Boomerang Management

Popular TV series story lines these days enjoy the intrigue of wondering who certain characters are really working for.  In fiction and in life, we all have a sense that there are low level guys, middle managers, top guys and well, the secret guys at the very top that want to remain powerful and anonymous.  It is strange (and yet, not) how those top guys in these scenarios always seem to be evil.  Nobody who is good seems to want to hide in the shadows.

It would be wonderful if everyone wearing the "boss" hat was a leader and had earned the title.  But the world is truly upside down from the way Christ operates.  Christlike leadership at all levels lifts up and forms a platform for those below to be stronger and realize their potential.  Non-Christlike leadership uses those below as the platform to step on.  It would be wonderful if Christians in leadership understood this, but all too often, they follow the world's model.

If you are under a "boss" and not a leader, you know all too well what being stepped on feels like.  (Clearly, if your boss knew who you were REALLY working for, he wouldn't treat you the way he is treating you, right?)  Maybe it's time to stop being self-employed.

No, that wasn't a typo.  Why is it that as sons and daughters of the Most High we segregate our lives so that He isn't really our leader in the work place? Is it because we don't like our espionage assignment:  to take His authority and Spirit wherever we go?  What is God asking you to do today for His kingdom?  If you are not sure, you can certainly count on one basic principle:  to operate in love. 

A friend shared with me recently of her struggles in a difficult workplace.  Her boss does not understand inspirational leadership; her boss believes that asserting pressure downward in ever increasing strength will produce improved results.  (No one has apparently been able to help her understand the principle that people produce their worst work when they believe they are in trouble). My friend, afraid of losing her job in this economy, was allowing herself to be the receiver of abuse at this verbally ham-fisted supervisor.  (Allowing fear to dominate our thinking is a whole other subject, but let's just say she forgot who she really worked for).

My friend works in a hospital, where many of the patients are elderly and they can react abusively because they are confused and in pain.  My friend has no problem seeing beyond their behavior because she understands some of the potential causes.  She is able to minister to them and provide outstanding care.  What she was failing to see is, her boss is a patient too.  Her boss is stressed, hurting and in pain, but she isn't checked into a bed and she is no doubt just as afraid of losing her job... a job she depends on others to help be successful.  A job where her own bosses are standing on her head and pressing down a little bit harder.

There is no substitute for the Holy Spirit in strength and power.  When we operate from His strength and leadership, we can be the servants we need to be and shine for Him.  You may not love your bosses, or even like them.  But if you can ask the Lord to help you see them as He sees them, you can serve them from a position of His power, not your own.

It can seem overwhelming to try and serve others when we feel wounded by the very ones we serve.  That's when we must remember WHO we really work for, because He will never give us more than we can handle.  You can handle this.

The Blessing of Failure

Last week in the news it was revealed that a 24 megaton nuclear bomb accidentally activated over North Carolina in 1961, and did not explode because a final switch failed. 

This type of near disaster happens far more than we imagine.  I recognize the sovereignty of God when I see these things... That He decides when things will and will not be.  The switch needed to fail that day for a larger purpose.

It's not easy to accept failure in our personal lives, particularly when we have done everything right, including consulting the Lord and walking in faith on a project.  It causes us at the very least to question our hearing of His voice.  Sometimes we even wonder if we are being punished.  (How do you know when you are trapped in legalism and not fully embracing grace?  When you look at failures and trials as punishment from The Lord.) 

Every leadership guru, every best selling motivational book talks about the benefits of failure.  So why is it so hard for devout Christians to accept failure when it happens?  Perhaps it is that we are trying to be like Him, and He never fails... Therefore neither should we. 

In this case, I am not talking about a sin failure.  I'm talking about those times that the Lord didn't allow us to win when we felt so sure it was Him leading us to believe for the victory.  Or when we were sure we had met that perfect mate and they did not feel the same way, or it fell apart before it got started. Or we prayed for a healing and they died anyway.  These are failures in which we did not see what He sees, and the added sting is a mature believer always wants to align his or her thoughts and vision with His.  So why didn't the Lord trust you with the true outcome?  Was it because you couldn't handle the truth?  Maybe.

It was not because you aren't mature. It was because as you grow in Him, you become more child-like, and you don't second guess all possible outcomes as a kid.  You just go for it.  He needed you to do exactly what you did and when you did it...without premeditation.  You may see the "why" of it all in a few weeks or years, or maybe watching home movies with Jesus in heaven.  But this thing you must remember: He is sovereign.  Nothing is a surprise and if you are following Him with your whole heart, you will need to return to the Rock that His His sovereignty.  And remember Romans 8:28... that He will use it to His good purpose...and yours.

When Proxy is a Poor Substitute

When I heard Condalezza Rice speak recently I was pleasantly surprised when I should not have been.  Why?  Because while I know that everything is distorted through the news media I rediscovered what it was like to get to know someone more directly rather than through a third-party.

Try as we might to be conduits of accuracy, we will as humans be "distortionists" when communicating, even when we strive to repeat verbatim.  I was impressed with Conde's humility....something I could not have detected without the in-person experience, and something I would be less inclined to believe if a third party tried to tell me.

Reputation is a tenacious dastardly thing, where stink lasts 10 times longer than fragrance.  Some people will spend the better part of their existence trying to create a reputation that is favorable whether it is genuine or not.  Others will suffer to the point of rebellion at being falsely accused.  (How often have up you heard, if I'm going to be accused of it so thoroughly I might as well do it?)

Chasing reputation is a worthless pursuit... No offense to those in the PR profession.  A good name is a powerful thing.  But it becomes good through excellence in character and relationship.  There is no solid reputation without solid relationship.  Reputation is a result, not a tactic.  Spend time doing good instead of spending time telling the world you are doing good, and your reputation will endure longer.

Take care not to worry about what people think of you.  Such a thing is a kind of innocence lost, where you're suddenly conscious of what you do and say beyond what is fitting.  Christ made Himself of no reputation to show us the love of the Father.  It makes no sense to the earthly mind.  But then, things in Heaven are upside down compared to the world.

If you really don't understand the attraction to Christ, perhaps it is because you only know Him through the proxy of believers (or those who claim to know Him) that haven't done a good job of showing you who He is.  Jesus was certainly our proxy for punishment of sins, but He did that so we could be close to the Father, rather than separated. No other human can create and maintain a relationship with God for you.   Even those who know Him well are, well, continually surprised at how much more there is to know.  First hand. 

He Aint Your Brother, He's Just Heavy

If you've gotten up today ready to be offended, perhaps I can put off the suspense:  20 percent of the people do 80 percent of the work.  That means you're probably not part of the 20 percent.  You, slacker, are riding on the success of those faithful few.

Interestingly, when things fail, it's usually not the 20 percenters that point the finger.  They've been too busy doing 80 percent of the work to notice who wasn't pitching in.  And 20 percenters, when they take a break, don't look at the 80 percenters with envy or contempt.  They look at them with wonderment and pity... because they can't imagine not wanting to work with all their might.

You will perhaps share my wonderment at how some "80 percenters" come by their jobs, and be even more amazed at the fact they are keeping them, even after never producing anything of value.  The fact is, some leaders don't want to face the fact that the wonder worker they picked out for greatness was a dud, and admitting that and dealing with that would mean they were wrong.  The 20 percent are very often asked to "support" the dud for the good of the team.   To add insult to injury, the dud doesn't recognize the help is a merciful act; the dud thinks he is entitled to the help.  He is, after all, overworked and misunderstood.

The worst possible scenario (in my opinion) is when the dud is a believer.  The greatest power of the universe to support and encourage him, and he forgot he can bring Jesus to work.   He's like a light bulb that never got screwed into the socket, believing that he is giving light just be being a bulb.

Hey 20 percenter, how should you deal with these apparent slackers?  With much, much prayer and all the mercy you can muster.  And never with the misguided idea that you can fix an 80 percenter or even turn them into a 20 percenter.  The chasm may be too wide.  At the heart of every slacker I've ever met is a little person who did not believe they were worth very much.  It would go against their beliefs to perform differently from this belief.  They can use encouragement, and a chance (or two or three) to prove they can change.

You know, 20 percenter, most of the work you're doing won't endure very long; some of it not beyond the month.  And that work is not what you will be remembered for.  The most important (and eternal) work you do this year may be holding up your 80 percenter...with mercy and honor and without judgement.  Some of us will get out of these trials alive and thriving.  Some of the 80 percenters may not.  If you act with compassion and inclusiveness, you'll have no regrets if they don't make it...and you'll have something to really feel good about if they do.

Every Day is Pay Day

This week I was involved in a discussion on the meaning of abundance.  Is abundance having more than you need or just enough?  The answer is yes.  Abundance is having enough to accommodate your potential.  It becomes more than you need when you try and reach your potential.  Because when you get closer to your potential, your potential grows.

So often when we sit down to set a goal or make a plan, we cannot help but limit our thinking to what we know is practically possible.  It's like being driven to build a road but never looking up to see where the destination will be.  The result is, we fail to aim high enough to do anything other than the ordinary. 

It takes discipline, but you can do it.  When it's time to dream, put aside all the knowledge you have on limited money, time and people.  Dream the dream.  Dream the plan.  Don't turn into MacGyver before you have a chance to create a picture of the ideal result.  You can never get to the ideal if you always start with the "what can't be done" list.  A spirit of abundance does not think in terms of only what is possible based on the past.  Abundance says, "How do we go and get what is needed to make it happen?"

Before the bills start emptying your wallet, enjoy the payday.  Every day.

The Apple Doesn't Fall From the Boss

Rarely do we think of job interviews as hiring our next boss, but that is exactly what we are doing.  It's a shame it's so hard to relax in an interview and make sure we like not only what we would be doing but who would be guiding the experience.  You don't have to work long in your life to experience both great and terrible bosses.  Many a good boss won't even like the title "boss" because the word itself sounds like poor leadership. 

As a young manager, I was given authority over a process but no authority over the people executing it.  I thought this situation impossible, but discovered that having power over people, while not the same as having authority, can be equally effective.  In essence, I had to win them over to my way of thinking.  Persuasion endures longer than a command.

If you have people reporting to you, you essentially have work children.  I'll confess I do judge parenting skills when I see the behavior of their children.  Do they obey out of respect or fear?  Do they laugh together, but know when it is time to be serious?  Do they have respect for others?  In the work place, do the work children whine and snivel and wait for their next feeding?  Or do they happily work independently knowing they are loved and will not be judged unfairly?

If your word is solid, your work children will not need to be nagged repeatedly.  They will know that if something is not completed consequences will follow and they will learn you do not exaggerate.  If you make up excuses for not showing up to meetings, you should expect that the stories they will tell for the same thing will be quite creative.  If you spend every waking hour at the office, your little lemmings will too, because even if they don't think you are doing the right thing, they will think YOU believe that, and will somehow expect them to do it also. 

Some of the work children will dare to defy you.  This might mean they are growing up; it might mean you need a woodshed.  Woodshed worthy behavior is easily identifiable, because it is highly emotional and reactive.  It quite often lacks logic, and almost always lacks listening skills.  And sadly, it rarely comes from children who used to act grown up are suddenly are not.  It usually comes from the work children that never really want to grow up.

There is a sad number of bosses who'd prefer their work children never grow up, because it is threatening to them.  If you have a boss like this, try to find a new work parent.  You will never thrive under leadership that doesn't want you to grow.  Before you think, "that's impossible, in this economy I just have to live with it," I'd challenge you to pray about it.  Sometimes we learn the most valuable lessons from bad bosses...like how to avoid being one.  Try to forgive them too, if you sense they are trying to do better.  I've made some mistakes as a boss I wish I could undo, but I can't.  All I can do is continue to grow up and work to be a great leader some day.

A Thief Thinks Everybody Steals

One day at my college job, I was pondering out loud the behavior of a particular person when one of my student colleagues from Paraguay said, "a thief thinks everybody steals".  Ever since then I've remembered and used that phrase to describe not just the situational ethics I observe around me, but my own propensity to assume that everyone looks at life just like I do.

For all the good intentions towards inclusiveness, I still must work hard every day to see situations from other points of view and not just my own.  My "self colored glasses" will cause me to miss a lot going on around me.  They cause me to make assumptions I shouldn't make.

I may have had an excellent meeting presenting an idea to management, and the agreement in the room was "great idea...let's move forward."  If I look at this event as the milestone in my project life and forget it may be five minutes in the executive timeline, I'll move forward without checking back or in.  The meeting meant a lot more to me than it did to those people I presented to.  Oh, it may have been an amazing idea and they may still be thinking about it, but even a few hours sleep can erode "buy in".  So, if I put my "what are they thinking" hats on, I'll know that this great idea that I'm now moving forward with must stay in front of them many more times... during and at completion.

Communication is the uniting force that separates us all.  It's a challenge even for people who are really, really good at it.  If you really want to know what people think, you have to ask them.  And not just like you're asking them how their day is going; you have to ask them as if you're going to have to pretend to be them in 30 minutes (in other words, really listen).

A word of caution.  Viewpoints are like ripe vegetables.  They can expire quickly.  You can't necessarily take a conversation you had two years ago and assume you understand the viewpoint of that same person today.  (Not only might their cheese have moved, they may not even be a mouse anymore.)  However, if you are continually having conversations with that person and you are understanding their view, you have a relationship... and you are in a much better position to speak for them in their absence.

I'm sure the Lord Jesus Christ wishes Christians checked in with Him more often before they decided they could speak for Him.  Fortunately it doesn't take much investigation to determine whether they actually have a relationship with Him, or if they just met Him the one time.   One of the great benefits of having a relationship with the Most High is that He can show you how to talk to your audience before you even have a chance to ask them what they think.  The best pair of glasses to wear are the "Christ-colored" ones.

Divided is Conquered

The overused colloquialism "divide and conquer" is often misapplied.  It most correctly means separating your enemies and isolating them, so they can be conquered more easily.  (It's certainly works for lions).   In recent years I have heard it applied as a kind of replacement to the old, "many hands make light work".  But "dividing and conquering" in the work place doesn't always result in light work.

Many of the brightest business minds have tried to solve the problems created by being a large corporation.  "Dividing and conquering" becomes a way of life, and functions become more and more isolated.  Redundancy is rampant, and speed to market slows to a crawl.

Efforts to improve performance end up focusing so intensely on the process that few teams have the discipline to maintain a 360 view.  Most  teams are not being given time by management to actually take a look back and learn. 

If I go to the store with someone and we split up the list so we can get it done more quickly, that is not dividing and conquering; it's actually working together for a common goal.  But the reason it works is because we start together, and we end up together.  And we trust that each of us is going to do what we agreed to.  If this didn't happen, we'd leave the store with two of everything and none of something else. 

Everybody with any REAL success knows that it is usually who you know that brings you the success you need.  Real relationship goes beyond the casual "hello" and understands the needs and motives of the other person.  (It is best to send the other shopper through the store to look for things they are familiar with, isn't it?)  If a corporate work flow were applied to my shopping analogy, both of us would leave the store in separate vehicles and never talk again until the next shopping trip.

Communication or lack thereof is the key to success or failure.  It's okay to advertise what you're doing frequently.  When you are sick of saying it, they are just starting to catch on.  So take the time needed to not only "get on the same page" but stay there.  If you are not divided, you cannot be conquered.

Unicorns and Pink Elephants

I've come to realize that true strategists are like unicorns.  Everyone else who calls themselves one (a strategist) is a pink elephant, drunk on their own illusions of strategy.  Let's face it, strategy is 10 percent talent and 90 percent disciplined work.  Most people don't want to do the hard work that is strategy because it is not sexy and is very often repetitive.

How do you know if you're a unicorn or a pink elephant?  First, let's be clear on what strategy is.  Strategy is not just a good idea.   A good or great strategy has a good idea, but it takes more than an idea to make a strategy.  Strategy is not a timeline.  A good strategy always includes a timeline, even if that strategy is "do x forever until we tell you to stop".  But even an idea and a timeline together does not make a strategy.  Shopping for strategy ingredients?  Don't forget to pick up all the following:

• An idea (new or used)
• Someone who will be opposed to the idea and be willing to tell you why
• Someone who will love the idea and be able to tell you why
• A way to communicate the idea
• Another way to communicate the idea
• A calendar to mark how many times the idea is communicated and re communicated to fruition
• People to execute and enforce the idea
• More communication than you ever thought necessary to fuel adoption and maintenance of the idea

Good ideas fail many times because there was a lack of communication around the idea.  Unless you're a powerful dictator with nuclear weapons, you may need to tell people your idea more than once.  You need to be able to sell to and tell people many, many times.  

When you find yourself a unicorn, the sane people in the room that realize it are like thirsty animals at the watering hole.  All of us who haven't had our brains altered love a good strategy.  Some of us will even settle for a lackluster strategy, as long as there is one. 

You know all that communication mentioned above in the ingredients list?  That's mostly for you, unicorn.  Because the worst thing you can do is create a great strategy and decide you are not subject to it.  (That's a recipe for upheaval and confusion, which takes far less ingredients to balloon out of size in no time).  That's when you look down at your hand and realize its fat, stubby and pink, and your nose is long and swinging in front of you.