Inna Shukshina

 By their fruits you shall know them… (how this quotation will help in your work)

 Today I wanted to share with you my experience of how I apply one of the biblical truths in life. (the full quotation is at the end).

There are principles in life, or ideas, or opportunities, about which it is not immediately clear whether they will do good or harm, but some doubts arise. And it is very far from always possible to understand at once, by the mind alone and by reasoning, what is suitable for us and what is not. In such a case I apply precisely this truth — knowing them by their fruits. I recommend the same to my believing clients in coaching.

A year ago one of my clients accepted a job that interested her and that she wanted to try, but that did not pay very well and came with a nervous boss. For quite a long time it was not clear whether it was a good job or not. There seemed to be prospects, and she was promised a pay rise… But there were doubts. Payments were delayed, the boss spoke to her disrespectfully and buried her in tasks, even though she is a very good employee. But hope kept living on — what if everything improves.. even though a year had already passed and it was only getting worse. What if it was her fault, if she had not finished something, what if she simply had to wait and try harder… She was held there by the expectation of the prospects the boss kept promising. Just a little more, just a little bit more.. and everything will be great. But she no longer had the strength to live at that pace. And she came to me to help her make sense of herself.

And then we looked at the fruits together. During her time at that company her self-esteem had fallen, she had become nervous, had started taking things out on those close to her, and her earnings had dropped. What is more, she had already begun sabotaging her work assignments — oversleeping, postponing, being late, simply unable to start a task, which increased the number of complaints and reproaches even further. The work had stopped inspiring her and her belief in herself had collapsed. On top of that, she was already being blamed for things she had not done at all. And newly arrived employees, seeing that attitude and fearing for their own jobs, also started pinning all the blame on her. Staff turnover at the firm was high.

In cases like this the solution varies. Some people simply need to look at themselves, to see their own contribution to the situation, to take responsibility and to build effective work and beneficial interaction in the job they have. Others will only be helped by leaving and changing. In this case my client decided that she could no longer put up with her boss’s antics and the way he treated his subordinates, and decided to leave. The decision was not an easy one, but she felt an enormous relief. Soon she received a job offer with a friendly boss and for a larger sum. But that happened only thanks to her work on herself and the fact that she did the coaching assignments very diligently, came to a great many realisations and consolidated new beliefs about herself and about work. After all, without changing herself she would simply have attracted another boss exactly like that one into her life. The idea that only circumstances are to blame is usually an illusion.

So, if you have doubts about something, if you are not sure what is right and what is not, then it is worth drawing your conclusion from the fruits. The same applies to our feelings, habits and actions.

“By their fruits you shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. (Matthew 7)”