For me, writing a book was the easy part. Figuring out how to market it was much tougher.   Although I had been a communicator throughout my career, I struggled to generate attention for the book since I hadn’t done any prior work to connect with potential readers. I prayed to God for guidance and success. ...

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In his book, “Revering God,” author Thaddeus J. Williams claims the most frequently repeated phrase in the Bible is the expression, “Thus says the Lord.” Williams says the phrase appears in the Old and New Testaments more than 400 times.   It’s a reminder, Williams writes, that God speaks regularly.  Proverbs 4:20-22 says: “My son, pay attention ...

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In this series, we’re discussing five guiding principles on negotiating agreements. The final principle is to lean towards being generous.  In the story of Joseph, Egypt had seven years of famine. To afford to buy food, all Egyptians sold their land to Pharoah.   Pharoah, however, needed them to farm the land, so Joseph worked out ...

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In this series, we’re discussing five guiding principles on negotiating agreements. The fourth principle is to always work towards a win/win agreement.  Stan was a bank customer who believed he always needed to win all points of every negotiation so that the bank was the loser, and his business was the winner.   Although Stan won ...

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In this series, we’re discussing five guiding principles on negotiating agreements. The third principle is to understand the other parties’ needs and concerns.  The story of Boaz’s pursuit to marry Naomi’s daughter-in-law, Ruth, is an example of a shrewd negotiation. Because of Jewish law, there was one person who had first rights to redeem Naomi’s ...

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In this series, we’re discussing five guiding principles on how best to negotiate agreements. The second principle I recommend is to avoid negotiating with those you can’t trust.  A previous bank customer of mine was represented by their manipulative CFO. This CFO would leverage his other bank relationships to pressure us to give him ...

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Business negotiations are fraught with opportunities to become stressful experiences. In this series, we’ll discuss five guiding principles on how best to negotiate agreements.  The first principle is to clearly define your desired outcome from the transaction.   Recently, Rod needed to hire a new videographer. He examined his budget and considered the maximum value he ...

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God reveals amazing wisdom in the 66 books of the Bible. But I fall short when it comes to applying that knowledge to my work and my life. A former pastor summed it up when he gently chided me, “You know more scripture than you’re obedient to.”  Jesus called out similar behavior in the religious ...

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Leslie was frustrated with her boss. Although he told Leslie privately that she was performing well, that support disappeared whenever another manager questioned Leslie’s work.   Her supervisor failed to defend Leslie and instead deferred to other managers, telling Leslie it is better to “go along to get along.” Although Leslie loved the company and her ...

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 A 2022 Barna research study found that 56 percent of respondents said their faith is a private matter.   But scripture calls us to live and work in community. From Adam and Eve, to Jesus and his disciples, to the faith communities Paul encouraged, the Bible shows the importance of communion with others.  The writer of ...

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