day 1146: An Outfit of Humility

"The Humble will see their God at work and be glad. Let all who seek God's help be encouraged."

I didn't pay much attention to J.C. Penney before they hired Ron Johnson away from Apple and started one of the great experiments in retail history.  Ron, along with Steve Jobs, had built what no one else imagined with their retail empire of Apple and they had done so by breaking all of the rules of retail and thinking something totally different.  And, they succeeded wildly.  The Board of J.C. Penney wanted some of that magic for their brand so they hired Ron and off he went.  But, there was a difference.  The culture of Penney's was not Apple.  Ron had to not only sell a business plan to his Board and consumers, he had to win over the staff of J.C. Penney all the way down to the store level.  Case studies will be written at Harvard and Stanford about this one and what went wrong.  Did the Board not have enough courage and patience to see the experiment through?  Did Ron have it wrong and what worked at Apple would never work at a clothing retailer? Or was it that that the DNA of Penney's that dates back to the founder, as a man of humility was so strong that any leader without that same value would fail with the rank and file?  We may never know the whole story, but let's never count out humility, or lack thereof, as a driver of success and failure. With wholesale change, there has to be both those who lead from the front and those who lead from the back.

If we want to be different and have our faith shine brightly in the workplace, then just just don an outfit of humility and wear it to work for a week and watch what happens.  Humility is the simplest of characteristics to embrace and embody, and yet one of the hardest for most who are successful and striving to achieve.  Let's be careful to not get too full of ourselves as pride is just as obvious, if not more so, than humility.

Reference: Psalm 69:32 (New Living Translation)

day 1093: Growth Cycles

"...that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in my name, He may give you."

Yesterday, we read of "finding bottom" and how the bottom is part of a cycle and can be a foundation for moving forward and upward.  The growth cycle is always a tricky one to talk about because everyone wants to be able to say that their growth is always up and to the right on the charts shown to analysts and investors.  But, while those charts are great to see and we love to read about them in Businessweek, Fortune and the Harvard Business Review, the truth is that most companies experience a very different cycle.  Most companies feel more like they ride a sine wave than just always the up and to the right rocket or the much sought after "hockey stick".  Let's face it, the sine wave of ups and downs is in our nature and it is nothing to be ashamed of and if you are in business long enough you will see that cycle be manifested.  Ups and downs are normal.  The key is to be sure that the next low is not as low as the low before and that the next high is a little higher than the last peak.  If we can be mature enough to step back and take the long-view we will realize that sine waves can be predictable and manageable.

My pastor taught a series to begin 2013 called Windows of Opportunity.  You can find that series here. One of his messages within that series was about the success and the extraordinary opportunity of life. He got me thinking about our life growth patterns and reflecting about where we can continue to grow as we age and mature.  The sad part is that as human beings we decay physically and mentally, but our souls and spirit can continue to strengthen and grow right up to our death.  This may not be exactly right but I think it looks
something like this:

If this is anywhere close to right then it should become clear to us where our focus needs to be for our long-term "true" growth cycle.  One place we don't want to allow the sine wave to control us is in our spiritual growth and strength.  God is there to grow us each and every day so now would be the time to get on that growth curve and see if a life long learning, deepening faith, trust in God, and total surrender, can't take us all the way up and to the right.

Reference: John 15: 16 (New King James Version)

day 1: Why Be Your Best?

Corporate America has seen nearly two decades since Andy Pearson wrote his Harvard Business Review article; Muscle Building. The premise of that article was that organizations should, every year, evaluate their people and cut out the 10% fat that exists so that more muscle could be built. Organizations big and small adopted this approach and High Performers became superstars and mediocre performers were moved out of the company. We are told in Proverbs that this performance based evaluation has been around a long time. In Proverbs 22:29, Solomon says, "Do you see any truly competent workers? They will serve kings rather than ordinary people." If we want to work for the best people and companies we are told to be able to meet and exceed the work that is put in front of us. In this ever-changing world we live in to remain competent means also to keep our skills and knowledge current. We have a promise that if we remain competent we will work for better people (and better people are known for making others around them better). If today you are frustrated by who you work for or you feel you are not being recognized for what you do, it might be time to look in the mirror and ask yourself if you are doing all that you can do to meet and exceed the definition of competent for the best managers in your company. And if not, then what do you need to learn or do to win confidence and favor in their eyes? And, if you are already striving and working to be competent and better, then just sit tight for as the Proverb says. "...are there any competent workers?" The question is asked because there aren't enough people who are always willing to do whatever it takes to better themselves. The promise is there, those who are will be the people who will be noticed and they won't end up working for ordinary people over time...they will work for the best of the best...they will work for kings.

Reference: Proverbs 22:29 (New Living Translation).