The sunrise is a daily reminder of the fundamental and undeniable rhythm of God’s presence on the earth. The sunrise is the guiding light, the leading light that makes vision possible. The sunrise in business is the vision statement. The vision statement for a business illuminates the horizon, just as the sun rise illuminates the horizon. Luke 1:78-79 says, “Because ...
According to balance.com, the first person to reference the day after Thanksgiving as Black Friday was Earl Apfelbaum, in 1966. Earl claimed that the Philadelphia Police called it Black Friday because of massive traffic jams and overcrowded sidewalks. Now, decades later, many department stores are closing and in-store sales are declining, Black Friday is becoming more of a Gray Friday ...
In the mid-1980's, the retail industry was changing. Walmart was growing rapidly, while Kmart was beginning to decline. Jim, a friend of mine, was an executive at Kmart at the time. Jim remembers Kmart executives holding a weekend retreat specifically to discuss Walmart’s success. Yet, any comments addressing the possibility that Walmart could overtake Kmart were quickly squelched. When Jim ...
The S.O.A.R. tool encourages leaders to strategize and prepare the business for the future. The tool equips managers to lead Christ-centered businesses by offering effective solutions that focus on the heart of God, people and the business. With this in mind, the commonly used SWAT analysis, (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats), needs an adjustment. The S.O.A.R.(Strengths, opportunities, areas for improvement ...
Dave Mattson with Sandler Training wrote, “Working as a team allows team members to take more risks, as they have the support of the entire group to fall back on in case of failure.” Teams provide collaboration and appropriate division of tasks based on skills. Teams also provide safe places to take risks. 1 Corinthians 1:10 says, “I appeal to ...
Teamwork is an important aspect of growing organizations. An article by Sandler Training states, “Tackling obstacles and creating notable work together makes team members feel fulfilled.” Teamwork builds camaraderie around achieving a common goal. The possible rewards from teamwork are vast. Job fulfillment and satisfaction for the employees and a greater level of loyalty for the company provides the ultimate ...
The book of Nehemiah has some great insights about Nehemiah’s career transition that may be helpful to us today. The third phase of Nehemiah’s transition was preparation and planning. When God provided the opportunity for Nehemiah to speak to the king about his passion for Jerusalem, Nehemiah was prepared. In Nehemiah 2:7 we read, “If it please the king, let ...
Kurt was frustrated. He and his wife have worked very hard to grow the customer base of their delivery business, but they weren’t improving their profitability. As I learned about their business, it became evident that Kurt had pricing issues. When asked about how they price a customer transaction, Kurt told me about a formula the previous business owner had ...
As a teenager, I worked summers on my uncle’s farm. Some land my uncle farmed was owned by others. They shared the profits 50/50 after direct expenses like fertilizer and seed. With that context, I found Joseph’s profit-sharing arrangement in Genesis 47:24 as peculiar. Joseph said to the sharecropping tenants, “But when the crop comes in, give a fifth of it ...
P.K. Bernard said, “A man without a vision is a man without a future. A man without a future will always return to his past.” Creating a vision statement, working “on” the business, can seem like a waste of time, energy and human capital resources when compared to working “in” the business. Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision, the ...
Equipping Others to Do Work Differently
