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core values

A Successful Business Needs a Good Foundation

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What Supports That Foundation is Just as Important

Building something that will stand the test of time and the elements requires a solid foundation.

A building foundation is made up of two parts: the footing and the foundation. The footing creates an attachment point between the foundation and the soil. The role of the foundation is to support the building and help prevent settling.

The foundation is the base and support of any building structure. It transfers the load from the structure to the ground. It also provides resistance from external loads exerted on it.

If the foundation of a building is inadequate or not maintained…the building will collapse.

The foundation of a business is the same. It is who you are. These are the non-negotiables. The things that, when faced with decisions, will help you withstand earthquakes. Your business foundation consists of your core values and mission.

We discussed business core values back in August. Core values are your fundamental beliefs. They are your guiding principles. It’s like your business conscience. It’s the building blocks of your business foundation.

If the foundation of a business is inadequate, it can be changed.

A foundation is built. Depending on what it’s going to support determines how it should be built. The other thing that needs to be determined to build an adequate foundation is…what is the ground like?

Is it dirt, sand, or rock? This is the most important thing to know. It will determine what kind of foundation is needed to support the structure. If the foundation or the structure doesn’t match the ground…maybe you should build somewhere else.

The ground of your business (and life) is your purpose. It goes beyond who you are. It is who you were made to be. It is why you exist. You need to start by asking the questions.

Who am I? What is my purpose? Why am I here?

This takes some work and some digging. It isn’t an answer that’s going to magically appear. It’s like looking at the surface of the ground where you want to build a building. You won’t know what’s underneath without doing some work.

When it comes to knowing what’s below your surface, you need to ask, “why am I here?” Then like a small child curiously ask it again. And then ask it again and again and again.

This is where the foundation of your life and your business will be built. Don’t start building your business without knowing what kind of ground you’re building it on.

Knowing what supports the business (your purpose) is critical if it’s going to withstand the test of time and the storms that will come.

How Does One, Make All They Can, Save All They Can, Give All They Can?

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At First Glance, One Naturally Thinks Money…but it’s So Much More

I started writing about my core values as a life filter back in January of 2017. Core values are an important part of intentionally living our best lives, the lives that God has designed for each of us.

In that first post I said I would break down my core values in future posts. Well, here we are…almost five years later and I still have two left. Today we shorten the list to one. The core value for today is…

Make all I can, save all I can, give all I can.

This is a variation of the words of the 18th-century theologian and founder of Methodism, John Wesley. Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can. As one of my core values I wanted the focus on me and my business.

Growing up in the Methodist church these words were a part of my life from a young age. As it is with most things we hear when we’re young, it’s not until later in life that we grasp and appreciate the full meaning. As we mature, we begin to realize the importance of taking the blinders off and seeing the bigger picture.

Too often money and business get a bad rap. I believe that most businesses are not working to take advantage of people. Nor do I think that money is evil. It the lust after money that’s evil. Sure, there are cases where people and businesses are being selfish, but I don’t believe that to be the norm.

Make all you can, Save all you can, Give all you can

These are great words to live by and they also serve as a great business motto.

Make all you can –

Making all you can is about more than just money. Making is the process of making or producing something. It’s the qualities needed to make something. Making sounds a lot like building…making buildings, making businesses, making lives. Money is needed to make things, but it isn’t the only thing needed.

From a business perspective, if you don’t make money you won’t stay in business.

This is one of the reasons it’s one my core values…I tend to put making money lower on my list of my priorities. I use this core value to remind me not to do that.

Save all you can –

Like making…saving is not just about piling up money. Saving is reserving and not wasting. It is about spending time wisely. It’s about being thrifty and frugal.

I see figuring out ways to save as a challenging puzzle and I’m constantly looking for ways to solve it.

We should always expect the unexpected. Saving allows us to be better prepared for the unexpected.

Give all you can –

Giving is something that is often connected to money. Around the Holidays we are bombarded with opportunities to give. Once again giving is about so much more than just money.

One of the best ways to give is to share our skills and abilities.

Whether that is at our church, community organizations, or through our vocation. Sharing our gifts through work is honoring to God even if it’s something we get paid for. Last week we discussed the importance of service over sales. Service is about giving.

Finding the balance and not getting too focused on one thing or the other is important to operating a successful business and living a fulfilling life.

That’s why Make all I can, Save all I can, Give all I can, is one of my favorite core values.

Previous core valuer posts –

Using core values as a life filter

Honor God in all that I do

Intentional action

Take the blinders off an be more observant

Pay attention to detail

Spend time wisely, there is a limited amount

Never be satisfied with mediocrity

Find and maintain the balance in everything

Build the wall one brick at a time (previously, move the mountain one shovel at a time)

Remember that I have two ears and one mouth

Be accountable

How Building Your Life is Like a Construction Project

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It Has to be Done One Brick at a Time

It’s the start of another new year and if you’re like me you want a plan in place for what you’re going to accomplish this year, next year and the next five. I’m naturally a planner, so having a plan gives me a since of comfort.

However, when things don’t go as planned…it can be unnerving. This is why it’s hard to plan.

We don’t want to do something and then find out it was the wrong thing, so we just don’t do anything.

Life is like a construction project…you can have the best plans imaginable in the beginning, but it’s not always going to go as planned. We need to remember that building the best life, means it’s always under construction.

We have two choices…we can start building or not.

My life plan isn’t that different than most plans out there. It takes the big long-term goals and breaks them down into annual, quarterly, monthly and weekly goals. It is made up of visions, values, principles and areas of my life.

It starts with my God given purpose and mission; this is the cornerstone of everything else. Part of that foundation is my core values. I’ve written about most of these previously. (See the links at the end of the post)

One of my core values is (was) moving the mountain one shovel full at a time. This the same concept of eating the elephant one bite at a time. I changed it from eating an elephant to moving a mountain, because it seemed to fit my construction perspective better.

Just like I said that life is always under construction earlier…I’m changing this core value of moving the mountain one shovel full at a time. It’s now going to be:

Build God’s Kingdom one brick at a time

Ultimately, they both have the same foundational point. We need to focus on the small pieces so that we don’t get overwhelmed by the big things.

There are a couple of things I like about this change –

First – Incorporating “God’s Kingdom” helps me to remember that He is the Master Architect and that I need to build according to His plans.

Second – Building is constructive rather than moving a mountain or eating an elephant are destructive.

The most important thing to remember is to choose the right Architect to design your life.

If you don’t have a good plan the life you build will be a mess.

From the Master Architect’s Blueprint –

…but you are citizens together with God’s holy people. You belong to God’s family. 20 You believers are like a building that God owns. That building was built on the foundation that the apostles and prophets prepared. Christ Jesus himself is the most important stonein that building. 21 The whole building is joined together in Christ, and he makes it grow and become a holy templein the Lord. 22 And in Christ you are being built together with his other people. You are being made into a place where God lives through the Spirit.

Ephesians 2:19-22

Okay, I need to quit putting off my 2022 life plan and get started laying the first next brick.

Previous core value posts:

Using core values as a life filter

Honor God in all that I do

Intentional action

The Importance of intentionality

Taking off the blinders and being more observant

Attention to detail

Spend time wisely

Never be satisfied with mediocrity

Find and maintain the balance in everything

Move the mountain one shovel full at a time

Remember that I have two ears and one mouth

Be accountable

What are the Critical Characteristics Needed to Accomplish Your Mission?

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Knowing Them and Articulating Them Are Two Completely Different Things

Last week I wrote about the importance of having a mission and why it matters. I shared that I’m going through the Business Made Simple University’s Mission Statement Made Simple with a friend. This week’s focus is determining the Key Characteristics needed to accomplish the mission.

These characteristics are things that you and anyone on your team need to have. They are distinguishing traits and qualities that are an integral part of accomplishing your mission. They are qualities that direct and motivate you and those around you to push forward toward a common goal.

If a team isn’t clear on the objective, the chances of winning aren’t very good.

A good example of this type of connection is Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. For several years we’ve led this class at our church. There are some words, actions or items that when shared or displayed in public will invoke a connected response from people you don’t even know. There is an immediate association with anyone who has gone through the class or is familiar with the program.

If we can’t explain our mission and communicate it clearly, we can’t expect to accomplish it. We will flounder in a fog with no direction.

Sharing characteristics with others ignites a connection that is immediately felt and hard to explain.

Like the mission, the characteristics need to be concise and memorable.

I have a list of core values that is the foundation of my life and businesses. I review them daily; the problem is that it needs to be narrowed down to a sharable list that will provide laser focus for achieving the mission.

Core values:

Values are the foundation; characteristics are the cornerstone.

Like the mission, the critical characteristics should be reviewed periodically, updated and improved as needed.

Current key characteristics:

  • Servant’s Heart – Focus on our purpose to help others find solutions for building their dreams.
  • Flexibly Rigid – Clarity of purpose with the ability to change directions as needed to serve that purpose.
  • Problem Solver – Driven to find solutions, whatever, whenever and wherever issues are encountered.

These characteristics need to encompass the core values and align with and support the mission –

John Clark http://galleries.vietnamsoldier.com/photo-gallery/avlb/

Bridge the gap between construction companies and customers. Construction companies struggle with a lack of business knowledge and customers don’t understand or know what to expect from the construction process. We help both achieve their dreams, by providing businesses with systems and training to make their companies more efficient and profitable while educating customers in what to expect throughout the entire construction process.

I’m concerned that the above characteristics are too vague and don’t provide a clear understanding of what is needed to carry out this mission. I feel them in my heart, but I need to communicate them clearly.

I will be working on this over the next several days and will let you know what I come up with.

Any thoughts or input you would like to share are appreciated.

Building Your Life on a Solid Foundation

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Core Values Are the Building Blocks of That Foundation

We’re currently working on designing a process for grading or scoring our production teams. We’ve been considering this for years.

One of the parameters that we’re looking to base this system on is our companies core values. As we were discussing those core values, I realized that I hadn’t finished sharing our core values with you. (I got busy fighting hot fires.)

Important things become less urgent when we get sidetracked fighting a hotter fire.

In January of 2017 I wrote about using core values as a life filter. In that post I defined what core values are and shared ours. Core values are a combination of things you are good at and come naturally. They also consist of things that you aren’t so good at but deep down you know you should be.

CORE is – the central or most important part of something. This is the most inner part of who you are. This is like your conscience. The deep down, on the inside, who God made you to be.

VALUES are – the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something; a person’s principles or standards of behavior; one’s judgment of what is important in life. This is the part that you choose. How you want to be, how you will treat others, etc. This doesn’t mean they have to be good. Some people’s values may be selfish or greedy.

You can choose what values you will live by.

Here are the foundation blocks that I am building my life and business on.

1 – Honor God in all that I do

2 – Pay attention to detail

3 – Spend time wisely, there is a limited amount

4 – Never be satisfied with mediocrity

5 – Find and maintain the balance in everything

6 – Move the mountain one shovel full at a time (Sharing the shovels)

7 – Remember that I have two ears and one mouth

8 – Take off the blinders, be more observant

9 – Intentional action (the importance of intentionality)

10 – Avoid drama

11 – Be accountable

12 – Make all I can, Save all I can, Give all I can

Like building a building…you can choose the foundation your life is built on.

Like I said earlier I neglected to finish sharing our core values with you so…I’m holding myself accountable (#11) and going to share the last three over the next few weeks.

Principles Are Like A GPS For Life

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They Help Us Get Where We Want to Go

Making our way through the difficulties of life can be hard. There are bumps, unexpected turns, detours and road blocks. When we start the journey, we think we know exactly where we’re going and how we’re going to get there. Surprise!

If we just had a map and GPS for this road trip called life it would be so much easier. Well what do you know…we do. Life’s map is the Bible and the GPS is our core values and principles.

When we pick up a map for the first time, we don’t understand everything about it. The more we study and use the map to get us where we’re going, the better we get at making the trip. The Bible is the same.

We all have core values and principles whether we know it or not. Like a GPS in our car or smart phone if we aren’t aware of it or don’t put in the coordinates it won’t help us get where we want to go.

Core values are the foundation on which we conduct ourselves. In an ever-changing world – core values are consistent. They underlie our work, how we interact with others, and help us to fulfill our mission. A principle is the fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning. Once we become aware of these core values and principles…99% of our decisions are already made.

This week’s Scripture (road map), Luke 6:27-38, has always been hard for me to fully understand. It talks about loving your enemies, letting them slap you on both cheeks, giving them your coat and your shirt, giving things to them and not asking for them back. It says love your enemies and do good to them. I always felt that I had treated others the way I wanted to be treated. What I figured out from this week’s sermon was that I never really have had to deal with an “enemy”.

When Pastor Lee told a story of a Michael Weisser a Jewish Rabbi who in 1991 was harassed in Lincoln, Nebraska, by Mr. Trapp, a Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan, the meaning of the word enemy took on a whole new meaning. After getting hateful phone calls, Rabbi Weiser turned things around by calling Mr. Trapp and harassing him back with love. One day the Weisser’s phone rang and it was Mr. Trapp. He said, ‘I want to get out of what I’m doing and I don’t know how’. This is how you’re supposed to love your enemies.

I’ve never experienced someone treating me like this. I hope that if I do, I will be able to “love my enemy” this way.

When people filled with hate haven’t found their life road map and GPS, they don’t understand when they are confronted with love. The best way to help them is to “Love Them Until They Ask Me Why”.

What Does It Take to Be A Builder?

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There’s So Much More to This Building Thing Than Just Construction

I regularly go back through my life plans, especially at this time of the year, reviewing and revising them as needed to build the best life. Just like a construction project needs reviewed and revised in different phases of the project. Whether a building or a life, this process shouldn’t stop once the initial construction is complete. It is an on-going process until the end.

It is amazing to me the correlations between building a business, a life or doing construction. Building terminology is used everywhere. As a part of my life plan review, I was going back through some Michael Hyatt’s Platform University training. One of the things that caught my attention were the words that were used. In the first two sentences of the instructions I found this; “…building your website…”, “…lay an important foundation….” and “…platform-building…”.

The use of this construction terminology is a great analogy with life building as is evident in the more than eighty times it’s used in Scripture. You can find some examples here. In Luke 6:48 (NCV) it says, “…everyone who comes to me and hears my words and obeys. That person is like a man building a house who dug deep and laid the foundation on rock. When the floods came, the water tried to wash the house away, but it could not shake it, because the house was built well.” This sounds like a pretty good plan for building a life to me.

If you have read more than a few “Weekly Solutions” posts, you will have noticed the connections with building in many of them. Here are just a few – Building the Life of Your Dreams, Building the Best Life, Means It’s Always Under Construction, The Importance of Intentionality for Building Your Dream Life and Building Your Business Is Critical to The Survival of the Business. This really is the underlying theme for Solution Building. The central purpose is to “help people find solutions for building their dream business and life through improved communication, better business systems, quality construction projects and life lessons.

Most importantly any kind of building, whether it’s a construction project, a life or a business, needs to start with a solid foundation. My foundation is my CORE VALUES built on the SOLID ROCK of Jesus. 1 Cor. 3:11

As we move forward into this new year, we will be sharing more specific examples and systems to help you build your dream business and life. If there are areas in your business or life where you need a solution, let me know in the comment section below.

Good Communication Is Not A One-Way Street

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Remember That I Have Two Ears and One Mouth

 

In January last year I wrote about my core values and how I use them as a life filter. In that post I told you that I would go into each one in more detail. In this week’s solution we will dig into another one. It is to Remember that I have two ears and one mouth.

This core value points out that good communication is twice as much about listening. This makes perfect sense why God gave us two ears and one mouth. I have accepted the fact that I like to talk and do quite a lot of it. I believe that over communication is better than poor communication.

This core value reminds me of the importance of listening.

Within the last week I had two different people compliment me on my ability to communicate. One was directed at speaking and the other to writing. This was nice because I haven’t considered this to be something that I was particularly skilled at. The fact that this was communicated to me, was encouraging and inspiring.


Poor communication or the complete lack of it is one of the biggest issues in business and in life. How can I expect to help people build their dreams if we don’t communicate? Too often assumptions are made, and they lead to disasters.

If I don’t know what you want to achieve, and I don’t accurately tell you what to expect, somebody is going to be disappointed.

It is understandable why communication gets ignored. We’re busy. Communication takes time and we don’t have any extra. Whether it is listening, talking or writing…it takes time. You’ve probably heard the proverb ‘haste makes waste’. This is more evident now than ever. We are an instantaneous people. We want everything now. Aesop’s Fable about The Tortoise and the Hare points out how intentional focus on the goal and a steady movement toward it will win the race.


The constant connection to our electronic devices also contributes to our losing the ability to communicate well. There is nothing wrong with electronic devices. They allow us to connect with more people than ever before. It’s just that it can be hard to convey emotion electronically. We need to be careful to strive for and maintain a balance.

This is the ninth core value that I have written about in more detail. You can read the others here:

 

Honor God in all that I do

Intentional action

Take off the blinders, be more observant

Pay attention to detail

Spend time wisely, there is a limited amount

Never be satisfied with mediocrity

Find and maintain the balance in everything

Move the mountain one shovel full at a time

That only leaves three more to examine more thoroughly. I will communicate about them in more detail in the future so keep following these Weekly Solutions and if you know of anyone that you think would enjoy or benefit from these solutions be sure to share this link with them.

 

Move the Mountain One Shovel Full at A Time

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The Size of Your Shovel Is Not Important

I had a conversation with Brett at Engineered Door Products earlier this week about how busy he was. He told me how he was working late into the evening and coming in early of a morning in an effort to keep up. I could feel his frustration. I have had this same conversation with too many people, too many times and deal with this myself almost every day. It reminded me of an earlier blog about spinning too many plates at once.

There are so many great things to do. How will we ever get them done? Why do we continually find ourselves in this place? Who’s fault is it that we’re so busy? 

WE ONLY HAVE OURSELVES TO BLAME!

 

I’ve been thinking a lot about why I’m always so far behind and what I can do to get caught up? Looking at this huge mountain in front of me is overwhelming. How will I ever get it moved?

Looking at a blueprint for a new building can be one of those mountains. There is tons of information on all of those pages. Where do I even start? With the first next thing, that’s where. Determine the first next thing that needs to be done and do it. If I don’t stop looking and start shoveling the foundation will never get poured.

 

It doesn’t matter whether you have a teaspoon or a steam shovel. What matters is that you start shoveling and don’t quit. Failure only exists for the person who quits.

 

 

Another way to move the mountain is with help. Two shovels can move more mountain than one. Sharing the moving of the mountain can be hard for us micro-managers but is critical to accomplishing the task. If the mountain that needs moved is much bigger than a mole hill or unless you have a really really big shovel, some help moving the mountain will relieve some of the weight of that mountain.

Moving the mountain one shovel full at a time is one of my twelve core values. My core values are the root of who I’m meant to be. The list falls into two different categories. Some I’m naturally good at. These I want to constantly reinforce. The others…don’t come so naturally.

This post is to remind myself to keep shoveling my mountains and to let you know that you aren’t the only one standing in the shadow of a mountain that needs shoveled.

KEEP SHOVELING

Here are some links to previous core value posts. We’re getting closer now, only four left.

How to Live A Well-Balanced Life

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Finding and Maintaining the Balance in Everything

 

I initially wrote about Using Core Values as My Life Filter last year. The focus of that post was the importance these CORE VALUES have in providing me with insight to who I am and more importantly, who I aspire to be. In that post I listed these twelve core values and said I would write about each in later posts.


Currently have written about:

• Honoring God in all that I do
• Paying attention to detail
• Spending time wisely
• Never being satisfied with mediocrity
• Taking off the blinders and being more aware
• Intentional action and again

Today’s core value is FINDING AND MAINTAINING THE BALANCE IN EVERYTHING.

I listened to a Story Brand podcast recently in which Tim Arnold’s point was that tension was a better description of this value than balance. He points out that “we tend to be binary thinkers. We assume things have to be one way or the other”. This was his point about the term balance when used in this context. Often the word balance creates the picture of an instrument with two sides used for weighing.

Sometimes there are only two choices. When choosing between right and wrong or good and evil, I believe this is the case. I agree with Tim that too often we tend to stop our thinking at only two choices and miss all of the out of the box opportunities that are out there.

I see balance as something that involves a lot more than two things.

The Merriam-Webster definition of balance is extensive and covers a variety of different areas including people, weight, stability, accounting, mental and emotional. This is more the way I think of balance.

I see BALANCE as large platform sitting centered on top of a small point. Without anything on the platform, it sits level. When one thing is placed on top of the platform near the center, things go pretty well, and it stays relatively level. As more things are put on the platform and things begin to be crowded from the center it starts to get heavier at different areas. This causes the platform to lean. If one heavy thing or too many things are moved too far from the center the platform will tip far enough that things falls off. Keeping things setting on the platform is all about weight and location.

Our lives are like this platform. God has set our platform balance perfectly on this point and given us the responsibility of keeping it there. The difficult part of this obligation is the number of things we get to choose from to put on our platform. The choices are endless. There is spiritual, family, work, friends, fun, community, etc. and each of these areas are full of an endless number of specific things that we can put on our platform. Some things carry more weight than others. As we go through life the things we have setting on our platform will and should change.


FINDING AND MAINTAINING THE BALANCE of our platform is the responsibility given us. Will we be perfect at it…no. Can we learn and get better at it…YES!

Whether you use the word balance, tension or something else to describe this endeavor is less important than being aware of it and actively keeping your platform as level as you can.