowance since they were preteens and began to need money in order to have the occasional hang-out time with their friends. It was generally a set amount and fairly regular, but not really associated with chores or responsibilities.
That's because, around here, chores and responsibilities are expected and required simply because, hey, you're a member of this household and we all pitch in to help get things done. Cleaning your room and swabbing out your toilet every once in a while do not a big fat wallet guarantee.
Some weeks the chore load may seem mighty light and, yet others, it may seem downright unfair. But the payoff is that things keep humming around here as they should, not that the end result is more green in the hands of our kids. So if money is not the incentive to do what is expected around here, then what IS?
The wrath of Mom? The possibility of having your week's worth of dirty laundry tossed out? The fear of having your weekend plans put on permanent pause if the yard is not tended by the time you're set to go out?
I'd like to say that the incentive is that it just feels good to do a good job at something that has been assigned to you. You remember, don't you, nothing feels better than a job well done. But more than likely it's one of the above, and I'll take that. Sometimes it takes a while to layer in all the ingredients necessary to create an awesome character. As a mom, I'm acting on faith that all of the chores performed in the past ten years will someday, somehow, play a role in molding responsible, conscientious men out of my boys.
What Donaldson may or may not know yet about Mike is that they didn't have to hang a nice, attractive carrot in front of him to get him to perform. He - truly - IS the same yesterday, today, and forever. Not quite like Jesus, but you get what I mean...He is going to put in just as much time, sweat, and energy with the client who will spend a hundred bucks as he will with the company likely to place a triple digit order. He's just that way. Born and bred to work hard, work diligently, and work faithfully. He'll be happy to win the trip, I'm sure, but he'll be just fine if he doesn't.
And me? Well, I'm sticking to my belief that the best possible reward for a job well done is the good 'ol feeling you get down deep inside, knowing that you've given a job your all. But I think I will finish this post and log a few miles on the treadmill. You know, just in case I find myself vacationing someplace exotic like - I don't know, the VIRGIN ISLANDS - come this November.
Hmm...maybe those Donaldson folks DO know what they're doing, after all! What about you? What - or WHO - motivates YOU?