Will and his beyond-compare wife, Lauren, live in Kansas City with their two children, Branch and Wynnie.
Together, the couple owns and operates Qwill Creative – a content marketing company centered on words that move people to think and act differently.
— by Tony Evans
God has given us the Holy Spirit to guide us in decision making. And because entrepreneurs are risk takers, we know we must take calculated risk. You want risk to work out, because you can’t guarantee the result of the risk—that makes it a risk, so risk involves faith. You’ve got to believe something about taking a risk.
But everything you believe in is not the risk you want to take. So you need the Holy Spirit to authenticate that this certain risk is a risk worth taking. The Bible talks about the fact that he will guide you in making a profit. God will guide you in making a profit. So you need guidance. If you need guidance and you have a guide, the Holy Spirit. For every decision you make, big, medium and small, the Holy Spirit should be invited into the boardroom or into the conversation or into the Starbucks or onto the golf course where you are making the decisions.
How does he validate it? He validates it in your heart. But then after two or three witnesses. So if you’re not confident that this is God, you start asking for the two or three confirmations and they can come in a myriad of different ways. So a lot of business people move ahead because they like how it feels when it has never been confirmed. But then they often want a reversal once they see how it turned out. So bring the Holy Spirit in on the front end so you can avoid a myriad of decisions that will take you out in the long run.
For a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without law, but when in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them. In those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for great disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands. They were broken in pieces. Nation was crushed by nation and city by city, for God troubled them with every sort of distress.
Chronicles 15:3-6
That was conflict in the land—this included personal conflict, family conflict, city conflict, and national conflict. Conflict everywhere. No peace, it says, but then it says that God troubled them with every kind of distress. You would have thought with all the conflict, that would have said the devil caused it, but it doesn’t. It says, God troubled it.
If God is your problem, only God is your solution. And the reason why verse three says there was all this chaos in the land was because God had been marginalized. It says the churches had failed, the priest had failed, and God had been marginalized. So when that open space opened up where God was no longer in the vicinity, all manner of evil and conflict went into that empty space.
But verse four says this. In their distress when it got bad enough, they sought the Lord and he let them find him. Later, in verse fifteen it says, and God gave them rest when they got back to their spiritual priority, the kingdom priority, their relationship priority. God turned conflict into order. So control of the city, of the nation, doesn’t come down to the person in the White House. This is about the person who’s in God’s house. And if we can get God’s house straight with God’s people, then we can address every issue from God’s point of view.
Duncan has experience in corporate banking, private equity, corporate finance advisory and has helped secure investment across £2 billion of transactions, worked in two incubators, founded a social impact venture, was COO of a new training and consultancy venture for churches, and has led a city movement event around the world that engages with tens of thousands of people annually.
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Brian Sooy is the president of Aespire, the branding agency that serves entrepreneurs and multi-generational family businesses that empower, equip, and enrich people’s lives. Brian is also the author of several books, including “Essential: Finding Worth in Your Work During Uncertain Times,” a 30-day devotional for faith-driven professionals, and publishes the online journal, EntreWorship. As a Certified Brand Strategist and StoryBrand Certified Guide, Brian knows when people find clarity and confidence in their leadership, they multiply their impact, and their business thrives.
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— by Molly Fletcher
One of my favorite parts of my job is getting inside the heads and hearts of the companies and organizations I visit. Every company has its own unique culture and a lot of leaders I talk to are in the midst of trying to transform their company culture. No one thrives in a toxic workplace… but how do we avoid getting there in the first place? Here are four behaviors that contribute to a toxic workplace—and how you can avoid these common pitfalls.
Not celebrating success. A friend of mine had a boss who simply never got excited about anything. Whether she won a big client, closed a big deal, or exceeded sales goals, there was never a celebration. Her boss was too afraid that the team would immediately think the huge new deal would mean more money for the company, ergo the employees would want more money and ask for a raise. The boss was so focused on the bottom line, he didn’t see the morale buzzkill he was causing. Celebrate the wins- big and small.
No trust. A lack of trust in the workplace is extremely toxic. If the boss doesn’t trust the team to get the job done, most likely the job will never get done. If employees aren’t trusted to fulfill their roles, they’ll start losing confidence and productivity will decrease. Managers need to trust they have the right person in the right role (if not, maybe it’s time for a tough conversation). A true leader cannot be involved in every company decision; they hire the right people and let them make decisions so their time can be used effectively elsewhere. If they fail, they can learn and grow from their own mistakes. To avoid a lack of trust in the workplace, become a better communicator. If you’re having trouble with an employee’s work – tell them. Don’t do it for them. This will quickly spiral downward into an environment where there is zero trust.
Afraid of change. Have you ever heard the adage “The seven most expensive words in business are ‘We have always done it that way’”? Most people who respond that way are afraid of change. Yes there are merits to methods that are tried and true, but only if you are constantly looking at what could be done differently and how it could be improved. After all, the only thing constant in life is change. To battle this fear of change, it’s important to own your fears and communicate them with your team or boss. After that, become involved in the change if you can and, most importantly, keep doing your job. As you focus on working and keeping an open line of communication with your team, you’ll better handle changes as they come.
All business all the time. It’s important to keep a level of separation between your professional life and personal life; but at the same time, we spend most of our waking hours with the people we work with, and like it or not, your colleagues will get to know the whole you. If your employee or colleague’s child or parent is sick, ask about it. People want to know that you care about them. Poet Maya Angelou said it best, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” When people feel supported and understood, they are more likely to stay engaged and motivated at work.
This article was originally posted here by The Molly Fletcher Company
For more expert insights into healthy work environments, read our article, “How to Reduce Employee Turnover as a Faith Driven Entrepreneur.”
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[ Photo by RF._.studio from Pexels ]
Neville Boston is Founder and Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) of Reviver, creator of the Rplate™, the world’s first digital license plate. Established in 2009, Reviver was founded with a mission to establish a universal connected car platform by modernizing the 125-year-old metal license plate into a fully interactive, digital screen. The Rplate is on the road in California and Arizona and is approved, but pending release in Michigan, Illinois, Georgia. It is approved in Texas for use in commercial fleets, and in Florida for government fleets.
As CSO, Neville is responsible for the strategic direction of the company from a legislative and sales standpoint. He has worked closely with governments and state legislative bodies to gain approvals for the Rplate. In addition to legislative activities, Neville also oversees business development, sales, and customer service for the company.
Neville is also co-inventor of US Patent No: 9,007,193 B2, the method and system for rendering content on the exterior of a vehicle. Reviver has 37 more patents for the Rplate currently pending. He is also a member of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group and on the Board of the California Technology Council and BottleVin, Inc. Neville has a B.A. in Political Science with a marketing focus from the University of California, Berkeley.
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For too long, I let sin linger in the form of pornography. For too long, I let social media serve as a conduit for pornography and/or comparison. For too long, I let online activity act as Resistance to the real work set before me.