Years ago, Kathy and I had lunch with our 94-year-old friend, Cliff. That day, we learned that Cliff’s destroyer was sunk by a kamikaze pilot during World War II. Although many of the crew died, Cliff pulled himself onto a nearby raft. As Cliff tried to help his friend, and barber, into the raft, two sharks devoured the man right ...
Recently I met with a successful business leader who told me that one of the hardest things for him is to “wait on the Lord.” He was ready to move forward with the next stage of his career, but God wouldn’t release him yet. Driven business leaders often struggle with waiting patiently on God’s direction instead of charging forward on ...
Kris Den Besten blends his successful business practices with his strong Christian faith through SHINE, a proven corporate culture model he designed and implemented. You will be inspired and encouraged as Kris shares how his business was radically salvaged by SHINE principles that developed people’s talents, increased productivity, and quantified the core values of integrity and honesty. Whether you are a CEO, middle management, or an entry-level ...
My eighth grade football team was led by Coach Hill. He drove each of us to do our very best, with excellence on the field being the ultimate goal. That year we finished the year undefeated and unscored upon. A year later, we had the same players, playing the same teams, but we barely won a single game. Our ninth ...
The Ethics and Compliance Initiative surveyed employees in 13 nations to gauge the ethical climate internationally. Japan had the lowest incidences of observed ethical misconduct with only 15%, while Brazil, India, and Russia were the worst, all experiencing over 40%. In the United States, 30% of people surveyed claimed they had witnessed ethical misconduct in their workplace in the last ...
Daniel Pink’s book “Drive” builds an interesting case for promoting autonomy at work. He defines autonomy as “acting with choice.” As justification he highlights a Cornell University study of 320 small businesses. Half of the businesses granted autonomy to its workers, while the other half relied on top down direction. The businesses with autonomy grew four times the rate of ...
A personnel practice used by some in corporate America includes eliminating the lowest performing 10% of the workforce each year. Although this may be efficient it certainly overlooks many factors like poor management and good people being asked to do the wrong job. In Ezekiel 34 God has called us to lead as shepherds, rather than tyrants. In verse 4 ...
Personal debt can dramatically impact our work. Years ago, as a consultant, I was reviewing personality profiles with employees when I discovered one employee’s report had no data. Upon investigation I learned reports were not issued if it appeared they were trying to beat the system or they had current personal trauma. The employee adamantly denied either to be true, ...
Being the change agent in a troubled business can be hard. Brad was sent into a department to turn it around and to set practices and policies in place for long term success. Many people were resistant to the necessary changes Brad was proposing, including changes that were required by law. One key employee even told Brad that she hated ...
My wife, Kathy, is a prayer warrior. She will stop and pray almost anywhere, at any time, with anyone. If Kathy hears someone share a heartbreaking story or experience, she so sincerely believes in the power of prayer that she assumes the best way she can serve that person is to pray. In business, servant leadership has grown more acceptable ...
Equipping Others to Do Work Differently
