Bernard Rimland, director of the Institute of Child Behaviour Research once conducted a study on the principle of the golden rule.
In that research, Rimland discovered that “The happiest people are those who help others.” Each person involved in the study was asked to list ten people he/she knew best, and to label them as happy or not happy.
Then, they were made to go through the list again and label each person as either selfish or unselfish, using the following definition of selfishness, “A stable tendency to devote one’s time and resources to one’s own interest, and welfare, an unwillingness to inconvenience one’s self for others”.
In categorising the result, Rimland found out that all of the people labelled happy were also labelled unselfish. He, then, wrote that those ‘whose activities are devoted to bringing themselves happiness are far less likely to be happy than those whose efforts are devoted to making others happy.’
In conclusion, Rimland stated, ‘do unto others as you would have them do unto you.’
Patricia Baquedano-Lopez, an associate professor at, University of California, USA explained socialisation as the process of becoming a competent member of a given society, hence, in this piece, the office.
The socialisation process is embedded in a specific community of practice in which the professional veterans have common goals and share a repertoire of resources such as knowledge, experience, attitudes, values, among others.
There is an obvious hierarchical difference between the veteran staff in the office and the younger ones as well as an asymmetrical distribution of office cultural knowledge, influence, and power in the organisation among the two groups.
It is an accepted truth that a candlestick loses nothing by kindling another candlestick, rather it adds to its brightness.
The truth of this matter is that one stands to lose nothing if he/she helps a colleague realise his/her dreams. After all, it is said that what we make happen for others, will certainly happen to us.
Ever heard the saying, “what goes around, comes around”. No matter how we may look at life, the cardinal principle of life is found in sowing and reaping. Everything a man (staff) does in or off the office setting is seed sowing. Seed sowing is one natural law that cuts across religions, nations, cultures, and generations.
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Hence, children have been found to reap fruits of what their parents had sown, good or bad. Another universal truism is that our actions most times speak louder than our voices, especially in those moments when we are not there to defend ourselves.
A story was told of a young man who lost the opportunity of being employed in a multinational firm simply because while the interview was ongoing, the interviewer saw his curriculum vitae with a striking resemblance of the name of a lecturer who sexually harassed her while in school, and on enquiring, she got to know that he was a son of the lecturer.
Of course, the young man lost the opportunity, consequent to what his father did some years back while in office. Imagine how the boy would have been treated if his father was kind to the lady in question. Little wonder, the elders would caution against throwing stones in the marketplace.
Research has shown that no matter your position in life, helping people to succeed is the best investment. Yes, some people may not deserve our help but helping them is a way of teaching them to change.
It is a proven fact that people will always discuss people in the office setting. Give and take, what people would say about you will definitely revolve around things you did, did not do or said at one time or another.
Sometimes, it is easy to forget the good feelings that come with lending a helping hand to a colleague; that is the greatest reward ever on earth. Imagine a colleague telling others how you helped him/her to succeed in his/her career.
egos get in the way, and we long for recognition when we do good deeds. However, when we diligently seek to do good things, we procure divine favour. No doubt, people are in the workplace primarily for their daily bread; nevertheless, the workplace offers people the room to socialise.
It takes sacrifice to help others out of their predicaments because giving is a difficult task. Hence, it is only a liberal heart that can share knowledge, experience, or give what he/she has, because giving is a matter of the heart, and matters of the heart are the heart of the matter.
