When you consider giving...

Jeff Pelletier, "God's Work in Progress" As you think about giving, please consider giving to God's Work in Progress- We are dedicated to a workplace and careers where people can do their best work with "great" faith. We want a world in which mutual benefit is the focus in Business, Government and Education. Our radio program is the VOICE for these ideas and our foundation will create the programs to make this happen. If you want this kind of world, you can be part of making it true. www.gofundme.com/Godsworkinprogress

The Intentional God

God is a purposeful being.  He always acts intentionally, nothing in his being is random. You and I are created in his image. Should we live intentionally?  Yes we should . Since we are created in his image, in His Likeness, we are created to live intentionally. It is God's intention that we do so.

In fact, we always act intentionally in a sense. Everything we do is based on a conscious or unconscious choice has made.  We make these choices all the time.  These unconscious choices, these reactive choices, these decisions made "unaware" these are the ones I want you to consider.  (I'm not referring here to our involuntary auto-responses like breathing or our digestive systems.)

What I want you to consider are your unconscious decisions, things you choose to do reflexively or re actively that affect your joy. I want you to consider the idea of living life more intentionally.

Now that I have that established, there are two methods to be more conscious or intentional in how you live your life.

1. You can take control, look at each situation, take a rigorous inventory, evaluate the situation, come up with alternatives and make your choice, based on the facts and reason.You can set the goals that you want and achieve them. This is how many successful people live.

2.  You can learn and internalize your "Core Purpose" or Life's Work as we also call it.   By understanding, internalizing, and living according to God's Core Purpose for your life, you will also live intentionally, but you will do so using how God has made you for life. This purpose has two components both of which come from God as part of your "creation":
-  A Core Competence-an intrinsic ability that is at the foundation of all the other abilities you have.
-  A Core Passion- this is your primary concern in life. It is that outcome or "state" that is always on your radar.  Your Life's Work is found in applying your Core Competence to your Core Passion.  When you point what you are are really great at, towards what you really care about, you will live your most full and satisfying life.

If you devote that purpose towards HIS will, God will lead you down the paths of righteous  (Psalm 23) he has for you. He will show the works he has prepared in advance for you to do (Eph 2:10) He will provide wisdom and understanding. All you need to do is co-operate with Him.  

Both of these methods are effective. But your Core Purpose, understood and devoted to God's Work, will not only give you a full and satisfying life (John 10:10),  but that work, God's work, will also advance His plan for the Kingdom here on Earth. His Kingdom come, His will be done. This practice will produce a great Good, beyond what you can think or imagine. 

We conduct purpose events and provide career coaching  to help people to learn to do this.  Soon we will be offering the purpose event on-line. 

If you would like to support this effort go to-  www.gofundme.com/Godsworkinprogress


Jeff Pelletier, President
God's Work in Progress
jeff@righteousfreeenterprise.net 

We're on our Way- Come and join us!

Dear Friends,

It's been a while in coming but things worth doing are worth doing well. We have launched our non-profit. - "The Foundation for Excellence in Faith and Work". Now the real work of serving begins!

Will you help us?

Go to our fund-raising site to see how we plan to serve-

www.gofundme.com/Godsworkinprogress

God Bless You and your loved ones in 2013 and forward.
Thanks for your prayers and financial assistance! It means more than you know.

We can't do it with out you.

Jeff Pelletier, MA

What Kind of Colleague are You?

Often we measure ourselves in the work place by objective metrics. What is my title? Where does that title fit on the hierarchy of the corporate org chart? How many people report to me? Who is my superior, my subordinate, my peer? I’d like to suggest that you consider replacing these standards with the consideration of a far more interesting, telling and subjective question. What kind of colleague are you?

First, the reality of the objective questions above. They are a myth. Do you really think that people at work report to you? Do you really think that people consider themselves superior or inferior to you because of your position on an org chart? I learned long ago that leadership comes from inspiration rather than authority. Rather than focusing on rank within an organization, effectiveness I think is better measured by how good of a colleague we are.  For definitional perspective collegiality is working or acting together, willingly for a common purpose or benefit. You’ll note I’ve underlined willingly.

A look at how some of the great enduring religious orders conduct their business is illustrative. The Benedictines, Jesuits, and Franciscans all have similar mechanisms. Their leadership is selected often by consensus of their members. Try that one at a Fortune 100 company. Their leadership rotates so there is little risk of kingdom building. Most importantly, authority is invoked through a moral perspective rather than an org chart. Leadership has a responsibility to make sure that all members are engaged in meaningful work and are supported in that work. The essential ethos is we all have certain God given talents and aptitudes and are called to use them in a meaningful way. A true colleague enables that.

I am not suggesting a socialist order where we pretend that all are the same and should be treated as such. We are all unique and bring different faults and talents to the table A good colleague uses their talent to help, assist, motivate and improve their colleague. I’d much rather have someone say that I am good to work with rather than I am good to work for.  The difference is subtle yet profound. In short I’d rather be respected rather than feared. My guess is so would you.

By Bill Hickey-

©2012

bhickey59@hotmail.com

"Real" Clear Politics

Good politics and bad politics.  One is real the other fake.  I've capitalized Good because I mean the "higher" form of  Good, which comes from God. There is a distinct difference between these two as the opening line implies.  Unfortunately bad politics are the norm in many human groups. Whether it is friendship, a marriage, a family, business, school, government, and even church, secular politics (our sinful nature) seems to be "in play."  Bad politics are all about self protection, self advancement, and manipulation.  Politics as we practice it in government, business, churches, families and friendships is a self-centered debilitating, taffy-pull designed to get the "higher" ground over our "rival".  It is the Darwinian  natural selection in relationships. Watch the news or work for a living or attend some family gatherings and you know what I'm saying.


Any time people act in their SOLE self interest they are being greedy. It is great and good to act in your own interest, but not solely.  .  Paul talks about this when he writes to the Philippians- 

⁴ Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.) (Philippians 2:4). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

 

This is Paul giving us practical training in the Golden Rule. The idea of mutual benefit is a keystone to achieving a righteous, free-marketplace and one of our founding principles at God's Work in Progress. 

 

Good politics is the art of persuading people towards an ultimate truth or reality of understanding, which can then inform sound decision-making. This kind of politics is absolutely necessary.

 

We'll discuss this further in future posts. 

The Leadership Vacuum- Creating Draft

In racing the the follower car purposely travels close behind the "lead" car, as this creates an area of low pressure for the follower car.  The effect of this is that the follower car saves energy while traveling as fast as the lead car. The follower car at some point can actually use this "draft" or suction (hence the vacuum reference) to slingshot ahead of the lead car at some point.  When teams race they use this to their advantage to set each other up to win.

As the leader of your company or work group you have the opportunity to create this "draft" for those who follow you.  In companies and their work groups you create this draft  by you being just ahead of them.  "Just ahead" means one step ahead.  While you may see the big picture, you still only take that journey one step at a time. If you do this deliberately, people who report to you will feel the "draft" you're creating for them, and will see the benefit of following you. And they will line-up and join what you're doing, eagerly.  Their need to exert unnecessary energy will be decreased as they benefit from following you. They will feel this and they will follow.  And if you are successful at winning the race, they will follow again, and again.  And there will be some  followers who will, at a point in time, use the "draft" your create to slingshot ahead of you and win their own race. This is called succssion....and is also a good thing, if you see it that way. Of course the timing is something the team should agree on, out of respoect for the team and the cause and the leader.

The world needs more great companies. Great Leaders are the key. 

Jeff Pelletier
www.becomingggreat.com
www.Godsworkinprogress.net
www.facebook.com/righteousenterprise

Getting over the Hump at Work

I was meeting with someone who had been recently "demoted" because of duplicate responsibility. He also just celebrated the birth of a son. So on the stress meter he was high. This transferred to depression on the job. He basically quit and stayed. I met with him and told him MY story which I won't go into here, but it was similar. New baby and job LOSS for me. I just related how I felt when

it happened, how the extreme burden of needing to provide weighed on me etc.

 

I then presented to him the idea, that although God cares deeply about what happens to us, and is with us in our suffering...he also really cares about what we do NEXT. Because what we do NEXT affects what happens next. We really do have power. I also talked a bit about how I've learned that every situation in life is an opportunity. And we should seek to take advantage of opportunities. Then we prayed/. The short story is that two days later I got an email with thanks that was full of determination. Somehow my ministry had an effect. I think it was the prayer. :)

Jeff Pelletier
LIKE us on Facbook 

Pareto's Law- and Poverty

The Pareto principle (also known as the 80–20 rule, the law of the vital few, and the principle of factor sparsity) states that, for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.^[1][2]
Business-management consultant Joseph M. Juran suggested the principle and named it after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who observed in 1906 that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population; he developed the principle by observing that 20% of the pea pods in his garden contained 80% of the peas.^[2]
It is a common rule of thumb in business; e.g., "80% of your sales come from 20% of your clients". Mathematically, where something is shared among a sufficiently large set of participants, there must be a number k between 50 and 100 such that " 'k'% is taken by (100 − k)% of the participants". The number k may vary from 50 (in the case of equal distribution, i.e. 100% of the population have equal shares) to nearly 100 (when a tiny number of participants account for almost all of the resource). There is nothing special about the number 80% mathematically, but many real systems have k somewhere around this region of intermediate imbalance in distribution.^[3]
The Pareto principle is only tangentially related to Pareto efficiency, which was also introduced by the same economist. Pareto developed both concepts in the context of the distribution of income and wealth among the population.-  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_principle

The key for you as a business owner or manager is to understand how to utilize this principle to your organization's best advantage.  The idea of Pareto is that there is a "natural" distribution of effectiveness, impact, resources, etc that is always in play.  On the face this looks like it should tell us to just chill out because there is only so much to go around.  But this it is not the truth.

President Kennedy is credited with saying that "a rising tide lifts all boats."   His point was that if you raise the sea level      all the boats on the ocean benefit and some that have run aground will be set asea, to navigate again.

So while Pareto's law is true it is also relative.  For example 80% of the people in poverty in the United States have air conditioning in their homes and a smart phone, 50% have cars.  So Pareto's law is true here, but the tide is higher than in Asia and Africa where the people in poverty live on a dollar a day. The Pareto's distribution is still true but the "grade" is different.   But if we can raise the sea level, we can change what we call poverty and by this last definition, eliminate it.  It begins with each person knowing what their life's work is and then seeking the "works" that God has prepared for them to do; (Eph 2:10) to find and live the "plans" He has for them to prosper them and not harm them-  (Jer 29:11,12).  And by employing the Core Purpose that God has given us, by FINDING it (a free tool is coming to help you.), you raise the TIDE for every one and re-define what we now call poverty.

But back to business .....So how does understanding Pareto help you with your business?  Let's take people.  20% of the people create 80% of the improvement. So if you focus, through a strong Selection Process,  on continuously improving the Competence, Character and Chemistry of the people you select for your company, and who you promote within your company.Visit our consulting blog at Becoming Great! to learn more

The American Opportunity

 

 

 

The American Opportunity- I've worked really hard the last 15 years. Took out a student loan (at 45) to get a graduate degree, (Seminary) and paid it off in two years. I got a non government job that combined my desire to serve God and help people. Eight years ago I started my own business after being laid off. I'm getting ready to start another one at 60, (the radio program). I drive on roads I

helped pay for, in a car that is paid off."I kill what I eat". 

 

I get no vacation pay, no holiday pay, no 401-k, no sick days. But I do own all the stock in my company, but then I'm assuming ALL of the risk. This is not to brag or to say that anyone should do what I've done. It is to say this " It is like planting a seed. You plant it...you water it..it sprouts..........you weed it, you protect it you nourish it...you harvest. You feel great. And if you're smart...you realize that you did your part, but you didn't make anything grow. "Something" else causes the growth and the harvest...somehow what you planted grows.. "Somehow"..... And its NOT the government. The best government can do is to watch the game being played, call the fouls, and protect the freedom to do it. If it does more it starts to do harm. THAT is what the American opportunity is about. Then comes a harvest, sometimes big, sometimes not. Because the harvest, is a harvest of more than you think.. its way more than you think. The idea of the risk...of having that chance...and that you MIGHT fail.....builds character...if you're honest about the process.

 

Jeff Pelletier

jeff@righteousfreeenterprise.net

https://www.facebook.com/righteousenterprise

 

 

Prayer at Work

Two days ago I got a call from an employee at a client of mine for our consulting practice. As part of the organization's development,  I am developing him as a Master Trainer who will then equip and certify Trainers in this workplace.  He called me to tell me that he would be late for a session we were co-leading because he had to go to the Dr with his wife, as her pregnancy was not progressing in a manner consistent with its length--- the baby was smaller than it should be. This brought all kinds of concerns from  them as a couple and the Dr. thought they better have an advanced form of x-ray and an amnio-fluid test.  So when he told me I said to him,  " I'll be praying for you".  His response was very grateful.  I felt the unction to go further. "Can I pray for you right now?"  Now this might not seem like much of a risk, but it is,  especially if you find yourself in a secular company, talking to someone whose faith you have no idea about.   Mike's response was "yes, please do".  So I prayed the prayer God led me to pray and nothing more.  I could sense the Holy Spirit "on" it and so could Mike.  After a short pause he said "thank you so much, that really helped a lot."   Two days later I got an email-  "The Baby's OK!". was in the subject line.  In that mail, Mike went on about how much he and his wife appreciated the prayer, and how much they loved God.  He had been a believer all along, I just needed to do "the work that prepared in advance for me to do." -  Eph 2:10.  Please post any comments or similar stories in the comments section.

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jeff@righteousfreeenterprise.net

IS THIS REALLY TRUE?

Below is very well done rating of a company I found on Careerbliss.com . 

My question for you is this-  Do YOUR managers "have a clue"?  Please post your comments.

Thanks and may God bless the work of your hands!

"Overall Bliss: Average"

Lowe's Review by Team Member in Olin, NC on August 11, 2009

3.2

What do you like about working at Lowe's?

To start off the pay is not that bad. You will start out with 10.75 and increase 50 cents every 6 months. There is a top pay set at 13.75 which is the bad part, but you do get performance pay or bonuses every month depending on your performance score. This bonus can range from $30 to $300 or more a month depending on the hours worked that month.

What don't you like about working at Lowe's?

I stated a little bit in the previous section as far as the top pay. Also working in other departments consecutively, I hate it. Lowes does move its team members around often especially if work is slow. Winters are ice cold and summers are blazing hot, this is no joke, but what do you expect, it's a warehouse. Another thing, if you like working over time then this is the place for you, otherwise you gonna pay when spring comes because its mostly mandatory to work.

What suggestions do you have for management?

Get rid of the managers that dont have a clue. I hate when a manager asks me what do you think we should do. YOU'RE THE MANAGER, YOU TELL ME.

Do you have any tips for others interviewing with this company?

The main tip is if you have a criminal record, just let them know. I'm not to sure about felonys but I do know quite a few people that have misdemeanors and are working

Passion AND Competence= Core Purpose

Many people talk about the importance of passion as the key to your life's purpose.

However Strength-Fimders as an example also focuses on competence.

Neither one alone...is enough.  BOTH are given by God,  and required for your most effective life.

Here are two videos:

This video is about someone who has passion, but obviously lacks competence.

Be sure to come back and watch the other video- which shows someone who is BOTH highly competent and passionate.  The difference is astounding no?  Leave your comments.

Righteous, Free Enterprise

Our freedom comes from God, and from being created in His image and likeness. The evidence for this is our free thought.  No one, not even God can control your mind.  Because we think freely, we have the "right" to express our thoughts with speech and behavior, such as spoken and written words, music, dance, sculpture, buildings, gardens, inventions, innovations, roads, bridges, homes, cars, etc etc.   We have the "right" to own the fruit of our labor-  As God said to Adam after he placed him in the garden to work, "you may eat (partake) of any tree in the garden", as a reward for his labor. God made the world, and gave it to mankind, and said that as we work in it, we have the right to keep or manage what our work produces.

Soon mankind realized that he could not provide everything his\her mind was capable of, completely on his own.  So he enlisted workers and paid them so he could produce more. Others realized that their talents were valuable for making things that others needed, so they began to make them and trade what they had in exchange for the things other people made or had,  that they needed.  And POOF!

Free Enterprise was born!

With Israel ascension into the promise land, God gave us insight into how these exchanges were to be conducted.  In the Law  and in places like Proverbs he gave strict instruction about how we should treat each other in trade, and this included the poor.

God provided a moral "context" for our trading and buying and selling.

He gave us the Ten Laws, and then Torah, and then summed them all up with TWO.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.....and Love your neighbor as (in the same manner) you love yourself.

He also gave us a principle that is particularly helpful in all ways in business, education and government-

Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you... This is a practical instruction of the second Great Commandment.

These three powerful principles:

1. Love God
2. Love your Neighbor
3.  The Golden Rule.....
together are the foundation for what I call "Righteous, Free Enterprise."

jeff@righteousfreeenterprise.net
www.facebook.com/righteousenterprise
twitter.com/godswork123
http://www.linkedin.com/in/godsworkinprogress

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Core Life's Purpose

NT Wright is a "mentor" of my work with Life's Core Purpose, even though we have never met. I would love to have him on the show and will seek to make that happen as we come back on the air. Here is a short video of Dr Wright explaining exactly what I say in our seminar about the POWER of Core Purpose and why God gives it to us. Your Life's Core Purpose is your unique contribution to the world.  As I said I say this in our seminar and he and I have never met. Enjoy!

NT Wright on a full satisfying life- 

Jeff Pelletier
jeff@righteousfreeenterprise.net

Ambassadors of the Kingdom

²⁰ We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God

The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.) (2 Co 5:20). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

 If you own a business or manage one, if you work in one, you are an Ambassador of Christ.  An Ambassador is a representative of the authority of the "state" or government he\she represents.  As such, an Ambassador has all the rights and authority of that government no where he-she goes.  As you go forward in your work, whether you manage  or own a company that has Christian Values or if you do so in a secular company seeking to find its way (all of them are), be mindful, and sober-minded, about who you are. Even though you are truly an Ambassador, come to the job understanding who you are in relation to Who you represent.

First be mindful of how you represent the Kingdom with your customers.  Jesus was most importantly empathetic to those he reached out to. As you reach out to your customers, do so with their best interests at heart, listening to their trials, with an ear towards how your company and its products can help them.  By being empathetic to them you can  "hear" their underlying needs that your company can help them achieve. 

If you manage in  a secular company, make it your focus to build-up  your organization. Focus on hiring people who are "like-minded", who will bring excellence to their work with all due humility, whose light will shine from who they are and their willingness to serve with excellence. This will make your light even brighter and you will begin to transform your company and then the world. 

More, later.

Jeff

Let's Be Clear about Purpose in the Bible

First- the Bible is very clear and direct about this subject-  God KNOWS you are purpose driven.  He is purpose driven and we are created in His Image and Likeness.  There are many many verses that demonstrate God and we are purposeful. We are teleological- and so is God. We SEEK.

As you may have noticed, much is being written and represented about this idea of  having a Life's Purpose, ever since Rick Warren's book.

But most of the purpose tools or discovery processes are not based on the Bible, they are based on someone's opinion.  And they tend to focus either on Competence (like strength-finder) or Passion- what "drives" us.  The truth about Core Purpose is that BOTH of these are the answer and the Bible tells us so.

The Bible, thank God, is its own source of truth, it is THE truth and the measure (canon) of all other truth.

There are many many verses that prove the existence of purposeful action.  But two stand out-

Eph 2:10-  You are God's workmanship (crafted unique thing), created (individually) in Christ Jesus, to do GOOD WORKS, that he created (specifically) for you, to do (literally to live out).

This verse informs our Core Competence-  we are created specifically, with certain skill and talent, core skill and talent, that inform and fuel everything we do in life.  Because God has a LIFETIME of work for us to do. God does NOT set us up to fail-  He gives us works to do that we CAN do. Core Competence,


The other passage that proves our Core Purpose is this:

Psalm- 37:4-6      
      4    Delight yourself in the Lord

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

⁵     Commit your way to the Lord;

trust in him and he will do this:

⁶     He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,

the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

This passage points to our Core Passion-  A cause or desire that GOD places on your heart, that guides what your Core Competence and which we should be pointed towards, in EVERY situation of life.

So to be clear-  Your Core Life's Purpose is this:

No matter what situation you are in- No matter what God calls you to do-

Apply your Core Competence and point it at the Core Passion (or outcome) that you care most about.  When you live this way...you will be effective in your life- Effectiveness is this- Doing the RIGHT thing...Right