START YOUR WEEK WITH THE COACH
“Are you an asset or liability?”
When you walk into the lobby of the ServiceMaster headquarters building in Downers Grove, Illinois, you see on your right a curving marble wall that stretches ninety feet and stands eighteen feet tall. Carved prominently in that stonewall in letters four feet high are their four corporate values:
* To honor God in all we do
* To help people develop
* To pursue excellence
* To grow profitably
Is it any wonder then that return on equity has averaged 50 percent and stock values have grown in value from one dollar per share to over fifty-four dollars per share? That kind of sustained performance does not happen unless God and people are assets to be esteemed and not “tools” to be used for turning a profit or personal ambition.
In today’s America God and people are quickly becoming liabilities and no longer assets. When ServiceMaster first established their corporate values and made them prominent, it raised eyebrows. The critics asked, “Aren’t you on shaky ground when you try to mix God and profits? And what about employees who don’t choose to behave the way you do, aren’t you forcing your religious beliefs on them?”
We live and work in a pluralistic society where many question the very existence of God and our right as believers to represent Him in the marketplace. When determining whether you are an asset or a liability keep in context which Kingdom comes first the secular kingdoms of this earth or the Kingdom of Light. One is temporal, the other is eternal. I believe you must be an asset to both but for different reasons.
In your drive to be an asset in today’s marketplace, which gives you the platform to represent the Kingdom of Light, don’t allow your work environment be emasculated to a neutrality of no belief at best, or worse, one of disbelief. You are an asset to your workplace when you add to the bottom line profits. You are an asset to the Kingdom of Light when you live your faith without apology in a way that honors God and adds value and dignity to your team members.
“For even I (Jesus) came to earth not to be served but to serve others and give his life as a ransom for many” Mark 10:45.
Anyone with a servant’s heart is an asset to any company and certainly to God’s kingdom. Christians do a lot of damage when they try to be an asset in God’s kingdom but are a liability to the company in which they represent Him. And vice-versa, they work hard being an asset to the company but fail as an ambassador for God’s kingdom.