Posted by BoBoTheBeaten on September 23, 2022, 10:03 am
The below are definitions of the relevant words out of the Merriam Webster Dictionary.
Loyal – faithful to a private person to whom fidelity is due; faithful to a cause, ideal, custom institution, or product.
Fidelity – the quality or state of being faithful.
Development – the act, process, or result of developing.
Develop – to set forth or make clear by degrees or in detail; to make active or promote growth; to expand by a process of growth and make useful.
Respect - to consider worthy of high regard; the quality or state of being esteemed.
I think that long, long time ago when people came to this agency they understood what loyalty meant and expected to be developed in their jobs. They wanted to demonstrate that they were loyal to their supervisors and in turn they expected to be taught things that would make them a better and more valuable employee. Loyalty wasn’t something you had to talk about because those generations were taught the value of loyalty and many other qualities from an early age. Living among other people was not just about yourself, but it was about giving back and taking care of people around you.
Anyone who got involved in the Boy Scouts learned the Twelve Points of the Scout Law. They were also required to demonstrate that they lived by those points.
A Scout is TRUSTWORTHY - "The person who is dishonest shall not live in My house; the person who is untruthful shall not stand before My eyes." (Psalms 101:7)
A Scout is LOYAL - "And Ruth said: "Do not beg me to leave you or to return from following after you, for where you go, I will go; and where you stay, I will stay. " (Ruth 1:16)
A Scout is HELPFUL - "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18)
A Scout is FRIENDLY - "Can two walk together unless they agree?" (Amos 3:3)
A Scout is COURTEOUS - "Honor your father and your mother." (Exodus 20:12)
A Scout is KIND - "Withhold not good from the person to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do it." (Proverbs 3:27)
A Scout is OBEDIENT - "Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to the words of knowledge." (Proverbs 23:12)
A Scout is CHEERFUL - "A glad heart is good medicine." (Proverbs 17:22)
A Scout is THRIFTY - "Precious treasure remains in a wise person's dwelling, but a foolish person uses it up." (Proverbs 21:20)
A Scout is BRAVE - "Be strong and of good courage." (I Chronicles 28:20)
A Scout is CLEAN - "Who shall ascend the mountain of the Lord? And who shall stand in His holy place? The person who has clean hands and a pure heart." (Psalms 24:3-4)
A Scout is REVERENT - "It has been told to you what is good, and what the Lord requires of you; only to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8)
Having worked for over fifty (50) years of my adult life it was much easier to work in my early years. I knew that the man or women who stood next to me was taught the same core values as me. I may not have known that person personally, but I knew what life expected from me and I was confident that they would act accordingly. I grew up in a generation that was more worried about the community than themselves.
Sadly, over my lifetime how things have changed. I think we have too many supervisors, managers and Executive Leadership who grew up without being taught core values or they have forgotten them. Later generations only worries about themselves and doesn’t care about community. Politicians have taken God out of school, the Boy Scouts are constantly under attack and the military has been forced to accept dramatic, unrealistic changes for the sake of political correctness.
The problem for us old guys now is “Can you be loyal to someone who is not loyal to you?” At this point my answer is “No”! If I can’t trust you how can I be loyal to you? If I can’t depend or rely on you then how can I be loyal to you? If you’re not loyal to me then how can I be loyal to you? I can’t! I have gotten to the point that if I believe someone has interfered with my career or my ability to take care of my family I consider it a declaration of war. If I feel like I’m being attacked then I will attack back within the confines of policy and law.
This agency and most other agencies and corporations have gotten themselves into this predicament. They teach one thing and then practice another. We have policies that aren’t applied evenly and we have a Code of Ethics that many mangers conveniently ignore. As a leader if you preach it then you better practice it. You want me to follow you into the “Gates of Hell” – I don’t think so! You’re not worth it.
We have leadership who wants the high salaries and credit for things that works, but they will back away very quickly when something goes wrong. Their first inclination is to look for someone below them to blame to cover their butts. They manage by fear rather than lead by example. Respect and loyalty will come to those who earn it, not demand it.
My hope is that I’ll live long enough to see things to start to change back again, but change will have to start at the top. My fear is that things have gotten so bad that it will take many generations for things
Greetings TDCJ employees from Texas Prison Reform. Im an advocate working with many non-profits to bring change to Texas namely for those in Restrictive housing which is understaffed and under paid when dealing with the working conditions. Im going to drop my email here so that anyone who wants to talk about bringing change to all units please email me and tell me what you need the most to help you not only preform your core job duties but to better the conditions and treatment from rank-TM Endadsegtx@gmail.com
I've been here for over three decades and I've seen R&RP at it's best and now at it's worse. This is what happens when you hire the least qualified applicant for any position. As long as it's being moved to Huntsville, Executive Administration should reach out to Rita Flores and convince her to return from retirement. She is one of the best managers in the business and she does it without making enemies of her staff. Past habits will dictate that any job out there will be awarded to friends and/or family of Executive Administrators and things probably won't change for several more decades.
Rita is no longer in any condition to return. If you are unaware. Although you are 100 percent correct. RRP is not moving to Huntsville, it’s a satellite office, 3 of us so far. Think on that.
So sorry to hear about Rita. I promoted Rita twice. I use to be the PS-V over that office. Rumor in Austin is that the whole operation is moving there.