Years ago, I negotiated an employment contract with my employer. It was designed to pay me a significant amount of money if the business was sold. Later, the business was sold, but the buyer considered refusing to pay me. Although the intent of the contract was clear, the wordy legal agreement the attorneys had originally drafted left some ambiguity that ...
One day, during some difficult changes at work, I asked an employee how she was doing. She responded that she was fine. I looked her in the eyes and said, “No. How are you really doing?” The next morning, with tears in her eyes, this employee shared that my heartfelt question the previous day made her understand that I really ...
When I was a banker, many banks became adept at encouraging their banking representatives to increase profits by selling multiple accounts to each new customer. It seems Wells Fargo took this practice to a whole new level. It’s reported that Wells Fargo employees opened over 1.5 million new accounts for customers without their permission, generating millions in fees. Over 5,000 ...
According to Adobe, $3.07 billion of goods were sold online on Cyber Monday in 2015, breaking all previous records. According to Adobe Insights, 56 percent of people related joy or admiration to Cyber Monday, versus 40 percent for Black Friday. But how joyful are employers on Cyber Monday? Comscore, Inc.’s research reveals that 52.2% of all Cyber Monday purchases were ...
The Seventh Key to Financial Success – Turnover Ratios Profit is important, but cash pays the bills. If your inventory, or monies owed to you, grow significantly, you can be profitable, but cash poor. A past bank customer of mine was profitable, but had a cash flow crisis. By calculating how frequently his inventory was turning over, we discovered his ...
The Third Key to Financial Success – Overhead Margin Before 2008’s recession, many prosperous businesses overlooked their increasing operating expenses. When our financial system crumbled, many organizations needed to react quickly to their declining revenue to survive. Several friends of mine took dramatic steps to cut their overhead. Their budgets had become bloated. By managing their overhead margin, many became ...
This last year our Presidential race gave us many more opportunities than usual to see private mistakes made put on public display. From both candidates we witnessed errors that became public. On some occasions there was an admission of guilt with little remorse. On other occasions, there was a dismissal of the importance of the claims with no apology forthcoming. ...
While walking and praying, I heard a large dog panting. My body went on high alert! As I looked for the possibility of a dog attack, I walked cautiously and fearfully, even though I never saw the dog. Then the Lord spoke to my soul. “Rick, since you were attacked by large dogs as a child, your past experiences caused ...
The final letter in our TRUST acronym is T for Truth. You can serve others, build a strong relationship, and even exceed expectations, yet undermine all the trust you’ve built by lying. Jesus only spoke Truth. Before committing to follow him, Peter and Andrew spent enough time with Jesus, that they knew whether or not He was a liar. The ...
The S in the TRUST acronym we’ve been exploring is for “Serve.” Serving others at their points of need requires that we be observant, then look for creative ways to serve. Peter and Andrew were professional fishermen who had fished all night without catching anything. Jesus realized they probably felt like they failed and were frustrated. Jesus served Peter in ...
Equipping Others to Do Work Differently
