Leadership Priorities - How’s Business?

        In Peter F. Drucker’s classic work on Management, he encourages leaders to constantly assess, prioritize, rearrange, and improve their businesses to remain competitive and capitalize on opportunities.  We are to ask, “What’s our business?” and, “How’s business?”  We need to follow Drucker’s advice in our spiritual lives first and foremost, and then in every other area, including our business strategy and execution.

        If we don’t assess and take action, we will allow others to dictate our strategy.  We become reactionary.  You see this with leaders bogged down by too many goals and too little alignment to what is key for their company.  We are often prone to letting worries and pressures of this world keep us jumping from one fool’s errand to another, rather than focusing on our opportunities for Kingdom growth.  The good news is we can all improve, and we can prioritize what's under our influence today.

        In humility and prayer, let’s ask God to show us what our business should be and what we must focus on for success.  God’s Word gives us laser focus on what is of infinite value.  Our business success is a gift from God, by the grace of God. God alone grants lasting success, and He provides the wisdom and common sense for us to navigate the narrow straights of the business world.  We have a great opportunity today to showcase the Father’s grace through the Cross of Christ (1 Corinthians 1:31 and Jeremiah 9:23-24).  When we rely on God, we can prioritize rightly and confidently.

        To be effective, we must prioritize well.  It matters because Jesus promises to provide a fair assessment of each of us at His return (Revelation 22:12).  Our time and priorities (and most importantly our faith) are valuable.  We are treasured by God.  Each of us.  That is, of course, why we safeguard something: because it is valuable (Philippians 3:1).

        As leaders, we need encouragement and instruction as to how to strategize (focus on past things or future things, problems or opportunities).  There is a lot we can do, and stop doing!  Of paramount importance is to continue to believe in and rely on Christ.  It is faith and trust in what Christ has done for us (Philippians 3:2); that is God’s way of making us right with Him.  The flip side of that coin is that if we don’t rely on God and instead rely on our own abilities, achievements, pedigrees, or personalities, we are boasting in foolishness, building with straw rather than brick.  Rely on the solid foundation of Christ.

        Prioritizing means making value assessments.  We do this constantly because it is so important.  It's natural to think that because our business plan was once successful that it will continue to be so forever.  But that just ain’t how it works.  We have to innovate.  God gives us creative abilities and common sense for a reason: for us to use them.

        What drove Paul was knowing Jesus.  He had all sorts of things to boast about, but once he had been baptized by the Holy Spirit, he knew the infinite value of knowing Jesus (Philippians 3:8).  Let's pattern ourselves after Paul's good example.

        As we mature as Christian leaders, let's find common ground with others.  To this we must all agree, “For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.  I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead.  I want to suffer with him, sharing his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:9-11).  Let's eagerly rely on Jesus in all things.

        Let’s be like Druckder today, encouraging each other to assess well and to choose the best directions for our businesses rather than what the crowd is doing.  We fight on for there is a heavenly prize for those who rely on Christ Jesus.

        Lord Jesus, help us to prioritize well today.  And to pattern our lives on godly men of good character.  Please let us hear from You today.  Help us to be fierce advocates and bold leaders.  Please open doors for us and show us every good opportunity to help others.  Amen.

Archer, our five-year-old grandson.