George Bernard Shaw wrote the play “Pygmalion” in 1913. It tells the story of Henry Higgins, a professor of phonetics who bets his friend Colonel Pickering that he can successfully pass off a Cockney flower girl by the name of Eliza Doolittle as a refined society lady. He proposes to do this by teaching her how to speak with an upper class accent and training her in etiquette. In teaching Eliza to surround herself with expectations of a better life, he believed she would be inherently drawn toward becoming a woman of high society.

The story makes the point that expectations and environment play a critical role in outcomes; this came to be known as the Pygmalion Effect. Ministries and faith-based organizations in America can learn from this.

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Selfishness is a dirty word in Christendom. Well, at least publicly. It’s not that it isn’t the type of foul language that isn’t spoken in mixed company – quite the contrary: we use the term to criticize our opponents, our children, and maybe even ourselves from time to time. No, it is that type of particular profanity that is used regularly and often with the intent to shame others or to debase ourselves. We just cannot seem to stand it when someone acts in their own self-interest, especially when it requires them to not act in ours.

Which is, ironically, selfish.

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Competition is not something we do well as Christians.  It likely ranks in the Top 10 Worst Practices in the Body.  I take that back – we compete very strongly against our own, but hardly and rarely in the right way.  In terms of the market, or outside of denominations, though, we most often take our ball and go home, so to speak. Read More »

Wherever you stand on political issues, this year the hot topic of the glass ceiling cannot be avoided.  From Hillary Clinton to Sarah Palin—the talk around the water cooler is about women in a prominent leadership role. Read More »

Over the past month, I have been on the road visiting clients and prospects.  Many organizations I have seen  have stuck out to me for common sense attributes that should penetrate any business or ministry if they wish to succeed. Read More »

Over the past week I have been spending time on the Big Island of Hawaii with my wife. We have done a snorkeling cruise, seen rock beaches, and attended a farmer’s market. Outside of each other, we haven’t known another soul on the entire island. We have been strangers in a strange land, so to speak. Read More »

I have heard that phrase for years. I have tried to buy the domain name. And after this week, I am even more convinced that life is truly centered around relationships.

This past week our team attended the ICRS convention in Orlando, Florida. The trip was packed with non-stop time together, back-to-back meetings, nice dinners, and – oh yeah – humidity. I had no doubt that our team had the intellectual and relational skills to make our company shine in the industry, but I did wonder what a 24/7-week together would look like. I was not disappointed. Read More »

For over ten years I have been an outspoken advocate for ministries expanding their revenue models beyond the confines of a donor-based model.

Some time ago, when I was President of a publicly traded company working in the faith-based space, I was chided by many for “enriching the pockets of shareholders at the Lord’s expense.” This really bothered me and I spent a lot of prayer time seeking discernment in this area.

Soon after, I found myself waiting to meet the President of another well-known national ministry. While in his assistant’s office waiting to see him, I noticed that her office was about seven times larger than my own. Her office walls were lined in cherry wood, while mine had plasterboard walls. I am for or against one wall treatment or another; my question is regarding the practices of a nonprofit ministry versus a for-profit company. Where is the stewardship in expensing high costs using donor dollars, then being critical of a public company when they run leaner than you? Read More »

Over the weekend, The Dark Knight debuted in theatres across America. “Debuted” is actually a misnomer. Knight falls into the category of movies that culture has waited for and eagerly received. It is an example of a tool, in the form of media, driving culture.

By driving culture, I mean it influences what people see, think, read and talk about. Many people over the weekend discussed this movie, whether they saw it or not. They dialogued about their thoughts on the movie and, most likely, the tragedy of Heath Ledger’s loss after such a crowning achievement for acting. Read More »

It is always an interesting experience to me when I travel to a place where the culture and the language are different from home.

Last week I returned from Tanzania where, of course, the culture was dramatically different from here in Colorado.  At the start of my trip the language divide was stark.  But, as I’ve found on previous trips, by the end of my travel I saw far more similarities in the people than differences despite the language and cultural divide.

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