day 731: Strategic Decisions, Part 3

"He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and in his strength he struggled with God. Yes, he struggled with the Angel and prevailed; he wept, and sought favor from Him. He found Him in Bethel, and there He spoke to us"


When faced with strategic direction decisions we really have one of three decisions to be made; To lead, follow, or get out of the way. The final part this three part series is about leading.

As we have read the last two days, businesses can take one a number of strategies as they maneuver the marketplace. The one that most would prefer would be to lead. It sounds easy to say that we want to be the leader, but there is lots to becoming the leader and even more to staying there once the leadership position is achieved. A plan can be put in place, the right people hired, the perfect people managing perfectly and making it all happen but the competition just isn't budging and the business isn't gaining ground. This means that businesses may have to fight to gain the leadership mantle. Fighting doesn't have to be thought of as being mean or hurtful. Fighting can be thought of as contending and finding the extra strength, courage and fortitude to get even better and more creative than ever. A friend of mine was telling me about their company's new CEO who had come from the fast moving consumer goods industry and was now the CEO of a large telecommunications company. When the competition made a move in pricing or providing new services, this CEO struck back and countered and contended. The first time the company did so so it caused a lot of debate within the company as this was new and foreign to them. But the CEO said it right when he explained that what was happening was like losing that prime shelf space or display in the grocery store to a competitor's product. Once it is theirs you don't get it back. Once you lose a customer you can spend multiples trying to lure them back. He was willing to fight to keep his current customers and willing to fight to gain ground over the competition. That reaction was the look of a company who is going to be the leader. So, sometimes things are worth fighting for and those are also the things that we want to be in the leadership spot.

David Wilkerson describes the account of someone who was willing to personally contend so that he someday could be a leader for God. Let's read Pastor Wilkerson's account of Jacob: "Esau came forth from his mother's womb first—a baby covered with hair (his
name means "hairy"). But his twin, Jacob, grabbed his heel while still in the
womb. What a shock the midwife must have had when she saw Esau come forth with
a tiny hand gripping his heel! In the very brief passage (above) about Jacob, the prophet Hosea sums up how to overcome and prevail with God! Hosea's message was, "Here was a man greedy for God, hungry for everything God had for him!" Jacob came out of the womb in a fighting mood, longing for the blessings of God! There was something of a godly instinct in this child. It was as if he was saying, "Brother, if you don't want the fullness of God, I do. Get out of my way! I will not be left behind in God's blessings!" The birthright and blessing of Jacob's desire throughout his life represents all the blessings that are in Christ Jesus! Yet it was not the double portion of his father's wealth that Jacob was after nor was it the promise of the land.
No, Jacob wanted something more. He wanted the blessing of God so he could be in
the lineage of the Messiah! And he wanted the priestly blessing. This meant not
only being priest of the clan, but also being able to bless others!"

What are we wrestling with today that we know we should be leading, but haven't been willing to contend or fight for? It may be that God is telling us that it is time to step up and lead! It may be that now is the time that God wants to also give us our blessing and for us to become the leader for Him that He wants us to be! Lord, let today be that day!

Reference: Hosea 12:3-4

day 668: Knowledge Transfer

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge”


Knowledge transfer is a hallmark of successful companies. If knowledge can’t move from one person to another or from one generation of leaders to another, then companies stagnate and can even die. There are plenty examples of companies that were on the top of the heap and then after the group of leaders who held the knowledge either left or didn’t learn fast enough, the company falls, fails and never recovers. But, companies or organizations who know how to transfer knowledge from person to person or throughout the organization can build upon a knowledge base and improve. When we look at those organizations that have gotten better and better are those that can learn. Without learning we can’t grow. If we can’t transfer the knowledge we have, either formally or informally, then it’s nearly impossible to grow. If any of us are somewhere where we don’t feel like we can transfer knowledge then we can take it upon ourselves to ensure that we are transferring at least what we know. If we hold it to ourselves, then what good is that? So, today, find someone who can benefit from something we know and transfer it to them.

We read in Hosea that if we don’t have knowledge, knowledge of God, then we are at real risk, even as Hosea writes, the risk of being destroyed. Is this really a risk that we want to take? We have at our fingertips the full knowledge that we need. God gave us his Word, His Book, to read, explore, dive into and most importantly, to make real in our lives. If we can make the knowledge real for each and every one of us and make it personal to the point that we thirst for more knowledge then we will never be at the point of the risk that Hosea tells us about. The knowledge that we need to transfer can never be passed along unless we obtain the knowledge ourselves? Any of us who have ever been asked by a child, the question that can’t be answered unless we really “know”, knows that we have to obtain the knowledge first before it can be transferred. So, what have we been doing today to increase our own knowledge to then be transferred?

Reference: Hosea 4:6 (New Living Testament)

day 423: Money Pits

We many times refer to money pits as old houses and expensive toys that we might have that just keep draining dollars day after day and if not one thing with them, it is another. But, sometimes business can feel just the same. We get caught in a cycle where the numbers don't add up and there doesn't feel like more that can be cut on the expense side and we find ourselves hoping and praying that everything goes exactly as budgeted and planned. Invariably though, we all know that no business runs perfectly or without hiccups. These can be tough times in our jobs and after the last couple of years the thought that our economy could take a double-dip has the anxiety level at threat level red throughout corporate America. None of us want to have to go back down to the bottom of the corporate money pit and go through what we have felt recently. This is a time when the optimistic, the courageous, the confident and the faithful will shine. Others will seek out those who can stay steady and positive through the times of adversity. It is hard, and for most they do not have the foundation or well of strength to draw from. This is the time that those who draw upon the strength of the Lord will be noticed. I recently was in a church where the Pastor taught on the book of Hosea. If you want to see a bleak picture of a country, read what Hosea says about the future of Israel. The Pastor tried to extrapolate this book of prophecy to America. He didn't capture me totally, but the message of a downward spiral is not pretty, regardless of the country. But, there are also verses of hope and faith in Hosea that do apply to our time. Hosea 12:6 says much for us as we face our money pits; "So now, come back to your God! Act on the principles of love in confident dependence on your God." There is a message and lesson that allows us, regardless of the depth of the pit, to stand before others with confidence and hope for the future. This means that there is no pit that can be dug that is too deep for our God to pull us out of, if we only reach up to grab that hand that is there waiting for us.

Reference: Hosea 12:6 (New living Testament)

day 228: Corporate Gyms

It started in the mid 1980's that corporations began to put exercise equipment in the office so that employees could work out while on the job. Exercise rooms grew into fully equipped fitness centers with staff, trainers, showers and locker rooms, etc. Any new headquarters today will typically have a corporate fitness center as a part of the building. The original idea behind these centers was a good one; if our employees are more fit, that means they are healthier, which means that the cost of medical benefits should go down over time, etc. The benefit for the employee is the convenience and cost savings that they receive when they don't have to go outside of their work pattern to join and frequent a gym. It's a great perk when offered but even then, usually less than 1/2 to a 1/3 of the population will ever regularly use a corporate fitness center. Because of this, there is the ongoing debate about the cost vs. benefit of keeping the fitness center staffed, equipment up to date, etc. There would be no debate if the number of people who regularly use the gym was 80%. But, that's really hard to make happen. To get 80% plus of any population to voluntarily want to exercise would be hard to accomplish even though when someone works out they are bettering and growing their body's physical strength and health. Working out can be painful but as the popular phrase for trainers goes: "No pain, no gain". To grow and better ourselves we have to go through some pain and struggle. Our workplace and our jobs are also great places to grow ourselves spiritually and "work out" our faith. And, we don't need to be offered a special "gym" to do so. Each time that we go through the challenges at work to either live and work to our purpose or to go the way of the world we are growing. Those little and big decisions that are put in front of us that test our values, force us to think through right and wrong, make us look at ourselves in the mirror on how we should be treating others; all of these are growth points in our spiritual lives. And like when we have been in the fitness center for weeks and months and we say, "I'm just not seeing any difference", we only have to step back and remember how far we have come. David Wilkerson talks about our spiritual growth being like the slow growth of the lilies in Hosea 14:5: "I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily." Wilkerson says, "God is telling us, 'Go to the lilies! Just try to watch them grow. I’m telling you by day’s end you won’t see any growth whatsoever. But know this; I water the lily every morning with the dew I send—and it’s going to grow.' The same is true of most spiritual growth. It’s imperceptible to the human eye!" Today, you may (hopefully you do) go to the corporate gym and workout your body. Each time you do it, you are growing. Today, you will also have the opportunity to go to God's gym and work out your spiritual body and grow. See today that each of the decisions and challenges you have today as the chance to "work out" and grow.

Reference: Hosea 14:5 (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