day 210: "I (For)gave At The Office"

It's a line from a time gone by; "I gave at the office". It was a phrase used at one time when someone would solicit you for a contribution like the United Way, and you could say, "I gave at the office". Sometimes you would hear it in the context of donating blood when the blood mobile would come to a workplace and you would donate there versus at church or somewhere else in the community. "I gave at the office", you could say. What is for sure is that we all "give" at the office when it comes to our time, energy, efforts and emotions. However, how often can we say that we "forgave at the office?" Work is one of those places where forgiveness is not talked about much. Seldom is someone coached to be more forgiving of others. Instead we are taught and conditioned to be suspicious, doubtful of others, and always guarded about getting "burned" or taken advantage of by our co-workers. And if someone does cross us, let us down, get political, or take a stab at us, then we are told to "watch out for that person" and "don't let that happen to you again". So, forgiveness is not high on the culture attributes of many businesses and yet, we know that we are to be forgiving in our nature and we are taught as believers that forgiveness is at the heart of how we are to conduct ourselves. But, how to reconcile these two directions? Proverbs 19:11 brings the two together for us; "Sensible people control their temper; they earn respect by overlooking wrongs." We can be forgiving in our nature and still earn respect in the workplace by being controlling of our emotions when we are wronged and by not allowing ourselves to be dragged down into the muck of looking for the wrongs and blame in others. I don't believe that this means we are to walk around allowing ourselves to be hurt and attacked by rolling over and not pushing back, but it does mean letting it go quickly and getting past whatever the issue might be with a true sense of forgiveness and a clear and peaceful mindset. Writer and pastor David Wilkerson says this about how to act when we have been wronged and we have let our emotions take over; "we’re to do nothing until our anger has subsided. We’re never to make a decision or follow through with any action while we are still angry." Today, we are going to be asked to "forgive at the office". It is likely to happen multiple times. We are going to be given the choice to take a path of forgiveness, humility, and peacefulness, or take the path of anger, vindictiveness, and harboring of ill will. I think we all know the path we are supposed to take. At work true forgiveness is the path less taken, but it is the one that we are supposed to be walking. Let's see if tonight when you get home we can say, "Today, I forgave at the office"!

Reference: Proverbs 19:11 (New Living Testament)

day 209: Owning Up

Work is full of underachievers. What I mean by that is that no matter what workplace there is a percentage (I have guesstimated it to be as high as 10%) of the employee population who consistently underachieve and strive to test the lower limits of performance. The lower limits is the least they can do and still not be fired. A brother of a friend of mine does this. He is an hourly employee in a non-union manufacturing facility and each year he misses the maximum amount of days allowed to him under their sick day program and he finds a way to be out of work on disability as much as he can each year. This drives his brother and other members of his family crazy as they don't understand why he feels like he should always push the lower limits of acceptable performance. I see it and think he is lucky to still have a job. No matter where I have worked there have been individuals and groups who are like this. And, if not dealt with they will before long influence others and create their behavior as that being acceptable by everyone. Managing someone like this is also difficult because no matter what you try, they will attempt to find a work-around and do whatever they have to do to not have to own up to their own performance. While I am not an advocate of immediate removal of anyone from the workplace, these types of individuals cannot be ignored if you are trying to build a culture and workplace of productivity and high contribution levels. What is for sure is that we,as those who are trying to live and work for a purpose and be an example of Christ, are to never be close to being ones who are testing the lower limits. We must own up to the responsibilities and gifts that God has given us. We see this in Romans 12:6; "God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well." As we discover those gifts and talents we are to take them seriously, develop and better ourselves at those talents and gifts, and use them to our greatest potential and capability. To do anything less would be to not try and do "well". Today, as you think about what it is that you do well at work, take this lesson seriously. Look at how hard and diligently you are working to perform at your highest level. If you are not, or you are holding back, or you are waiting for some reason, or even if you are afraid to step forward and use your talents, think back on the verse above and know that God has given you these things not to do them half-heartily or just okay. He expects the job to be well done and he expects each of us to own up to our best performance.

Reference: Romans 12:6 (New Living Testament)

day 208: The Suggestion Box

Sometime along the way in the life cycle of a business someone says, "what we need is a suggestion box". The suggestion box becomes the way for people to communicate to management about their ideas and/or complaints anonymously and without perceived repercussion. While on the surface and at the time, this looks like a good idea, we have to stop and ask the underlying questions of why and how did we get to a place where the people in our organization can no longer feel free to speak directly to management? One of the early manifestations of the suggestion box will be when management wants to have a company meeting and they want questions taken ahead of time and they will ask for questions to be submitted through a question or suggestion box. The reason this happens is because management thinks that people are fearful to ask the tough questions. FYI, they are not fearful of asking the tough questions, they are fearful of the toughness of the answer. Once the suggestion box is set up, the culture and the tone of the company changes. An intercessory has been established and the direct communication lines have broken down. This is especially troubling when you see these communication crutches being created or supported when the company has created positions like Human Resources or Employee Relations to help facilitate and keep communication lines open. If the suggestion box is still hanging around after someone is being paid to be that conduit then that spells double-trouble. Free-flowing direct communication with a boss, senior management and each other are hallmarks of the great companies as no great company is such without a communication pattern that is open and free from fear. As believers we know what it is like to have an open communication channel to share our needs. Our Father allows us to come to Him directly and we know we can go to Him with whatever and whenever with our problems. Among many verses in the Bible where God says for us to call on Him, we read this is in Psalm 5:22: "Give your burdens to the Lord, and He will take care of you." Today as you pass the suggestion box at your company, or as you hear of others who have a problem that they don't feel like they can talk to anyone about, be that ear and be the encourager of direct, open and caring communication. It may be that you are the one who is in charge of ensuring that you have open communication within your team (if you are manager or supervisor of any sort, this is you). If so, then begin today role modeling how the suggestion box should really work...allowing people to come directly to you. And when you don't know the answer of you don't feel the courage or confidence to have the questions posed to you, you know where to to go directly to find the assurances, wisdom and power that you need to carry you through the day!

Reference: Psalm 55:22 (New Living Testament)

day 207: Rest Periods

In most states there are labor laws that dictate the rest periods or "breaks" that certain employees must take throughout their work day. If someone is an hourly paid or classified as a non-exempt (means not exempt from overtime regulations)employee they, in most states, are regulated to take a break somewhere in the first half of their day, a lunch break, and a break somewhere in the second half of their day. These regulations originated from the days of assembly line and factory work when someone would be required to stay at their piece of machinery the entire day without a break whatsoever. As if someone in management didn't think that that would catch up with them dome day? Organized labor found an opening to gather support by the rank and file to fight against this and establish laws to mandate something as human as a rest break. These kinds of topics always make me wonder about the relationship between capital and labor and why, since capital is also made up of people, that there is a leaning on labor until a breaking point is reached, until almost an inhumane breaking point is found, and then everyone comes to their senses only through the law or regulation. It is one of those oddities to me of this thing we called work. We are all called to rest at some point. Even God modeled rest on the seventh day after the work of creation was completed. Work is laborious (ala labor). Work wears us down. Work takes a physical and mental toll on each of us. Work adds to us problems that we feel like we cannot solve on our own and places burdens and weights on our shoulders and around our necks. Work can overtake us and push us to a point where we are doing inhumane things to ourselves with lack of sleep, increased stress and red-lined physical capabilities. We then let all of this permeate into the other areas of our lives and before long we are suffering in our relationships with loved ones and also spiritually. We need a rest period. And you know what? God gives it to us. He says in Matthew 11:28: "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." Jesus then goes on to say, "Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light." What a cool co-worker God wants to be. He asks us to take a rest period and let Him take over for us. Today you may be readying for a day where you already feel totally burned out, stressed and weighed down, even before the day starts. Try something new today...start the day with a rest period with God. Give Him 30 minutes of your time to refresh you in His word, strengthen you in prayer, and invigorate you with His spirit. See if today that rest period at the start of the day doesn't make a difference later on in how you make it through the day.

Reference: Matthew 11:28 (New Living Testament)

day 206; Proofreading

I happened to hear up a radio piece yesterday about the importance of proofreading. And how important this is, especially for those who are looking for a job and submitting a resume and a cover letter to a prospective employer. I am out on the limb here a bit with talking about this subject because I know that my Purposed worKING blog is littered with typos and grammatical errors and I certainly wouldn't want to get a comment back about why am I trying to remove the splinter in someone else's eye when I have a board in my own? That said, I was struck by what I heard about the frequency of errors and typos that people leave in resumes and cover letters. I have also seen those over my career but in this day and age, when trying to find a job is so hard and critical, I would like to think that there is an extra amount of caution and attention being put on removing the simple issues, like typos. As I was listening to the story I also heard an interesting way of proofreading your work before you make a submission. The reporter said, try standing up and reading your work out loud to find the typos. That's a great suggestion and I can see why it works. We (I) stare at a screen all day and no matter how many times I look at what I have written I seem to jump over a mistake as if my mind is moving too fast or mentally I just can't see the error. Whatever it takes to catch an error before others see it, especially in this employment market to find the next job, or any job, I would suggest that we try. We all make mistakes, and I am no exception, but prospective employers and current employers are not the only one doing proofreading to be sure that we are not making the same mistakes over and over. God is watching over each of us with the high expectations that we will lean into his love and learning and follow Him with all of our heart to be a living example in our jobs of the life that Jesus would have lived, if He was in the same position as us. Of course, that is not easy and it is an objective that we must stretch ourselves to meet. But, it is what we are to do. In James 3:13 we read; "If you are wise and understand God's ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with humility and wisdom". What James is saying to us is "proofread your life, my friend". Edit out the bad and replace it with the good with proof by living a Godly and honorable life with each good work being done in a way that does not bring attraction to ourselves but proves out that we can do what is expected of us in humility. And because we have double-checked and tripled-checked ourselves over the years we can gain wisdom to ensure that we are doing the right things; the things that God expects. Some time today you are going to have to proofread, spell-check, or grammar check a document. As you hit F7 think about how God wants us to also to check ourselves, continuously, to ensure that we are living the life that He desires, and expects from us. It's never to late to edit, delete, and white-out, the sins and flaws that are within us. Isn't it great to have a God that lets us err and edit and delete so that we don't have to carry those mistakes going forward? Let's all do a life F7 today and see what we come up with?

Reference: James 3:13 (New Living Testament)

day 205: Buddy Program

One of the places I worked had at the time of the companies founding, established what was called a "Buddy Program". The Buddy Program was designed to help assimilate and orient new employees when they joined the company. The thought was that if you had a buddy from day-one who you could call on for questions or advice that you would be more successful at entering the company and that you would be a lot less lonely in those early days. If you were a buddy you were given a booklet of lunch coupons to take your new employee to lunch and introduce him/her to other people, etc. It became somewhat of an honor to be someone's buddy and I can remember years later when the veterans of the company would talk about the infancy days of the organization; they could actually name who was who's buddy and the buddies got a lot of credit for the success of the people who were still with the company. One woman used to brag about how she was the buddy of the current CEO when he joined the company...nearly 20 years earlier. It was a program that worked because it was based on the simple fundamental principle that everyone needs a friend at work. We all need friends at work, I would say even more so than anywhere else outside of our homes. Work can be a place where friendship can be distorted and what feels like a friend on the surface is not really a friend but only someone who is there with you when things are going well, but the minute there is a problem they are gone or hanging with another set of people. True friends at work are hard to find. As ones who are in pursuit of living out our purpose in our jobs, being a true friend to others is part of what we need to be doing. In James 2:23 the best of all friendships is modeled for us. James says this about the relationship between Abraham and God: "And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God's friend." Sometimes it is hard to fathom that God wants and needs friends. But He does. He wants us to be His friend as much as He desired the friendship of Abraham. He also looks to us to model His way with others so us being friends with others falls into the shadow that He cast for us to follow. Today at work you already know someone who needs a friend. It could be any circumstance on the job or at home that has someone down and feeling lonely or frustrated. It may be that you know someone who is going through a rough patch in their career or job search and by you just taking the time today to drop them an email or a phone call, or a visit, offering your help and support, as a friend and as a buddy, will make all the difference in the world to them. Our culture today is all about "friending" one another on social networks. See if you can go one step further today and truly be a buddy to someone who needs one.

Reference: James 2:23 (New Living Testament)

day 204: Championing

In my experience, no great career is made without a "champion". A champion is a person, behind the scenes, who takes to someone and makes them their project to mentor, guide, support, challenge, put in the good word, and go out on their own personal reputation stake to ensure that the person gets extra opportunities. While at PepsiCo, I had a champion. This person, who was a senior executive at the time, selected me out of working in a field organization, brought me to headquarters and then taught me how to do his job by allowing me to work along side him and be in a support role for him. He pushed me, he exposed me to topics and discussions that were well beyond my pay-grade and he made sure that I got put into jobs that were good for me, even if I didn't like them at the time. He grew me and I knew that as long as I did my job as well as I could and I tried as hard as I could to never let him down, that he would have my back. I remember once when he called me into his office and had me sit down across from his desk. He then picked up the phone and proceeded to have an hour long conversation with the CEO of the company. I just sat there listening for an hour to one side of the conversation. I can't remember the topic now but I listened as he artfully and skillfully influenced the CEO off of a point of view to what my champion thought the position should be. At the end of the hour, he hung up the phone and he looked at me and asked me what I had learned. To my surprise I was able to repeat some of the ways that he made his points known and how he had balanced the conversation so well between pushing and talking to listening and be quiet. It also reminded me of a time when my Father told me that he wanted me to watch how he worked on a piece of equipment as I could learn as much by watching as doing. Having a champion inside of your business is an important ingredient to career success. If you do not have one , be thinking today about how to seek out and cultivate a champion for you. It is also important that you consider that you need God as a champion as well. God wants to be the champion of champions for each of us. In the book of 1 Samuel we are told the story of how David thought he had a champion in Saul and then loses him, but God steps in and makes sure that all goes to plan for David. In 1 Samuel 18:14 we read; "David continued to succeed in everything he did, for the Lord was with him.". What a great verse to reinforce the champion that God is for us. So, today, ask yourself do you have both a human champion and the championing of God in your work? Also, are you a human champion of someone else who you can then introduce the championing of God? We all need champions and we all need to call on the champion of champions to be with us in our lives and our work.

Reference: 1 Samuel 18:14 (New Living Testament)

day 203: Performance Management

Anyone who has ever managed or supervised someone else knows what it feels like to have to give performance management feedback. And, anyone who has ever been on the receiving end of a performance conversation knows that feeling as well. Many times in my career I have had discussions with managers who know that someone who works for them is not doing the job to their satisfaction as their manager. They know they need to sit down with them and have the hard conversation, but they put it off and avoid doing so because it is hard and they risk that the other person will get upset at them and upset in general. So, the conversation gets avoided, the person who is not doing well keeps doing what they are doing, thinking that they are doing a good job, and the manager gets more and more frustrated and upset with their employee and with themselves. And, believe it or not, I have seen this cycle go on for weeks, months and in some circumstances, for years. Beyond the problem that this is poor management and that the performance of the company suffers, the real problem is that we are not being honest with each other and by not giving the tough feedback, the tough love if you will, we are actually hurting the person who needs the feedback. How will they grow and develop if they don't hear what they need to hear to get better? Anyone who leads people long enough will have to fire someone along the way for poor performance. I've been there and done that. It is not fun in any shape or form. It is agonizing but usually more agonizing beforehand than after. In my experience, once someone gets the true feedback that can make them better, even if that means having to change jobs, they, at some point, feel relieved and better for having heard the truth. We are supposed to be truthful with each other, regardless of how hard it is. In Proverbs 27:17 it says, "As iron sharpens iron, a friend sharpens a friend". When iron hits iron, yes, sparks can fly, but it is the only way that iron can be sharpened. Today, as you think about the performance of someone who works for you, or with you, or even as you think about your own performance on the job, think through the short and long term ramifications of not being forthright and truthful about job performance. It is hard without a doubt, but the benefits of knowing where you stand and others knowing where they stand, far outweighs the discomfort of the difficult conversation. Let us sharpen each other today so that none of us become dull and lose the edge that we so need to stay competitive in today's job market. Everyone benefits from truthful performance management.

Reference: Proverbs 27:17 (New Living Testament)

day 202: Subsidized Food

One of the things that companies will do as they grow is decide to bring in house food service and start to provide on-site cafeterias so that employees can eat throughout the day and not have to leave the work place. This is good for employees and also for the company as it relates to productivity and efficiency. I learned over the years though that if you are trying to turn your company cafeteria into a profit center that it is impossible to do so. In order to be able to provide the quality of food that will keep employees wanting to eat on location versus go out to eat means that there must be enough choices and variety to make it attractive. Once you start adding all of that, then it becomes unaffordable as an offering to the employees so the company must then subsidize, or underwrite, the cost of the food and service. And from there, you then make the ongoing decision of how much subsidy against how much you want to offer to the employees, etc. In some ways this becomes one of those areas where once you start, you can't stop and no matter what you continue to do, it might not be enough and no one ends up happy. Many a company has come out of the shoot with free food for everyone, all the time, only to pull back on that promise when times get tight. Each pull back breaks a little more of the relationship contract with the workforce and a new story is created about the times "when we used to get free food". It can be a bad cycle. Anyone who has led a business understands that what you do with the perks and promises is an important set of management decisions and also a slippery slope. Many of these fall into the camp of "better never to start than to start and then stop". And believe me, food, snacks, candy, soda can be the lightning rods for these emotions. I was working at a division of PepsiCo when the company decided no more free Pepsi...everyone would now pay a quarter a can. You can guess the reaction. All of this reminds me that we, as people, whether rightly or wrongly, are always looking for the free lunch but at the same time we more so don't want to be given something and then have it taken away. Fortunately, we are all given the greatest food subsidy imagineable by God. We are given the greatest food and drink, at a cost that will never borne by us, and never taken away. We see this in John 6:35: "Jesus replied, 'I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." Today, all of us and our co-workers are hungering and thirsting for something that we cannot describe but we know it when we hear others and ourselves wanting for more in our lives, our jobs, and our relationships. No one on this earth can subsidize that "food" to our total expectations. Each one of us, if we expect that to happen will be disappointed. We need to look to only God for that subsidy. He underwrote all of this for us long ago. As you work today think about what God has provided for each of us and how satisfying all of His offerings can be if we only choose to accept them from Him. The cafeteria at the office may fall short of our expectations but God's food will more than satisfy!

Reference John 6:35 (New Living Testament)

day 201: Chief Learning Officer

I have been helping a good friend of mine source a Chief Learning Officer for his company. The fact that the company is committed enough to learning and teaching their employees to put someone in charge of just that says something positive in itself about what is important to the company. Many companies give lip service to keeping their employees learning and developing but in reality the first budget to get cut in a downturn is training and development. The job specifications for a Chief Learning Officer, beyond the required academic credentials, are that the person has to be sensitized and very attuned to the needs of others and to what competencies and skills the company will need to continue to grow and expand. The person also must have sophisticated influence skills to be able to respond to the needs of others in ways that the receiving parties will accept and adopt the feedback and teaching. Not everyone wants to learn and grow and sometimes it takes someone else to be the mirror for them so that they can see where they have opportunities. The Chief Learning Officer is also a "go-to" person. That means that they are approachable and someone that others, because of their knowledge and their personality, would seek out to be there for them when they need counsel and advice on how to better themselves. This person wears many hats but none more important than being a trusted counselor to all that they work with, using their expertise to be the leader of betterment of people. As I think about this more, doesn't God want us, in our jobs, when pursuing our purposed to also be His Chief Learning Officers? In Hosea 4:6 he says that the problem with his people is that they don't know enough. He says: "my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.". What he is really saying is that the people don't know enough about Him and don't know Him personally. Every day we go to work with God wanting to be there with us. He wants to pour over spreadsheet with us, to be on the sales call, to participate in the weekly meetings, to be involved during the difficult conversations, etc. But for any and all of this to happen we must have a first-hand knowledge of Him and be able to pass that knowledge along to others through our words, examples, and our actions. To be a learning officer we have to first have the knowledge to impart. Think about this today as you head out to work. What knowledge and learning do you have that you can impart to others so that they see Christ reflected in your work? As you inventory your knowledge base, do what the Chief Learning Officer does, see the gaps and outages of knowledge and then make a plan to go gain that knowledge. From there the real learning begins.

Reference: Hosea 4:6

day 200: The Power Of Numbers

Today is the 200th entry of Purposed worKING. I’m not sure that 200 really means much, but for me it does feel like a milestone number in as much as in business knowing and recognizing numbers is important and many times the difference between success and failure in a job. A CEO I once worked for prided himself on being the one person in the room each time someone would make a presentation, who would find the errant number that had been transposed or where the math just didn't work. He would usually take that opportunity to send the message of the importance of attention to detail and how if you don't have the numbers right how do you expect to gain support for a proposal? He was right. There is power in the the numbers. Using numbers and statistics to drive home a point or to illustrate a position is how business works. Numbers can be revealing and damaging at the same time. When the results come in and the numbers are bad, or good, emotions flow and decisions are made. When I was in radio, twice a year we would receive the Arbitron ratings book. These were the results of the Arbitron ratings surveys of listeners comparing radio stations against certain times of day, age groups, etc. Jobs were kept and careers were made or lost on the numbers and all the way down to the numbers on the right hand side of the decimal point. Tenths of a point changes could be the beginning of a trend and made a difference. What God has to say about numbers is just as important. Throughout the Bible God is always counting and measuring. The Old Testaments is full of statistics and numbers. An entire book of the Bible is dedicated to numbers and named just that; Numbers. In the New Testament we are taught many lessons using numbers. For example, we are expected to learn the numbers of addition of talents, the many times over of forgiveness, and the mystery and miracle of multiplying to feed the multitudes. And Jesus tells us something about his attention to the numbers for each of us in Matthew 10:30; "And the very hairs on your head are all numbered." All of this attention to numbers throughout the Bible is the same lesson that my former CEO used to teach. It is the use of numbers to stress the importance of attention to detail. And in God's case His attention to detail references the attention He puts on each one of us as part of His numbered flock. He is continually counting each of us to ensure we don't stray and He is counting on us to multiply His love and message to others. Yes, numbers do matter and yes, there is power in numbers. Today you will undoubtedly reach some point where you will be looking at numbers and making a decision or being informed for some purpose. When you see those numbers today, take a moment and reflect on God's attention to the detail of you and know that He is numbering you, at that moment, even down to the hairs on your head. And then turn around and spread that attention and love to those around you, counting along the way the number of times you are able to pass along an encouragement, a caring word, a smile, grace and forgiveness, and ultimately the loving example of our Father.

Reference: Matthew 10:30 (New Living Testament)

day 199: Space Planning

As I was recently sitting in an airport, I saw a woman who was looking over what was clearly office space planning drawings. I could see the layout of the floor plan and where the cubicles and offices would be lined up and it was obvious that there was a fair amount of time and effort going into ensuring that each workstation had enough room and that the floors were laid out correctly. Today there are professionals who do nothing but this exercise for a living. They take the people and work needs and then try and fit in as many work stations as possible for the greatest work-flow and efficiencies. It seems easy on the surface but the hardest part of space planning are the “social issues”. Social issues are the human (and sometimes petty) influences that creep into the decision making process. Consideration items like; size of footprint of the work space versus the position and title of the person, privacy needs either real or perceived, proximity to the windows, who can hear who and what, who wants to sit next to who and who doesn’t, who gets the new furniture and who keeps their old furniture, will someone be hot or cold in their new area and do they care or not, and the list can go and on. This is the way of work. Moving and changing someone’s workspace can be one of the most time-consuming efforts because as the old adage goes, “the only people who like change are wet babies”. What you learn in space planning is the importance of keeping and knowing the small details and needs of people always front of mind. Like so many times in business, one size fits one, not one size fits all and when we recognize and appreciate this, we are just better at being managers, peers and subordinates. It’s the individual appreciation of giving each person “the space” they need to be themselves. I find it comforting and exciting that Jesus is also thinking of space planning for each of us. He is at work on this for you today, right now as you read this. We see this in John 14: “There are many rooms in my Father’s home, and I am going to prepare a place for you. If this were not so, I would tell you plainly. When everything is ready, I will come and get you…” There is an excitement and buzz that gets stirred when we move into a new space. There is also some trepidation and anxiety that comes with the change of routine and familiarity. When we think about the space planning and preparation that God is doing for each of us, there need not be any worry or concern, only enthusiasm and anticipation of a place that has been planned, prepared and personalized specifically for making us eternally happy and joyful. Lean back in your chair for a moment and look around your current workspace. As you do, think and reflect on what it will be like to be in a perfect space, not that far off and then take this feeling of hopefulness and let it fill your day and reflect out to others. Let yourself be in a great space today.

Reference: John 14:2-3 (New Living Testament)

day 198: The Enoch Scale

The other day I was bouncing back and forth emails with a person who I worked with years ago and who I have recently become reacquainted. He has expressed interest in Purposed worKING, which was a pleasant surprise to me. He is a successful senior executive who has navigated his career across a number of industries and functional areas of expertise. In one of his emails to me he remarked about the need to stay focused on God first and all other second by saying, "you know, it's so hard to do so daily with all of the things I have going on at work". When I read this, I smiled because that is the point of Purposed worKING. Our purpose is to bring glory to God in all that we do, but if we put Him second or third or anywhere down our to-do lists, other than at the top, then we will not fulfill that purpose. Awhile back, we read about "God's Workers"(day 52) as the men and women who were like us and toiled for their wage with worldly professions but were able to keep God first and front of mind in their endeavors. Their faithfulness was recorded over time in different parts of the Bible. We all need examples of others who were and are able to keep their busyness under check and in priority order so that we can learn and follow those examples. While it would be great to understand how Joseph or Moses managed their inbox and daily schedules, we have to take it on faith that if we keep our priorities right that God will take care of the rest. When I am drowning in emails and deadlines, and I want to put off my daily devotional and quiet time, I can be reminded that Joseph was the number two guy in all of Egypt and he still found the time to converse and stay close to God. My other benchmark is Enoch who in Genesis and Hebrews we learn that he walked so close to God that God just took him one day to be with Him. Enoch never died, he just went to be with God. How awesome would that be? And while he was on this earth, he still worked, had a family, probably had a yard and land that he tended, had friends, etc. But he walked so close to God that he was able to be in this world while not being of it. He walked above it all and never let the busyness of his work or life get in the way. Genesis 5:24 says:, "He enjoyed a close relationship with God throughout his life (365 years). Then suddenly, he disappeared, because God took him." We all have crazy days, crazy schedules, overwhelming amounts of things to do, and places to go and people to see. But today, take a few minutes of alone time and reflect on where you are on the Enoch scale. Are you finding time to walk with God among all the things you have to do and are you trying to daily become closer to God or are you letting the tasks in front of you crowd out the One who could be most helpful? Just how close are you letting God walk to work with you today?

Reference: Genesis 5:24 (New Living Testament)

day 197: Wage Authority

Early in my career I was asked to compile and present annual "wage authorities" for the manufacturing plants where I worked. These entailed an analysis of the pay scales of all the employees in comparison to the competitive pay in the area factored by cost of living index adjustments. After all of the analysis, I would then present the findings and recommendations to a headquarters group and they in turn would provide me with the "authority" to deliver or negotiate a set annual wage increase for the employees. Later in my career I was asked once to defend the opposition to an increase in the federal minimum wage law. Even later, I lobbied against the state of California in their efforts to lower the exemptions to the wage and hour law that would keep employees in the technology fields exempt from overtime requirements. At each of these junctures I didn't feel bad (at the time) about what it was that I was doing as business requirements necessitated that a certain labor wage was maintained to make the numbers work. That is the way business works after all; like every other investment, whatever the amount of money invested or spent needs to generate a return that is greater than the cash outflow, otherwise there is no profit to be gained. The same expectation is true with people. If a dollar is spent in labor then the expectation is that a greater amount of labor value is returned. These decisions are made every day in every office, every where. You may be making them right now too as you look at a promotion, or a merit increase, or an evaluation from added responsibilities, or a new hire starting salary, or even a reduction in pay proposal to keep from a layoff occurring. What does any of this have to do with our Purposed worKING? In my study of the book of James I was struck by his verses that can help us think through our responsibility and the boundaries we should guard in these situations. James sends a "warning to the rich" that seems extreme in today's terms but the underlying message is there for all who make or recommend wage decisions. He says in Chapter 5, verses 4-5: "For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The wages you held back cry out against you. The cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty." The verses go on to say that we can become condemners and killers of people who have no power to defend themselves. At the time, I am sure that James may have meant it literally, but we can see today how figuratively we can also condemn and kill the work ethics and spirit of others just as easily. What I hear in these verses is that God does not expect us to not be good at our jobs of leading businesses and making smart and good business choices, but that He does expect us to be fair and much more sensitized to the wages of the "field workers". I take this to mean that part of our responsibility is to to know where the line of fairness is when it comes to the pay of others and to take the stand when we feel the the line is being crossed by the business. As I reflect on my past experiences, I'm not sure I always used James' litmus test in finding that line and staying on the right side of it. My prayer today is for those of you who are decision makers for the pay of others that you add a new dimension to the wage authorities that you prepare in that you add your own prayer for discernment and wisdom as you conduct the analysis and make your determination of what is fair. At stake are the spirits, attitudes, loyalty and trust of those who work with you and the judgment of God. So, ask first the higher authority to help you find the line and stay on the right side of it

Reference: James 5:4-5 (New Living Testament)

day 196: Knocking Knees

Work is full of moments and opportunities for knee knocking. You know the knee knocking feeling. It's that moment when you go to make the big presentation to higher ups, or you get visited by the CEO or a member of the Board of Directors and they ask you your opinion or point of view on something, or it's the moment when you are asked to speak in front of the team, or it's the out of the blue phone call that comes from the boss when he/she asks you something on the spot, or it's the sharing the elevator with the CEO and you don't quite know what to say next. Some would call it the butterflies in the stomach, I call it knee knocking time. I can remember many times in may career where my knees knocked as I made a presentation in the Board room or even to just a larger part of the team. If I had been wearing a heart monitor on those days in those moments I am sure I would have been way up there like running hard or biking a hill. Actually those moments are good for all of us. They make us sharpen ourselves and ensure that we are on our toes and bringing forward our best thinking. I have often thought that when those moments of anxiety start going away in our jobs that it might be time to think about doing something else. If we become so comfortable in what we do and who we are working with that we aren't having the knee knocking moments then it could be that we aren't getting grown or we aren't stretching ourselves enough to develop any longer. We know this about our relationship with God too. When we are striving to grow closer on our journey to know God the awesomeness and power of God should keep our knees knocking. We read this in 1 Peter 1:17: "...He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time as foreigners here on earth.". What this verse says to me is that we should feel those knees knock a bit each time that we go before God and just like work when we are put on the spot for our point of view or a presentation, we should be bringing our best to God and knowing that he is judging us but doing so not like he will not think that our best is good enough but like that he wants us to grow and come closer to Him. If today in your job you are at a point where the knees have stopped knocking at work then go get that extra oomph by leaning in closer to God. Ask Him today to be at work with you and to help you grow towards Him today. And if you are going to be in a knee knocking spot at work today, then ask Him to be there with you to make the experience one of learning and development and to lead you in that moment.

Reference: 1 Peter 1:17 (New Living Testament)

day 195: Motivation

Companies try many techniques to motivate their employees. It is a broad gambit of offerings that we might experience such as; incentives and contests, dinners, off-site meetings, bonuses and even sometimes bringing in an outside motivational speaker. These speakers are people who are great at grabbing our attention, honing in on an area of our lives that needs improving and then through their own examples or the examples of others show how we can improve and be better. There are many people who make their living on delivering these motivational speeches. Throughout the years I have been asked to speak at meetings and conferences and even when I am tasked with speaking on something of mundane training substance, I can't help but to also want to leave behind a motivational message on how the people in the audience have a responsibility to make things better for the others around them, and that starts with them improving themselves first. I don't know if it is all that effective, but I usually leave more fired up. :) Maybe that is why there is that old adage, "he who teaches, learns twice". Regardless, we all need to be motivated by others every now and then. It would be great if we didn't need external stimulus to get ourselves going and find a higher gear, but that's not the way it works. If you don't believe that people look for external motivation, then just stop by a bookstore and look at the size of the self-help, self-improvement category. It's big and seems to be growing while other categories are shrinking. Since people look to others to be motivators, then why don't we, as believers who are trying to work a purpose, think about filling that role in our companies? Actually, God wants us to be a motivator of others. We see this in Hebrews 10:24: "Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works." To motivate others to acts of love, caring, thoughtfulness, service and good works would be a noble ambition and a significant role for each of us to grab. Imagine the good that could be done within your office if you were to bring this type of motivation to your team? Not only would you feel like you were "learning twice" and receiving the extra motivation as you watched others feel inspired, the effect on others would be tremendous and I suspect that morale would go way up in your team, office and maybe even the whole company. Why don't you use today to try and bring some new motivation to work? It certainly can start today and start just with you!

Reference: Hebrews 10:24 (New Living Testament)

day 194: Needed Praise and Recognition

It has become abundantly clear to me that we all need recognition and praise from others. It seems so trite and silly at times and it seems so self-serving that it seems wrong to admit that we do need some praise and recognition to keep going. But, it is true and somewhere in the human experience it is built into us. At work there are systems that are established in the management process to try and bring that recognition and praise to people. Most of the time the systems that are built come across contrived or become over time rote and impersonal. The systems and processes are okay, but nothing replaces a good old-fashioned "thank you and well done" that is delivered in front of someones peers. The more spontaneous and tied to an event this can be done, the better. That type of recognition and praise goes a long, long way. In dealing with a personnel issue recently, I was reflecting on whether or not it was right or wrong that a very senior person in the organization seemed so needy for recognition and praise. I found myself saying to others, "this person is too experienced and in too big of a job to still be needing this level of recognition". I still think there are degrees of anything that make the difference between what is acceptable and not, but at the root of it, my sentiment that this person shouldn't still be looking for praise and recognition is probably wrong. We all need it and if it is not given, then the absence of recognition can be harmful for someone. I was reading a book this week by the author, Byron Ricks. The book is called, "Searching for Dad". He talks about the need for sons to receive praise and recognition from their fathers. He says this; "Even Jesus longed for his Father's praise. The Bible says, 'After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of heavens said, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.'" If God can give praise to Jesus then we can give praise and recognition to others. We can start today by looking around the office and trying to find the person who doesn't receive the recognition they should and then go give them some. Write a hand-written note to that person. Send a letter or email to their boss or their bosses' boss telling them how great this person is and asking for them to receive the recognition due. Or, just take a group of people on your team with you and walk over to this person's cubicle, workstation or office, and ask for a minute to just say thank you as a group. Whatever it takes to deliver recognition and praise today. You will be glad you did.

Reference: Luke 3:21-22 (New Living Testament)

day 193: Impasses

At some point in a negotiations both sides reach an impasse. Both parties have pushed as hard as they can to gain the upper hand and the other side says, "enough is enough" and the stare down begins. I have been there and each and every time I have gotten up and walked away from the table, either literally or figuratively, I have this uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach that I have pushed the other side too far and the whole deal will collapse. We negotiate all day long with each other in our work. Sometimes it is on large contracts with vendors, other times it is with our fellow employees who are represented by a labor union. But, other times, the negotiations are with our fellow teammates who together we are trying to get things done but we find ourselves negotiating among ourselves for roles and responsibilities, and who is going to take on what part of the burden of a project. Whenever we find ourselves in these negotiations, it can feel like there is a winner and a loser and the loser feels like that they get stuck with the raw end of the deal. The entire employment relationship can feel this way to some people. The employee feels that she/he has no real say and the employer dictates on them rules and policies that the employee feels can't be changed and they are stuck with an outcome they can't control. These burdens, unjust outcomes, unfair dealings can feel like stabs and hurts that just won't go away and no matter how hard we try we can't make them disappear. We are taught how to deal with these by Paul in 2 Corinthians 12: 7-10. He says this about his own situation; "...even though I have received wonderful revelations from God. But to keep me from getting puffed up, was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep from getting proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, 'My gracious favor is all you need. My power works best in your weakness.' So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may work through me. Since I know it is all for Christ's good, I am quite content with my weaknesses and with the insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." Wow! Those are hard words to accept and understand from Paul. We don't know exactly what he is talking about when he describes his thorn, but we know it was something that dragged him down, occupied his mind all the time, made him feel weak and downtrodden, and something that he could not change or remove on his own. The hand we have been dealt at our job may feel just like this. We feel like we have come to an impasse and we can't make it any better. It may be our job itself that we can't afford to leave or change and we just have to stick it out. It may be our boss or a co-worker. It may be a tough situation at home that keeps showing up in our work or getting in the way of doing our best on the job. Any of these things can be thorns to us. The point is that Paul says we have to turn those thorns over to God and allow Him to bring strength to us through the realization of the weakness they produce. Today, you probably have one or more of these thorns that you can't remove. Today, would be the day to begin recognizing that the removal may not be the answer. That the impasse is not bad for us, it just is what it is and we are to work within the situation. The acceptance of the thorns as present and the calling upon the Lord to turn them into strength and power is the real answer.

Reference: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (New Living Testament)

day 192: The Upside Down Pyramid

Back in the early 1990's there was a lot of talk about how companies that really understood their employees would be thinking differently about the organization charts of their companies What they would do is invert the traditional organizational pyramid with the CEO upside down so that the front-line employee would be at the top of the pyramid, not the bottom. It was a visual way of trying to show that they wanted the front-line employee to feel like they were all there for them. Companies started renaming their headquarters into "service centers" or "support centers" with the idea that the senior executives and the people in headquarters were there to serve and support everyone else. Those ideas hung around for awhile but now we hear less about them. The principle was right though. If you are manager, you are there to support and serve the needs of those who work for you, not the other way around. Those who think that they are the boss to have others serve them find out sooner or later that they aren't very good bosses. Servant leadership is about knowing who is really doing the work and being there for them. There is no better example that the leader who served others first than our Lord. We read in Mark; "For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many." The thought for today as you go to work is how are you serving others? Are you looking at the needs of the people on your team and in your organization and trying to figure out how you can best provide service to them? Or, are you waiting for others to serve you? I think we all know the right answer. See if you can't turn the pyramid upside down today and take a different vantage point and become the leader or team member who serves others. You may find that it is a much better view from that vantage point.

Reference: Mark 10:45 (New Living Testament)

day 191: Your Confidence Index?

We read about them once a month; there is the consumer confidence index, the retail confidence index, etc. Confidence indicators and indexes give us some feeling of whether things are better or worse. We do the same with other people to get a read on how things are going around us. At work we look to those who are the leaders or in-the-know to see how confident they are feeling and then we extrapolate that to our own feelings and we are either up, down or neutral in how we are thinking about the future. Some people are just confident by nature and they see the glass as constantly bubbling over and it being their glass for the drinking. We naturally gravitate to those people, until they cross the line and confidence turns to over confidence and maybe even arrogance. We all need to have a healthy dose of self-confidence to be successful at work. We start each day knowing that we will have to defend and prove our work and ourselves so having some self-confidence becomes part of the requirements. But, we need to be careful that we don't become so overly confident in ourselves that we forget about others, ignore our faults, or lose perspective of what we can and can't do humanly. Those who are over-confident in themselves always set themselves up for a big fall when something doesn't go their way or they are impacted by something that is out of their control. We are warned about being overly self-confident by James beginning with Chapter 4, verse 13: "Look here, you people who say, 'Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.' How do you know what will happen tomorrow? For your life is like the morning fog - it's here a little while, then it's gone. What you ought to say is, 'If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.' Otherwise you will be boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil." We sometimes get so caught up in our own confidently set plans that we forget that our plans are nothing but desires that can get swept away in a moment. One event out our control and our plans are washed out. We need to continue to look to God for the bigger plans that He has for us, allow our self-confidence to be checked by looking to Him first, and then let the rest fall into place. Today as you think about your future career and work plans, try putting them to Him first and see what He wants to do with you, then you can be confident in Him not just in yourself.

Reference: James 4: 13-16 (New Living Testament)

day 190: Memory Masters

Every few years or so a business book will come out about how important it is to have a strong memory in order to be successful. It is true that many amazing people, business people and others alike, who have an extraordinary memory seem to do well in whatever their endeavors. I once met, Richard Lugar, United States Senator from Indiana when I was a senior in high school. He was spending a few hours at our high school and I was privileged enough to be his guide that morning. There was nothing remarkable about the day or noteworthy about our time together. It was definately memorable though to a high school senior but to a United States Senator, it was just another day in the life. Nearly three years later I was at an event (which I can't even remember what it was now) at Purdue University and Senator Lugar was there. I casually went up to him after the event to reintroduce myself. I was all prepared to remind him that I had been his guide one morning three years ago, etc. But before I could even get those words out of my head, he said, "Hello Rusty, how have you been?" It was an amazing moment of memory that made me feel as special as one could ever feel. I later learned from others that this was not unique for the Senator. He just has that type of memory. I never did. As jobs got more complex and more information was passing through my head I took to writing copious notes from every meeting in bound lined writing books, filling two to three per calendar year. These were great as I felt I could leave some of the clutter on the pages and not have to fill my head with those details. Maybe there are some really extraordinary minds like Senator Lugar's who can remember everything, but for the rest of us, we have to choose what to try and retain and what to let go. As believers who are faced with the challenges of trying to live our purpose through our work, there is no more powerful tool to have than to be able to draw on God's word for direction, understanding, comfort, or defense. If there is one set of information that you want to make room for in the hard-drive of your mind, it is God's word. Proverbs 22:18 says; "For it is good to keep these sayings deep within yourself, always ready on your lips." The words can't be on your lips if they are not embedded within your memory and your heart. Yes, there are many areas and things to focus on at work, but start with the rock-solid foundation of God's word and you will find that your footing will never be stronger. If you are going to become a memory master, you know where to start.

Reference: Proverbs 22:18 (New Living Testament)

day 189: Decisiveness

The best leaders we can work for are those who, regardless if we like the outcome or not, we can count on for fast and well-thought out decisions. We've probably all worked for someone along the way who was wishy-washy or a slow decision maker or worse yet, someone who makes a decision and then when pushed or challenged, backs down and changes their mind. We don't like working for those people and enough of that and we get driven crazy. Every day we are faced with hundreds and hundreds of decisions and the ones that matter the most are the ones where others are counting on us to be decisive and provide clear direction or answers to a problem. Making decisions is not always easy. Many times we need input from others and we need the facts and the data to support the decision. Sometimes, the decisions are so hard and of such consequence that we wish they would go away or someone else would make them for us. I remember one person who I worked with who used to say, "a decision deferred is decision made." Yes, it drove me crazy. We actually get very good direction on how to go about making good decisions in the book of James. We read; "If you need wisdom - if you want to know what God wants you to do - ask him, and he will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking. But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. People like that should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. They can't make up their minds. They waver back and forth in everything they do." Even in James we are being told that we need to be decisive in our lives and to to be sure that we are not tossing back and forth in the way that we do or don't make up our minds. I find that the people who are the best decision makers also become the leaders that others look up to and follow. The question today for you is are you one of these people? Are you as decisive as you should be? As we read, God wants us to be, so today would be a great day to examine ourselves and see just how decisive we are.

Reference: James 1: 5-8 (New Living Testament)