On Business Trip

Will not be posting while traveling. Posting again begins April 6th, Lord willing.

Praise Will Test a Leader’s Motivations.

Proverbs 27:21 (NLT) Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but a person is tested by being praised.


When we communicate, we reveal much about ourselves, especially our authenticity. When providing sales training, I’ve noticed that some trainees want to adopt certain, perceived personality traits thinking those traits will make them better sales people. Not so. Lack of authenticity is soon detected. Sales people, like leaders, must root their communication in authenticity. Authenticity in communication purifies the messages delivered.

We all like to hear “job well done!” How we hear it and who is telling us are both critical to our ability to process the communication. When pricked with praise, bleed humility. Can’t do that if you’re faking it. A leader, in touch with his/her Leader, will be able to respond to the test of praise with honesty and gratitude, appreciative of the praise, but not gloating in it.

Your followers also like to hear praise. When you praise them, sincerely, you also can begin to get insight into their hearts. Does pride or arrogance creep out at the edges? Does giving credit where credit is due emerge? (Is that authentic or a simply dressing up a lack of self-confidence?) Praise is a powerful management tool. It revels much.

Authentic, Kingdom-driven, servant-leaders must daily empty self to allow the Spirit to move in. Discipline is involved. Commitment to the final praise from the Almighty (“…well done, good and faithful servant…”) must drive us. Followers, motivated by leaders who express character, compassion, concern and conviction, produce results that catch the attention and praise of those watching. How the leader handles that adulation the first time will predict whether a second time will result.

How are you handling the test of praise?



Copyright © 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Sincere Leadership

Proverbs 26:23 (MSG) Smooth talk from an evil heart is like glaze on cracked pottery.

Why, in 2009, am I struck by this verse? Could it be all the smooth talk filling the airwaves?

The image in the verse is striking and apropos. Adding glaze, as fill, was the old trick used to hide blemishes. The Greeks marked their fine pottery after inspection with the word from which we get our word sincere – meaning unmixed or pure.

Leadership that builds trust, that is original, innovative, focused on people works best when it originates from a heart that is pure in motive. The antithesis is Machiavellian leadership. People want to be lead, not manipulated. That’s all about heart – motive.

The leader’s prayer must daily be the Psalmist prayer, “Create in me a clean heart, Oh God.” This is heart “surgery” that motivates followers and magnifies the leader’s Leader.

Are you willing to have daily heart surgery?


Copyright (c) 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leaders and Competitors

Proverbs 24:17-18 (NASB) Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; Or the LORD will see it and be displeased, And turn His anger away from him.


There is an interesting metaphor about competition that vibrates with military images - the competition is somehow “the enemy.” The paradigm posits that business is about winning no matter what or who is crushed in the process.

What’s the Christian businessperson to do? This verse makes it clear. We lead with a different mindset; an attitude that is from above, not below.

The good news is that excellent marketing is not about crushing the competition: it is about differentiation: about distinguishing, from competitive offerings, the features your product provides, their compelling benefits, so that the user understands the value your product delivers. No crushing needed. Targeted, value-based messages produce positive results. (Need help with competitive differentiation that impacts your market? Click on the title above.)

Once again, for the Believing businessperson, it is all about attitude - a heart thing.

Are you rejoicing in Him, alone - no matter the marketplace circumstance?

Copyright © 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leaders Know For Whom They Work

Proverbs 23:4-5 (NLV) Do not work hard to be rich. Stop trying to get things for yourself. When you set your eyes upon it, it is gone. For sure, riches make themselves wings like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.


Former President Bush (43) warned Congress in 2001 that what “looked good” at Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac, was not. He was ridiculed. Ignored. The reaction of those in Congress reminds me of the mythological story of Icarus who, in his exuberance with successful flight, flew too close to the sun and melted the wax in his wings, falling to his death. Our economy, riding on the back of our Icarus-Congress is falling also.

Working hard and achieving success is generally good. However, according to J.L. Badaracco, Jr., a professor at Harvard Business School, in his book Questions of Character he writes, "The basic problem with the flow of success is that life can look very good when it really isn't.”

Working hard for the right things is always best. Work – no matter the job -- is really a mind-game; it is an attitude that must flow from seeking “first the kingdom of God" to living life with the core value of stewardship, not ownership. Like the example of Abraham of old, who possessed nothing, not even his son, stewardship must define how we think and act about what we have.

The daunting challenge for many leaders is, paradoxically, the very thing we aspire to achieve - a successful life and career and all that comes with them -- can be fleeting if we find we are working for the wrong reasons.

Who are you working for – God or yourself?



Copyright © 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leading Cross-generational Teams

Proverbs 20:29 (AMP) The glory of young men is their strength, and the beauty of old men is their gray head [suggesting wisdom and experience].

Baby-boomers were looking forward to “those golden retirement years.” The 2009 financial markets have changed the plans of many. Retirement’s forestalled. Some are working in an environment recently energized with a new generation. New ways of thinking: behaving; processing information; using technology. Tensions mount.

It is interesting to me that this proverb is in Scripture. Then it dawned on me: We, who are older, sometimes fall in the trap of dismissing the enthusiasm and inexperience of our younger team members. After all, we have been there, done that. Sadly, some of us have had a singular good experience which we only repeat without change, enhancement or modification. Some, in gray, forget to pursue life-long learning.

Leaders, serving the needs of the team, recognize the strengths each generation brings to problem-solving. They foster a culture that maximizes the powerful properties of each generation. The vigor of the young can be shaped by the older generation. The gray generation becomes open again to the vigor of youth who see barriers as mere impediments that must be overcome. Strength and experience combine for robust and unique solutions.

Are you a leader who makes the most of your team, young and old?

Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

The Longsuffering Leader

Proverbs 19:11 (NIV) A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense.

In Measure of a Leader, the authors posit that it is followers who define the leader. These followers, among other attributes, will make sacrifices for the leader’s cause.

Those kinds of followers are lead by one who not only practices patience, but also leads compassionately. Compassionate leadership often yields followers who give more to an organization than the letter of the job description requires – they give to the “spirit” of the job.

Perhaps, overlooking an offense is the appropriate action; but this is not some fluffy, whimsical compassion. This is leadership compassion that exercises both discretion and provides direction. It is more than empathy. It involves action.

For example, when a follower has demonstrated that s/he can’t reasonably be expected to perform to an organizational standard, it is compassionate, to both the individual and the organization, to move that person to another opportunity (in or out of the organization) that will best use what they have to offer a leader or a team.

Patient, compassionate leadership does require wisdom that flows from an intimate relationship with the One who is Wisdom: the One who left us the Spirit, whose fruit in our lives includes patience. Leading like Jesus is not natural: it is supernatural.

Got patience? How’s your fruit of the Spirit at work?


Copyright © 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leaders Listen - Actively

Proverbs 18: 2 (AMP) A [self-confident] fool has no delight in understanding [(MSG) thoughtful discourse] but only in revealing his personal opinions and himself.

Part of living in a world ruined by rebellion is that what began with Eve and was established in Adam has become a natural “way of being” for many – the creature not only thinks s/he knows more than the Creator, but also, and too often, thinks s/he knows better than anyone else. Caught up in their own hubris, s/he barely listens with “half a ear” while forming thoughts about what to say next. You know, pontificate.

“Understanding” often begins with the simple act of active listening – a trait leaders learn early and must develop continually. Authentic leaders listen - actively: the pretenders nod their heads, interrupt mid-sentence. They send the message that what they think is more important than learning what you think. A “pretender” may tell you he/she respects your opinion: it is their behavior that more clearly communicates.

Have you learned to actively listen?

Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leading From Wisdom to Point to Wisdom

Proverbs 17:16 (AMP) Of what use is money in the hand of a [self-confident] fool to buy skillful and godly Wisdom--when he has no understanding or heart for it?

When I read this today, I could not help but think of the AIG boondoggle and ancillary stories of funds misused. Funds were given without the oversight needed to change processes - yielding a different result. The use of taxpayer money was neither skillful nor Godly. And then, there is the foolishness of the recipient, ignoring the intent of the gift, continues to do things in the same manner producing an old result. The stories coming out of Wall Street seem to beg the question: what good is it to provide money seeing that they have no mind for wisdom in the use of it?

For business leaders, the analogy may break down with rigorous analysis; however, one lesson for Leaders is that God’s great goodness is spent even on those who are living life as fools - the ones who are in the most need and have no desire for Him.

Your team, employees, vendors, customers need to see, in you, the practical behavior that results from your willingness to “buy skillful and godly Wisdom.” The world needs to see in our behavior that our purchase was worth the price and that the Wisdom given remains unchanged - unlike the mercurial movement of relative truth. Armed with the Word, we point those watching in the direction of eternal truths that have, time and time again, proven valuable in a business setting.

Believing leader: remember, God reached out for us when we were fools (self-absorbed in life, operating as our own god); because of His grace, we now have a heart for Wisdom. Let His grace shine brightly in your life.

Are you willing to “let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven…?”


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leaders Take Time to Reflect

Prov. 16:2 (NLT) People may be pure in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their motives.

Pride, seeing my intentions and behavior to be “pure,” gets in the way of most everything we do: the reason? The subtle expressions of pride often happen in the little things that we don’t face and resolve. The accumulation of those unresolved expressions build up behaviors that often have national consequence.

The current economic conditions of 2008-2009 reflect the power of pride, not expressed as haughtiness, but expressed as “the pride of life” that drives people to take mortgages out they could not possibly afford and large financial companies paying out “bonuses” for purposes of “retention” rather than as reward for performance. When pinned down, these people, great and small, easily point the finger outward: never inward.

That’s why this writer continually writes on the heart (motives). Recently, having forgotten a previous agreement, I insisted on grabbing a check for dinner. My behavior, born of my “pure” motive to thank a friend for his recent help, was so overriding that I pushed back in my mind my previous commitment that each couple would pay their own portion of the bill. Between that conversation and dinner, I purposed to pay, driven by a complex of internal motives that were not revealed until after “I won the check-grab.” What words came out as my friend was challenging me were not pure, but prideful: my behavior was full of self - a twinkle in my eye, a “gotcha” in my heart.

It was in the quiet of evening prayer that I realized how easily I had succumbed to “it’s all about me.” What I wanted to do. What I saw was “right.” How pride had driven motive and memory. My motives, even though one could consider them honorable, were all about me – not about “us.”

Do you take the time to listen to what God is saying in your heart, in a quiet time of reflection?

Copyright (c) 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Collaborative Change Management Success Begins with Humility

Proverbs 13:10 (MSG) Arrogant know-it-alls stir up discord, but wise men and women listen to each other's counsel.


In a discussion about misplaced arrogance in leaders, the Center for Creative Leadership recently reminded its audience, “The leading reason managers [leaders] with impressive track records and high potential get knocked off the career track is their inability or unwillingness to change.”

Our current state of the economy - less customers; inventory building; layoffs occurring; a host of challenges to the status quo - demands change. Collaboration becomes the key resource in a small business. Interdependence yields team-based results. Rowing the boat in sync helps manage the stormy seas of the economy. This is not the time for arrogance.

As Jim Collins, author of Good to Great discovered, leaders who successfully manage change are not only humble, but also have learned to collaborate.

Are you fostering collaboration? Are you willing to listen?



Copyright © 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Effective Leadership Begins at the Interview

Proverbs 12:13 (NLT) The wicked are trapped by their own words, but the godly escape such trouble.

When Dr. Donn Lobdell, head of R&D for COBE Labs, a high-tech medical device manufacturing company, was asked by the Denver Business Journal, "What's the most important part of your job?" he replied, "Hiring is the most important part of my job, because when you're hiring, you're creating the future of your company."

Good questions to get the interviewee talking are vital. Seemingly innocent questions work wonders. Questions like:

“Tell me about where you grew up?” [What issues do they talk about? Does their answer show awareness of the times and what it meant to their maturation?]

“Describe the work environment that invigorated you?" [What is important to them?]

"Tell me about the corporate culture where you experienced the most success.” [This is another way to ask the same question - is the answer essentially the same?]

“What are the three most important values you demonstrate as a leader/manager/team member?"
"Tell me a story that demonstrates how you made those values real within your workplace.” [This helps see if the values are platitudes or prompters to behavior]

The answers reveal character qualities and patterns of thinking that give you a glimpse at the heart. To be effective, your heart and the words you speak aloud must be congruent. Remember, what comes out of the mouth has its source in the heart. Skilled “hands” and great hearts build successfully organizations.

Do you have the heart to ask insightful questions?


Copyright (c) 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Servant-Leaders Begin with a Humble Heart

Proverbs 11:2 (NIV) When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.


In John Kotter & James Heskett’s book, Corporate Culture and Performance, they explored with empirical research how the “culture” of a corporation influences performance. They found that strong leaders:

• “Do not tolerate arrogance in others…
• They remind people often of who they must serve….
• They keep their own egos under control. They make room for other egos.”

Their research revealed that arrogance, inward focus and encumbering bureaucracy are all features of a company in disgrace – unable to adapt to change.

Scripture says that hidden in humility is wisdom: the last sentence of Kotter & Heskett’s’ book says, “…if leaders do not have the hearts of servants, there is only the potential for tyranny.”

There it is again: positive, productive leadership begins in the heart.

Got the heart to be a servant-leader?



Copyright © 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leadership & Wealth

Proverbs 10:22 (NLT) The blessing of the LORD makes a person rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.

The source of riches is being much discussed in 2009. Getting and keeping wealth has become an issue. Some candidates for Administration positions tried to manipulate the “keeping” part, and were exposed. Because of the market conditions, several financiers have been exposed who were manipulating the “getting’ part and damaging thousands of lives.

Humility drives our understanding that The Creator has a powerful role in the acquisition of riches. He gives us the brains, the timing, the circumstances. Of course, we have the responsibility to correctly take advantage of those gifts. Sometimes we do not. At least, I know I’ve not at times. “I” got in the way because I was leaning on my own understanding. I tried to manipulate my small world – my private expression of arrogance and not humility.

One of the lessons I learned was that leadership should be focused on who we are, not what we are accomplishing. Wealth is not the goal of a wise person, but may be a consequence – one that comes free and clear. Let the Lord determine who will receive the blessings of riches that carry no sorrow.

Business leaders who keep their focus on Him (“seek first the kingdom of God”) lead without damaging those around them (or generations to come). They have learned first to follow so they can better lead. If riches result because of their choices, they acknowledge the source – God who gave them the paths to follow and the impact on wealth that path yielded.

Do not forget, even in this bad economy, those of us living in America, by global standards are wealthy indeed. We must be thankful for the wealth we have and not covet the wealth some others may have.

Are you thankful?

Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Life Is Full Of Choices

Proverbs 9: (NIV) 4"Let all who are simple come in here!" 16"Let all who are simple come in here!"


Twice in this chapter the same words are used: the first time it is Wisdom calling out; and the second time it is the siren song of the seductress – Folly, she is called.

At face value, seems a simple choice. Not so. The seductress is subtle, often mixing the messages easily and with little distinction from the calls of Wisdom.

Discernment demands discipline. Godly leaders must be rooted in a Christian Worldview to better discriminate between the calls. But often, acute decision-making is blocked by repeated simple behaviors that reflect Folly, not Wisdom: Examples may include:

A sharp word of rebuke in public vs. a quiet correction in private;
A belittling remark vs. an encouraging comment; and,
willingness to book business you know will fall out vs. reporting only what is really sold.

The former are self-centered: the later are other-centered. Real choices.

Leaders face many kinds of choices.

To which invitation will you respond: Wisdom’s or Folly’s?


Copyright (c) 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leadership – Life Long Learning

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!



Diligence in living your life or in your work (and especially if you are running a business) is vital to healthy companies and a healthy personal growth.

Leaders must have the capacity to observe all that life offers, to learn and then apply that knowledge wisely in the work place. This is a process of life-long learning - antithesis of laziness.

Much may be learned from the study of ant behavior. (Link here for more.) For example, ants may be the only group of animals besides us 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?



Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Effective Leaders Ponder the “Right Stuff”

Proverbs 5: 6 (NKJV) Lest you ponder her [a sexually promiscuous woman’s] path of life-- Her ways are unstable; you do not know them. ( Phil. 4:8*)

People at work often times are put in situations that can breed the wrong kind of “pondering.”

Godly leaders (at home or at work) are called to bring captive every thought by being saturated with Wisdom. “Summing it all up… I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.”*

Meditating on the Word is foundational. In addition, developing an integrated Christian Worldview will yield insights, attitudes and behaviors that make the Sunday stuff alive at work and play.

Ponder that!

The Heart of a Leader

Proverbs 4:23 (MSG) Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that's where life starts.

Effective leadership is a heart issue. The “heart” is where feelings, behavior, attitudes, hidden thoughts live. It is where “life starts.”

Scripture also teaches that the heart is very wicked and deceitful - so much so, it can fool us. That's why it must be guarded. The older I get, the more I understand how much personal discipline it really takes to become a "person after God's own heart."

Not guarding the heart allows it to wander, and it is very easily done - especially in a culture that stimulates the prurient as the driver for purchasing almost anything today. Interesting word – prurient – comes from the Latin meaning “to itch.”

People at work often times are put in situations that can breed “prurient pondering.” Behaviors have changed. The unintended consequences of how people dress, what the joke about, and what they notice sometimes creates an “itch” that we scratch by “pondering.”

Effective leaders think of others before thinking of self (prurient pondering is innately selfish!) This kind of leadership demands a humble heart, which takes effort on our part and that effort is focused on guarding our heart – keeping the pondering in check.

To become better prepared for work, do you spend as much time reading the Word as you do the Harvard Business Review? The former, aimed at filling the heart with God-thoughts, will not only yield more than the latter about the issues of life, but also will make implementing insights from HBR more effective. Their articles can be helpful, but even more so when you see how research lines up so often with Biblical principles.

Are you disciplined for leadership?

Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Who Owns Your Business? Really...

Proverbs 3:9 (MSG) Honor GOD with everything you own; give him the first and the best.

Honoring God is not a subject with which to trifle; it is an all-or-nothing attitude. This is not only a leadership principal: it is for every one.

God has made it clear that paying lip service to Him, but behaving as if YOU are really God, is dangerous and is the quintessential definition of hypocrisy.

How is God-honoring attitude expressed? One way, for the business owner, is realizing that the innovations for product development, the implementations of manufacturing efficiencies, the impact on the marketplace each have their source in God. This insight could radically change how one views business.

God honoring begins with how we view our origin and destiny. It is expressed in our personal relationships. It sometimes meets a roadblock with business – after all, it is just business. Wrong. In the marketplace, especially, those not in touch with God watch carefully those who claim to be connected to Him. Giving Him the best includes giving the boss the best – not matter how the boss treats you. You work for Him.

If you own the business, there is even a greater opportunity to honor God in the way you respond to employees, customer, vendor and others. This God-honoring thing it not a Sunday thing – it is a life thing.

Do you give Him the best you have to offer – or do you save that for yourself?



Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

To Lead, You Must Follow

Proverbs 2: 6 (MSG) …God gives out Wisdom free, is plainspoken in Knowledge and Understanding.

The greatest command is to love God with – well, everything. When the object of our love gives us a gift, we normally accept it. The gift is Wisdom and it’s free.

In good or bad economic times, wisdom to make good business decisions should be accepted cherished, and loved. One definition of wisdom is that it is knowledge guided by understanding. The FREE offer is packaged: it comes with plain, straightforward knowledge and understanding. If the definition of understanding includes “knowing things in their right relationship,” this should be an offer that should be hard to refuse. Many leaders do, however. The burning question maybe well be - Why?

Leadership is not a “self” thing. To be a great leader, you first must be a great follower. Jesus tells the story about the shepherd and his sheep and that “….he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he gets them all out, he leads them and they follow…” We sometimes think we are the shepherd – leading. We are the sheep, following.

Who you follow makes a difference. Our natural inclination is to follow our learning, our native ability to analyze, synthesize and capitalize upon the patterns we find in the data. Following God in our business life, seems, somehow, incongruent. Praying about niggling business decisions seems, to many, a waste of God’s time (and ours). It seems that for many of us, that we are more comfortable following our instincts or following the advice of a friend, a consultant, an author or academician. Are you daily taking advantage of the free gift of Wisdom to lead your business, your group, your team and/or your family?

Leader: Are you first a follower?

Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell