Happy Day Everyone,
In our class, Business by the Book, we are reviewing a new book named "Now Discover Your Strengths" by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton, Ph.D
Our first discussion focused on one of the key premises of the book which invites us to make a fundamental change in our thinking. The authors ask us to focus on and invest in our strengths instead of your weakness. This goes against the traditional viewpoint where we typically identify our weaknesses and make huge investments in correcting those weaknesses. Believe it or not this begins in childhood. A child shows the parents their report card. There are 4 A's and 1 C. What happens? As parents or guardians, we might acknowledge the 4 A's but we spend most of our attention and planning on eliminating the C.
Everyone in our class agreed that this was a true point. We have experienced it. We see this same viewpoint transferred to the workplace. When a person is hired, weaknesses are quickly identified and a training plan is put in place to correct the weakness
The authors asks that managers take another approach especially after reviewing the following evidence which shows some positive results of focusing on an employee's strengths.
“The Gallup Organization asked this question to 198,000 employees working in 7,939 business units within 36 companies – At work, do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day. When the employees answered “strongly agree” to the question, they were 50% more likely to work in business units with lower employee turnover, 38% more likely to work in more productive business units and 44% more likely to work in business units with higher customer satisfaction scores.”
That is great news
Unfortunately, globally only 20% of employees working in large corporation that Gallup surveyed felt that their strengths are in play every day. All hope is not lost because this is a great opportunity for companies to participate in this change of investing in our strengths.
The selection process which will cause the wrong person to be placed in the wrong position or with the wrong responsibility is not something new to mankind. We see an example of it in the bible where workers are not working according to their strength. Let's look at 2 Kings 12 4-6. Joash was king of Judah and wanted to repair the temple so he gives the following instruction.
4 Joash said to the priests, "Collect all the money that is brought as sacred offerings to the temple of the LORD--the money collected in the census, the money received from personal vows and the money brought voluntarily to the temple. 5 Let every priest receive the money from one of the treasurers, and let it be used to repair whatever damage is found in the temple." 6 But by the twenty-third year of King Joash the priests still had not repaired the temple.
Joash had a strategic plan, he had the funding for the project and the priests were willing to prepare the temple but by the 23rd year of King Joash, the priests had not repaired the temple.
The priests were not operating in their strength. Joash had to revise his strategy and bring in the people who had the talent, skill and knowledge to repair the temple. Let's take a look at 2 Kings 12:11-14 to see what happened as they changed their plan.
11 When the amount had been determined, they gave the money to the men appointed to supervise the work on the temple. With it they paid those who worked on the temple of the LORD--the carpenters and builders, 12 the masons and stone-cutters. They purchased timber and dressed stone for the repair of the temple of the LORD, and met all the other expenses of restoring the temple.
The work was given to the right people who had been given the talent to get the job done. The carpenters, builders, the masons and stone-cutters were the ones who have the talent, skills and knowledge to get the work done.
We encouraged our class members to identify their strengths, their gifts and invest in those talents through continuous improvement in knowledge and skills. This combination constitutes a strength.
Please feel free to come and visit our class, Business by the Book on Sunday mornings at 11:00 a.m. at Second Baptist Church at 6400 Woodway. We meet in Room 115 in Woodway Village. We hope to see you soon.
God bless you,
Theresa
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Your Calling vs Political Games in the Workplace
During our class we continued our study in the book “No More Dreary Mondays” by Dan Miller. We focused on another scenario that might cause us to dread Mondays. That scenario is political games in the workplace.
Many times when we are fulfilling our passion, our calling and it appears that we are working where we should be, there still can be political games that are played. These games make us feel that we are spending our time watching our backs rather than doing our job or improving our performance. Many times our solution is to find another place of employment. So often, we will ask to be removed from the situation like Jesus asked His Father in Luke 22;42-44. Sometimes God's plan is to have us remain right where we are and He doesn't always reveal His reasons.
If we are to stay at your current place, how should we handle these games? We discussed this during our class by taking a look at Jesus and reviewing how He managed some of the political games He experienced. In John 17, Jesus confirmed that he was completing the work that the Father had given Him. He was without sin and right in the middle of God's will but He was still confronted with the politics of his day from the government and the religious leaders.
Political Game 1 – John 18:1-4
Jesus was betrayed by Judas, one of His disciples. Judas had spent time with Jesus at this olive grove and he knew where Jesus would be. Judas took the detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees to that location so they could arrest Jesus.
Why did Judas do this? It was for the money. Have you ever had anyone betray you for money or a promotion. It is painful. Jesus certainly knew he would be betrayed but he chose to endure the pain. Judas had no repentance.
Political Game 2 – John 18:16-18; 25-27
After Judas' betrayal, Peter denied Jesus three times. Jesus had told Peter that this would happen but still the pain had to be devastating. When politics happens in the workplace, you will lose friends. Friends who have been close to you; friends that you have counted on for lunch and fellowship, but now they deny you by stopping the lunch dates or not calling or responding to emails. Their actions say that they don't know you.
There can be good news even after situation like this. Peter repented and received restoration. I have to ask God to forgive me when I have denied Him in the workplace by my silence instead of speaking up against something that I know is wrong. By His grace, He can and will restore me and in the same vein of grace, I must be willing to restore others when they have repented.
Political Game 3 – Matthew 27: 11-18
The next political move that Jesus endured was in front of Pilate who said that he could not find any wrong with Jesus but Pilate left it up to the crowd to choose the one who would not be crucified. The choice was between Jesus and Barabbas who was a rebellious criminal. The leaders chose to let Barabbas go free. Pilate knew that move was a result of envy. Perhaps you have done a great job and performance reviews have been excellent but there is decision to end your employment because of a hidden agenda This agenda may find its roots in envy and it is endorsed by senior management.
All of these political games can cause you to dread Mondays.
How do you avoid having an attitude filled with dread. You can avoid it by knowing that Jesus has gone through the political games that are played. He is now our high priest and he intervenes for us. He personally understands the battles and the pain. The Holy Spirit prays for us when we get to that place when we don't know how to pray (Romans 8). You must put on the whole armor of God each day (Ephesians 6). Know that you will see victory through Him.
If you are going through a tough time in this area, let me invite you to add your prayer request to the comments section of this blog. You can add it anonymously.
Please feel free to come and join us in person in our class, Business by the Book on Sunday mornings at 9:00 a.m. at Second Baptist Church at 6400 Woodway. We meet in Room 115 in Woodway Village. We hope to see you soon.
God bless you,
Theresa
Many times when we are fulfilling our passion, our calling and it appears that we are working where we should be, there still can be political games that are played. These games make us feel that we are spending our time watching our backs rather than doing our job or improving our performance. Many times our solution is to find another place of employment. So often, we will ask to be removed from the situation like Jesus asked His Father in Luke 22;42-44. Sometimes God's plan is to have us remain right where we are and He doesn't always reveal His reasons.
If we are to stay at your current place, how should we handle these games? We discussed this during our class by taking a look at Jesus and reviewing how He managed some of the political games He experienced. In John 17, Jesus confirmed that he was completing the work that the Father had given Him. He was without sin and right in the middle of God's will but He was still confronted with the politics of his day from the government and the religious leaders.
Political Game 1 – John 18:1-4
Jesus was betrayed by Judas, one of His disciples. Judas had spent time with Jesus at this olive grove and he knew where Jesus would be. Judas took the detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees to that location so they could arrest Jesus.
Why did Judas do this? It was for the money. Have you ever had anyone betray you for money or a promotion. It is painful. Jesus certainly knew he would be betrayed but he chose to endure the pain. Judas had no repentance.
Political Game 2 – John 18:16-18; 25-27
After Judas' betrayal, Peter denied Jesus three times. Jesus had told Peter that this would happen but still the pain had to be devastating. When politics happens in the workplace, you will lose friends. Friends who have been close to you; friends that you have counted on for lunch and fellowship, but now they deny you by stopping the lunch dates or not calling or responding to emails. Their actions say that they don't know you.
There can be good news even after situation like this. Peter repented and received restoration. I have to ask God to forgive me when I have denied Him in the workplace by my silence instead of speaking up against something that I know is wrong. By His grace, He can and will restore me and in the same vein of grace, I must be willing to restore others when they have repented.
Political Game 3 – Matthew 27: 11-18
The next political move that Jesus endured was in front of Pilate who said that he could not find any wrong with Jesus but Pilate left it up to the crowd to choose the one who would not be crucified. The choice was between Jesus and Barabbas who was a rebellious criminal. The leaders chose to let Barabbas go free. Pilate knew that move was a result of envy. Perhaps you have done a great job and performance reviews have been excellent but there is decision to end your employment because of a hidden agenda This agenda may find its roots in envy and it is endorsed by senior management.
All of these political games can cause you to dread Mondays.
How do you avoid having an attitude filled with dread. You can avoid it by knowing that Jesus has gone through the political games that are played. He is now our high priest and he intervenes for us. He personally understands the battles and the pain. The Holy Spirit prays for us when we get to that place when we don't know how to pray (Romans 8). You must put on the whole armor of God each day (Ephesians 6). Know that you will see victory through Him.
If you are going through a tough time in this area, let me invite you to add your prayer request to the comments section of this blog. You can add it anonymously.
Please feel free to come and join us in person in our class, Business by the Book on Sunday mornings at 9:00 a.m. at Second Baptist Church at 6400 Woodway. We meet in Room 115 in Woodway Village. We hope to see you soon.
God bless you,
Theresa
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