All is not black and white in life, but I have seen that some go through life wearing a bib and others take their journey wearing an apron. Some transfer from one stage to another as they grow and mature, and some will change their attire according to the situation.
So, what are the characteristics of a "bib wearer?" A bib wearer is a person who sits and waits, a person who wants to be fed, and a person who may see things pass them by because they are waiting for everything to come to them instead of trying to make things happen. We've all seen them in our offices. They are the employees who always call the minute something goes wrong, they don't try to figure out their way out of a mess, and usually will not take the initiative to relate their previous experiences and training to apply it to their current crisis. This person will not take the initiative to learn more on their own and will usually do the bare minimum to get by.
Sometimes our "work martyrs" will fall into this category. Those who are too busy to ask for help, the ones who work so much harder than everyone else around them (they will tell you so) and they are the ones who probably would have more spare time than anyone if they utilized their time to improve and be productive instead of being a victim at every turn. Bib people may even be your extra hours and overtime people, but if the truth was known, they will be some of your worst time wasters. They usually don't accept help because they don't want someone to figure out their insufficiencies at work.
Bib people see life as "what will life give me." They see things as they are, looking for only what will benefit them. In conflict, bib people think only of themselves and the impact of situations as to their benefit, their image and their outcome. Bib people seek the opportunities to make it big quick, to get that deal that is too good to be true and run over others to feed themselves with whatever their appetite of the day desires.
Bib people never do anything that is their fault. Circumstances made them do it; computers messed it up; someone else started the process, so they wouldn't have done it wrong if it hadn't been started wrong. Bib people are unaccountable to others and refuse to accept blame. Bib people preach "fairness", but often their view of fair is that everyone should be as miserable as them.
So, we've beaten up on the bib wearers, what type of a person are apron wearers? An apron wearer is the hard worker who is responsible, always is there to help others and wants little if any recognition for their hard work and efforts. An apron wearer is the person who is there to serve, a person who sees life and asks what can I do for others and what can I do in a situation to change the outcome to a better result?
Apron wearers are those who seek ways to help the business and seek ways to help their co-workers. They are often the idea people when there are decisions to be made. They will base their decisions on what will be best for all, not just themselves. Often, they will base their decisions without regard for the effect it will have on them.
Apron wearers see fairness in a sacrificial way. Fair to them is that other people as just as happy about things as they are. Shared misery is not a thing that they are happy with. Apron wearers are those who will most likely succeed as a result of their hard work and service attitude, but success comes as a surprise to them because it is an afterthought and a byproduct of their serving nature, not their goal.
So, every day when we get ready for work, are we going to put on a bib or put on an apron? Are we going to go into situations seeking what will "feed" us best, or are we going to serve the situation unselfishly with the group's success in mind? It's a choice that each of us makes, and remember, bibs and aprons are easy to take off and put on, but the attitudes that come with them can be really hard to change.