Tag Archives: action plan

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Apostle Paul And Marketplace Ministry, Part 2

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In my last post, I showed you an example of how the origin of marketplace ministry dates back to the days of the early church. I showed you how the Apostle Paul set an example for us in the marketplace of Athens. In today’s post, I want to break down the first two steps of the four-step method Paul used and how we can apply it in our current-day Christian business settings.

marketplace ministry

Marketplace Ministry In Acts

To catch up, please take another moment to read the passage – Acts 17:16-34. If you take time to study exactly what Paul did and said, I think you will come up with a fairly simple 4-step process for marketplace ministry.

Let’s dive right in.

Step #1 – Be observant and sensitive to your surroundings.

Paul – Take a look at verse 16 first. Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy in Athens. Was he frustrated at the delay? Did he pass the time focused on that frustration? No, instead he was paying attention to his surroundings and noticed all of the idols in Athens.

Jump to verses 22-23. Paul is speaking to the marketplace people and mentions that he has noticed they are religious. Not only that, but he also noticed an altar “To An Unknown God.” Some of us may have seen this and chuckled at the senselessness of such an altar. Paul saw an opportunity for marketplace ministry!

Application – Today, we have business going on all around us and there are plenty of opportunities for similar observations. If we pray for wisdom and discernment, God will respond and answer that prayer.

I encourage you to slow down, pray, and start noticing the tell-tale signs around you. These will give you clues on how to share the gospel where you are.

Step #2 – Listen to what they say.

Paul – When Paul first started teaching the message of the gospel in the marketplace, he elicited a response from the crowd. Some called him a babbler and others thought his teaching was strange. Surely Paul heard these comments from the crowd. Likely, he was at least mildly bothered by them.

But rather than react to the responses, he listened. He heard that they were interested in “new teachings” and were actually, for the most part, just curious. By listening to their comments and questions, he learned about how they thought.

Combined with what he had already observed (Step #1), he came up with a terrific strategy for sharing the gospel in a way that would fit the crowd!

Application – We have the same opportunity for marketplace ministry today if we will only slow down and listen. Too often, in an environment of political correctness and a lack of tolerance for Christian views, we react with anger or frustration when questioned. Unlike Paul, we fail to set our emotions aside and think strategically.

Again, we need to pray for God to teach us how to do this. It does not come naturally so we cannot expect to get it on our own. Instead, we need to pray, practice, and trust God to make up the difference!

In my next post, I will address the final two parts of Paul’s process for marketplace ministry. Hopefully, you will be able to take these four steps and apply them to your business opportunities.

What observations have you made that allowed you to share the gospel?

Are you being intentionally observant, listening to those around you?

Do you typically react to criticism or thoughtfully respond to it?

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Apostle Paul And Marketplace Ministry

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For the past nine years, I have been attempting to run our business from an eternal perspective – effectively using it as a platform for Christian ministry. Unfortunately, this is not very common and therefore I often find myself explaining exactly what I mean by marketplace ministry. Today, in an effort to shed more light on this, I want to take a look at an example of marketplace ministry in the life of the Apostle Paul.

marketplace ministry

Paul The Tentmaker

We know from Acts 18:3 that Paul was a tentmaker by trade. We don’t necessarily know how much of his time was spent making tents versus doing ministry, but it is clear that tent making was his occupation. The following verse refers to Paul coming to stay with Aquila and Priscilla.

Paul came to them, and being of the same occupation, stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade.
Acts 18:3

Because we don’t necessarily know how much time Paul spent making tents, I am not going to attempt to draw an exact parallel between Paul’s ministry and a current-day Christian business. That is not the point of this post at all.

Marketplace Ministry

Instead, I simply want to broaden your understanding and awareness of the existence of (and need for) marketplace ministry – dating all the way back to the days of early church. Then I want to give you some simple tips, based on Paul’s example, for following Paul’s example in your business today.

First, let’s take a look at another passage in Acts, only one chapter before the verse mentioned above. This passage is too long to include in this post, so I will ask you to take a moment and CLICK HERE to read Acts 17:16-34. It will only take you a minute!

Paul Was Troubled

What is the first thing you read about Paul’s mindset in verse 16? It says his spirit was troubled or that he was greatly distressed. His problem was the rampant worship of idols in Athens. I am not sure what exactly brought this to his attention or whether it was related to his tent making. It really is not important.

The point of this is that Paul’s spirit was troubled at the worship of idols in Athens and so he went into the marketplace everyday to reason with those who were there. Don’t you think Paul would feel the same way today if he witnessed our marketplaces? Don’t you think his spirit would be troubled?

Are You Troubled?

If so, is yours? Paul told us to follow his example as he followed the example of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). If this is indeed what we should be doing, don’t you think our spirits should be troubled as well by the worship of idols in our marketplaces? Shouldn’t we be distressed?

Let’s assume for the moment that you agree with me on this and your spirit IS troubled.

What next?

What are you to do about it?

Paul And Marketplace Ministry

Well, those are good questions. For the answer, let’s take a look at what Paul did. Going back to the passage from Acts 17, we see in verses 17-18 that Paul did not just sit still when his spirit became troubled. Instead he went right to the people (some in the synagogue, some in the marketplace) and met them where they were.

It is certainly possible that he did this by turning his tent-making business into a marketplace ministry. Unfortunately, there is not enough detail in this passage to determine whether or not that is true. All we do know is that he did put himself in the middle of the marketplace and began sharing the simple message of the gospel.

Initial Response

The initial response to what Paul was saying was curiosity. The people told him that they wanted to hear more about this “new teaching” he was proclaiming. As a result, Paul was given the opportunity to talk to the very leaders and authorities in the marketplace (the Areopagus).

Results?

What were the results?

Well, some sneered and mocked him. They were not interested in what he had to say and they made it clear with their response. Others, however, believed him and began to follow Paul to learn more.

They Need What We Have

Folks, when you break it down, it is really this simple. The majority of the people in the marketplace today need the message that we have. They need to know the truth and we have it! All that remains is for us to begin going into the marketplace and sharing this message.

Different Methods, Same Ministry

This will look different for some than it will for others. We all have different opportunities and skills for entering marketplace ministry. God has determined this according to His will and we are only charged with following His lead. I encourage you to begin praying about how He can use YOU in this effort.

In my next post, we are going to break down Paul’s actual 4-step method from this passage and try to apply it to our current day marketplace ministry opportunities.

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How To Create A Life Plan Dashboard

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This is the third post in a series on life planning. In this series, I am sharing with you the basics of a life plan and why you need one by going through the details of my own LIFE planning process. Neither my plan nor my process are perfect. In fact, they are evolving from year to year. My hope is that you can take what I do (or even just parts of it) and use it to create your own plan.

life plan

LIFE Plan Document

In my last post, I gave you a detailed description and break-down of my main LIFE Plan document. I described my Roles, Focus Areas, and Goals. I gave you a couple of samples from these areas. I also gave you access to download my [Title Page Summary] and [Godly Father Role].

As you can probably guess, combining all of these pieces into a complete document makes for a long document. The length of the document made it difficult to quickly review it on a regular basis. While I considered cutting it down, I just could not figure out which parts to eliminate.

Dashboard as Summary

So, as a result, I decided I needed a “dashboard” of sorts. With a one-page summary, I felt I could use this document in a weekly review process. I used a compilation of several resources I had found (and created a spreadsheet that would represent the month to month living out of my LIFE Plan. This Dashboard is made up of many sections, or “Gauges”, that help me keep my overall LIFE plan at the forefront of my mind.

Roles, Focuses, and Goals Gauges

For the first section, I started with the eight roles and laid out the sheet in a way that would allow me to see all eight Roles and the corresponding Focus Areas. Then, I left three blanks under each Role for monthly Goals. Each month, I update my monthly Goals, leaving the Roles and Focus Areas the same throughout the year.

Take a look at the picture below to get an idea of what I mean. (Note the Roles and Focus Areas have changed…this is part of my dashboard from December 2010)

life plan

Remaining Sections

As I have said several times, this whole process has evolved over time for me. You may want to stop right there and let your dashboard include only your Roles, Focuses, and Goals Guages. I started here, but have since added to mine. I will share the rest of my Dashboard with you and let you decide if any of it is interesting to you.

Strengths Gauges

In his book Now, Discover Your Strengths, Marcus Buckingham describes how working on your strengths is the best strategy. At the end of the book, you take a test and are told your top strengths. I really found the material to be enlightening and began determining how I could apply it to my life.

In a sequel to Buckingham’s book, StrengthsFinder 2.0, author Tom Rath details out a list of 10 strategies for developing each strength described. I picked the top two or three of those actions for each of my top four strengths and put them on my dashboard.

Take a look at this picture to see how this looks.

life plan

Final Gauges

Across the bottom of the LIFE plan Dashboard, I added four more sections based on what I felt was most important to review regularly. You may substitute your own categories here, but I included the following:

1. Prayer Focus – a listing of various ongoing areas in which I focused my prayer
2. Reading/Listening Plan – a list of the books and audio for that month
3. 360 Assessment – my top ten concern areas from a 360 degree assessment of me
4. Scripture – a list of references to the 15-20 verses I am trying to memorize

Here is a visual of these gauges.

life plan

Closing Quote

To close out the bottom of my LIFE Plan Dashboard, I wanted something to keep me focused on the big picture. I learned in my C12 group that I should always be ready with a conversation-starting response to the question, “What do you do for a living?” I used this answer to close out my dashboard.

I work for an unusual company. It is an car dealership group that is a Christian company. We are trying to learn, and to show, how Jesus would run a company if He were the boss.

That’s It!

So, there it is! That is my LIFE Plan Dashboard, in all its glory! If you want to see the entire document together, just [Click Here].

Some of you are thinking I am crazy and others are thinking I am weak. That is fine! I can handle it!

Regardless of what you are thinking, I encourage you to do something similar. I will go into more detail about how I use this Dashboard in my final post in this series, but for now, I urge you to think about what you could create that would be easy to review on a weekly basis. Keeping your life plan in front of you in some shape or form will keep you closer to the path God has revealed to you.

What is your reaction to this dashboard?

Do you see how you could benefit from a weekly review of your life plan?

What do you see to be your next step in the life planning process?

Originally posted 1/26/12

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How To Create A Life Plan Document

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This is the second post in a series on life planning. In this series, I am sharing with you the basics of a life plan and why you need one by going through the details of my own LIFE planning process. Neither my plan nor my process are perfect. In fact, they are evolving from year to year. My hope is that you can take what I do (or even just parts of it) and use it to create your own plan.

life plan

The Components

As I said in my previous post, there are many components that you can use as parts of your life plan. I can break my process into three main components – the Plan, the Dashboard, and the Technology. In this and the next two posts, I am going to describe each of these components in detail. In the final post, I will describe the process I use each year to review and update my plan for the new year.

Side Note: In case you did not notice, I use all CAPS when referring to my personal LIFE plan – it stands for Living Intentionally For Eternity.

LIFE Plan – Main Document

Let’s talk about the LIFE Plan first – the main document for me. This document consists of three parts:

    -Role Descriptions
    -Focus Areas
    -Goals

To create this document, I drew heavily from Stephen Covey’s book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. In this book, Covey talks about the various roles each of us plays in our lives. For me, I am a husband, father, steward of God’s business, etc.. In each of these roles, my responsibilities and goals vary.

Role Descriptions

As a result of the material in this book, I based the structure of my LIFE plan on what I defined as my roles. Here they are, in order of priority for me:

    1. Sold-out Disciple of Jesus
    2. Intentional Individual
    3. Loving Husband
    4. Godly Father
    5. Faithful Steward of God’s Business
    6. Servant Leader at Church
    7. Compassionate Neighbor
    8. Loyal Friend

For each of these roles, I have written a brief summary description of what I believe that role looks like. Essentially, I used Covey’s Habit #2, Begin With The End In Mind.

I have cited the Scripture upon which these descriptions are based. I have written these descriptions in the form of positive affirmations to help me visualize my living out each role with maximum effectiveness. These role descriptions go beyond just the one year and represent what I want to look like at the end of my life.

Here is an example of one of these descriptions:

Example Role Description

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    Sold-Out Disciple of Jesus

    As a disciple of Jesus Christ, I love the Lord my God with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength(1). It is my first and most urgent priority to seek to know God in a way that is real and that serves as my primary motivation in life. I believe in a true eternal life and therefore I live this life with an eternal perspective(2) at all times.

    (1) Matthew 22:37
    (2) Matthew 6:19-21; 1 Timothy 6:17-19; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

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Focus Areas, Goals

In addition to the role descriptions, I have decided on 3-5 main focuses for the upcoming year under each role. These focus areas could be areas where I need improvement. Or they could be areas where I need to start exploring something new. They may even be something I am going to stop doing!

For each focus area, when applicable, I have listed one or two clarifying goals. Here is an example of a focus area and goal:

Example Focus Area and Goal

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    Faithful Steward of God’s Business (role)

    Focus Area: Mentor & Teach
    This is something I believe God has gifted me to do. I will be more intentional about scheduling this time in 2012. I will focus mainly on the management staff and the Leadership Team.

    Goal: 25 Hours of actual teaching (not including prep time)

[/box]

Summary

In essence, these three parts (Role Descriptions, Focus Areas, and Goals) make up my entire LIFE plan main document.

So that you get an idea of what one full role portion of the plan looks like in its entirety, you can [Click Here] for a copy of my Godly Father role plan for 2012. You can also [Click Here] for the Title Page Summary I wrote for the beginning of the document. While it is not detailed above, it may help you get a clearer picture of my approach.

I have said it before and I will say it again. I am sharing my plan in an effort to get you started. Your plan may look very different. It may be more involved or less so. Either way is fine.

Seek God First

The important part is that you seek God and ask Him to impress on you what your plans and direction should be. You can certainly do this on your own, but I do not believe that is His desire for us. If we start with His plan (and stick with it!), we will experience the fulfillment for which we were designed.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to comment here or email me privately from the Contact Page. I am not an expert, but I will do my best to answer any questions you may have.

In my next post, I will describe my LIFE Plan Dashboard.

Is this what you were expecting?

Do you see the benefit of this kind of plan?

What one obstacle is keeping you from getting started?

Originally posted 1/24/12

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4 Questions About A Life Plan

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This is the first post in a series on life planning. In this series, I will share with you the basics of a life plan and why you need one. I will also go through the details of my own life planning process. Neither my plan nor my process are perfect. In fact, they are evolving from year to year. My hope is that you can take what I do and use it to create your own plan.

life plan

Why A Life Plan?

Why in the world do I need a life plan? Who actually does that anyway? I mean, isn’t it too stressful or time-consuming to go to all the trouble? I just take one day at a time and make the most of life. I don’t want to lock myself into anything.

For these and various other reasons, few people actually go as far as creating a life plan for themselves. We are certainly familiar with, and see the need for, planning when it comes to building houses or buildings, managing huge projects, and even weddings or careers. But when it comes to our lives, the only one we will ever get, most people simply “wing it.”

Does this make sense to you? We have more invested in our lives than we do in anything else. We have greater expectations from our lives than we do most any project we will work on, right? So if this is true, would it not make sense to spend some time planning for it? Would it not stand to reason that we should attempt to maximize the life and resources God has given us?

Okay, so you are beginning to see a potential need for a plan. You are not quite convinced yet, but you are willing to read a little further. Good! Let’s continue!

What Is It?

What exactly is a life plan? Effectively, a life plan is a map of how you want to live your life. It takes into consideration your resources, current position, your intended destination, and the impact you want to make along the way. It gives you a general path to use as you navigate the twists and turns life throws at you.

A life plan cannot guarantee you that life will or will not go a certain way, but it can give you a much more active role in determining where you go and how you end up. A life plan cannot assure you of specific results, but it can help you get the most out of your resources as you reach for your goals. Much like a GPS system in your car, it will not prevent unexpected course changes due to forces beyond your control, but it can help you get back on track as quickly as possible.

So, I hope that you are a little closer to making a decision to create your own LIFE plan. If you are, there are two more questions to answer.

When Should I Start?

The next question you should ask is “When” to start. Well, I have heard it described in this way:

The best time to plant an oak tree was ten years ago. The next best time is right now!

In light of that, I would recommend you start as soon as possible. Your first efforts at this process do not have to be perfect. You would literally laugh if you saw my first plan (if you could call it that)! Perfection is not the point. Progress is the point.

I encourage you to determine right now that you are going to do this. Do not worry about how it is going to look or what anyone else might say if they saw it. You are not doing this plan for anyone but you and Jesus.

Assuming you are ready to take the leap and get started, you only have one more question.

How Do I Do It??

How exactly does one go about creating a life plan? What are the steps? What are the components? In the next several posts, I will guide you through the answers to each of these questions. I will break down the components of my own plan, as well as the steps I take each year.

When we are done with this series, you will definitely have a better idea of what a life plan looks like and how to create one. You should also see the benefits to starting your own. You will even have resources you can use in your own process. As we go, please make sure to ask questions and get clarification on anything that is unclear.

What are your thoughts?

Do you see the need for a life plan?

If you already have one, have you seen the benefits?

This post was originally published 1/22/12

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Is A Yearly Audit On Your To Do List?

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I have been a C12 Group member now for over 6 years. For the past 6 years, our December meeting material has included one segment that has been the same every year. While you would think that might get boring after a couple of years, it doesn’t. This one segment is called the “Yearly Audit” and it is a very effective tool for a year-end review.

yearly audit

LIFE Planning

If you read my series of posts on my LIFE planning process, you will likely remember that I spend time at the end of every year reviewing that year and creating a game plan for the next year. I feel this process is a critical part of my job as a CEO, husband, and father, as well as all of the other roles I play throughout the year. One valuable part of this annual process is C12’s “Yearly Audit” segment.

I encourage you not only to read this segment, but also to incorporate it into your own year-end review process. If you do not have a year-end review process, then this is the perfect tool with which to start!

Below is the introduction to the segment by C12 founder Buck Jacobs.

Yearly Audit

[box]It has become a year-end tradition in each of our C12 groups to take a uniquely Christ-centered retrospective look at the results of our past year’s activities, focusing on the eternal perspective.

Taking such an inventory is, of course, a very normal thing to do in the economic dimensions of our businesses. We’re all familiar with such metrics as net income, profit margin, ROI, market share, and sales growth. We’ve devised numerous ways to measure our financial effectiveness and it’s important that we use them well.

This segment, however, is entitled Working ‘On’ my MINISTRY in God’s Business and in it we focus on an entirely different set of criteria. In many ways it’s much more difficult to measure our results in the ministry or spiritual dimension of our business lives. The whole idea of using our business as a platform for ministry can sometimes seem bewildering as it’s not nearly as well ‘codified’ as such routine business processes like filling orders and tracking financial profit or loss.

In terms of what’s eternally important to our lives, the spiritual dimension is much more — even infinitely more — important to us. So, with apologies to none, we are now going to offer some thoughts on how we might take a year-end audit from a uniquely Kingdom-oriented perspective.

What is it that we should be looking for as we examine ourselves and our spiritual lives in relation to the ministry in our business? Is it only souls won to the Lord, or dollars given to support His work, the number of Christ-honoring events we’ve hosted, or the number of tracts distributed? Is it only those things that we can quantify?

No, of course not. While we know that all these things are an important part of the fruit of our ministry which need to be quantified and recorded to help us measure progress in these areas, we also know that there’s another set of criteria.

It is these personal criteria that we’ll examine today. These criteria pertain to growth, the kind of growth that will lead to fruit…much fruit! We offer these criteria as indicators of growth which we can all use to measure what kind of a year we really had in our Master’s eyes.

For those who were members a year ago, we recommend putting the prior year’s ratings alongside for comparison purposes, as each of these areas deserve long-term focus. For each of the following 10 dimensions, rate your year from 1 to 10, with 1 being Low, 5 Average and 10 High as measured against your potential or opportunity.

– Buck Jacobs[/box]

Yearly Audit Download

Now that you know what to do, CLICK HERE to download the “Yearly Audit” in .pdf format. I encourage you to begin in prayer, asking God to prick your heart in any area that He wants to get your attention.

I hope you find the process of going through these questions to be as fruitful as I have. If you approach it with the right heart, I am sure you will see the benefit.

Are you currently doing a self-evaluation at year end?

If not, what other ways are you planning for effectiveness?

Do you see how this “Yearly Audit” can help you focus?

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More Lessons From David Green Of Hobby Lobby

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In a recent post, I shared an article from The High Calling (a Christian blog community). The article was an in-depth interview of David Green, founder and CEO of Hobby Lobby. Because the article was so long itself, I did not expound on it in that post. Instead, I am taking a more detailed look in a short series of posts.

David Green

David Green

While I have never met David Green, based on the articles I have read, there is plenty there is plenty we can learn from him! In fact, the more I read about the Hobby Lobby story and David Green’s leadership, the more I want to model our business after his. Hopefully you will learn something from this short series of posts as we dig a little deeper into Green’s story.

In reviewing the interview article, I found what I believe to be 15 clear lessons for anyone attempting to integrate faith and business. Though each of us has different situations and challenges, I think you will quickly see that these lessons span across industries and business sizes. In my last post, I took a look at the first five lessons I saw in the interview article. Today, we will review the next five lessons.

Let’s dig right in!

#6 – Learn from mistakes

I bet you have never heard this one before, have you? I know this is supposed to be common sense, but I have not found it to be that common. Too often, we are guilty of repeating our mistakes. At least I am.

Note what David Green said when asked about learning opportunities. He talked about how his company almost lost it all when they stretched too far for growth. He did not dwell on this point, but I will.

They survived that time period, but made the decision that they would be debt free in the future. That is a huge decision that impacts virtually every other financial decision in a business. Sacrifices are made and “deals” are passed up that would require debt. This is no easy lesson.

By the way, what do you think David Green is saying about this decision after what we have been through the past several years. Regret? I don’t think so!

#7 – Simplify your priorities

Again, this is not rocket science here. We hear this a lot, but do we act on it? In many cases, we get so elaborate with our plans, for Christian ministry or business, that we tie ourselves in knots. We start out feeling great about our strategic plans, but before long we are confused and paralyzed.

Instead, David Green tells us that he and his company had three simple priorities for using their cash: pay tithes, grow, and pay debt. Folks, that is as simple as you get. No confusion here, just simple priorities (based on Scripture as well!).

#8 – Plan for the future

In addition to preparing for their future by paying down debt, David Green and company also made sure to set goals and budgets for their future.

I have heard many managers and leaders claim that forecasting and budgeting is too difficult given today’s uncertain business climate. I simply disagree. Sure, it is more difficult! But that does not mean we should not even try!

Even with the uncertainty, there is huge value in laying out the budgets and forecasts and the game plan to back them up. Make adjustments along the way as conditions change, but do not give up the planning altogether!

#9 – Take care of the people

If you will notice, Green spent twice as much time talking about how he is determined to take care of his people as he did in discussing his three uses of cash! That is significant. Without the people, there is no cash!

I am taking special note of this lesson myself. Based on the feedback I received in our recent employee focus groups, there are some areas related to this subject that we need to address.

Our goal here (for all of us) should be to base our decisions here on Scripture. There are many ways to view this subject, but I think it is important we start by looking at what the Bible says. More on this later.

#10 – Have stated personal life goals

David Green had three stated personal life goals: have a strong marriage, be successful at what he did, and for his children to serve God.

He later added two more: for his grandkids to serve God and to tell as many people as he could about Jesus Christ.

I have talked at length about LIFE planning on this blog. If you have followed my posts on this subject, you know that I am a huge proponent of taking the time to state these personal life goals. Some people may be more detailed or complex in their goals while others keep it simple.

Either way, this is not a lesson to skip over. I encourage you to take the time and start this process. I think you will be amazed at what God will do in your heart as you do.

What comments would you add to any of the lessons so far?

Have you learned similar lessons on your own? How?

Which lesson is one you need to act on now?

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Are You Guilty Of Fast Food Leadership?

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In my last post, I told you why vegetables are good for you. Of course, I used vegetables as a metaphor for trials and struggles in our lives. In staying with the food theme, today I want to discuss fast food and how it applies to Christian business owners and leadership!

leadership

Terrible Diet!

As I have told you before, I am in the car business. While the car business is known for many vices that I will not mention here, there is one that I believe is certainly appropriate to learning how to better represent our Christian faith in our businesses and jobs. This vice is a terrible diet.

Because we are in the retail business, we always need to be available for the customer. Traditional lunch hours are typically nonexistent for us. We grab a meal whenever we get a chance. This is just the nature of the business and we accept it as so.

The result of this issue is that most of us live off of fast food. It is quick and cheap and we can eat it in the car on the way back from the drive-thru! We may think to ourselves, “Today will be different – I will eat healthy today!” but we wait until the last minute and only have time for the fast food!

Don’t Have Time

We would love to go to the more upscale restaurants and get a salad bar or some fish, but we simply don’t have the time. Not only is the healthier food more time-consuming, but it is also more expensive. Even if we had the time, we would go broke eating there often.

Sure, if we were on top of things, we could make our own lunch and bring it to work with us. Not only could we better manage our diet, but we could also eat for a lot less money! Unfortunately, it is rare to find someone that plans like this.

Leadership Is Similar!

So, what is the point of this discussion? My point is that this habit is very similar in nature to the way many of us do leadership with our teams (or families).

Think about that for a moment.

Intentional Leadership

We all know and have been taught at some point that we need to be intentional about developing our teams. In a perfect world, we should plan out our week to include frequent one-on-one time with each of our team members.

We should plan ahead to have a meaningful discussion about their strengths and their weaknesses. Certainly, we should spend time with them building a plan for them to follow to success. All of this sounds familiar, right?

Why Fast Food Leadership?

Then why is it that the majority of us resort to fast-food leadership? Why, instead, do we grab a quick ten seconds between customers to tell them where they need to improve? Why do we wait until the last minute to give them a tip or two on how they should prepare for success? Do you think this is how Jesus operated with his disciples?

We know that if we would do a better job of planning ahead and prioritizing our time by block-scheduling when we can, we would be much more effective in creating teams worthy of success. Yet so few do this.

Take Control Of Your Schedule!

Folks, it is the same story for all of us – regardless of our industry. We simply must take control of our schedule and make it work for us. It is not acceptable for us to know what we should be doing and not do it. As James 4:17 says, when we know the good we are supposed to do and do not do it, it is a sin.

Harsh words, but true.

I encourage you to commit to changing your leadership diet. Quit resorting to the fast-food leadership and start working toward leadership that comes from planning ahead. I think you will see the benefits!

For a good blog on time management, take a look at Life Of A Steward written by a friend, Loren Pinilis. He has great material from a the perspective of a Christian leader.

Additional Resources

Even though this post is not really about our eating habits, I could not resist including the following resources! Take a look and let me know what you think. The first is a blog by Stephen Skinner, a new friend of mine from LinkedIn. He owns and operates a health food store for the purpose of Christian ministry. He is the real deal and I recommend you check out his site –The Natural Pharmacist.

The other resource is a guest post by the wife of a friend I have never met, Tom Tarver. Tom and I are fellow bloggers on Christian faith topics (his blog is A Curious Band Of Others) and converse a lot online. Anyway, his wife Ellen wrote a guest post that must be read! Check out this link to read her post and enjoy – Ellen Tarver guest post.

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Are You Committed To Continuous Learning?

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In business, we all know that continuous learning is crucial to our team’s success. I don’t think there is anyone in a leadership position that would argue against continuous learning. We probably all require it for every team member we have. My question is this…are you committed to it for yourself?

continuous learning

Continuous Learning Neglected?

Too many times, we as leaders neglect our own need for continuous learning. We do this for a number of reasons. Some say that they are simply too busy. Others may complain that they cannot afford the cost. Another group may argue that they really don’t need it.

Whatever the reasons, continuous learning is not always a prioritized part of a leader’s schedule. Folks, when this is true it is a tragedy. Take a look at the following verse from Proverbs.

The mind of the discerning acquires knowledge,
and the ear of the wise seeks it. – Proverbs 18:15

I think this is clear advice – directing all of us to seek knowledge. The problem is that we often only apply this advice to those we lead. For the reasons listed above, we fail to apply it to ourselves.

More Important For Leaders

I would argue that continuous learning is more important for the leader than it is for the rest of the team. If the leader is not learning, then the team’s performance over time will decline. In some industries this is more true than others, but I believe it is true to some degree in all industries.

Take a look below at some reasons for leaders to commit themselves to continuous learning. As you read through the reasons, see if you think they speak to your situation.

    1. Leaders need to set the example for their team.
    2. Leaders need to be willing to do anything they ask of their team.
    3. Learning assists with vision.
    4. Without learning, competition will pass you by.
    5. The Bible directs us to commit to learning.

Obviously, this is not an exhaustive list, but I think there are enough reasons to make the point. As Christian leaders, we should be committed to continuous learning. We should seek it as a top priority, not as an afterthought.

My Experience

For me, this is not terribly difficult because I enjoy learning from a variety of sources. I personally make sure that I am always reading books, viewing webinars, listening to podcasts and sermons, and attending various seminars and conferences. I try to do this on a regular basis.

As I have talked about in recent posts, this has been more difficult for me as of late due to some turnover in our business. As a result, I did not spend as much time learning over that 90 day window. These things happen and we have to adapt.

At the same time, I made sure that I returned to this priority as quickly as I could. In fact, over the past 30 days, I have been fortunate enough to attend two very productive conferences. I wish I could express how incredibly helpful these conferences were for me. All I can say is that the time I spent at each will be bearing fruit for quite some time.

Industry-Specific Learning

The first was an invitation-only summit among dealers and vendors in our industry. The main topic for this summit was critical to the success of our business. I mention the invitation to make the point that the opportunity actually came to us BEFORE we were ready for it.

When the invitation arrived, we had not yet made the crucial hires we needed to make for our business and we were severely short-handed! I was not even certain the hires would be made by them time the summit rolled around. At the same time, our commitment to continuous learning made accepting the invitation an easier decision.

Christian Ministry Learning

In order to keep my mind on our Christian ministry in the business, I try to balance the learning. The second conference was Catalyst in Atlanta just last week. Unlike the summit, this conference was all about Christian leadership. The slate of speakers was mind-boggling and listening to them one-after-another felt like drinking from a fire hose!

All I could do was to furiously take notes and make plans to distill them into action plans at a later time. I will do this over the next few weeks as I work to lay out my LIFE plan for next year. I will also be using much of this material for future posts on this blog!

Learn AND Take Action

I mention this to make my final point. Knowledge without application is useless. Consider these words from James:

But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
– James 1:22

Folks, as I have said above, it is a tragedy for leaders to stop learning. The same is true for learning without doing!

I encourage you to be a leader that is fully committed to continuous learning AND one that converts what you learn into action. Don’t fall prey to allowing the urgent replace the important. Neither should you become a full-time student that never acts on your learning.

How strong is your commitment to continuous learning?

What keeps you from continuous learning?

What action step should you take on something you recently learned?

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4 Simple Questions For Your Life Plan

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It is coming up on that time of the year when I begin thinking about my LIFE plan for next year (Read the series here). I know…it is only September, but once Halloween hits, the end of the year flies by. Before you know it, it is mid-January! As I begin to think about this, I become more aware of articles and tools that I think might help me in that process. I want to share a good one with you today.

life plan

Eric Liddell – Missionary

Many of you probably know the name Eric Liddell. It was his story that was featured in the movie Chariots of Fire. What many people do not know is that after his gold medal in the 1924 Olympics, Liddell became a missionary to China. While there during World War II, he was sent to a prison camp with roughly 200 others determined to be “enemy nationals.”

Liddell spent the last two years of his life in that camp. Many years after his death in 1945, a manuscript of The Disciplines of the Christian Life was published. It is in this book that you will find the material I want to share with you today.

Life Plan Questions

The following material from Liddell’s book only consists of four simple questions. However, a lot of self-examination can happen when answering these four questions. I plan to use these very questions in the preparation of my LIFE plan for next year. I encourage you to do the same.

Let’s get started. Before you read through these simple questions, I encourage you to pray that God will open your mind and heart to hear what He has to say to you. Try to completely clear your mind of all distractions so you can focus on the depth of these questions.

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1. Am I truthful?

    Are there any conditions under which I will tell a lie? Can I be depended on to tell the truth no matter what the cost?

2. Am I honest?

    Can I be trusted in money matters? in my work, even when no one is looking? with other people’s reputations? with myself—or do I rationalize and become defensive?

3. Am I pure?

    Am I pure in my habit? in my thought life? in my motives? in my relations with the opposite sex?

4. Am I selfish?

    Am I selfish in the demands I make on my family, spouse, or associates? Am I badly balanced, full of moods—cold today and warm tomorrow? Do I indulge in nerves that spoil my happiness and that of those around me? Am I unrestrained in my pleasures, the kind I enjoy without considering the effect…to take reasonable rest and exercise? Am I unrestrained in small self-indulgences, letting myself become the slave of habits, however harmless they may appear to me? Let us put ourselves before ourselves and look at ourselves.

(Liddell, Christian Life, 29-30).

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Write Your Answers

As you go through each of these questions, write down your answers. As you have cleared your mind beforehand, write down anything that comes to mind. Maybe it does not seem particularly profound at the moment. At the same time it may strike you differently when you go back to review your answers later.

Assume for a moment that God speaks to your heart about something in particular as you answer these questions. What should you do next?

“Start Doing” List

My thought at this point is that you create two lists for your LIFE plan. The first is a “Start Doing” list. On this list, you add things that God prompts you to add – actions or habits that you need to start.

Maybe, when asking, “Am I selfish?” you answered that you have been selfish about your health and you know you need to take action to improve it. You recognize that your family and those with whom you work are getting short-changed because your health is sub-par. In this case, put “exercise plan” or “improved diet” on your “Start Doing” list.

“Stop Doing” List

The other list for your LIFE plan is your “Stop Doing” list. While it sounds simple, very few people create one of these lists. Obviously, this list consists of actions or habits you need to stop doing.

Take the “Am I honest? question. Let’s say you answered that you have been holding back at work. You realize that your effort has not been your best because you have lost your passion for the job. You know you could give more, but you just don’t have the fire anymore.

This issue may require that you add something to both lists. On your “Start Doing” list, you would add “begin praying for passion at work” or “learn new skill at work.” On your “Stop Doing” list, you might want to add “stop staying up late watching TV” or even “give up distractions like social media” while at work.

Multiple Options

There are so many ways you could take action in response to these four questions. The creation of these two lists is simply one idea. This one works for me as I will be using the results in my LIFE plan for next year.

You can likely come up with your own ideas. The main point of this exercise is to do a self-examination (with prayer) and to identify areas of improvement. You may not like the idea of using this for LIFE planning, but may instead incorporate the questions into your quiet times. You could even use them as accountability questions in your small group.

The options are endless. I think you get the idea! It is now up to you as to what you do with them…