Cairn Builders

A cairn is a non-natural pile of stones erected by a individual(s) at regular intervals along a moutain trail to indicate the path to travel to the summit. As pathfinders we are like hikers often driven to travel along uncharted territory to take new ground in our business.

Interestingly cairns are historical decendants of altars. In the Old Testiment, Altars were often errected after great victories, for example Saul errected an altar when the Isrealites defeated the philistines (1 Samuel chapter 14). Altars are places of worship or giving thanks to where God has brought you. An altar is also a place of sacrifice, where we are to give the first of our fruits or tithes.

Errecting an cairn in hiking is very much like errecting an altar. It is done typically when a hiker is resting. You can't be hiking and building at the same time. Similarly in the Old Testiment altars were not build during battles but at times of rest, reflections and worship, they served the purpose of commemorating a victory.

In business it should be the first thing we should when we reach a goal is take the time to give thanks to God and give of the first of our fruits or tithes.

A builder of a cairn does so to show the path to others hiking along the trail. As pathfinders we are trailblazers taking new ground and as we do we lead others long the same path. As we forge foward in our businesses we should all build spiritual cairns. Because cairns accomplish three things: 1) give praise 2) give offering 3) give witness. In this we demonstrate to others the power of being lead by God, our trust in him with our tithes and we inspire others to do the same.

Speed of Trust

I recently read a very powerful book that I highly recommend, "The Speed of Trust" by Stephen M. R. Covey, in this book the author describes one of the most important but least understood business qualities, trust.

Trust is a fundamental quality that we all need to apply in our business, whether it is to trust an employee with a task or a vendor's ability to deliver on time.

Covey describes a direct correlation between Trust and productivity: As trust goes up, speed goes up and costs go down, conversely as trust goes down, speed decreases and costs rise. Covey gives an example of the airline industry post-911 where trust of passengers went down and that caused the time one spends in the airport to go up and ticket costs to rise.

Trust only comes with credibility and there are four cores to credibility: 1) Integrity, 2) Intent (motives), 3) Capability, and 4) Results (Track Record). The first two Integrity and Intent are both Character qualities, while Capability and Results are both a matter of competence.

As Christians business people we are called to the highest standard of character, but a Christian character can be summarized by Matthew 5:37 where Jesus says, "yes be yes and our no be no". The core principles of competence can be surmised in Luke 12:48, "to whom much is given much is required." As Christians we need to be forthright in our business transaction as a manner or character and responsible for delivering what we have promised as an example of our competence.

Covey then goes on to describe 13 behaviors associated with trust, the first five are linked to character, the next five with competence and the last three are qualities of both character and competence:

I. Character:
1. Talk Straight: Be honest in action, tell the trust and leave the right impression. The opposite of honest is lying, or spinning the truth. Proverbs 16:21 " Kings take pleasure in honest lips; they value a man who speaks the truth.

2. Demonstrate Respect: The Golden Rule-" Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Matthew 7:12. Bottom line is act in Fairness, Kindness and love. The opposite is Disrespect and the counterfeit is showing respect only to those that can help you.

3. Create Transparency: Opposite is hiding of failing to disclose. Having a hidden agenda. " He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him." Daniel 2:22

4. Right Wrongs: Based out of humility. We see Christ doing this often in the Bible. The opposite is ego or pride and being humbled only when found out. The counterfeit is a person that hides or covers up their wrongs. This has a double tax the first when you make the wrong and the second when you cover it up.

5. Show Loyalty: a) Give credit to others, the opposite is to take credit from others b) speak of others as if they are in the room. The opposite it to sell people out, the counterfeit is to sweet mouth to a persons face but bad mouth them behind their backs. "He who pursues righteousness and loyalty Finds life, righteousness and honor." Proverbs 21:21

II. Competence:
6. Deliver Results: The counterfeit is to look busy or deliver activity. "bearing fruit in every good work" Colossians 1:10

7. Get Better: Learning or continuously improving. The opposite is entropy, the counterfeit is always learning and never producing (i.e. the constant student). "He who walks with the wise grows wise" Proverbs 13:20

8. Confront Reality: Name the elephant in the room. it takes courage and responsibility, the opposite is to bury your head in the Sand, the opposite is to act like your confronting but actually skirt around the issue. " Be strong and courageous. " Deuteronomy 21:6

9. Clarify Expectations: Behavior of prevention. The opposite is assume expectations, counterfeit is smoke and mirrors, and to fail to nail down specifics.

10. Practice Accountability: Stewardship. opposite is not owning up and the counterfeit it to blame others.

III. Character and Competence:
11. Listen First: Understanding. The opposite is to speak first and listen last, this is all about your agenda. the counterfeit is to pretend your listening and instead of listening spend the time thinking of what you wan to say next.
12. Keep Commitments: It is the quickest way to trust and the opposite is the quickest way to loose trust.
13. Extend Trust: Trust as a noun to trust as as verb. When you trust, others will trust you. It is the principle of empowerment and reciprocity. The opposite is to withhold trust and the counterfeit is a) false trust: trust with no authority b) fake trust: where Big Brother is snooping on the person making sure they are doing a good job.

Now that we understand the Business principles of trust, do we understand the spiritual principles and how do we apply this to our lives? How do we trust ourselves? How does God trust us? How do we learn to trust God in our businesses?

Pathfinders 1O1: Kingdom Invesment Principles

Finance and Faith, Religion and Money. Simple words but put in the same sentence these words can cause even the most devote to cringe. Instantly images of televangelists asking little old ladies to put $10 in an envelopes come to mind. So when I sat to write the opening to this blog on business and faith, I thought it best to start with an explanation.

Pathfinders 1O1: Kingdom Investment Principles

Our Mantra: Business people expanding the kingdom

Our Mission: Pathfinders seeks to nurture kingdom principles in people with business skills. It looks to expand their capacity, reach an influence in the market place an effort to impact the kingdom.

The fundamentals of Pathfinders can be found in John 21. The passage describes fishermen, friends of Jesus, who had been fishing all day with no results. Their failure that day was not due to their laziness or ineptitude. If you recall these fishermen were not weekend warriors trying to catch a fish on a lazy Saturday, they fished daily for their livelihood.

Jesus, a carpenter by trade, who knew little if anything about fishing tells them to cast their net unto the other side of the boat. It doesn't take a scientist to realize that Jesus advice makes no practical sense. It was the same water under the port or the starboard side of the boat. Casting their nets onto the other side didn't logically seem as if it would produce a different result. However these fishermen proved obedient and because of their obedience they caught more fish than they could bring in their boat.

What does this simple story have to do with your business and the daily challenge many of us face while trying to seek the best direction for our careers, businesses and or employees? As an analyst at a hedge fund on Wall Street, I identified with these fishermen. I was out there using all the tools I had and the knowledge I had acquired. But I was relying completely on my own mental acumen to pick stocks. I had a Ph.D from Yale working at one of the hedge funds with a reputation for outstanding results; yet God was not a part of the equation. It dawned on me that if God was willing to help these fishermen cast their nets and catch fish, God would want to help me as well in my daily work of selecting and finding the right stocks.

And what did he want in return? My trust in Him.

Trusting anything or anyone in the Stock Market is a challenge let alone a God that you can't see. Even those with an active prayer life have difficulty knowing the difference between His voice and the voice in their head. Many of the concepts that will be discussed in this blog is how to hear God's voice in our decision making process. And more broadly how to actively include God in your work life and trust in Him.

If you are asking yourself why would God want to guide me with something like stock picks or decisions regarding my employees or a new business venture? My response to you is why would God want to help those fishermen with their fishing? The answer is simple. Because he wants us to relinquish control of our world and trust in Him. When you arrive at a place where you can't do it on your own, that is when you need faith and God can act and show to you that He is real and very interested in your welfare.

Pathfinders is about giving up control to God in everything. It is important to relinquish control while things are good so that you can trust God when tough patches in your life come. As an analyst it is letting Him direct which stocks I should buy or sell and the timing as well. When I'm without work it is about then trusting that he has a plan even when I can't see the path ahead. Pathfinders is not a get rich quick scheme. This is not like asking God what are the numbers in the lottery going to be. It is asking God to very simply to be a part of my work -- show me where to focus my time and to wait for answers. It is about showing God that I trust him with my all.

The amazing thing that is often overlooked in about the story of John 21, is not that they caught 153 fish because they obeyed Jesus, but that without going out fishing Jesus was already on the shore and had not only provided them with fish already frying on the fire but the fire and wood to cook them on.

Philippians 4:19 says, " And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." If we really believe this then we need to trust Him in our decision making in our businesses. One of the greatest ways we can show God that we trust him is in our tithe and in our offering, yet this is one of the greatest challenges business people face. Tithing is often counter intuitive to business people because we are very familiar with the concept of investing and calculating a return, however in giving we can't control what is done with the gift and we may not even understand the return. In tithe and offering we are expected to give with no strings attached, without seeing any result, there is no profitability forecast that can be made to understand the results of our giving.

I had a very close christian business friend who would never tithe but when a non-profit with an orphanage came to visit our church he told me he wrote them a large check. when I asked him why he was moved to such generosity, he said that while he felt guilty about not tithing, this way he could give but have a direct account of what his funds were enabling. My friend was operating under the business principles, he looked at giving like investing in the stock market, where he needed to understand where is money was being invested. While my friend's giving probably did a lot of good for the orphanage, what he was missing was two amazing spiritual principles. The first principle is that tithing is investing in a church and community where the results are lives transformed. The second principle is that giving is an investment of faith. The reason God wants us to give is not because there is a need, but because if God is really God he can take care of the need without our money, what God wants is our hearts, He wants us to trust him with the thing that are most important to our lives, our finances, and for a business person giving is the first step moving closer to trusting God with our all.