Proverbs 27:1 (MSG) Don't brashly announce what you're going to do tomorrow; you don't know the first thing about tomorrow.
I was having calendar problems today. Syncing this one with that one and getting too many duplicate meetings between them. Got me thinking about leading and “tomorrows.”
Influencing others is a today thing – can’t put that off for tomorrow. I remember getting so focused on today’s tasks, that the people needing positive influence (nurture, direction, encouragement, care) were placed in the tomorrow slot. As if I would know that I would be there tomorrow to provide that leading. That brashness may not have been verbally announced, but it was part of my thinking. God-like. Knowing tomorrow would be there for me. For them.
Good leadership is about being present. Aware of and taking care of the people and problems - today. You, and they, may not have tomorrow.
Sure, planning is important. So is scheduling properly. That’s not the issue: tomorrow is about attitude. We either have the “I’m in charge” attitude or the “God is in charge” attitude. Which one we adopt shapes how we think about today. And tomorrow.
Got the right attitude?
Copyright ©2010 by P. Griffith Lindell
Showing posts with label attitude. Show all posts
Showing posts with label attitude. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
10 Ways to Influence the Workplace
1. Don’t worship self – work on your internal attitude – remember: it’s not all about you!
2. Value others – by tangible, external expressions - like expressing appreciation or saying “Thank you!” and meaning it.
3. Lead with a moral compass – if you have not thought about your core values, just ask yourself this question: “What would Christ do?”
4. Remember what a wise writer once wrote: – Accept the words of Wisdom as truth; memorize them and store them up; tune your ear to listen to people who are grounded in Wisdom; apply your heart to wisdom; i.e. your mind, will and emotions; and, finally, call for insight, ask for wisdom and cry aloud for understanding.
5. Realize that innovations, insights and impact in the market have their source in God – by doing this an attitude adjustment will follow which will be reflected in your treat other people
6. Show a concern for truth by the questions you ask peers, subordinates and bosses
7. When leading a team or a company, practice humility, modesty and shared decision-making
8. Practice personal discipline to guard your heart with being daily in the Word
9. Build influence by being authentic – For example: when you don’t know, don’t fake it: say you don’t know, but will find out.
10. Practice, with diligence, the art of observing, learning from results (good or bad – no matter), teaching what is learned and mentoring someone to take your place
Copyright (c) 2010 by P. Griffith Lindell
2. Value others – by tangible, external expressions - like expressing appreciation or saying “Thank you!” and meaning it.
3. Lead with a moral compass – if you have not thought about your core values, just ask yourself this question: “What would Christ do?”
4. Remember what a wise writer once wrote: – Accept the words of Wisdom as truth; memorize them and store them up; tune your ear to listen to people who are grounded in Wisdom; apply your heart to wisdom; i.e. your mind, will and emotions; and, finally, call for insight, ask for wisdom and cry aloud for understanding.
5. Realize that innovations, insights and impact in the market have their source in God – by doing this an attitude adjustment will follow which will be reflected in your treat other people
6. Show a concern for truth by the questions you ask peers, subordinates and bosses
7. When leading a team or a company, practice humility, modesty and shared decision-making
8. Practice personal discipline to guard your heart with being daily in the Word
9. Build influence by being authentic – For example: when you don’t know, don’t fake it: say you don’t know, but will find out.
10. Practice, with diligence, the art of observing, learning from results (good or bad – no matter), teaching what is learned and mentoring someone to take your place
Copyright (c) 2010 by P. Griffith Lindell
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Monday, May 11, 2009
Delight God in Business by Pursuing Him
Proverbs 11:1 (NASB) A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, but a just weight is His delight.
A little adjustment here, a little lie there and white lies everywhere yielding a response to the question, “What can I get away with?"
Our culture today presents leaders with many opportunities for self-righteous behaviors. Believers are called to pursue God, not “advantage.” We are called to righteousness, not riches. We are called to multiply what He has given us for His glory.
Are you delighting God?
Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
A little adjustment here, a little lie there and white lies everywhere yielding a response to the question, “What can I get away with?"
Our culture today presents leaders with many opportunities for self-righteous behaviors. Believers are called to pursue God, not “advantage.” We are called to righteousness, not riches. We are called to multiply what He has given us for His glory.
Are you delighting God?
Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
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Thursday, May 07, 2009
Leaders Know What’s Precious
Proverbs 7:3 (NKJV) Keep my commands and live, and my law as the apple of your eye.
The idiom in this verse literally means the “pupil of the eye” but has come to mean, “that which we hold most precious.” Remember the words of our Servant-Leader model about what is precious:
Robert E. Staub - (The Heart of Leadership: 12 Practices of a Courageous Leader) - reveals that those who purport to lead - but fail - do so because they don't understand who it is they're trying to lead. Sometimes, evaluations of the team are based upon the wrong criteria – they may well be the right “people on the bus” and leaders miss it because they are not holding the skills possessed as “precious.”
According to Jim Collins, “The good-to-great leaders understood …[a] simple truth….if you begin with “who,” rather than “what,” you can more easily adapt to a changing world.” What I have learned is that working on developing the “who” is a rigorous process and takes competency, intimacy, integrity, and passion.
Leaders know what is precious: It not the stuff that must be done; rather, it’s the people who team with them to get it done.
Who is (and/or is it “what is”) most precious to you?
Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
The idiom in this verse literally means the “pupil of the eye” but has come to mean, “that which we hold most precious.” Remember the words of our Servant-Leader model about what is precious:
“Jesus said, "'Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.' This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: 'Love others as well as you love yourself.' These two commands are pegs; everything in God's Law and the Prophets hangs from them."” Matt 22: 37-40 (MSG)God’s laws, like principles of leadership, are fundamentally about two issues: personal integrity and the value of others. Robin S. Sharma in Leadership Wisdom from The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari put it this way: “The greatest privilege of leadership is the chance to elevate lives."
Robert E. Staub - (The Heart of Leadership: 12 Practices of a Courageous Leader) - reveals that those who purport to lead - but fail - do so because they don't understand who it is they're trying to lead. Sometimes, evaluations of the team are based upon the wrong criteria – they may well be the right “people on the bus” and leaders miss it because they are not holding the skills possessed as “precious.”
According to Jim Collins, “The good-to-great leaders understood …[a] simple truth….if you begin with “who,” rather than “what,” you can more easily adapt to a changing world.” What I have learned is that working on developing the “who” is a rigorous process and takes competency, intimacy, integrity, and passion.
Leaders know what is precious: It not the stuff that must be done; rather, it’s the people who team with them to get it done.
Who is (and/or is it “what is”) most precious to you?
Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
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Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Leading in a World of Darkness
Proverbs 6:23 (MSG) For sound advice [that had come from Wisdom] is a beacon, good teaching is a light, and moral discipline is a life path.
This chapter in Proverbs is on living skills and, in the section on warnings about sexual morality, comes this gem about the qualities of a leader who provides sound advice, good teaching (Biblical) and moral discipline.
Life is not simple and neither is leading. Business is in constant flux. Capital gets depleted. Priorities change. Boards demand progress. Individual contributors are often driven by self-centered motives painted in the texture and hue of team effort.
Complexities arise very often fraught with gray areas that take special wisdom.
The ability to discern truth and righteousness demands, of leaders, something beyond their natural skills. Being known as a Christian business leader should have an impact on the lives around you.
It is about being a light. Light has a way of revealing. Christian leaders must distinguish right from wrong even in the face of what might be "legal," but not righteous, in God's eyes.
Is the “light” of your life revealing Christ in you?
Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
This chapter in Proverbs is on living skills and, in the section on warnings about sexual morality, comes this gem about the qualities of a leader who provides sound advice, good teaching (Biblical) and moral discipline.
Life is not simple and neither is leading. Business is in constant flux. Capital gets depleted. Priorities change. Boards demand progress. Individual contributors are often driven by self-centered motives painted in the texture and hue of team effort.
Complexities arise very often fraught with gray areas that take special wisdom.
The ability to discern truth and righteousness demands, of leaders, something beyond their natural skills. Being known as a Christian business leader should have an impact on the lives around you.
It is about being a light. Light has a way of revealing. Christian leaders must distinguish right from wrong even in the face of what might be "legal," but not righteous, in God's eyes.
Is the “light” of your life revealing Christ in you?
Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
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Monday, May 04, 2009
Meditation Yields Motivation
Proverbs 4:5, 13 (NIV) Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or swerve from them…Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life.
Proverbs admonishes us to “get Wisdom.” For business leaders, business school knowledge is important, sometimes even vital for structuring your business thinking. Don’t dismiss it as irrelevant; however what Proverbs drives us to “get and hold on to” has eternal impact – and that is what Christian business people are called to generate – eternal impact.
We must form the habits of “get[ing]” and “holding on to” and “not forget[ing]” and “guarding … well” Wisdom’s instruction. These habits will help us assimilate or accommodate any instruction we receive. Shaping all our learning through the filter of Scripture takes intentionality and effort, especially in a culture that forges a false dichotomy between secular and scared.
Think of brain having boxes defined by rows and columns (like in Excel®) – similar to Piaget’s internal model of your world. New instruction that fits the junction at a row and column is easily assimilated. If the new information does not fit, it must be accommodated. Your habit-pattern of thinking can drive that accommodation.
That’s why meditation on God’s Word must become a habit. It will shape everything we might learn – especially about leadership. It drives our integration of the scared and the secular.
Obedience to “meditate day and night” on God’s works, God’s wonders and God’s Word drives in us a joy that is attractive to those watching. That’s one way leader’s gains followers.
Is your obedience bringing about a motivating and attractive joy?
Copyright © by P. Griffith Lindell
Proverbs admonishes us to “get Wisdom.” For business leaders, business school knowledge is important, sometimes even vital for structuring your business thinking. Don’t dismiss it as irrelevant; however what Proverbs drives us to “get and hold on to” has eternal impact – and that is what Christian business people are called to generate – eternal impact.
We must form the habits of “get[ing]” and “holding on to” and “not forget[ing]” and “guarding … well” Wisdom’s instruction. These habits will help us assimilate or accommodate any instruction we receive. Shaping all our learning through the filter of Scripture takes intentionality and effort, especially in a culture that forges a false dichotomy between secular and scared.
Think of brain having boxes defined by rows and columns (like in Excel®) – similar to Piaget’s internal model of your world. New instruction that fits the junction at a row and column is easily assimilated. If the new information does not fit, it must be accommodated. Your habit-pattern of thinking can drive that accommodation.
That’s why meditation on God’s Word must become a habit. It will shape everything we might learn – especially about leadership. It drives our integration of the scared and the secular.
Obedience to “meditate day and night” on God’s works, God’s wonders and God’s Word drives in us a joy that is attractive to those watching. That’s one way leader’s gains followers.
Is your obedience bringing about a motivating and attractive joy?
Copyright © by P. Griffith Lindell
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Friday, May 01, 2009
In Tough Economic Times - Relax
Proverbs 1:33 (MSG) "First pay attention to me, and then relax. Now you can take it easy--you're in good hands.
While thinking about sharing my thoughts on stillness and relaxing, I was later, in bed, reading a Tanenbaum novel last night wherein this description awoke my thinking: “Lucy in the meantime was exercising her primary religious talent…simply keeping still and reflecting in peace and gratitude. This had a radiating effect on the other lunchers.”
That author captured the both the wonder of stillness and result it produces. This result will impact all those around - all those watching you. You want to be a magnet of quiet meaning to those seeking rest and relaxation from the troubles of their life? Relax.
If lost in the woods, we are taught to be still. Stay in one place. Our nature is to move. Run. Flee. Frantically find the way out. Instead of frenetic activity, on writer advised, "I have stilled and quieted myself, just as a small child is quiet with its mother."1
This verse says there is a simple method that will provide what you need to learn to relax – and it’s free! Go deep into life – be still. It takes patience and discipline to quiet self and listen to the still, small voice of our Creator. For hard chargers like me, it is difficult to quiet my mind, my soul and my body – and I want God to shout. Being still – relaxing – I have learned will help you discover your way.
Do life right: Shift your focus. Being self-absorbed brings anxiety: Becoming God-absorbed yields relaxation. The choice should be clear.
In the stillness, to whom are you paying attention?
Copyright © 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
1 David, in Psalm 131:2
Rest, Relax, Reflect Then Lead
While thinking about sharing my thoughts on stillness and relaxing, I was later, in bed, reading a Tanenbaum novel last night wherein this description awoke my thinking: “Lucy in the meantime was exercising her primary religious talent…simply keeping still and reflecting in peace and gratitude. This had a radiating effect on the other lunchers.”
That author captured the both the wonder of stillness and result it produces. This result will impact all those around - all those watching you. You want to be a magnet of quiet meaning to those seeking rest and relaxation from the troubles of their life? Relax.
If lost in the woods, we are taught to be still. Stay in one place. Our nature is to move. Run. Flee. Frantically find the way out. Instead of frenetic activity, on writer advised, "I have stilled and quieted myself, just as a small child is quiet with its mother."1
This verse says there is a simple method that will provide what you need to learn to relax – and it’s free! Go deep into life – be still. It takes patience and discipline to quiet self and listen to the still, small voice of our Creator. For hard chargers like me, it is difficult to quiet my mind, my soul and my body – and I want God to shout. Being still – relaxing – I have learned will help you discover your way.
Do life right: Shift your focus. Being self-absorbed brings anxiety: Becoming God-absorbed yields relaxation. The choice should be clear.
In the stillness, to whom are you paying attention?
Copyright © 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
1 David, in Psalm 131:2
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Thursday, April 30, 2009
Contentment and Leadership
Proverbs 30:7-9 (NIV) "Two things I (Agur) ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.
It was the first century Roman philosopher, Seneca, who observed, “Poor is not the person who has too little, but the person who craves more.”
Our society has built commerce on carving more and more. The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), and the US Government drove the kind of behavior the allowed people who could not afford housing to fulfill cravings for housing. The result has been nothing short of catastrophic.
Today, woven throughout modern secular literature on leadership is the thread of the importance of character in leadership - especially the literature on servant-leadership. The nature of character of contentment – often couched in terms like “finding wholeness” yields behavior that reaches goals but not for purely self-serving motives.
The contented leader is a concept that addresses personal core values and has nothing to say about achieving profitable market share. The later drives a business: the former drives how the leader leads the people who “do the business.” Agur’s prayer – like the Lord’s Prayer – recognizes the truth that living is to be a daily experience.
There’s an old prayer, that I was taught as a child, that might illustrate: “God is great, God is good, and we thank Him for ______.”
How are you filling in the blank?
Copyright © 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
It was the first century Roman philosopher, Seneca, who observed, “Poor is not the person who has too little, but the person who craves more.”
Our society has built commerce on carving more and more. The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), and the US Government drove the kind of behavior the allowed people who could not afford housing to fulfill cravings for housing. The result has been nothing short of catastrophic.
Today, woven throughout modern secular literature on leadership is the thread of the importance of character in leadership - especially the literature on servant-leadership. The nature of character of contentment – often couched in terms like “finding wholeness” yields behavior that reaches goals but not for purely self-serving motives.
The contented leader is a concept that addresses personal core values and has nothing to say about achieving profitable market share. The later drives a business: the former drives how the leader leads the people who “do the business.” Agur’s prayer – like the Lord’s Prayer – recognizes the truth that living is to be a daily experience.
There’s an old prayer, that I was taught as a child, that might illustrate: “God is great, God is good, and we thank Him for ______.”
How are you filling in the blank?
Copyright © 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
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Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Leader: Are You Listening?
Proverbs 28:9 (AMP) He who turns away his ear from hearing the law [of God and man], even his prayer is an abomination, hateful and revolting [to God].
(MSG) God has no use for the prayers of the people who won't listen to him.
For some, it is the daily business issues often seem to be “not important enough" for prayer and searching and meditating on the His Word.
It is the "big" issues that drive people to seek God; but it is those small, daily issues that we think we can handle on our own, that begin our slide down the slippery slope of idolatry. “On our own” means we worship the creature (us) rather than the Creator.
Running a business, or being part of a team in a business, includes activities like: determining strategy; developing and implementing a sales plan; and, determining how best to use the human resources available. One might ask, “Where in Scripture will I learn about SWOT analysis, or territory management or Human Resource and Organization Development? You won’t. That’s not the issue.
His Word drives us to consider what are the essentials of life: it provides a foundation for our core values. It shapes our purpose. It gives us true meaning. From these platforms we can develop the strategy, plans and purposes to achieve business goals.
Tuning my ears to God's thoughts begins with my eyes focused on His word and my heart focused on Him in prayer. The result will be a life of significance that provides meaning to those seeking meaning.
How interesting: God listens to us when we listen to Him. Are you listening?
Copyright (c) 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
(MSG) God has no use for the prayers of the people who won't listen to him.
For some, it is the daily business issues often seem to be “not important enough" for prayer and searching and meditating on the His Word.
It is the "big" issues that drive people to seek God; but it is those small, daily issues that we think we can handle on our own, that begin our slide down the slippery slope of idolatry. “On our own” means we worship the creature (us) rather than the Creator.
Running a business, or being part of a team in a business, includes activities like: determining strategy; developing and implementing a sales plan; and, determining how best to use the human resources available. One might ask, “Where in Scripture will I learn about SWOT analysis, or territory management or Human Resource and Organization Development? You won’t. That’s not the issue.
His Word drives us to consider what are the essentials of life: it provides a foundation for our core values. It shapes our purpose. It gives us true meaning. From these platforms we can develop the strategy, plans and purposes to achieve business goals.
Tuning my ears to God's thoughts begins with my eyes focused on His word and my heart focused on Him in prayer. The result will be a life of significance that provides meaning to those seeking meaning.
How interesting: God listens to us when we listen to Him. Are you listening?
Copyright (c) 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
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Monday, April 27, 2009
The Boldness of Leaders with Changed Hearts
Proverbs 27:19 (NIV) As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man.
Once they knew that their Redeemer lived, the hearts of the earliest church leaders changed from fearful to focused, becoming bold breakers of cultural and religious barriers. They faced the world with new hearts and became models of leadership to follow.
Consider the place of women in this community. At the first recorded prayer-meeting, women were present; incredibly, praying with the men. Unheard of in the Jewish synagogues, this was a radical result of the leadership of the Great Servant-Leader. The gender-barrier broken, ethnic barriers fell, and these leaders ultimately changed the diet of the early church. These, and other barrier-breaking behaviors, were lived out in deeds - not just motivating words and were born of hearts broken of self and filled with the Lord of the Universe.
From their lives (especially seen in the book of Acts), we learn that a heart committed to life of significance is educated through a commitment to prayer, enlightened by reading and meditating on the Word, and ultimately empowered by the Holy Spirit.
The result? Even in the workplace, as you work to break down societal and cultural barriers, your heart, reflected in your countenance, will attract followers who want what you have – the beauty of becoming a magnet of meaning to those seeking meaning.
What do you see reflected when you gaze into the mirror? Do you have the heart to break barriers?
Copyright © 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
Once they knew that their Redeemer lived, the hearts of the earliest church leaders changed from fearful to focused, becoming bold breakers of cultural and religious barriers. They faced the world with new hearts and became models of leadership to follow.
Consider the place of women in this community. At the first recorded prayer-meeting, women were present; incredibly, praying with the men. Unheard of in the Jewish synagogues, this was a radical result of the leadership of the Great Servant-Leader. The gender-barrier broken, ethnic barriers fell, and these leaders ultimately changed the diet of the early church. These, and other barrier-breaking behaviors, were lived out in deeds - not just motivating words and were born of hearts broken of self and filled with the Lord of the Universe.
From their lives (especially seen in the book of Acts), we learn that a heart committed to life of significance is educated through a commitment to prayer, enlightened by reading and meditating on the Word, and ultimately empowered by the Holy Spirit.
The result? Even in the workplace, as you work to break down societal and cultural barriers, your heart, reflected in your countenance, will attract followers who want what you have – the beauty of becoming a magnet of meaning to those seeking meaning.
What do you see reflected when you gaze into the mirror? Do you have the heart to break barriers?
Copyright © 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
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Friday, April 24, 2009
No Leader Is An Island
Proverbs 24:6 (MSG) Strategic planning [wise guidance (NLT)] is the key to warfare; to win, you need a lot of good counsel.
Collaboration is a key to effective strategy development. Insights from all categories of stakeholders are valuable. No stakeholder should be deemed “insignificant” or “incompetent” to provide insights to the external and internal factors shaping your strategy.
Leaders in new organizations benefit from the current team’s corporate knowledge, even if it is based on an “old” paradigm and is not in sync with the leader’s new vision. Their current understanding of customers, competitors and the company (the important three “C’s” in business) provide valuable insights in a current-state analysis. As one of my colleagues once put it: you must understand your customers intimately, your competitors thoroughly and your firm brutally.
The same may be said for living a significant life at work, at play and at home. There exists a spiritual battle for the Christian leader. You are not warring against flesh and blood, but principalities, powers and rulers of darkness whose aim it to keep you from achieving significance – especially significance that counts for eternity,
Understanding the three “C’s” above can well drive your product introduction battles. They also drive your life battles (think customers as those you serve as a leader; competitors as Satan and his minions; company as you, and your family). Understanding for both “battles” cannot be done in a vacuum. Personal and corporate “victories” result when you have wise counsel from wise people.
Have you “wised” up?
Copyright © 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
Collaboration is a key to effective strategy development. Insights from all categories of stakeholders are valuable. No stakeholder should be deemed “insignificant” or “incompetent” to provide insights to the external and internal factors shaping your strategy.
Leaders in new organizations benefit from the current team’s corporate knowledge, even if it is based on an “old” paradigm and is not in sync with the leader’s new vision. Their current understanding of customers, competitors and the company (the important three “C’s” in business) provide valuable insights in a current-state analysis. As one of my colleagues once put it: you must understand your customers intimately, your competitors thoroughly and your firm brutally.
The same may be said for living a significant life at work, at play and at home. There exists a spiritual battle for the Christian leader. You are not warring against flesh and blood, but principalities, powers and rulers of darkness whose aim it to keep you from achieving significance – especially significance that counts for eternity,
Understanding the three “C’s” above can well drive your product introduction battles. They also drive your life battles (think customers as those you serve as a leader; competitors as Satan and his minions; company as you, and your family). Understanding for both “battles” cannot be done in a vacuum. Personal and corporate “victories” result when you have wise counsel from wise people.
Have you “wised” up?
Copyright © 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
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Thursday, April 23, 2009
The Seduction of Success
Proverbs 23:17- 18 (NIV) Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the LORD. There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.
Personal success often gets in the way of real significance.
Hoping for personal success always gets in the way of being significant. We are called to significance – to live lives that are magnets of meaning to those seeking meaning.
Our only chance to build a life of significance is driven by a single-minded focus. Scripture tells us that this zealousness is “for the fear of God.” Our culture has softened this Biblical concept. If we are zealous after God, we will not covet, envy and be driven to be like the “successful” of the world.
This change in our leadership attitude means, that as leaders, we hope only in Him for meaning - for significance of our life itself.
Our leadership success is not measured by power, prestige or wealth. It is measured by our impact for Kingdom growth – and that’s often measured in eternity, not here on earth. The results of our life, lived in our workplace should have Kingdom impact.
Are you working for personal success or Kingdom significance?
Copyright © 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
Personal success often gets in the way of real significance.
Hoping for personal success always gets in the way of being significant. We are called to significance – to live lives that are magnets of meaning to those seeking meaning.
Our only chance to build a life of significance is driven by a single-minded focus. Scripture tells us that this zealousness is “for the fear of God.” Our culture has softened this Biblical concept. If we are zealous after God, we will not covet, envy and be driven to be like the “successful” of the world.
This change in our leadership attitude means, that as leaders, we hope only in Him for meaning - for significance of our life itself.
Our leadership success is not measured by power, prestige or wealth. It is measured by our impact for Kingdom growth – and that’s often measured in eternity, not here on earth. The results of our life, lived in our workplace should have Kingdom impact.
Are you working for personal success or Kingdom significance?
Copyright © 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
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Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Leaders Share Their Heart
Proverbs 22: 11 (NIV) He who loves a pure heart and whose speech is gracious will have the king
Personal values for a Christian Businessperson are simple and direct: purity of heart and pureness of speech. The heart is not often seen: but in the end, it is what is said and how it is said that gives away the heart.
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.
Do you work for someone who manages by intimidation and also expects the same from you? Smile. Stand firm in your conviction to be well spoken, not mean-spirited. Remember, we are called to love and not to return evil with evil, but evil with good.
Purity of motive: graciousness of speech: What’s not to like?
For more on how to better fulfill God's plan for their lives through business, click here.
Copyright (c) 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
Personal values for a Christian Businessperson are simple and direct: purity of heart and pureness of speech. The heart is not often seen: but in the end, it is what is said and how it is said that gives away the heart.
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.
Do you work for someone who manages by intimidation and also expects the same from you? Smile. Stand firm in your conviction to be well spoken, not mean-spirited. Remember, we are called to love and not to return evil with evil, but evil with good.
Purity of motive: graciousness of speech: What’s not to like?
For more on how to better fulfill God's plan for their lives through business, click here.
Copyright (c) 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
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Leaders Learn to Let Go
Proverbs 21:1 (MSG) Good leadership is a channel of water controlled by God; He directs it to whatever ends he chooses.
What do successful businessmen like Ken Blanchard, Jim Amos (President of Mail Boxes, Etc.,), John Couch (one of the early VPs at Apple Computer) and Senator Bill Armstrong (former entrepreneur), just to name a few, have in common?
Read their stories and discover that each learned from mistakes - a mistake with the most impact was their pride that made them independent of God. Pride produced results they each did not like. They changed what how they thought and what they did to produce different results.
That journey of change began at the door of self. Denying self and following Christ changed their perspective and their life results. Personal humility grew them and their businesses.
It is our responsibility to plan, vision, propose, motive, implement, control, manage and lead; however, all this is done from an internal understanding that we are but a “channel of water controlled by God.” It is God who must be our strength. It is in Him we must trust. We are not sovereign: Only God is.
Who do you really trust to guide your life?
Copyright © 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
What do successful businessmen like Ken Blanchard, Jim Amos (President of Mail Boxes, Etc.,), John Couch (one of the early VPs at Apple Computer) and Senator Bill Armstrong (former entrepreneur), just to name a few, have in common?
Read their stories and discover that each learned from mistakes - a mistake with the most impact was their pride that made them independent of God. Pride produced results they each did not like. They changed what how they thought and what they did to produce different results.
That journey of change began at the door of self. Denying self and following Christ changed their perspective and their life results. Personal humility grew them and their businesses.
It is our responsibility to plan, vision, propose, motive, implement, control, manage and lead; however, all this is done from an internal understanding that we are but a “channel of water controlled by God.” It is God who must be our strength. It is in Him we must trust. We are not sovereign: Only God is.
Who do you really trust to guide your life?
Copyright © 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
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Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Leadership Not Shrewdness
Proverbs 7: 4 (NIV) Say to Wisdom, "You are my sister," and call understanding your kinsman.
The Senior Management team in public companies is faced with the realities of Wall Street, P/E ratios, plummeting stock value, and meeting analysts’ forecasts. Sometimes "games" are played that affect those outcomes. Private companies face their own unique challenges to sometimes fudge the numbers to meet expectations.
The Christian business person is charged with managing by a different set of standards –standards that sometimes fly in the face of “how it needs to be done.” Standards have a source that begins with the "right self-talk" – talk that embraces Wisdom as if she were family. "Wisdom, You are the one I know intimately - I need you: Understanding, I call to you to be my Rock through this crises."
It takes both to lead remembering that leading is a spiritual battle. The one who would destroy your relationship with your Creator wants to fool us into thinking that we shrewd enough to do it in our own strength. Not true. Whether leading an organization or a team, God’s ways are not always the world’s ways and remember, "What society sees and calls monumental, God sees through and calls monstrous."
Are you intimate with wisdom and understanding?
Copyright © 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
The Senior Management team in public companies is faced with the realities of Wall Street, P/E ratios, plummeting stock value, and meeting analysts’ forecasts. Sometimes "games" are played that affect those outcomes. Private companies face their own unique challenges to sometimes fudge the numbers to meet expectations.
The Christian business person is charged with managing by a different set of standards –standards that sometimes fly in the face of “how it needs to be done.” Standards have a source that begins with the "right self-talk" – talk that embraces Wisdom as if she were family. "Wisdom, You are the one I know intimately - I need you: Understanding, I call to you to be my Rock through this crises."
It takes both to lead remembering that leading is a spiritual battle. The one who would destroy your relationship with your Creator wants to fool us into thinking that we shrewd enough to do it in our own strength. Not true. Whether leading an organization or a team, God’s ways are not always the world’s ways and remember, "What society sees and calls monumental, God sees through and calls monstrous."
Are you intimate with wisdom and understanding?
Copyright © 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
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Tuesday, March 24, 2009
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
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
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Monday, March 23, 2009
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
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
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Thursday, March 19, 2009
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
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
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Wednesday, March 18, 2009
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
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
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Friday, March 13, 2009
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
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
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