In business, I’ve met men and women who get so wrapped up in their job that their family needs are overlooked. This is easily justified because they feel they’re working to “provide for their family.” In the ministry world, leaders serve the needs of others so much that they sometimes overlook the needs of their own family. Whether it’s in ...
According to a Life Innovations Study, employees lose more than 168 hours of work in the year following a divorce, costing workplaces billions in lost productivity. When our kids were young, Kathy and I established one-on-one time in the evenings with each other. We did not allow the kids to interrupt our time together unless it was an emergency. We ...
Tom Thibodeaux, a professor at Viterbo University, discussed servant leadership at a conference I participated in recently. Although he had many profound things to say, the one that stood out to me the most was this quote, “Service is love becoming visible.” In business, we discuss and work on improving our customer service, but few ever equate it to love. ...
An Association for Psychological Science article highlighted some startling revelations. It discovered that ostracizing or ignoring a worker can cause more harm than harassing that worker. A research team from the University of Ottawa conducted a survey of U.S. workers and discovered that more than 70% of respondents had experienced some form of exclusion in their workplace. In addition, those ...
Years ago, two friends came in for some counsel. They desired to start a partnership to rehab houses, and they wanted to do it carefully. Knowing that conflicts are inevitable, I recommended that they formalize a partnership agreement before buying any houses. In addition, I encouraged the two friends to address how they would handle any future conflicts. After leaving ...
Four close friends launched a business. After years of losses and questions about the future direction of the company, Tammy, one of the partners, called me for advice. We discussed the challenges the four friends faced. Tammy’s involvement and concern for the business was beginning to jeopardize her cherished friendships. As much as Tammy enjoyed working with her friends, she ...
My friend, Steve, misses having honest conversations with co-workers, due to our era of political and racial discourse. He believes it has become more difficult to gain understanding of other diverse views when we stop listening as soon as we learn the other person thinks differently. In a Wall Street Journal article written by radio host, Celeste Headlee, she expresses ...
Our ministry hosted 25 CEO’s to tour Cambridge Engineering in St. Louis. Part of the tour allowed us to attend a daily 15-minute voluntary staff meeting. In only 15 minutes they did stretching exercises, showed 25 brief videos of quality improvements produced by staff, shared praise reports, and presented a gag gift to an intern! Cambridge believes building community and ...
As the time approached for the day long prayer retreat, I started having second thoughts. There were so many important things that needed done. Also, as an introvert, I relish my quiet time with God, but corporate prayer is more of a struggle. Despite my reluctance, I went, and left grateful. The time of prayer was sweet, but the added ...
While others poured coffee, I poured orange juice, until a catering employee jerked it from my hand. She abruptly informed me that breakfast wasn’t yet served. The owner of the catering company stepped in and filled my glass. Smiling, she said to me and her associate, “It’s okay. Breakfast will be served soon.” In John 10:12-13 Jesus describes his role ...
Equipping Others to Do Work Differently
