Heads or Tails?

Twice in Deuteronomy 28, we are told that we are the "head and not the tail."

This is a promise made by God to those of his people who have fulfilled the requirements of the Law. According to Matthew 5:17, the Lord Jesus fulfilled those requirements on our behalf. Ephesians 2 tells us that at one time, we Gentiles were "strangers from the covenants of promise" but now, in Christ, we are made "nigh." Because we are in Abraham's Seed, we are now partakers of the promises made to Abraham and to his children.

These promises of being the 'head" are for those of us who are in Christ.

Which begs the question, What does it mean to be the head? The head is the decision maker. The head is the leader. The head is above. The head is NOT the behind. It is not below. It is not a follower.

What?!?!

You heard me: The head leads, it doesn't follow. I believe that religion blinds our minds, binds our hands, and turns us into slaves, but true Christianity frees us. Religion turns us into followers. Christianity turns us into leaders.

We are kings after all.

I'm not saying that we should be rebellious. I'm not saying that we shouldn't follow orders. What I am saying is, STOP SITTING THERE LIKE A BUMP ON A LOG! You've been made free. You've been give the power to make choices, set courses, and lead men.

It's nice that you are a mild-mannered employee who never rocks the boat. It's wonderful that you follow every order to the 't.' But, you have been created to be MORE than that.

The choice is yours. Which will it be: Heads or tails?



What's your choice? Let me know!

Sliced Carrots

My boss let me go home early on Tuesday! It was a lovely, sunshine-y day and the phone wasn't ringing.

"Get outta here," he said, "You've been working really hard around here, and you should go spend some time with your family."

What a great guy!

"But," he added, "I expect you to work a couple of hours this Saturday. Got it?"

What a jerk!
I'm still reading The Carrot Principle. In the book, the authors talk about recognition as a means to increase employee satisfaction and retention, and profits.

However, there is a slight caveat that they mention. Most managers are 'Expecters' - that is, they give rewards with strings attached. They may give you a nice little reward, on Tuesday, but they also expect you to work late on Friday (or come in on Saturday morning). It's manipulation, not recognition.

And, it smacks of legalism and a wrong view of grace. It's giving with ulterior motives.

The other type of manager is the 'Altruistic' manager. They genuinely care about their employees, not just the bottom line. They get to know their employees, and want them to do well in their private lives and in their business lives. When these managers give rewards for attaining goals, they give without strings attached. The recognition is purposeful and given freely.

This kind of recognition is more like biblical grace. It is a gift freely given, and nothing else is required. It has a personal touch. It builds relationship and trust. It builds morale.

It should come as no surprise that when recognition of achievement is given altruistically, employee satisfaction goes through the roof (and profits go up, too), but when the same recognition comes piggy-backed on fear and manipulation, the employees see through it.

Take note! Grace changes the employee from the inside out, and produces a better company.


P.S. My brother mentioned a good example of this. The Altruistic manager says, "Thank you for doing such a wonderful job." The Expector says, "Thank you for doing such a wonderful job...keep it up!"

Whatcha think about that?

Rendering Honour & Employee Recognition

I've been listening to The Carrot Principle by Gostick and Elton. What a powerful book about employee recognition and its effect on business.

In their book, they mention studies that include over 200,000 people in dozens of countries, one-on-one interviews, and focus groups. And with all this research, they have discovered what the Bible says: Render honor to the person who deserves it! (Rom. 13:7)

Did you know that if a manager is good at the basic managerial techniques - goal setting, communication, accountability, trust building - he is still missing his most important tool if he doesn't know how to show appreciation to his workers?

Managers believe that employees want good pay and job security first and foremost, but the studies have shown time and again that employees really want to be appreciated and kept informed. Without purposeful recognition, employees leave their jobs in search of new ones where they will be appreciated; this employee turnover costs American business over $5 TRILLION every year!

Almost 70% of employees say that they were not shown any measurable appreciation last year!

However, in companies that emphasize recognition, both employee and customer satisfaction increases, productivity increases, and profit increases .

"Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour."

It's a simple thing but it goes a long way toward affecting your bottom line.

Wise Advice

When you open a new restaurant, don't invite the politicians, invite the cab drivers.

Principles of Small Business

For the past 4 years or so, I have worked for a couple of different small roofing businesses. Along the way, I have learned a few things that I think are worth passing along.

1. Never pay full price for advertising. Advertisers make a ton of profit off of every company that advertises with them; they can afford to cut the costs and 'show some love' in order to get your business. So, make nice, sweet talk, and never, ever pay full price.

2. You have not because you ask not. If you want the sale, ask for it. If you want the customer to give you a referral, ask for it. And, if you want those supplies at a lower cost, ask for it. My boss has been invited over for dinner and lunch by his customers simply because he is likable, and he asks!

Another good example: We had an magazine advertiser who was selling a particular spot for about $1500. The boss asked for a discount and got it down to $1300. We then asked for a further discount and got it down to about $1000. That's a good discount! Well, my boss said, just for fun, ask him to lower it another $300. We did it more or less for kicks, and just to see what he would say. (This was all taking place by email) We thought he'd get mad, but instead he emailed back that he had discussed it with his supervisor, and he would give us the ad at $700! The point: We asked.

3. Most people are generally lazy, so ask two or three times. Why? Because, they will try to take the lazy way out rather than checking, making the phone call, reading the directions, etc.

Here's an example: I called over to Lowe's, and asked to talk to someone about roofing shingles. I asked the guy on the other end a question,

"Do you carry such and such shingle?"
"Um, no. No, I don't think so."
"Are you positive that you don't have it?"
"Um, yeah." (I still didn't believe him.)
"Would you mind walking down the aisle and taking a look for me?"

Sure, there was a risk that I would tick him off, but when he came back, he had to admit that the item was in stock.

The same conversation works with bank tellers, delivery men, and employees!

4. Test and measure everything! At the small roofing and siding company that I work for, we keep track of everything: advertising costs, leads per promotion, jobs per promotion, conversion rates, trends, etc.

I know that last month my salesman was given X number of leads, and that he converted that number to Y number of jobs, and that this brought in Z amount of revenue.

I know that those leads came from two flyers, a postcard, Angie's List, and passing out a business card at a restaurant. I know exactly how much those ads cost the company to generate, and what the profit was per job. (I love bean counting!)

Why is this important? Well, for example, we almost dropped our radio advertising. We had spent about $8000 in advertising with a particular radio station, but we weren't getting very many leads for our money; the boss wanted to drop them. But, I figured out that we had brought in about $40,000 in revenue over the past year from the radio station leads. With our profit margin set at 20%, after paying for labor and materials, we had made $8000 for the year year . . . from a radio spot that cost us $8000 for the year. We weren't making a profit, but we weren't losing any either.

Where we had originally planned on dumping the radio spot altogether, but after seeing the numbers, we decided to keep the spot, and the branding exposure that came with it.

5. Hire a Mentor and do what they say! The first small business that I worked for hired a business mentor (for $50,000!), but didn't implement any of the action steps that were suggested. The mentor in question had built and sold something like four or five businesses himself!

The second small business, where I currently work, is at least trying to follow through with our coach's recommendations. We've written out vision statements, mission statements, 90-day plans, 3 month goals, etc.

The difference is that one business is doing well, and one was avoiding calls from collection agencies. The Scriptures say, "Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety" and "For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety." (Prov. 11:14, 24:6)

6. Get more training! It's the same reason that you hire a mentor: you don't know everything. So, when you think you know something, take another course on it. When you're an expert salesman, go to a seminar on 'closing the sale,' when you're an expert at roofing take a 'Top of the House' training class from Owens Corning. Never stop learning.

7. Frame it and hang it. Let others know about all this training that you've been getting.

I used to find it distasteful when I'd walk into someone's office and see a bunch of plaques on the wall. How egotistical, I thought. How self-promoting. Now, with my new boss, I've seen that he doesn't have to brag - the plaques do the talking for him. They are hanging in the foyer, and they say that he is a professional, he is well-trained, and he is knowledgeable.

The plaques are there to make sure nobody misunderstands his goofy side.

There are other lessons: Give the hourly employee opportunities to make more money (rewards and incentives), Give to charities and poor people, Spend more time on the hiring process so you don't have to fire them later on, Invest back into the business, and, Say, 'No' when you don't want the job, even if it will make you money.



What lessons have you learned from your job?

Labor Not to be Rich

Proverbs 23:4 gives some excellent advice for acquiring wealth. It says, "Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom."

We've seen that wealth is the fruit of a wise life, but we are to seek the root, not the fruit. Now, we see that laboring to get rich is the WRONG way to get rich. It seems like the right thing to do, but , as Solomon says, cease from thine own wisdom.

A study was done on a group of business owners. Some were in business because they loved what they were doing, some because they were very good at what they were doing, and some were in business for altruistic reasons - they enjoyed helping others through their business. Of these small business owners, 80% were still in business (and doing well) five years later.

Another group of business owners were in the business just to make a profit. They were laboring to be rich. They were more easily disenchanted. They made wrong business decisions, such as not investing in the 'ambiance' that customers enjoy because they viewed it as an unnecessary investment. The result? Only 20% were in business five years later.

What does this mean to us? God wants us to prosper. He also knows that life usually operates upside-down to how we think it operates, so he gives us instructions to help us out.

Listen to him. Enjoy your business. Be passionate, and others will be drawn to you.


What do you think?

The Universe is For Me

In Psalm 56:9, we find the declaration, "for God is for me." And Romans 8:31 ask, " If God be for us, who can be against us?"

God is on my side. The Creator is on my side. The One who yields all the power of the universe is on my side.

Think about that!


If the Creator is on my side, how could his creation be against me? If the Creator favors me, then certainly circumstances favor me! The universe blesses me because it is the tool of the Creator who blesses me.

"He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32) "For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us." (2 Cor. 1:20)

All created things work together for my good, because the Creator of all things is FOR me!