day 925: Harry Levinson

"Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works."

This last week the business world lost one of the most influential thinkers and writers of our time.  Most people wouldn't know the name Harry Levinson but they have likely benefited in their jobs from his thinking and writings.  All across America and the world there are positions in corporations called, "Chief Learning Officers".  This position emanated from Levinson's 1968 book titled, "The Exceptional Executive".  Quoting from this obituary in the New York Times, "Dr. Levinson argued that a psychological contract existed between employees and employers, laying out the expectation each had of the other.  Employees who feel that their employers have violated that contract will feel depressed, he said, and may well become underachievers".  Probably the most influential CEO to adopt Levinson's teachings was long-time General Electric CEO, Jack Welch.  Welch built a powerful leadership team and modeled Levinson's theories in how he set up the HR philosophy and practices at GE. Dr. Levinson's passing is a reminder of how influence can occur for generations when the most of us would have no idea where that influence started.

Paul was a also a believer in motivating each other, encouraging and ensuring that there is strong support among believers. What a powerful force each and every one of us could be if we were to be knows as the influence and motivator of others.  Consider today whether or not you are modeling being a motivator of the others around you? If you have doubts, then it is time to spend time with God asking Him to what it is needs to change for you to be so.

Reference:  Hebrews 10:24 (New Living Translation)

day 219: University of Corporation

Corporate Universities? Yes, places, while at work, to provide continuing education to employees that they couldn't or wouldn't go get while they are working. The idea has been around for a long time. One of the best known back in the 80's and 90's was General Electric's Crotonville facility. They ran it like a university with faculty and all. As GE excelled and Jack Welch credited Crotonville for much of their business success, everyone wanted their own corporate university. Only a few could afford it though. Those who did would go and hire a "Dean" to oversee the university and then fill in the staff with external teachers and internal people who saw themselves more as educators and extenders of knowledge than just workers. There is an old adage; "he who teaches learns twice". People who believe that love to teach others what they know. In one of my companies my team and I created one of these corporate universities and had multiple learning and educational discipline tracks with the goal that everyone would attend a "university" course sometime along the way each year. A commitment to continuous learning is part of building a great corporate culture. Apple has been one of the latest to jump on the corporate university bandwagon and they have created it to keep the learning around innovation alive and thriving within Apple; a life-blood for them. Threaded through almost every corporate university course will be some way of teaching and reinforcing the continuation of the values and principles of the company, which can lead to the development of wisdom and better judgment. If you have wisdom and great judgment when on the job, then you will likely do well at whatever you attempt. The Bible tells us that we should pursue both of these. In Proverbs 4:7 we are told: "Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do! And whatever else you do, develop good judgment." Learning, developing and bettering ourselves with wisdom and judgment is a positive intersection that fits exactly with what our employers would like us to do and be. There are lots of conflicts with the direction of how we should work and the purpose that we are attempting to live out, but in this area, there are no conflicts. I can't think of any manager who doesn't want us to have more wisdom and better judgment around our work. God wants us to have more of both in our work and in our overall lives. You may get a chance soon to take a course or class that can better you. Do it! And if you are looking for a syllabus and textbook that you can study daily to add to your wisdom and judgment, look no further than God's Word. A few minutes of study there a day and you are automatically enrolled in the university of all universities.

Reference: Proverbs 4:7 (New Living Testament)