Excellence

Declining Values

2023-04-29T20:13:10-05:00May 15th, 2023|Tags: , , |

A Wall Street Journal-NORC poll finds that what used to be core values for most Americans have declined dramatically. Over the last 25 years, this poll has tracked American views on patriotism, religion, having children, community involvement, and money.  Each of these values in 2019, except money, were held by the majority of the population. Unfortunately, each of these values ...

Four Steps to Model Christ at Work: Step Two

2023-03-17T15:09:44-05:00April 12th, 2023|Tags: , , |

A Gospel Coalition article by Miranda Carls provides four steps to improve your experience at work and to represent Christ more fully. The second step in this series is to defend your faith.   The workplace is full of skeptics of the Christian faith. If you’re not prepared to defend your beliefs, you may inadvertently undermine your credibility.  You don’t need ...

The Snares of Success: Part II

2023-03-04T10:32:58-06:00March 28th, 2023|Tags: , , |

In this series, we’re discussing some of the snares that can surface when a business leader begins experiencing success. The first snare that often comes is praise.  When Anne Beiler began growing Auntie Anne Pretzels, people started praising her for her success. But Anne kept thinking, “I’m not brilliant, I’m an 8th grade educated Amish stay-at-home mom.”  But eventually, ...

Office Politics at Its Worst

2023-01-28T10:20:01-06:00February 16th, 2023|Tags: , , |

Early in my career I observed a couple of guys who were both working hard to climb to the top of the corporate ladder. Over time, one of the two became a ruthless competitor. He would do anything to reach his goals.  Although these two were best friends, they eventually found themselves vying for one key position. The ruthless one ...

A Race to Hire

2023-01-27T17:10:10-06:00February 15th, 2023|Tags: , , |

Many small businesses are still trying to hire enough people to cover their workload. When you lead a small business, the frequency of hiring new employees is usually not that common.  So, when your team is overwhelmed and you feel you need to hire additional help, it’s easy to move too fast. Instead, wisely pause and think through the important ...

A Raw Apology

2023-02-10T21:16:17-06:00February 10th, 2023|Tags: , , |

According to the Wall Street Journal, Graza, a startup that sells squeezable bottles of olive oil, recently had a packaging and delivery problem that negatively impacted thousands of customers.  The CEO, Andrew Benin, did not hire a consultant, instead he drafted a raw apology email to 35,000 customers. The key to his apology was that he personally and sincerely ...

A Tarnished Legacy

2022-12-26T12:04:49-06:00January 6th, 2023|Tags: , , |

Recently, I received an email from the daughter of a Christian author I met years ago. The email said, “If you knew my father, visit this website.”   Instead of a tribute to his passing, this website was a diatribe by his daughter on what an adulterous and hypocritical man her father had been. There are two sides to every story, ...

Honoring Our Military

2022-10-21T15:27:53-05:00November 11th, 2022|Tags: , , |

At a Casey’s General Store, my wife, Kathy, stopped a young man in an Army uniform to thank him for his service, then paid for his gas! Kathy, then, asked this soldier if he’s often thanked for his military service.   This polite soldier simply said, “No ma’am.”  The lady in front of me then turned and thanked this soldier, then ...

Faith at Work Is Trending

2023-04-02T09:55:54-05:00September 9th, 2022|Tags: , , |

A recent Marist Poll on Faith in America discovered a higher level of faith in the workplace than what many business leaders might expect. For instance, 37% of people polled said that religion played at least a minor role in their decision on where to work.  Furthermore, 32% said that they base most of their business decisions on their ...

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