day 1107: Reflections

"For if you listen to the word and don't obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like."

We like to throw around the phrase, "You need to look into the mirror", but how many times are you willing to do so yourself. We have just completed the first financial quarter of the year and it's a clear bet that we start to see CEO heads begin rolling soon. The end of a fiscal year and the beginning of another and the numbers not tracking in the right direction is a recipe for CEO terminations.  We've seen some already but the pace will pick up.  When you get down under the changes, it is not unusual to hear people inside the company talk about how the departing CEO didn't listen, didn't pay attention to the handwriting on the wall, didn't seek input and advice from others, didn't do enough reflecting on who was causing the problems.  The mirror is always there, but we don't like to take a look into it if we don't think we are going to like what we are going to see.  But when we are in leadership positions, either as a company or a person, we have to be courageous and humble enough to take a look every now and then and see what we can find in the reflection.

God expects us to look into the mirror through His Word, prayer time and fellowship with other believers.  When we don't do that, we are turning our heads to the reflections that we need to see.  Why is this important?  Well, obviously for each of us that is critical for our own spiritual walk.  But, more so, if we are not cognizant of how we are reflecting Christ to others then we run the risk of messing up a lot of the work that God wants to be done through us.  I remain convinced that He wants us to be as diligent in who we are Monday through Friday as there are many hours of influence and impact that can be made in the office.  Maybe more so there, than anywhere.

Reference: James 1: 23-24 (New Living Translation)

 

day 623: The Elevator Lobby

"And all of us have had that veil removed so that we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of our Lord."

I remember reading of the skyscraper in Manhattan that after it was completed and the people were moving into the building the building supervisor learned that there either weren't enough elevators or the elevators moved too slowly. The complaints were constant and no one was happy. The tenants began to ask about how to get our of their leases. The building owners were beside themselves and couldn't figure out what to do. So, someone came up with the idea of bringing in an organizational psychologist to understand the complaints and see what could be done to keep the people happy. After a few interviews the psychologist came back to the building owners with a solution that he felt would cost a few hundred dollars per floor. Grasping at any solution, they took his advice and after a simple change, over one weekend, all of the complaints went away and everyone was satisfied with the new elevators and building. I am sure as you read this you are wondering what would an organizational psychologist know about how to speed up an elevator and even if he did know something about it, how could he get it done so cheaply and quickly. The psychologist didn't do anything at all to the elevators. All he did was recommend to the owners that they put floor to ceiling mirrors on all the walls of each elevator lobby and he said the problem would go away. And it did. The mirrors and how we look at ourselves and others provided just the mental distraction that was needed to make the extra waiting time seem short, not long.

We all, in one way or another, stand in the mirrored elevator lobby each and every day. Through our work, our attitude, our energy, our words and our actions, we reflect back to others and image that they will ponder, question and wonder about. Sometimes that reflection is pure and one that they project themselves onto. Other times, they may not like what they see so they look away. It's important that we all remember that we stand in that proverbial lobby each and every day and what we mirror to others says way more than the words that come from our mouths. The real question is, are we reflecting a life that makes God proud and reinforces to others that we are striving to be a reflection of the life of our Savior. It's worth a moment, right now, to ask yourself, what reflection will you be today?

Reference: 2 Corinthians 3:18 (New Living Testament)