Karl Edwards presents Working Matters

Category: Audio Downloads

  • Listen In -> Fake Goals #4: Goals That Are A Dangling Carrot

    Some goals can be outright mean-spirited.

    One of the more underhanded methods is leading an employee to believe that a salary increase or a promotion will accompany the achievement of a particular goal.

    When the time to follow through arrives, you find yourself, more often than not, backing down on the promise by blaming human resources, budget constraints or some other factor outside of your control.

    In this week’s show, Claudia and I discuss the pitfalls of dangling carrots just out of reach in order to secure some extra element of effort.

    Even though this method is easy to see through, works only once, and costs far more in terms of broken trust and forfeited credibility than was ever saved by reneging on the raise, it remains surprising popular.

    Why do you think this “fake goal” is so tempting to leaders?

    Listen in.

    Just now joining the conversation? Catch up on the entire series here.

  • Listen In -> Fake Goals #3: Goals That Are A Moving Target

    Want to be a hero in your client’s eyes?

    Try making irresponsible promises that you can later blame others for not being able to keep.

    You most likely know what we’re talking about…

    • The client calls and wants the deadline moved forward. You know the new deadline is unrealistic, but feel it would be disastrous to refuse or negotiate.

    • The scope of work on a project keeps expanding, but you decline to increase the fees involved so that you don’t discourage future business.

    Two realities that confront leaders all of the time.

    What do you do when the schedule or budget for a project changes?

    In this week’s show Claudia and I discuss how counter-productive and demotivating it is when you create a moving target by forcing your team to deal with the ramifications of a change in deadline or budget.

    Listen in for a constructive alternative.

    Just now joining the conversation? Catch up on the entire series here.

  • Listen In -> Fake Goals #2: Goals That Are Arbitrary

    Why be limited by reality?!

    A second way to master the art of demotivation is by drawing targets out of thin air like, “Increase sales by 20%” (even during a recession).

    Why be constricted by facts when you can watch people scramble desperately to achieve what has no grounding in reality?

    In this week’s show, Claudia and I look at the pitfalls of setting arbitrary goals.

    As helpful and valuable as goals can be, if they are not grounded in reality, then they become elusive phantoms who haunt with threats of impending punishments.

    Instead of helping us plan better or motivating us to work smarter, arbitrary goals make our efforts feel meaningless.

    A lazy salesperson might exceed their target by the luck of a client’s purchasing schedule, while a hard-working salesperson might fall short of their target by virtue of a slow economic cycle.

    In this example, the lazy person would probably be rewarded and the hard worker would be punished.

    How arbitrary are the targets you set?

    Listen in.

    Just now joining the conversation? Catch up on the entire series here.

  • Listen In -> Fake Goals #1: Goals That Are Vague

    Meaningful goals can transform a good idea into a practical reality. Fake goals can undermine and sabotage even the simplest of efforts.

    Claudia and I are starting a new podcast series this week entitled, “Fake Goals: Your Key to Perpetual Demotivation”.

    We begin the discussion in this week’s show exploring how to master the art of demotivation with goals like, “Work harder” or “Improve your attitude” or “Make fewer mistakes.”

    Vague goals are a common and quite subtle form of confused communication. You know what you mean when you set a vague goal like, “Your attitude needs to improve.”

    But I promise you that you’re creating for yourself hours of arguing over whether or not a vague goal like this has been achieved.

    And of course, we won’t leave you with the problem without discussing practical alternatives.

    Listen in.

    Here’s an overview of the entire series:

    Fake Goals: Your Key to Perpetual Demotivation
    Week #1: Goals That Are Vague
    Week #2: Goals That Are Arbitrary
    Week #3: Goals That Are a Moving Target
    Week #4: Goals That Are a Dangling Carrot
    Week #5: Goals That Are Double Standards

  • Listen In -> Bridging the Work-Faith Divide #5: Becoming a Person of Influence and Impact

    We’ve all been there.

    At our own places of employment or while at a meeting at another company.

    The feeling is palpable. It might be pressure. It might be drive. It might be panic. It might be enthusiasm. It might be supportiveness. It might be competitiveness.

    Bridging the Work-Faith Divide

    How would you characterize the culture of your workplace?

    In this week’s show Claudia and I discuss how to influence the culture where you work.

    In many regards, workplace cultures are deep, complex realities that have developed over time. Such realities do not lend themselves to quick fixes or radical changes initiated by even the best intentioned team member.

    Does that mean that you and I are powerless to impact our workplace culture?

    Not at all!!

    But it does mean that we need to be thoughtful and appropriate in the means and manners in which we choose to exert influence.

    Join our discussion about four degrees of influence which are available to everyone on the team: modeling, suggesting, reforming and battling.

    Just now joining the conversation? Catch up on the entire series here.
    Interested in how we can resource your church or organization? Get more information here.

    Listen in.

  • Listen In -> Bridging the Work-Faith Divide #4: Collaboration, Empowerment and Accountability

    We don’t work alone.

    Some of may wish we worked alone, but reality returns each morning and we find ourselves face to face with another task on which to collaborate, another meeting to schedule, or another disagreement to work through.

    Bridging the Work-Faith DivideWe need ways to share information, combine efforts, enhance motivation, and be accountable to achieve results.

    In this week’s show, Claudia and I discuss how our faith informs how we work with other people.

    But, true to our the workplace perspective of this series, we are not going to ask how to be a good Christian at work. We are going to discuss the workplace realities of collaboration, empowerment and accountability.

    We have to share tasks and pool our skills; we have to tap into people’s core motivations and working styles; and we need to be able to confront problems and achieve results.

    You’ll be amazed at how relevant and helpful being a person of faith is to effectively navigating these common workplace issues.

    Listen in.

    Just now joining the conversation? Catch up on the entire series here.
    Interested in how we can resource your church or organization? Get more information here.

  • Listen In -> Bridging the Work-Faith Divide #3: Character Formation and Lifelong Learning

    We have in the past discussed what we have called, “The Hard Facts of Working with People”.

    One of the “hard facts” is that people are learning, developing, maturing beings. You and I grow and change over time. It’s a fact.

    Bridging the Work-Faith DivideThis fact has important implications to the workplace, team-building, motivation, empowerment, and accountability.

    This fact bears directly on career development, setting goals, and professional development.

    In this week’s show, Claudia and I discuss how to show up at work both fully authentic to who you are, and grow into who you need to become to fulfill your job responsibilities.

    As persons of faith, we do not need to compartmentalize our faith at work into issues of superficial behavioral morality. Don’t steal pencils. Work hard. Don’t tell lies.

    At a deeper, more fundamental level God-designed people need to contribute and make a difference; learn and develop; and connect and belong.

    Incorporate these three opportunities into your workplace culture and watch your team come alive on the job!

    Listen in.

    Just now joining the conversation? Catch up on the entire series here.
    Interested in how we can resource your church or organization? Get more information here.

  • Listen In -> Bridging the Work-Faith Divide #2: All Work as a Legitimate Calling

    I don’t know about you, but I am tired of being warned at church about the dangers my work poses to my faith.

    Sure some dangers exist, (e.g. greed, exploitation, workaholism, and various obsessions with power, status and money), but the focus on these dangers to the exclusion of the gifts and opportunities that my work holds for me is the greater danger by an exponential magnitude.

    Bridging the Work-Faith Divide

    In this week’s podcast discussion, Claudia and I focus on these gifts and opportunities: to make a difference, to apply yourself meaningfully, to mature in your skills and capacities, to belong to a working community, etc.

    The biblical concept that describes finding work that fits you beautifully is “calling.”

    I define “calling” as the intersection of God’s values, our personal make-up, and our life context.

    Sadly, the word has been so closely associated with going into the clergy or taking up cross-cultural missionary work that those of us in secular professions often feel our work is less blessed by God or less relevant to his kingdom.

    Nothing could be further from the truth.

    Whether it’s your profession, your field, your role or your daily responsibilities, nothing is more life-enhancing or worth waking up for in the morning than when you find a good fit.

    Have you been looking down on your profession because it isn’t an explicit form of religious ministry? Do you feel guilty for being as deeply invested in your work as you are?

    Listen in.

    Just now joining the conversation? Catch up on the entire series here.
    Interested in how we can resource your church or organization? Get more information here.

  • Listen In -> Bridging the Work-Faith Divide #1: Becoming Whole Again

    So much of life is compartmentalized into purportedly unrelated spheres. Work, family, religion, politics, hobbies, entertainment, etc.

    Until now, a common divide many of us experience is the one between our work and our faiths.

    Bridging the Work-Faith DivideUntil now.

    Until now, we have assumed there is no overlap between the matters of the hands (work) and the matters of the heart (faith).

    We have also assumed that neither should there be any overlap. Because faith is personal, it should therefore remain private.

    Some persons of faith have tackled the question of whether we should take our faith to work with us. They have raised faith issues such as: evangelism, ethics, morality, and integrity.

    In other words, they have asked how to take the topics and vocabulary of the religious realm and apply them in the working realm.

    This week, Claudia and I begin a new series of discussions entitled, “Bridging the Work-Faith Divide,” but…

    BUT!

    Our premise is that the question is more useful if asked the other way around.

    How do we think about the issues of the workplace in the vocabulary of the workplace in a manner that is informed by our faiths? Workplace issues such as: achieving results, working with people, making difficult decisions, improving methods, conducting meetings, and collaborating across disciplines, to name a few.

    Bridging the Work-Faith Divide
    Week #1: Becoming Whole Again
    Week #2: All Work as a Legitimate Calling
    Week #3: Character Formation and Lifelong Learning
    Week #4: Collaboration, Empowerment and Accountability
    Week #5: Becoming a Person of Influence and Impact

    Just now joining the conversation? Catch up on the entire series here.
    Interested in how we can resource your church or organization? Get more information here.

    Listen in.

  • Listen In -> Why We Hate Meetings #5: Not Acted On through Follow-Up

    After your meeting is over does everyone simply go back to what they were doing before the meeting as if nothing had just taken place?

    We are busy people, and new ideas, initiatives, changes and decisions that come out of a meeting often fail to get implemented.

    One of the reasons we hate meetings is because nothing changes. All that time. All that energy. The many discussions. The haggling. The compromises.

    And then…

    Nothing happens.

    The unspoken message is that the effort was a waste of time.

    Find out what follow-up can do for your meeting.

    Listen in.

    Just now joining the conversation? Catch up on the entire series here.