Most of what I read and hear about getting the best people on one’s team involves pragmatic recruiting and promise-keeping. Good things, but what’s next when those don’t get you the team you need to have to win?
Praying is the key. Really.
“God can do anything,” people say. But their actions too often reflect that what they meant to say was, “God can do anything when I can do nothing.” So the prayers start only when someone is dying, divorcing, or headed to jail. In reality, God CAN do anything, and anyone claiming to follow Him should start with prayer.
By prayer, I do NOT mean something that’s either sappy or dry, or that lacks spontaneity. I do NOT mean rote repetition without heart that bores the Father into shutting his ears (that’s what Jesus called “vain repetitions”). I mean having a conversation with the Father in the manner Jesus instructed: a description like “respectful familiarity” comes to mind.
Some highlights may help. Last week, I prayed and God shifted some stuff around. As a result, my wife and I won the bid on a house we like. Over the last year, I prayed 92 requests for team members at K&N Management. Seventy-two were answered positively, four negatively, on three I lost track of the people and do not know the outcome, and I still pray for the rest. A year and a half ago, when I was interviewing, I asked God to put my name at the top of the list of 10 seemingly better qualified candidates. He did and I got the best job I’ve ever had. Once I learned the K&N cultural reference to “A players,” I prayed to be an A player, and my boss says I am. I think God did all that because He wanted to, and I prayed for it so that I could participate with Him.
If you’d like to have a team of A players, pray for them. Four steps:
1. Talk to God about your performance and attitude. Fix YOU first. A players don’t work for B or C players – not for long anyway. They don’t stick with angry, demeaning, belittling, incompetent, or lazy bosses. They find and follow leaders who will make them more successful. God will tell you where you stand if you’ll take time to listen. Let God mold you into a leader worth following.
2. Start praying for blessings and success for the A players already on the team. They’re your best recruiters. While you’re at it, pray the B players up and the C players out.
3. Ask God to send you more A players. He knows where they are and can guide them your way.
If you treat them right, train them well, encourage them consistently, offer them challenges and a path to success, they’ll make your success last.
1 Comment
Hi Jack – I LOVED reading this and related to it so well. Way too often I take control (or think I do) and I take care of the part I can do, then hand it to God after I have either taken it as far as I can, and then find I need help OR have messed it up so badly, I KNOW I need help. Thank you for this great reminder. Thank you for praying for the people you work with and for the impact you are making on their lives. May God continue to bless you and your family as He has blessed me through you today!
Comment by marla June 14, 2011 @ 2:44 pm