Well, if you have made any of these types of decisions yourself, you are probably saying that you do not yet have enough information to make a solid decision, right?  I would agree, so let me fill in some of the blanks.

First, the Details

The upgrade in question is the replacement of the entire lighting system for our display lots.  With our group of automobile dealerships, we have a display area that contains 600-700 vehicles at any given time.  The lighting system that currently covers this area is aged and inefficient.  We also have frequent issues with malfunctioning timers and security lights.

The need is real, but at the same time our current lighting system IS working.  We are not in a situation where we are being forced to make a decision.  We could continue on this path for the foreseeable future if necessary.

As for the cost of the upgrade, it is over six figures, which represents a significant investment for a business our size.  Regardless of our method of payment, this investment and its associated depreciation will increase our expenses for a period.

Reaching a Decision

What would you say if I told you at this point that I declined to complete the upgrade due to the immediate costs involved?

Those of you with any knowledge of the costs and energy savings associated with LED lighting systems would probably say that I made a poor decision.  You are probably aware that my utility expense would likely be cut in half from the moment the new lights came on.  You would probably encourage me to take the time to look out further into the future and compare long-term costs between the two systems, right?

If this was your thought, you are correct.  When looking at this lighting system upgrade from a 30 day perspective, it makes no sense at all.  The numbers do not even come close to adding up.  When you extend your perspective to one or two years, the numbers get closer, but the current system is still cheaper.

When you finally look even further, expanding your perspective to 3-5 years and looking for long term results, this lighting system upgrade begins to make sense.  For this reason, I actually did make the decision to move forward and upgrade the system.  I did this because it is common sense in business to take a longer view when making decisions.

How Far Ahead are You Looking?

If this is the case, then why is it so difficult sometimes for us to see things from an eternal perspective?  Why do we so often make business decisions from a short-term perspective, refusing to use our business as a platform for ministry due to the short-term costs?

If it made sense to ignore the 30 day picture and instead focus on the long term results between the two lighting systems, why would anyone do the opposite when it comes to your faith and business?  Why would anyone focus on the fear of short-term financial loss or lawsuit or whatever else keeps them from integrating their faith into the business?

When it comes to our faith in this world, we are told to maintain an eternal perspective.  We are told that this earth is not our home, but that we are strangers here.  The Bible says that we are to focus on God’s promises for our eternal safety and be willing to accept loss here and now.

We make these decisions every day in our business dealings.  These decisions seem easy in context, right?  So why is it so tough to consider long term results and make the same kinds of decisions regarding our faith in God?

Focus on Long Term Results

My hope and desire is to see Christian business owners everywhere begin to look at their businesses from an eternal perspective, using them as tools to point others toward an eternity with God.  I believe God wants us to stop looking at them with eyes focused only on the 30 day results, instead making decisions that bring significant eternal results.

Pray today that God would open your eyes to how you can expand your perspective.  Ask Him to show you how to begin leveraging your business for these eternal returns.

Are you already viewing your business from an eternal perspective?

How do you make decisions like this when it comes to cost & benefits over 100 years?

Do you struggle with some of the shorter term costs of integrating your faith into your business?

Photo by JANIFEST/iStock

Not A Good Time

As I mentioned in a recent post, a key, long-term member of our company’s leadership team (my inner circle) gave me their resignation. While there is never a good time for this to happen, this announcement came at a particularly bad time for me.

We are less than 60 days away from beginning a total renovation of our Honda dealership facility and this leader was to be one of the key drivers of this project. He was also a leader in ensuring the smooth transition into the temporary location from which we will operate during construction.

We are also just over six months into a new management team under his leadership. This leader has played a critical role in their development. Though the team has shown amazing progress during this six-month period, there is still a distance to go before this team truly realizes their full potential.

As I said, this is not a good time for him to leave.

Employee Development

At the same time, one of our company’s five core values is Employee Development. We describe this core value this way:

We strive to create an atmosphere that inspires and enables people to reach their full potential.

Moving People

In addition to this core value, our Vision statement is “Moving people.” We explain our vision by first pointing out the connection between “moving” and transportation – in our case, selling and servicing automobiles. But the true meaning of this vision applies to the people that come into contact with our business – the stakeholders. These people fall into three categories – employees, customers, and community.

We want anyone, from any of these three categories, that comes into contact with our company to be better off having done so. We want to help “move” them from one position into another, better position as a result of their interaction with us. We want every decision we make to reflect this vision.

Key Leader Resignation

Let’s go back to the leader that has now resigned. When he first told me, he generously offered to work a month’s notice. He was willing to help in the transition in any way I wanted. He explained how this new business opportunity was not one that he sought out, but was simply too good for him to ignore.

As he explained the opportunity, I quickly saw that he was right. I realized that I could never offer him the same chance to reach his full potential in our company as he could reach in this new job. I was disappointed in losing him, but I could not blame him for saying yes to the offer.

Living Out Core Values?

It was at this point that I had a choice. I could get angry and do what the majority of owners would do in our industry – tell him to pack his things and go ahead and exit immediately. I could cut off his compensation and benefits that very day and do only what I was legally bound to do.

OR, I could embrace our core value of Employee Development and our “Moving people” vision. I could congratulate him on his tremendous opportunity and begin laying out a plan that would maximize his effectiveness while he worked his notice, benefiting both of us in the process.

I chose the latter. In fact, I used the opportunity to reinforce our commitment to our core values by going to every department individually and explaining the whole situation. I tried to show, by example, that we are indeed serious about these core values and our vision.

The Results

The results? Well it has not been long enough yet to give a full report, but I can give you some of the immediate benefits…
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1. Other leaders have immediately stepped up to fill in the void caused by his departure

2. Employees have seen we are committed to our core values – “moving” them whether that means they are moving “up” in the company or “out!”

3. Our company’s relationship with this leader is fully intact and will bear fruit by maintaining an open line of communication in the immediate future in case we need help tying up loose ends (or accessing a lost password!).

4. We were able to have a going-away party to show him our appreciation for his contributions and to allow closure to those employees closest to him.

5. I believe his transition into a new job will be easier because we eliminated any stress that could have come from a messy separation.

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As I began listing these immediate benefits, I realized that there are longer-term benefits as well. Here is a short, not exhaustive, list of these benefits…

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6. The remaining leaders in the company will be stronger in the long term due to stepping up their game in the transition and beyond.

7. Other employees may realize we are serious about employee development and our other core values. Hopefully, they will work for similar opportunities in their own career. While some may move “out,” they will be better off having worked here. Still others will move “up” and make us a stronger company as a result.

8. Our ongoing relationship with the departing leader will bear fruit in many other forms as he will be working on cutting-edge ideas and processes in his new job. We will have the inside track access to what he is learning.

9. His future job performance will be better due to the ongoing relationship with our company. We will likely serve as testing grounds for some of his ideas and projects.

10. His personal relationships with some of the employees, hampered while here due to working relationship, will likely blossom without that hindrance.

11. I will maintain a friendship with him. I already look forward to hearing how his new job is going and how he is using the skills and talents God gave him to impact others.

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Have you had similar opportunities to live out your company’s core values?

What would you have done differently?

What benefits did I overlook?