Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.  – Peter Drucker and Warren Bennis

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The below article appeared in John Piper’s 1997 book A Godward Life: Savoring the Supremacy of God in All of Life. It sums up as good as anything I’ve read how I want to approach work.

Lord-Focused Living at Work

Who is Your Supervisor?
Meditation on Ephesians 6:7-8

With good will render service
as to the Lord, and not to men,
knowing that whatever good thing each one does,
this he will receive back from the Lord,
whether slave or free.

A Call to Radically Lord-Centered Living
What Ephesians 6:7-8 calls for is astonishing compared to the way we usually live. Paul says that all our work should be done as work for Christ, not for any human supervisor: “With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men.” This means that we will think of the Lord in what we are doing at work. We will ask, Why would the Lord like this done? How would the Lord like this done? When would the Lord like this done? Will the Lord help me do this? What effect will this have for the Lord’s honor? Being a Christian at work means radically Lord-centered living. What you are asked to do by a supervisor should generally be viewed as an appeal from the Lord.

A Call to Be a Good Person
Lord-centered living means being a good person and doing good things. Paul says, “With good will render service….whatever good thing each one does.” Jesus said that when we let our light shine, men will see our good deeds and give glory to our Father in heaven. Lord-centered living does good deeds for the glory of the Lord.

Power to Do a Good Job for Inconsiderate Employers
Paul’s aim is to empower Christians with Lord-centered motives to go on doing good for supervisors who are not considerate. How do you keep on doing a good in a job when your boss ignores you or even criticizes you? Paul’s answer: Stop thinking of your boss as your main supervisor and start working for the Lord (see 1 Peter 2:18-19). Do this in the very duties given to you by your earthly supervisor. Look through the supervisor to the sovereign Lord and don’t worry about the supervisor’s thoughtlessness. Think about the Lord’s rewards.

Encouragement That Nothing Good is Done in Vain
Perhaps the most astonishing sentence of all is this: “Whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord.” This is amazing. Everything. Every little thing you do that is good is seen and valued by the Lord. And he will “pay you back” for it. Not in the sense that you have earned anything by putting him in your debt; he owns you and everything in the universe. He owes us nothing, but he freely, graciously chooses to reward good things done in faith. Nothing we do – nothing, not one thing – is done in vain. “Whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord.” Astounding!

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I want to be a leader worth following. I aim to be a leader that others want to follow.

Leadership is influence, nothing more and nothing less – John Maxwell

People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care. – John Maxwell

People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision. – John Maxwell

Everything rises and falls on leadership – John Maxwell

Leaders are fascinated by future. You are a leader if and only if, you are restless for change, impatient for progress and deeply dissatisfied with status quo. Because in your head you can see a better future. The friction between ‘what is’ and ‘what could be’ burns us, stirs us, propels us. This is leadership. – Marcus Buckingham

People want to be on a team. They want to be part of something bigger than themselves. They want to be in a situation where they feel that they are doing something for the greater good.”- Coach K

The secret to success is good leadership, and good leadership is all about making the lives of your team members or workers better. – Tony Dungy

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•I believe in the concept of servant leadership, which encourages leaders to serve others while staying focused on achieving results in line with the organization’s values.
•I want to add value to others, and help them develop to their fullest potential.
•I aim to surround myself with people who are smarter than I am.
•I get to know the people on my team – their dreams, likes, dislikes, interests, etc.
•Attitude is very important with me. I’ve always said that I would rather have someone on my team with less talent and a great attitude than someone with more talent and a poor attitude. This quote by Chuck Swindoll is one of my favorites:
“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. It is more important than facts. It is more important than past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company…a church…home.
The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past…we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you…we are in charge of our attitude.”
•I help people to discover their strengths and then work with them to find work that allows you to play to those strengths the maximum amount of the time.
•I help organizations to become healthy.
•Trust is important to me. People have my trust – that is my starting point. They have it unless they give me reason to withhold that trust.
•I ask that when people bring a problem to me to bring a possible solution to the problem as well.
•Treat others with the same respect that you would like to receive.
•My “Pet Peeves” include a poor attitude, lack of follow-up or responsiveness, having to ask for something more than once, tardiness (to work, meetings, etc.).
•Completed staff work is important.
•Initiative – Look for ways to make things happen as opposed to saying why things won’t work.
•Focus on results, not activities.
•I help team members to be successful. I set clear expectations and give timely and specific feedback.
•Remember to have joy in the journey!