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Archive for August, 2010

You just never know when God is going to try to teach you something, do you?

I took my 11-year-old son Tyler out to play golf this week. For the first time in years we carried our bags. That allowed me to walk nine holes with John (not his real name).

John, a 35-year-old graduate student, seemed to be very intelligent. But he was very frustrated. He had worked in two large corporations and he felt that the best, the most talented, the most capable, didn’t actually run the business. Instead, he felt it was the men and women that said (or didn’t say) the right things at the right meetings. People who were highly calculated in the way they treat people and the decisions they made.

John was done with corporate America.

What do you see in your workplace?

What do you see in yourself?

In this economy, it’s easy to compromise isn’t it?

“The Lord detests men of perverse heart but he delights in those whose ways are blameless.” Proverbs 11:20

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I’m sure you never experience office politics. So, you can just move on to the next email.

Oh…you do? Then maybe this will help.

Yesterday I met with a senior leader of a small company who was in a sticky situation. He was struggling with owners and peers who were opposed and scrambling for cover. Each person taking sides and protecting their turf. It is the type of situation that could cost you your job.

Then, in the middle of our conversation, God showed up. He showed up in a flat tire.

A man walked in the restaurant and asked if someone drove a Suburban. I do. He announced that I had a flat tire. I turned and looked through the window and I see two other men crouched in the 100 degree heat putting air in my flat tire! I walked outside and these three men, all part of a landscaping crew, had simply decided to fix my flat tire. I was amazed, feeling incredibly blessed as I quickly thought through the work they had just spared me.

But here is the cool part. I walked back into the restaurant and sat down with my friend who had been watching this whole thing play out…and he had tears in his eyes. He said, “that’s it. You just do the right thing and trust that God will work out the details.

It was profound. A simple solution to a very complex problem. The next time you feel caught up in the complexity of office politics, remember this leader’s words.

Father, give us the wisdom and the courage to do the right thing and trust that you will work out the details. Amen

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Confrontation

Do you enjoy conflict at work? I have known a few who apparently do. But most don’t.

Recently, I heard a fantastic message at Fellowship Bible Church in North Little Rock, AR that described seven ways to confront people in work and life in a biblical way. For you on this Monday morning:

  • Examine yourself   (2 Corinthians 13:5)
  • Be meek and gentle   (2 Corinthians 10:1)
  • Be firm and bold   (2 Corinthians 10:1)
  • Be affirming
  • Be accurate and honest   (2 Corinthians 7:14)
  • Speak in love and truth   (Ephesians 4:15)
  • Use discipline when all else fails   (1 Corinthians 5:9-11)

“…but we were harassed at every turn—conflicts on the outside, fears within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us…     2 Corinthians 7:5-6

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