It’s been happening for ages. Perhaps since the beginning of mankind. Or at least since mankind has taken on responsibility. Even in scripture, John chapter 5, Jesus asks a simple, straight-forward question in verse six. “Do you want to get well?” The paralytic man of which the question is asked, does not answer the question. In fact, he does not even attempt to answer the question posed to him. Look at his response, “Sir, I don’t have anyone to put me into the pool when it is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.”

Where in this man’s response do you see an answer to Jesus’ question, “Do you want to get well?” It is not there, is it? Not even an attempt. If I am sick with a cold, or any minor ailment, much less a terminal disease, and someone asks me the same six word question, I know my response. It will always be an emphatic, “YES!”

It seems today, that no matter our life situation, we are much like the paralytic man in the story above. We are more prone to give excuses than we are to accept responsibility. In individual lives people pass the blame on their employer not paying enough, the government or other group holding us back, other races, cultural groups, on and on. In the church and other organizations it is similar. It is the economy, the big church that moved in down the street, the neighborhood has changed. These are all outside circumstances over which we have no influence.

You cannot change that over which you have no influence. Since you have no control over those outside circumstances, stop using them as excuses. Look around and inside yourself to find the greatness God has placed in you. These are the only items that you do have control over. These are the things you can act upon.

Passing the blame, will never advance you or your organization. It will only lead to more muck and mire. Accept who you are. Discover who God made you to be. Then strive to become that person whom God desires and declared you to be.

As a church or organization, you can do the same. Discover what God has placed within your employees/members. Learn how to effectively put those gifts and resources to use to be exactly who God created you to be. I can help if you will contact me.This is how God has gifted me, and who He created me to be! Also, pick up your copy of Reaching the Summit. The premise of this book is to help you do exactly that – become who God created you to be.

This year, will you make a commitment to stop making excuses of things out of your sphere of influence and control? Instead of passing the blame will you accept responsibility for your part in moving your organization, your life, forward? That’s who God created you to be. What is your first step?

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life.

Is my church healthy? Can the church in general in America today be considered healthy? What percentage of the population would need to contract a disease or infection before the Center for Disease Control (CDC) declares an epidemic? While it is not clear to find a specific number, the reality is in many cases less than one percent of a given portion of a localized population.

With 65- 85% of our churches plateaued or declining in North America today, we are well beyond epidemic proportions. Certainly we could find indicators of poor health in declining churches, but are there indicators of positive health in a church? Yes! The following are some of the indicators of a healthy, effective church.

Enthusiasm for Kingdom results – Many churches today have bought into the idea that action and busyness are evidence of kingdom work. Too often the focus is on what we are giving away; oil changes for single mothers, food and candy at fall festivals, bounce house fun, free water at a parade. These may be good intentions, yet they are not indicators of kingdom advancement or fulfilling the Great Commission.

Healthy churches focus on engagement in the community resulting in kingdom results. Rather than providing clean oil for a single mother’s car, healthy churches are making inroads with that mother to receive a clean heart from God. Instead of handing out free candy and hotdogs at block parties and fall festivals, the members of healthy churches are focused on feeding the starving souls of their neighbors and co-workers.

Outward Focus– As early as 6-8 years in a church’s existence, the natural tendency is to turn inward, focusing more on what ‘we’ can do for and with each other. Not realizing it, this often comes at the exclusion of the surrounding community. The farther a church falls into decline, the more in-turned the church becomes to the point of maintaining facilities and remaining members.

Healthy, effective churches focus on the outside world, reaching out to the community, seven days a week. The focus is being intentionally engaged with the daily struggles and trials of the people God places around them, with an intent to help those in need spiritually.

Jesus always met people at the point of need. He never told anyone to go clean yourself up and then come back to see me. Healthy churches move believers from spectator to engagement. Millions of people watch the Super Bowl each year, yet less than 100 are actually engaged in playing in the Super Bowl. Healthy, effective churches have learned to move people to be intentionally engaged in God’s kingdom work.

Starting New Units – It is said that the one common denominator of all healthy growing churches around the globe is starting new units, new Bible study classes and new churches. Healthy churches plan ahead for the next new units. You cannot wait until you need another class. You must continually pray, plan and prepare for the next new Bible study classes. In healthy churches this is part of their make-up. Every teacher and leader knows his/her responsibility is to train people to go out and be part of some new work, new class.

Capture Principles – In many of our churches we attempt to copy models. We see or hear of some good thing another church did, and we try to do it at our church expecting fantastic results. A copy is never as good as the original. Healthy churches understand the importance of capturing principles. Instead of focusing on what kind of food to give away or how many bounce houses to have at their next event, healthy churches focus on touching the heart and soul of those who will attend and how to engage them following the event.

Purposeful, renewed, compelling vision – The missed opportunity in most churches today is there either is no vision in front of the congregation or the vision has no compelling component. In other words there is no part of the vision that compels the church to get out of their seats and be the church God has called them to be. Healthy churches have a compelling image of an achievable future in front of their people at all times. Find out more about vision in Reaching the Summit: Avoiding and Reversing Decline in the Church.

This is only a brief descriptor of five indicators found in healthy churches and is not an all-inclusive list of healthy church indicators. However, these are critical for churches to become and remain healthy, fulfilling the God given purpose for each church.

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life.

Exchanging gifts, giving presents these are among the first thoughts we have when thinking of Christmas. Certainly, giving is at the heart of Christmas. The Christmas story is – God gave his only son, Jesus. Giving is a central theme of Christmas, both biblical Christmas and worldly Christmas as celebrated today.

For most of us Christmas reminds us of the joy of giving. Oftentimes springing from our childhood and the gifts we received, be it candy and fruit or the toys of our dreams, we were on the receiving end of someone else’s giving. From the good feelings of childhood receiving at Christmas we grew into wanting to be part of the giving. We began giving to our parents (usually with their money). Then we progressed giving to our siblings, closest friends, and later with our teen sweethearts.

As our giving continued to grow it also has taken on a different role than our childhood. The spirit of Christmas and the joy of giving, for many, has been replaced with the mentality of duty or obligation. Much of our giving today is done because we believe it is expected of us – and for many it is expected.

Regardless of our current role in life each of us has much we can give. A single, struggling mother may not have a lot of money or time, but she has love, compassion, and wisdom to share. The CEO has much more than money and power, he has the power of encouragement and influence, wisdom to share, and a listening ear. Church members, you have time, prayer, wisdom, and your obedience to God’s directives. Employees, you have dedication, commitment and wisdom to pass on to your peers and new hires.

Perhaps you noticed one common attribute in each of the above scenarios, wisdom. Regardless of who we are, where we’ve been, or the amount of education we have, God has granted us wisdom through our life’s experiences. When we do not learn and share from our life’s experiences, we are wasting the wisdom of God’s teaching. And wisdom is only one attribute that we each have to give.

Let us return to the joy of giving at Christmas time. Leaders, pastors, members, employees, volunteers, neighbors, slow down this week and think of all that you have to give that does not involve money or wrapping paper. This Christmas week remember, God gave His one and Only Son, Jesus Christ, for you. This is a lesson we ALL can learn from a Bethlehem stable.

Merry Christmas to one and ALL!

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life.

It matters not if we are cooking a special meal, decorating a new house, sculpting a hedge, or completing an assignment at work or church, wouldn’t you agree that it is a human trait to want people to take notice. If we never say a word out loud, we like to think that we deserve compliments and comments on our talented accomplishments. Let’s face it we want praise.

Yet the Bible teaches that praise belongs to the Lord and we should humble ourselves in all things. Desiring to receive credit is opposite of humility. At work, church, home, the clubs we join, the committees on which we serve, when we seek gratification for what we do, should we not ask ourselves about our motives behind what we do?

Our human nature tells us to seek gratification from others. Yet, we must be careful lest we cross the line of glory-seeker.

A physician and God admiring author, Luke, wrote in his gospel account of a virgin girl named Mary. This teenage girl, engaged to be married, was visited by an Angel of God and given the news that she would be the one to give birth to the long-awaited Messiah. When Mary received the news that she would give birth to and mother the Christ child, her response was almost opposite of our current day mindset. Hers was that of undeniable humility.

She could not believe that Almighty God would choose to use her in such a role. With a very low view of her own ability (humility) Mary accepted God’s call on her life, knowing He would have to carry her through this enormous assignment. She never boasted, never bragged, never wanted the attention of being “The One”. She stayed focused on loving and raising God’s Son. Her role was not in the spotlight, but to be the very best Mother possible, never casting a light on her or her special role in history.

In the home, workplace, church, or other venue, we should approach every task before us with the humility of Mary. Your assignment is not about you, your glory or giftedness. Your readiness to give your best without reserve, without self-centeredness is your first step to serving in humility. What will you begin to work on this week to become a more humble servant/leader as was Mary from her teen years until the death of her Son on a cross?

How will God use you this Christmas and holiday season to help others and bring focus to God Himself?

Merry Christmas!

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life.

In a recent advertisement on television, employees are sharing benefits of working for this particular company. One young lady says, “They’re gonna pay for me to go to school so I can eventually leave the company. Like that’s insane!” Undoubtedly this was an unbelievable benefit as far as she was concerned. There are very few companies who do pay for college or trade school educations for employees, with the understanding most employees will leave the company after finishing school.

This sounds a little unusual, yet I contend it should be more of a norm than abnormality. Effective leaders know helping employees/volunteers in their self-improvement is one of the greatest benefits that can be provided by any organization. If I as a leader I am not assisting my employees/volunteers to improve and reach for his/her greatest potential, I am doing each one a disservice and our organization as well.

Paying for schooling may not be possible in your organization. That is okay. It is not about diplomas. It is about people’s self-worth. There are many, many items you can offer to assist people in self-improvement. One that costs you nothing but a few seconds of time on a regular basis is encouragement. Find out people’s interests and encourage him/her to strive for improvement in that area.

A person will always serve in more productive ways when he/she believes the organization cares for his/her future and effectiveness in life. An organization that creates an environment to help everyone expand on his/her personal skills for a better future, will embolden that person’s commitment to the organization’s goals. Is one of your organizational goals to help all involved to improve his/her skills to serve him/her for the rest of life?

From the candidate or employee’s perspective, everyone should ask him/herself, “How will working here increase my ability and skill preparing me for a better life?” If each of us will ask that question for every organization we are involved with (work, church, civic organization), we can find the right place to serve according to God’s purpose in our life. In that “right place” we will work for self-improved skills and effective service.

As an employee/member, you might be in the right place. You might be the one person who needs to bring to your organization the opportunity to assist others in self-improvement. Think on that thought right now. What can you do, even if you are not in leadership, to assist others in reaching for their God-given purpose? This may be your first step in fulfilling your own God-given purpose.

As a leader, what will you do this week to provide a better environment for self-improvement of every person associated with your organization?

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life.

Violin virtuoso Joshua Bell performed an experiment for the Washington Post a few years back. Joshua Bell, masterfully plays a Stratovarius built in 1713. The Stratovarius is known as the very best, top of the line violin ever constructed. And Joshua Bell plays it in front of hundreds of people at some of the biggest music venues worldwide. He is perhaps the most famous and sought-after violinist alive today.

The Washington post’s experiment had Bell wearing jeans, long-sleeved t-shirt, and a baseball cap enter one of the Washington D.C.’s subway stations, open his case and begin playing his Stratovarius. His 43 minute performance was recorded by the Post. Of the 1,097 people filing by in that time only seven stopped to listen to some of his performance. Only one recognized Bell. As street performers do, Bell turned his open violin case toward passers-by so they could contribute if they so desired. Bell received $32.17. Just weeks before, Bell had played the exact same repertoire in front of hundreds of well-dressed patrons earning thousands of dollars. The difference – value attribution.

Value Attribution is the importance or significance we tend to assign to a person, object, or service without objective observance. In the subway, over one thousand people passed by what they deemed just another street performer. Perhaps a want-to-be musician hoping people will drop enough change and bills to feed him another day. .006 percent of the people passed by the most sought after and highly paid violinist in the world without notice. A free concert was theirs to be had. But their value assessment of him was just short of “ unemployed bum.”

We all have a tendency to place value attribution on people before getting to know each person. We subconciously place a value on people based on how they dress, who they are with, whether or not he/she is pleasant to look at, and other outward factors. Often our value assessments are wrong in that they do not account for the person’s true worth in skill, talent, and attributes he/she can bring to our organization.

Unfortunately, we seldom give that person an opportunity to prove himself or to fully engage in all he can to assist our organization in fulfilling its purpose. Our value attribution holds him/her back from using his best abilities, and we do not even recognize we are doing such. Yet, because our value assessment says this person could never be a leader, we never assign any leadership tasks to him/her.

A person who is held at a lower level than he can achieve will seldom strive to fulfill his greatest potential for your organization. Thus, your organization will not be able to reach its full potential. Multiply this by the number of people in your organization that you have wrongfully placed a value attribution and you multiply the level of lost potential.

Your value attribution of each individual connected to your organization will determine the extent of excellence of your organization. What will you do this week to alter the way you attribute value to others? After all, you may be overlooking the world’s best right in front of you.

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life.

Thanksgiving week is here. Frantic shopping, cooking, and house cleaning abound. For most, this is a happy time with family. For others it carries a sadness with it. Thanksgiving around our house will be different this year. My father-in-law passed away four days prior to Thanksgiving and we will lay him to rest on Thanksgiving eve. While it is a sad time, we have much to be thankful for. Be yours happy or sad, there are a few keys to having a successful Thanksgiving Day and these same keys relate to your business as well.

Proper Planning – As in business, Thanksgiving comes with unforeseen misadventures; undercooked birds, travel hazards, last minute store runs. Many of these can be avoided with some proper preplanning. Map out not only your travel routes and times, but also your meal and the preparation time needed for each portion. In business, proper planning is essential for success. Thinking and brainstorming with others can help your organization/team avoid the unforeseen. Proper planning turns the unforeseen into the foreseen.

A Harmonious Team – You can’t always choose who you want to attend Thanksgiving dinner – family is family. You can, however, choose how you interact with those you have disagreements with every year. The same is true in business. You may not always be able to choose everyone on your team, or your temperament may not align with one or more of your team members. You make the decision on how to relate and react to them. As leader, you set the tone and your interaction can determine outcomes.

Exceed Expectations – Whatever your part is this Thanksgiving Day, preparing the whole meal, the turkey or some other part, hosting, or entertainment, strive to exceed expectations. I hosted part of my family twenty-some years ago. Those who attended still talk about that meal every year, at Thanksgiving and every other time I cook for them. In your business do the same. If you want people to strive for success, you must willingly do everything you can as a leader to exceed their expectations in the workplace. You may need to ask what they desire in the workplace. Actually, that is a great place to start.

Gratitude Exuberance – While the name still holds the meaning of this holiday, it has certainly been over-commercialized. Be certain this Thanksgiving to let your gratitude genuinely shine to those you share the table with. God, our creator, has blessed each of us immensely. May we show Him our gratitude by sharing with others. In the workplace as well, the more you genuinely show gratitude for those who work for/with you, the more efficiently they will work toward success.

There is a fifth key – Prayer. Spend time with our Creator, God, this Thanksgiving weekend, around the table and some one-on-one time thanking Him for His blessings of family, friends, health, and success. He is a great God and He blesses greatly.

Happy Thanksgiving

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life.

“Treat a man as he appears to be, and you make him worse. But treat a man as if he were what he potentially could be, and you make him what he should be.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I’m not certain that I fully agree with the first part of von Goethe’s quote. You may not always make him worse, but you certainly do not help him improve when you treat a man as he appears. On the other hand, when you treat a man as if he were what he could be you do help him move toward his potential.

Any man or woman who hears enough times, “You are not good enough,” and he or she will begin believing it. Moving forward seems to be impossible. “After all everyone else knows it, it must be true.” Rare is the person who pulls out of this mentality without the input of a positive influencer.

Negative influencers abound. You have the potential to be a positive influencer for the people in your life. Whether you are a boss, parent, sibling, or friend, why not encourage people to reach for their potential.

I’m not advocating that you tell everyone to reach for his/her pie in the sky dreams. But you can help those you know to reach beyond a dead-end or flat-lined life. After all, you cannot have a million-dollar dream on a minimum wage work habit. Everyone has a next step toward improved skills, a better life. You can be the one, perhaps the only, positive influencer in other’s lives.

Leaders should have the resourcefulness to encourage and influence all people in their charge (impact) to always be reaching for the next step of self-improvement. This could be furthering education, improving physical ability, mental capacity, personal competency or any number of personal advancements. Not only resourcefulness, every leader, pastor, manager should have the ambition to assist others in striving for a more self-improved tomorrow. It should be our responsibility and our aspiration every day.

When we treat those in our charge as who he (she) could be, we help move him (or her) toward the person God intended. Don’t hold others back. Determine in your heart to be a positive influencer. Be the person who sees greater potential in others and inspires them to move in that direction.

Looking back in your life, I guarantee someone was that positive influencer speaking into your life. Can you name him/her. Likely, you’ve had more than one. What will be your aspiration tomorrow for moving others toward a better future?

“…treat a man as if he were what he potentially could be, and you make him what he should be.”

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life.

The story is told that Henry Ford once procured an efficiency professional to examine the operation of his company. While this expert’s report was largely positive, he did express reservations about a particular employee. When questioned by Ford about who and the cause of concern, his reply was, “It’s that man down the corridor. Every time I go by his office he’s just sitting there with his feet on his desk. He’s wasting your money.”

“That man,” replied Ford, “once had an idea that saved us millions of dollars. At the time, I believe his feet were planted right where they are now.”

Most leaders understand the value of creativity and innovation. Unfortunately, some leaders believe themselves to be the only person in the organization who can have a creative thought. Effective leaders, on the other hand, are not afraid to create a culture of creativity within the organization.

While Henry Ford did not allow every person in his organization to sit around with feet upon their desk, I believe his point about this particular employee is easily grasped. Generating a culture of creativity simply put is allowing the time and atmosphere to think or to brainstorm creatively. This can be individually as well as small groups. This atmosphere is to be broad enough to foster building on the strengths and ideas of others. All creativity becomes a team effort, while giving credit where credit is due.

Perhaps the third ingredient to this type atmosphere is to empower others to carry out the envisioned product, service, or idea. For many leaders this can be the sticking point in the process. Not sticky, the sticking or blocking point. In other words, many leaders have difficulty empowering others with the leadership capabilities to carry out the task. Micro-managing kills creativity.

Too often in the workplace and in the church, we associate busyness with productivity. However, busyness can keep our employees/volunteers from their best creativeness.

Trusting and nurturing the creativity of your employees/volunteers is perhaps the greatest bridge between efficiency and effectiveness. Some of my biggest eye-opening moments were reading of and seeing some of the creativity atmospheres developed in several Silicon Valley companies. To me the atmospheres themselves were out of the box, creative, innovative, clever ideas.

What type of creative atmosphere exists in your organization? Is it top down only? Or do you truly value the input of others – allowing them to not only create, but flesh out and brainstorm with others the process to arrive at the desired creative ideas? What will you do this week to improve the creative atmosphere in your organization and your personal valuing of the creativeness of others?

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life.

“Ability can take you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.” One of many great quotes from perhaps the biggest sales and motivational speaker for over half a century, Zig Ziglar. I chose this quote for this week’s post for a few reasons. First, Zig was a man of character – and integrity. Second, he hit the nail on the head with this quote. he knew this from experience, his own and from observing others over many years in the professional world.

The third reason is the truth found in this quote. Ability is good and necessary in any successful endeavor, business or personal. Ability includes the proficiency of aptitude, and ability to exercise skill and competence in a particular area. I have a brother who has mechanical ability with autos and other motorized vehicles. Not only the ability to work on engines, also body work, exceptional painting, literally anything to do with motorized vehicles from customized golf carts to racing speed boats. My brother has this ability, I do not.

My younger brother has the proficient ability in home and commercial maintenance and remodeling. Building a deck on the back of a home or overseeing a multi-million-dollar remodel project for a hospital, he is gifted with ability to accomplish the task. While I enjoy some of these type projects, I do not have the level of ability as my younger brother.

We all have ability and our ability can take us to the top of our field as long as we use and continue striving to improve these abilities. It is when a person stops improving that he/she stagnates in progressing to the pinnacle of performance.

“Ability can take you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.” Character includes one’s temperament, personality, disposition, level of integrity, uprightness, and honor. Without character – quality character – a person’s time at the top is limited.

Zig Ziglar made it to the top of the sales profession selling pots and pans. From the late 1950’s until his passing in 2012 he never stopped bringing others along and continuously encouraging as many people as he could to strive for reaching the top – the top of their personal and professional possibility. Not everyone can be the president of a fortune 500 company or the best salesperson in the world. But each person can strive for the best of his/her own ability with impeccable character.

For some people, being shown respect for his/her ability is enough. Yet, those who strive to continually improve ability with quality character, these are the people who go beyond expectations and thrive at the top. These are also the people who will be encouraging others along the journey as well.

Like Zig Ziglar, quality performers with respectable character not only make it to the top. They bring others along with them and spend a lifetime encouraging others to be and do the same. Are you living dependent on ability alone or ability plus character? What will you do this week to improve both your ability and character quality? How will you encourage the ability and character of others?

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life.