As Christian business leaders, the values we use to run our businesses impact everything. Our values have the potential to define our company culture. They guide our decision-making and drive our performance.
In our modern world, technology’s rapid evolution has changed many business sectors and practices. Communication is instant, production is faster, and digital tools for marketing, campaigning, and networking are more advanced than ever.
Facing business struggles, setbacks, conflicts, and hard financial times is something that business leaders and CEOs expect to experience.
I enjoy unhurried conversations where joys, hopes, dreams, and fears bubble to the surface of our often too-busy lives. As a pastor and frequent speaker on faith, work, and economics, I not only really like a bold cup of coffee but enjoy catching up with congregational members at a favorite coffee shop.
I’ve been through another season of funerals—8 in the past 3 months. Family, friends and business associates passed on and so I attended their memorial service or celebration of life, depending on their belief system. This now regular event gave me ample opportunity to pause and reflect on my own destiny, something that, I hope, you all do on occasion.
Interesting question and what difference does it make?
Many, many years ago Peter Drucker, considered the Father of Modern Management, recognized the shift from work done and perfected by repetition, skills through training, and quantifiable measurement to the "knowledge worker". Knowledge workers use their education, experience, and subject matter expertise to define alternative courses of action, make decisions, and take responsibilities for outcomes and expected contributions - much like executives do.
I had the distinguished privilege to study with Peter Drucker who is considered the Father of Modern Management. It is just over 30 years ago that I first met him in a very small class that he was leading. That said, I was introduced to his thinking through his writings years before that. The other night I was reflecting on the core things that he believed, taught, and yes, practiced.
The term “coaching” in today’s world has gotten very complicated and misunderstood. In my youth, a coach was the guy who yelled at you from the sidelines if you were in any kind of sport. Today, we hear about coaching in a wide variety of areas, such as sports, music, relationships, spiritual development, executive and even “life coaching” in general.
