I’ve learned through the years that you never know what you might be reading that will end up pointing you toward God. Yesterday, I was skimming through the new Forbes magazine (print edition) and began reading a page written by Rich Karlgaard, the publisher. His page was entitled, "Godly Work." What an encouraging article!
He quotes from Nancy Ortberg:
Ortberg spoke of how her mentor, Max De Pree, former CEO of Herman Miller, engaged his workers, ‘Max had a rule for his leadership team. Every Wednesday they were to bring a brown bag lunch and go down to the factory floor, where the furniture was being made, to eat. They were to sit and listen for an hour to get to know the names of the workers on the floor and to learn about the obstacles workers were facing as they did their jobs, as well as hear about the ideas they had for future designs.’
Ortberg herself was at one time an emergency room nurse. One night she witnessed an astonishing leadership act: It was about 10:30 p.m. The room was a mess. I was finishing up some work on the chart before going home. The doctor with whom I loved working was debriefing a new doctor, who had done a very respectable, competent job, telling him what he’d done well and what he could have done differently.
Then he put his hand on the young doctor’s shoulder and said, ‘When you finished, did you notice the young man from housekeeping who came in to clean the room?’ There was a completely blank look on the young doctor’s face.
The older doctor said, ‘His name is Carlos. He’s been here for three years. He does a fabulous job. When he comes in he gets the room turned around so fast that you and I can get our next patients in quickly. His wife’s name is Maria. They have four children.’ Then he named each of the four children and gave each child’s age.
The older doctor went on to say, ‘He lives in a rented house about three blocks from here, in Santa Ana. They’ve been up from Mexico for about five years. His name is Carlos,’ he repeated. Then he said, ‘Next week I would like for you to tell me something about Carlos that I don’t already know. Okay? Now let’s go check on the rest of the patients.’
Ortberg recalls: ‘I remember standing there writing my nursing notes — stunned — and thinking, I have just witnessed breathtaking leadership.’
(Rich Karlgaard, "Godly Work" in Forbes, April 23, 2007)
I love this story! Have you seen or witnessed moments like this one? What is there about this story that is so important and refreshing? Is there a key person in your business or church who is invisible to some people but in fact is critical to your work?
Perhaps you heard about the coyote that last week walked into a downtown Chicago Quizno’s (a sandwich shop) and sat down in front of the drink machine. Startled customers calmly made their way out of the restaurant. An hour later, animal control picked up the coyote and took him away. I suspect that when Quizno’s employees went to work that morning, the last thing they had on their minds was a coyote. Yet sometimes we end up in places we did not intend to go.
Yesterday, I had a telephone conversation with two women.
When I am writing a post for this blog, I sometimes try to imagine what you are doing when you read it. I try to imagine who you might be. Granted, I know some of you through relationships, etc. Others of you are at least familiar to me through your comments. For the most part, however, I don’t know you. So, I try to guess. Here are some people who I think might be reading this blog right now:
This life is often difficult.
My friend drove to Waco the other day from a city located several hours from here. He has been living and working in this city for a number of years. Now he is about to move. He will be living in a new city, a new state, and will be working in a new role in ministry. For several hours, we discussed some of the practical aspects of that role.
I learned something early on in my ministry. Unfortunately, it was not good. I learned that many people primarily see ministry as doing things for God. Now of course that is overly simplified. Yet, that was my perception at the time. It seemed like we especially admired people who looked exhausted. Of course, ministry can be very difficult and exhausting at times. Paul even spoke once of warning a group of people "…night and day with tears." Yet ministry and life in Christ are really to be much more than a life of exhaustion.
I first came in contact with David Hansen several years ago when I was at a ministry seminar at 
Yesterday I was in a local McDonald’s. It was early morning. I was reading a book, taking some notes, and sipping a cup of coffee. At one point the manager, a woman in her 30s, walked by and asked, "Are you working hard?" 
I suspect you know what it is like to be "running on empty." I sure do! There are certain activities that just drain the energy out of me (long meetings, endless discussions over matters that seem insignificant, etc.) Sometimes the pace is fast, full, and constant. At some point, I begin to feel empty.
