At a conference I attended, Ken Reeves, a human resource expert, shared lessons he’s learned in life. One profound insight he shared made my time there worthwhile. You’ve probably heard the adage, “It’s not what you know, but who you know.” Ken expanded that phrase to, “It’s not only who you know, but also who knows you.” I was ...
Green Dirt Farm spent three years dreaming, building, and investing in a new farm-to-market restaurant in downtown Kansas City. Then they were blindsided. As Green Dirt Farm’s grand opening drew near, the owners learned from news reports that the Kansas City Royals intended to build a new stadium directly upon Green Dirt Farm’s new location. Although the Royals have since ...
If I’m honest, there are times when other followers of Jesus frustrate me. It’s in those moments when I can be tempted to gossip or speak poorly of another brother or sister in Christ. If I remember they are a follower of Jesus it helps me to muzzle my words. But there are times when I must apologize. But God’s ...
When I started my career in public accounting there were only four levels to reach the top. Staff accountant, Senior, Manager, then finally Partner. My managing partner was less than twenty years older than me. With only twenty years difference it wasn’t too difficult to understand his values and his expectations. Today’s workplace, however, often spans four generations, making it ...
Leadership expert, Holly Moore, shared with me that one of the ways to improve team communication is for us individually to become more self-aware. When we speak, for us it naturally feels like we communicated clearly and properly. But that is not always the case for those on the receiving end. Holly recommends that it can be valuable to periodically ...
According to a Rice University study, working women do not feel supported by their clergy and churches. Many women felt that their work was not valued by the church and that clergy rarely had workplace experience to be able to relate to working women. In addition, the study discovered that women’s church activities are often held during the day when ...
Occasionally, I’ve witnessed an employee facing a crisis that grieves me. I want to help, but sometimes it’s more than I can do personally. Fortunately, there are possible solutions like establishing employee assistance programs. A Corporate Assistance Program I’m familiar with allows the company and team members to donate money to a fund designed to help employees through crises and ...
In business, I’ve discovered that there are takers and there are givers. Those people who claim victimhood will often have their hands out looking for help, taking whatever they can from others. These people often borrow as much money as possible with little care about how they are going to repay the debt. On the other extreme are those who ...
My friend, Rob, recently spoke on three primary ways that businesses can honor God. The third and final method identified was to glorify God through financially-driven methods. Like Joseph in the Bible, there are leaders who God gives an ability for making money. These successful leaders are often driven to be extremely generous with their wealth. Their generosity funds the ...
Columnist David Brooks has written in the past on the difference between resume virtues and eulogy virtues. Resume virtues are the jobs and career accomplishments you’ve held in your lifetime. Eulogy virtues, however, are your character traits. Brooks concluded that eulogy virtues have longer term value than resume virtues. This became clearer to me at a recent funeral I attended. ...
Equipping Others to Do Work Differently
