day 1389: The Ordained Walk

While I am on a pilgrimage walk on the Camino de Santiago (St. James Way) in Spain, I have asked some of the most committed and courageous faith-driven business leaders I know to guest contribute to Purposed worKING.  Enjoy! - Rusty
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Having control over our lives I think is a natural human instinct. No one like’s living a claustrophobic life where we can not control our environment or mostly what environment we live in. So we walk and fight for control over where we go and what we do. We find ourselves fighting to shape our worlds to meet our personal objectives when we should remember we are not in the outcome business all by ourselves.

Everything in the heavens and earth is yours, O Lord, and this is your kingdom.  We adore you as being in control of everything.  Riches and honor come from you alone, and you are the Ruler of all mankind; your hand controls power and might, and it is at your discretion that men are made great and given strength. (1 Chronicles 29: 11-12, TLB)

I spend about half my time wrestling the steering wheel out of God’s hands and the other half digging my truck out of the mud as a result. My disposition can at times be so terrible and I find myself so fearful. I forget that this is God’s Kingdom that I live in and it’s by His hand that I am made great and given strength and so much more. When I just lay down my sword, hand over control and rest in the knowledge that he is in control, I am so happy, peaceful and courageous. When I recognize where I come from, where I am currently and where I am going are all at the great discretion of God I start to see real victory in my life.

I believe that the walk Rusty is on today is an ordained walk. I think the walk we are on is in the same way ordained. My hope is that we will let God lead us and that we all rest in the fact that this is His World and He decides.  

Mike Mayeux

CEO, Novotus

 

 

day 1377: Almost Not Good Enough

“I have worked hard to provide materials for building the Temple of the Lord—nearly 4,000 tons of gold, 40,000 tons of silver, and so much iron and bronze that it cannot be weighed. I have also gathered timber and stone for the walls, though you may need to add more."

I recently had a customer service issue with an airlines (welcome to the club, you say?). Just after the issue I tweeted the airlines to let them know my displeasure.  They were great and asked me to report it to the customer service website.  After asking way too much information I was able to distill down my complaint into the number of characters that their input field allowed.  I checked the box that I would like to hear back from them.  Off the message went and I didn't really expect to hear anything back, but today I did and it was a very understanding email, with a "goodwill gesture" (their words, not mine) of a few thousand frequent flyer miles.  But, they missed the point of my complaint so I clarified to the person who had written the note (her name was Brenda) what had made me most unhappy and then hit send on the reply email.  The tone of Brenda's email to me was that of wanting to improve so I thought I would lend an extra few minutes for the clarification. A second after I sent the email,  the email bounced back saying that this inbox doesn't accept incoming emails and directed me to the customer service website, which of course wanted me to start all over.  The lesson?  It's the last part that matters.  Almost is not good enough in customer service, or in much of our businesses.  Cutting that last corner, or not closing the loop fully can be worse than never starting it at all.

I like to write about the importance of believers and followers of Jesus being people who follow through and do their work as best humanly possible. I do this because all of the world around us is taking the short cuts and are okay with "almost".  If we are to be bringing glory to God in our work and in our lives, then for those things that we can control, "almost" is just not enough.  I'm not talking about sin or failings, which we know we all have.  I am talking about tasks and earthly work with which we are entrusted.  The extra hours and effort that we put in to provide excellence in what we do, is the example that others will watch and demand when it comes time to talk about what it is that drives us to be our best.

Reference: 1 Chronicles 22:14 (New Living Translation)

day 1277: Cyber Strength!

"Search for the Lord and for his strength; continually seek him."

Yesterday appears to be a day of cyber wow!  Early reports are saying that Cyber Monday shopping topped $2B in sales, achieving a 17.5% increase over last year.  For those not used to keeping score, that is a huge year over year gain.  Without a doubt we have crossed over the online hurdles and even with sales tax being collected in most states, and no Amazon drones delivering our packages yet, we are firmly okay with search, buy, and wait.  Traditional retailers were scratching their heads after the lackluster days on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, but when they add it all up, it might just be okay. That is, unless Amazon took the biggest bite from the apple.  I know anyone reading this has already accepted that online is the future, now the question is how that future unfolds.  On this post Cyber-Monday Tuesday, I'd be thinking now about what we can do for next year to further engage and ready our consumers for next year so that we are their first choice.  To do that, we have to go well beyond the lowest price or the the most extensive choices.  We have to create (and yes this will feel so 1999) "community" that brings them back over and over.

If in the retailing world we are content to search, buy and wait, why aren't we just as satisfied with this approach in our spiritual lives?  God gives us the opportunity to search (His Word, prayer, church, fellowship); we have life's most frictionless way to buy into His message - by just accepting Him; and as we wait on His deliverance of His promises and answers to our prayers, we grow and develop in Him.  But, for some reason, we won't accept this approach and we stop searching, we deny Him with our actions and words in front of others, and when we have to wait, we give up on Him and begin searching for some other answers.  Think about it and consider where you are standing today?  If you have given up the search, are questioning your buy-in, or tired of the wait, then today would be the day to reevaluate and return to Him with all honesty and openness asking God to refill and rejuvenate your faith.  He will as he is the greatest at fulfillment!

Reference:  1 Chronicles 16:11 (New Living Translation)

day 1269: The Guest Room

"Then David summoned all Israel to Jerusalem to bring the Ark of the Lord to the place he had prepared for it."

We had the rug in our master bedroom cleaned in the afternoon and the cleaner said that we couldn't walk on the rug for 12 hours so Patti and I were relegated to the guest room for the night. It had been a long time since we slept there, but since we bought that bed and mattress many guests, family members, house sitters, friends have slept in that bed.  In the middle of the night we both woke up and said to each other, "This mattress is horrible!".  We were both embarrassed and upset that we we didn't know how bad this was and how many people had had that same experience without ever telling us.  The guest room is a little like the places in our companies and organizations where we never visit and we just take it for granted that everyone else has it as good as us.  You might be frightened if you looked at all you have and then slept one night in the "guest room" and made the comparison.  You probably will find a few places that need a new mattress!

Jesus, while in his ministry, never had a home.  He traveled and slept in a different place nightly.  He was among different people each day, experiencing and listening to what was being said in the streets.  It is no wonder that he could communicate with such authenticity and relate to everyone.  Jesus understood what people were going through because he was in their "guest room" every day.  He still is.  Jesus comes into our lives if we invite Him.  He comes to work with us if we bring Him along. Jesus is the humble guest who never complains when we don't give Him our best, and He keeps coming back for more regardless. We need to consider what kind of guest room we are preparing for our Lord and for others when they look to us as a example of God's love and ways.  

Reference: 1 Chronicles 15:3 (New Living Translation)

day 1077: Dedications

"King David dedicated all these gifts to the Lord, along with the silver and gold he had taken from the other nations—from Edom, Moab, Ammon, Philistia, and Amalek."

When we typically use the word "Dedicated" in business we are speaking in terms of how dedicated someone might be to their job or to the company.  We don't have many instances where we are actually "dedicating" something unless it is to recognize a milestone, achievement or historical reference. That takes time and alignment to want to reflect a person, group, or team for this dedication.  I remember once when we created a creativity award and we ended up dedicating it to the company's first Chief Creative Officer and company co-founder.  Since then that person has left the company and actually become a competitor.  I should check in and see if that award is still being given in his dedication.  So, there is risk in dedicating things to human beings.  We see it in statues and memorials when later people fall in their reputation.  It is a dangerous thing, so we tend to default into not dedicating anything at all.

References in the Old Testament of dedication are about dedicating those treasures gained in battle and war to the Lord. David and those who followed him continued to dedicate their "plunders".  Later we learn that we as human beings are God's treasures and we are to dedicate our lives to Him.  God allows for the risk that we in our lives will always cause some issue that can tarnish our dedication to Him.  But, he continues to ask and accept that we are dedicated to His calling, will and name.  What a gift and challenge this is for us all.  To be dedicated to God is a purpose that can't be trumped.  We need to each consider what this means in our lives and what we must do to stay as pure and committed as we can.  Today, think about how we should act and react and keep front of mind that we are each to be one of God's dedications.

Reference: 1 Chronicle 18:11 (New Living Translation)

day 931: The Cost of Cheap

"But King David replied to Araunah, 'No, I insist on buying it for the full price. I will not take what is yours and give it to the LORD. I will not present burnt offerings that have cost me nothing!”

I loved this sketch and article by Carl Richards in the New York Times.  See: http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/26/the-case-for-spending-a-little-more-sometimes/

Mr. Richards' thesis was that waiting until we can afford to buy good things that will last, or that we will use for a long time, is a better economic decision. The old adage, "We're too poor to buy cheap things" was quoted and it reminded me of the many times in my own life when I have forgotten the power of delayed gratification and I purchase out of impulse because of the catalyst of a sale or seeming bargain only to be disappointed later that I didn't wait or save up for what was the better purchase.  Of course some businesses are built on the principle of cheap, available and disposable, but I'd prefer to think that after time the "Old Navy's" of the world become something else.  We have a store not far from our Rhode Island home called "Benny's".  Our best friend's twin girls over the years (they are 16 now) have come to call the store, "Broken Benny's" because whatever you buy there seems to break or wear out within a few week or months of purchase.  And when you add up the dollars spent, you find that you ended up overspending versus buying quality the first time. As I once told a professional services vendor, "Look, I'm an American consumer, and that means I want it now, I want it perfect, and I want it free...or at least cheap".  What Mr. Richards points out so well is that we can't have our "cheap" cake and eat it too.

King David describes that not all things in life should come free and in fact, we should always pay a fair price for those things that we purchase. We have become so accustomed to wanting everything for free or below what we want to pay.  We are reminded over and over in God's Word that we are to be fair to others and that we all pay a price for the lives that we live.  We have to look no further than the price that was paid for our salvation to understand and model that if we aren't willing to pay our own price to commit, follow and share our belief in Jesus that we are missing out on what He paid for us.  When it comes to our role as believers in the workplace and our striving to bring glory to Him in all that we do, let's never try and take the cheap way out but instead pay forward the price that was paid for us!

Reference: 1 Chronicles 21:24 (New Living Testament)

day 877: Interests

"Publish his glorious deeds among the nations. Tell everyone about the amazing things he does." Pinterest and others who are using the interest graph to build businesses are thriving. What they have figured out is that what we really care about, we like to share and publish with others, and what we are marginally interested in is optional as to whether or not we tell or follow others about.  We want to go deep on our "super interests" and can take it or leave it on the rest.  This is why we will see more and more of these kinds of sights that allow us to publish out and curate the interests that we care most of and receive an intrinsic reward when we do.   In our businesses we have to figure out how to do and be the same for our customers and consumers.  If we can associate ourselves into their interest graph and help them feel like they are engaging at a deeper level with us, with those things they care about then it works.  Lifestyle marketing has been doing this on a one-size fits all for many years, but it has only been in the past few years that we have been able to use the technology tools to turn the equation around and connect with the consumer at a level that is far beyond trying to make someone feel young, alive and refreshed because they drink a Pepsi. We are not far off from a time that we will be able to allow out faith and beliefs to be "seen" by others just by turning on our smartphones to make us available for others to know who we are.  Imagine that like when our phones tell us a hot spot is available we might know that there is another believer in the room with us who would like to meet and share our common interest.  We are reaching a time when we are going to need to make new choices on how we "publish his glorious deeds" in how we open, allow, and publish ourselves to others.  Let us be prepared for that day by asking for the courage and the readiness for when that moment is presented to us, either in the new days and ways to come, or even today when the opportunity to share our faith arises.  Reference: I Chronicles 16:24 (New Living Testament)