The Extra Mile

     It has been said that there are no traffic jambs on the extra mile because so few elect to travel there.

     Not long ago Barb and I were dining at a local restaurant with my son and his wife when all of a sudden the manager showed up with a luscious dessert for the four of us.  It was on the house, he indicated, having learned we were there to celebrate Barb’s birthday.  A short while later the waiter brought out our bill, and - to our surprise – $40 had been deducted from the total!  “The manager wanted you to have that,” he stated.  Needless to say, we will certainly patronize that place again!

     Outside of that instance I had to think long and hard as to whether I had ever been the recipient of something extra like that, over-and-above what was expected, and I couldn’t recall another occasion.  I even asked Barb, and she couldn’t think of one either.  I believe that’s because there are not many willing to go beyond the norm.  In fact, these days you have to check to make sure you’re getting what you paid for to begin with!

     What do I mean by the “extra mile”?  It is a valuable principle that derives from a statement made by the world’s greatest teacher, Jesus Christ, who said,

 

          “Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two” (Matthew 4:41). 

 

     In other words,   do more than you are required to do.  Anyone can do what they are supposed to do, but it the rare person or company that goes a step further and does more than is expected of them.  It is the difference between average and excellent, the good and the great. 

     Of course there are risks involved.  One such hazard is the person who takes advantage of your generosity, expecting more from you than you are willing or able to give.  After all, even the smallest gestures have costs associated with them.  Another is the individual or entity who compels you to go two or three miles – what do you do then?

     I have to admit there have been times when I have retracted from applying this principle for these very reasons.  In the long run, however, I am convinced that it is the little things that add value to your organization, that keep customers coming back. 

     Pastor and author Dave Williams recently stated that ”the second mile is short compared to the benefits at the end of that mile.”  The truth is that there will never be any want of opportunity for the company that is committed to exceeding expectations.  These are the businesses that will thrive regardless of economic conditions.  Some companies will cut corners and at the same time try and make you think you got what you paid for.  Others will simply deliver on their promises.  A few others, however, will go above and beyond the call of duty, adding that small extra touch that makes you want to call on them again and again.

     I want my company to be one of the latter.   

Against All Hope

     In his business classic, Good to Great, author Jim Collins recounts the remarkable story of Admiral Jim Stockdale, the highest ranking U.S. military officer to be imprisoned during the Vietnam War.  Tortured over 20 times during his eight-year imprisonment, Stockdale is quoted as saying, “I never lost faith in the end of the story.  I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade.”

     The title of the chapter – one I’ve read many times – conveys its central theme: “Confront the Brutal Facts (Yet Never Lose Faith).”  In other words, you don’t deny your present circumstances; but you don’t accept them as final.  Stockdale continued, “You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end – which you can never afford to lose – with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”

       This is an important message for us all.  Rarely are things the way we want them to be.  In many cases the truth of our situation gives cause to fanciful delusions on the one hand, or a throwing in of the towel on the other.  Ironically, it was the optimists who never made it out of the infamous Hanoi Hilton.  These were the ones who refused to face the facts and made baseless claims of impending release.  Tragically for them the day never came.

       There is another historical figure that faced a similar challenge.  Being the recipient of an extraordinary promise made to him by God, the Hebrew Abraham anticipated a son, upon whom the promise rested. Yet the years passed by and the time came when neither he nor his wife, Sarah, were physically capable of having children.  The apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans recounts Abraham’s posture:

        ”Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed . . . Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead – since he was about a hundred years old – and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver. . .” (Romans 4:18-20).
 
        The reality is that many people’s hopes and dreams are being shattered these days. Long-standing companies are going bankrupt, investments are disappearing, and jobs are being lost.  Others are severely tested in other ways.  These are the brutal facts.  Yet they needn’t be final, providing we believe that we can and will prevail in the end – even if there seems to be no basis for doing so.  Like Jim Stockdale and the biblical figure Abraham, we’ve got to have faith in the “end of the story.”

It’s Not the Economy, Stupid!

     I remember well the campaign slogan of the Clinton era – “It’s the economy, stupid!”     Its basic message was that most of us had it  wrong; that it wasn’t about politics, policies, competence, or character.  It wasn’t about abortion, gun control or the definition of marriage.  It was all about money, yours and mine, and how all around bad it was.    (Interestingly, those look like the good old days now.)  Today, it is the same tired mantra; but the more I think about it, it’s not about money per se; and it is not the economy. 

     To be sure, my company and I have been affected by the economic downturn; I am challenged as much as other small business owners.  But I believe the root cause of our problem lies well below the surface of interest rates, credit availability, taxes and regulation.  It’s does not have to do with economics; it has to do with how we view economics – our attitude towards money and how it plays out in real time.

     It has been said that people don’t have money problems, it’s how they think about money, how they handle it, and what they do with it that are the real issues.  Here are some things I have identified as being underlying causes of our economic woes:

 Entitlement.  By this is meant the mentality that we have certain rights to things – economic, material or otherwise – regardless of whether or not we qualify for them, have earned them, or whether they are good for us or not.  This attitude permeates our culture, rich and poor alike.   The reality is that, by our own Constitution, our rights extend to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. They do not extend to things, but the freedom to pursue things.  Thus happiness is not assured; its pursuit is. Compounding the effects of this mindset is a government that plays to it.

Debt.  There was a time when there were no credit cards; if you didn’t have the money, you didn’t have the money, and you either saved for what you wanted or you didn’t get it.  The problem with debt is that it presumes upon the future; either you believe that things will stay the same or get better, or you don’t care.  This kind of thinking has a lot of folks foreclosing on their homes, working multiple jobs to keep up with minimum balances, or filing for bankruptcy.  Certain types of debt can be useful, but for the most part it creates a false sense of prosperity, causing many to live beyond their means, often resulting in financial failure for both people and nations.

Sloth.  There is a biblical proverb which goes like this: “He who is slack in his work is brother to him who destroys.”  In other words, laziness is not a good thing. Being an employer for 35 years, I think I have seen everything.  But one thing I have noticed recently is an overall change in people’s attitude towards work.  The prevailing mentality is do as little as possible for as much as possible, retiring as soon as possible so we can continue to do as little as possible.  And then complain about how bad the economy is.  “All hard work brings a profit,” is another saying.  It seems to me that there are few problems that cannot be solved by plain old hard work.

Charity.  “As you sow, so shall you reap.”  This is a truth the nation’s farmers understand, but it escapes most everyone else.  History teaches there is a cycle to all great nations, and part of that cycle is that they go from abundance to selfishness.  Though Americans are the most generous of the world’s peoples, their level of charitable giving pales with their level of income.  Perhaps the answer to our economic woes is to take a larger chunk of what we do have and support those who have less – and I don’t mean the forced redistribution of wealth.  I mean freely giving to meet the needs of others, through the local church, charitable organizations, or directly to those less fortunate than we are.  I have found that the more you give the more your get; benevolence always pays off in the long run.

 In summary, the nation’s economic situation is real and it affects all of us.  However, the answer is not adding fuel to the fire by increased entitlement programs and debt, but by fostering a culture of generosity and hard work.

Regress – or, Progress?

     A question we all need to be asking ourselves these days is whether we’re going to buy into the mentality of fear, lack, bailouts, and bankruptcy.  Or, if what is going on around us simply represents great opportunity; challenges that if overcome will move us forward to becoming the individuals and companies we want to be.  Will we cower in fear and pull back?  Or, will we lurch forward with determination?

     Borrowing from a good friend of mine, Kevin Berry, I’d like to present three things that will enable us to move beyond being just survivors to becoming victors in this present economy.  I should say too that these three actions can apply to any area of life, not just business.

1) Look up.  I know it’s not politically correct but it’s what virtually everyone does when they’re in a tight spot, and that is pray.  Surveys consistently show that most folks pray on a regular basis, and I guarantee they pray when in trouble.  So the first and best thing to do when facing the challenges of the day – individually or corporately – is to pray.  When we do this we’re taking our eyes off ourselves and our circumstances, and placing them squarely where they ought to be to begin with:  on God, who is quite capable of providing aid in the most difficult of situations.  History is replete with examples of men and women, including the most prominent, who turned to God in times of distress only to find a listening ear and a helping hand.  So the fist step toward progress is to look up, pray, and expect God to answer.  And we must not forget to give thanks when help arrives, directing it to the One who provided it!

2) Hook up.  There is a Proverb that says, “In the multitude of counselors there is safety.”  Another states, “Without counsel, plans go awry, but in the multitude of counselors they are established.”  All of which is to say there is no substitute for good advice.  The second thing we must do then – if we want to progress, is to hook up with others who, by virtue of their character and experience, can help us through to the next level.  This might be on a one-to-one level with a trusted business associate, a paid coach or consultant, or perhaps the context of a group of others whose collective wisdom exceeds yours.  Too, the value of listening to seminars on your CD or MP3 player cannot be discounted.  The idea is to connect with others that can help you.  In fact, oftentimes answered prayer comes in the form of other people.  So look up to God and hook up with others.

3) Keep up.  More often than not, our individual battles are won by pure and simple perseverance.  We never know when the next breakthrough is coming, and if we give up we may never find out.  How many successes have not been realized by people who have quit just short of the finish line? The idea of quitting ought not to be entertained for a moment! Unfortunately, the business climate is such that, not only are we sometimes tempted to give up, but the legal system in the United States seems to encourage it.  After all, why keep going – with all the attendant risk and potential for failure – when you can walk away and be protected from your creditors?  But “Quitters never win, and winners never quit.” So then, the only way out of this economic predicament is through it.  It’s a race that can and will be won – not by the fainthearted or easily discouraged, but by those who are determined to move forward with endurance.   

     In summary, then, ours is a choice as to whether we will regress – shrink back, even give up - or progress – move forward toward our goals and aspirations.  Remembering and acting on these three principles, look up, hook up, and keep up, will help us do just that.

Beyond the Buck

Booker T. Washington once stated that the essence of success is not goals met or achievements made, but the obstacles overcome in the process.  For the entrepreneur, then, this means there is more to small business than just making money.  There are intangibles that  – in the long run - can be worth far more than the bottom line.      

     Take for example the impact you can have on others.  I believe it was 1983-84 when I heard the late Bob Klineman (RBK Building Materials) speak.  He had recently been recognized by the local chamber for his accomplishments, and was placing the praise where it belonged – to God.  What inspired me was a comment he made about the ‘bully pulpit’ – that is, the platform you have as a business owner for influencing others.  What an incredible opportunity we have to add value to lives of our employees, customers, and vendors!  

     Closely related are the life long relationships that are forged through the venue of business.  While there are too many to list, one such relationship in my case was with a man named Jim Russell (RBF, Inc.).  Russell, who passed away in 2005, took me “under his wing” in 1985, and for the next two decades poured into my life the things he had learned in the corporate world.  Not only that, but he and his lovely wife, Phyllis, became the closest of friends, inspiring us by their faith, love, and good works.  I will forever be indebted to Jim for the positive influence he had on me and my family, not to mention, my company.

     And then there is the issue of character.  Being in business can make you a saint or a crook, depending on how you choose to fulfill the role.  There is ample opportunity for doing what is right or doing what is wrong – and plenty of occasions for that gray area in between.  I’ve met men whose accomplishments made them greedy and proud, forgetful of how they got there and who helped them along the way.  Then there are others whose dreams have been dashed and their lives devastated by failure.  Character is the stuff of which we are made; it’s what we do with what happens to us. It is the choices we make when under the gun. Being an entrepreneur can make you a better person – or, it can destroy you.

     Finally, there is charity.  All too often successful organizations are criticized for making money.  And the rich are vilified for being so. Yet rarely are their contributions to the welfare of others recognized.  Without benevolence, without philanthropy, where would the funds come from for fighting cancer, providing for the homeless, or feeding the hungry?  Charity is the greatest motive for success; we make it so that others might make it too.  Personal and corporate achievement paves the way for others to advance in life as well.

     This is where the buck comes in.  Earnings are not just ends, but the means to greater good.  Income not only provides for corporate growth and advancement, but for those organizations that rely on the generosity of others for their support.  All benefit, and the sum total of the positive is far greater than the dollar that drives it. 

     Way beyond the buck.

Why the Detroit Lions Don’t Win

     I am not a sports fan but happened to be watching the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day.  My son John, who is a sports fan, was watching with me.  I asked him:  “Why is it that the Pistons win, the Redwings win, and the Tigers can win, but the Lions never win?”

      The response he gave was one I could be thankful for.  He is a finance guy, and the issue, he said, really boiled down to money.  The owners simply don’t pay to get the talent they need.  For sure, they have one or two outstanding players, but they need a team of outstanding players.  That they don’t have. 

            Whether this is correct or not, I don’t know; but what I do know is the principle I got from that brief discussion: If you want to be a winning team, you’ve got to have a winning team. Put another way, if you want to win you must have a team of winners.  Not just one or two.  Not half the team – the whole team.

            This point was brought out by Jim Collins in his best-selling book, Good to Great.  His analysis of great companies – winning companies – was that they had the right people ‘on the bus.’  In fact, he said that before you do anything else, you’ve got to have the right people in the right place on the bus.  In other words, you’ve got to have a bus full of winners.

            Most small business owners are a work in progress.  I don’t know of any who want to lose.  At the same time, there are certain things the entrepreneur must do in order to develop a winning team. 

            First, you’ve got to have the right attitude.  Arguably, the ownership and management of the Detroit Lions don’t care whether they win or not.  This may be debatable, but its truth is apparent in that they rarely ever win.  Compare that with other franchises whose sole aim is the Super Bowl – every year!  The point is, you’ve got to want to win; losing is simply not an option.

            Second, you must act. The desire to succeed is one thing; doing what is necessary is another.  Developing a team of winners may require that you make some hard choices. Decisions such as rates of pay and benefits, training, providing proper resources, plus trimming non-productive people all play into the process of building a group of men and women who can make it in the marketplace.

            Third, there needs to be a culture of winning.  No one likes to lose, and few like to play on losing teams.  In this culture of winning, everything in the organization is geared toward ending the game with the highest score.  Every policy, every program, every tool, every role, every keystroke of the computer, all is designed to play its strategic part in coming out on top. 

            Somehow I don’t think the Detroit Lions have got hold of these basic truths. If they did, imagine the excitement their long-discouraged fans would exhibit.  Imagine the excitement of winning virtually every single time.  Wow!

Why Jesus was Born on Christmas Day

It=s easy to forget that the person whose birth date we celebrate December 25, 2008, came for a purpose.  And while I may be saying things that have been said before, I would be remiss if I didn’t recall the reason why this child whom they named Jesus appeared on the scene some 2,000 years ago.

The answer is simple.  It was for guys like me.

You see, I am one of the people this child, when he grew up and became a man, said he came to seek out and save.  AIt is not the healthy who need a doctor,@ Jesus said, Abut the sick.@

An accurate description for a man who despaired of life and had no hope of it ever getting better.  A man who knew he needed God but rejected Christianity and wanted nothing to do with this purported >son= of God.

Yet, for reasons perhaps I=ll never know, I was wanted by him, and somehow, by means even more mysterious, he was able to persuade me that his ways were better than mine, and that what I really needed was a relationship with him.

It was a relief I must say, to realize there was help for this illness I suffered, this disease of the heart.  The cure was this Christ I had resisted.  But now I welcomed him.

What would compel a man who was said to be the savior of the world to come for a person like me? 

He came because he was compelled by love. 

It was because God loved the world that he sent his son.  Christ so loved God that he came.  Both knew that my deepest need was love.

What an amazing love it is.  Why else would one by whom and for whom the heavens were made and the earth sent spinning in space condescend to such a low estate?

Why would he who was eternal and immortal confine himself to a body that grew hungry and thirsty and felt pain and sorrow and joy?

 Why would such royalty stoop to hay and rubble and the smell of animals at the time of his birth? 

Why else would this all-powerful being live in relative obscurity for thirty years, knowing who he was and what he came to do, yet keeping it secret until the time came for him to be revealed.

Why else would this one who could call down legions of angels in his defense allow wicked men to beat him and nail his tattered body to a tree?

Why else would this one of a kind allow himself to be cut off from his Father, from whom he received direction for every word and step? AMy God, why have you forsaken me?@ he cried from the cross.

I tell you that he did it because of love, and he did it for me.

But that=s not all.   Not only was he born on Christmas day to die for sorry souls like Terry Hart, he came to tell us of a new order, a heavenly one.  AThe kingdom of God has arrived,@ he said. AYou must change your hearts and minds and believe the good news!@ (Mk. 1:15, Phillips)

His was a call to people who wanted something better and who recognized their ways to be so far from those of God=s that only a miracle could bridge the distance.  This is what this God in man=s body came to do. 

His was a kingdom Anot of this world,@ the government of which would be his responsibility.  He was called AWonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.@  His kingdom would grow and grow and never come to an end.

All this love, all this purpose, all this power, wrapped up in a tiny babe, whose mother and father gathered >round on a cold winter=s night in a manger because there was no room for them at the inn.

All this, for a man like me, who could never dream of such riches in a million years.

This is why Jesus came.  This is why I remember the day he was born.

The Change We Really Need

    We kept hearing during the presidential campaign the mantra of change - not a small attraction for those who were fed up with the current state of things, and a common call to youthful idealism.  And now we are getting a glimpse of what that change will be – all three branches of government controlled by the same party, an administration comprised largely of previous and liberal politicians, and an approach to ruling that has a definite socialist bent.

     The change we really need, however, is of a different sort.  It is not political per se, but it will affect one’s views on politics.  It is not financial, although it will put us in the right concerning money.  And it is not ideological, but it will direct our thinking as to how things ought to be.  The real change required to make our lives and our country better is one of the heart, and it is referred to in the Bible as repentance.

     Repentance in the holy writ is really twofold.  In one testament it means to change course, go a different direction, change your behavior.  In the other, written in the Greek language, it denotes  a change of mind, a change of thinking.  And both meanings indicate moving away from one thing, and toward another.

     “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” were among the first words of Jesus the Christ.  Before him, the prophet John the Baptist was saying the same thing.  And Jesus, upon sending out his first missionaries, instructed them to preach the exact message.  All throughout the the Bible, and especially the New Testament, and right to the very end, this message is repeated, both to Christians and the Church, and to those outside the church.

     It is a message we all need to hear once again.

     The apostle Paul, speaking in Athens at the time, told his audience that God was now commanding all men to repent, because he had appointed a day on which they would be judged.  The point being that, regardless of whether we agree or not, there is forthcoming a judgment, whereupon we all shall give account of ourselves to God.  A good reason, I believe, to make sure our heads and our hearts are in the right place.

     But it isn’t just future judgment we should be concerned about – and this is what I am aiming at.  It is our present situation that warrants our attention.  Call it what you may, but the current financial crisis could well be a clarion call to us to make a drastic change – a change as to where we put our trust, whose drum beat we march to, and where our affections lie.

     The change the Bible calls for is one in which we shun our reliance upon ourselves, our elected officials, and the almighty dollar, and direct it instead to the living God – the God who has told us in the Bible how we ought to live, and who says with longing in his heart, “repent or perish.”  It is a change were we leave our worthless idols of money, material goods, and false security, and turn instead to the One to Whom our forefathers went in times of trouble, and Who gave us all these things to begin with.

    Indeed, unless we heed the call to go back to our roots – and I mean our Christian roots, I fear our going forward, that we shall have to learn our lesson the hard way.  And it will be very, very hard.

For Openers. . .

Those of us who are Christians – and many non-Christians for that matter – make the mistake that we have God pegged, all figured out; that we know what He is going to do and when He is going to do it and how He is going to get it done.  What foolishness!  Even the apostle Paul did not presume to know fully the mind and ways of God.  So should we?

This is what Paul concludes after he has just laid out God’s extrordinary plan for His people Israel:

“O the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unfathomable (inscrutable, unsearchable) are His judgments (His decisions)!  And how untraceable (mysterious, undiscoverable) are His ways (His methods, His paths)!  For who has known the mind of the Lord and who has understood His thoughts, or who has (Iever) been His counselor?  For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things (For all things originate with Him, and come from Him, all things live through Him and all things center in and tend to consumate and to end in Him).  To Him be glory forever! Amen” (Romans 11:33-36, Amplified).

This puts things in perspective.  While I firmly believe a person can know the will of God for his or her life, I have also learned from experience that we don’t always get it right, we don’t always get full disclosure, it doesn’t always play out the way we think it will.  Ultimately, God knows precisely what He is going to do, when and how – and He’s not necessarily obligated to tell us!  Our job is to trust Him.