INJOY - Life@Work Workbook: Marketplace Success for People of Faith

LIFE@WORK

A HANDBOOK ON MARKETPLACE SUCCESS
for PEOPLE of FAITH

JOHN C. MAXWELL
STEPHEN R. GRAVES
THOMAS G. ADDINGTON

Copyright 2005 by John C. Maxwell

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Scripture quotations identified NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers. NIV and New International Version are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society.

Scripture quotations identified MSG are taken from The Message, copyright 1992, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by NavPress Publishing Group. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations identified NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible. Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Scripture quotations identified NLT are taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation. Copyright 1986 by Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois, 60189. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Published in association with Yates & Yates, LLP, Attorneys and Counselors, Orange, California.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available

ISBN: 1-4185-0328-2

Printed in the United States of America
1 2 3 4 5 6 08 07 06 05

Acknowledgments

Stephen Caldwell

Sam Hannon

Thanks for all your help in transferring the concepts first outlined in the Life@Work trade book into this interactive handbook format. It is a special experience to work with someone who delivers skill, models serving, displays character and evidences calling in the details of their daily work. Our interchange with you took all the ideas of this book and attached them to a local voice and familiar face. Thanks again.

Thank you to the hundreds of men and women of faith who helped us shape the thinking of this book. Most of the stories used in this book have one of you in mind. While the stories are true, some details in some accounts have been changed to honor your privacy.

Contents

Driving Thought: Gods original blueprint for our Life@Work calls us to be comfortable and capable in both the spiritual arena and the commercial arena.

Driving Thought: The exploration of Life@Work leads to a striking conclusion: Work was designed to allow us a deep participation in the life and work of God Himself.

Driving Thought: Skill is not just a business necessity but a spiritual imperative.

Driving Thought: A God-centered Life@Work delivers a skill that causes awe among humans and praise toward God.

Driving Thought: We will never experience the Life@Work that God intended for us until we answer the question, What is my created greatness?

Driving Thought: In the transitory swirling currents of the temporary, calling moors us to the eternal.

Driving Thought: God calls us to our Life@Work and sometimes He does it so we can hear Him.

Driving Thought: Desire is almost always found at the core of a calling.

Driving Thought: Sometimes calling is self-evident. It is not a question of what our calling is, but if we want to accept it.

Driving Thought: Calling is always crucial and often confusing. It requires constant attention through all the seasons of our lives.

Driving Thought: Every job invites us to experience the five purposes of work: provision, character development, worship, modeling, and service to others.

Driving Thought: Serving has to be the core of our work or it wont have a core at all.

Driving Thought: To serve others every day in our Life@Work, we have to see like a Samaritan, feel like a Samaritan and act like a Samaritan.

Driving Thought: Serving others in our Life@Work extends in at least four directions: up, out, down, and across.

Driving Thought: The lines of our behavior draw a picture of our character.

Driving Thought: Character is a fruit of the heart.

Driving Thought: A well-stocked moral warehouse provides the critical infrastructure for distributing a character-driven Life@Work.

CONCLUSION

Driving Thought: The next decade will be memorialized by the churches that celebrate and equip people to live an impacting and effective Life@Work.

Assess how sharp both edges of your Life@Work are by answering yes or no to the following statements:

My skill set is sharper today than it was three years ago and my boss would agree.

Yes _____ No _____

My faith has made me more valuable to my company, not less valuable.

Yes _____ No _____

I have a reputation at work of being someone who sacrificially helps others succeed without needing any credit for it.

Yes _____ No _____

My coworkers see me as a person settled, engaged and fulfilled in my work station.

Yes _____ No _____

I am as energized in my work life as I am in my ministry world.

Yes _____ No _____

I am the same person on Monday at work as I am Sunday at church.

Yes _____ No _____

I have learned to stand firm in my convictions regardless of the setting or circumstance.

Yes _____ No _____

My life is enough salt and light to cause my coworkers and neighbors to find Jesus.

Yes _____ No _____

Even if I became independently wealthy, I would still keep working.

Yes _____ No _____

I am actively helping the leadership in my church to better understand and engage the workplace.

Yes _____ No _____

If you answered yes to:

910 Your Life@Work sword is a doubly-sharp penetrating presence.

68 Your blade is dull.

35 Your blade is broken.

02 The enemy has stolen your sword.

CHAPTER 1
REFORGING OUR
FRAGMENTED
LIFE@WORK

IT IS NOT, TRULY SPEAKING, THE LABOR THAT IS DIVIDED; BUT THE MEN: DIVIDED INTO MERE SEGMENTS OF MENBROKEN INTO SMALL FRAGMENTS AND CRUMBS OF LIFE.

JOHN RUSKIN

DRIVING THOUGHT

Gods original blueprint for our Life@Work calls us to be comfortable and capable in both the spiritual arena and the commercial arena.

DRILLING DOWN

Charles Antonio Bordini III was high-spirited, uncomfortably transparent, and voraciously hungry to learn. He was new to Chicago and new to the life of faith, but he was developing a reputation as a mover and shaker in Christian circles to match the reputation he already had in the corporate world.

If there was a major financial deal going down, Charlie was in the middle of it. Charlie was a player. Now that he was a Christian, he was becoming a player in the world of faith, as well.

Hanging out with Charlie reminded me of eating at my favorite Italian restaurant. Loud. Chaotic. Rich. Charlies personality created a self-charging level of energy and enthusiasm. And as Carlos Santana said, There is nothing more contagious on this planet than enthusiasm.

Not long ago, after speaking to a large gathering of young executives over breakfast in Chicago, I hung around to meet with the board of directors of the organization hosting the event. They wanted me to field a few questions on the faith and work movement. To no ones surprise, Charlie had just been added to the board.