Monday, July 31, 2006

Snakes Seducing unSuspecting Suspects

by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com

Snakes in Suites advises us that if you have thought some people you work with are nuts you're probably right. More than that they may be psychopaths. The authors, Paul Babiak and Robert Hare, now show you what to look for and what you should do about it. Their theme is about psychopaths in the workplace. They are predators of positions of power, influence and control. The workplace is a perfect place to vent their venom.

Snakes in Suits has a diagnostic tool so you can identify these ruthless creatures out to entrap, control and use, and then, after they destroy their prey, insensitively discard their victims. The characteristics of these snakes in suits:

Interpersonally, the person is superficial, grandiose, and deceitful.
Affectively, the person lacks remorse, empathy and doesn't accept responsibility for his/her actions.
Lifestyle-wise, the person is impulsive, lacks goals and is irresponsible.
Their con centers around a highly charismatic, charming person who can quickly befriend you. Then take you on a ride to destroy you under the guise as one really trying to help you. They patronize you, woo you, gain your loyalty--just to them-- and then abuse you in every possible way. They know your hot buttons and become masters in how to push them… manipulation and control is their branded talent.

Here's how they go about it:
Assessment Phase. They size you up and figure out their con game just for you. It is a game to them as they lack a conscience and they play by their own rules. They are skillful parasites and suck the very life out of you, lack empathy, feelings or remorse or guilt. They need considerable novel stimulation to keep them from getting bored. You are always on a joy ride with them...it’s their joy ride and for you the joy diminishes more and more as it goes along. Their grandiose sense of self importance leads them to believe others are there for them... they see it as a "gift" to let others support them in their grand lifestyle endeavors. They figure out how to work you and work the system… whatever system they are in.

Manipulative Phase.
They create a shroud of charm and deceit--psychopathic bestselling fiction writers. They gain trust through their charming abilities. Their lying skills snow the best, building trust in their unsuspecting victims, who, truly at first, admire them.

Abandonment Phase.
The psychopath builds you up greater than life, gets you feeling like you have been best of friends forever. Then when they see they got you, they begin tearing you down to build a co-dependency with them... alone. They try to make you believe that they are your best source of life and hope. They systematically break you down, they get what they want from you, making you feel it is to your own best interest to do it their way. After they bleed you, they throw you away.

Emotionally psychopaths "know the words, but don't know the music." They have no feeling, don't understand feeling and only learn it... by observing what other people do when feeling certain ways. They copy and re-enact what they see others do in "emotional" expressions which they don't have. Most of their relationships are short-term. Then they seek other unsuspecting victims who don't really know them, so they can again charm them into their coil.

The Red Flags
How to spot the snake's head rising.
--Inability to form a team. They prefer one-on-one control to maneuver their prey against each other.
--Inability to share. They isolate information so they can avoid being find out.
--Disparate treatment of staff. They have favorites. They seduce these favorites to aid and abet in their diabolical actions.
--Inability to tell the truth. They can be caught lying when not necessary.
--Inability to be modest. They will promote their importance.
--Inability to accept blame. It's always someone else's problem, fault.
--Inability to act predictability. It keeps things fun for them and keeps others off balance... a subtle method to stay in control.
--Inability to react calmly. They can go ballistic… or raging inside but out of the camera view of others.
--Inability to act without aggression. They bully people, and use intimidation craftily.

The authors suggest to watch for the signs, avoid bonding, and get out of their game. Don't be embarrassed if caught in their snare. The best have been fooled by them.They are masters at deception. Get out of their clutches as fast as you can, as smoothly as you can in a non-confrontational way.

The authors caution that many people may have some of these characteristics... and they may not be psychopaths. They may be just narcissist, manipulative-controlling, calculating jerks…. mad dogs in the corridors of business.

Here’s another article about psychopathic tendencies in the work arena.
http://www2.gol.com/users/coynerhm/corporate_psychos_blend_in_well.htm

In the marketplace, in communities, in homes evil lurks all around to find the innocent, naive, spiritually un-wise with the motive to web them into their snare.

Jesus warned that evil will pose as good and try to seduce you to their thinking and then destroy you. Beware of false prophets he said. They come in sheep's clothing but they are really ferocious wolves inside with a goal to tear you to shreds. (Matt. 7:15)

“Many” will appear and deceive “many” people. (Matt. 24:11)

They will falsely represent themselves as "Christ-like, good people” and even have extraordinary accomplishments and do miracles....and say “look at all the miracles and great accomplishments we have to our credit." (Mark 13:22)

They are evil, pose as good, and are quite convincing with their charade. Paul the Apostle and Peter the Apostle issued similar warnings.

Paul said they loved themselves, were prideful and loved their money… having it, getting it, and spending it lavishly. They are unloving, unforgiving, slander nice people, have no self control and have no interest in what is truly good. They will befriend you but then betray you, are cruel, very proud and love pleasure more than God. Worse yet, they even act religious doing noble-appearing things to look good.

To them, it’s all about looks. But they don't live by Christ’s power but relish in their own cleaver, sneaky ways.They will share grandiose visions and dreams they have. Saying they are from God. Do extravagant things so they look good. They love the praises of men about how good they are. But it’s all a game to them. (2 Timothy 3)

Peter said they are fakes posing as Christians disguising their greed. They are selfish, with their own self deception…their own lies. . They make up stories and boast about how great they are in doing such wonderful things for God. They want to win you over in following their grand projects.

What they are really after is using your talents to get what they want. It could be your money, ideas, or what you have in Spirit that they can get from you and they don’t have.

Internally, they are always lusting for more, they despise true authority, are proud, arrogant and discredit people who are really trying to do right. They are like wild animals following their ravenous instincts.They lure needy people into their clutches, and make them greedy just like they are. They promise freedom when they themselves are slaves to their own carnal instincts, greed and sumptuous indulgences. (2 Peter 2)

“Their judgment is based on this fact: The light from heaven came into the world, but they loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. They hate the light because they want to sin in the darkness. They stay away from the light for fear their sins will be exposed and they will be punished. But those who do what is right come to the light gladly, so everyone can see that they are doing what God wants." (John 3:19-21, NLT)

Jesus said, “You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good words from a good heart, and an evil person produces evil words from an evil heart. And I tell you this, that you must give an account on judgment day of every idle word you speak. The words you say now reflect your fate then; either you will be justified by them or you will be condemned." (Matthew 12: 34-37, NLT)

And in the end, they will be destroyed... and those who choose to listen to them. “For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it backsteps out of the way. Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. This evil man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. He will use every kind of wicked deception to fool those who are on their way to destruction because they refuse to believe the truth that would save them. So God will send great deception upon them, and they will believe all these lies. Then they will be condemned for not believing the truth and enjoying the evil they do." (2 Thess. 2:8, NLT)

What should you do?
Paul says simply to stay away from them. Get away from them if you find yourself being lured into their cleaver schemes. Peter says to continue to live holy, Godly lives. Stay pure and blameless before God and man. Many falsely accuse you... trying to make what is really good look really bad.

His Light in you will expose them. “Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, rebuke and expose them…And where your light shines, it will expose their evil deeds.(Ephesians 5:11-14, NLT)

Stay pure and blameless before God and in His Presence allow His Spirit to continue to wash you clean of imperfections you may have. Keep your faith in Christ, not in man's endorsement. Rely on His Power and Promises. Live close to God and remain in His Presence, allow His presence to shine through you, to show His light of love as you live in His love, staying gentle, tenderhearted, and forgiving.

Avoid collaborating, partnering, client and employee relationships with snakes in biz garb. They will suck the life out of you.

So Beware! Some people who act nice aren’t nice at all.

In the business world,
watch for their attitudes, their choice of words;
watch, listen closely…
they will give themselves away.

Be wise,
be observant,
listen to your heart,
and don’t get sucked into their snare.

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Waiting for Your Cat to Bark?

by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com

Waiting for Your Cat to Bark? is about persuading customers
who ignore marketing.

Today's market is more like cats, than dogs, according to authors Bryan
and Jeffrey Eisenberg. Pavlov's dog conditioning was the foundation for
much of the mass media, repetition, bell-ringer conditioning of jingles
and other emotional-trigger systems. Today, when we ring the bell, the
cat doesn't care. It will come when it indeed decides to. It is not so
much about selling as it is about guiding the one who wants to buy.

Today's focus is on micro-marketing rather than mass markets.
It is back to "what you get for what you want."
"We must improve our customer perceptions of what we deliver,
increase intimacy with the experience with the customer creating
a deeper connection and more value to product and services."
It’s about empathy and learning to appreciate people for who they are.

Research now shows that 41% get their information from stores and 38% from
websites and 46% start their search for information from a search engine.
Customer interaction through media-based systems are increasing
significantly, continually.
There is more reliance in word of mouth via consumer generated reviews

such as blogs, product reviews, discussion forms, etc.
The consumer is empowered as they all have access to the same information.

Thus the consumer is in control and telling the markets their intentions.
The emphasis has shifted from selling big to how to assist the customer as
he pursues buying. So when they come to a website they are in some stage
of a buying process.

How do customers buy?

It is a process, not an event. "Persuasion comes when people perceive they are on their way to getting what they want."

Simply put the basic steps to buying include:
1. Initiate the relationships by building rapport and confidence.
2. Investigating needs, wants, problems.
3. Suggesting a course of action.
4. Closing or take action

The goal in the process is establishing customer intimacy. It is finding a customer "persona" of which the Eisenbergs go to great lengths to explain.

They review three filters all things go through to “uncovering” the
“knowable”...
topography, the layout of land; psychographics, the
psyche-operating system and lifestyle; and demographics, where we find
these people. They continue to emphasize the importance to connect with
these people with empathy and emotionally engage with their total person.

Their signature system “Persuasive Architecture”
has 6 phases:
1. Uncovering... understanding (thoroughly) what is knowable,
from every perspective.
2. Wireframing... mapping context with relevance
3. Storyboarding... show how to execute what is determined
4. Prototype... from what we have created to be able to say "It looks like this."
5. Development.... produce the prototype
6. Optimizing... accountability marketing where you test, measure, monitor to
evaluate effectiveness.

All along the way in this process
these three questions stay constantly before you.
1. What is the action you want?
2. Who are we trying to persuade to take action?
3. What does that person need in order to feel confident taking that action?
"It's the process that works. It's only partially reliant on talent. If
the business can commit to being part of the process, it will work."

In summary, their theme for working with today's market is about
intimately interacting with the persona of the person.
People want to be interacting with you,
and know you know their deeper personal makeup,
and establish a close relationship, emotionally intimate,
relationship of knowing them.

This is an interesting and I see relevant process crafted by the Eisenbergs.
For more check out their website:
http://www.futurenowinc.com

Jesus was known as one who spoke with authority and He knew exceptionally well those He spoke to. Jesus knew exactly what the crowds were thinking and everyone was awe-struck by what He said. This guy was authentic, believable and many followed him.

The Scriptures said that great power was flowing out of Jesus and people just tried to touch Him to benefit and be healed through this power.

John the Baptist came to baptize in water, although he
said the one to follow him would baptize in the Holy Spirit.
(Mark 1:8)

And Jesus said
with this Spirit you will have Great Power of Supernatural levels...
Gifts of Knowing, Gifts of Transforming Hearts.
He advocated we be baptized in this Spirit, The Holy Spirit of God, as well.

This Spirit in Jesus formed all the systems of the world.
Through Jesus All Things were Created
(Colossians 1:16).

Are we still wallowing in the waters of the world
and maybe we need to move on to this Baptism in Spirit of Jesus?
Two Spiritual greats in the last 100 years urged that
we be baptized in the Holy Spirit to have nonstop
miracle-producing power moving within the life of Jesus.
Charles Finney and John G. Lake credit this saturation of the
Holy Spirit as the reason for the unparalleled Spiritual
awakenings that happened repeatedly around them.
(Note this link to Lake's article on the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.)
http://www.tentmaker.org/holy-spirit/baptism1.htm

Have we been watering down the greatness this Spirit
can display for us today?
Are we compromising about having this great potential as part of our lives too?

Are we writing it off as something for then and not now?

As a civilization, we are making a grave error.
Our experience and lifestyle in Spirit should be exceeding what
we read in the New Testament...

Jesus said "Greater things you will do..."
We should be utterly ashamed at ourselves
for our lack of commitment and expression of the Holy Spirit's Power in our lives.

Hosea the prophet referred to Jacob about wrestling with God until God Blessed him.(Hosea 12:4)
Do we desire the exceptional of Spirit so much that we are driven to seek God stubbornly until we have it too ... like Finney and Lake? They both experienced a time of tenacity with God until God gave them this saturated presence of His Spirit that was with them continually.

What is the price for this? (Luke 14)
Are we willing to make the personal investment?
Is it worth it?
… to have all the favor

and drawing power of God functionally active in our lives.

Then, as Jesus proclaimed, we will see all men drawn
to us and transformed by what we do.

Are we Spiritually, waiting for our cat to bark?




Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Get Out of Your Own Way... Be ALL Heart

by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com
Get Out of Your Own Way is new book by Robert K.Cooper, who specializes in neuroscience studies of human effectiveness.

How does the brain work...?

Well, it basically doesn't like new things. It likes to deal with what it already knows rather than adding new things. It doesn't like change and will argue with you when you want to change. Well, this last statement would infer we have more than one brain. And Cooper feels we do, according to his research.

The brain is a multidimensional organism that interrelates in a very sophisticated way. Primitively the brain exists to aid and protect you. It does that by recording situations, takes into account your take on them and then in the future responds automatically to the decisions you made back then.The brain is presupposed to what is happening right now... to deal with it. It is not as concerned with what is happening with the on-down-the-road vision of the future.

What the brain wants, it wants now… security/opportunity, adventure/being a couch potato, solitude/community. In a way it lives in conflict with itself and can really jerk you around. Its natural, innate function is immediate response to anything.This can be good or bad depending on what is happening. But it is a slave to how you manage it, develop it, by “your” responses to things. You condition it like you train your pet dog or horse.

So Cooper says the secret is to "get out of your own way"... to wisely work with the brain, around it, instead of against it. Get Out of Your Own Way, in a very in-depth way, presents 5 keys to tuning the brain to work to your advantage. A summary of these are:

1. Direction, Not Motion
It's not how busy you are or how fast you're moving, it's how effectively you are advancing in the right direction.
2. Focus, Not Time
It's not how well you plan your time, it's how effectively you put your attention on what matters the most... in advance and as it unexpectedly appears.
3. Capacity, Not Conformity
It's not how good you are at copying others or making incremental improvements, it's how bold you are at unlocking hidden potential--in yourself and others--and applying it in new ways.
4. Energy, Not Effect
It's not how hard you try or how long you work, it's how effortlessly you get more of the right things done.
5. Impact, Not Intentions
It's not how lofty your intentions are or how much you want things to improve, it's how measurable a difference you are making in living your deepest values and achieving your biggest goals.

Within the book, Cooper exposes an interesting discovery with an exhortation..... use your brains, all four of them.

"What we think we're thinking is actually input coming from our other brains." That's why the above can make sense. It is like we have a good brain and one we must contend with.

The four brains are the one in our cranium, we are most familiar with, then the heart brain, the gut brain, and the spine brain.

Historically, the brain favors the head brain but for ingenuity, teamwork, and breakthrough thinking "intellect is the less crucial ingredient, than these other forms of intelligence.” So what do these other brains do that's so important.

According to the Millionaire Mind most "successful intelligence" does not come from our "intellectual brain" in our head, but the ingenuity and other "gut" intelligence we have.

The gut brain... arrayed around the enteric nervous system. (If you are like me you made a fast run to dictionary.com to find what this meant… “enteric” is your intestine area.) It has an "independent spirit in the nervous system" with a built in radar that can read, in the speed of light, all parts of the brain simultaneously. It is so fast it selects stimuli before they appear.
(note Blink, http://www.gladwell.com/blink/ )
Consequently, this highly advanced intuitive featured brain is the one you learn to trust. Those with acclaimed success in their fields appear to excel at this.

The heart brain... affects emotional clarity, emotional balance, creativity and personal and interpersonal effectiveness. In the human fetus, the heart develops before the nervous system and the thinking brain. So the heart has "pulsed" these others coming into existence.Throughout your whole life every heart beat causes instantaneously whole-body communication as a wave of energy flows in blood cells to all parts of the body. The coherence of this system affects the thinking brain dramatically. It is the power generator of rhythmic information patterns.

The heart's electromagnetic field is about 5000 times that of the brain.The heart intuitively reads complex situations. It works 2 million times faster than the cranium brain on what is going on. It establishes a reading on what others feel, and measures that against its own coherents, values and passions. It provides a very practical way to measure truth in a matter. Cooper's advice is to pause and see what your heart says.

The spine... a reliable source of intelligence outside the head.The spinal cord is a hyper-active transporter of information throughout the whole body. When you slump, it affects your senses to work at a positive peak. Your spine in alignment sharpens the whole sense response and sharpens your ability to read situations and your "vibes" affect on others. "Walking tall" increases your intelligence quotient... to be your best self.

More on Robert K. Cooper at:
http://www.robertkcooper.com/

The Bible says that God liked King David because he was a person after His own heart. The Bible uses the word "heart" a lot. (Just for fun go to www.biblegateway.com and type “heart” into “Keyword Search” for the Bible. It is amazing how much "heart" is in the Bible.)
http://www.biblegateway.com/

In Spirit, what is the heart about?

The heart can be deceitful and wicked, according to Jeremiah.

"For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good words from a good heart, and an evil person produces evil words from an evil heart." (Matthew 12:34-35, NLT) Jesus told the religious proud of His day.

But then God said through Ezekiel
"And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them. I will take away their hearts of stone and give them tender hearts instead." (Ezekiel 11:19, NLT)

And He continued,
"get for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit." (Ezekiel 18:31, NLT)
David the songwriter cried from his heart,
"Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a right spirit within me." (Psalm 51:10, NLT)

And through Jeremiah, God again emphasizes,
"They will be my people, and I will be their God. And I will give them one heart and mind to worship me forever, for their own good and for the good of all their descendants. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, promising not to stop doing good for them. I will put a desire in their hearts to worship me, and they will never leave me. I will rejoice in doing good to them and will faithfully and wholeheartedly replant them in this land. Just as I have sent all these calamities upon them, so I will do all the good I have promised them. I, the LORD, have spoken!" (Jeremiah 32:37-42, NLT)

As we become One Heart and Mind with ourselves, with God and with others, we can expect this. This is a promise directly from God. It’s a promise we can count on … Absolutely!

Allow God to break the stony, self-centered heart that wants it all and wants it now, and mold into His Heart and mold into the Heart of others molded into the Spirit. Mold into the Spirit that wants, with all His Heart, to do immeasurably Good to you…

Let His Heart heal your broken heart, your distressed heart, your sad heart, your lost-hope heart, your hardened heart, your hatred-filled heart.

This is not a sacrifice but an open door to all of His Great Glory in your life. He “Promises” to not stop doing Good to you. Allow Him to mold you into His Heart so all you say and do produces life-giving fruit, that builds up and encourages. Then you will live with a happy heart.

You can Trust, absolutely, the Heart of God who promises to always do good to you.
We worship Him in ALL ways
because we know He is always initiating His Love to us ... First.

You can do nothing to earn this.
God's Spirit of Love is always running ahead
of you creating new ways to Love you!