5 Ways To Represent Well

5 WAYS TO REPRESENT WELL
There is an audio version below.

I was always going to church with my mom, dad and sister. I was literally raised under the godly influence both at home and church. There was no alcohol and no smoking at our house. That was the way a Bowden was supposed to live. My dad always told me to represent the Bowden name in a respectful manner.

Bobby Bowden

Our office received a phone call yesterday from an upset woman.  She was calling to complain about the behavior of one of our employees who was driving one of our company vans.  She wrote down the phone number and van number, and she called in to voice her complaint.

 

When I received the news, I naturally called my employee to get his side of the story.  After listening to his story, I spoke with him about the importance of representing our company well.  After all, he was driving around in a mobile billboard – a van with our company’s logo plastered in huge letters across the side of his van.

We all are representing something or someone.

I represent the company I work for.  Sometimes people see this on the logo stitched on my coat.  Sometimes they see it as a result of seeing my business card.

I represent my college.  My co-workers know where I went to college, and I want to make sure I am doing my best to represent my school well.

I represent my family and my family name.  I want the Stolpe family name to stand for something good – to represent care, concern, and action.  Whenever I take action (or fail to take action) people are forming their opinion about me and my family.

And finally, I represent my faith.  My prayer every morning is this:  “Lord, help me to represent you well today.”  People will form their opinion about my faith, my God and my Savior based on my words and my actions.  Therefore, it is important for me to speak and act well.

Paul had this to say to the people of Colossi:

And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.  Colossians 3:17 (NLT)

To help us out in making this a reality in our lives, here are five ways to represent well:

5 Ways To Represent Well

  1. Always be thinking of those you represent.  This may take some practice and a lot of discipline.  If you keep this at the forefront of your mind, you will be less likely to say or do something you regret, and you will be more likely to represent well.
  2. Ask a few people to keep you in check.  It helps to have people in your life who know the real you.  These are people who can call you out when you say or do something dumb.  They can keep you accountable to keeping your motives pure.  Knowing I have people in my life who will ask me how I’m doing helps me represent well.
  3. Look in the mirror.  It’s important to self regulate and self evaluate yourself.  You have to be honest with yourself.  Are your actions, words, and motives pure?  You know the truth.  By looking in the mirror, you will do a better job representing well.
  4. Ask yourself if your Grandma would approve of your words and actions.  What would your Grandma say about your words and your actions?  This may cause you to err on the side of caution, but it will help you represent yourself and others well.
  5. Apologize when necessary.  We all mess up.  The best way to represent when we mess up is to apologize – to come clean and to admit our failings.  Believe it or not, an apology goes a long way to representing well.

Our actions and words have consequences.  At the office today, I will have to deal with the phone call our office received yesterday.  I know my team member will think differently before he acts in the future, and I think I learned a thing or two through this experience as well.

Represent well!

Who and what are you representing?  How do you represent well?  Share your thoughts in the comments.