There was a season when I was managing two loan officers who were very competitive with each other. There were times when I felt like a referee, often being asked to make decisions and choose between these two lenders. It was tempting to side with the one producing the most loan volume to keep her happy, even when it ...
When someone feels compelled to tell you they are ethical, it’s likely they aren’t. Years ago, I met a business owner who kept telling me that he was a person of high integrity. While touring his business, one of his employees stopped me to say, “Don’t believe anything he says. My boss is a crook and a liar.” In Isaiah ...
This week we’ve discussed Nehemiah’s 5 steps to success. The final step is to “Encourage Commitment and Accountability.” When adversity comes, teams can either fall apart or they can become stronger together. A good leader recognizes this and handles adverse situations accordingly. Nehemiah’s team received multiple death threats and his team members were scared. In Nehemiah 4:14, Nehemiah was at ...
In his book, “Jesus, Help Me Have Peace,” author Jake Huffman tells of the role that integrity plays in finding peace. Tempted to move his ball during a golf game to get a better shot, he realized his traditional approach – win at all costs – wasn’t what God wanted. He recognized that his score wasn’t real or true. Peace ...
Working for an electric transmission utility required that my colleagues and I did not have a financial interest in another utility. Employees were required to be unbiased in our roles, down to our personal finances. When I discovered that my financial advisor had purchased shares in another utility, I instructed her to sell them immediately. Even though I wasn’t involved ...
Mike and Cindy arrived with just a few minutes to go before the movie was to start, but there was no one at the ticket booth. When the kiosk didn’t work either, they decided to go to the movie and deal with it after the show. After the show, Mike told a young man at the concession stand what had ...
When I was young, the nightly news with CBS anchor Walter Cronkite could be trusted. He held to high journalistic standards of objectivity, which seems to have been discarded by most news networks today. Every evening Mr. Cronkite would finish the CBS Evening News with the phrase, “And that’s the way it is.” However, if he was ending the ...
When it comes to work it seems there are often two extremes. Either work is just a paycheck, or work is something that can become an idol. Personally, I can lean towards letting work become an idol. I have to work at setting boundaries. For many of us work is a way to find self-worth, and that, unfortunately, can ...
Someone backed into my wife’s car and left a dent and drove away. When my wife shared with the body shop owner what had happened, he told Kathy that he heard one even worse. One of his customers returned from a store to find their car damaged and the following note on her car. “Several people watched me back ...
Sometimes the best nuggets of wisdom are found immediately after interviewing someone. Recently, I was video interviewing Scooters Coffee franchisee, Tracy Bouwens. After we finished, we discussed some common challenges of managing employees. Tracy told me that a common refrain in her workplace is, “Being unclear is unkind.” Tracy mentioned those times when we avoid hard conversations because we’re ...
Equipping Others to Do Work Differently
