baldinbusiness

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Lessons on Accountability

Accountability is like getting a colonoscopy (so I am told!): Everybody knows it is best to have it done, yet no one wants it done to them.

As I have shared before, I went through a 360-degree review last fall. Those interviewed suggested that I hold other people more accountable. Since receiving my results right before Christmas, I have made a concerted effort to do so.

Here are some take-aways about holding other people accountable:

-I need accountability in all areas of my life, even in the area of holding other people accountable.

-Holding people accountable means first explaining what “success” looks like. Without crystal clear expectations, it is not only difficult to hold others accountable—it can be downright unfair.

The tendency is for people to want someone ELSE to hold OTHER people accountable. Thus, starting to hold people accountable begins with earning their trust.

-I can give anyone a title, but leadership is earned. This makes all the difference in accountability, because management often only creates change through policies, corporate discipline, and the like. It is change by “force.” But a good leader can impact someone’s entire life through influence. This means everything in accountability. If someone is only listening because they have to, real change is limited, and short-term.

-Accountability NEVER discounts the value and dignity of the human-being. In fact, the most humbling lesson I have learned is that the opposite, not holding someone accountable, is unkind, and even unloving. It is akin to saying to yourself, “I value my own comfort over the other person’s improvement as a person.”

This is only a sampling of what I have been learning.

If you consider yourself a leader, start by asking someone to hold you accountable. Then, work to create the trusting relationships with your followers that ensure them that you have their best interests in mind.

Once this kind of relationship is established, dive in. It is never easy, but I can promise that it is worth the effort.

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open bible

#TheoThursday – The Gift of Momentary Silence

Theological thoughts about the workplace

“Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10

The last two weeks I have written about how I pray for Hoffer Plastics, and how Bible reading impacts my leadership. These “disciplines” are easy for someone with a Type A personality because both involve “doing.” Solitude, the last discipline I am going to discuss, is about “being.” It is one of those topics, like observing the Sabbath, that I know I should be implementing more, but

I often lack the intentionality to implement.

Unlike the previously discussed disciplines, the idea of solitude is something embraced by many people these days. Atheists, spiritualists, Eastern Religions, just to name a few groups, all embrace silence in the form of solitude or meditation. It is no wonder this idea is attractive given how fast-paced, “crazy busy”, and instantaneous this world is.

In January, my Executive Coach challenged me regarding silence. He had the guts to tell me that I was “soul sick,” that my “doing” was far outpacing my “being.” I could list all the books, podcasts, activities, (noise!) in my life, point to how constant they were, and yet couldn’t remember any time where I was still and silent.

It was humbling.

Since then, I have begun implementing silence into my life. To be sure, I haven’t gone on any retreats. I wish I could take a month-long sabbatical, but that isn’t realistic in the season of life (small kids), and leadership role I am in.

This reality used to make me feel like a victim. “See,” I thought, “these self-help book authors and pastors don’t get my season of life!”

This was intellectually lazy.

What I discovered was that I can implement silence into my life. Moments of silence lessen stress, quiet the noise inside my head, help me think through leadership dilemmas, and most importantly, reconnect me to God.

So, I invite you to create moments of silence into your life this week.

Notice, I am not giving you a formula to do this. The reason being that this isn’t about “doing.”

It is about “being.”

Give yourself the gift of momentary silence this week.

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person walking on snow covered sidewalk

Let People Chew You Out

Leadership is about listening.

In the manufacturing context, this means that you should be approachable to anyone on the plant floor. You might not agree with the feedback, it might even irritate you, but you should listen to it.

Even if people feel the need to chew you out, let them.

Recently, I had this experience as people gave me feedback for the family’s decision to shutdown the facility for twenty-four hours on a Wednesday due to unprecedented cold temperatures (-30F). Some of our third shift team-members were upset because, in order to make up their two lost shifts, they worked Friday and Saturday nights. They could take those days as vacation, but that decision would inevitably be left to the discretion of their managers. The company needed enough team members present to run the facility to ensure that orders were completed and our customers experienced minimal effects from the shutdown.

Of course, our family considered the inconvenience of team members having to work both weekend days. We suspected that some may have pre-existing plans, or simply want the break that exists in the rhythm of a normal work week. But this wasn’t normal! In fact, this shutdown was only the second in our sixty-six-year history! The most important factor for the family was the well-being, and safety, of each team-member arriving at work around midnight, and departing the following morning a little after 8 a.m. According to the National Weather Service, these were the most dangerous times. Thus, we felt the safest decision was for our team-members to be home. Not only did this keep them out of the elements, but it also allowed them to be home with loved ones in case something went wrong in their home – bursting pipes being a fear realized by many

Chicagoans because of the unprecedented low temps.

Walking through the facility a few days later –on Saturday morning — I began receiving mixed feedback:

“My car would have started perfectly fine,” someone informed me. “You guys should have given us a vacation day, instead of making us work all weekend.” Another person simply said, “thank you.” Another said, “I don’t understand why we shut down. You should pay us extra for working all weekend, even if it just makes us whole for the week.” And another questioned, “Did you even consider people having to work all weekend?”

I listened.

I honestly felt bad. But, the job of the leader is to do what’s best for the collective whole, not the opinionated few.

And, as I mentioned above, people feeling the need to chew me out comes with the territory.

I take it as a sign that everyone feels like they can talk to the family.

I wouldn’t have it any other way!

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young person looking at latop

The Problem Wasn’t Stress

I was in the middle of one of those projects that feels like it is the most important project ever. The irony is that I cannot even remember which one of those “most important projects” this one was in retrospect. Still, I was stressed out.

The gym is where I often go to sweat the stress out. And this always works, at least for a few hours. So, I was getting after it. My heart was pumping, the sweat was pouring, and it felt great. In an attempt to double my productivity, I was listening to the Tim Ferriss podcast while getting my sweat on. He was interviewing Tony Robbins, and I about dropped my barbell when I heard this:

“What stops us from moving forward? FEAR. If you’re an achiever, you probably call it stress. Stress IS fear.” (emphasis mine).

My problem wasn’t stress.

And no amount of working out was going to resolve my real problem.

I literally took a knee inside the gym. I knew I looked like one of those crazy gym guys, but whatever. I hit pause on the podcast, and just stopped everything.

Pulling out my iPhone, I started a new note listing what I was fearful of in relation to the project. Hear are some of the things I listed:

Not measuring up. Letting the customer down. Not delivering on time. Disappointing my teammates, suppliers, partners, even my family. Of being found out as someone who isn’t as “good” as they claim to be. Or worse, being found lacking in any regard. For example, someone finding out some of the stupid things I did in high school, or finding examples that I am not who I supposedly claim to be. (And I thought this was about a project at work???)

The list could on and on.

While the count differs per Bible translation, “fear not” is mentioned anywhere from 442 times in KJV to 684 times in the ESV. Maybe the repetition is there for us to remember that we, as humans, have a fear problem?

I’d imagine most people reading this are, to one degree or another, “stressed.” I challenge you to ask yourself: What are you afraid of?

Whatever it is, write it down either on your phone or a piece of paper.

Get it all out.

Your circumstances won’t change by doing this.

As I learned, the power of your fear will dissipate however. It won’t all go away, and you will have to return to the list a lot, but you will have begun working on the real problem.

Stress, after all, was never the problem in the first place.

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open bible

#TheoThursday – How does Bible reading impact my leadership?

The Bible is often misunderstood. For starters, it is important to realize that it’s a collection of 66 books in one, consisting of various literary genres, with all 66 books telling a single story: the story of all stories. With the limited space of a blog post, today’s post attempts to answer the question: How does the Bible impact my leadership? If what you are about to read piques your curiosity, I challenge you to crack the Bible open yourself. A good starting point is the book of Mark, one of the four Gospels of Jesus’ life. 16 chapters long, it can be read in a couple of weeks if you allot ten minutes a day.

The Bible reminds me that we all were created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27). So, everyone I am attempting to lead is a treasured child of God (Galatians 3:26-29). Further, all these children have sinned, and so have I (Romans 3:23). Because of this Fall, the ground we all work on—and even the corporate boardrooms we meet in–is cursed and will never reflect fully the way things were meant to be this side of heaven (Gen 3:17-19). Thus, I am not surprised when there is division, strife, or relational conflicts in business, or even the Church (James 4:1). Jesus, after all, said that life is full of trouble (John 16:33a). And, when our hope is in things of this world, like personal gain, the business being profitable, or even in our family – as good as families are – we will eventually learn that this, too, is chasing after the wind (Ecclesiastes 1:14).

So, maybe there is nothing better than to eat, drink, and be glad? (Ecclesiastes 8:15).

Jesus, however, tells us he came to give us so much more than personal gain (John 10:10). So, I can approach trouble with the reality that God is big enough to hear my cries (Psalm 142). More so, that I have hope despite this trouble, because Jesus overcame the world (John 16:33b). He overcame it by paying my ransom (Mark 10:45), and he offers the same gift to every human being that comes to Him (John 3:16). Thus, thousands of years before “globalism” and “inclusion,” Jesus gave the greatest commission to his followers, and the greatest invitation to the world (Matt 28:18-20).

Therefore, I am reminded every day that every person I meet matters. And every person deserves to receive this invitation.

I must admit that this news isn’t accepted by all, and even some of Jesus’ contemporaries doubted it (Matthew 28:17). But our God is bigger than any human thought or way (Isaiah 55:8-9), and is apparently okay with questions (Psalm 13:1).

As I face the challenges of each day, I am encouraged because God is with me (Deuteronomy 31:6, Isaiah 41:10). I have hope and joy because “Truly, he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken” (Psalm 62:2).

Of course, one day I will die and face judgment (Hebrews 9:27). But even though death is like a thief in the night (1 Thessalonians 5:2), I still have hope because of what Jesus did for me (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14). More importantly, I have hope for what Jesus will do, and for that day when “there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain” (Revelation 21:4). That puts our daily company conflicts in perspective.

I guess the real question is…

How doesn’t the Bible impact my leadership?

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outstretched hand with stack of pennies

The Cost of Keeping Your Word

Have you or your team ever misquoted a job? What do you? Do you refuse to own up to the contract? Do you run the job at a loss?

About three years ago, we took on some work from a customer whose molds were at a company in distress. Unfortunately, the pricing we offered wasn’t sustainable. So, in retrospect, we should have owned up to that, even passed on the whole project, instead of offering the aggressive pricing we did. The return has been negative for the last two plus years. As this example shows, we screwed up, and I allowed it!

But we have also lived up to our word.

Maybe we should draw the line in the sand? I know that’s what the business books I read would tell me to do. I don’t even want to think about the advice in negotiation books I have read.

But I don’t want us to be like that. Three years in to this project, we are now increasing the price slightly to get closer to break-even, and of course, the customer is upset. So am I. But our team has done everything it can to honor our agreement and serve this customer, even accepting a loss on our end. We are being transparent with our pricing because we want to prove honest and trustworthy.

And we appreciate beyond words when others are honest with us. In the midst of this experience, I had a sales call from someone that reads this blog. Without giving too much detail in order to preserve confidentiality, this person came to our team and let us in on details that he knew would change our decision to buy. He was willing to lose the sale for the sake of his reputation and long-term relationship with us. He wanted to be true to his word.

As leaders, our word is challenged every day. I challenge you to keep yours.

Even if you lose a sale.

Even if you run business at a negative margin, at least for the time being.

These financial costs are temporary. They are recoverable.

But once your trust is lost, it is gone forever.

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man sitting on wood pile with bible in his hand

#TheoThursday – How I Pray For Our Business

The topic of prayer has gotten a lot of attention from mass media the last few years, and most of it is not good. Look up “prayer shaming” on Google, and you will see many references to how worthless prayer supposedly is.

This post isn’t going to dive into any of that. #TheoThursday posts are not intended to be “apologetic.” What follows is just an example of how I pray for our business–and hopefully some encouragement for you to pray for yours.

As I begin, remember prayer is more about changing me, than changing my circumstances. It is the ultimate realization that, to quote the Priest in the movie “Rudy,” there is a God, and I am not him. In a business sense, this means remembering that our business is not the center of the universe.

Practically, I use a helpful acronym in all my prayers: CHAT.

C – Confess. Yes, in praying for Hoffer Plastics I begin with confessing that we are sinful. This is a loaded term, and may be offensive to some. But “sin” just means choosing a path not aligned to God’s ways. For example, daily we can contribute to relational strife; we can put our hope in more sales rather than in God; we can put ourselves – and our company – before others; and we can even ignore the limits God has placed on our work life. The list could go on for miles. Realizing this, confessing this, and asking God for help in turning back to him, is the starting point of this prayer.

H – Honor. Next, I honor God by praising Him for his character. To a non-believer, this may sound trite. “Does God really need to hear how great he is?” Perhaps not, but I need to remember who God is: Every sale, every human being working here, are all provided by the PROVIDER. He is SOVEREIGN, and watches out for our business. He also TEACHES, REBUKES, and CORRECTS. These can be hard lessons, but even then, he is GOOD. These reminders quickly put everything else into perspective.

A – Ask. Now I ask God for specific things. This is what most people think prayer is. It is so much more, but we do need to ask. The most common thing I pray for is WISDOM. 99% of leadership is dealing with things a human being cannot possibly “know” with certainty. Thus, I rely on God’s WISDOM. And to be sure, he provides (this after all, is why some of my direct reports think I am good at hiring others. NO WAY. God just provides wisdom. He is faithful).

T – Thanksgiving. Finally, I end by thanking God for everything. The good things and the bad, the hard things, and even the things I do not understand. I even thank God for being big enough to hear my frustration that I don’t get what he is up to in certain regards. But giving thanks for His faithful provision and his answered prayers gives me the fuel I need to trust nonetheless.

I challenge you to grab a cup of coffee this week and pray through these steps. Then watch for changes in yourself and your circumstances. Look for God’s answers. And you can decide for yourself if this is a worthwhile exercise.

I know what I would say.

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extreme closeup with dramatic lighting of eyes and nose

#TuesdayT – Losing it

Challenging truths for life and leadership

This week’s truth comes from Jocko Willink:

“Losing your temper is a sign of weakness.”

Leaders are self-controlled.

“Losing it” is always weakness.

I’ll own that I am occasionally weak. What about you?

Self-awareness demands an honest assessment. It is where improvement begins.

Honestly assess your demeanor this week.

Stay self-controlled in the heat of battle.

I highly recommend the two books Jocko has written with Leif Babin:

Extreme Ownership

The Dichotomy of Leadership

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closeup of knotted rope

Misconstrued Resistance (and negativity)

When your team pushes back against one of your ideas, do you hear negativity or constructive criticism?

Let me take you into the Bald in Business headquarters — my home. It’s the place where my wife, Sarah, and I often contrast as a team. Like any couple raising a family, we often share opposing views on decisions that will impact our children. I tend to lead with enthusiasm, while my wife can be a bit more thoughtful in her approach. I’m willing to spend money and she is more apt to stick to the budget.

What causes tension in any team dynamic is the fallacy of taking rejection of your ideas as misconstrued resistance. Trust me, I often think long and heard about an idea before approaching Sarah about it at home. So, when I get to the right moment to run it by her, it’s a developed idea that has been given life (which explains why I am more excited), and when she raises questions, I can hear resistance and sometimes even negativity. I might think, “maybe she is just resistant to change,” or “maybe she is just risk-averse?”

Rejection of ideas can easily be misconstrued.

I have written previously about “overcoming the resistance,” which is absolutely an issue in organizational life. People, by and large, fear change. So yes, leaders have to keep trudging on when their followers are resisting.

But that doesn’t mean that all push-back is “resistance.”

Sarah questioning the purchase of something luxurious, like a golf-simulator for the basement, would be legitimate push-back because a golf-simulator is not in our budget (although it should be!). Thus, she isn’t being resistant, or even negative, when questioning that. Even more, she is being a loving wife by helping me make sound financial decisions.

Resistance comes later, when the evidence has been weighed, and action has begun. It often is inaction, when action is demanded. Or, simply negativity around the change in general.

But, “push-back” is different.

“Push-back” means people are looking for clarity. Or, that they still have questions and concerns that need to be addressed. Or they simply want to learn more.

Misconstruing these questions as people being “resistant or negative” is intellectually lazy and comes across as bullheaded. Clarifying questions can help you, and the organization, improve. The leaders that lean into the “push-back” will undoubtedly end up making better decisions in the end.

… another reason why I’m thankful for my loving wife.

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