Performance Review

I have worked in water safety for almost four decades; in pools, on beaches, swimming lessons, coaching, program development and lots and lots of other bits and pieces.

Periodically, I’ll take a position at a new facility or an old facility will revamp. When this happens, it is often time for a performance review. These can be held as groups or one on one, be formal or casual, and the questions may vary but the thing that remains the same is, “What do I bring to the table” and “How can I grow to be better”.

2 Corinthians 13:5

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves…

Most of the people that I work with are teenagers; they are just starting out and discovering who they are and what their strengths are. I’m not a teenager anymore (insert big laughing emoji here!). I have been doing this for a very long time. So what do we have in common? Our vision. We are working in aquatics because we believe in water safety and we enjoy working with people. Sometimes, we lose sight of why we are doing something or perhaps our actions or our attitudes don’t reflect our initial excitement about whatever it is that we are doing.

The first part of my performance review is: am I passionate about doing this? Am I truly invested in the result?

Matthew 22:37

Love the Lord with all your heart, your soul and your mind…

How often do I do part of a job? When I wipe the counters, do I just go over the visible space, or do I move the small appliances to wipe underneath them? Not because someone will see, but because if left, the crumbs and spills will eventually overflow out onto the usable area – making it unusable.

The second part of my performance review is: am I prepared to do this?

2 Timothy 2:15

Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman who needs not be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.

I cannot express how much I enjoy and benefit from writing these little devotions. I’m sure that they do more for me and my walk with the Lord than I ever imagined they would. Sometimes though, if I haven’t spent time with the Lord through the week (I almost wrote enough time, but can you ever spend enough time with the Lord?) then when I sit down to write, there is nothing there. If I have been reading, studying, praying and living the Word of God, writing about it just seems to flow.

Matthew 12:34

Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.

The third part of my performance review is: am I committed to doing the work?

Romans 12:1-2

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

When I was a youngster, if I wasn’t 15 minutes early, I was late. Too often, I now see workers showing up as the clock strikes or even a little bit after the designated time to start. Imaging a lifeguard who spent their shift on their cell phone instead of watching the pool or a swim instructor who let the children go into the deep water without the benefit of a swimming aid or the supervision of the one who was put in place for their safety. In your spiritual journey, are you someone’s lifeguard? Are you distracted by the temptations of the world and thus not watching out for those under your care and influence? Are you someone’s instructor? Are you ignorant of what is safe or unwilling to set boundaries to help guide them?

These performance reviews are an excellent refocusing tool; one that is free and can be accessed at any time. That said, they are not always an easy thing to do. It is difficult to be challenged and even harder to be rebuked.

If you are not sure where you stand in one of these three elements of your personal performance review, ask a trusted friend, pray about it, seek it out in God’s Word and then, decide what you’re going to do about it.

The goal of a performance review is to help shape us more into the best version of the person we were created to be. We all need to reevaluate and we will all need to make adjustments and improvements.

Let’s all use a performance review to set our sights on becoming more like our Lord, Jesus.

Luke 2:52

Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, in favour with God and man.

1 Thessalonians 4:1

Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more.