Category Archives: Culture

Are You Willing to Make the Choice?

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Most of us want to be part of a “great” organization – if we are the owner, we want it to be a great organization.  Often times when we do encounter a great organization we think that they were just at the right place at the right time of in other words, lucky. The reason our organization is not great is because we weren’t so lucky.

According to Jim Collins in Great by Choice - that argument is not valid based on their research of over six thousand years of corporate history.  He contends the following:

“. . .greatness is not primarily a matter of circumstance; greatness is first and foremost a matter of conscious choice and discipline. The factors that determine whether or not a company becomes truly great, even in a chaotic and uncertain world, lie largely within the hands of its people. It is not mainly a matter of what happens to them but a matter of what they create, what they do, and how well they do it.”

It is a choice to be great and the discipline required to be so.  It is a choice to set high standards – to not compromise and the willingness to act in a disciplined manner.  This is hard work and requires making difficult choices.  The bottom line is that a great organization is achievable – if you choose it and are willing to work to make it so.

What is your choice?
BG

Something is Out of Whack

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Why don’t we really take care of our people?

Yesterday, I posted a Ken Blanchard video about the leadership approach at Southwest Airlines.  They are tremendously successful in an industry that is notorious for poor performance  – one key aspect is their deep care for their employees.  Jim Collins in his his book Good to Great talks about the importance of your people and how the great companies truly care for their staff.  Monday night, I talked with my class about a book by a CEO of a $2.5 billion company with 55,000 employees worldwide whose motto is “employees first, customers second” and has seen remarkable growth with that approach.  Story after story of the truly great organizations center around the care of the people that make up that organization.

Yet, it is sad to say, that in many of our churches and ministries, there is significantly less care and love for the staff than there is in these “secular” for-profit companies.  Why is it sometimes safer to be an employee of a large corporation where they do a better job of caring for their people than it is to serve at your local church or ministry? It seems a college football coach has greater job security than the senior pastor of a local church.

Sometimes it appears that the forward thinking organizations have adopted Biblical models of leadership and thriving while so many churches and ministries are mired in the some of the old discredited “business thinking” models of past decades.  Does that seem a little out of whack to you?

Somehow, we need to recapture the biblical model of leadership and care for our staffs within churches and ministries and once again begin setting the standard for how the rest of the world needs to lead and care for their employees.

Just a thought.

BG

Are They Worth It? Yes

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He is 50 years old and has spent 22 and a half years of his life in prison.
She used to be a high school teacher but has only been out of prison about 18 months.

I have the privilege of teaching a nonprofit management course as an adjunct professor in the MBA program at Bethel College in Mishawaka, IN and the two people I mentioned above were guest speakers for my class last night.

He was an angry man with addictions that was dangerous to himself and others. Less than ten years ago, he returned to this area homeless and destitute. He is now a follower of Christ, married, father of a young son with another child on the way, working on his MBA, rising in leadership responsibilities at the large nonprofit where he works and he serves on several boards of organizations in the community.  He said that he used to destroy communities but he is now in the business of rebuilding them. His countenance seems to shine with joy and purpose.  I don’t know her story except that it possibly has to do with drugs, but she too has a countenance of someone who is grateful and enjoys serving others.  She is now using her teaching skills to help those in need.

Two transformed people who are now making a difference in the lives of others – being instruments of transformation in the lives of others.  All because of the transforming love of Jesus Christ and His people.  People who looked past the label “felon” and saw broken human beings who needed and wanted help.  People, who because of the love of Christ, took a chance on ex-felons and invested in their lives and gave them a hand up. People who looked on broken people with the love and compassion of Christ and allowed themselves to be instruments of restoration in the lives of others.

The impact of the transformation of these two people will be incredible as they touch the lives of others.  When you look at people do you see labels (felon, criminal, troublemaker, drifter, vagabond, busybody, stuck up, and so on) or do you see broken human beings desperately in need of compassion shown in the love of Jesus Christ and His people?

Take a chance and give someone a “hand up”. Be part of the transforming of a human life.  Make a difference.

BG

Celebration Expresses a Grateful Heart

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Looking forward to a treat in just a little bit – I am meeting with a good friend of mine for breakfast to celebrate his birthday.  It is a privilege and joy to celebrate with him on his birthday.  This man has impacted so many people over the years and has been instrumental in the process of so many people’s lives being transformed.  His is a life to celebrate!

It struck me how important it is for us to celebrate – even the small things.  It is one way of expressing a grateful heart.  It is a means to teach people how to value others and to be grateful for other people.  So often, we see the negatives in those around us – celebrating with them helps us to see what is special about them and to be grateful for them.

This applies for your family, friends and co-laborers.  We often forget those we serve with and sometimes they are in great need of celebration.  So take time today and celebrate a victory, a milestone, a step forward with someone – you will be the richer for doing so.

BG

Forget Passion – Find a Problem

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Good morning – a foggy and wet morning here with some snow on the way this afternoon.

In a Harvard Business Review blog post Oliver Segovia, a young twentysomething businessman, talks about how his generation was raised to “follow their passion” to do what excited them and met their needs.  He then goes on to talk about ultimately how unfulfilling that path is for them.  That is understandable as at its core that path is very self-centered.

What he advocates is finding big problems and becoming part of the solution.  In other words, become other focused instead of self focused – the rewards are much greater.  Truly making a difference in the lives of others is one of the most rewarding things you can do in your life.

I teach as an adjunct at a local college on nonprofit management.  It was interesting that last night our discussion centered on international organizations that have been and are changing the lives of thousands upon thousands of lives across the world.  They are at the center of the process of improving the lives of people across the globe in a very real way.  Think about this – life expectancy worldwide has doubled in the last 100 years – that is absolutely remarkable!  The thing is, each of these organizations that are impacting people across the globe were started by an individual who saw a problem and decided to do something about the problem. The result – changed lives.

Will you be one of those people?  Find a problem and be part of the solution and find the joy that comes from serving other people.

BG

Hope or Despair – It’s Your Choice

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Things are really bad aren’t they?  Have you heard lately just how bad things are from the media?  Are you stocking up for the great financial crash when anarchy sets in and it will be every man for himself?  Are you hearing a steady stream of just how bad our world is? Are you pessimistic about the future of mankind?

Before you go jump off a cliff, Dr. Bradley Wright wants you to think about a few things that he has put in his book Upside.  First of all he reminds us that the news media is a business and needs to make a profit and that with the 24/7 news cycle it has become hyper-competitive.  They also know that fear sells.  If they can scare you enough, you will pay attention to their newscast, website, newspaper, and so on.  So fear is their primary means of getting your attention – even when what they are talking about should generate no fear at all!

Let me give you a few pieces of information from Dr. Wright’s book:

  • Total compensation in the US has risen by one-third from 1980 to 2004. A family of four today actually earns 41% more than a family of four in 1970.
  • Since 1955 world income has increased three-fold.
  • From 1915 – 1940 between 50% – 75% of Americans lived in poverty.  That number today is between 11% and 15%.  Of course what we define as poverty here in the US is wealthy in the rest of the world.
  • In 1981 a full 52% of people living in developing countries lived in poverty – this has fallen to 26% in 2005.  A full 50% reduction in only 25 years.
  • Commodities and goods are not only much cheaper now, but are of much higher quality. A measure they used is how many minutes of work does it take to purchase something.  In 1920 it took 27 minutes worked to purchase a gallon of milk – in 1998 it was only 7 minutes.
  • Americans now live longer than ever before. Someone born in 1900 could expect to live 47 years, born in 1950 could expect 68 years, now it is 80. Overall, life expectancy worldwide has doubled in just 100 years – an extraordinary accomplishment!
Those are just a few highlights – also, infant mortality rates have dropped dramatically, accidental deaths have dropped, there has been a radical decline in deaths from infectious diseases, AIDS cases are declining, hunger rates worldwide have dropped remarkably and on and on.
There are still serious issues in this world, but there has been great progress made and there is reason for hope.  And at the center of the movements to make things better are Christians injecting grace and hope into this world.
So, don’t give in to despair and pessimism - live a life of hope and joy!  Where things are broken, engage and be part of the process of redeeming a broken world for the glory of Christ.  Be an agent of hope!
BG

Are You Saying Thank You to the Right People?

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Thank You!  Powerful words that express a grateful heart and that bless other people.  Yet, we seem to be a little stingy with their use.  That is sad and I know I personally am quite guilty of not thanking others.  My problem is pride, for some reason I sometimes actually believe that I am deserving of what I receive and there is no reason to thank someone for what they should be doing anyway!  Now, I don’t actually think those thoughts, but unfortunately, I believe that is my heart at times.

When we do say thank you, it is often to those that are most visible, those that might be able to help us in the future, those in power or those with whom we want to curry favor.  We often miss those quiet servant hearted people that work in the background.  We often overlook those whose job is “to serve”.  No need to thank them as they are just “doing their job” right?  Wrong.

Try a little exercise – take 30 minutes one day and just start listing people who have helped you, blessed you, served you or somehow made an impact on you over the course of  your life.  After you make that list, go to the store and get some nice stationary and then drop by the Post Office and get some stamps.  Then bless those that have blessed you.  even if has ben ten or twenty years ago that they blessed you.

Just say Thank You!

BG

The Little Things Matter

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Good morning – unusually mild and great weather here in southwest Michigan for this time of year.  As a transplanted Southerner, I surely don’t mind!

Little things matter and I saw a couple of great examples of that this weekend.  Every

Peg at LePeep Cafe

Saturday morning Angela and I have a breakfast date at LePeep Cafe in downtown South Bend.  They have great food, but what we really enjoy is the atmosphere in the cafe.  Lots of light, great seating, nice layout and so on, but it’s the people that make the difference.  One of the small things they do is a huge thing to me.  There is this sweet elderly couple that comes every Saturday morning as well.  Every time the staff seats them, they bring out a very nice and pretty seat cushion for the lady that they keep there just for her.  If the owner, Peg, is there she usually seats them. A small thing, but huge in caring for people.

Angela is also good at the small things.  We were at another restaurant that we enjoy and Angela remembered our server and her story.  She is a recent graduate of Notre Dame about to start her masters program and an aspiring opera singer woking as a server at the restaurant.  Angela remembered her story and that she was supposed to take a trip back South for Christmas.  When Angela asked her about her trip and her life, the young lady’s face just lit up and she shared about her trip to see her family. A small thing, but a huge thing. Angela blessed her by paying attention to her.

Are you paying attention to the small things in other people’s lives?  In your work?  In your ministry?  Sometimes a very small thing can be a very large blessing to someone.  Take time today and notice the small things and do something small to bless someone else.  You will be blessed.

BG

The Problem Isn’t Motivation, It’s Follow-Through

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Good Friday morning to you. It has been an intense but fruitful week for us at here Life Action, but the result was me not being able to write much this week. We are launching the OneCry Initiative next month which is a nationwide effort and we had leaders in from across the country working out key strategic issues before the launch.

Just read an interesting article in the Harvard Business Review blog about how motivation Peter Bregmanis often not the problem with leaders who want to work on their growth, it is actually follow-through. The challenge is when we think it is motivation and we keep trying to convince ourselves in our minds to do something when we really need to stop the conversation in our head and just do something.

So make a specific decision and carry it through and when your mind starts to argue with you about it – ignore it. Getting back in shape is usually a big issue this time of year as many of us ate a tad too much over the last six weeks. In Peter Bregman’s article he makes the following suggestion of how to deal with this type situation using working out as an example:

1. Create an environment that supports your goal(s) – do things like have your workout clothes out and sitting next to your bed ready for you when you wake up.

2. Accountability – have an accoutability partner. This has worked wonderfully for my wife. She has another woman with whom she works out and they hold each other accountable as well as encourage one another.

3. Decide when and where you are going to work out and put it in your calendar.

4. Commit to a simple and very concrete plan that is simple to quantify.

5. Realize that the follow-through challenge will only last a few minutes – as soon as you have your workout clothes on and are headed to the gym, you will be fine. I have experienced this personally. The hard part is rolling out of bed, but once I do & have on my gym clothes I have no problem and am actually looking forward to the workout.

6. Discipline will carry you through at first, but then momentum will take over – especially as you start seeing progress towards meeting your goal.

These seem to be some good points that you could apply to many areas of your life. So, quit worrying about motivating yourself and begin taking specific steps in following through with what needs to be done to accomplish your goals.

Have a great weekend!
BG

Thriving During Times of Adversity

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The past few years have been marked by various challenges, especially of the financial variety. I do want to be quick to point out that our country has endured much worse and has come out stronger.  Nevertheless, it has been a difficult time for many individuals as well as organizations.  However, some people and some organizations have thrived.  Why?

In his most recent book, Great by Choice, JIm Collins discusses companies that have thrived in times of adversity.  Companies like Southwest Airlines and what makes them different than the others who were in similar circumstances, but fared poorly.  He lists three key behaviors that were consistently exhibited by the organizations that thrived in times of adversity:

  1. Fanatic Discipline
  2. Empirical Creativity
  3. Productive Paranoria

Discipline is key – for individuas as well as organizations.  Following is how Collins describes discipline:

“Discipline, in essence, is consistency of action—consistency with values, consistency with long-term goals, consistency with performance standards, consistency of method, consistency over time. Discipline is not the same as regimentation. . . True discipline requires the independence of mind to reject pressures to conform in ways incompatible with values, performance standards, and long-term aspirations. For a 10Xer, the only legitimate form of discipline is self-discipline, having the inner will to do whatever it takes to create a great outcome, no matter how difficult. . . They don’t overreact to events, succumb to the herd, or leap for alluring—but irrelevant—opportunities. They’re capable of immense perseverance, unyielding in their standards yet disciplined enough not to overreach.”

So – how disciplined is your organization?  How disciplined are you? Is this area an opportunity for growth?

Have a great day – it is starting to snow here in southwest Michigan.
BG

Collins, Jim; Hansen, Morten T. (2011-10-11). Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck–Why Some Thrive Despite Them All (Kindle Locations 366-368). HarperBusiness. Kindle Edition.