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Golden Rule at Work
Table of Contents
Treat colleagues the way you want to be treated - in email tone, credit, deadlines, and hallway gossip.
Key Concept
- It is active, not passive: do the helpful thing, do not only avoid harm.
- The check is experiential - how would you want feedback delivered, how would you want to be included, how would you want a mistake handled?
- Gospel depth lives in The Golden Rule; this is the version used before hitting send.
Level 1 - Recognize
Golden rule at work means doing the helpful thing you would want done - active, not passive avoidance of harm.
Level 2 - Explain
Like holding a door you would want held - step in on the tedious task, not just stay out of the way.
Level 3 - Use
Ask what you would want if roles flipped - then do that helpful move instead of only keeping your head down.
Level 4 - Connect
Passive fairness leaves people stuck - because you would want someone to act for you, the rule pushes you to act.
Level 5 - Create
Create a team norm for feedback, credit, and tedious work by writing the treatment you would want when roles reverse.
Examples
- My draft reply to the new team manager was technically right and needlessly harsh - glad I paused, asked how I would want that correction on my worst game day, and rewrote it.
- The group chat pile-on about the neighbor's messy yard - I asked how I would want feedback if my lawn looked that way, then said nothing mean.
Note Relationships
| Relationship | Wikilink | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| alternative | Love Your Enemies | Fair treatment for allies vs harder love when someone actively opposes you |
| contradicts | Pareto Principle | when I optimize for my 20% and treat the other 80% as disposable |
| extends | Follow Their Lead | Reverse roles includes entering their thread first |
| extends | Listen Before Fixing | Treat them how you would want - heard before fixed |
| extends | The Golden Rule | Same ethic with meeting-room language instead of sermon vocabulary |
