This content was originally published here out of Seattle Pacific University’s Initiative called Faith & Co. This is the one of many that we share as their business documentaries are world-class! Beyond videos, they also offer an open online course and a group study guide.

— by Faith & Co.

In an industry that sucks the life out of people, how does a company ensure that they aren’t exploiting employees?

Canlis is the 67-year-old, James Beard Award-winning restaurant in Seattle that is pushing the envelope when it comes to employee development. By carefully selecting those whose core identity aligns with their involvement in the company, and then nurturing the process of self-discovery and development, Canlis has forged a world-class fine-dining experience.

Watch their film, Becoming, filmed by Untamed, below!

We continue to count down the Top 100 Books for Faith Driven Entrepreneurs with…

Start with Why

by Simon Sinek

Sinek starts with a fundamental question: Why are some people and organizations more innovative, more influential, and more profitable than others? Why do some command greater loyalty from customers and employees alike? Even among the successful, why are so few able to repeat their success over and over?

People like Martin Luther King Jr., Steve Jobs, and the Wright Brothers had little in common, but they all started with WHY. They realized that people won’t truly buy into a product, service, movement, or idea until they understand the WHY behind it.

Start with Why shows that the leaders who’ve had the greatest influence in the world all think, act, and communicate the same way—and it’s the opposite of what everyone else does. Sinek calls this powerful idea The Golden Circle, and it provides a framework upon which organizations can be built, movements can be led, and people can be inspired. And it all starts with WHY.

Click on the book cover to check out the Reviews and Purchase at Amazon

This content was originally published here by purposed worKING, and was written by Rusty Rueff, co-host of the Faith Driven Entrepreneur podcast.

— by Rusty Rueff

“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.”

Matthew 13:44 (New Living Translation)

A true entrepreneur, once s/he lands on an idea that they believe will make a difference, or solve a real problem, will give everything they have to pursue and realize their dream. And when I say “everything”, I mean all that they have.  I have seen a handful of maxed-out credit cards as funding. I’ve seen no homes and sleeping under the desk.  I’ve seen personal borrowing that means no house or private schooling.  I’ve seen just about it all.  And even then, only a few ever have it all come back to them in the way they so desired.  But, still, it is what they do, not because they want to, but because they have to.  How wonderful it would be to have our companies more filled with these types of people versus those who come to work just because.

Jesus’ parable is remarkable.  If it doesn’t squarely challenge us to get our priorities right, then I don’t know what does. The discoverer of the fortune gives it all up to buy the field.  What are we willing to give up to receive the treasures of God’s Kingdom?  Thank you Jesus for making us have to answer the question!

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[Special thanks to Benjamin Davies for the cover photo]

Article originally hosted and shared with permission by The Christian Economic Forum, a global network of leaders who join together to collaborate and introduce strategic ideas for the spread of God’s economic principles and the goodness of Jesus Christ. This article was one of CEF’s 2019 White Papers.

— by Jeff Holler

As high achievers with a higher calling, God has graciously given us much to manage and oversee. If you are like me, always in the back of my mind are the Parable of the Talents, and Jesus’ words that, “from everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded, and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked” (Luke 12:48–49, NIV). We all have a lot on our plates, and perhaps you strive to become a world-class time manager, squeezing as much out of each day as is humanly possible. In case we need some help doing so, there are hundreds of books that have been written on achieving superior time management and increasing our productivity.

Superior time management, however, can be all wrong when we are masterfully managing our time around the wrong priorities! I know that faith driven entrepreneurs are some of the most focused servant stewards on the planet. Even so, we are not immune to the immense pull away from the path God has prepared for us—a pull that is exerted by the “world,” our personal ambitions and desires, our businesses, and the needs of others.

On what then should our time be focused? About 15 years ago while involved in Strategic Coach, a secular coaching program for entrepreneurs, I was introduced to the idea that intentional time allocation around our highest and most important lifetime priorities trumps superior time management around our calendar. This concept of allocating time around our most valued lifetime priorities immediately resonated with me from a spiritual perspective, knowing that the Scriptures command us to allocate our time, as well as our God-given unique abilities and resources, in alignment with His God-breathed purpose for our lives. 

The best example I can provide of allocating time according to a spiritually embedded lifetime priority is one shared by all eight of the subjects of my recently published book, Bigger Than Business, which shares real-world stories of business owners living their purpose. Even though the story subjects reside on six different continents and come from vastly different backgrounds, they each expressed in various ways their lifetime priority to continually grow in intimate relationship with Christ, and to follow God’s will for their lives. Their model for HOW to do so is Jesus Christ. He was the greatest time allocator of all-time! He only had three years to accomplish the Father’s mission, He was in greater demand than anyone who has ever inhabited the earth, and He had 12 very slow learners with whom to work. Yet instead of masterfully managing His appointments, commitments, travel schedule, and demands, He allocated a high percentage of His time to being alone in intimate prayer and relationship with His Father, and in teaching those who would continue His mission. Why? Because even God the Son needed the God the Father’s help to stay the course for which He had been brought into the world; He needed the right team in place ready to continue the mission when He was gone. 

Each of my eight book subjects subscribe to Jesus’ model by dedicating what most would consider an immense amount of daily time to being alone in communication with God, taking everything to Him, and gaining clarity about how God wants them to proceed. They also allocate an equally great amount of time to helping others sustain and advance their mission while carving out time each day to study and contemplate how the Scriptures are speaking to them personally. According to each, if their priority is to continually grow in deep and intimate relationship with God and to follow His will for their lives, then how could they do anything other than spend significant time every day with Him and His word, and in helping others grow in truth? Their time, in quantity and quality, is allocated in alignment with these essential God-breathed lifetime priorities. I imagine that someday Christ will say to each of them that, like Mary in the story of Martha and Mary, they have chosen to allocate their time to “what is better.” As you know, Martha lost sight of the “few things that are needed,” because she was upset about the “many things” at hand to be managed that were pulling her away from relational time with Christ (Luke 10:38–41).

Discerning our faith-inspired lifetime priorities is the fundamental starting point to becoming excellent time allocators. Several CEF members and honorees are featured in Bigger Than Business and share their faith-inspired lifetime priorities, how they pursue them, and why they are important. Alan Barnhart and his brother established a priority to be faithful stewards and not to let earthly success lead to spiritual compromise or failure. Jorge Nishimura expresses his love for God by serving others. Dr. Robbie Sonderegger has made it a lifetime priority to allow God to leverage his adventuresome spirit and problem-solving abilities to transform mindsets and improve lives around the globe. Dr. Suparno Adijanto shares how and why he clears the path so others can grow and thrive in their walk with Christ. In each case the individual’s allocation of time is in beautiful alignment with their understanding of God’s priorities and purpose for their life.

Fifteen years ago, after gaining an understanding of the difference between time allocation and time management, I wrote down my five most important lifetime priorities. Then I went to work re-ordering my daily and ongoing time allocation around these priorities. My five lifetime priorities, to which I have since strived to prayerfully and obediently allocate my time, are as follows: 

1. To daily seek and live the purpose for which God created me, obediently following wherever He may lead me, and doing so with joy, hope, and absolute trust in Him; 

2. To persistently strive to deepen the love and intimacy of the most valued relationships to which Christ has led, or will lead me—especially with my wife Charlsey, my family, and cherished friends and colleagues;

3. To purposefully and profitably grow, on a foundation of biblical principles, the ministry/business that is The Capital Chart Room LTD, as well as any other business or venture to which God may entrust me as His servant steward; 

4. To be a good and faithful servant steward, to receive and give back to God with open hands, heart, and mind, all that I am and have in a manner that helps bring others into a relationship, or into deeper relationship with Him; 

5. To be in better health—spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally—at age 90 than at age 35 (God willing that I live that long).

It is important to note is that these are lifetime priorities. Therefore, from each of these priorities come daily living habits that impact everything. This includes my prayer life, the time given to my church and family, what I can do to continually improve and grow my relationship with Charlsey, the people I hire to which I can confidently delegate work so our company (aka “ministry”) can be “self-managing” (i.e., run without me), where and how God is calling me to allocate my God-given time, talent, and financial resources, my exercise, nutrition, and sleep routines, etc. You get the idea. These priorities directly impact EVERY facet of my life, and subsequently how I manage my time around them. Honoring them has also empowered me to become an accomplished delegator who is skilled at managing all the other demands in the limited time that isn’t allocated to my lifetime priorities. 

Additionally, since these are lifetime priorities, I can’t push them off to be addressed later. For example, I can’t wait until I am 89 to start working on my lifetime priority to be in better health at age 90 than I was at 35. As a result, these priorities have also become the focal point of much of my prayer time. David Green, owner of Hobby Lobby stores, once advised me to never make an important decision until I have prayerful clarity regarding God’s will on the matter. God has placed these priorities on my heart, so my prayers are often seeking whether an opportunity, request, relationship, or time commitment fulfills one of them. Once I have prayerful clarity, I can, without stress or worry, either say “no” or pursue it with spiritual fervor!

As you can imagine, my time allocation and related daily habits are certainly not perfect—not even close. I need God’s help as much as, and probably more than most. That is why this daily process of prayerfully seeking and following God’s will has become so important and valuable to me.

So, what about you? What are your faith-inspired lifetime priorities? I strongly urge you to prayerfully contemplate them, write them down, and regularly revisit them.

1.________________________________________________________________

2.________________________________________________________________

3.________________________________________________________________

4.________________________________________________________________

5.________________________________________________________________

Are you willing to allocate the clear majority of your time, unique abilities, and resources to achieving your God-breathed lifetime priorities?

Another way to understand your lifetime priorities is to write down the most important things you DON’T want to regret on the day you meet your Maker. This list will point you right back to your most important priorities. For example, I don’t want Christ to show me something amazing He had planned for me, but I didn’t experience it because I wasn’t seeking and following His will. I also don’t want to regret not giving my family the very best of my time, attention, and love. All the things I don’t want to regret are spiritually linked to my lifetime priorities. 

What about you? What don’t you want to regret at the end of your lifetime?

1._______________________________________________________________

2._______________________________________________________________

3._______________________________________________________________

4.________________________________________________________________

5.________________________________________________________________

Allocating our time according to our God-inspired lifetime priorities is not easy because “life happens.” Family and work challenges are a given, health issues are inescapable, and unexpected circumstances are always on the horizon. But no matter what is going on in our lives, Scripture tells us that if we prayerfully seek and trust how God might use the various circumstances to help us fulfill His will for our lives, we will gain a perspective of hope and an indescribable peace (John 16:33; Philippians 4:4–9; Romans 12:1–2).

God also shakes up our world occasionally and points us in a direction we haven’t anticipated. For example, in Bigger Than Business, Jorge Nishimura shares how he was dismissed from his family business by his father and siblings. As Jorge took this to God, then trusted and followed His new priorities, the answer for why this happened slowly unfolded. In hindsight, it became clear that God took Jorge through a season of preparation for something else. As his family experienced Jorge’s forgiveness and observed his spiritual transformation, they understood that they needed him to come back into the company leadership and help repair their divisions and restore their family’s unity. Jorge ultimately became the chairman of the family enterprises and has led the process to empower the third generation to assume their leadership and ownership roles. Jorge’s time allocation was changed by his family, but he continued to seek God’s priorities and allocate his time accordingly, even though he had no idea where it was leading him. As is always the case, if we are following the path God has prepared for us the one thing we can trust and know for certain is that it will end well!

I encourage you to prayerfully consider, and then to write down the lifetime priorities God places on your heart. Then look through your calendar, focusing on to what and to whom you are currently giving the best of your time, and consider whether that aligns with your priorities. If there is any disconnect, I hope you will commit to faithfully re-allocating your God-given time, unique abilities, and resources accordingly. I also recommend that you hold yourself accountable, which is easy to do. Most calendar programs allow the color coding of appointments, so you only need to come up with a different color for each lifetime priority and appropriately color-code each calendar item. It then becomes easy to scroll through your calendar and see how you are doing!

Here’s to all of us choosing “what is better”!

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[Special thanks to Nathan Dumlao for the cover photo]

— by Carter Crockett

One of the best definitions of entrepreneurship is that of Harvard Professor Howard Stevenson (1983): “the pursuit of opportunity beyond the tangible resources that you currently control”. This definition is broad enough to describe all types of enterprising activity, yet specific enough to focus on what makes entrepreneurship something admired by many and attempted by few. This short yet powerful definition has three components, and each is worth deeper consideration, particularly if you are a follower of Christ.

“The pursuit…”

If entrepreneurship were a sport, qualification would be as simple as entering the race. What makes you an entrepreneur is the pursuit, not the achievement. Entrepreneurial activity is not tied to a particular outcome or ‘success’, yet it is sure to require struggle, learning, unexpected obstacles and iterative refinement toward a new or novel idea. This is a full-contact sport that requires the founder to engage directly with market elements that may injure or destroy. Every founder enters the race in a vulnerable state and their likelihood of survival increases as they recruit others in the pursuit (investors, employees, partners, etc.). Entrepreneurship can be understood as a team sport that is more about the journey than the destination.

Christian disciples should understand such a struggle: we are called to pursue a perfection we can never attain, we exercise refinement toward a godly character that can only come from a long obedience in the same direction. We understand the humble ambition required to commit all we have in a race we can never “win”; to pursue something greater than ourselves.

“…of opportunity…”

The entrepreneurial race leads through complex social systems and unpredictable terrain. Entrepreneurs seek to introduce innovative solutions to address perceived challenges in this terrain – to add value where it was previously lacking. The one who pursues such opportunities must have deep insight and keen vision to see around the corner. While most people focus on the challenges in front of them, visionary founders can step back from the cliff and muster the optimism to imagine the bridge that just might reach the other side. A bold and well-defined opportunity can fuel the entire pursuit and muster the resources needed to chase it. To see such opportunities takes creative genius, but to realize them requires convincing others to pursue it with you.

God is the Prime Mover, the ultimate Creator, and we are made in his image with a capacity to steward and emulate his creative genius. Christians can build only with what He supplies, but he has given us much; we can work to redeem what is broken. Frederick Buechner contends that God calls us to “the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet”. With an eternal perspective, we can appreciate God’s creative genius and possess the hope needed to identify truly profound opportunities.

“…beyond resources controlled”

This part of the definition captures the reason most avoid this race, while others find it the most thrilling challenge a marketplace can offer. Rational thought and tangible assets fail to explain a domain where vision outpaces resources. Few would embark on a race without the necessary resources to reach the finish line, yet many of us have seen an opportunity pursued by the right founder has a mysterious capacity for assembling the components necessary to claim victory. Amazingly, founders must begin with a hope in something that does not yet exist. It is difficult to describe this sentiment in secular terms, but spiritual traditions have a word for this: “faith”.

“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

Hebrews 11:1

We are living in amazing times, where the heroes of our day are entrepreneurs. More amazing still, the traits of the best entrepreneurs compliment that which Christ commends: commitment to a journey of struggle and refinement, a mandate to pursue opportunities of creative and redemptive value, and faith. Of course, there is a way to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities with avarice and disregard for others, inconsistent with Christian values. However, there is a growing chorus of experts suggesting there is a better way. The definition hasn’t changed, but even popular entrepreneurship texts now name the key virtues required: humility, empathy, creative thinking, grit and courage. We can take comfort: entrepreneurship is a popular sport that plays directly into the strengths required of those who follow Christ. 

Let us hope these amazing times inspire a host of faithful founders to enter the race. The world would never be the same.

——

[Special thanks to Anastasia Petrova for the cover photo]

Today we put an end to an age-old question—can a business itself have spiritual meaning? For years as Entrepreneurs, we’ve been called to live out our faith in our individual work activities and relationships. But we are fundamentally about building business enterprises. Can we take it a step further to conceive of the enterprise—the organization itself—as having spiritual significance?

Curtis Chang is our guest who’s recently come out with some work that makes the case for all organizations—including secular organizations—as having a deeper spiritual meaning than what Christians have typically been taught. 

Curtis straddles the world of secular organizations and Christian thinking. He is the Founder and CEO of Consulting Within Reach, a management consulting firm serving secular nonprofits across the country. He has won national recognition from the White House for innovative work in the social sector and teaches on the faculty of American University. At the same time, he is a former pastor, is a Senior Fellow at Fuller Seminary, and is a professor at Duke Divinity School. 

He’s a deep thinker and someone who we found engaging, encouraging, and challenging, and we think you will too. As always, thanks for listening.

If you have thoughts or questions from today’s show, let us know!