Leaders Manage - Themselves

Proverbs 31:4-5 (MSG) Leaders can't afford to make fools of themselves, gulping wine and swilling beer, lest, hung over, they don't know right from wrong, and the people who depend on them are hurt.

Behavior always speaks more loudly than words. Just as golf is the game of commerce and is often used to judge the character of potential clients and people with whom one does business, so the “19th” hole also is a visual book of behavior. Words spoken, without the normal constraints of the business setting, cannot be recaptured in the air once their sound is out. At all the “19th holes” in life, leaders know their drinking limits and stick within them

It was Sun Tzu in The Art of War who admonished, “... It is said that one who knows the enemy and knows himself will not be endangered in an hundred engagements. One who does not know the enemy but knows himself will sometimes be victorious. Sometimes meet with defeat. One who knows neither the enemy nor himself will invariably be defeated in every engagement.”

What is consistent here is the phrase “knowing himself” – leaders who know their limits can be trusted. Peter Drucker in his 1999 HBR article on “Managing Oneself” who pointed out that "history's great achievers - Napoleon, da Vinci, Mozart - have always managed themselves....[and later in the same article]…Success in the knowledge economy comes to those who know themselves - their strengths, their values and how they best perform."

Having good intentions is admirable. It is your behavior that will have impact. If you want to maximize your impact, first manage your behavior while purifying your intentions. And as Polonius admonished Laertes, “This above all: to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.”


Are you managing yourself well?


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leaders Think More and Talk Less

Proverbs 29:11 (NKJV) A fool vents all his feelings, but a wise man holds them back.

I cannot help but think of Professor Gates and the controversy surround the 911 call to his home when I read this verse. Angry diatribes about big subjects – venting – produces no good to the speaker or the listener. It does gratify the ego, however.

“Letting it all come out” is acting stupidly. It is a weakness in character, especially for a leader, to be so open that one spews anger or even just tells everything one knows about a subject. It was La Rochefoucauld (17th century French epigrammatist) who commented that “conceit causes more conversation than wit” and this verse supports that contention. Often we tell what we know, or vent how we feel about someone or a group, to feed our ego, not to help the questioner or listener.

The wise practice a different kind of communication: unlike people whose mouths are instantly filled with whatever is in their minds, the wise have learned one of the fundamentals of leadership and that is “…. silence is one great art of conversation…”

Remember the wise words of Montesquieu: “The less men think, the more they talk.” The wise take a second for thought. Sometimes, they tuck away what they want to say for a time better suited to express a thought. The pause that catches the thought before it’s expression is a sign of maturity.

Leadership is always a heart issue first. The thought quickly expressed is often a sign of what is in a person’s heart (Matt 12:34 “For whatever is in your heart determines what you say.”).

Does your speech reflect a foolish or wise heart?


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leaders Know Where to Find Satisfaction

Proverbs 27:20 (NLT) Just as Death and Destruction are never satisfied, so human desire is never satisfied.


What do you desire? Secretly.

Whether your secret desire for satisfaction is expressed in the pursuit of money, power, influence, sex, sports, food or rampant hedonism (just feel’n good, man), one outcome is certain: you will never be satisfied.

Let’s make it simpler: self-satisfaction is an oxymoron. Only when our desire is to satisfy what justice demands; only when we put the needs of others first; only when we are driven to pursue God’s Righteousness; only then, will we be satisfied.

For the Believing leader, Jesus points the way to real satisfaction: Matt 5:6 (KJV) Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness: for they shall be satisfied.

Are you satisfied?


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Hidden Power of Envy

Proverbs 24:19-20 (NIV) Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of the wicked, for the evil man has no future hope, and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out.

For the believing leader, this admonition may seem casual, or even a bit off-handed – perhaps, not even very insightful - because we know the end and the One who holds the end in His hands.

Christian leaders have hope and should live without envy; however, secular literature supports this Biblical observation that envy and leadership are intermixed in many complex ways.

Ahh, God once again, knows what He is doing :)!

Conceptual psychoanalytic research suggests that envy is often so painful an emotion for leaders that it is driven to the unconscious resulting in behaviors that undermine a leader’s ability to attract and maintain followers.

Biblical Leadership is a “heart” issue – one that takes a power higher than us to expose the hidden drivers that capture our thought-life. Leaders will succeed by “filling [their] minds and meditating on things that are true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.” [Phil. 4:4-6 (MSG)]

It’s a heart issue: so just what are you thinking about?


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Living With The End In Mind.

Proverbs 23:17-18 (NKJV) Do not let your heart envy sinners, but be zealous for the fear of the LORD all the day; for surely there is a hereafter, and your hope will not be cut off.

How easy it is to envy – even a little bit – even for leaders.

When you see those, who consider God irrelevant, achieving success in business and life, the natural inclination is to consider, at least, “what do they have going for them!” Remember, their plenty is both their portion and their poison.

How we react, how we conduct ourselves at work and how we engage life will demonstrate if we are really subject to His precepts, submissive to His direction and subordinating self to first please Him in all we do, say and think.

It is not what is happening around you that matters, it is what is inside you that makes the difference. To be fully present is the predicate to our commitment to be zealous for the fear of the Lord – all the day.

Living with the end in mind will help you understand the difficulties and discouragements in life.

Where’s your focus: the “here-and now” or the “here-after?” The later helps make the former meaningful and relevant. It doesn’t work the other way.


Copyright© 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Attractive Leadership

Proverbs 22: 11 (MSG) GOD loves the pure-hearted and well-spoken; good leaders also delight in their friendship.

Leadership that is attractive…motivates.

Pureness of heart will attract both followers and other leaders. Christian business leaders should have an advantage because we can lead from a pure heart and our speech can be seasoned with graciousness. Both are a result not of who we are naturally, but of Christ in us.

Do you want to make a change in your workplace? Work on your heart and leave the rest up to God. His love for you will cover the consequences of your stand for righteousness - your expression of a pure heart.


Will you share your heart? God did.


Copyright© 2009 P. Griffith Lindell

Fraud in a Down Economy

Proverbs 20:6 (NASB) Many a man [person] proclaims his own loyalty, but who can find a trustworthy man [person]?

Finding and keeping good people is a journey small business owners take often with disastrous results. Desperation and greed can cause those with hidden character issues a “reason” to rationalize behavior they may never have thought of pursuing previously.

Small business people face yet another impediment to sustainability in a tough economy - employee fraud. Tough financial times often give some employees (and according to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, an increasing number in companies with less than 100 employees) a rationale to relieve their personal financial pressure with petty cash theft, check forgery, and skimming from cash register.

Why small business? They are especially vulnerable because of the lack of tough internal controls and often too much trust in their staff despite signals that the staff member is falling into desperate straights – and desperate people can do desperate things.

If you do not have internal controls, this economy may be a great time to begin to exercise that financial discipline, starting with a daily/weekly cash flow analysis. Your local SCORE chapter (www.score.org) will have people that can help with financial controls and training in cash management.

For 5 tips that will help control fraud, click HERE.

Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Are You Shaping the Culture? Or Is It Shaping YOU?

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 this verse is a personal, subjective value but has nothing to do with objective reality - including how you lead and manage: it may be OK for you but certainly not for everybody else.

However, if the Incarnation and Resurrection are historical facts, then the dichotomy that defines our culture is false (“values” relegated to personal and private issues, and science, math etc. as held as the 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 and destiny including 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 ©2006,2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leaders Remember to Remember

Proverbs 7:1 [Lindell] My son, keep [remember] my words [follow my advice] [do what I tell you] and store [treasure] up my commands within you [stick to it]….

I’m reminded of a recent article in the July 2009 SMITHSONIAN titled “Salami, Mr. Holcomb?” memorializing, in a Lucian Perkins' photo, the grueling “plebe” experience. Parts of that experience are intense memorization drills, including, for example, the lunch menu. Holcomb (the plebe) received the blistering verbal pounding of the senior midshipman, Sandee Irwin (one of the first women at the Academy) for forgetting salami in his recitation. Memorization drills help build the knowledge base upon which plebes grow into midshipmen.

One can't follow advice if one does not choose to remember it and remembering is a result of an attitude adjustment. Our military academies think this adjustment is important – beginning with memorizing a lunch menu. They had a model from which to work: the Old Testament. God commanded consistently to “remember,” even providing visual metaphors and reminders (altars, clothing, adornments, feasts, festivals etc.)

Our learning to "treasure" the commands and deciding to pay attention to the instruction that flows from Wisdom should become part of our life-long learning. The opposite way of living is called foolishness. In the first nine chapters of Proverbs, both Wisdom and foolishness are presented in the feminine and the latter as a seductive, but “religious,” adulteress (see verse 14).

She is attractive: provocative; stimulating; enticing; full of energy, and, she even smells good. How easy it is to be sucked into the “way of the world.” Just as in all good counterfeits, the distinctions are subtle. The seduction mimics the real. Do you know what is real? Can you discern the distinctions?

Are you remembering to remember to do business God's way?


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leaderships Lessons Derived From Studying the Ant

Proverbs 6:6-11 (MSG) You lazy fool, look at an ant. Watch it closely; let it teach you a thing or two. Nobody has to tell it what to do. All summer it stores up food; at harvest it stockpiles provisions. So how long are you going to laze around doing nothing? How long before you get out of bed? A nap here, a nap there, a day off here, a day off there, sit back, take it easy--do you know what comes next? Just this: You can look forward to a dirt-poor life, poverty your permanent houseguest!


Ants in the kitchen! The mystery remains the source – perhaps some of the fresh strawberries we picked. Pesky little things that demand a second look, according to this verse.

The lesson to be learned in your observation is not just to collect facts, and information, and a body of knowledge; rather, learn to be wise.

For example, ants may be the only group of animals besides humans in which interactive teaching behavior has been observed during their life. That learning seems also to be future-focused, teaching younger ants what they need to know to be effective producers.

Like the ant, leaders should be mentoring. Sharing the “tricks of the trade:” Allowing the “mentee” to discover some “wrong ways” to do something so that a better way may be learned. Answering questions with questions or telling a story and letting the employee work at discovery. Learning.

Leaders are then building a succession plan that has a potential of success.

Who are you teaching? Who are your grooming?

MORE Ant Information Here

Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

The Measure of a Christian Leader

Proverbs 3:5-6 (MSG) Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track.

The measure of a Christian leader is how well that leader weaves his/her faith into the fabric of living both at home and at work.

Listening to God’s voice in everything we do takes intentionality, discipline and a determination to be humble, even in business problem-solving. We are often too caught up in the myth of Hollywood that we are autonomous, independent leaders and find ourselves just responding and reacting, that we forget about relying.

This verse is devoid of meaning if we relegate God to Sunday and forget Him Monday to Saturday. In the world of business, finding a 7-day committed Believer is a breath of fresh air. Are you one of them? Are you a person whose faith means something to them and how you run the business - intentionality, discipline and determination in action.

Whom do you trust and listen to: mythmakers or your Maker?

Copyright © 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leaders Must Learn to Relax

Proverbs 1:33 (MSG) First pay attention to me, and then relax. Now you can take it easy--you're in good hands.

So, you want to relax? Chapter one of Proverbs says there is a simple method that will provide what you need to learn to relax.

Being God-absorbed - seems like it should be very simple, doesn't it? It should not be, but that is the hard part. The "absorbed with God" decision will so drive you that no matter if wars rage, if the economy falls flat, if sickness ravages the family, if the business falls apart, you can relax. You can live without anxiety

Easy words fro me to write: Much harder to do. And the reason? I think it so much easier to be self-absorbed. It's my nature. I suspect that it might be yours, too.

Self-absorbed equals anxiety. God-absorbed equals relaxation. The choice should be clear.

Are you relaxed?

STUDY GUIDE

Copyright (c) 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell