Are we focused on worldly success or Eternal success?

In our September Round Table, the topic of discussion was the delicate balance between worldly success and eternal success. The participants shared their thoughts and experiences, offering valuable insights on how they navigate this balance in their professional lives.

Use your Gifts
One business leader tries to conduct himself with the awareness that our actions always influence others, and our intention should be to make a positive impact. Even when experiencing short-term business success, it’s crucial to recognize that it can lead to long-term complications if we don’t keep our Eternal focus.

Several years ago, this same leader was trying to figure out how to keep his head above water in 2010, and 2011, when the recession was hitting his business.  A lot of people suffered during the recession.  He asked himself, how do I respond?  His answer was to make sure he was always using his God-given gifts.  Use your gifts with purpose and treat each other right.

One Rochester Round Table member has tried not to define success as “I have a lot of money or because I have this or that,” but rather, defines success in his relationship with the Lord that pours out to his relationships with others.

Shifting Focus
When faced with a demoralized sales team, a business leader told them that the company didn’t hire them solely for them to generate personal profits.  The company brought them on board to ensure everyone has employment, fostering a shift in employees’ perspective toward a servant role.  Your proper relationship with the Lord is to serve others.  He said, “We are here to make money because we must feed our families.  But we are also here so others can achieve that as well and work together to succeed.”

One Kalamazoo leader starts by saying, “I am here to serve customers and employees.”  He is here to create a process to serve customers, and employees are part of that process.  Basing your business on service is a good place to start, however, serving and providing for others doesn’t mean not making a profit.

Worldly success and Eternal success Intertwine.
An All Time Zones leader tries to live by Matthew 6:33, First ye seek the Kingdom of God and the rest will be added unto you.

This leader had an interview recently with a big client (a Christian company) that they have serviced for the last 5 years.   The purpose was to determine if they would be servicing their company in the future.  They were put on the hot seat and grilled on why they should keep their business in the future.

Our leader and his team talked for 90 minutes about the value-added of doing business with his company.  At the end of the meeting, the Christian company CEO asked if our leader had anything else to add.  He said it is very important for you to understand how much we care about you, your employees, and your company.  We are not here just to make money.  We are here to serve, and to help your organization be better in many facets.  He mentioned that in meetings, he has brought up the Lord, and discussed books they were reading.

The Christian company CEO thanked him for bringing up that very important point.  In the end, it didn’t matter how much they saved them money; it mattered when our leader reminded them of how much they cared.  As a bonus, his staff and vendors were able to see his talk and his walk.  We never know who is listening, and we never know how important it is that if we continue to do what the Lord asks of us, no matter what, our worldly success and eternal success will intertwine.

From our Grand Rapids Round Table:  People need something deeper to motivate them, to make them passionate about what they do.  The compensation for the job is important but, it is within the human heart that we must do something that has an Eternal element to it, to make us passionate and keep us motivated to do what we do.

Success must have an element that taps into the heart of God and gives us a sense that what we are doing has a significance to it that will exceed our own lives.

Fulfilling Our Purpose
From our Holland Round Table:  Success is not an isolated achievement; it can’t be attained in solitude. It involves assisting others in fulfilling their purposes. 

A Rochester leader noted that success is going to be different for every type of person in every company.  There will be companies that define success purely on the amount of revenue a company generates and the amount of revenue the owners take home.  Kingdom-minded businesses will define success differently.  Our employees will define success differently.  An employee, who asked for a raise recently, defines success as being able to have his wife stay at home.  Our Rochester leader felt his job is to look at that goal and say, “If that is your goal, then how does that translate into a company goal, and how do I bridge that, how do we make it work so that my company has success, and the individual has success.”

Upcoming Events
Join us on Friday, October 20, for our Kalamazoo Leadership Breakfast Social featuring Steve Cummings, of SPC Consulting at the Kalamazoo Country Club.

Please mark your calendar for our Detroit Leadership Breakfast Social with Davin Salvagno, bestselling author, founder & CEO of PurposePoint on Friday, November 17 at the Bloomfield Open Hunt Club.