Proverbs 30:5-6 (NLV) Every word of God has been proven true (pure). He is a safe covering to those who trust in Him. Do not add to His words, or He will speak strong words to you and prove you to be a liar.
Christians in the business world: Do we really believe this?
Our culture demands "tolerance" for behaviors that God called sin: tolerance for life-styles that do not please Him; tolerance for visual stimulation in music videos and movies that only appeal to our prurient natures; tolerance to accept many ways to God when Scripture is consistently clear about “the way.”
To be really Christ-followers in our current culture and this tough business environment takes faith that He is our refuge, our shield, and our protector. Is the “joy of the Lord” our strength? Really?
Our business and personal core values must be clear, consistent and courageous: our personal values must remain contagious, irresistible and inviting. Our life at work (well, everywhere) has meaning.
Is your life at work attractive and pure?
Copyright ©2009 P. Griffith Lindell
Friday, January 30, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Gossip: Deadly to Leaders
Proverbs 29:12 (MSG) When a leader listens to malicious gossip, all the workers get infected with evil.
Ron Heifetz, co-founder of Harvard’s Center for Public Leadership, is quoted as saying, “Purposeful honesty and appropriate transparency at all levels are eventual indicators of your organization’s adaptability and ability to thrive.”
What leaders listen to – i.e. honor - matters. One of your team want to share a juicy morsel? Stop them before they blurt out more. If lies, gossip, spurious chatter of any sort is tolerated at the top (of any size “heap”), that lack of judgment drives the true organizational values of the organization.
Honesty and transparency go hand-in-glove with discernment.
You want your leadership to be meaningful in the workplace? Your core values real? One way you make your faith real at work is to be known discerning leader who won't participate in any form of gossip.
Copyright (c) 2009, by P. Griffith Lindell
Ron Heifetz, co-founder of Harvard’s Center for Public Leadership, is quoted as saying, “Purposeful honesty and appropriate transparency at all levels are eventual indicators of your organization’s adaptability and ability to thrive.”
What leaders listen to – i.e. honor - matters. One of your team want to share a juicy morsel? Stop them before they blurt out more. If lies, gossip, spurious chatter of any sort is tolerated at the top (of any size “heap”), that lack of judgment drives the true organizational values of the organization.
Honesty and transparency go hand-in-glove with discernment.
You want your leadership to be meaningful in the workplace? Your core values real? One way you make your faith real at work is to be known discerning leader who won't participate in any form of gossip.
Copyright (c) 2009, by P. Griffith Lindell
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Monday, January 26, 2009
Clear Water Leadership
Proverbs 25:26 (AMP) Like a muddied fountain and a polluted spring is a righteous man who yields, falls down, and compromises his integrity before the wicked.
The “secular-progressive” movement is dominating American thought in movies, television, so-called news coverage and business. The educated opinion makers are increasingly marginalizing a Christian worldview. What’s a Christian leader to do – especially in the workplace?
Lead - Lead like Moses, Joshua, Joseph. Lead like Jesus. Keep on continually standing firm in the battle for the American mind. You can because the battle has been won. We know the victor. We know the outcome.
As a “Christian Business Leader” your faith has a place in the workplace. If you abdicate it, the “secular faith” will swiftly fill the void.
The question is: are you a muddied fountain, a polluted spring or are you clear, life-giving water? The world is thirsty: are you a place to quench their thirst?
Copyright © 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
The “secular-progressive” movement is dominating American thought in movies, television, so-called news coverage and business. The educated opinion makers are increasingly marginalizing a Christian worldview. What’s a Christian leader to do – especially in the workplace?
Lead - Lead like Moses, Joshua, Joseph. Lead like Jesus. Keep on continually standing firm in the battle for the American mind. You can because the battle has been won. We know the victor. We know the outcome.
As a “Christian Business Leader” your faith has a place in the workplace. If you abdicate it, the “secular faith” will swiftly fill the void.
The question is: are you a muddied fountain, a polluted spring or are you clear, life-giving water? The world is thirsty: are you a place to quench their thirst?
Copyright © 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
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Thursday, January 22, 2009
Leaders Focus on “Building” Others: Not Wealth
Proverbs 23:4 (NASB) Do not weary yourself to gain wealth, cease from your consideration of it.
Motives are everything – especially for the small businessperson in these economic times.
In his book, Principle Centered Leadership, S. Covey derides our culture’s fixation on wealth - especially wealth without work. He notes a correlation between one’s movement away from the laws of nature and the degree to which one’s judgment is adversely affected.
The law of nature (God’s truth) is this: if it's only money that leaders are after, they'll self-destruct in no time.
Lust for money brings trouble and nothing but trouble. Going down that path, some lose their footing in the faith completely and live to regret it bitterly ever after. [1Tim.6: 9]
Believing leaders beware: the heart is desperately wicked. Focus on your heart and the needs of others -like customers, employees, vendors, etc. Allow profits and wealth to be the consequence of good management and your dependence on the Lord.
Dependence on self = disaster. Dependence on God = blessing.
Who are you depending on?
Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
Motives are everything – especially for the small businessperson in these economic times.
In his book, Principle Centered Leadership, S. Covey derides our culture’s fixation on wealth - especially wealth without work. He notes a correlation between one’s movement away from the laws of nature and the degree to which one’s judgment is adversely affected.
The law of nature (God’s truth) is this: if it's only money that leaders are after, they'll self-destruct in no time.
Lust for money brings trouble and nothing but trouble. Going down that path, some lose their footing in the faith completely and live to regret it bitterly ever after. [1Tim.6: 9]
Believing leaders beware: the heart is desperately wicked. Focus on your heart and the needs of others -like customers, employees, vendors, etc. Allow profits and wealth to be the consequence of good management and your dependence on the Lord.
Dependence on self = disaster. Dependence on God = blessing.
Who are you depending on?
Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
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Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Motivation and Leadership
Proverbs 21:4 (MSG) Arrogance and pride—distinguishing marks in the wicked—are just plain sin.
Why we do what we do says more about the hidden nature of our character than what we do – how we behave.
Arrogant leadership, its motivations hidden from public view, is self-centered and limiting. In Success Built to Last, the authors suggest that leadership that succeeds over time is attributable to the strength of the cause they pursue: "Enduringly successful people serve the cause--and they are lifted up by its power."
Here is a cause to consider: Find and control the motivations that are just about you. Feed and nurture the motivations that are about helping and building-up others.
Do you spend time "looking in" and "cleaning up"so you can better look out for others?
Copyright (c) 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
Why we do what we do says more about the hidden nature of our character than what we do – how we behave.
Arrogant leadership, its motivations hidden from public view, is self-centered and limiting. In Success Built to Last, the authors suggest that leadership that succeeds over time is attributable to the strength of the cause they pursue: "Enduringly successful people serve the cause--and they are lifted up by its power."
Here is a cause to consider: Find and control the motivations that are just about you. Feed and nurture the motivations that are about helping and building-up others.
Do you spend time "looking in" and "cleaning up"so you can better look out for others?
Copyright (c) 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
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Tuesday, January 20, 2009
The Inauguration and Humble Leadership
Proverbs 20: 27 (AMP) The spirit of man [that factor in human personality which proceeds immediately from God] is the lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts.
Christians should have a natural advantage as business leaders. After all, we have “put off the old” and now have “the mind of Christ” who is to be ruling in our lives, right?
But this kind of humility is hard work for the driven and successful. We are so used to using our analytical skills, solving problems on the fly and driving action.
It is very easy to forget that we are stewards of those gifts of leadership, and we are called to manage ALL that God has given us for His glory. A lamp, whose light source is self, is a darkened light.
It’s all about His light. Not ours. What does your lamp reveal?
Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
Christians should have a natural advantage as business leaders. After all, we have “put off the old” and now have “the mind of Christ” who is to be ruling in our lives, right?
But this kind of humility is hard work for the driven and successful. We are so used to using our analytical skills, solving problems on the fly and driving action.
It is very easy to forget that we are stewards of those gifts of leadership, and we are called to manage ALL that God has given us for His glory. A lamp, whose light source is self, is a darkened light.
It’s all about His light. Not ours. What does your lamp reveal?
Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
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Monday, January 19, 2009
The Generosity of Leaders
Proverbs 19:17 (MSG) Mercy to the needy is a loan to God, and God pays back those loans in full.
In his article The Cultivation of Transcendent Leadership, Jamie S. Walters posits that generosity is the first of the six principles of “transcendent leadership.”
As he points out, “Generosity of spirit…fosters collaboration, creativity, idea-sharing, knowledge-sharing, camaraderie, trust, satisfaction, and constructive communication.”
Mercy to the needy is not only financial help (which is important in its own right) but also is expressed, in the work environment, in the sharing of information, delegating both authority and responsibility and/or providing necessary feedback.
Mercy is a quality from the heart.
Do you have the heart to lead?
Copyright 2009 © by P. Griffith Lindell
In his article The Cultivation of Transcendent Leadership, Jamie S. Walters posits that generosity is the first of the six principles of “transcendent leadership.”
As he points out, “Generosity of spirit…fosters collaboration, creativity, idea-sharing, knowledge-sharing, camaraderie, trust, satisfaction, and constructive communication.”
Mercy to the needy is not only financial help (which is important in its own right) but also is expressed, in the work environment, in the sharing of information, delegating both authority and responsibility and/or providing necessary feedback.
Mercy is a quality from the heart.
Do you have the heart to lead?
Copyright 2009 © by P. Griffith Lindell
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Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Embrace Trials
Proverbs 13:15 (NIV) Good understanding wins favor, but the way of the unfaithful is hard (the unfaithful does not endure).
For people of faith, God’s providence must be the foundation of our value system. That core sustains our belief that God cares and is dynamically in charge of all of life, especially our trials.
Christian business leaders understand that God cares far less about the business, than he does about the person.
It is our belief system – our faith in operation – that is of interest to Him; for, “without faith it is impossible to please God.” How you endure (respond to, react to) business setbacks, failures, and persistent problems not only wins favor with those watching you (Your attitude answering the question, “Is the Christian stuff for real?”), but it also is of interest to God who is working in our lives to conform us to the image of His Son.
Are you embracing God’s work or expressing unbelief by questioning it?
Copyright (c) 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
For people of faith, God’s providence must be the foundation of our value system. That core sustains our belief that God cares and is dynamically in charge of all of life, especially our trials.
Christian business leaders understand that God cares far less about the business, than he does about the person.
It is our belief system – our faith in operation – that is of interest to Him; for, “without faith it is impossible to please God.” How you endure (respond to, react to) business setbacks, failures, and persistent problems not only wins favor with those watching you (Your attitude answering the question, “Is the Christian stuff for real?”), but it also is of interest to God who is working in our lives to conform us to the image of His Son.
Are you embracing God’s work or expressing unbelief by questioning it?
Copyright (c) 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
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Monday, January 12, 2009
Leader’s Words Inspire Others for Change
Proverbs 12:18 (MSG) Rash language cuts and maims, but there is healing in the words of the wise.
In his book, Leadership Without Easy Answers, Harvard professor Ronald Heifetz posits that the role of leadership is changing: the new role is “to help people face reality and to mobilized them to make change.”
Change has been a hot topic recently and change is at least painful and at worst potentially destructive. Positive change in our relationships takes intentionality. The wise leader recognizes the various impacts of change on the team and speaks words that heal by creating value and meaning for each person experiencing the change.
Are you leading with words that heal or maim?
Copyright ©2009 P. Griffith Lindell
In his book, Leadership Without Easy Answers, Harvard professor Ronald Heifetz posits that the role of leadership is changing: the new role is “to help people face reality and to mobilized them to make change.”
Change has been a hot topic recently and change is at least painful and at worst potentially destructive. Positive change in our relationships takes intentionality. The wise leader recognizes the various impacts of change on the team and speaks words that heal by creating value and meaning for each person experiencing the change.
Are you leading with words that heal or maim?
Copyright ©2009 P. Griffith Lindell
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Friday, January 09, 2009
Leadership that Shapes Culture
Proverbs 9:10 (AMP) The reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord is the beginning (the chief and choice part) of Wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight and understanding.
Today’s culture demands that my thinking from this verse is a personal, subjective value but has nothing to do with objective reality - including how you lead and manage. The thinking goes something like this: it may be OK for you but certainly not for everybody else.
However, if the Incarnation and Resurrection are historical facts, (and I believe they are!) then the dichotomy that defines our culture is false. Have you bought into the view that “values” are the domain of personal and private issues, and that science, math etc. are the domain of only objective reality?
To believe both is a contradiction. God-fearing leaders hold that the Creation, Incarnation and Resurrection are objective Truth that speaks to our purpose, defines our business ethics and therefore shapes how we work, live and lead. Christian leaders must begin to shape our culture – not succumb to it.
Christianity offers a “unified, integrated truth” whose source is Wisdom.
Who are you going to believe: Our culture or our Creator?
Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
Today’s culture demands that my thinking from this verse is a personal, subjective value but has nothing to do with objective reality - including how you lead and manage. The thinking goes something like this: it may be OK for you but certainly not for everybody else.
However, if the Incarnation and Resurrection are historical facts, (and I believe they are!) then the dichotomy that defines our culture is false. Have you bought into the view that “values” are the domain of personal and private issues, and that science, math etc. are the domain of only objective reality?
To believe both is a contradiction. God-fearing leaders hold that the Creation, Incarnation and Resurrection are objective Truth that speaks to our purpose, defines our business ethics and therefore shapes how we work, live and lead. Christian leaders must begin to shape our culture – not succumb to it.
Christianity offers a “unified, integrated truth” whose source is Wisdom.
Who are you going to believe: Our culture or our Creator?
Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
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Thursday, January 08, 2009
What Leaders Focus Upon Matters
Proverbs 8:9-10 (MSG) [Wisdom speaking] Prefer my life--disciplines over chasing after money, and God-knowledge over a lucrative career. For Wisdom is better than all the trappings of wealth; nothing you could wish for holds a candle to her.
In Bruce Doyle III’s book Before You Think Another Thought he suggests that “what you focus on expands in your life…[and]…it is important to focus your attention effectively.”
Focus is a choice – a preference.
Wisdom suggests that choosing to focus on spiritual disciplines and God-knowledge will yield something that wealth will never provide. The seductions of power, position and prestige can easily distract.
Leadership is not about what you preach or what you intend to do: it is about how you behave and the impact that has on people. How you lead, what you do and say are the result of choosing the right things to focus upon. Begin by focusing on Wisdom – that focus will prepare you each day to think, do and say the kind of things that please God and followers will admire. As Bruce says it, “What you believe is just you will get.”
Do you believe in Wisdom? Or wealth? Your answer matters.
Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
In Bruce Doyle III’s book Before You Think Another Thought he suggests that “what you focus on expands in your life…[and]…it is important to focus your attention effectively.”
Focus is a choice – a preference.
Wisdom suggests that choosing to focus on spiritual disciplines and God-knowledge will yield something that wealth will never provide. The seductions of power, position and prestige can easily distract.
Leadership is not about what you preach or what you intend to do: it is about how you behave and the impact that has on people. How you lead, what you do and say are the result of choosing the right things to focus upon. Begin by focusing on Wisdom – that focus will prepare you each day to think, do and say the kind of things that please God and followers will admire. As Bruce says it, “What you believe is just you will get.”
Do you believe in Wisdom? Or wealth? Your answer matters.
Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
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Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Leaders Learn From the Ant
This instruction is simple, but profound: "Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider her ways and be wise!" The ant society has no leader, no guide, no management team, but follows a pattern of work built into them by their Creator from which we can learn.
Four of the sixteen observed ant “behaviors” include:
Career Training: Ants learn particular jobs, especially worker ants; then, on some schedule, change & learn new careers – small business demands learning many tasks and doing each well. Larger business benefit from people who take on different tasks within an organization to better understand the "how" - something like ants!
Education: Ants may be the only group of animals besides us in which interactive teaching behavior has been observed during their life: they pace instruction to the learner’s ability – not all your employees use the same learning style as you did. Observe. Teach them based on how they learn. Some want visual examples - drawings, pictures, etc.: other, just written instructions; some want to watch before they do; others combine all for best learning.
Planning: Ants store food in the warm summer to feed a colony all of winter – Planning is one key to survival. Do you have a business plan? Like ANTS, remember, you must always be planning.
Limited Free Will: It seems that ant inter-relationships between ants more symbiotic than coercive. All of the above thrive in a symbiotic relationship. We can always learn from each other. Symbiotic relationships build on each other's strengths - working together to solve problems, no matter the "rank" of the team member. It's about solving a problem, not securing status. It's about listening. Communicating. On the other hand, coercive relationships are all about "me" and how "I" can get you to do what "I" want, when "I" want it. There is no "team" in coercive, save for the leader ( the "me" person) an all the other team members.
Observe and be wise: Leaders mentor, sacrificing time often to teach – even in tough times; a caring leader paces the instruction; and, an effective leader actively listens, interacting and communicating.
What kind of relationships do you cultivate: symbiotic or coercive?
Copyright ©2009 P. Griffith Lindell
Four of the sixteen observed ant “behaviors” include:
Career Training: Ants learn particular jobs, especially worker ants; then, on some schedule, change & learn new careers – small business demands learning many tasks and doing each well. Larger business benefit from people who take on different tasks within an organization to better understand the "how" - something like ants!
Education: Ants may be the only group of animals besides us in which interactive teaching behavior has been observed during their life: they pace instruction to the learner’s ability – not all your employees use the same learning style as you did. Observe. Teach them based on how they learn. Some want visual examples - drawings, pictures, etc.: other, just written instructions; some want to watch before they do; others combine all for best learning.
Planning: Ants store food in the warm summer to feed a colony all of winter – Planning is one key to survival. Do you have a business plan? Like ANTS, remember, you must always be planning.
Limited Free Will: It seems that ant inter-relationships between ants more symbiotic than coercive. All of the above thrive in a symbiotic relationship. We can always learn from each other. Symbiotic relationships build on each other's strengths - working together to solve problems, no matter the "rank" of the team member. It's about solving a problem, not securing status. It's about listening. Communicating. On the other hand, coercive relationships are all about "me" and how "I" can get you to do what "I" want, when "I" want it. There is no "team" in coercive, save for the leader ( the "me" person) an all the other team members.
Observe and be wise: Leaders mentor, sacrificing time often to teach – even in tough times; a caring leader paces the instruction; and, an effective leader actively listens, interacting and communicating.
What kind of relationships do you cultivate: symbiotic or coercive?
Copyright ©2009 P. Griffith Lindell
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Monday, January 05, 2009
Bedrock Leadership for Small Business
Proverbs 5:1-2 (NIV) My son, pay attention to my wisdom, listen well to my words of insight, that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge.
Who you look to for wisdom when leading your small business (or large organization) determines – well, everything.
Business ethics adheres to the underlying principle that there is bedrock truth upon which you must build your thought life and behavior. Solomon of old never assumed that truth was relative and that morality was a function of personal choice: his worldview drove this writing of the verse below.
The predicate of this principle drives two actions: first, that your view of others will not be self-serving (maintain discretion); two, what you say actually builds the continuity of useful knowledge.
Leadership that honors others and builds a legacy begins at the source.
Do you pay more attention to what God teaches (duties we owe that support our “inalienable rights”) or the situational, shifting ethics of man?
Copyright © 2009 P. Griffith Lindell
Who you look to for wisdom when leading your small business (or large organization) determines – well, everything.
Business ethics adheres to the underlying principle that there is bedrock truth upon which you must build your thought life and behavior. Solomon of old never assumed that truth was relative and that morality was a function of personal choice: his worldview drove this writing of the verse below.
The predicate of this principle drives two actions: first, that your view of others will not be self-serving (maintain discretion); two, what you say actually builds the continuity of useful knowledge.
Leadership that honors others and builds a legacy begins at the source.
Do you pay more attention to what God teaches (duties we owe that support our “inalienable rights”) or the situational, shifting ethics of man?
Copyright © 2009 P. Griffith Lindell
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Friday, January 02, 2009
Small Business Leaders: Choose Well To Whom You Listen
Proverbs 2:5 (NLT) Tune your ears to the world of Wisdom; set your heart {inclining and directing your heart and mind} on a life of Understanding.
Tune your ears to: make them open to; get them on the same frequency as - Wisdom.
More than just passive listening, this requires recognition of the worldview of the speaker. However, lest we tune-out the verb beginning this verse, break it down and discover that it's not a matter of just hearing; rather, it is a matter of choosing to listen.
We are bombarded with all kinds of "wisdom" especially with the Internet, from the media and from the educational system. Revisionists thrive. “Peer review” is left for the “stuffy journals.” What’s a small businessperson to do?
There is one Book that contains all the principals from which proven leadership actions emerge: for example, it outlines Duties all humans share such as: telling the truth; keeping your promises; respecting the rights of others. Just as one tunes a car radio, the wise business leader must tune their "radio" to pick up the "station" that provides Wisdom.
Where are our dials set?
Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
Tune your ears to: make them open to; get them on the same frequency as - Wisdom.
More than just passive listening, this requires recognition of the worldview of the speaker. However, lest we tune-out the verb beginning this verse, break it down and discover that it's not a matter of just hearing; rather, it is a matter of choosing to listen.
We are bombarded with all kinds of "wisdom" especially with the Internet, from the media and from the educational system. Revisionists thrive. “Peer review” is left for the “stuffy journals.” What’s a small businessperson to do?
There is one Book that contains all the principals from which proven leadership actions emerge: for example, it outlines Duties all humans share such as: telling the truth; keeping your promises; respecting the rights of others. Just as one tunes a car radio, the wise business leader must tune their "radio" to pick up the "station" that provides Wisdom.
Where are our dials set?
Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
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