Working in the social justice sphere is not unlike working in any other sphere. Don’t get me wrong, the indicators of a job-well-done being more people with healthier lives does consistently feel pretty good, but that doesn’t mean that your working environment is floating high and mightily above the grit and grime of the rest of the world’s workweek.
Those of us fortunate to work in development still deal with typical professional issues faced by other, well, professionals. Promptness when arriving to work, respect for the facilitator during a particularly lame staff meeting, miscommunication via email, opposing priorities and other issues with professionalism at work are equally faced by development workers when compared to mainstream blue or white collared-ness.
At times it’s difficult to justify frustration and outrage, I mean we’re all working for a cause right? Everyone means well, so let the little things go … right? Who are we to determine what’s culturally acceptable as a “good” job … … …
… right?
Um, wrong.
Work is hard, that’s why it’s called work. Working in a social justice capacity is still work, and when the stakes are the health and safety of our “beneficiaries” (aka other people), the pressure to do a “good” job can feel even higher. In that sense, efficiency and professionalism at work should be taken even more seriously, and even though we are all working towards a common cause, with all the good intentions in the world (at various stages of development), sometimes it takes being a jerk to get things done.
When? You ask. How about, like; calling people out when they contradict themselves, efficiently breaking unrelated chatter during a meeting, or politely reminding people that they’ll survive 5 more minutes until tea break.
Sometimes I feel a little too much like a jerk, and have to sort of rein in my well-honed sarcastic whip (yes, whip) and address the lack of efficiency in working across cultures in a more sensitive way. I like that I am consistently challenged to grow and adapt, but also like that sometimes I get to be my jerky self when the time calls for it.
Are you a jerk too? Maybe you should think about using your inner jerk to help others, that’s what I did, and may be the only reason I still have friends.