New Blog Address

Hello!

Thanks for following my blog.

I have a new address:

http://EntreInnovator.com

Please find my new blog there!

~Rob

3 Elements of Human Capital

01.20.2011

3 Elements of Human Capital

 

Meet Jim.  

Jim joined ABC Corporation 10 years ago, and has worked his way up through each and every existing rank at ABC Corp. in that short amount of time.  

Jim lives, breaths, and dreams about ABC's future growth.  Industry conferences ask Jim to come speak to audiences of 500 or more because of how passionate he carries himself, related to the mission of ABC. 

Because of Jim's hands-on experience, he knows ABC's product.  Well.  Jim understands more than simply WHAT ABC makes, but also intimately knows HOW they make it. (Including a real understanding of the thresholds interwoven in ABC's equipment).  

But that's not all... In the past 4 years, Jim's passion and understanding of ABC's business has placed him roles where he has been involved in discovering the WHY behind ABC's HOW and WHAT.  

And that's it.  He's caught the real purpose behind ABC's business.  Using this purpose... this WHY... Jim brings new, different, and "out-of-the-box" ideas to ABC's executive team frequently.  He challenges the norms with diplomacy and tact.  He has developed an ingrown "WHY" radar, seeking opportunities to connect any staff member's performance or situation to that very reason ABC exists. 

Jim gets it.  

You would hire Jim.

//

Our world has changed DRASTICALLY in recent years.  The days of "dropping off an application" or "sending a Monster.com resume in and hoping" are absolutely over.  Real human capital is not found in the cattle coral...

It's found standing in your shoes.

"WHY" oriented companies are winning in the new economy.  

Think of your local shoe store... what is their WHY?  Now think of TomsShoes.com ... can you peg THEIR WHY?

Is it any coincidence that purpose driven companies, churches, and organizations seem to attract the best talent?  

It is my contention that the talent they attract is by design.

Here are the 3 key elements all WHY driven organizations look for when hiring a "Jim."

3 Key Elements of Human Capital:

1.  Knowledge: skills, intellect, expertise, technical ability, procedural competency.

Do you understand how to do your job?  Have you shown the ability to do this job in your previous work experience?  Have you demonstrated the ability to learn, well? 

Knowledge can be learned, but NEVER neglected.  Hiring somebody on that either has no knowledge or cannot gain & retain knowledge is like hiring a rodeo clown (motivated and honest) to perform open heart surgery on your growth strategy.  Good luck.

Companies want people who either know their business, or can learn it quickly.  Their goal is to have "Unconsciously Competent" team members... who could do "this" in their sleep.

2.  Character: passion, ethic, motivation, personhood, inner driving force, integrity.

Who are you when nobody is looking?  What's your character worth to you?  What motivates you to get out of bed every morning?  WHY are you here, on earth?  What is your life purpose?

Without character, shady business happens.  The loss of character leads to dishonesty, cheating, disloyalty, and poor retention.  Trust is a key quality required by WHY focused organizations... and it cannot exist in the absence of character.

Companies want strong communication, intrinsic motivation, and a real "heartbeat" that results from a character filled team.  Be that person, BEFORE you're asked to be.

3.  Creativity: ideas, flexible, innovative, imaginative, whole minded (left and right brain).

Are you a rule follower?  An order taker?  ... or an innovator!  Are you willing to invest a bit of risk to suggest improvement to the system in which you work?  Think outside of the box, and CREATE.  

Fast-Followers are to Creative-Innovation as Junk Food is to a 7 Course Gourmet Meal.  Busch League!

Companies want team members who not only "do" what is asked of them... but that really want to improve the organization.  Bring ideas, be willing to take risks, and challenge the norms!

I challenge you to consider these 3 areas in all that you do, and become the most valuable Human Capital your company (ministry/organization) has ever employed.

P.S:  I DARE you to prepare genuine responses in these 3 areas for your next job interview.

Become indispensable.

EntreInnovator Workshop January 31st

This is my God... Do you know Him?

01.19.2011

This is my God... Do you know Him?

The book of Ecclesiastes states that there is a season for everything in life.  A time and a place for all things.  Well, I thank God that is the case, because I'm not sure how much longer I could hold up in this current season... on my own strength.

In this current season, God has asked me to follow Him, trust Him, and NEED HIM through the tornado winter.  His voice comforts, His hand guides, His confidence reassures, His provision prevails.  

In the past 3 weeks, I've personally experienced The Gospel of 2011 and, thus forged further descriptors for my Maker...

... He's the healer of broken hearts.

... He's the defender of first time soldiers, marching into His battle (love wins.)

... He's the voice of truth, even when darkness tries to hide it.

... He's the provider of opportunity, even when it makes no worldly sense how.

... He's the face of compassion and mercy and grace.

... He's the ground wire, in the network of family

... He's the wise counselor

... He's the creator of dreams

... He's the ONE we can live completely dependent on... without fail. 

This is my God... do you know him?

Ecclesiastes 3

A Time for Everything

¹ There is a time for everything,
   and a season for every activity under the heavens:

 ² a time to be born and a time to die,
   a time to plant and a time to uproot,
 ³ a time to kill and a time to heal,
   a time to tear down and a time to build,
 ⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,
   a time to mourn and a time to dance,
 ⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
   a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
 ⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,
   a time to keep and a time to throw away,
 ⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,
   a time to be silent and a time to speak,
 ⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,
   a time for war and a time for peace.

8 Steps to New Year Goal Setting 2011

01.03.11

8 Steps to New Year Goal Setting 2011

If you or someone you know is human, you have probably experienced the power of flesh filled desires in your goal planning for 2011. 

For instance, if I become overweight ... erhummm... I said "IF".... I may look at my body in disgust and say I need to lose a few pounds!

Or perhaps someone is smoker, an alcoholic, or tied up into another form of desire filled addiction.  They might reason I'll cut down to _____, or I'll give this up by this date ______.  

And while I'm a big fan of goals in any setting, I would be remiss if I didn't introduce these 8 powerful steps that have impacted my 2011 perspective.

Psalm 119:33-40 (New Living Translation)

He

 ³³ Teach me your decrees, O Lord;
      I will keep them to the end.

 

Do you read God's word enough to know what He has to say regarding your life this year?  Perhaps this is a great starting point for your 2011 journey... 

 

STEP 1 • Read God's Word each day.

 

 ³⁴ Give me understanding and I will obey your instructions;
      I will put them into practice with all my heart.

 

As you experience God's voice through scripture, you may feel that "hearing it isn't enough."  It's time to live it.  James says "Faith without action is useless..."

 

STEP 2 • Sign up for one ministry serve opportunity this winter, at your local church.

 ³⁵ Make me walk along the path of your commands,
      for that is where my happiness is found.

 

Oh boy, this one is difficult.  We know WHAT to do, and may even know HOW to do it according to God's design... but to actually walk that path, consistently?  Wow.  Tough to go that road alone... 

 

STEP 3 • Approach a friend (same gender as me) and start an "Accountability Partnership."

 ³⁶ Give me an eagerness for your laws
      rather than a love for money!

 

Let's be clear here, God doesn't NEED your money.  But He desires your heart.  In our culture, money represents the culmination of our education, efforts, and successes.  To turn around and tithe it back to God's church essentially states (at the heart level) that God is Lord over my everything.  It is because of Him that I'm trained.  It is because of Him that I work.  It is because of Him that I succeeded.  I am only a steward of what He's invested into me...

 

STEP 4 • Tithe 10% gross wages, back to your local church.

 ³⁷ Turn my eyes from worthless things,
      and give me life through your word.^[a]

 

What would your day look like if you disconnected cable/satellite TV?  I'm serious.  Or let me ask it this way, what is the greatest life lesson you learned from television in 2011?  Is God able to provide you other ways to "unwind?"  Will you let Him?... 

 

STEP 5 • Disconnect cable service for 1 full year in 2011.  Re-purpose that time in other life areas.

 ³⁸ Reassure me of your promise,
      made to those who fear you.

 

After that last one, there will undoubtedly be a bit of anxiety in your spirit.  There was in mine.  But the good news is, God' promises are His to fulfill, even if we are anxious.  He invites us to cast our worries on Him... 

 

STEP 6 • Pray directly against my spirit of anxiety, stress, anger, resentment, __________, in the name of Jesus Christ.

 ³⁹ Help me abandon my shameful ways;
      for your regulations are good.

 

God's desire is not to control you with rules, but to offer guidance with love. His power offers hope, way beyond any weight loss program or new jello diet! 

 

STEP 7 • Accept God's loving guidance as authoritative in my life.

⁴⁰ I long to obey your commandments!
      Renew my life with your goodness.

 

By seeking His Word, we will essentially be enlisting a tour guide through this metamorphosis process.  Time to shed the cocoon of comfort, of fear, of familiarity... and FLY!

 

STEP 8 • Live the life God intended for you in 2011!

 

 

 

 

What I've learned is that goals from our own strength just don't have the muscle power to be sustainable.  WE NEED GOD TO SHOW UP.  

 

If we can begin to focus on feeding ourselves... our own spirit through the Word of God in relationship with Him... that energy will overflow into all areas of our life.  The natural byproduct of this is significance (as success is no longer our aim.)

 

Take these scriptures to heart as you plan your 2011.  Raise the temperature of your intimacy with our Holy King, who promises to provide an abundant life filled with joy to those who pursue him with their all.  

 

God bless you in 2011. 

 

12.30.10

Relationship Action Plan

This year, I've decided to give up on New Year's Resolutions.  

Simple "good intentions" of losing weight, eating right, reading my Bible, and generating new ventures are just not enough.  

I want to honor God with results... achieved through honest effort... to bring glory to Him.

So, I've adopted the "Relationship Action Plan" approach to 2011 Goal Achieving.

Here's how it works:

1.  Take the time to identify your life's mission statement.

For me, this step took months.  I reflected my spiritual gifts, passions, life experiences, and skill sets... then searched for the overlap of all these.  

The single statement that summarizes my mission statement is this:  "To bring Glory to God through Innovation and Start-up energy."  I'm a 1st & 2nd gear individual who gets bored after a "new thing" is up an launched.  

That's how God made me!  And it is my responsibility to bring him Glory in all areas of life, with that!

2.  Apply your mission statement to each area of the life wheel.

Consider all areas of this wheel just as valuable and important as any other.  Take this seriously, even in the areas you may have neglected or overlooked in years past.  Consider in your heart what it means to have your life mission come to fruition as a parent, an employee, a ministry leader, an "exerciser"... you get the point.

3.  Set an "A" and "B" goal in each life area for up to 3 years out.

Get realistically ambitious here.  

"Those who aim at nothing hit it every time with extraordinary results." -Zig Ziglar

4.  Identify key people who can help.

These are the connections, the networking, the individuals that you may need to invite into this life area goal to help catalyze change.  Consider this:  if your goal is to "eat healthy" you may wish to connect with "Uncle Bob, the nutritionist" for advice.  get it?

5.  Identify key action points 

These are events, activities, or any other item that must take place to help you accomplish this goal.

6.  Accountability

Find someone who can honestly check in with you and offer the accountability and check-up you need to spur you on to success.  My accountability partner and I have pre-booked quarterly "Accountability Breakfasts" where I've asked him to ask ME about my progress in each area.

Take the time, this New Year, to really LIVE your year ON-PURPOSE. 

This tool may be of help:  DOWNLOAD HERE

Traveling the path

12.29.10

Traveling the path

I've made many travel mistakes in my few years on earth. If you were to ask my wife, she would tell you that I am one to follow the GPS to a fault. In fact, on some business trips I find myself in foreign cities with winding roads I've never even heard of before... trying to travel such paths without a guide is not only foolish, its DANGEROUS!





In a comical way, this video illustrates our need (perhaps as Men) for guidance. The problem is, some people find their guidance from self-serving motives, rather than God-surrendered faith.

We can walk any path we choose in life, so long as we BELIEVE in our hearts that it is right for us. But, the truth is that our hearts cannot always be trusted!


~~~


EXAMPLE: I walked into Costco a few days ago, and stumbled across the latest 3D HDTV setup on display. I instantly envisioned that television in my living room, mounted proudly on my wall. In my mind's eye, I saw my son watching "Finding Nemo" in 3D, laughing with entertained delight. I pictured my wife and I enjoying "our shows" at a whole new level... which would obviously improve our marriage!

Over the course of about 42 awe struck seconds, I began feeding the lustful desires in my heart to turning this "want" into a "need!"

But then it struck me.



THE LESSON: God's desire for us is not to be happy, but rather to be holy.



The truth is, my wife and I don't have "quality conversations" nearly at the frequency we should to grow our marriage... and this television purchase would only add one more "thing" to our crowded schedules.

The truth is, we desire to raise our son in a home that reflects Jesus, constantly. I have yet to find in Scripture a place where Jesus just sits down and chills out watching "the game."...

The truth is, the evil spirit of depression, isolation, and resentment flirts at our doorstep every day. I believe Satan would "entertain us to death" if he had the chance... (Check out John 10:10 and 1 Peter 5:8 )

Thank goodness Jesus said this first:

John 8:32 (New International Version, ©2010)

³² Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

So true.

I declined to allow my heart to travel the emotional autobahn it found itself on, any longer. I attacked this feeling with the self disciplined spirit of God's truth.

~~~

The decisions we make in our life determine the direction our life is headed in.

A wise sage once said, "Direction, not intention, determines destination."

It's what you do, not what you intend to do.

It's action, not just desire.

And the only way we can modify our ACTION is by changing our BELIEF.

And the only way to change BELIEF is by reconciling it to TRUTH.

And the only way to gain TRUTH is by absorbing and living God's WORD...

So I will travel this path... this path called LIFE... and allow God's TRUTH to transform my ACTIONS through changing my BELIEFS...