The Business Roundtable consists of the leaders of the largest companies in America. According to the Wall Street Journal, this group recently made a dramatic philosophical shift. For decades, economist Milton Friedman’s theory that companies’ only obligation is to maximize profits for their shareholders has been the stated purpose of this group. Their new philosophy, however, changed the focus from […]

When I left banking to begin helping business leaders integrate their faith into their business life, I received a letter from a business colleague.  His letter basically said, “Rick, you’re a fool. Your idea is crazy, and your family will starve. Stop before it’s too late.” Many years later, that colleague apologized and commended the faith it took to launch […]

Joseph Grenny, author of Crucial Conversations, highlights in a Harvard Business Review article four ways to prepare for a tough conversation. The final way he recommends is to “get curious.” Recently, I had a tough conversation with a family member. Fortunately, before I confronted him with my set of facts, the Holy Spirit prompted me with curiosity for his side […]

Joseph Grenny, author of Crucial Conversations, highlights in a Harvard Business Review article four ways to best prepare for a tough conversation. The third way is to “gather the facts.” Difficult conversations come with opposing views. You may have a history and feelings that shape your conclusions, while the other party has theirs.  In fairness to all, do your research […]

Joseph Grenny, author of Crucial Conversations, highlights in a Harvard Business Review article four ways to best prepare for a tough conversation. His second recommendation is to “get your emotions right.” It’s easy to tell ourselves a story about a difficult situation that may or may not be true, stirring up unhealthy emotions. Grenny has discovered that many people absolve […]

Joseph Grenny, author of Crucial Conversations, highlights in a Harvard Business Review article four ways to best prepare for a tough conversation. The first way is to “get your motives right.” The stress of a tough conversation has a way of surfacing selfish motives even more than usual. Grenny recommends that our first step should be to reset our motives.  […]

Tough conversations are a part of leadership. Joseph Grenny, author of Crucial Conversations, has studied this subject for 30 years and has concluded that the way we deal with difficult conversations impacts many areas of life. Grenny claims the way we handle tough conversations predicts the magnitude of our influence, the health of our teams, the consistency of innovation, the […]

A common business strategy is to focus the team toward tackling the “low hanging fruit,” pursuing quick wins instead of the larger, more difficult challenges. An article by The Balanced Career warns, “True rewards often come from climbing higher and stretching for the real treasure in the higher branches.” The high hanging fruit represents the more difficult challenges. These challenges will […]

Hiring for the short term is a trap into which business leaders can easily fall. Faced with an emergency shortage of people, the task of hiring can become a fire drill. Hiring for the short term is ineffective for long term company growth. Making hasty hiring decisions is reactive and causes many possible consequences. Hiring slowly in times of emergency […]

In 1892, Andrew Carnegie and Henry Frick defeated their Iron and Steel Workers union. In a violent management vs. union struggle, it can be argued that Carnegie’s worldview resulted in ten people’s death. Andrew Carnegie was a devotee to “the survival of the fittest” philosophy. Social Darwinism gave Carnegie justification for ruthless business practices. Even though Carnegie’s workers were working […]