I Want You to Finish It for Me

 

 

 

It’s Important to Finish Strong

 

We often are consumed by the accumulation of all the little pieces that make up our daily lives. This narrow view of things causes the neglect of seeing anything more.


That’s not to say we should disregard the small things; details are important. We just need to be sure that we have a clear view of the end game, of what our ultimate goal is. The little things need to be working together to move us toward finishing strong.


What does finishing strong look like?

 

 

Finishing strong means never quiting. It means aligning our goals with God’s plans for us, both individually and collectively. In John 17:20-26 Jesus prays His last prayer for His disciples and for us. Why would He pray this as His last prayer? He was preparing them and us for what was and is ahead.

 

  • He wants us to be ready to do our part. The saying, “Next man up” is common in football. This is to say that if someone gets hurt and can’t do their part, someone needs to be ready to fill that spot. We are supposed to do our part to win the game of life.

 

  • He has entrusted us with this work. He has given us each a position to fill. We may not feel qualified to be on the team, but God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called. He has given each of us a specific purpose. Our part is to figure out what it is and use it.

 

  • There’s more work to do. This is a big game and there’s a lot to do, but together we’ll get it done. This prayer was like our locker room pep talk. Let’s get out on the field and play the game well.

 

  • We need to work together. We are a team. There is strength in numbers. Aristotle said, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts”. It’s like the two-horse rule. (link) A single draft horse can pull 8,000 pounds so it would stand to reason that two draft horses could pull 16,000 pounds. But they can pull 24,000 pounds. That is three times as much! We each have our own individual purpose and working together can accomplish exponentially more.

 

 

We have been shown the game and given the rule book. Now it’s up to us to decide if we’re going to play or not.

 

 

I’m ready and willing to be the “Next Man Up”, are you?

 

The Need for A Production Coordinator

And the Difficult Process of Finding One

This process is difficult because I’ve UN-intentionally made it this way. I’ve discussed this problem in a couple of previous posts; Delegating – The Thing I Suck at Most of All and Sharing the Shovels. I know that if I’m going to ever reach the full level of my intended purpose, I’m going to need help. I can’t do it all by myself.

If my purpose is to help more people find better solutions, then I need a team.

So, if I’m responsible for this situation, then it’s up to me to do something about it. Because I dread the process of finding help, I’ve historically taken the path of least resistance. Find someone willing to say yes and put them to work. This path seems okay in the beginning…later not so much. It’s like cutting corners in anything, the short-term gain is not worth the long-term cost.

I realized that I wouldn’t accept mediocrity in construction, so why would it be okay in building a team.

Our production schedule at Timber Creek Construction is increasing and this means the need for help is too. Working through this difficult process in my mind, I realized I needed to spend some time up front determining specifics of the position prior to filling it. When building anything it’s best to have a clear plan before the construction starts.

What is it exactly that I need this person to do? Are they going to manage, supervise or coordinate? Maybe they’ll just assist. Then there are individual construction projects or the overall production process. There are small, yet significant differences in these things. I need to be clear on what the best plan is.

After a lot of consideration, I determined that a PRODUCTION COORDINATOR is what is currently needed.

What exactly is a production coordinator you ask?

For Timber Creek Construction, a production coordinator is –

A person who will organize and oversee the production and operation of multiple construction projects in order to maintain production schedules, complete projects within budget and achieve the quality of workmanship expected.

This person will need to have these skills and abilities:

  • Sufficient construction knowledge and experience
  • Computer skills including Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, etc.) and Microsoft OneNote
  • Written Communication
  • Verbal Communication
  • Reporting
  • Organization
  • Analyzing Information
  • Professionalism
  • Problem Solving
  • Supply Management
  • Inventory Control
  • Valid Driver’s License
  • Reliable vehicle

Compensation for this position will be based upon a percentage of projects being coordinated including some mileage when using their own vehicle. It is a self-employed independent contractor position.

Now if I can just find the right person for this position.

Timber Creek Construction is actively looking for someone to fill this position now. Currently it will be part time with flexible hours and days, potentially becoming full time.

If you or someone you know is interested in helping our customers build their dreams, contact us in the comments below.

“I Have A Dream” For A Team

And I Want It to Be A “Dream Team”

It’s interesting how sometimes when we experience things, i.e. a word, a topic or a message, it seems that the same thing will show up multiple times, in multiple places within a short period of time. Some people would say this is just a coincidence. I believe that when this occurs it is God trying to get our attention and give us some building blocks of wisdom for building our dreams.

This past week I experienced a delivery of building blocks of wisdom.

I have been spending time thinking through the pros and cons of delegating. As I have written about before, delegating is something that I suck at. I know that if I want to reach my full potential, I need to share the load. Once again, I was trying to tell myself otherwise, but God had a delivery of blocks for me.

The first shipment came while reading Nick Vujicic’s book, Life Without Limits: Inspiration for a Ridiculously Good Life. In the book he was talking about the importance of needing help and how we can all build a “Dream Team”. This immediately took me back to the 1992 US men’s Olympic basket ball team.

I connected it to delegating and the business team that I need to build. My very own “dream team”. A team of talented superstars that share my vision for the future of the company. Finding the right players is critical to building the dream.

The next load came during Michael Hyatt’s podcast, “Leadership Lessons from Martin Luther King Jr.”. Once again dreaming and leading with a vision surfaced as they spoke about his famous “I Have a Dream Speech”. King had a vision for the future, and he took action toward making that dream a reality.

Then a third and fourth load both came on different days but through the same delivery service. The Bible App on my computer delivers a Scripture of the Day, every day. On Wednesday it was Ecclesiastes 4:9, “Two people are better than one, because they get more done by working together.” Today’s Scripture was Galatians 6:2, “By helping each other with your troubles, you truly obey the law of Christ.” These sound a lot like building a team don’t they.

Too often we lose sight of our dreams and give up on them. We fall into a routine of just good enough and give up on our dreams. We should never be satisfied with mediocrity. It takes hard work and time to build a dream. If we are going to be all that God intends for us to be, we must keep pushing forward, even when we don’t feel like it. This is another benefit of a team.

There was a point in my life where I became worn down and gave up on the dreams I had when I was younger, and they were some pretty big ones. Sometimes when we ignore the building blocks God’s is delivering, He will resort to more drastic measures to make sure we get His message.

We can choose to continue working on building our dreams or not. It is up to us.

After having these blocks delivered, I decided to move forward building the “dream team” and this week added a new superstar. I’m excited to have Cathleen join the team and am looking forward to her help building a dream business.

Because I have a DREAM TEAM DREAM!