My trip to Florida was canceled at the last minute yesterday. Sadly, the chairman of the company I was to speak for passed away. To conduct a series of training events during the week of his funeral, amidst widespread mourning, would have been unproductive and inappropriate.

Statistics show that on average, 155,000 people die each day in the world. Another 110,00 are aborted. These somber numbers should give us renewed appreciation for the day we have before us, even the “bad” days. Actually, when you consider the possible alternative, there aren’t really any “bad” days, are there?

I read yesterday where a group of American atheists conducted a ceremony to “de-baptize” their members with hair dryers. The leader used the words, “come forward now and receive the spirit of hot air that taketh away the stigma and taketh away the remnants of the stain of baptismal water.” It is one thing to be an unbeliever, it is quite another to be hostile to the Gospel. God is not mocked. Learning to lead by biblical principles and applying them in the workplace is not always easy in today’s secular culture. But just because it isn’t always easy or popular is no reason not to do it.

I read Matthew 5, 6 and 7 this morning. Each time I study these chapters I’m reminded of how important it is to outline clear core values for one’s organization. Jesus established His values early in His ministry, so that He could demonstrate how to live them and put them into practice. I’ll discuss core values in, “How to Lead by THE BOOK.” I’ll also explain the differences between values, vision, and mission. They are often confused, but have separate and essential roles in every organization. The Bible offers excellent examples of each of the three components of clarity and demonstrates how they will create a culture that influences the behaviors you want to see from your employees. Environment dictates behavior, and behavior determines results. Thus, improved results are deeply rooted in the environment you create for your people. Your core values become a centerpiece of your environment. Every organization has a set of values. The questions are: “Are they spoken or unspoken and do they elevate or devastate?”

In “How to Lead by THE BOOK”, I’ll present the five core values we have in our company, how they benefit us, and how we bring them to life. I’ll share one example in tomorrow’s posting.

Each morning I read the daily Bible study provided by LivingChristian.net software. During the course of a year, it takes me through the entire Bible with commentary, explanations, and incredible insights. The software also has a place to journal and record ideas, answers to prayers and insights throughout the journey. Since it’s downloaded onto my computer, I have this remarkable tool with me wherever I travel in the world. What I’ve learned from this course over the past many years has been instrumental in refining and deepening my knowledge of the Scriptures, and has proven to be an essential resource when writing my books. Check it out for yourself. You can try it for free by going to their website. It might just change your life!

In my “How to Run Your Business by THE BOOK” workshop, that I teach each spring in Atlanta, an attendee recently asked me, “What are some reasons prayers for my business are not being answered?” The Bible speaks to this issue, and I’m going to address this challenging and frustrating situation for Christian business people in, “How to Lead by THE BOOK.” It will be one of the 70 primary strategies that I cover. The Bible offers several possibilities in answer to this question. Here’s a hint: for you guys out there who aren’t having your prayers answered, if you’re dealing unfaithfully with your spouse…the Bible has a special warning for you regarding unanswered prayer. Incidentally, dealing faithfully–or not–with one’s spouse covers far more ground than marital fidelity.

I’m leaving LA on a red-eye flight tonight for Florida, where I’ll teach nine seminars in five days. It’ll be a fast week, but I aim to complete the book’s introduction and continue research for the 70 strategies I’m including in the book. I’d like to have my research finished by the end of August, so that I can devote the rest of my time to transforming research notes into book pages by my 12-15 deadline.

I plan on reading and writing a bit on the plane tonight. It’s always interesting to see the reaction of flight attendants and my seat mate, as I read my Bible and write. Some people use it as an opening to strike up a conversation with me, while others become visibly uncomfortable! They stop ordering liquor, shut down the porn on their computers, and look for another seat to move to!  I’ll report back in tomorrow’s posting.

For the past several years I’ve used two Bible study programs to broaden my knowledge of biblical principles. I block a couple of hours early each morning for study and research. One of the courses is produced by the Institute of Basic Life Principles. See their website at www.iblp.org. It is called, “Daily Success” and is a 49-week course. Each week covers one specific command of Christ (there were 49), with insights and application strategies for weaving it into your life. The lessons come via email.  This course is a powerful tool and I encourage you to enroll at their website if you’d like to learn more about how to apply the Bible’s principles into your personal and business life. Incredibly, there is no cost for this service!

On the airplane coming back home to Los Angeles last night I spent time writing about how to lead during a crisis. This will be one of the challenges I cover in, “How to Lead by THE BOOK.” I will use Nehemiah as a prime example. He cast clear vision, unified his team, stayed focused despite obstacles and antagonists, and pulled off one of the greatest building projects of all time–and in record time!

As a leader, you’re not made in crisis, you’re revealed in it! It’s wise to be ready!

I’ll discuss the second Bible study resource I’ve used for years in tomorrow’s post.

I taught a seminar yesterday in northern Alabama for a business that conducts voluntary Bible studies for its employees, and concludes sales meetings with a prayer! Is it any wonder that 2009 was their best year ever?

What is the difference between vision, mission, values and performance expectations?

I’ve decided to present answers to this common question, in How to Lead by THE BOOK. These four components of clarity are often confused. However, each has a distinct purpose that strengthens the culture of any organization. There are ample examples throughout the Bible of how to create these aspects, cast them, hold others accountable for living up to them, as well as evidence of the benefits they produce. Of the 70 primary challenges I present in the book, this should be one of the most helpful.

Today, I’m still in Alabama and will do consulting work for a client with whom we have an ongoing training relationship. This company is committed to process and is reaping the results of their consistent follow through. They understand that while training events may create adrenaline, it is follow through and process that brings about change!

What is the most effective leadership style?

In the 1,000 presentations I give each decade, I hear this question often. Leaders struggle with the best way to lead. While it’s often necessary to adjust one’s leadership approach to better connect with individual people, or to address crisis situations, a servant-leadership mindset should always be at the foundation of one’s leadership style.

In, How to Lead by THE BOOK, I will discuss several strategies for demonstrating servant leadership. The steps will surprise many readers because a common assumption is that “servant leadership” is weak or timid. However, the opposite is true, because it takes strength to serve. Servant leadership does not reflect weakness but meekness. Meekness means, “strength under control”.

Jesus was the ultimate servant leader, yet He was no pushover or door mat. To lead by THE BOOK, we’ll be wise to study His life and emulate His example.

Today, I’m teaching a seminar in Alabama entitled, How to Build a High Performance Culture in Your Organization. I’ll present several key strategies for aligning your culture to support your vision in, How to Lead by THE BOOK. After all, you can create big, bold visions all day long, but if your culture doesn’t align with that vision, your “dream” can turn into a nightmare!

We got good news yesterday. “How to Run Your Business by THE BOOK” has stayed on the Hudson Airport Bestseller list for ten consecutive weeks. It was at #16 last week. After nearly one year following publication, it is still selling steadily, which bodes well for, “How to Lead by THE BOOK.”

Yesterday, I made sure that we had secured the domain name for “How to Lead by THE BOOK.” We’ll have the web address forwarded to our learntolead.com website. I’ll keep the domain for at least two years after publication.

I’ve decided not to have a foreword for this book. I want to get right down to business. I’ll have an introduction and preface. I’ll aim to accomplish four primary goals in the introduction:

1. Ask readers to keep an open mind concerning the relevance and applicability biblical strategies can have in their business today.

2. Caution readers that they not allow their intellect to judge God’s word, and instead allow God’s word to judge their own motives and actions as leaders.

3. Try to get across that, while one can become successful without applying God’s word to their leadership they will never become as successful as they might have been had they followed God’s instruction and used His wisdom. In other words, whatever success they’ve gained without following God’s principles has been attained in spite of not following those principles and not because they didn’t follow them.

4. Remind readers that God’s word is not intended to sap the joy out of our personal or work lives. Rather, it is there to protect us from harmful traps that have the potential to sabotage our health, career, finances, marriage and other relationships.

I’ll build my introduction around these four points in hopes it will create the right mindset and expectations, so that readers are more likely to absorb and apply the strategies presented.

I’m on my way from LA to Alabama, via Dallas. I’ve got two seminars over the next two days. I’m delighted that my partner in business and in life, my wife Rhonda, is coming with me to help out. She makes it fun and the customers love her! She’s also a great sounding board for the book’s content and has stopped me from making more writing mistakes than I care to remember.

Tomorrow, I’ll address one of the key challenges in the book: What is THE most effective leadership style?

“What is a major distraction that keeps me from staying focused and productive on the job?” This is a key business challenge and I’ll address it in my book. Most people don’t realize that holding grudges, rehearsing offenses, waiting for a chance to get even, keeping score, and living in the past are major obstacles to being productive in the present. I’ll offer biblical principles for letting go and moving on so that you can move up! At the same time, I’ll present some scary consequences for failing to do so!

Tomorrow, I fly to Alabama for two workshops. I treasure the time on airplanes and in hotel rooms when I’m writing a book. They provide a great opportunity to do something productive and make use of possible down time.

Soon, I’ll discuss one of the more controversial topics I’ll include in my book. However, it’s a significant business challenge that must be addressed!

A friend recently joked that I’d become “richer” now that I’m writing another book. I believe there is a misconception about how much money authors make on the books they write. You hear about the the mega-bestsellers in the media, but the average book doesn’t sell enough copies to clear the author’s advance. Here’s a short course in book finances:

1. Authors receive an advance for writing the book. Normally, they get 50% upon signing the contract and the remainder once the manuscript is accepted by the publisher. The advance can range from between a few thousand dollars to the millions you hear about Jack Welch getting for his memoirs. For most authors, the advance is in the low five-figures.

2. The author makes a royalty from each book sold. The royalty ranges between 15-20%. However, the percentage is not calculated off the retail price of the book, but on what the seller pays for it. For instance, if a book retails for $24.95, a bookstore normally buys it from the distributor at a 50-60% discount. The royalty is paid off that amount. Thus, on a $24.95 book, an author would make roughly $2.00.

3. Royalties must clear the advance before the author receives additional proceeds. Example: If an author receives a $10,000 advance, the first $10,000 in royalties will offset the advance. He won’t receive an additional dime from the publisher until that happens.

4. The publisher normally retains a percentage of the author’s royalties in reserve to offset returns from booksellers of unsold copies. The reserves are released, over time, to the author.

5. The author is able to keep the advance, even if sales don’t clear the amount he was given.

6. Most publishers send royalty statements and checks every six months to the author. In other words, after the advance, you get paid twice per year.

I’ll address other issues like international rights, audio and paperback rights, etc. in a future post. Anyhow, there’s a dash of insight for you into the financial aspects of books. FYI: The average business book only sells 5,000 copies, so you can see that most authors aren’t getting rich off of a single book that sells mediocre numbers.

Now, back to “Leadership by THE BOOK.” One of the strategies I want to present is how to balance an “iron fist” with the “velvet glove” when addressing performance shortfalls. Yesterday, I decided on an excellent example. Haggai and Zechariah were both prophets. The books they wrote in the Bible are near the conclusion of the Old Testament. Both of these men addressed complacency and indifference with totally different, yet complementary approaches. I believe you’ll find this strategy in my book very helpful as you seek greater results within your organization.

It’s Sunday, so I’m off to church. I’m hoping that the pastor will present something in his sermon that I can put in the book! It’s fun getting ideas from others, putting them in my book, and then selling the information back to them!

I read a story yesterday about how a chaplain was fired for including the word “Jesus” in a prayer for the North Carolina State Legislature. Some hyper-sensitive soul was afraid that “Jesus” would offend those hearing the prayer.

In the midst of such craziness, I suppose I should place a disclaimer on the cover of “How to Lead by THE BOOK: Proverbs, Parables & Principles for Tackling Your Toughest Business Challenges” that “Jesus” is mentioned repeatedly throughout the book and to not make the purchase if you find His name offensive or dangerous. These are strange times we live in. It appears that those who find the name of “Jesus” offensive have gained veto power over those who are offended when His name is omitted.

I’ve started making my list of potential cover quote contributors. Publishers like to see how many influential cover quotes an author can secure to adorn the cover or opening pages of the book. Over the years, I’ve had many kind and generous men and women contribute quotes to promote my book: Zig Ziglar, John Maxwell, etc. However, it’s a bit of a pain to put this part of the project together. It is time-consuming and intrusive. You must contact each person, ask them to take the time out of their busy schedule to read your book, and then to offer a quote in support of it, all before a specific deadline. My list of potential contributors now stands at thirteen and includes business leaders, authors and entrepreneurs. I’ll contact them soon to get their commitment to review the book, and then send them a “draft copy” known as a galley proof to review at the appropriate time. If I can secure six strong quotes from the thirteen prospects I currently have, I’ll be very pleased.

I’ve decided to use the Eric Liddell story mentioned in yesterday’s blog post as a supporting principle in the strategy I present explaining that when faced with decisions to please either men or God, you must choose the latter. 1 Samuel 2:30 says it best: “…for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.” I wonder if the now-lightly-esteemed employee in the North Carolina Legislature who objected to the name of Jesus is aware of this verse?

It’s Saturday. Time to enjoy leisure and put away the computer. Ironically, it’s during the times of “doing nothing” that the best ideas often emerge. I’ll keep the computer within reach, just in case.

My publisher wants How to Lead by THE BOOK: Proverbs, Parables & Principles to Tackle Your Toughest Business Challenges to have 50,000 words. That translates to around 220 pages. The book will be based on biblical strategies for tackling approximately 70 business problems. Here’s the challenge: what to include/not include/how deep to go on each topic, etc. The Bible will be the primary research tool for this book. It has 66 books, 2,118 chapters and 773,692 words! In other words, there’s a lot to sift through! I’ve got the potential topics narrowed down to 72. This may continue to fluctuate. I’d like to have an even 70. Plus, 70 is a meaningful biblical number. One of my goals is to weave in strategies and insights from all 66 of the Bible’s books.

I’m writing this book with the assumption that the reader believes in God, but knows little about the Bible. That format worked well with How to Run Your Business by THE BOOK. My task is to take something potentially complex and intimidating, the 773,692 words in the Bible, and bring them to life. I need to make the Bible’s strategies relevant and usable for the reader to apply in their organization. I can’t get preachy or academic. Keeping things simple is a key. Since I’m simple and non-academic, the task will be much easier.

One of the 70 challenges will be: “What is the best way to give feedback or advice to someone else?” While there are several points I’ll offer, there’s a great example in Exodus 18. Moses is spending all day solving disputes amongst the 2 million people he’s leading to the Promised Land. People are lined up for hours to see him. The problem is, he’s not getting anything else done! Sound familiar? His father-in-law, Jethro, sees what’s happening and is appalled. But here’s what Jethro didn’t do: He didn’t chastise, criticize, or offer alternatives until he first asked “Why are you doing it this way?” In other words, he diagnosed the situation before he prescribed an answer. Because he sought first to understand Moses, Moses was more open to Jethro’s advice and quickly applied it. There’s a lesson there! I’ll probably have a chance to use it today.

Today, I’ll spend time gathering potential stories, parables, principles and proverbs that will fit the 72 challenges I’ve outlined thus far. The research part is fun and easy. Tying it all together in words that make sense is where the work comes in.

Yesterday, I was reminded of the story of the Scottish Olympic runner Eric Liddell, whose story was the basis for the movie Chariots of Fire. I’ve got to find a way to incorporate his level of commitment to principles over popularity into one of the 72 strategies.  Tomorrow, I’ll share what I come up with.  For  now,  it’s time to get back to work.