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Archive for the ‘Excellence’ Category

Are You Working in Air-Tight Compartments?

Posted in Balance, Excellence, tagged , , , , on May 2, 2013 | 6 Comments »

My best friend, Kevin Campbell, has many gifts. He is one of the best salesmen I have ever been around and he is the best evaluator of people and situations ever.

For several years, he has talked to me about working and living in “air-tight compartments”. Honestly, I never paid much attention to this idea. But recently, I shared with him how challenging our preparation is for the annual WorkMatters Chick-fil-A Leadercast. Once again, he said, ”air-tight compartments Dave”. This time, it stuck. It was just what I needed to hear.

I found myself sharing the idea with our WorkMatters team, then with my son who was going through finals in his freshman year in college, and finally with my nephew who works at Tyson Foods. That’s when I received this picture. His visual reminder of this important concept.

IMG_1916

So what does it mean and how do you use it? It’s pretty simple. In our crazy busy life, identify those tasks or projects or high priorities, that you must focus on. Then, when it’s time to work on them…put them in an air-tight compartment. Totally focus JUST on that critical task. It may be a 15-minute task that is critical to execute, or it may be a three-day project for your boss or a major client.

This simple phrase, and the visual image that comes with it, helps me focus. It challenges me NOT to wander off on other things that need my attention, as well. It’s not fool-proof, but it is a great tool to help us do our work with excellence!

Love to hear your comments as you implement this idea.

Closing the gap between faith and work,

David

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Ephesians 5:15-16

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Difference between Excellent and Perfect

Posted in Excellence, Faith and Work, Perfect, tagged , , , on March 1, 2013 | 1 Comment »

Excellence is one of WorkMatters Core Values and one of our 7 Pillars of Faith and Work. It’s something we believe in strongly. But, I have struggled over the years discerning the difference between pursuing Excellence and Perfection.

Perfection

Here’s how Webster defines them:

I’m not so sure about “good”. “Great” makes sense to me. “First-Class” makes sense to me. That sounds like “working with all my heart as working for the Lord, not for men” (Colossians 3:23). But being entirely without fault or defect? We are all sinners. Only one was perfect.

So together, let’s continue to pursue excellence in our work and in our lives. But let’s all (especially me) keep a watchful eye on striving for perfection.

God, please give us the wisdom to see the difference between excellence and perfection in our work, and the courage to push up to excellence but step back from perfection. AMEN

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Follow Through Changes the Game

Posted in Excellence, Faith, Faith and Work, Influence, Integrity, Relationships, Work, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 6, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

How often do you let emails or phone messages pile up before you communicate back? Have you ever had a business meeting with a customer, but never followed up with them? Or committed to do something but never followed through with it?

What if Tiger didn’t follow through with his shot? How about you at work?

These are issues we all face at one time or another.  So, what’s the big deal?  Read what our guest blogger, Michael Dodd, former University of Arkansas ASG president, WorkMatters Kairos alumni, and now a Walmart associate in the Merchandise Leadership Program, has to say on this subject…

The Sundown Rule was Sam Walton’s twist on that old adage “why put off until tomorrow what you can do today.” It is still an important part of the Walmart culture and is one reason Walmart is so well known for its customer service. The observation from the Sundown Rule means that Walmart strives to answer requests by sundown on the day they receive them, following through in a big way.

I have learned a few lessons in the workplace as a young associate, but none has stuck with me more so than the importance of following up and delivering what you say you’re going to do. Through many failures and successes, I’ve seen the power that following up has in defining my competence, trust, and in some cases, integrity. I’ve also seen how it can mean a lot to spiritual growth opportunities, as well.

But at what point do you put emails before quality time with others? At what point does it take too long to answer emails, and you just stop answering? Think about this…

  • While email communication is losing value, God desires us to be excellent in our work and in our communication and replying to requests or just shooting a quick “nice to meet you” is something that sets the tone for a relationship.
  • The ability to follow up can add more value to a career or relationship than nearly anything else, by simply being intentional to follow up and doing it in a timely manner.
  • Following up on prayer requests is something that God has been pointing me to do more and more – and revealing his ability to answer prayer can be a great testimony to his power!
  • Following up to set a relationship in motion that could be kingdom-oriented is exactly how you make work a calling.

“For he says, ‘in a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6:2

The more we follow up, the more we are able to influence lives for the Lord. And when we’re too busy to follow up with everyone, we should seek the Lord’s counsel on how best to spend our time.

Mike Duke recently spoke to a UA class that I visited, and passed on this last piece of advice to those of us that were there: “Be trusted first; deliver what you say; when you make a promise, keep it.” As we look toward our Heavenly boss, let us strive to follow up: “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.” John 17:4

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Surviving the Ordinary at Work

Posted in Attitude, Encouragement, Excellence, Faith and Work, Leadership, Work, tagged , , , , , , , , , on October 16, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

Are there tasks in your job that you just don’t enjoy doing? Are you biding your time waiting for something better? Do you have days at work that are so routine or even boring to you? Days where you’d rather be anywhere but at work?

Do have days at work that are boring to you?

No matter what job you have, there are parts of it that you probably consider ordinary or drudgery.  We all crave for exciting jobs which align perfectly with our passions.  Truth is, even if you had the perfect job there will be days where you just don’t feel it. So, the challenge is, how do you handle those days and those responsibilities in your job with a positive, upbeat attitude?  What does your character reveal about you during those times? How do you survive the ordinary of your job?

My son is on the 8th grade junior high football team.  As a receiver, he rotates with other receivers for playing time.  For someone who typically played every down during youth football, this has been an adjustment.  He practices four hours a day and when he plays a game he may or may not have the ball thrown to him or even get that much playing time offensively.  It’s easy to see how frustration or drudgery could set in.  We talked to him about his responsibilities as a receiver, how the coaches pay attention to his attitude, about being a leader even if he’s not playing and always being upbeat and motivated no matter what. Sometimes it’s hard to maintain that attitude through all those hours of practice, to play his best every down in practice and in the game – all while waiting for that pass to come his way.

Do you sometimes feel that way at work? Do you struggle with keeping an upbeat and motivated attitude in the midst of the ordinary tasks at work?  Are you waiting for that big promotion, or big sale or recognition from your boss? If so, think about the principles below:

  1. Your actions reveal your character. How you handle the ordinary times of your job reveals a lot about your character. I recently read in My Utmost for His Highest, “The true test of a person’s character is not what he does in the extraordinary moments of life, but what he does during the ordinary times when there is nothing tremendous or exciting happening.
  2. If Jesus did menial work, so can you.  “So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.” John 13: 4-5
  3. God’s hand is in the ordinary. Oswald Chamber in My Utmost for His Highest wrote “I must realize that my obedience even in the smallest detail of life has all of the omnipotent power of the grace of God behind it. If I will do my duty, not for duty’s sake but because I believe God is engineering my circumstances, then at the very point of my obedience all of the magnificent grace of God is mine through the glorious atonement by the Cross of Christ.
  4. Just do it. “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” 1 Cor 10:31

By the way, that pass my son’s been waiting for was thrown to him in last week’s game – a 40 yard pass for a touchdown!  All that practice and hard work and motivation paid off for just such a time as this. Now back to practice…

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Changing Your Thoughts at Work

Posted in Adversity, Attitude, Excellence, Faith, Faith and Work, Mind, Pride, Relationships, Thoughts, tagged , , , , , on September 19, 2012 | 3 Comments »

Have you ever had a misunderstanding with your boss, a co-worker, or a customer?  It could be a verbal exchange or something as simple as an email. You replay the scene in your head over and over getting more frustrated each time you think about it. Worse yet, as the day goes on you have a hard time focusing on the tasks at hand, your energy is zapped and you become less pleasant to be around.

Are you frustrated by an email you received?

I think many of us have experienced this from time to time.  We’re human, right? But when our thoughts are preoccupied and distracted over the course of the day, don’t we end up hurting ourselves even more?  So, how can you reign-in your out-of-control thoughts?

Strategies to control your thoughts:

  1. Don’t speculate. How many times do you make assumptions that you don’t even know are true? Paul says in Philippians 4:8  “…whatever is true…think about such things.”  Don’t read anything more in a situation then what you know is REAL. Don’t speculate, don’t assume, don’t read between the lines.
  2. Take control of your mind. Literally!  Is the situation stuck in your head, like a broken record?  Paul writes “Take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ.”  When you start thinking about the situation, say this scripture instead.  You’ll be amazed how powerful God’s Word can be to help you get your mind back on track.
  3. Do NOT get offended. People are imperfect and as long as we come in contact with other people, there will be misunderstandings. Our pride can rear its ugly head in many ways and getting easily offended is one example.  Be proactive.  Decide right now NOT to get offended when someone rubs you the wrong way.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true…think about such things. Phil 4:8

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Changing Your Attitude at Work

Posted in Attitude, Excellence, Faith and Work, Pride, Work, tagged , , , , , , , , , on September 18, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

When school starts, I always have big plans to do things a little differently. You know, get back into a routine:  exercise more, eat better, spend more quality time with my family and my friends… I have great intentions, but life gets in the way, and before I know it, I wake up and nothing has changed.

Do you need a change of attitude?

Out with the Old and In with the New

It’s the same with our Christian walk. As Christians we are called to be different, but it’s far easier to stay the same rather than pay the price to change. In Ephesians 4:22-24 Paul writes “… to put off your old self, … to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”

So, what are some “old” behaviors or attitudes that might apply in the workplace? How about:

  • Pride
  • Envy
  • Short Temper
  • Impatience
  • Careless Words
  • Swearing
  • Complaining

I don’t know about you, but some of these hit too close to home for me. It’s not that we intentionally try to act this way, but things happen and before we know it we react in an inappropriate way. The truth is, we are called to BE more like Christ – in other words, to ACT more like Christ.  We need to let go of some of our old attitudes and behaviors and make room for the new…in EVERY aspect of our life, including our work.

Is there some attitude or behavior that you would like to change about yourself?  Ask God to reveal what he wants you to change and then ask Him to give you the strength and discipline to make it happen. And don’t be discouraged, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” (Mark 10:27)

“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Eph 4:22-24

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5 Ways to Thank Administrative Professionals

Posted in Excellence, Integrity, Servant Leadership, Serve, Trust, tagged , , , , , , , on April 24, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

Regardless of the focus of your work,  many of us interact in some way with an Administrative Professional. As Wednesday is Administrative Professionals’ Day, it is a perfect day for us to give back! To say thank you to someone with a real servant heart.

Today, there are more than 4.1 million secretaries and administrative assistants working in the United States, according to U.S. Department of Labor statistics, and 8.9 million people working in various administrative support roles. More than 475,000 administrative professionals are employed in Canada. Millions more administrative professionals work in offices all over the world.

If you are an Administrative Assistant…THANK YOU! I have found in my years in the marketplace that a talented “Admin” has an enormous impact on an organization. As a general rule, Administrative Assistants are smart, organized, have a servant heart, have good communication skills, know how to say no, can manage multiple projects simultaneously, and most of all they are trustworthy and of strong integrity.

WorkMatters would like to honor one Administrative Professional today by donating one ticket to our May 4 WorkMatters Leadercast here in northwest Arkansas! Be the first to send us an email and we will be honored to make that happen.

If you work with an Administrative Assistant, here are a few tips to say thank you:

  1. Simply walk up to their desk and tell them how grateful you are for the important work they do.
  2. Nothing says thank you like a DaySpring or Hallmark card or e-card!
  3. Give them an inspirational book with a personal note written on the inside cover.
  4. Take them to a thank you lunch with their boss/es.
  5. Providing training opportunities (like the Leadercast) through continuing education, self-study materials, or seminars.

Administrative Professionals…your work matters!

Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people.    Ephesians 6:7


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Who Cares?

Posted in Excellence, Faith and Work, Pride, Seven Pillars of Faith and Work, Work, tagged , , , , on January 26, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

I love today’s blog post from Seth Godin! Especially this point…”Caring, it turns out, is a competitive advantage, and one that takes effort, not money.” One of our Core Values at WorkMatters is Excellence. It is also one of the Seven Pillars of Faith at Work. Excellence is so often found in the details. Enjoy Seth’s wisdom below:

Unless someone does, things start to fray around the edges.

Often it’s the CEO or the manager who sets a standard of caring about the details. Even better is a culture where everyone cares, and where each person reinforces that horizontally throughout the team.

You’ve probably been to the hotel that serves refrigerated tomatoes in January at their $20 breakfast, that doesn’t answer the phone when you call the front desk, that has a shower curtain that is falling off the rack and a slightly snarky concierge. This is in sharp relief to that hotel down the street, the one that costs just the same, but gets the details right.

It’s obviously not about access to capital (doing it right doesn’t cost more). It’s about caring enough to make an effort.

If we define good enough sufficiently low, we’ll probably meet our standards. Caring involves raising that bar to the point where the team has to stretch.

Of course, the manager of the mediocre hotel that’s reading this, the staff member of the mediocre restaurant that just got forwarded this note–they have a great excuse. Times are tough, money is tight, the team wasn’t hired by me, nobody else cares, I’m only going to be doing this gig for a year, our customers are jerks… who cares?

Caring, it turns out, is a competitive advantage, and one that takes effort, not money.

Like most things that are worth doing, it’s not easy at first and the one who cares isn’t going to get a standing ovation from those that are merely phoning it in. I think it’s this lack of early positive feedback that makes caring in service businesses so rare.

Which is precisely what makes it valuable.

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Living Out Colossians 3:23

Posted in Excellence, Faith and Work, Seven Pillars of Faith and Work on November 30, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

The Apostle Paul can be intimidating. He writes: “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.”  I don’t know about you, but thinking that the Lord God Almighty supervises my work intimidates me considerably.  It makes me think that everything I do at work must be perfect.  But I don’t think that’s what Paul is trying to say to us.

            Who we are, and whom we represent, even in our work, means what we do reflects on more than ourselves.  As Christians, we have an association with the Lord, and so our actions, including how we do our job, reflect on that association.  Let me give you two ways Paul talks about this.  First, Paul speaks of us as belonging to God as a slave belongs to the one who purchased them.   He writes: “God paid a high price for you, so don’t be enslaved by the world.”  (1Corinthians 7:23 NLT) In Romans, Paul says we are part of God’s family: “So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs.” (Romans 8:15-17 NLT)  Both of these share the same idea.  In the time of Paul, the household you represented meant everything.  If you disgraced yourself, you disgraced your household as well.  Therefore, when we work, we reflect the household to which we belong.  As Christians, we our work reflects our Lord.

So for me, whatever I do, I should excel at it.  That does not mean that I do everything with the same quality or intensity level.  Rather, it means that I try to figure out what I’m good at, what my job is, and what expectations are upon me.  So when Paul made tents he might not have kept the cleanest shop in town, but perhaps he did make excellent tents at a fair price. Ultimately, if you pay someone to make you a tent, you don’t care quite as much about how often they sweep up their scrap as you do about the quality of the tent maker measurements, cuts and stitches.

Determining what would make us excel in our job and demonstrate true excellence will be different for each of us.  Excellence is as diverse as we are uniquely gifted and in unique circumstances.  But figuring that out puts us on the road to excellence, and I believe the Lord will be pleased with his child’s work.

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Choices

Posted in Excellence, Faith and Work on November 27, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

Excellence is about choosing how we do things. I’ve been suggesting that it’s about doing the right things with excellence in order to BE excellent. But let’s not forget that it all comes down to our choices.

I saw this great quote on my home page the other day: “You don’t get to choose how you’re going to die or when. But you can decide how you’re going to LIVE NOW.”- Joan Baez

Pretty simple idea. The hard part is getting the distance from the turmoil of the moment to allow our clear, rational decision making process to work. For most of us, if we can get to that better place, we can remind ourselves of what we want from our lives, and from our work.

May I suggest that when the turmoil around you seems to be such that you are being blown about so that you feel the circumstances are controlling you more than you are controlling you take a few deep prayer breaths. For example:

Inhale: Lord you are almighty
Exhale: Guide me now.
Inhale: Lord you made me
Exhale: What should I do?
Inhale: Lord you will never leave me
Exhale: Or forsake me.
Or be really candid:
Inhale: Lord, this is a mess.
Exhale: Redeem this mess.

It all starts with a choice, and our best choices usually start with prayer.

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