Saturday, November 24, 2007

Boom! Choices to blow the doors off business


by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com

Boom! Choices for Blowing the Doors off Business as Usual by Kevin and Jackie Freiberg. "You are not a product of your conditions, you are a product of your decisions. You were designed to choose, and you are defined by that choice."

This is one of those business handbooks you should have at work, on your managers' book shelf, and the owner should nourish this as part of his business culture.

Life is about choices that affect results and can create conditions you would choose. It's not limited to the self-employed entrepreneur, but also partners to employees. Boom! Choices has a website that is also jam packed with tools to help you with their recommendations.

Here's a walk through Boom!

You are designed to choose... defined by choice. Learn the art of play while you work, be uniquely productive that fits you. No matter what you do have freedom to choose.

Choice #1 Be a player, not a bystander.
Extraordinary happens when ordinary people do whatever it takes. Do what you can control and you can control more than you may think. Join the dialogue, enter the debate. Players influence the game. It's not just the owners who do, all play a role. Be a player.

Choice #2 Be accountable.
There is no "They", only you and me. Don't play the blame game, banish tribalism (subgroups who try to control). Forgive and move on.

Choice #3 Choose service over self-interest.
Me-first rarely delivers the desired outcome. Service is about bringing the best out in others. You can create meaning from trials, if you choose wisely.

Choice #4 Focus Forward.
Your future isn't in the rear view mirror. It enables you to overcome defeat and transcend petty preoccupations, improve decisions, raise problems solving skills, create team unity. Give complaining a rest, nourish new ideas from unlikely places, get out of the wells dug by others.

Choice #5 Play to your genius.
Your work is a statement about you. Make every project a real cool project. Vent your genius, work in your sweet spot. The Sweet Spot: When these three are congruent with each other.
1. Your gifts and talents.
2. What you are passionate about.
3. What needs to be done.
Or simply merging gifts, passion, contribution.

Choice #5 Get it done.
Success is the reward for those who make a difference. Create vitality, energy and buzz. Declare war on complacency, be responsible to educate yourself, keep learning forever, relish being uncomfortable, be a guru of knowledge in your field, play to win vs keeping from losing. Speak up, speak out.

Choice #7 Risk more, gain more.
The world isn't changed by those unwilling to take risks. Safe is risky. Step through your fear. There is an adventure with your name on it waiting for you to step in and assume your role.

The Manifesto
Freedom is to choose. It shapes who I become. I am a product of my choices, not my conditions.

Choice #1
I won't shrink from my God-given abilities.
I'm a player with passion, energy and a desire to win. I choose to be a player.

Choice #2
I will lead to where I am planted
. My happiness, job satisfaction, sense of accomplishment depends on ME... no one else. My team is my ally, I will collaborate. I choose to be accountable.

Choice #3
The world is not here to make me happy
. My happiness comes from using my gifts to serve the world. I will give unselfishly. I choose service over self-interest.

Choice #4
I focus on what can be done, how to make it work, what I have to achieve
. I choose to focus forward.

Choice #5
My work is my signature. I make masterpieces
. I engage in work that makes me come alive. I choose to play to my genius.

Choice #6
I am being paid for what I'm doing today
. I am dedicated to results. I choose to get it done.

Choice #7
I choose to take risks to live more fully
. I handle fear, face it and step through it which causes fear let go of its stronghold. I choose to risk more and gain more.

The Manifesto is a creed that should be reviewed and recited frequently.
For more on Boom! note:
http://www.freibergs.com/

Our choices influence our lives and influence those around us.
We are role models in this world in everything we do
. In school at work as an employee or boss, as the CEO or the door man. We all make choices which have an affect on others. We are constantly having an impact on ourselves and on others.

The Apostle Paul said
"You say, "I am allowed to do anything...but not everything is good for you.
You say, "I am allowed to do anything"—but not everything is beneficial."
I try to please everyone in everything I do. I don't just do what I like or
what is best for me, but what is best for them so they may be saved."
(I Corinthians 10:23, 33 NLT)

What this indicates is that we influence people in everything we do and we should always consider implications of our actions. It's not so much what we do, but how what we are doing is affecting or influencing those around us. Is it based on a loving Spirit?

Many supervisors or business owners overlook how a simple brazen comment may start a string of emotions in a person's life that will hurt his self esteem and then consequently bring a blur in his ability to make good choices. It is so many times not so much the situation but how you handle the situation. This spirit enters the heart and steers a person to making a good or bad choice.

Choice can affect the rest of our lives and one indiscreet cruel word can affect someone else's life for long term. What we say or do today could have an affect on someone's life that comes back to us years later. Then we wonder where something comes from. What happened is that we planted the seed that showed its fruit years later. Good seeds produce good fruit, bad seeds produce bad fruit.

But one encouraging thoughtful comment can totally turn a person's day around. Our character, the Spirit of choice, has more impact on us and others than we realize, will take the credit or blame for.

The Apostle Paul said to choose to keep yourself from the concerns of the world. Make choices that allow the freedom in Christ to expand, not contract it. The less attachment we have to the things of this world, the more we can cultivate the benefits to the things of Heaven which last forever. And tap Heavenly Powers available.
(1 Corinthians 7:30)

Jeremiah the prophet cautioned us in that he said, "you keep going down the same self-destructive path, refusing to turn back, even though I warned you. Instead of saying what terrible thing I have done, you continue this path of self-destruction running like a gang of wild horses in the prairie. Yet you won't turn from your ways."
(Jeremiah 8:5)

We can always start to change our choices when we see how counterproductive they are. In some choices we made, we see the destruction it brings, but then we go right ahead in the same path again. Jeremiah says to change this turn to Spirit, Truth, Love and let it guide your path.

When you get results look at the path that got you there. Then the next time make the right choices that will get you there again or improve what you just did with even better choices. Always be learning from what you do either good or bad. Be willing to course-correct when you see you are in error.

Much of the business practices that worked in the 90's may not work in the 2010 era. Each path must be reviewed again on its own merit. History does not always guarantee the same for the future when circumstances change. That's why it is so important to seek God's Wisdom each time, Seek Him and His Spirit intelligence for every decision. The Spirit knows all things and can tell you the best choice each time. When we assume and don't seek God fresh each time, we risk making the wrong choice even though it worked before. In Joshua's battles the only one he lost was when he failed to seek God's direction for a seemingly easy battle.... he became overly self-confident because of so many overwhelming victories.

Take nothing for granted. Seek God new, fresh each time.
His mercies are new every morning and His power is renewable every day. His power can be with us. We need to recognize this power of God is available and He wants us to tap it. He wants to be part of our lives too. It's time to acknowledge and participate in His, The Holy Spirit, Power in our pursuits.

His doors lead to life and righteousness... or right-ness in our choices. The road to self-destruction is broad with many paths. The road to life is narrow.
"The door to heaven is narrow. Work hard to get in."
(Luke 13:24, NLT)

It requires complete devotion to Jesus and Jesus' Spirit.

Jesus is the right highway to greatness beyond comprehension.
Take the High Road and live powered in His Life-filled existence forever.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Built to Serve... empowers the group

by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com

Built to Serve by Dan Sanders, is the CEO of the award-winning service-oriented United Supermarkets ..." a business model that places people ahead of profits and service ahead of statistics. A sustainable organization models a service oriented culture, holds human beings in high regards, makes a positive impact for all stakeholders."

Built from the inside out, people are recognized as the organization's greatest asset. Your future depends on maximizing all the talent of the people for everyone.

The new math..."organizations that make people and service cornerstones of their corporate identity enjoy sustainability." That's to build and serve others rooted in humane values, a higher level of trust and connecting what everyone does with the trust.The emerging career model is replacing the old progressive path for success of money, power and materialism with humility, selflessness, fulfillment.

At United Supermarkets servanthood is about helping others realize their potential by not focusing on their weaknesses but on their strengths....keeping them focused daily on the higher purpose is paramount. "Servanthood leadership establishes precisely the kind of community that embraces a culture-driven, people-centered organization. This takes time, patience, building trust. Players with a clear vision make things happen.

Defining the Who. See the vision.
"An organization's vision represents the purpose of its existence--the heart of what it is as an entity. The emphasis is on building relationships and communicating vision to people. It's involvement on all levels.

The What. Know the mission.
United's mission was condensed to six words: Ultimate service, superior performance, positive impact. Sustainable organizations have a clear idea of where they want to grow (vision), empower people to choose what kind of seed to plant (mission), understand success which depends on cultivation (culture) of the seed. Hence, they are culture-driven (constantly cultivating) and people-centered (embracing human beings who have a choice).

"Our mission was about the value we brought to clients which was increase relevancy, collapse time to market, improve return on investment." A good mission statement creates a wonderful journey for culture-driven, people-centered organizations.

When. Keep the faith
Lack of faithfulness to the original vision and mission consistently destroys sustainable success. Purpose for growth must be sound. Your value system stable and in tact.
When things go bad, make decisions based on principles, not popularity;
on Godly perspectives, not worldly perspective.
Surrender your pride and humbly seek to honor God. Create private places where the team can think clearly, be open, be honest. With adversity comes opportunity. But it must be deliberately and actively sought.

Intangibles Drive Tangibles.
It's about people first, not profits first. Then people drive the profits for long-term sustainable growth. People's experience doing business with you is your primary focus. It's about knowing the value of every human being. The authenticity found in every life. People are always more important than process. People involved in prepping the process are the intangibles that drive the tangible.

Decision making is more than the spread sheet. United's decision model had these buckets of information: the buyer's intuition, the seller's intuition, empirical data. Striking a balance between subjective data and objective data is important to good decision-making.

The 4P management system. It begins and ends with human beings... the people inside the organization. What happens inside is process that people create, evaluate, carry out. People-centered cultures have the people inside creating the process, form cultures that drives it. Processes then work and work well.

So people and process come first,
then the customers are treated like partners.
This extension of partnering directly propels performance.
The four P's = people, process, partnering, performance

Humility trumps pride.
Move toward what you want to become as a culture attitude. When you bask in past accomplishments pride is birthed and quickly leads to stunting growth. People focusing on pursuit of excellence, being the right kind of role models, emulating character, stiff arms pride and sustained growth becomes a power base.

The Bottom Line... not price and profits.
It's about choice and culture.

More on Dan J. Sanders, United Supermarkets CEO,
and The Center for Corporate Culture
http://www.danjsanders.com/
http://www.thecenterforcorporateculture.com/

Jesus was a servant leader.
In Lead Like Jesus, Ken Blanchard says that "servant leadership involves:
--setting the purpose and vision
--communicating a compelling picture of the future
--defining and modeling values, structure and behavior you want from people
--creating an environment of empowerment
--showing respect for everyone
--placing the growth and development of people on par with accomplishing the vision.
Jesus did all these things."
http://spiritsavvybiz.blogspot.com/2006/02/lead-like-jesus.html

Being a server is an honor and it has monumental benefits. Isaiah outlined the benefits of being a servant:
"These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the Lord:
Enlarge your house; build an addition.
Spread out your home, and spare no expense!
For you will soon be bursting at the seams.
With everlasting love I will have compassion on you, I will rebuild you with precious jewels.
I will teach all your citizens,
their prosperity will be great.
Whoever attacks you will go down in defeat.
In that coming day no weapon turned against you will succeed.
You will silence every voice raised up to accuse you.
My covenant of blessing will never be broken,"
(Isaiah 54, selected verses, NLT)

Jesus saw himself as the servant to the needs of mankind.
"For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many."
(Matthew 20:28, NLT)

He emphasized the role of the leader should be
"Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant."
(Matthew 20:26, NLT)

Serving is a very high calling. It mobilizes those we serve to greatness. A school principal once told me that he saw his role to serve his teachers to provide what they need to get the job done. He had a servant leader attitude in assisting those around him. Be willing to start out humbly in what God leads you into doing. He raises up the humble.

“Instead, take the lowest place at the foot of the table. Then when your host sees you, he will come and say, ‘Friend, we have a better place for you!’ Then you will be honored in front of all the other guests. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
(Luke 14: 10-11, NLT)

Serve and The Holy Spirit will raise you up. Jesus described the greatest role we have is to serve and these are people of greatness.

"The greatest among you must be a servant."
(Matthew 23:11, NLT)

A true servant spurs others on, they stir up the gifts of others and help them embrace the most phenomenal gifts possible... of a Super-natural level. These are specially inspired of Spirit origin, world transforming origin, that not only transform the person, but the world around them.

Servants inspire the discovering of Supernatural gifts, and mobilize their use as a person matures in them and grows in its power. Serving is not waiting on tables but stirring the heart of others. From the heart is the inspiration and motivation that moves matter around us. Spirit is the Heart serving.

Spirit created the universe and world we see.
Spirit moves matter.
Spirit is the heart of serving.
It's thoroughly transformational.