Ultimate Power Source
By: Mark Whitaker
One of the most well known of Jesus’ parables is the Parable of the Prodigal Son. A father has two sons, one of which asked for an advance on his inheritance. He then ventures out into the wicked world to indulge in all sorts of worldly pleasures until he runs out of money. With nowhere else to go and head hung low, he returns home to beg for his father’s mercy.

As the parable goes, his father is overjoyed at his son’s return and orders the boy’s brother to get him cleaned up with new clothes and to prepare a feast for him. Understandably, the brother can’t believe that his father was not only allowing the prodigal, or wreckless, son to return to him after wasting all of his inheritance, but was celebrating him! There are three points of view to this parable; that of the prodigal son, the brother and the father.

It’s clear to see that the father represents God and the brothers represent mankind. Many of us may think that we are the “good” brother, but in reality, we are all reckless with the inheritance that we’re given and require the mercy of a loving Father. For Norm Miller, he was all too eager to indulge in the pleasures of the world.

Norm was born and raised in Galveston, Texas, and his father owned a successful gas/service station in the middle of town. Although he was a hard–working, industrious man, he had a weakness for alcohol. Norm was a mischievous young man whose primary focus was when and where the next party was. Norm wasn’t really interested in school but realized that if he wanted to avoid being drafted into military service, he would have to go to college: the lesser of two evils in his mind. He enrolled in North Texas State in Denton, Texas after a friend of his told him what a great party school it was.

North Texas State was located in a “dry” county (selling alcohol was prohibited), so he and some of his buddies had the brainstorm that they could make money by buying alcohol in the neighboring county and reselling it in Denton for a premium. Norm had a keen eye for seeing lucrative business opportunities.

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The first step in finding your personal purpose for work and life is to look back over the experiences of your life thus far. If we rush forward, without time for reflection on what we have learned so far, we miss important lessons. Set aside time to reflect on the lessons of your life. Using the Lifeline exercise, spend some quiet time reviewing your life thus far.

Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood.
Helen Keller.

Start by thinking about the key turning point events in your life. Key events of your childhood, young adulthood, etc. Turning points can be positive events or challenging events, but they stand out as times that shaped you into who you are today. Write down a few of the most important turning points on your timeline. For me, frequent moves to new places were turning points in my life. New schools, new friends, new activities, new challenges. The first big move in my life was from a small town in Indiana called Kokomo to a big city called San Jose, California. One day I lived in a rural area with a big grassy backyard, a garden, and a grass runway for my Dad’s small plane. Then, after a long miserable car ride with the six members of my family, we found ourselves in a tiny crackerbox house with a small backyard and an easy view into our neighbor’s windows. This turning point set me on a path of an adventurous life, moving for opportunities, enjoying the new experiences and friends, and learning new things. I’ve never lived anywhere longer than seven years. I don’t have a home town. But this aspect of my lifeline, shaped who I am today.

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Task delegation and expansion are two sides of the leadership coin. When the scope of a business manager’s roles expands, delegating responsibilities and authority to subordinates becomes strategic.

Those subordinates who absorb the excess responsibilities and authority of business owners and top leaders are, in most cases, the middle managers.

The functions of workers in the middle of the hierarchy cannot be discounted. They bridge the gap between those on top of the spectrum and those in the lower-end of the business operation. Given their intermediary function, middle managers can be potential movers or blockage to a healthy business environment.

According to Kirk Hanson, executive director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics and University Professor of Organizations and Society, the behavior of middle managers can undermine ethical messages and the creation of an ethical culture in a company. For Hanson, the commitment of middle managers is directly proportional to the level of commitment passed on to lower-level employees. Thus, when middle managers are not committed to the values and ethics of the company, the same lack of commitment is easily passed on to the lower-level employees.

According to Holden Leadership Center, when delegating responsibilities is done appropriately, a multiplier effect occurs. The multiplier effect in this area refers to the increase in productivity arising from specialization, sharing of responsibilities, and adding value to the subordinates. Skilled subordinates who struggle with self-confidence only need a leader who can demonstrate confidence in them.

This practice of delegating responsibilities and authority to a group or a number of middle managers was not unique to this generation. This was also one of the operational features of Solomon’s leadership.

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For any business, there are countless decisions that must be made minute by minute, but one of the most vital choices that your company will make comes down to your employee makeup – who exactly are you hiring to sit at the table?

When taking into account the tangible and intangible costs of hiring the wrong employee for the job, the company expense is immense, easily ranging from $400,000 to $500,000 – and that number can be expected to multiply depending on an individual’s level of management and decision-making experience.

Rarely do we consider the overall dollar amount that is attached to the hiring and firing process, but the expense can be detrimental to your staff, productivity and your overall company growth.

For companies to reach their highest level of success, investment must be made into a strategic and sophisticated recruiting process.Jack Welch stated at the 2012 North Carolina CEO Forum that the team that fields the best players wins – it is about hiring and firing, training, and motivating your people, which then allows differentiation to happen.

Developing the best team of employees must begin with the recruiting and hiring process.

For effectiveness, the process should be conducted by the potential hire’s immediate manager and must include a screening interview to determine if the individual holds the necessary skills and requirements.

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In business you can focus on a key principle or a method. Take an example from sales. When a salesperson runs through a canned presentation, the salesperson is working by method. When another salesman asks questions, listens for response, tries to understand the needs of a customer; that salesman works by principle. You can get caught up with a method that works most of the time and lose sight of a more important principle.

Consider some examples from scripture about healing:

“Then he touched their eyes and said, ‘According to your faith let it be done to you’; and their sight was restored.’” (Matthew 9:29-30a, NIV)

“After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. ‘Go,’ he told him, ‘wash in the Pool of Siloam (this word means ‘Sent’). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.” (John 9:6-7, NIV)

“They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, ‘Do you see anything?’ He looked up and said, ‘I see people; they look like trees walking around.’ Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. (Mark 8:23-25 NIV)

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When a business owner or leader is crowded with operational issues that could have been effectively handled by the subordinates, chances are strategies are at amiss. They are either not fully developed yet, fully developed but not clearly understood, or are given secondary importance.

It is because a leader who fully understands the company’s strategies knows when a practice is supportive or contrary to business priorities. When growing the business, outcompeting rivals, and developing the organization’s assets are among a company’s priorities, a strategy-driven leader will act with the goal of minimizing pressure from attending to countless responsibilities that can potentially weigh down the company’s performance.

The classic approach is always a team effort. Solomon knew this, and in applying the principle of task delegation, his whole household and all of Israel lived in an era of wealth. It is this simple: when every member of an organization is delegated responsibilities appropriately, each can produce results and provide for the company paving to the achievement of the company’s productivity goals.

As it was pointed out in the first part of this article series, there are three elements to effective delegation namely appropriateness, evaluation, and non-interference. These three elements deduced from Reagan’s words is discussed below:

1.) Delegate Task Appropriately. Delegating tasks is not a random act. It is a well-thought-out plan carried out after the assessment of a prospective subordinate’s strengths and weaknesses. The needs of the task should match with the subordinate’s technical, personal, and relational skills. Will a subordinate function as a project leader for six months? In this case, a specialist (an employee with specialized skill) may serve the purpose of the task delegation better than a generalist (an employee whose skill set is broad but is less specialized).

Specialists usually do better on tasks with limited timeline and a very specialized need while generalists do better in long-term tasks because they may need some time to have the expertise of a specialist. They, however, have the foundation in almost all functions of the business operation. The Christian business owner and leader should identify their goal for the task delegation. If a responsibility will rest on the shoulder of the subordinate for a long-term and may entail attending to various business functions, a generalist may be the best fit for the responsibility.

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I feel led this week to give you a few words of inspiration about how your words can propel you to success rather than sabotage your efforts. Success often comes to those who know what to say, when to say it and how to say it. Those with talent, but don’t communicate effectively often never get the satisfaction of fulfilling their potential. Are you a wise communicator?

In the busyness of life and work, we can sometimes forget the impact of our words. A few words spoken hastily can ruin a relationship or an opportunity. So can a few words gone unspoken. Sometimes the people around you need to hear you speak clearly about where you stand on certain issues or how you feel about them. The missing piece that will solidify success is in your relationships, job or entrepreneurial endeavors may be right under your nose! I have five simple ideas to share with you about the words that come out of your mouth:

1. Learn when to be quiet.
Some of us are more inclined to speak than others, but those who find the most success are often those who know when to be quiet. There may be a situation in your life right now that is hindered and not helped by more talking. Don’t be afraid of silence. Sometimes life’s best answers appear when we are quiet enough to listen.

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Superhuman Performance Book Series

Spiritual gifts are to be used for the good of others. In one sense, natural talent is a self-centered blessing. Gifted runners, math whizzes, or singers with perfect pitch may use their talents to bring glory and riches to themselves.

Spiritual gifts, on the other hand, are not to be used for personal gain, acquiring wealth, or amassing power. According to 1 Peter 4:10, people are to use their gifts to serve others and build up the Body of Christ. God graced the church of Corinth with every available gift. The Apostle Paul reminded them that they were “not lacking in any gift,” and yet they suffered from divisions and quarrels. “I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. Indeed, you still are not ready. You are still worldly.” As a community, the church of Corinth was more interested in boasting about its spiritual powers and who it followed than in serving one another.

Most Christians have two or three gifts in which they operate fluently. Some may have four, five, or six. But no one has all the gifts. God’s goal is to bring people together, not divide them, so he makes everyone dependent on each other. You may wish for more gifts or different gifts, but God’s will demands that people submit to one another as necessary.

My brother has the gift of discernment, so I always go to him when I need to make important decisions. I embrace his gift. The good news is that everyone has some spiritual gift. Jesus said, ‘You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.’ So if you’re a new person in Christ, then you’ve received special power and at least one spiritual gift.

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