Imagine the looks and the laughs. You’re a servant – socially, a nobody. You own no property, have little-to-no money. On a busy city sidewalk, you are nameless and faceless.
And yet here you are, in the local real estate office, looking for investment properties.
Or maybe sitting around the local JerusaBucks, sipping on a latte and asking some of the locals about business opportunities or stock market preferences.
You’re a legend in your own mind. But if anyone knew you, they’d laugh you out the door.
Version 2.0
Imagine the awkwardness and anguish. You’re a servant – socially a nobody. You own no property, have little-to-no money. On a busy city sidewalk… well, you get it.
And yet here you are, being asked by the most powerful man you know, to look out for part of his money – more money than you’ve ever seen, much less ever held in your hand.
Echoes of your parents’ proverbs still ring in your ear – stuff like, “A fool and his money are soon parted.”
Can’t he find someone else for the job? This is risky business, and you’re no risk taker.
Isn’t there some hole somewhere…?
Above Your Pay Grade?
How do you handle assignments that are, in the words of the president-elect, “above your pay grade?” [click to continue…]
It’s not enough to be a team player. To get things done, to be a leader, you’ll have to be a team builder. Together has great power, and an isolated Christian has a fool for a companion.
A Stanford Business School study bears that out. Researchers examined the qualities that companies look for in promoting young managers toward senior executive positions. The study concluded that one of the most important qualities required for great success in leadership is the ability to put together a team and function as a good team player. Since all work is ultimately done by teams, and the managers’ output is the output of the team, the ability to select team members, set objectives, delegate responsibility and get the job done, was central to success in management.
That’s bad news for all the Lone Ranger types. But hey, even he had Tonto!
Together has power in four dimensions:
1. Synergy.
Synergy is the concept that one plus one equals three. You can do the work of one, and so can I. But together, we can do the work of many times more. That flies in the face of conventional wisdom. Maybe you can do it better by yourself in the immediate circumstances, but in the long run, it’s always more productive to go together.
You’re probably not going to hear this at church Sunday, so let me go ahead and tell you now: [click to continue…]