Because of my Ministry Gifting and my personal temperament I often see things before they happen and before they become a problem. That has served me well in Business. I spot big problems and demand they be fixed before they are obvious to others.
Sometimes that requires talking straight to people. That doesn't always seem to be what people want to hear. I have a friend who owns a nursery. His operation is in the woods off the road. I told him six months ago that no one knows he is there. He needs to get some signs up by the road.
He agreed. I asked about the signs frequently. He said he knows it's important. He arranged with the guy that owns the land to post them.
Yesterday I asked him if he had the signs up yet as we talked about. He said, NO. He was offended that I keep poking at him to do what it's going to take for his business to do better. He wanted my help. He asked for my help. I'm trying to help him. So, when I later asked him how business was he said, "terrible, No body's coming in". I said nothing. I thought if the nexus of these two comments doesn't phase him I won't let it phase me.
This happens all the time. I have a marriage situation I am dealing with. I suggested a course of action to the Husband in the situation. He agreed that it would be very helpful if he did that. When later I asked him if he had done it, he said no and later complained that his marriage isn't getting better.
Some would say it's how you say it that counts. Some would say that you have to be careful with your words. A little at a time.
OK, I get that. But people are dense. They don't pick up on nuance. Plus there's that whole self esteem thing I posted on yesterday. People are deluded into thinking that everything will be OK if we just be nice. They have this all figured out.
So, how DO you clear a movie theater if there's a fire? I guess you could just start clearing a row at a time. That's how I would do it. Quickly. Enlist help. Don't panic but be insistent. Focused. Unbending. Determined. Probably can't care too much about people's feelings. The end result, a cleared theater, is more important than the method. Desirable methods seldom yield desirable results.
People would be offended. "Why can't I finish the movie. I spilled my popcorn. Why did he get evacuated before me. Lawsuits would ensue perhaps. But people didn't die." Form follows function.
Lots of things would be said afterwards. Gene wouldn't have to be so direct in all this theater clearing. He could be nicer.
What if someone is insistent on jumping into the ocean full of sharks. I tell them, DON'T JUMP IN THE OCEAN, THERE ARE SHARKS THERE. People would complain. I'm trying to hurt their fun. What do I have against diving. I know how to dive. I know more about swimming than you do.
But, if you do dive in you'll die. There are sharks down there.
"Who made you the expert".
Therein lies the problem. We live in a society that believes it knows what it is doing without knowing what it's doing. Phony self esteem. I see it everywhere.
I trained business managers, salespeople and leaders of industry for over 10 years. Thousands of them. Hard work. Drilling. Determined. I would start out with 44 people at a time and lose about a half dozen. Of those who finished many are still friends of mine. Many would say that their lives were changed.
Of those who became frustrated with my insistence on doing better, my drilling, my do it again mentality still are living below their potential.
Discipline (learning and growing) in the moment is never pleasant, but if it's done with an eye toward the end result a person can endure it and become what God intends them to become. Hebrews 12:11 We don't enjoy being disciplined. It always seems to cause more pain than joy. But later on, those who learn from that discipline have peace that comes from doing what is right.
If they reject discipline they will stop growing, plateau and begin to drift backwards.
That's where my friend is in his nursery business. That's where the man in the marriage is. That's where several people I care about are. They are at a crossroads of breakthrough or breakdown.
Maybe I need to be NICER when I deal with people as they are diving into the shark infested waters. My concern is people are not very open to correction of direction even if someone knows of these dangers. So, I don't know if it matters HOW I or anyone else says it.
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