Category Archives: Weekly Devotions

Stars

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Most people who rise to a leadership position are considered “stars”. Even in politics they talk about the “rising stars of the party”. I’ve said here before that leadership is an honor and a privilege that when accepted, comes with great responsibility. The biggest mistake new leaders make is thinking that they are done learning. To remain wise, all good leaders need to remain current on trends and remain inspired to lead others. We all find inspiration in different forms, so it is important to know how you are inspired. When a leader is inspired, they will inspire those around them. Even the brightest stars will eventually burn out. Leading is about inspiring others to greatness. Many professionals are required to seek “continuing education” in order to remain current. A leader should do it because they want to not because they have to.

“Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.” Daniel 12:3

Leading others to righteousness sounds like a big task, let alone lead many to righteousness. In typical human fashion, we can’t see ourselves doing that. God gave the world, in a single star shining in the darkness of the North, THE light of the world. Jesus spread the word of God with only 12 disciples. Out of a single man – a single star – came the salvation for all mankind. The analogies are plentiful here – a single flashlight can lead to safety, a single decision, etc. God gave us freedom from sin and everlasting life through His son, one man, Jesus Christ. When you ask yourself – “what can I do?” you should think of yourself as that single light. This is the time of year people will be open to hearing about Christ. Take the opportunity to lead one to righteousness. Like stars that fill the night sky, you’ll never know what you might be the start of.

Oh Mercy!

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I just read a chapter from and old classic management book “Sacred Cows Make the Best Hamburgers”. The chapter on sacred time reminded me that when you work too fast or on too many things, they aren’t really getting done right or on time. The authors suggest three – “10 minute time outs” a day just for you. Most people say that their best ideas come to them in the shower or in the bathroom. Do you know why? They are alone without interruptions – no phone, no e-mail, no people. Google Inc. has shown us all how taking a break fuels greater productivity and creativity by putting video games and ping pong tables in their offices. We have so many things vying for our attention that we are becoming a scatter-brained society with no attention span. If you complain that a movie is too long because it’s two hours, you are already on your way. Be merciful to yourself. Build in free time on your calendar. Look at your to do list and see what really needs to be done by you and what can be done by someone else. If you reduce your stress, you will extend not only your attention span but your life span as well.

“Be merciful just as your Father is merciful.” – Luke 6:36

Mercy has a lot of definitions. If we look at our own sin and inability to follow God’s commands, we deserve the punishment of death. Our Father however, showing mercy and love, says “believe in Me and My Son and you will be set free”. If He can forgive us for all that we do, how can we not show mercy to those around us? “I forgive you”, three powerful words that are an opening to mercy. Christ taught us about compassion and love but it was the Father that taught us about mercy. Jesus took upon himself all of our sins and bought for us eternal life by rising to heaven to sit with the Father. “God so loved the world…” the ultimate show of mercy. No one asked for your son but Luke suggests we be merciful to each other like our Father is toward us.

Shine the Light

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Communication is a true art. Books have been written about how to do it better. In fact, I have a book on the subject of Listening; a huge part of communicating. On the scene of a fire, due to its high level of danger, we have an “order model” to prescribe how we are to communicate. It essentially says that the receiver of the message will acknowledge the message by repeating it back to the sender. “Command to Engine 1. Take a hose line to the second floor. Engine will call back: “Engine 1 copies, take a hose line to the second floor.” There is no room for misunderstandings when lives are on the line. Yet, how many times have you had a fight with someone only to find out “that’s not what I meant”? Leaders need to keep communications open with their people too. Some call it “touching base” and others call it “checking in”. Today, change is constant and people need to know what is going on around them. If they are worried about the latest rumor, they won’t focus on their job and then you’ll be communicating with them in other ways. The old saying “you can’t treat people like mushrooms” is true. Keeping them in the dark and feeding them crap just won’t work. People need light and encouragement from their leaders.

“The people walking in the darkness have seen a great light: on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” Isaiah 9:2

Living in the shadow of death without hope of eternal life is unimaginable to me. The sad truth however, is that there are people living in those shadows. They walk in darkness and despair without hope because they don’t know about the light of Christ. Witnessing to people is one of the hardest things that we can do. Sometimes we’re not confident in our knowledge of bible verses or we simply don’t want to be pushy. It takes courage to overcome these fears. Ask God for help. Maybe this blog post is that help. You don’t need to go around quoting the bible or offering street corner sermons. Simply reminding people that there are options and that no matter what they’ve done, God loves them. If you are still not sure, close your Face Book page or Twitter account for 15 minutes and look up witnessing tips. We have seen a great light! Now, go and share it!

 

Life is Mentoring Us

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Mentoring, coaching, succession planning and employee development are all buzz words for today’s organizations. The baby boomer’s are starting to leave the workforce and there is concern that the generations to follow are not prepared for the future challenges. Leaders have a responsibility to develop their staff regardless of what the retirement picture looks like in their organization. Several years ago I was tasked with developing a program to build “management perspective” for our staff. We had several young supervisors and several more to promote. We created a series of supervisory programs that exposed these young leaders to a variety of “business” and leadership topics. A mentoring program was started that allowed employees to function in supervisory positions under the guidance of their existing supervisor then on their own. These employees endured 120 hours of classroom training and countless hours of field training from the time they started the program until they completed their probationary year as supervisors. The bottom line is that with or without a formal program, leaders have an obligation to develop people to achieve all that they are capable of.

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” 2 Corinthians 4:17

As Disciples of Christ, more than the word of God is mentoring us in our lives. The trials and tribulations of this life are making us stronger for what lies ahead in eternity. Our troubles are momentary but they sometimes seem to pile up. It’s not what is happening to us that matter, it is how we react that counts. St. Paul is telling the Corinthians and us, that our troubles are light and momentary. For those that believe we know that no matter what is happening, we will have eternal life in Heaven. We all struggle with “momentary” as if we are applying it to our understanding of time. Open the bible and find peace for what troubles are burdening you. Stop looking for the meaning in “why” and start looking at how you can react, with God at your side, to the trouble you are facing. Giving up your control and letting God work in your life is very hard. We have been promised eternal life through Jesus Christ not an easy life here on earth. Celebrate the gift and live to His glory – the glass is half full.

Punishment

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Discipline comes in many forms. For some of us, it is the focus that drives us every day. For others, discipline means teaching moments and for a few, it means punishment. When my son was 8 or 9, I told him that we would spend the summer working on his discipline toward completing his daily chores. At the end of that summer I asked him, having had no further discussion on the topic and in front of a crew at one of our fire stations, what was this the summer of? Without missing a beat, he said that it was “the summer of punishment!” as he raised his hand into the air. I never had the conversation with him about having order nor was he ever disciplined for anything but his take-a-way was the summer of punishment. What do the people who you discipline take away from the experience? If the punishment was punitive, chances are they just took away a little bitterness. Our job as leaders is to be sure that the punishment fits the crime. If they didn’t know how to or were not equipped to do the job, how hard can you really be on them? A friend once told me that we shouldn’t kill an ant with an anvil. It was good advice about compassion.

“As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him…” Psalm 103:13

Discipline takes on two roles – punishment and order. The order that discipline brings is getting out of bed every day 5am to go to the gym for that dreaded spin class or the order that breeds commitment to seeing a job through to the end. Not wanting to repeat myself but the work we do here is pleasing to God, we should have the discipline to do our best – always. On the other side, fear and punishment are not often thought of when we think of our Father in Heaven. We all received punishment for the original sin of Adam and Eve. Child labor is now painful, we have to work the fields for our food and the price of our daily sin is death here on earth. We should fear God! The good news in this passage is that the Lord will have compassion on those of us who fear Him. God loves us and He has proven that by sending His son to die for our sins. We no longer have to fear the punishment of our sins; Jesus Christ did that for us on the cross at Calvary. God wanted His children close to him and while we will not stay in this life for eternity, we will share eternity with our Father in Heaven. A pretty fair punishment if you ask me.

Gratitude

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Happy Thanksgiving!

I am grateful and thankful to everyone for your encouragement and support. Since my injury, I have tried to make it a tradition to reach out to people who have come into my life or helped me in some way and say thank you. I am so blessed by everyone in my life that I’d spend all year making calls. So, I found this today and thought of everyone who follows this blog, all my friends, my colleagues, and my family – you are very special to me, thanks.

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity.
It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.
Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” ~Melody Beattie

Found in the book “Attitude is Everything”

 

Leading and Following

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Being a good follower is an important characteristic of being a good leader. We must learn to follow before we lead. The notion of us following someone often depends upon whom we are following. If we don’t respect our supervisor or the company owner, it is hard to follow them. However, following does not mean that we do it blindly. We have to obey the rules established by our employer, the city or town we live in and those of our federal government. While we don’t always agree, we are obedient for no other reason than to maintain order within our society. The bottom-line is that we are all followers at some point in our careers or lives but it is more of a role rather than a position we hold. Those who are better followers are generally tapped to become the next leader when the opportunity arises. These are typically the people that others trust because they follow direction or take orders and get along with their peers. These are the traits that people look for in their leaders. Google the word “followership” and you will find thousands of resources; look for one that sings to your heart.

“Remind the people to be subject to rules and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good…” Titus 3:1

The verse today should sing to heart as well. The 10 commandments, once again, tells us to be obedient to our government leaders. Jesus Christ even told us to “give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s”. He was telling us to be obedient. Titus then reminds us to be subject to rules and authorities and then be ready to do what is good. God is reminding us to be good followers; be a living example of Christian living. Are you ready to do whatever is good? I’m sure that if someone asks us for help, we’ll be there. Most of us rarely look for ways to help; it is easier to react to a call for help then it is to generate support for one. This is the time of year when we reflect on what we are thankful for – God is great indeed! There are a lot of people who need our help, especially at this time of the year. Whether you lead or follow, be ready to do good. Consider becoming a leader, this might be your opportunity. Martin Luther was credited with saying, “God doesn’t need your good works but your neighbor does”. I’m thankful for all of you that follow this blog week in and week out; you are a blessing to me.

Happiness

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Being happy at work is important to your physical and mental health. Studies show that people who are “happy” have less stress in their lives and that has a direct correlation to one’s health. While we cannot always control the events that happen to us, we can always control how we react to them. The saying “make lemonade out of lemons” wasn’t coined because people were thirsty. Leaders have two responsibilities – be happy and ensure happiness. Leaders can ensure happiness by helping employees meet their personal and professional goals. Employees who are satisfied at work, achieving goals and being recognized for their efforts tend to be happier. Organizations will benefit from productive employees and satisfied customers. A leader’s attitude is contagious. Some leaders will “put on a happy face” but people can tell when it’s genuine or just for show. Leaders need to focus on their own goals, a project that they are passionate about or simply finding joy in leading others. Whatever the cause, find joy in all you do, it is a gift from God.

“Moreover, when God gives a man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work – this is a gift of God.” Ecclesiastes 5:19

We are always giving thanks in our house because we can see God’s blessings everywhere. God can bless you with wealth, possessions, a good job or in some cases simply a job, happiness, etc but have you ever considered them a gift of God? God wants us to be happy in our lives. It doesn’t mean that He will order events in such a way that we will never suffer or feel down. There are enough times in our lives for suffering or feeling down, so when God has gives us “gifts” we should be thankful, enjoy them and be happy. When God gives us troubles, we should accept them too. God is at work in every part of our lives, the good and the bad. We don’t possess the capacity to understand the meaning behind what is happening; we just need learn how to react to them. We should be happy in all we do, remembering that they are all gifts from God and that can’t be a bad thing.

Rumor Has it (sorry Adele)

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Rumors are always the start of something bad. So what causes them in the first place? I’d like to suggest that short of the truth, people will make up the story they believe to be true especially when it deals with a subject in an organization. One of the key responsibilities we have as leaders is to keep the truth ahead of the story. Leaders need to be mindful of the “tidbits” of information they share and of what information they don’t share. The most effective way to keep the truth ahead of the story is through regular communications. For many, communication looks like an email or a memo and for others, it’s communicating in person or by video. The old saying is that the truth will set you free and in this case, you will be free from rumor. If your organization is facing still uncertain times, be truthful about what is happening and do not speculate. Leaving people with your speculation of what is to come will only set free their minds to build upon it and generate stories of their own. Rumors can have wide spread effects on an organization and easily take on a life of their own as each person adds a little of their story to the one being spun. The rumor mill can only be defeated by fact, our job, as the leader is to fill them with facts.

“The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to the inmost parts.“ Proverbs 18:8

Who doesn’t love a juicy bit of gossip? We love to fill in the blank when someone asks, “did you hear?” God gave us the Ten Commandments, in which He warns us about how we should treat our neighbors. Pretty soon the rumors we pass on become our truths and then these “truths” will start to fill our lives. Rumors are the devil’s work and he loves for us to spread them. When we do, we become more concerned about the rumor we’re spreading and less about the real truths that God has placed before us. These “choice morsels” start to fill us and soon we’ll no longer need the truth to feel satisfied. God has communicated the truth to us through His inspired word of the bible. If the truth is what stops rumors, then we need to know the truth; which we do by reading the word of God. Be filled with His truths and not those of the devil. Take in more than morsels and let it go down to the inmost parts so that you are satisfied and nourished by God’s word.

Keeping Track

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How do we track what our people do from the beginning of the year through the end of it? Many organizations use some form of performance tracking or performance appraisal tool do it. There are a number of strategies to accomplish the goal of measuring performance against an employee’s job description, their core competencies or assigned goals. What ever tool you choose to use, there are a couple of common threads to consider. Performance assessments are continuous through the rating period. A common pitfall is only rating the employee on what has recently happened or what you recently remember. We all (leaders too) ebb and flow in our work intensity and all aspects of our performance should be measured, not just the highs or lows. In order to make these appraisals of value to the employee, you will need to create a tool that assists you with documenting their work all year long. Don’t rely on your memory; it will let you down in almost every case. A reliable system will provide you with good documentation of their work and not take up too much of your time to do it. While generally referred to as an annual performance review, you can easily fall into the trap of it becoming the “most recent memory” review. Good documentation is the key.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 – “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from the beginning to end.”

“This is taking an eternity to finish!” A phrase uttered by all of us at some point. We have no concept of what “eternity” really is. God works on His own timeline and not one that we can understand. Stop for a moment and look back over your life, do you see how God has worked His plan in your life? The seemingly unrelated appear now to be connected to form an experience or opportunity. God is at work in and through us every day to bring us closer to Him for eternity. Fortunately for us, God doesn’t need a reliable system to document our “job performance”. If He did, none of us would pass an annual review. He sent us His Son to die for us, take the punishment for our sins, so that we can live with Him and God in eternity. The only measure is our faith in Jesus as our Savior, something that we cannot fathom from the beginning to the end.