Do you remember the 1989 movie, “Dead Poet’s Society”? Portraying an English teacher, Robin Williams teaches his students the Latin phrase, “Carpe Diem.” It simply means to seize the day or make the most of the present time. As Biblically principled leaders, it is imperative that we Carpe Diem, but do so with God’s will for the future in mind. ...
One not so positive thing I’ve learned about myself as a leader is that I sometimes procrastinate on the things I don’t want to do. One of those procrastinations involves having difficult conversations with staff. Can you relate? Mark Twain said, “If you ever have to eat a live frog, it’s best done first thing in the morning.” If you ...
Wikipedia defines leadership as “the art of motivating a group of people to act toward achieving a common goal.” Usually that goal is surrounded in selfish gains like success, power and the love of money. Christian leadership is defined as “the act of influencing and or serving others out of Christ’s interests in their lives, so they can accomplish God’s purposes for and ...
While in college, I worked as a night custodian at an elementary school, where I became acquainted with Jim, the daytime custodian. I was surprised to learn Jim had previously built a very successful business and family, until his secretary began flirting with him. He eventually succumbed to the temptation and had an affair. Jim’s wife divorced him and gained ...
Highlighted by Jessica Kennedy’s Harvard Business Review article, a study of over 11,000 participants revealed that job promotions may make it more likely you will be blinded to the unethical behavior within the organization. Their study specifically found that when an organization wanted to lie, 39% of low-ranking employees would dissent. But only 14% of high-ranking employees were willing to ...
My good friend Rick and I both graduated from the same school with accounting degrees. We also both started with respected CPA firms upon graduation. Rick dreamed of becoming one of his firm’s youngest partners and he began diligently working towards that goal. I also dreamed of being a partner, but soon realized that public accounting was not for me. ...
As the Chief Lending Officer of a small bank, I was trying to clean-up a lot of problem loans made by the previous CEO. My focus was on collecting the business loans we had, rather than trying to make questionable new ones. So, when a guy I knew from high school asked for a new loan, I was skeptical. When ...
Mary Key, of the Institute for Corporate Productivity, recently stated, “Instead of just talking about what their values are, higher-level leaders act on their values.” In other words, leaders who want to leave an impact do what they say. They practice what they preach. More than verbalizing what their closely held beliefs are, they rely on their behavior to inspire, ...
Martin Luther King Jr. inspired millions with his work on the civil rights movement, and he also provided wisdom for the workplace. For instance, Dr. King once said, “Whatever your life's work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better.” He also once ...
Excellence is a quality that many business leaders strive towards. But the world’s typical pursuit of excellence usually looks different than God’s unconventional view. For instance, the world usually believes that the longer and harder you work, the closer you get to excellence. God’s Word, however, commanded His people to work six days and rest one day. The world tends ...
Equipping Others to Do Work Differently
