Farming takes tremendous patience to see the fruits of your labor. Farmers work hard cultivating the ground, planting seeds, and praying for rain, month after month. Farmers usually see very little, if any, fruit for most of the year. Then harvest time finally comes, bringing joy and gratitude. Out of joy and gratitude, is when God wisely asks us to ...
In this series, we’re discussing ways that business can shape our faith. Throughout my years in ministry, there have been some lean seasons when advisors would recommend that I establish a line of credit. But when I became an entrepreneur and ministry leader I had to decide my stance on debt. Many small businesses use lines of credit, but as ...
My friend, Jim, in his previous CEO role, was meeting with a newly promoted store manager. Jim knew this person could have some valuable insight from his frontline experience. But, when Jim asked this new manager for ideas to improve the stores, he didn’t receive any feedback. Jim tried a different approach. Jim informed this new manager that at the ...
At 7:30 am there was a loud knock on our front door. We had scheduled an 8:00 start to have our carpet replaced, but when I opened the door, three men charged in ready to work. The man in charge began directing his guys with an urgency I hadn’t seen in some time. Twenty minutes later, I marveled at what ...
Senator Bernie Sanders recently proposed to change the workweek from 40 hours a week to 32 hours for the same pay. Any hours worked after that would require employers to pay overtime. Although some data looks favorable for those companies who have shifted to a 4-day workweek, there are other factors that need to be considered. A shortened work week ...
Last year, some friends of mine made a bold move. They previously tithed 10% of their company net profits to charity, but God stirred their hearts to increase giving to 10% of their gross revenue. Like many steps of faith, God will test your commitment. After my friends made their pledge to change their giving, they lost their biggest ...
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 ...
In this series, we’re discussing different approaches to leading a company through a recession. Many financially driven leaders will jeopardize their supplier relationships during a recession. The financially driven sometimes start demanding price concessions and begin paying their vendors much slower. A visionary may take a longer-term view. By offering to pay your vendors early, or at least ...
Recently, I was trying to secure a female speaker for our Summit conference. This person told me that she needed to check with her assistant about her schedule. With busy business leaders, it can take weeks before you hear back. In this case, I was amazed when I received a return call 30 minutes later. Although the news was disappointing, ...
Thanksgiving has been celebrated for hundreds of years, but Black Friday didn’t become a common label for what used to be the busiest shopping day of the year until 1981. Cyber Monday was proclaimed by the National Retail Federation in 2005 but has since become the biggest buying day of the year. Giving Tuesday, however, was not developed until 2012. ...
Equipping Others to Do Work Differently
