day 762: Purity

"But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy."

There was a time that when we heard or read about the product that was "99 44/100% Pure", that we would have immediately known that it was Ivory Soap. Since I am not a business historian, I can't say whether or not the claim was accurate, but it worked. Today, it's harder because of regulatory standards to make claims unless they are fully substantiated. Yet still the claim of purity remains one of the best ways to convince and influence a consumer. What is there not to like about purity? When we hear that something is pure we also seem to want to extend the purity and goodness to the company and the intentions of those who are making and selling the product. We like the idea that someone cares about making something that is pure. We want to believe that these people behind the products are also pure of heart. But, we must be careful about our claims because there may not be any other statement that will attract greater scrutiny. Just as we want to believe that something can be truly pure, there are also others who want to be the ones that prove the claim to be false.

We are to be as pure and as holy as we can be. We are told that many times in God's Word. But, we can't be pure or holy unless we are doing so to be in the likeness of Christ. If we are only striving to be pure, as in good, then we may be doing well, but we are not centered where God wants us to be. What we are told to do is to be holy as God is holy. As we work it is certainly not easy to be holy or to be pure. We are faced all day long with those areas and things in our jobs that do their best to pull us away from Him. It may not be that we are doing anything that is obviously wrong, dishonest, or not becoming. But, underneath it all work can make us take it all on our own, depend upon only ourselves, and forget who it is that we are to depend, rely and call upon. When we are trying to go it alone, without God as our center and director, then we cannot be holy and pure as he wants us to be. As we start this week let's consider how pure our intentions are and how hard we are worKING to be holy in His eyes?

Reference: 1 Peter 1:15 (New Living Testament)

day 761: Battle Vs. War (Redux)

"Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing"


We all fight battles at work, each and every day. Sometimes they are small battles, and sometimes large. Overall, we also have our wars that must be fought and won. Hopefully, the wars are those that are against the competition or external forces that are hard to overcome and take our full focus and attention to win. It's when the wars creep into the internal aspects of our businesses that our time becomes unproductive. It is also when we start to get so overwhelmed or engrossed in one thing that we begin to lose perspective and the the battles and the wars become blurred. It is hard to keep them separate because we are passionate about our work and we have our goals and objectives to which we must take stands and have strong points of view. But, it is so important that we don't lose the war because we lose ourselves in the heat of the battle.

I was recently in a conversation where two people were deep into a heated battle over a contentious subject and in the midst of the argument, one person, made the conversation personal and attacked the other person's character. You could see the conversation deteriorating quickly. The person who made the slip of the tongue, lost perspective. The battle was sacrificed to the loss of the war as the person offended now stood on the higher ground, regardless of the merits of the original battle. Proverbs 12:18 speaks to this; "Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing". The war to be won is our character and the life that God wants us to live that others can see. The battles of the day, while important at the time, are insignificant in the overall life we are to live and how we handle ourselves. Today, you will be invariably thrust into battle. As you stand and speak, remember the overall war that is to be won.

Reference: Proverbs 12:18 (New Living Testament)

day 760: Testing

“God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”


Businesses must constantly be testing to be sure that they are doing the right things. They are testing their products for quality, consistency, and safety. They are testing their service with mystery customers to ensure that they are delivering the highest service levels. They are testing their financial processes and procedures to be sure they can conform to the laws of Sarbanes-Oxley. They are testing their marketing and advertising with focus groups. They are testing their strategic plan to ensure that it holds up in the face of ever-changing economic conditions and pressures. They are testing their people for performance, productivity and results. They are constantly testing to ensure that they are focused on the right inititaitives and the right deliverables to grow the business. Testing is part and parcel of work and we get used to it. It sharpens us and it can make us better. Testing can also strengthen us so that we are ready for future problems. So, testing is a good thing for business.

But, when we are tested in our own lives, we just don’t like it. Those things that cause us to question and then have to change, we don’t like. Those tests that slow us down or make us change our ways of working or living can even make us angry. This past week, I was tested. This will end a week where I have attended three funerals/memorial services of friends and had I been able to find a way to travel, there would have been a fourth. I happened to be on the road anyway when this all started and as the events each occurred schedules changed, flights were rearranged, deadlines were missed and a physical and emotional toll was taken. Patti and I counted last night that we had stayed in six different places in the past 10 days, and as I never sleep well the first night in a new place, there were only a couple of nights of good sleep. As our flight home was stuck in Chicago last night and we ended up another night away from home, we wondered what was being tested in us. Was it patience? Was it the turning over of situations that are out of our control? Was it the reassessment of how we are spending our own precious time and the reminder that our lives on this earth are short? Was it that we are to be there for other people first, and ourselves second? Likely, because I can ask these questions, it is all of the above that are testing me/us. These are the times that we must call on God’s promises and what He gives us when we patiently endure our testing. I know I am not alone and that there are many who are going through far worse tests today. God’s promises stand for each and every one of us, no matter what the test or its difficulty.

Reference: James 1:12 (New Living Testament)

day 759: Paying Dividends

“How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out
of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things”


There is lots of talk on Wall Street right now about paying of dividends. Companies that had suspended their dividend payments during the Great Recession are now being questioned as to when they will restore those payments, if ever? Companies that currently pay dividends and are recording record profits are being challenged to raise their dividends. Those who never paid a dividend, but are sitting on a tremendous amount of cash that they aren’t using for acquisitions or R&D are being challenged to give back that capital to the shareholders. It’s that time of the year when money managers are trying to see what their annual returns will be and dividends can be an important piece in that puzzle. Whether or not a company pays a dividend is not really as much about their financial condition as it is their belief system and how they consider and treat their shareholders. If there is a high consideration on their shareholders and the contributions that they make, then the dividend payments just become part of what they do and plan. Down deep in their corporate psyche do they believe they should pay, or not?

The dividends that are paid and expressed from our beliefs are those that we also choose to act upon or not. While we may put on a good show for a bit, when we are faced with troubles and challenges we will default to our core beliefs and actions and if they are not right, then what come from us will not be productive or in the example of Christ. Jesus says it to us in Matthew bluntly. From good, comes good. From evil, comes evil. It’s that simple. It’s that complicated. It’s that hard to stay to strong in our core beliefs so that we don’t drift and cause a problem. Think about what dividends you are paying out from the life that you live. How you speak, how you work, how you conduct your business can all be indicators and strong examples to others. We are held to high standards and we have to constantly monitor those dividends come from us.

Reference: Matthew 12:34-35

day 758: 99% and 1%

"People who are at ease mock those in trouble. They give a push to people who are stumbling."

Yesterday I wrote of seeing first-hand what Occupy Wall Street looked like. While there I could see many posters and signs that referenced that this group was the 99% and it was the 1% that they were protesting against and the gap of society that is felt between that 99% and the 1%. It made me reflect that what this group is protesting isn't as simple or as obvious as the gap that is created because of socioeconomic reasons, but just as much, if not more, the gap that can be felt between the "haves" and the "have-nots" and the disparate treatment that can be seen between those groups. Anyone who has ever worked knows this gap inside of business. There is always a group of people who are more senior who are able to work by their own rules. In business we use that gap as a motivational tool to get people to aspire and want to someday get to that level where they get the extras. I am reflecting on whether or not that remains a good practice or not. Of course, there is nothing wrong with looking up and seeing the rewards and the recognition that can come from hard work and achievement. It is the different rules part that has me thinking. Something as simple as the boss not having to abide by the vacation policy that she/he created but others in the company having to count and ration their vacation days, can set a wrong tone and enhance the "percentage" gap.

Sometimes, as a believer I feel caught in between. I know that part of what God desires for us is to be able to utilize and call upon our talents and resources and for that to be brought to bear against our work and what we are put into the world to do day-in and day-out. He does not want us to just sit back and not give it our all. But, I also know, from all that I read in God's Word that we are to be those who lead others in compassion and the assistance of those who can't or don't have, by no fault of their own. This is where we can span the gap and be one's who others look to as playing by one set of rules and being the opposite of what Job spoke about in his response to Zophar. Ours is to never mock, never to cause others to stumble, instead to lift up and not push down. It is heavy stuff and many times hard to reconcile what to do, but here is the point, if we listen carefully to what God would have us do, we can know. It's that voice inside while we pray, it's the words from the Bible that make the greatest impact and impression, it's the opportunities that allow us to share what we believe, it's the wise words from the strong believer who we speak. Inside of all of that is what God desires us to do and the part He wants us to play to be not a "percentage", but a probability and promise for His Kingdom.

Reference: Job 12:5 (New Living Testament)

day 757: Occupying

"People who are at ease mock those in trouble. They give a push to people who are stumbling."

Across the country, someplace today is being "occupied". We happened to be in NYC this past weekend for a Memorial Service of our friend's son and decided that while we were there to go see what was up with the Occupy Wall Street movement and live-in. It was not what I expected (smaller and less organized) and I really couldn't tell what will be the outcome, if any, from the protesters. What is evident and worth noting is that people are angry, and since they can't pinpoint who to be angry with, they are lashing out at an institution and socioeconomic classes that are not their own. They are doing what we all do when we get angry, we first blame someone else. This is what we do in business too often, we wait to see who is in trouble and then we get on that band wagon. We "occupy" until we get our way, or until someone listens. The problem with this is that it doesn't always solve the problem, in fact it may just cause another problem. It's hard work to not just go after the obvious target, but instead to search for the root problem and go solve that. That's what we need to be doing.

In our lives, and our work, where we are to be examples, we have to be careful that we don't become occupiers too. It is human nature to jump in and mock others and to give a nudge to those who are already stumbling. But, we are to be the opposite. We are to defend those who are in trouble and we are to lift up, take home, care for, and provide the help for those who have fallen to get on their way. We are living in a wacky time, but imagine a world, and a workplace, where we don't allow the troubled and the downtrodden to be walked over or kept down, instead imagine a place where we stood over them and did all we could to be sure that they found their way upward and onward. We may not be able to immediately solve what is happening in the "occupying" world, but we can manage and solve the problems that we have control over and see each and every day at work. Today, let's not take the easy way out, but instead give a hand to someone who is stumbling.

Reference: Job 12:5 (New Living Testament)

day 756: One Thing Leads To Another - Redux

"...and endurance develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation."


The band "The Fixx" had a popular song in the 80's called, "One Thing Leads to Another". (Once this gets into your head, it is going to hang around awhile, sorry.) Whenever I hear this song's refrain I think of how true it is in our work that one thing leads to another, over and over and over. What starts out as something small can turn into something big in a matter of hours or even moments. Many times these chains of events are created by misspoken words or errant actions. So, in actuality, what we do all day at our jobs is launch out actions like boats launching out to sea, and we wait to see what the reactions and what down the chain of event things will be the outcomes. Of course, there are also some very positive things that also happen from the actions taken today that we may not know for years to come. The point is that one thing leads to another and we have to be cognizant of that if we want to be our best.

I am reminded of this each time I am faced with a problem that God set them up for us so that we could also have our own chain of events that we experience. In Romans 5:3-5 Paul tells us that from problem comes a learning about endurance. From these problems and trials comes endurance. From endurance comes strength. From strength comes character. From character comes confidence. And that confidence is the confidence in an expectation of something wonderful, the expectation of our salvation. And, Paul goes on to say, "And this expectation will not disappoint us." Yes, one thing does lead to another, and in God's will, each and every thing we face leads us back to the expectation of our salvation. This promise makes me say on this morning, "bring it on!" because I want to be reminded and always rejoicing in the problems that can turn to the confident expectation of my salvation. Today, may you feel the same!

Reference: Romans 3:3-5 (New Living Testament)

day 755: Resting Our Case

"Casting all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you."

When we have a problem in the office we do the best we can to solve it on our own and then when it either it seems unsolvable, or it appears that it might blow up into something bigger we try and find a place to park the problem that keeps us out of trouble. We try and rest our case somewhere else, if we can. More often than not that can be an upward delegation of the problem and the case ends up resting firmly on the desk of our boss. That might feel right for the moment, but in the long run, upward delegation gets us nowhere other than in the same job we are in today for a long time to come. If we desire upward progression then we need to be able to show to others that we don't have to move the case off of our desk, but instead can solve the problems ourselves, just as the boss would have done. It's easy to rest our cases with someone else. It is hard to close the case ourselves. Consider which course you want to take and the long-term ramifications before you take it.

As we consider this, remember that we bring forth those challenges with a greater strength and power with us. How easy it is, each day, to forget that we are told to cast our cares on Him and He will provide. I find myself, still, in the morning thinking about all I have to do and wondering how I will get it all done. What a reminder of how simple and weak my faith can be. The right thought is that with His strength, direction and power all kinds of things will get done today, and likely some things that I never imagined would. We are not to worry about this day and what is before us. We are to cast those cares to Him. We are to allow God to be in our cases and for us to find the rest with Him! May it be so today for you!

Reference: 1 Peter 5:7

day 754: Alliances

“Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble.”


Alliances were always a part of our vocabulary, but never as much so as the last decade and the show Survivor that provided us first-hand experiences of how an alliance could make or break a group of people who were playing the Survivor game. We see the same thing in business, but usually they are called industry consortiums, industry groups, or lobbying groups. Companies come together to form an alliance and then try and use their leverage of size or influence to get what they want. In Washington, DC and in every state capital city in America there is a whole industry that has been built up for lobbying. Rules, regulations, taxes, competitiveness can all be won or lost with these alliances. In Detroit, many years ago, the big three car manufacturers became an alliance when they started pattern bargaining with the UAW. To be in an alliance it means surrounding yourself with the best other people or companies and then trusting that the good of the whole will outweigh the good of one. It’s not easy to do and there is always (like the TV show) someone who wants to break the alliance and go it alone or shift allegiances. Regardless of how it works, alliances are important and we would do well to keep our eyes open for those where cooperating would make us stronger and better.

We can also take up our own alliances by following the wisdom of Solomon and look to surround ourselves associate with those who are wiser than we are. Solomon also shows us the flipside of what can happen if we decide to not pursue those who are wise. Our own alliances can be so beneficial or so detrimental to our lives that we need to choose carefully and be sure that we are doing our diligence and then being very deliberate about who we associate. At the time it seems easy to connect and fall into the company of new friends. This can be good and it can be bad. As a constant balance in our lives, let’s be sure that we have a set of fellow believers who are also very connected and instrumental in our lives. It is with these “wise” associations that we can ensure that we stay out of trouble and actually become wiser ourselves. Do you have a small group or a set of friends at work who you can count on for your steady and faithful alliance?

Reference: Proverbs 13:20 (New Living Testament)

day 753: Beyond A Request

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”


When we get a "request" at the office, it isn't usually just a request as much as it is a veiled directive. "I'd like to ask you to join me", isn't really an "ask" in a way that leave a way out, it's more of a direction that is being given with a hint of politeness. "Would you be willing…..?" is also the same. "Of course, I am willing" is the answer that is expected, not, "Uhm, I don't think I am willing." I'm not trying to make work out to be a place that isn't full of choices and opportunities to express our feelings and out wishes, but for the most part work is not a place of democracy. It is more a dictatorship, with the hope that the dictator has some benevolence. This can easily be masked in consensus and collaboration if the leader has those skills, but at the end of the day, someone has to make the final decision and it's usually the most senior person in the room. So, when we are "requested" to step up, take on, do more, then we should consider that the request has already been well vetted and by the time it comes to us we need to think really hard about any other answer other than "yes".

There are many ways to look at how God calls each of us. Yes, He is always there for our acceptance and He never backs away from us, but we can also take His words and hear in them that He does not want His requests to be ignored. What I find so great about God is that He is always requesting us, for our good, not His. What more does He need? He is challenging us to grow and come closer to Him because He wants the best from us. No better verse says this to me than Matthew 11:28, when He says, "Come to me". He didn't choose to say, "If you need, come to me", or "If you'd like, come to me". He said, "Come"! God's Word to us is beyond a request and if we are being faithful to Him we will recognize this and follow His commands. What are you hearing from Him today? Is there something that He is saying about how you should be working or treating those around you at work differently? Listen for the request today and then take the action that we know He wants us to take.

Reference: Matthew 11:28

day 752: Open Floor Plans

"A man who lacks judgment derides his neighbor, but a man of understanding holds his tongue."

We work in the age of transparency and that transparency even shows up in how we work today. Last week I was in the offices of a fast growing and very hot start-up and I wasn't surprised to see the open floor plan and everyone sitting out in the open doing their work. The co-founders/CEOs were right there at the big table, one on the phone and the other with his chair swiveled around talking to someone else who had pulled around their chair for a quick conversation. The generation that is here is way less concerned about having an office, or even a cubicle. They prefer it all to be in the open and for that level of transparency to exist. It does force a change in communication and how we treat each other. It's good as it isn't just about what we want to do, but instead how we do what we need to do in the presence of others who also share the space. This should lead to greater lines of open communication and even better, higher trust levels and stronger relationships. Just by being with someone all day long, we get to know them better and therefore appreciate more who they are. Leaders and CEOs have never had a better chance to be in tough with their teams than today.

Solomon gives us good advice on how to also treat our work neighbors. If we deride or criticize our work neighbors all day long we just guess what we can expect back. Solomon says it takes judgment to not do so. And it takes understanding to hold our tongues. Today as we start this work week, look around at who we co-exist with in our open floor plans of today. They are our neighbors and they deserve us to be the best we can be with them. We forget that they come to work, like us, with their own set of issues and problems and like us, are many times just trying to make it through the day. What can we do to help them today? How can we conduct ourselves so that we have been good neighbors to them? It's worth watching and acting accordingly today.

Reference: Proverbs 11:12

day 751: Fire In The Belly

"Fire goes out without wood, and quarrels disappear when gossip stops."

It's common to hear the coaching from a business leader that he/she is looking for more "fire in the belly". Fire in the belly is a term used for motivation, initiative, self-starting, passion that doesn't allow for giving up, etc. Businesses who have fire in the belly in their leaders tend to also have that spirit carry throughout their organization and find themselves moving faster with greater intensity than others. When organizations who have this and then lose it, it can feel like the company has come to a screeching halt. There are many examples that we can all think of where a company that once seemed on top of the world, seems to lose their "mojo". If we could get inside of these companies and do research we would likely find that there was a loss somewhere of a leader who who lost the fire in the belly and therefore things changed or slowed down. So, when someone is asking about how much fire in the belly the company, or a person has, it is a good question and one to consider the answer.

Now, with each us, we need to be sure that we have the right kind of fire in the belly for us to be effective in bringing glory to God in our work. I know many people who have plenty of fire, it's just the wrong kind of fire. The things that can fuel us in the workplace can be all of the wrong kinds of fuel. We can get really fired up over being competitive, or being vindictive, or just selfish in watching out for our own personal gains and status. These are the wrong kinds of fuels that should be removed. Solomon tells us that we need to watch out for gossip and quarrels as part of our fuel. As we all need to have a fire in our belly, let's be sure that we know what that fuel is and how it makes us burn. If we are being driven by the wrong reasons, that fire needs to be managed so it doesn't start to burn out of control.

Reference: Proverbs 26:20 (New Living Testament)

day 750: Golden Parachutes (repost)

"Those in in frequent contact with things of the world should make good use of them without becoming attached to them, for the world and all its contents will pass away."

There has been a lot of talk again about the golden parachutes that senior executives continue to receive. The term golden parachute describes the generous severance benefits that are created for executives when they lose their jobs. It is supposed to give them a gentle landing into their next job, etc. Unfortunately, the size of these parachutes have gone from a gentle landing to allowing them to stay in the air for as long as they want with no touchdown in sight. As we see these doled out, it is no wonder that people within a company begin to mistrust or question whether or not the senior people and a Board are taking care of themselves over others. We also are seeing more and more people wanting to negotiate, upon their hiring, some type of severance package. This comes from the fears over the last few years of losing a job not because of personal performance but because of circumstances outside of our control. There is nothing wrong with having a separation package already worked out, but it is the underlying needs and motivation that most matter.

If we are counting on the things of the world to be there for us throughout our entire life, then we are counting on the wrong things. Whether it be our home, our finances, our relationships or our health, all the things of this world are the wrong places to be putting our faith. Paul says this in 1 Corinthians 7:31; "Those in in frequent contact with things of the world should make good use of them without becoming attached to them, for the world and all its contents will pass away." The question is not if they will pass away, the question is when. If we are working and living counting on our golden parachute to be there when we decide to pull the rip cord, then we may find ourselves sorely disappointed. God doesn't want to give us a parachute for a soft landing, He wants to give us wings to soar through our life. If we look to Him for our future then we will never have to worry about being let down. Let's think about this today as we start this work week and ensure that we have put our future in the right hands.

Reference: 1 Corinthians 7:31 (New Living Testament)

day 749: Victimization

"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."

I'm not sure how it happens, but it's easy to fall into the role of the "victim" and then start posturing and acting that way. I see it a lot in businesses where things happen that are "out of their control" and instead of moving past those things with a plan that takes them forward, they get stuck where they are and become the victim. Once in that place it is hard to find the way back. If in a leadership role we are acting like victims then we can be very sure that the same is happening all through our companies. Once it becomes okay to blame the unknown or the faceless and nameless, then it becomes accepted to do the same with "they". "They wouldn't let me", or "They aren't supporting us", or "They are the problem" are all victim statements. It's worth stepping back for a moment and ensuring that there isn't a thread of victimization that is running amok in your business.

We are not called to be victims in this life that we have been given. We are told that ours is not to be a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power and love and self-discipline. We cannot portray those characteristics and traits in our lives if we are living as a victim. Sure, there are many things, all day long, that happen to us that are far from being in our control, but we have the promise of God with us and a gift of faith. There is no reason for us to ever feel the victim if we are trusting and believing that God has us in His hands. Is there are a part of us today who are playing the victim over something at work? Have we found ourselves sitting back and saying, "That's their problem, not mine"? Let's check ourselves today and be sure that we are not playing the victim and that we are working and living in the spirit that God desires for us.

Reference: 2 Timothy 1:7 (New Living Testament)

day 748: Productivity

"Our people must learn to do good by meeting the urgent needs of others; then they will not be unproductive."


What’s appears to be holding up corporate earnings is the record-high level of labor productivity. This would be no surprise to anyone who is working a job where they are doing not only the work that they were doing three years ago, but also the work of one or more other people who no longer work at the company. The same, or more is getting done with less. This increased output is call productivity. Corporations are hooked on it right now and that addiction is not likely to go away. This explains why even with revenue and price levels returning to pre-2008 that we see unemployment still so high. The other contributor to productivity is technology and how it replaces labor and speeds output. It is true that the Great Recession may have finally been the time when the workforce was finally rationalized to consider technology advances. Productivity may not be able to get any higher, but for sure it is a major driver today in our economy’s recovery.

Productivity as it is defined by God’s Word is also about working to meet needs but not against the same standards that we see in the business world. Doing a little more for the bottom line is the same, but the bottom line that we are trying to serve is much bigger and eternal. Our productivity standard is how well we meet the needs of others and how urgently we do so that they can also be productive in their service to the Lord. Today, how productive are we being for the cause of bringing Glory to God and expanding His Kingdom? It is right that we should question ourselves each day and course correct for that increased productivity!

Reference: Titus 3:14 (New Living Testament)

day 747: Flying Off

"Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry."

Quick to do this and quick to do that. We must be quick in our businesses so that we don't dilly dally and let the competition pass us, or lose our momentum. It's almost an internal forcing function to be quick and go, go, go. Of course there are many hazards with being too quick and not thinking or planning. When we are quick, we can get too caught up in the moment that we miss important signs and signals that we would have been sensitive to had we been more methodical or deliberate. What we are really looking for is the ability to be fast, but at the same time run and finish well the marathon. It's a hard balance to find. When we are also overly preoccupied with speed we can find ourselves operating backwards and we end up slow to listen, quick to speak and quick to fly off the handle. Many a company or leader who is moving too fast wishes they could take back their first reactions to a problem. How they wish they would have slowed down and not allowed themselves to just fly off the handle. It's a hard discipline to have, but one that we can all apply to our business; listen, be quiet and be thoughtful before reacting.

James puts it right in in our faces on how we are to handle this in our own lives; "Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry." He is saying that if we do the opposite we are putting ourselves at major risk that we are going to mess something up at work, at home, or anywhere. It seems so simple, but again it is another life lesson that is so hard. Each of these areas that the Bible gives us to self-improve are pointing out that we, by human nature, are flawed. What we must also undestand and do so in accepting His gift, is that we cannot be perfect, but with His assistance, we can overcome and manage the basic flaws that are inside of us. But, we can't do it without Him. This is why we must come back daily to His Word and talk to God in prayer so that we can see our areas of weakness and then improve for His Glory and sake. This week, we will be given our own tests and we can practice being quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger. We won't be perfect, but we can be attentive and we can see if we can keep from flying off the handle. With His guidance and support, that is something we can certainly control.

Reference: James 1:19 (New Living Testament)

day 745 and day 746: Steve Jobs

I am leaving this post up for a second day due to the high amount of interest and number of people who were passing it along to others....Have a great weekend.


"And this world is fading away, along with everything it craves. But if you do the will of God, you will live forever"

I was fortunate enough to know Steve Jobs and interact with him a few times over the past decades. Those interactions were seldom, but each time impacting. Most intensely was the time I had the chance to go to work directly for him at Apple, which I declined (not an easy thing to do with Steve Jobs), and still he was gracious enough to years later allow me to bounce ideas off of him and take time out of his schedule to consider business proposals and concepts.

In his personal conference room, two years before the ipod was released he tried to get me to guess what the next big thing would be that "we could all keep in our pockets, but wasn't a phone and didn't take pictures". Of course, I didn't come up with a $400 MP3 player that every teenager in America would have to have. As I fumbled around, he sat there with the smirk that only Steve Jobs could put on that was both respectfully condescending and childlike mischievous. He told me that "it would change the world". He was right.

No, the ipod, nor the iphone, nor the ipad, stopped world hunger or brought about world peace, but in their way they each have contributed to those. They couldn't cure cancer. Nothing can, so far, and Steve knew that too. But, somewhere this morning there is a doctor working on that cure who is storing his/her research on their ipad and sharing data with another researcher across their iphones. And there is a surgeon staring down at a tumor to be removed with the music from their ipod making them a little steadier and more confident. And there is a troubled youth who doesn't have friends or a family structure who exists and finds themselves in music as they put those iconic white earbuds in and walks through a dangerous neighborhood to school. And there is a working Mother this morning, without childcare, who is trying to figure out how to balance the day, who for a few minutes can find some peace and quiet by asking her kids to sit down and watch Toy Story, or Finding Nemo, or Cars on the DVD.

Yes, Steve Jobs did change the world, in his own way.

He made business cool for people who didn't know that they could be a geek and also run a company. Before Apple (and Microsoft), geeks were relegated to the backroom and didn't see much less step into a boardroom. Steve (and Bill) changed that. Steve showed us that design and elegance were as important to a product as what it did. Every industry was forced to follow once we got our first interaction with a Steve Jobs Apple product. Steve brought good, wholesome, and mass-market entertainment to all of us with the great movies from Pixar and from that success came others who followed to put digitally animated full feature films, rated G or PG-13 perennially at the top of the box office lists. Steve changed the way we think about great retail experience. He took retail workers and turned them into "geniuses". The reason that there are now 5-10 people waiting for us to help us personally in the Verizon, ATT or Sprint stores is because of the Apple store model. Before Apple retail, the best we could expect was a Radio Shack.

Today, the world is without our generation's Walt Disney, our Thomas Edison, and our Beethoven. Steve Jobs will be missed and generations will remember what he did and who he was. I had no reason to call him or correspond with him anytime in the near future, but I miss this morning, that I could have and knowing that, as he was before, a person who would listen, take the time, and be bluntly honest, all because he cared.

Steve's passing is a reminder to all of us that we are just travelers through our own time with a shared worldly end in sight. But, as believers and followers of Jesus, we also know that this world is only a chapter, or a page to be turned, amongst a book that allows for our eternal life. All of our accomplishments will someday fade away and while our name might be remembered, this world will no longer be not ours, but someone elses. Yes, we are here to make a difference, but that difference isn't about the what we do, but the how we do it and today, God is giving each of an opportunity to indelibly leave our mark by who we are and how we might touch another person and provide them an example of how Christ lived. Among all the things in our world, which are also gifts from God for us to experience, let us not take for granted that the short time we are here, that our purpose remains, day-in and day-out, to bring Him glory and to multiply His Kingdom.

Reference: 1 John 2:17 (New Living Testament)

day 744: Self Incriminating

"The Lord detests lying lips, but He delights in men who are truthful

A group of executives from the company Solyndra were called last week to testify before a joint congressional-senate hearing committee. With each question they were asked about their company, they invoked the firth amendment, which gave them the right to not testify on the grounds that they may incriminate themselves. I have never, thank the good Lord, been asked to testify like this, but if I was asked, I would hope that I would be able to answer openly, or if I was incriminating myself it wouldn't really happen because there was nothing behind it to hide or fear. Of course, that is probably legally naive and there are good reasons to use the fifth amendment, but it does always make the rest of us wonder if someone isn't hiding something. Let's be sure that whatever we do in our businesses that we would never be caught with trying to hide anything we have done or said that we felt we should hide or be embarrasses about if we had a TV camera in our face, were sitting before the Senate, or a great test, if we had to explain it to our Mother.

Oh yeah, there is someone else who doesn't like to see us lie. In fact He says that He, "detests it". Do we really want to do something that the Lord detests? This is why we read His Word to get to know Him better and to know what He expects of us. The next time we start to stretch the truth, or tell that "little white lie", or misrepresent for the sake of argument or impression, then remember that the One who we say is most important to us, "detests" what we are doing. If that is not enough incentive to stay on the right side of the truth, then know that He also "delights" when we are truthful. This is one of the great things about our Lord. If you could see Him, He is right there with you in your office right now. He is always there and He both can detest and delight in what we do. When we don't tell the truth we are incriminating ourselves and He knows it. Think about it today when that moment of truth decision shows up.

Reference: Proverbs 12:22

day 743: Insight

"and this is my prayer: That your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ."

We chase insight in our businesses. If we can only capture the one insight that differentiates us from all the rest, then we will be golden. If we can see what others don't see, before they see it, then we have the one up. Insight allows us to make plans, set strategy, and make decisions and move forward with confidence. Businesses set up departments and hire people with the skills to find those insights and then listen carefully to what they come up with. What is amazing about an insight, when you hear it for the first time, is that it is blindingly clear, to the point that we wonder why we didn't come up with it before. If we are not looking for the insights then we are closing ourselves off to possibility. Whether it is each of us, or someone else, we should always be asking ourselves enough questions, digging deeply, and keeping our minds open to find the next insight.

God wants us to be insightful too, but not for the same reason that we are trying to do so to grow our businesses. He wants us to have the insight to understand how powerful and important it is to His Kingdom for us to live our lives as purely and as blamelessly as we can. When we are young, we can't see, hear, speak or think like we can when we grow older. When at a young age and someone is insightful beyond their years, we are amazed and in awe of them. For the rest of us, it comes with aging and experience. And, those experiences are not always good, so we also become insightful through trial and error, which can cause us to make mistakes. What God gives us is His Word as a source of insight. He then challenges us to grow in our knowledge and love for Him so that our insight also grows to help us live the lives that He desires for us. Today, ask yourself, are you just as interested in gaining the insights into God and your relationship with Him, as you are the insights of your business? Which one has been getting more emphasis lately?

Reference: Philippians 1:9-10

day 742: The Masthead

"You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul,and all your mind."

While certainly not as prevalent and as important as it once was, the corporate stationary still remains and decisions get made as to who goes on the masthead and who doesn't. If not stationary, then the same decisions have to be made about the website. Most companies put the most senior person at the top and then work down from there until there is a cut-off. While not really that important, how the names are listed and who is there and who isn't can cause its own set of conversations and consternation. I was in a recent planning meeting for a conference and even in that session there was a discussion about being sure that the names were listed in an order that wouldn't upset anyone and the best way to so was to once again use highest ranking titles at the top. What this says is that we still, in a time when we should be able to see beyond titles, we still default into putting the most obvious things at the top and whether or not it is the best way, it is where we end up.

As we attempt to figure out in our own work and personal lives where our priorities should be and what goes at the to of our "masthead", we have to be sure that we are keeping what is really important at our own personal top. Of course it is so obvious, but we just continue to allow God to slip down the list. In fact, it is so hard for us to lock in and keep our priorities right that Jesus Himself had to tell us what we must do and how we have to lead our lives. Today, imagine that you are creating your personal masthead. What and who would be at the top? As we start this week, let's ensure our priorities are in the order that we can line up the rest of our lives to work and live to bringing glory to God in all that we do.

Reference: Matthew 22:37 (New Living Testament)