Doing More Than Your Share

“Do more than you have to do, more than your share, and do it as well as you can.”

• Ralph Charell

Your Share

Great question — What is your share?

If we are concerned about taxes, 59.9% of households paid taxes in 2022.  Sixty percent of the population was employed.  Thirty-six percent had health insurance.  Sixty-two percent voted in the last presidential election.  Ten percent were food insecure, and 21% received income from other federal government programs.  And 11.6% are below the poverty line.

Every volunteer program I am familiar with is in dire need of more volunteers.

Additionally, everyone has a share of the national debt, a percentage of our nation’s carbon footprint, and a share of our gross domestic product.

We all are contributors to the sour cultural climate we live in and have an impact on the vitriolic conversation about everything.

Some people are more active and doing more.  Some are doing less.

Some people want more of some things and less of other things.

In short, there is no definition of “our share.”  But it is clear that many want more of the good things and less of the bad.

Doing More Than Your Share

Seth Godin wrote the following:

“The math is simple: many people do less than they should.

They might be selfish, but it’s likely that they’re struggling with a lack of resources or a story of insufficiency.  Either way, in any community or organization, many people contribute less than their peers.

Whether it’s splitting a check, getting a project done or making an impact on the culture or a cause, if you want things to get better, the only way is to be prepared to do more than your fair share.

Because we need to make up for the folks who don’t.”

More Than Your Share at Work

“No one does any work around here but me.”

The truth is that most people believe they’re doing more than their fair share of the work.

It’s a quirk of human egocentrism psychologists call overclaiming.  People wrongly assume that time spent on a project is productive time spent on a project and claim credit accordingly.

Business leaders and entrepreneurs are responsible for making sure everyone is working and that the work is fairly divided.  However, because of their “overclaiming” tendencies, employees will be incapable of determining their own work distribution.

To compensate for this, bosses need to:

Have a plan – Divvying up assignments for your team members requires forethought and planning,

Clarify roles – be sure of all employee’s roles and responsibilities.

Set expectations – needs to be a clearly articulated and repeated value for everyone.  Everyone ought to be equally contributing based on their talents, skills, and energy.

The Bible

Seth Godin is correct.

Many people are not doing their share.  Whether it be in our nation or at work, more people need to step up.  This is to compensate for the economically and socially disadvantaged as well as the overclaiming people in our lives.

Doing more of our share includes contributing a little more, volunteering more, and taking on more responsibility at work.  Many think they are doing their share, but they are not.

Galatians 6:2 says,

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

Then a few verses later, Galatians 6:5 says

for each one should carry their own load.

Did you notice that Galatians 6:5 was about a load – which is defined as something we are to bear alone.  Conversely, Galatians 6:2 is about burdens – which is defined as extra heavy loads or situations that are difficult to endure by oneself.

Our brothers and sisters face situations in life that are weighty and oppressive, especially as they relate to our battle against sin and temptation.  So, Paul says that we need to help one another bear these unwieldy and troublesome burdens to fulfill Christ’s commandment of love.

In contrast to the unwieldy burdens everyone encounters, we each have a load that we can and must carry individually.

Business leaders have a great responsibility to help people carry more than their share.  Yes, employees need to do more, but our culture needs people who will carry burdens for others.  We all have our loads, but we all need to do more than our share.