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This post is part of our Sunday Series titled “Articles of Faith.”
We investigate leadership lessons from the Bible.
See the whole series here. Published only on Sundays.
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Hard to believe that it is September once again and that tomorrow we mark the unofficial end of summer in the Northern Hemisphere.

Labor Day

Tomorrow, of course, is what we call Labor Day in the United States.  Ironically, on a day that celebrates work and labor, most of us enjoy a day off around BBQ grills and swimming pools.  Labor Day, however, is also a great reminder of what makes our world so great — the dedicated, selfless, hard work of millions of men and women day in and day out to their jobs.

Most of these workers are readily engaged in their work and see it as meaningful and fulfilling.  However, many are not.  They are marginally engaged or perhaps disengaged altogether and simply seeking a paycheck.

So, what does Scripture teach us about the meaning of work and how we, as leaders, can help others to find meaning and fulfillment that will last beyond a lifetime?

First Things First

First, we must acknowledge that God expects and rewards the work of man’s hands.  Many of the wise sayings of King Solomon found in Proverbs speak of the honor of hard work or the profound consequences of the absence of work.

Proverbs 12:11 tells us this:

“He who works his land will have abundant food, but he who chases fantasies lacks judgment.”

Proverb 13:4 reminds us that:

“The lazy man craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.”

So, we clearly establish that work is honorable before the Lord and He indeed rewards our faithfulness in our work.   Part of our task as leaders is to challenge those we lead to find an eternal value in their work and to understand that in working hard, we fulfill our God-given call on our lives and bring Him glory.

“. . . or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God”  I Corinthians 10:31

Next…

Secondly, we as leaders are charged with helping people to find their greatest fulfillment within the body, whether that be the body of Christ or the organization we lead.

Nearly ten years ago now, Jim Collins first published his bestseller, Good to Great.

In this groundbreaking work, he talks about not only getting the right people on the bus but also getting the right people on the right seat on the bus.  While the book itself was new and innovative, the concept of the right seat is certainly not new.

The apostle Paul addressed this centuries before in his letter to the Corinthian church.  In his lengthy discussion in chapter 12, he calls on the early church to recognize the unique place each member of the group held for the mission of the larger body.

He lays down the foundation for accomplishment, efficiency, and personal fulfillment.

Paul establishes that when each one does his or her own part, the organization (in this case, the church) will achieve exceedingly more than we ever could individually.

And Again…

Again, what is my role as a leader?  In this context, our role becomes guiding people to find the right seat for them that will fulfill their unique call to labor for God.  How do we best do this?  While not specifically Christian in value, here are some guiding principles to consider:

• Passions
• Fire
• Energy
• Skills
• Personality
• Gifts
• Talents
• Experiences
• Values
• Maturity

One other principle that jumps out of Paul’s writing in I Corinthians is the idea that we, as leaders, must show value to each position and person.

While we are probably most familiar with verses 27-30 of Chapter 12, we often overlook the principles found in the preceding verses.  There, Paul admonishes us to give GREATER honor to those positions we see as less important.  If we want to be maximum impact leaders, we demonstrate that by giving high honor, praise, and recognition to those who labor hard day after day with humility and faithfulness.

Finally

Finally, the buzz in today’s leadership circles is all about employee engagement.  Gallup, Inc. is estimating that employee disengagement is costing the U.S. economy more than $300 billions in lost productivity.

While there are obviously many factors involved, I just wonder how much of this could be saved if we adopted the biblical model of work.

A model that calls for hard work based on an eternal value, the unique design of each employee, and the recognized value of each person within our organizations.

So what is your point of view of those who labor under your authority? Do you honor and praise them and give them recognition when appropriate? Do you also hold them accountable to the larger goals and objectives? Are you the kind of boss that looks to keep your team running smoothly by putting the right people in the right places for the maximum benefit of the group? I would love to hear your thoughts!

——————–
Steve Quinn is President of Vital Leadership Consulting
Consultant for leadership development, organizational development and career coaching
Email | LinkedIn | Twitter | 678-520-6830

Leaders often earn their positions. Some get their positions of authority and power through circumstance. Others have a birthright that places them on a throne. Some even reluctantly fall into their slots through no ambition or desire of their own. In free societies, public leaders most often get their through the ballot box.

But no matter how a leader gets to the stage, when the lights come on, leader are there for everyone to see and observe. And May God bless ‘em!

And on the stage of leadership, the swooning admirers and ravaging pundits are hungry for fodder with microphones and cameras at the ready. Effective leaders understand that people are watching and act appropriately. Tone-deaf leaders ignore the audience.

The Brightest of Lights

The most powerful leader in the free world is the President of the United States. The position offers a stage for the world like none other. The current occupant of that office started his first term with a thunderous roar of approval, but has seen his publicity fortunes and popularity fade since being inaugurated.

With the mid-term elections coming in the United States Congressional elections in November 2010, many of the national political polls are trumpeting the long decline in President Barrack Obama’s poll numbers. There are many underpinning to this decline in popularity that are understandable because of economics. But others reasons are simply caused by a lack of listening to voices outside of his circle of interests.

Economic conditions of the electorate are stymied. And with high unemployment numbers being set against record federal spending and monumental budget deficits caused by the President’s desires to stimulate the economy, his popularity has hit a backlash.

And the world is watching. The lights are bright.

Some Reasoning

On top of this economic trouble and a muddled response to the Gulf of Mexico oil crisis, the President and his administration maintained a dogmatic approach to a federal takeover of financial and housing markets, automobile manufacturing, healthcare, and more. Although there was opposition all the way, the President focused on his objectives with fervor.

For his country, these types of changes caused many to wonder why the takeover was so necessary and needed so quickly. Echoing in many’s ears was the words of his top advisors on the evening news spouting opportunistic phrases like “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.”

This just sounds a little unsettling for people who are nervous about their own stability, their savings, and their future. They wonder if anyone in power is listening to their concerns.

For a country of people in financial pain with most of them having serious questions about the future, theses types of behaviors look much less like leadership and much more like an opportunist with an unknown or questionable agenda steamrolling ahead.

Calls for moderation seemingly fall on deaf ears.

Fuel for the Tone-Deaf Fire

And as the clock turns, new statements about supporting a controversial mosque being built at “Ground Zero” in New York City with over 70% of the people in his country opposed to such a thing, it begins to make the President look like he is not  listening to the people who elected him.

He also faced 70% opposition to his position on an Arizona immigration law that was a mirror of existing federal law. People just scratch their heads and wonder why their President is not listening and barreling down the tracks.

With a string of unpopular, and questionable decisions, pundits are trying to pin the President’s low popularity numbers on his political allies in Congress and in state governor’s races to try to influence each race against the Democrats who are up for re-election. Their task is getting easier by the week.

And Then There is Golf

With political differences always brewing and the ebb and flow of public opinions over policy or statements continuing to rage, one can excuse behaviors as political or partisan. But one thing that cannot be excused by anyone of any political bend is the outward display of arrogance and privilege in the heat of a major recession that causes people of every stripe to take pause.

During the reported slow or “measured response” to the BP oil crisis, universally described at the time as the worst natural disaster in the history of the nation,  pundits were saying “‘Gulf,’ not ‘Golf’” in reference to the amount of time the Chief Executive was devoting to his pleasure and pastimes.

This smacks of arrogance and indifference to the rest of the country who isn’t quite so lucky.

Adding to this seemingly poorly timed display of recreational abandon is the number of vacations and the destinations selected for these forays. The lavish trip to Spain by the First Lady was the one over-the-top venture that lead many on both ends of the political spectrum to call the First Couple out-of-touch, arrogant, and elitists.

“Suddenly, the popular first lady was being compared to Marie Antoinette and labeled a “material girl” sponging off taxpayers.” (AP)

Democratic analyst Kirsten Powers says this about the wisdom of the trip:

“Most Americans are just not going to relate to going to Spain with however many friends she has with her… staying at this exclusive hotel, spending all this money, and it is extremely tone-deaf. Politically, it is absolutely tone-deaf. I can’t even believe that she has done it, frankly. It is not what people do in their first term.”

How to Be A Tone-Deaf Leader

So, if you want to be called tone deaf by others, here are some steps to take to rise to the top of the Tone Deaf Leaderboard:

• Surround yourself with “Yes Men.”
• Serve your dogma soup at every meal. Add whip cream on your dogma parfait to mix things up.
• Pass out earmuffs to all of your Yes Men to keep them safe from aural poison or objective influence.
• Focus on your personal comfort. Act like royalty.
• Follow “the script” until death. Never waiver.
• Disregard polling data. “Cake-eaters” don’t matter anyway.
• Play, laugh, and vacation in style while others are out of work and suffering.

Hear Me Leaders

Tone deaf leaders are not just heads of state. They show up in every type of organization where leaders focus on personal position, reward, power, control, or will to force their views onto others. Tone deafness is not the actual problem with these types of people, it is just a tool they use to focus.

The problem with these types of leaders is selfishness.

From this perch, arrogance, pride, entitlement, and a whole host of self-aggrandizing behaviors take hold.

If you find your hearing failing in your role as a leader, try to take a break from your obsession with your own needs, wants, and goals. Then raise your head just a little bit and see that others are around you. Talk to them. Listen to them. Understand them. Know that they just might be valuable. You also just might find others to be quite enjoyable!

Are you a tone-deaf leader? Do you REALLY listen to your people? Do you understand the people you lead? If you might be a little self-focused, what steps can you take to care a little more about the others around you? Do you have a tone-deaf leader at your workplace? Tattle on them here!

——————–
Tom Schulte is Executive Director of Linked 2 Leadership
He provides leadership training fit for the Blackberry-Attention-Span
Email | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Web | Video | Conference | Blog

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Did you know that every influential leader is a situational leadership theory guru? Did you know that situational leadership theory shows up in every area of your life, every day?

Situational What?

What is Situational Leadership Theory? The name sounds complicated, but it’s not.

At the core it is this: honing your ability to adapt how you communicate with others.

It is seeking to understand the other person’s point-of-view and then appreciating their view. And at the same time, adapting how you work with, communicate with, and think about the other person in order to develop a more cohesive and effective relationship.

It is this ongoing focus on improving relationships with others that leads to higher levels of influence and to getting more done efficiently and effectively.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

A Day in Three Lives

Let’s look at how being a situational leader ‘guru’ impacts life.

Here are three conversations I have had in the past 24 hours:

Lunch with my Dad

At lunch my father complained,

“I told her I wanted to go on a cruise. She said I’d have to go without her… What’s wrong with her?”

Dad’s talking about my mom; his wife of 49 years.

Walking with my Neighbor

When I was walking my dog, my neighbor bragged about two of his college age kids and scorned the third,

“Kenny and Michele are so focused. They’re going to be great engineers, but Junior – he’s just way too social. He’s just not like the others. He sure can’t handle engineering!”

My neighbor’s been an engineer for 20 years.

Talking Business

Business owner Jim is frustrated with his partner Kim,

“She’s focusing too much on details; we need more sales she needs to do what I’m doing and  just get out there and meet people! What’s wrong with her?”

Jim loves to network. He says that this has always been his number one strategy for business and sales success.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

The “Un-Guru”

Each scenario represents people who are NOT using the power of situational leadership theory to create stronger more effective relationships with people they would like to positively influence, motivate, and inspire.

Each “leader”  is communicating with, and viewing the other person, through their own eyes and their own preferences.

For example: Dad loves to do things on the spur of the moment. It energizes him. He’s always been that way. My Mom loves to plan, go at a steady pace, and she resists change. She’s always been that way.

Becoming A   Situational Leadership “Guru”

By studying this Guide on Situational Leadership, my Dad could be on his way toward  becoming a situational leadership ‘guru’.  He could begin to understand and appreciate that my mom needs to take change and new ideas slowly.  Mom would probably go on a cruise with him, but Dad will need to approach it more strategically.

One might think he would have figured it by now after 49 years… But this is just what most of us do – we expect others to want what we want.

Small Steps Toward Success

Dad should share his ideas and details about the cruise in small ‘bites’ with his wife. He could share brochures with her.  He could take her dinner with other couples who have had recently enjoyed a cruise. They could watch some travel shows together.  He could stop and really listen to her concerns.

In other words, Dad needs to adapt his communication style and approach to meet Mom’s needs. He needs to think about her preferences and how she makes decisions and communicate with her based on her needs, not just his own.

Neighborly Advice

The same advice applies to my neighbor and his three kids.

He’s an engineer. It is easy for him to appreciate and value the talents of his two children who are most like him. He could use situational leadership theory to learn to understand, respect and appreciate his youngest son’s social side.

In the process he would learn more about himself and learn to value the diversity of his children and other people.

Business Sense

Business owner Jim could work more effectively with his partner Kim.  Kim is reserved in her style and she is detailed oriented.  Jim is expressive and he moves fast.

As Jim learns to appreciate and acknowledge Kim’s strengths, they will fight less and make more progress.  And by adapting his usual fast-moving style he can also be a more effective coach as he  helps Kim get comfortable with sales and  networking.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

As you can see from these simple examples situational leadership theory comes into play in every communication and relationship.

Become a situational leadership theory “guru” and your leadership life will become brighter, happier, and more influential.

Are you a leadership  ‘guru?’  Do you use the power of situational leadership theory to lead people?  Or are you ignoring it and expecting everyone to be like you? I would love to hear of your “situation!”

——————–
Suzie Price is a Facilitator and Publisher of WakeUpEager.com
She provides resources for leaders who want to Wake Up Eager
Email | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Web

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Courage defined:

cour·age [kur-ij, kuhr-]

1. The quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery. (dictionary.com)

What comes to mind when you think about these couragous acts:

• Speaking in public
• Bungee jumping from a bridge
• Skydiving from a plane
• Wearing a bathing suit in public
• Confronting a friend
• Confronting a liar
• Confronting a lying  friend, who happens to be your boss

Do you find yourself energized by the thought of having to perform these activities, or do you shutter with fear?

But what happens when you lack courage as a leader? In certain areas of leadership:

Are you a scared by things that make you uncomfortable?

Do you avoid things out of fear?

Are you someone who frightens easy when it comes to some specific topic or endeavor?

Leadership Fail

Many young leaders and seasoned leaders alike find themselves in situations where they lack courage in doing something that their job or positions require. This could be reprimanding an employee, having to speak in front of a large group of people, having to prepare employee review, or having to deal with uncomfortable or confrontational situations.

And with this fear or lack of courage for facing the uncomfortable task, negative things can come into play in the leaders behaviors. Inaction, poor decision-making, awkwardness, missteps, and worse can negatively impact you, your relationships, and your level of influence in future engagements.

Your Magic Wand

Fortunately, there is a way to overcome a lack of leadership courage. It works like a magic wand, but you have to add your own dose of magic dust to make your magic wand work properly for you.

Step1

Identify and isolate your enemy.

Your enemy is fear. Google how to overcome fear and pick the formula that works for you.

Step 2

Look at the scary task objectively.

The task is rarely too large to overcome. Study the components that make up the task at hand. Write them in a list.

Step 3

Make a plan for accomplishing each task as a separate action.

This is like learning to play a musical instrument. Learn the notes first, then start assembling the notes into a simple tune. This means you need to study the steps to take on your objective and overcome them in your mind as single steps.

Step 4

Practice your steps in your mind and imagine accomplishing each step.

Repeat this until you have memorized what success looks like. Practice like it was your daily piano, sax, or Guitar Hero lessons until you have assembles your little symphony of success in your mind.

Step 5

Rehearse a scrimmage.

Set up mini-versions of what was your “big scary thing” and do a live run-through in “a safe environment” without keeping score. Do this until you lose the butterflies.

Step 6

Wave your magic wand and get up on stage and win.

Keep score if you want to. Do this because there is VERY GOOD chance that you will come out a winner. If you fall flat, get up and brush it off. You get double points for that. And the more double points you get, the quicker you win.

Winning is Fun

When you break down your fears into understandable and digestible components, you can easy conquer them. Accomplishing tasks on your own with diligence, perseverance, and enough practice produces confidence and real self-esteem.

When you have confidence and self-esteem from conquering those nasty gremlins in your life, you begin to thirst for more adventures in slaying those dragons of fear, cowardice, and frailty that live in the castles of doom inside your head.

When your fear goes down, your results go up. It is the winning formula!

So what have you been plagued with that stunts your growth and efficacy in leadership realms? What is captivating your mind and overflowing your fear cup so much that you just can’t seem to get beyond it? What steps can you take to confront your fear and gain the courage you need to succeed in your role as a leader? I would love to hear of your challenges and successes!

——————–
Tom Schulte is Executive Director of Linked 2 Leadership
He provides leadership training fit for the Blackberry-Attention-Span
Email | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Web | Video | Conference | Blog

Here is a leadership challenge for anyone who leads people:

Step 1:

A Deeper Look

Take a look in the mirror. Take a really long look. Look deeply and intently into your own eyes. Do this for an extended period that may even outlast your normal attention span. Just stand there and look deeply at yourself. Look at who you have become. Examine the sum total of the decisions that you have made and see what it has amounted to.

See if your eyes will let you get a glimpse of your soul. And take some good mental notes while doing this…

Step 2:

Reality Check

Once you have observed yourself, take a quick honesty test:

• Did you take a long enough look to get a reasonably complete understanding of who was looking back at you in the mirror?
• Did you see deeply enough into your own eyes to understand something new?
• Are you at peace with what you found?

If you answered “no” to any of these, go back to Step 1 and get it right this time. If you answered “yes” to all of these, then move on to Step 3.

Step 3:

Seeing Your Blemishes

Now that you have enjoyed a long glance of who you are, try to quantify how many things popped into you head that made you feel uncomfortable, embarrassed, ashamed, regretful, unworthy, sinful, repulsed, or uneasy with who you are and what you see.

Step 4:

Discovering Your Masks

Now that you have a quick understanding of how you appear to yourself and what you might not like, think about the masks that you have created to hide your blemishes, to cover your flaws, and to deflect your embarrassing episodes in life and in leading others. Name those masks. Call them what they are. Hang them on a rack and look at them…

Perhaps here are some names that might be suitable for your collection:

The Shallow Hal

The Uncreative

The Scaredy Cat

The Unrepentant

The Spreadsheet

The Unforgiving

The Know-It-All

The Ignorant

The Over-Analyzer

The Arrogant

The Stingy

The Over-My-Head-And-In-Too-Deep

Step 5:

Understanding Reality

No matter who you are and how wonderful you think your masks look, I have some news for you. Although you think that you might be hiding who you really are, please understand this…

We all can see your Leadership Comb-Over!

Click to view slideshow.

Step 6:

Get a Leadership Stylist

Know yourself. Come clean. Be who the Good Lord made you to be. Repent of your past sins and reboot your leadership. Become an authentic person that people see as an honest, flawed person who can deal with reality as it is presented. Be confident in who you are and how you can serve others. Your people need the REAL you. Do it soon.

Because, if you have one, we can all see the comb-over…

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Tom Schulte is Executive Director of Linked 2 Leadership
He provides leadership training fit for the Blackberry-Attention-Span
Email | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Web | Video | Conference | Blog

Everyone needs to have passion! Passion guides us, drives us, and brings us to our fullest potential.

So Many Choices

As we wander through the short period of time that is our life, we make hundreds of thousands, or perhaps even million of choices. We make so many choices in a lifetime that at the time just before our passing, we have forgotten all but the most significant of them.

We remember our choice to marry and to whom; we remember our first job and what lead us to it; we remember our first kiss; we might forget our third lover and our second lover but we will always remember our first and last.

The majority of our choices simply evaporate into invisible vapor like the morning dew.

The choices that are not easy to make are the most significant of all. Those choices are also the most difficult to reverse and the most heartbreaking when we recall them at the end of our lives. The hardest choices always involve our greatest inner passions. When we fail to follow our heart and thus pursue our true passion, we create unrelenting regret and self-doubt.

In time, one passion may be replaced with another, but we will always recall the passions we left behind and make excuses for our decisions not to pursue them.

We all have a personal vision that we dream of. That vision may change occasionally as the years pass, but as we drive down a highway or lay in bed sleepless at night, we are often consumed by our personal vision.

Imagineering

We see ourselves as singers, musicians, policemen, fishermen, writers, millionaires, or kings.

In our vision, we can be beautiful, handsome, sophisticated and bold.

We imagine trysts with beautiful women or handsome strangers we meet in passing; we imagine ourselves achieving an award for great work we did on our latest work project or as the coach of our children’s volleyball team.

We envision ourselves being industry giants or inventing something great. We might use our imaginary fortune to purchase a huge house in any country we choose, with a view of any vista we wish to see.

Our personal vision is always better than the life we live because until we reach the age when we are mature enough to understand that we have reached our maximum potential, we often want what we do not have.

If none of our ancestors had pursued their personal visions we might still be living in caves.

It’s Personal…

Always remember that as you follow your personal vision, another is following his and it is probably dramatically different from yours. Just as you cherish your vision, his vision must also be allowed to live. Everyone’s personal vision is different and you must not try to force yours on someone else.

Never allow the negativity of anyone, no matter how important they might seem, destroy your dream or pull you from the path you have chosen. Never attempt to dissuade others from their own personal visions as you will risk breaking their spirits or losing them altogether.

You cannot be passionate about something for which you feel no passion. You will never be truly successful with a mate you do not love and you will never be successful in a job you do not like. You will never achieve satisfaction with pure negative energy and you will not motivate others with constant negative reinforcement.

If you think positively and exude positive energy while passionately following your personal vision, you are on the right path to succeed beyond your wildest dreams and achieve happiness beyond your imagination.

I hope when you find your own personal vision, you will follow it relentlessly. Chase it like your life depends on it. You will never regret that choice.

What are you doing to identify your passions and get a plan to follow them? If you haven’t yet, what might be standing in your way? If you are already following your passions, where is it leading you? I would love to hear!

——————–
Wayne Kehl is President and CCO at Dynamic Leadership Inc
He is author and behavioral analyst who lectures on leadership and motivation
Email | LinkedIn | Twitter | Web | Blog

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—————————————————————————–
This post is part of our Sunday Series titled “Articles of Faith.”
We investigate leadership lessons from the Bible.
See the whole series here. Published only on Sundays.
—————————————————————————–

Most people are diligent in some area of their life.

Diligence shows up in many different places in people’s worlds. With many, sports is a pursued pass-time, while others may enjoy working in their gardens.

Even lazy people are diligent. You guessed it… they work at doing nothing!

One thing is certain, everybody, especially God’s people, must be diligent in whatever they come into contact with. By that, I mean we should endeavor to work hard at the task at hand. If we are to clean our house, then we should do it deliberately, and effectively! If we are praying, then we should actively engage ourselves completely in that labor.

Benefit From Diligence

Even to the casual observer, you can see the benefits of being diligent. Michael Jordan did not become the mighty athlete that he did by mediocrity. Lou Ferrigno‘s strength was not acquired by laziness and eating pretzels. Each of these men benefited from diligence! This is plain to see. The Bible vividly portrays three specific things which diligence can produce. Let’s examine them!

#1 – Diligence Can Produce Favor

(Proverbs 11:27) “He that diligently seeketh good procureth favour: but he that seeketh mischief, it shall come unto him.”  (KJV)

Did you know that you can gain favor from God and man by simply being diligent? The implication from this verse of Scripture is that when someone is early at the task of doing good and right they get favor. This goes a long way in shoring up a solid Christian testimony. On the other hand, when somebody is actively pursuing wrong, they receive their due reward.

Every leader, whether in the business world or in the church body, must have favor to be effective. The tendency is to get favor at any cost which can lead to sin. Hypocrisy is rampant among many leaders. From parents raising a family on Main Street to the CEO on Commerce Avenue, people are ever increasingly finding themselves guilty of ill gotten favor. God says that diligently following good will result in favor. Being held in high regard with our fellow man for the consistent and persistent race for righteousness is priceless!

One never knows just exactly how favor pays off. It might be one lone act that you thought nobody saw which will lead to that much needed raise in pay or promotion to another position. It might be that act of kindness years ago that leads to someone going the extra mile for you in your emergency!

Diligence can produce favor and favor can pay off!

#2 – Diligence Can Produce Prosperity

(Proverbs 10:4) “He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.”  (KJV)

(Proverbs 13:4) “The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.”  (KJV)

One reason why I like the Free Market Economy and Capitalist System is because of this Bible principle. When you are diligent, you will be rewarded. The Bible makes the statement that in all labor there is profit. How True! The slacker and the sluggard will not benefit by their behavior and will, no doubt, suffer loss. However, when someone works hard at their job, they will be rewarded. Yes, there are numerous examples of where people were overlooked and Corporate America hurting the little man, but that is because of the sin of man. God blesses those who work hard!

Notice also that diligence doesn’t necessarily produce material things. God says that one can be made “rich” and “fat”. Both of these terms are relative to God’s divine touch on our lives. Yes, Abraham, Job, and Jacob, are all examples of wealthy men in the Scripture. They all had the touch of God on their lives. Their testimony is well marked by the wealth they received, but consider the fact that numerous people in the Bible were diligent and did not have great material wealth. For example, the Apostle Peter did not have vast stores of material things as Abraham did, but certainly he had God’s blessing and was prosperous.

Applying this idea to the business world is very easy. When you diligently perform your tasks at hand, your team, office division, etc. will be prosperous. You can be more productive by not wasting time, thereby inviting the opportunity to be rewarded by superiors. Considering Main Street; what family is not prosperous!

Having children to attend to, a place to shelter you from the elements, parents to feed and nurture you, are all examples of prosperity!

#3 – Diligence Can Produce Honor/Position

(Proverbs 12:24) The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute.  (KJV)

(Proverbs 22:29) Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.  (KJV)

From our verses above you can see how diligence plays a vital role in holding position (bear rule: has the idea of a “marshal”) rather than being a slave, and how hard work brings promotion! Although there is always an exception to the rule, 99.9999999% of the time nobody is promoted unless they, in some form or fashion, have earned it. The standard by which the promotion came is relative to the circumstance, but diligence played an active part.

(Psalms 75:6-7) “For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.”  (KJV)

I feel that the Bible clearly indicates that we can increase the scope of our dominion, if I can put it that way, by diligence. A small business owner can open a second store and a third, and a fourth, etc. by diligence. A Sunday School teacher can increase their class size by diligent study and preparation as well as by personally inviting people to come to class. Before long, the diligence pays off and a second class is formed.

With each example, you can see how that reputation/honor is gained and public recognition could take place.

Bottom Line…

In summary, one must be diligent in order to be the effective servant leader that God intends them to be. Inconsistent behavior will drain the swamp, so to speak. Many try to take shortcuts in their business and personal lives, but God sees all. Even though we might see the flaws in other folks’ character and wonder how they get by without practicing a diligent work ethic, God will take care of us!

Bottom line… BE DILIGENT!

——————–
Pastor Andrew Schank is Church Planter with Macedonia World Baptist Missions, Inc.
He has a servant’s heart for missions and church planting
Email | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Web | Blog

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Never has the figurative sense of two words meant so much more than the literally sense as “Effective Immediately.” (OK, I’ll concede that “I Do” is also up there in the two-worder club).

Google It

I just Googled “Effective Immediately.”

Yikes.  I didn’t do the math, and I wouldn’t say that I performed any scientifically supported statistical analysis on the use of this term, but it seems that it’s most likely used when someone messes up BIG.  (Yeah yeah, I know– it’s also used in the legitimate sense, too, like when a plumbing problem occurs and the bathroom is “off limits, effective immediately… that’s not what I’m talking about here, folks).

The PROBLEM is that when “Effective Immediately” is used these days, that anything preceding or following this cute little phrase usually has little to do with WHY something is effective immediately, and more to do with handling the issue at hand.

Just what is “handling” you might ask?  I’d say… my own definition that is… well… “almost lying to make sure it doesn’t stay in the public’s eyes for longer than we want it to.”

But that’s just me.

Bad Eggs

We’ve seen more and more of “Effective Immediately” in the last 10 years, haven’t we?  Every single time a leader goes rogue, every single time someone makes an unethical decision, every single time someone is fired, every single time a leader fails, every time someone says some disastrous statement highlighting how disconnected he/she is with society… what do we see?

• Announcing retirement, “effective immediately”
• Stepping down, “effective immediately”
• Assuming new role, “effective immediately”

And just like the proverbial tequila shot after the swig of beer, the next line usually reads:

• “Thank him for the last X years”
• “Wish her well in future endeavors”
• “Look to our future…”

Blah blah blah. As an individual, I’ve been impacted by this “effective immediately” fluff phrase twice in the last six months– both time with former leaders I knew, and both times following the realization that the leaders were “un-fit to lead” (which most people knew already, it’s just that coincidence and character finally caught up with them). What a joke!!  Talk about placating the public and allowing bad behavior to continue, and for what?  How much have you seen this also?   Do you feel the same as I do?

Thinking Clearly

In the age of transparency (cough, hack, wheeze… excuse me while I take another swig of tequila), should we consider it an insult to us when we see these niceties lavished on leaders-gone-wrong when he/she is finally ousted for behaving in ways that used to mean the public stocks?

We almost always know what REALLY happened, so why pretend that nothing occurred or that what did occur wasn’t as bad?

Why allow the bad habits and poor decisions that got these leaders into trouble in the first place continue on because of the “effective immediately” era?

Let’s face it, that’s what usually happened when you see a PR-laced announcement ladled with a hefty dose of damage control.  C’mon, readers, do people really think we are stupid when it comes to these things?  Why not force the point by making leaders settle-up to his or her constituents, followers, and admirers afar with something more REAL… something more TRUE… something more AUTHENTIC?

Open Invitation

And so I extend an invitation for authenticity to anyone out there who has the guts to give us the truth straight-out.  Instead of letting us hear about the truth and then several months later give us an “effective immediately” ticket that we probably paid waaaaay too much for to begin with, try something like this:

“Due to the horrendous abuse of power, arrogant nature, political cut-throat behavior, and all-around poor personal value system that we’ve all witnessed to date, not to mention the terrible nose-dive in the company’s stock [or other responsibility to the public or community], the Board of Directors [or other governing party] has decided that the CEO [or other leader title] is no longer fit to lead and has been fired.

Though there were plenty of moments when this leader helped our organization along, the plain truth is that we reaped plenty of benefit along the way and unfortunately fell asleep at the wheel during a time when we should have been questioning more and relaxing less.  We recognize that this termination is likely overdue, and so as the governing party, we take full responsibility and will do our best to maintain the trust and respect of our constituents and stakeholders alike, effective immediately.”

Now THERE’s an organization I’d invest in 100%…

——————–
Christa (Centola) Dhimo, President & Founder, via Best Practices
She helps clients by aligning human capital performance with business results
Email | LinkedIn | Web | Blog

Image Sources: mcawilliams.com

What is Reality? Who determines it? How can one get in tune with what others perceive as reality?

These are questions that should be looked at when one takes on the role of a leader. These questions are also important when a leader takes on a new role with a new team. If a leader is unaware of their environment, or of their personal disposition and tendencies, or of how others perceive them, then trouble could be right around the corner…

Reality Bites

A friend of mine accepted a new position requiring a major relocation and considerable cultural differences. After she had been working with her new team for a short time, she requested was a New Manager Assimilation with her and her staff to make sure that she was on the right track.

This fast-paced technique cuts down on relationship-building time from months to days.

The feedback obtained from the new manager assimilation taught her that perception is reality. Her cultural differences, lack of patience, and incorrect assumptions had shown through loud and clear.

The perceptions of her new followers were:

• She didn’t listen
• She didn’t communicate well
• She is a micro-manager
• Along with many other issues

The new manager assimilation process opened her eyes, giving insight to enable her to change her style and eliminate the potential for loss of productivity, employee turnover, and morale issues – all things which can affect a company’s bottom line.

Formula For Success

Main objectives and benefits of process:

• Accelerates relationship building between manager and staff; shortens time to build effective staff. Both staff and manager learn each others’ personalities and quickly brings manager up to speed with his team.
• Manager learns staff perceptions; staff makes candid observations and questions the perceptions of the new manager, feedback is generally brutally honest with “no holds barred” while maintaining complete confidentiality of input and remarks. Allows manager to quickly adjust leadership style or engages staff on rationale needed for change, while demonstrating manager’s willingness to listen to the concerns of her organization.
• Information is gained in non-threatening manner; facilitator uses brainstorming technique to solicit input and questions on possibly delicate topics, without manager present, while providing input for manager on key issues needing to be addressed.
• Provides forum for manager to discuss philosophies, expectations, and leadership style; new manager is able to seek input and give rationale relative to his philosophies, expectations, and leadership style.
• Team provides input into developing 100-day action plan; manager assesses input from team and utilizes recommendations to help develop team’s short-term goals and objectives.

“It’s the best way to iron out rumors, to confront the issues that arise with a new manager, and to create a climate of openness,” Bill Hunt, program manager, organization and staffing, GE Power Systems

How the process works. . .

• New manager and trained facilitator meet to review process, objectives, and benefits while seeking buy-in for the process by the new manager.
• Manager kicks off session reviewing his/her commitment to the process, the confidentiality of the staff’s candid feedback, and manager’s desire for straight forward feedback.
• Manager leaves and facilitator seeks input on what staff knows and would like to know about their new manager, what they would like the manager to know about them, what issues/concerns/problems are facing the group and what should new manager accomplish in the first 100-days?
• While staff takes a break, manager and facilitator review responses and feedback.
• Staff is invited back and manager responds to feedback, questions, and concerns.
• Flip chart feedback is keyed and given to manager to continue process with staff to develop formal 100-day plan

Fresh Eyes and Ears

Managers may use responses on flip-charts as planning tools displaying them in their offices to reaffirm their commitment to the process and the team.

My friend had her eyes opened after receiving the feed-back from her new staff.  She learned culture can play a major factor in developing a team. Once she started listening and communicating more thoroughly, her team became more cohesive and much more productive. She was thankful for the new manager assimilation process.

Do you currently have a new manager assimilation process in your organization? Have you seen a new manager fail in the first 100-days of being on the job? Are staff members afraid to “bare their soles” to a new manager in fear of retribution? Do your new managers “hit the ground running” when assuming a new leadership role?

——————–
Mark Fryer is owner of Mark Fryer and Associates
Helps clients with Succession Planning, Exec Coaching, & Org Development
Email | LinkedIn | Twitter | Web | Blog | 706.718.2349

Image Sources: img.wallpaperstock.net, cmcguire.com

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If you were to look at many leaders today, you’d think that they were superheroes. Unblemished. Never afraid. Superpowers. Boundless energy. And performing with a perfect record…

But this is not reality. And it is not anywhere near being helpful. In fact, it’s misleading.

I believe that today’s leader must wrestle with who they truly are, and bring that authenticity to their leadership of others.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Airbrushes

Have you ever seen how much editing is done to the photos of models before they appear on the cover of a magazine? The contrast between the before and after shots is astonishing. In the hands of a graphic designer just about every imperfection can be fixed.

Got wrinkles? Nothing a little Photoshop airbrushing won’t fix.

Looking a bit pale? No problem, there’s a filter for that.

Teeth slightly off-colour? Not when we’re done editing.

Sadly, many leaders today are airbrushed too. Whether it’s driven by pride, or pressure, or the pursuit of perfection it takes a heavy toll on the individual and on those they lead. The airbrushed leader and those who edit their image are ruthless with every imperfection.

They crop and edit, filter and retouch, copy and paste, mask and delete. Perfection is the elusive standard, but in real life it’s a constant struggle to live up to the standard of the unblemished hero.

For many years I was an A-grade people pleaser. It’s an exhausting life, and in many ways a unfulfilling one too. When you lead that way it isn’t about being yourself, it’s about how people will perceive you. The airbrushed leader gets nervous about taking risks, saying sorry, empowering their team, or resting when all their ducks aren’t in a row.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Avatars

The rise of “avatars” began long before James Cameron’s epic blockbuster film by that name. In internet and gaming circles, an avatar is a character or icon that represents you. You might be a 12-year old kid in real life, but your avatar can be a 6ft burly assassin called LoneWolf. 18 million users have avatars in the hugely popular online game Second Life where they say, “The only limit is your imagination. Who do you want to be?”. In James Cameron’s movie the lead character is confined to a wheelchair, but not when he lives through his Avatar.

Leadership is not virtual reality. But it’s easy to forget that when people start feeding your ego.

Perhaps my avatar could have the business leadership of Richard Branson, deliver speeches like Barack Obama and have the hair of Donald Trump (ok, maybe not). I hope you hear my point though… it’s a dangerous and hollow game to live through an identity that isn’t really you. I truly want to be inspired by great leaders but without forgetting who I am or becoming detached from the reality of the things I need to work on in my own leadership.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Authenticity

What a release it is when we live with authenticity. To be the genuine article, or “Fair dinkum” as we say in Australia.

Interestingly I’ve found my friendships richer since I dumped the airbrush. It also turns out that people are only more willing to follow you when you’re not pretending you’re bulletproof because you wear your undies on the outside.

These might just be the most important leadership lessons I’ve learned.

No make up, no make-believe. Just the daily choice to be yourself and the best “you” you can be.

• In which areas of your leadership have you airbrushed away your imperfections?
• Are you allowing yourself to hide behind an avatar instead of truly being yourself?
• How is your leadership today inspiring others to live with authenticity?

——————–
Paul Andrew is Founder of The Leadership Coach™
He is a Keynote Speaker and Management Consultant based in New York
Email | LinkedIn | Website | Blog | Twitter | +1 212 726 1479

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Recently, I experienced a 25-year “experiment” come to its conclusion.

The “experiment” was in raising up 5 kids to adulthood and getting them prepared to leave the nest. My wife and I had our 5 kids close together (5 kids in 5 1/2-years) and, as of this month, all of them are now in college.

Recent History

Tom Schulte and Kids

Our oldest child left the nest at age 19 and her independence, determination, smarts, and acumen have paid off for her. While still in college, she has been a full-timer at IBM and is now in the marketing department at Coca-Cola headquarters. As she is finishing up her last classes, her brothers and sisters still have a ways to go.

This fall my youngest, twin daughters, have entered college and their two brothers are both Juniors. As it turns out, mom and dad have just become empty-nesters. This means that this summer has been full of planning on getting four young adults into their own new dwellings.

For my wife whose passion is interior design and decorating, this has been an exciting time that has really made the transition a lot of fun. She gets to “play house” with her adult children and provide them a mother’s comfort for the coming years. At their new dwellings, everything ‘flows” in coordinating style and functionality from the welcome mat at the front door to the soap dish in bathroom to the spoon rest on the stove.

Divine Design

Daughter's New Place

All of our kids love to interact with her in home design and decorating and these past few months have been amazingly fun for all involved. They worked hard at summer jobs to help pay for much of what they get. I am also intimately involved and share my wife’s passion for creating beautiful places, so everyone is having a blast.

From our point of view, we get to give our kids the gift of their own sense of home as they face life’s new experiences.

This past weekend, we helped our son Michael finish decorating his place at Berry College. His twin sisters had just moved into their own separate apartments in another college town and their places look wonderful. They both are feeling very much at home.

Michael is a residence assistant (RA) at his college “apartment.” He has been in the standard dormitories the past two years, so this new free-standing unit was exciting for him. These are slightly older buildings and his unit didn’t get the annual interior paint job this year, so we had our work cut out for us in helping him make him feel cozy and try to mimic what was created for his sisters. The “Before” pictures show it was not too homey when we got there.

Click to view slideshow.

Resident Leader in Training

As RA, Michael is responsible for keeping the resident students in check and making sure that everything runs smoothly throughout the year. While we were hanging curtains, pictures, posters, and more, Michael was mentally preparing to lead an upcoming meeting for residents that night at 8pm. Most of the residents are older senior students and he has to manage their housing and conduct throughout the upcoming school year.

His meeting was a “pre-season” pep talk to set expectations and he was trying to mentally prepare as we worked to make his place nicely decorated.

Michael has been the reluctant leader his whole life. His passion for Christian ministry since the third grade has always made him a humble servant, so the potential “glamor” and shine of leadership has made him a wary candidate for leadership “positions.”

But as his Junior year starts, he is stepping into all of his new roles well and is quickly learning how to balance the leadership positions he takes with the inevitable spotlight that comes with it.

So as we worked to create the best new “home” environment for him, he discussed his upcoming meeting with me. I counseled him to take the point-of-view of the audience when he was designing the session.

I told him that his message would come across better and would stick with them if he spoke to them in calming and comforting tones. I told him to build the same sense of home in the minds of his audience that were just like the sense of home that he was feeling by getting his place decorated. I told him that if he creates a warm environment, that he is much more likely to gain their interest and respect.

Setting Expectations

This will be his second year as an RA and as the resident “cop” that has to “bust people” when needed. But in contrast to being the authority figure, he wants to get along with everyone too. He is on the basketball team, so that helps him get respect. But the self-perceived notion of being a “humble guy” is always on the forefront of his mind.

He wants to seem fun, cool, the jock, etc., but he still has a “cop” role to play.

So for his meeting where he was younger than most of the attendees, he decided that the best way to go would be to have some fun, get people talking, and spell out the rules in a good way that shows he is setting expectations for behaviors.

As we wrapped up decorating his new place (that he and his roommates adore,) he did his short meeting and reported back the results of the meeting to me. He said that he told everyone that he “wants to be cool, not too strict, and available for them when needed.”

But he also told them that he has “a strong sense of integrity and would need to do his job as a professional and take them to task if he had to.” He said that the meeting went great and that he was getting very comfortable in his role as the leader.

The Leadership Lesson

I summed up our conversation for him with this idea:

When dealing with people, understand that they often are viewing the situation, their job, their new assignment, or whatever as if it where the “Before” picture. Simply understand that they may not be comfortable with things as they presently appear and that you are going to have to effectively communicate the “After” vision to them.

Then, build them that beautiful picture in a manner that works for each of them and help provide that same homey, comfortable feeling that you got with your newly decorated place.

And again, remember that some people may not get the vision at first, just like when your roommates entered the redecoration project mid stream and didn’t understand the final results just yet. Know that people are different and have differing rates of understanding and different ways to process information. Just keep going with the project and build that feeling for them all.

Building effective “Before” and “After” pictures for your followers is the recipe for success in building a strong team of people who willingly follow to a better place.

——————–
Tom Schulte is Executive Director of Linked 2 Leadership
He provides leadership training fit for the Blackberry-Attention-Span
Email | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Web | Video | Conference | Blog

Image Sources: s3.images.com

As far as customers are concerned you are the company. This is not a burden, but the core of your job.  You hold in your hands the power to keep customers coming back – perhaps even to make or break the company.

~Unknown

Nothing Up My Sleeve…

As funds to purchase services have become more and more scarce, customers with dollars to spend expect to receive a high level of service from the companies they hire and the individuals they deal with.  Whether you are involved in direct sales, skilled trade services,  or professional services, your ability to develop relationships and retain customers is critical to your personal success as well as the success of your company.  If you are a service provider, you know that a great deal of work occurs behind the scenes, or “below the radar“, to adequately prepare yourself and your team for interactions with your customers.

My perspective on this topic is in the context of an Architectural design firm.  A lot happens in the time between client meetings to make an extremely complex process appear effortless.   It is not uncommon to spend hundreds of hours preparing for a 30 minute presentation to a client.  A successful design presentation must be inspiring, address a client’s immediate issues, acknowledge his or her previously expressed concerns and anticipate potential future challenges.  Preparation for a relatively brief customer interaction often involves weeks of analysis, research, creative problem solving and coordination with other design professionals.

In an Architecture firm, as is the case with many service providers, it is typical that a leader will be responsible for multiple projects with multiple clients.

Regardless of how many customers you have, each one should receive the quality of service that you would provide if he or she was your only customer.

This does not require a leader to be a superhero or a magician.  However, leaders in service industries must work to develop their “juggling” skills.  Multi-tasking and efficiency is key.  Organization and time management skills combined with the ability to instantly switch from one project to another at any point in the process are all critical to successful leadership below the radar.

I’m Just A Bill…

When I was a boy, my brothers and I would watch cartoons every Saturday morning.  During commercial breaks the station would occasionally broadcast short educational cartoons set to music called Schoolhouse Rock.  One of these songs described the process that occurs for a Bill to become a Law.  While I was too young to understand exactly what the song was about, I recall that it sounded very complicated.  Starting out as an idea introduced in congress, Bill gets reviewed, modified, reviewed again, passed from one committee to another,  voted on several times and eventually becomes a Law.

This is very similar to the design process that Architects and Engineers go through.  Clients hire us to manage a very complicated process so that it progresses seamlessly toward a desired outcome.  Sometimes we do such a good job of not exposing our clients to ”how the sausage is made” that they question if we’ve actually done enough work to be paid our fee.  However, this is the exception to the rule.  Most clients understand the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes and are fine with not knowing all of the details of the process.  As one client told me not too long ago while we were leaving a meeting together,

I don’t need to know about transformers, voltages, circuits and wire gauges, that’s why I hired you.  I just want to flip the switch and have the lights come on.

Doctors, Attorneys, Accountants and other service providers all “lead below the radar” most of the time as well.   The end result is what is important to the customer and is typically what determines if the feedback will be negative or positive.  Did my Doctor help me get better, did my Attorney keep me out of prison, and did my Accountant show me how to pay less taxes?  At the end of the process, as long as the switch turns on the lights, everyone is generally satisfied.

Recalling the quote that I opened with, if you are the primary customer contact for your company, to the customer you are the company.  The quality of service you provide to your customers can often determine their opinion of your entire company.  It is a great responsibility to be entrusted with serving a customer and should be approached as such.  Every interaction will strengthen or weaken your relationship.  Peter Drucker said that “the purpose of business is to create and keep the customer.”  The work we do ”below the radar” is the preparation that will determine if we succeed at accomplishing this objective.

How do you prepare prior to meeting a customer?  Do you anticipate questions and issues that will come up at the meeting and arrive ready to provide solutions?  Do you communicate to your team the importance of the work they do ”below the radar” and how it relates to strengthening the company’s relationship with the customer?  Have you ever been in a meeting where someone was completely unprepared?  If so, what was the result?  How can you reinforce to your team the need to be thoroughly prepared before interacting with a customer?

——————–
Ken Jones, AIA, LEED AP is a Vice President at Grimm + Parker Architects in MD
A service-focused leader, Ken helps create meaningful architecture + client  success
Email | LinkedIn | Web | My Blog

Image Sources: grimmandparker.com, faqs.org, stuffwelike.com

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This post is part of our Sunday Series titled “Articles of Faith.”
We investigate leadership lessons from the Bible.
See the whole series here. Published only on Sundays.
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As long as I can remember, stoplights have been such an irritation to me.

Though used for safety and proper traffic flow, they can be terribly inconvenient. Almost everyone can attest to at least one incident in which a stoplight hindered getting to some event on time, or caused the loss of sight of the car you are trying to follow.

In spite of these unavoidable drawbacks, stoplights are so iconic to us that many towns are noted for having few, if any, in their jurisdiction. With all of this said, here are a few great lessons to be learned from the stoplight.

The Greater Good

Stoplights Were Created For A Purpose

Garrett Augustus Morgan first patented the traffic light, which was first set up in Detroit, Michigan in 1920. The original intent was for railroad signaling. Necessity being the mother of invention, the Morgan Light was used and modified into what we use today. Its purpose became handling the ever increasing congestion in big cities. It suffices to say that stoplights were specifically designed to carry out a specific purpose.

“Though the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, his stops are ordered as well” – Pastor Buster Mullins

We can learn something here. The Bible states in Psalms 37:23,

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.”  (KJV).

Though it speaks of steps here, I was recently reminded by a great preacher from Southwest Virginia, that the stops are ordered as well.

God orders our life with a purpose. Accomplishing His purpose for us should be number one on our priority list. Sometimes He puts up red lights in our path to help us as we lead others, conduct our own Christlike walk with God, and raise our families. Every leader loves it when things seem to be moving along. In fact, many times it can be like driving with cruise control, but handling the stops can be exasperating!

Clear Thinking

Stoplights Give Clear Indications

Stoplights are rather clear in their business. It is stop, go, or slow to a stop. Every leader likes to have clear direction as to what to do in any given situation. Much of the deliberation in decision-making is the matter of accepting the fact of living with the consequences of our decisions. Though we like the green lights and usually get excited upon sight of their beaming rays, the red glow from the traffic signal is probably more important.

Think about this truth for a minute. When we are cruising along, someone has to stop for us. They observe our behavior and consider their destination and direction. It is while stopped that forgotten things are remembered. If the individual does not stop, they are likely to miss out on something important.

The hustle and bustle of the business day can leave one constantly bewildered and blindly going with the flow. When we are forced to slow down or stop, we can catch our breath and possibly make better decisions.

Bigger Picture

Stoplights Are Providential

When I was in the second grade at Gospel Light Christian School of Walkertown, North Carolina, my teacher related a most impressionable event one morning. Every morning she stopped by another student’s house to bring them to school.

On this particular morning, my fellow student remained asleep on the couch in spite of my teacher’s best effort to wake her up by knocking on the door. In a few minutes, the student was soon dressed and sitting in the car. Hurrying on to school and making up some time as well, they providentially were held up by an inconvenient traffic light.

While motionless at the stoplight, a semi-truck and trailer wrecked a vehicle in the intersection. My very thankful second grade teacher was careful to point out God had providentially saved them from a serious accident by stopping them at that light.

Smelling The Roses

Ponder This A Moment…

Maybe God has you stopped at a providential intersection. Instead of looking at the fact that your career is at a standstill, or that your business has not been as productive, could it be time for you to simply enjoy the respite and consider the lesson(s) being taught to you?

Properly handling the “stoplights” in your life, whether privately or publicly, can determine the longevity of your effectiveness as a leader. From my own experiences, I can tell you this is highly important to carrying out the divine will of God for our lives!

What is one positive result you have experienced as a result of knowing when to stop or slow down before advancing further? In what area of life would you most benefit from embracing ”stoplight” moments?

——————–
Pastor Andrew Schank is Church Planter with Macedonia World Baptist Missions, Inc.
He has a servant’s heart for missions and church planting
Email | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Web | Blog

Edited by Mike Weppler

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With rare exception, leaders are readers.

Here’s the problem: The overwhelming majority of that which is printed is not worth reading on any subject. In particular, this assertion couldn’t be more true than on the subject of leadership.

Some people say it is the topic most written about and least understood. I disagree. What plagues the study and practice of leadership is the problem of intent. And this is what leads to so much intellectual chaos.

When leadership is seen as a glittering path to personal reward, we are at once lost on our journey.

Looking For Shortcuts

A dominant motivation for seeking and producing material on leadership is the unrelenting search for short cuts and easy answers. Most of the so-called literature on leadership is either wrong, trivial, or reconstituted.

Reading well should be our goal.

This requires a careful, discriminate search. It also requires perspective.

Leadership is the ultimate applied field, and yet it is a field for which, unfortunately, we cannot claim cumulative progress over time.

Too many leaders are willfully blind, unable to produce the intellectual and moral honesty it requires.

As Macaulay observed, “Those who will not crack the shell of history will never get at the kernel.”

How true of leadership.

Read, but read carefully.

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Timothy R. Clark, Ph.D., is president of management consulting firm, TRCLARK.
He helps in strategy, organizational transformation, and leadership development.
Email | LinkedIn | Web | The Leadership Test Book

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Why is it that some organizations believe that employee engagement is either “a thing to do to employees” or it is “a destination” that is over once it is reached?

Employee engagement is neither of these things.

To help you understand this, take a look at the root word. Engagement is a concept or way of thinking that stems from the verb “engage.”  The idea behind engagement (employee or customer) is to get the full commitment, passion, and energy from that group toward your company, product, service or brand.

But over time, it seems that within organizations, something has gone terribly awry with this concept of engagement with the many of the people who work there.

So what happened to engaging people?

Understanding Futility

Engagement has turned into the age-old “creating a budget” exercise.  If you make a budget, you probably feel good about setting a responsible course for fiscal prudence. But unless you actually USE the budget, this is just a wasteful exercise in futility. The same thing holds true with employee engagement. Otherwise, futility reigns.

This concept started to dawn on me at the tail end of a recent conversation with a client.  The client executives were in the midst of talking about changes in the credit card business, huge losses in receivables, etc.

What should we do?” they asked.  In addition to some sound advice about process changes, the other piece of advice transpired like this:

“Ask your employees.  They are passionate and engaged.  Let them help you.”

“Our employees?  We don’t want to scare them.  And, they probably won’t understand what is going on anyway” was the Senior executive’s response.

“Really?” I asked becoming incredulous. “It seems to me that every employee can understand a simple message like we are losing money or don’t have enough new customers.”

“Now you are making it much too simple” stated the senior executive.  “We have decided to bring in a consulting company to help us figure out how to get back on track.”

If anyone has seen Office Space, you can imagine this experience.  As the many “Bob’s” walked around gathering “information,” the rumor mill was running rampant. As is the problem with many “change efforts,” the vast majority of information is misinformation.  In the absence of any communication from the organization, employees make assumptions. We, as human beings, do a great job making things up.

In the end, the client organization decided that layoffs were the best way to get back on track.  Although it has been proven that layoffs are not the best method to improve performance, they can be useful depending on the goal or desired outcome. The layoffs were not the worst part though.

The worst part was how they handled it.

Effective Engagement Examined

On the first Monday of August that year, certain employees were met by security guards around their desks.  One of them was holding a box.  The employee was escorted to a trailer in the parking lot, asked to sign some papers, given a severance check and asked to leave the premise.

The following year, we were back with the same senior leader group talking about Employee Engagement.  Their employee engagement assessment scores (surprise!) had gone down.

“Employee Engagement has to be a focus of the organization moving forward.” the CEO   stated.  “We have to be a more focused organization.”

“Could it be that the employees are feeling like no one engaged them on recent issues, initiatives and organizational changes.” I asked.

“That’s not what engagement is about!” The CEO stated.  “It is about making this a great workplace, not asking people their opinion about how the business should be run. That is why we are here.”

You can imagine how the rest of the conversation went.

Needless to say that the company was never the same.  Not because it laid off employees, but because it did not honor the culture of the organization nor the intelligence of the folks that worked there.

The Success of Change

Here are four things that every organization needs to do to vastly increase the success of change due to performance, market erosion, etc.:

1.  Find out the state of the state

Dips in organizational performance can come at any time for many reasons.  It is vitally important that leaders, managers and employees are aware of the condition of the organization.  This is from an “are we engaged” perspective AND from a “how do the financial numbers say we are doing” perspective.

2.  Be thoughtful and thorough in communication

All the experts are adamant about communication as the key for successful organizational change.  But, companies STILL don’t do a good job in communicating in a cohesive, comprehensive, and transparent manner.  Employees don’t trust what they hear from companies because it is sanitized and word-smithed.  It is absolutely vital that PRIOR to any change being implemented that communication is planned and developed.  Be ready to tell groups what is happening and why.

3.  Engage your employees in solving the problem

Employees know that there are problems and how to solve them.  They often know before leaders because THEY ARE DOING THE WORK. When there is an issue identified or on the horizon, get employees that are involved with the issue to help figure out how to solve it.  This is engagement.  Employees engaged in solving a problem that will help the business and they have expertise in is the essence of creating an “engaged workforce.”  Let employees help solve the issues.  Outside consultants can help lead conversations, guide direction and give best practice solutions.

If you can’t trust employees to solve problems why are they working for you?

4.  Arm your managers to be successful

The front line of change initiatives is the manager.  This is where change can either be monumentally successful or a dismal failure.  Employees will go to their managers first to find out what they know.  Make sure your managers know something.  It would be preferable if they know the facts, how to present them, what not to say and are as transparent about it as possible.  If managers are not well equipped, then they will join the crowd of disengaged and drag their team down with them.

Don’t go out and do another Engagement Initiative.  Engage your employees and customers into making your organizations better by engaging them.  Ask their help to solve problems, offer ideas and drive innovation.  Doing so will honor their intelligence, support the culture and assuredly drive success.

——————–
Anil Saxena is a Senior Consultant and Business Partner with Coffman Organization
He helps organizations create environments that generate repeatable superior results
Email | LinkedIn | Web | Blog |888-999-0940 x-730

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