Enliven The World

Can You Change the World?

05-10-2009

Branding, Business, Community Renewal, Marketing, Nonprofit

Business can serve others

I’ve got a radical idea.

That we are at our most prosperous when we invest increased wealth to directly impact and renew communities.

Imagine if we used our prosperity for the good of others. Imagine if we live only with what we need and use the rest to give back to those who need our help the most. Imagine what would happen if those who have more invest in those who don’t so that they can produce and achieve.

Imagine if every business adopted a healthy lifestyle of serving others, first their families and then their communities.

Serving the Community

For example, a family owned grocery or market will agree to not just donate money or volunteer time (although that would be appreciated I am sure) to the local food bank, but actually use the extra revenue brought in though increased marketing efforts to buy extra food for the food bank. A credit union or local bank would dedicate some or all of its excess to fund a full time position that coordinates with local nonprofits on financial education or the creation of a select number of high risk, second chance accounts. See how it could work?

I have wanted to start a marketing company for some time, but I could never figure out the point of simply creating more wealth for its own sake. Where do we invest it? Spend it on ourselves, on bigger houses or more cars,or on bigger TV’s or more computers or expensive vacations?

How about reinvesting in the business? YES, reinvest in the business but don’t reinvest simply to expand the business so that the business can grow and become larger for the sole purpose of becoming bigger and more expansive. Reinvest in serving those that can’t help themselves and your business will grow as a consequence. But you will also be serving a better cause, not just the organization’s growth.

I know this sounds idealistic, but it is a lifestyle we can all live and the consequences of this behavior can have the most amazing impact the world has ever seen. Instead of growing to consume, we will grow to give.

Who’s with me?

WHY you do what you do

By: jehoshuakilen

25-05-2010

Business, Community Renewal, Story

You own a business, you sell things to customers and meet their needs. You probably want to sell more things to your customers and get new customers to sell even more things. But why? To make more money? To get rich? To not have to worry about your finances anymore? To increase your status in the community? ALL horrible reasons.

You do not need more stuff! You hear me on this but you probably don’t understand. YOU. DO. NOT. NEED. MORE. STUFF. You probably don’t need more money than you already make. If you have enough regular customers to pay your bills then you probably don’t NEED more customers either. If making money is your ONLY reason for doing what you do, then you don’t NEED to make more than you live on. Make enough to pay the bills, get out of debt, but do you really NEED more?

So, what else is there? You started the company for a reason, and presumably that reason was to help a certain group of people with a problem. You saw that people needed someone to work on their homes, so you offered your construction skills. You saw that people seemed to like your artwork, so you made more and sold it to them. But what is the ultimate point of doing what you do??? And it’s not to make money. Money is a natural consequence of doing a good job at what you love to do. What else is there?

Take this away and chew on it for a while: You are in business to build high quality relationships. Your ultimate purpose is to cultivate as many of these relationships as possible, through your business and every other facet of your life.

This is an entirely new way of thinking and if you fully embrace it, this idea will transform your customers, your business, and your life.

What if….?

By: jehoshuakilen

23-04-2010

Personal, Story

What if I just wrote honestly and not to please my audience? What would I write? What if I could live my life how I always dreamed of, what would that look like?

What if I actually learned to like people? AND all their issues and problems? AND stopped dealing with them as problems themselves? Stopped seeing them as a burden or a curious idea? Would I be able to help them more?

What if I expected less than I got and therefore was happy all the time?

What if I started reading the Bible less for its problem solving help, and more for the miraculous story it tells? Less for what it can do for me to benefit my life, and more for what it can teach me about God…?

What if I truly saw my life as a story, or a movie, and embraced every moment as a scene, where each line was dialogue, and crucial to moving the story forward? What if I really saw myself as important? What if by being important I could help others and make them feel important?

I don’t know what would change but I think it would be something. And it would be profound.

What Calling Has God Placed On Your Life?

By: jehoshuakilen

14-04-2010

Story

For years I struggled with the question of a calling.

I wondered “What am I doing with my life?” and “What is it all supposed to mean?” Sound familiar at all?

To a Christian Business Owner it’s even more puzzling. You are supposed to have it all figured out, but it’s never that simple. You still have questions and too often you have precious few answers. It’s further complicated by the disconnect between the Church and “The World”, and there you are trying to bridge that gap. How can you make both happy? How can you be an amazing Christian, live out your faith, and yet still be successful enough to provide for your family? It’s hard to find answers on your own.

If you are a man, who either owns his own business or wants to, and you are a Christian, then this might be the place for you.

Treat this like a repository of ideas and we can talk about what they mean. Check out the other posts, comment if you want to add something, and I’m sure you will find something useful.

Do you know why stories are important?

By: jehoshuakilen

23-03-2010

Story, Storytelling

We tell stories because they are about conflict.

One man against nature, or another man (including himself), or against man’s own creations (machines).

The good ones always detail something to watch out for, something to be careful of that might diminish one’s resources.

Because humans have learned how useful stories can be, we inherently pay attention to them. We want to know when the conflict is coming, where the dangers lie. We simulate them in our heads, putting ourselves in place of the main character, all so that we can truly see what’s coming on the horizon.

Stories are about a character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it, and we all can relate to that in one way or another.

The “why” is the Story!

By: jehoshuakilen

17-03-2010

Branding, Marketing, Story, Storytelling

Too often we tell stories without connecting to the larger story. When we do that, the audience is lost in the telling.

They don’t know where the story you are telling right now fits in the larger story. Usually they aren’t sure why this story is really important in the long run.

Audiences must have the context as well as the content, and it is up to the story teller to provide both, explicitly or implicitly.

How can YOU change someone’s life for the better?

By: jehoshuakilen

22-02-2010

Business, Marketing, Personal, Story

Have you ever tried to change someone else’s mind? Talked and pleaded with them to see a different point of view but in the end failed to get through? There is an old adage that says we have to look at how hard it is to change our own mind before we try to change someone else. I think that’s true and a good place to start.

We see the world in expectations of what is to come. We expect to have certain real-world outcomes with everything we come in contact, also called experiences. These “expected experiences” or expectations, are how we plan the world to work out for us, what we expect to get from the world.

If those expectations are violated then we are disappointed, if they are met then we are content. But if somehow these expectations of our future experiences are exceeded, then we have the phenomenon known as happiness.

My wife is great at this. If it is supposed to be a certain way then it better be that way, or else crushing disappointment follows. For example, if I say I will do the dishes, and then don’t, I have given her a reality that is below what she expected and she is disappointed. If I do the dishes, she got what she expected and is content because reality met her expectations. If I decide to be “Husband of the Year” and do the dishes, vacuum the carpet, give the dogs a bath, AND clean the bathroom on my day off, then she gets more than she expected and since reality exceeded her expectations she experiences happiness. It’s all very simple, but often goes unnoticed.

Definitely something to think about for your own life. If you want to change someone’s life for the better then ask yourself:

In what ways am I disappointing the one’s I care about? The one’s I love? What are their expectations of me? Are those realistic expectations? Am I even close to meeting the realistic ones?
How often am I just getting by? If I were to grade my daily behaviors on a 1, 3, or 5 scale then how many would be in the middle? How can I change my efforts from 3 (mediocre, content) to 5 (exceptional, happiness)?
In my day to day interactions, business and personal, how can I exceed someone else’s expectations?

You have the power to change a life for the better, you just need to find out what their expectations are and learn to go beyond whatever that person expected from reality. It will change their lives and yours.

Do You Know Why Stories are Important?

By: jehoshuakilen

10-01-2010

Branding, Business, Marketing, Story, Storytelling

We tell stories because they are about conflict.

One man against nature, or another man (including himself), or against man’s own creations (machines). The good ones always show something to watch out for; something that might diminish your resources.

Stories are about a character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it, and we all can relate to that in one way or another.

What stories are you customer’s telling? Where are they on their journey?

What stories are you telling? Where are YOU on your journey?

Spam to the world, the Adverts have come!

By: jehoshuakilen

05-01-2010

Branding, Business, Community Renewal, Marketing

I recently attended a holiday event with my family, a 2+ mile drive through professionally constructed Christmas lights in Spanaway WA; nice enough for what it was, but it was the advertising that got to me.

Littered throughout the drive were large banner signs for local companies. They were sponsorships the event has sold based on the promise that thousands of people will see the signs and remember the displayed brand at some point in the future, PROBABLY resulting in a sale. It’s the modern form of snake oil…

Honestly, is anyone more likely to buy a newspaper or go to a certain medical facility based on a sign they saw next to a deer made of blinking Christmas lights? Because someone sponsored the event that your family had a decent time at, are you more likely to go enroll at the local technical school or switch to Sprint? Really think about that for a moment, and give yourself an honest answer… would that make a REAL difference to you?

I don’t blame the event, I blame the companies for falling for this. The event is basically trying to do a public service (as far as I know) and raising money for public, family events is always a challenge. They just want the companies to feel like the expense is worth it and everyone wants some recognition. But from a business standpoint, is this the best way to spend your money? I’m not talking about spending on charity or family events, my stance on that should be clear, but rather on unmeasurable advertising.

Look back on your own marketing and advertising expenditures, were they stroking your ego or were they tied to something tangible? Can you measure the results? Did they motivate someone to actually DO something and not just make them aware (or MORE aware) of you?

Imagining The Soul of A Business

By: jehoshuakilen

06-11-2009

Branding, Business, Marketing

From Availing Wisdom, July 28, 2009

The soul, or pneuma, of a business is shown in its DNA, the very code that gives it life. A company is very much like a belief system offering values, community, relevance, leadership and vision, empathy, and trust to the body of customers (see believers) that buy (see follow) its product(s) (see values). People are looking for companies and brands that they can believe in, belong to, and that spark the right emotions that connect them to something greater than themselves.

On the other side, Companies run and survive on connections, on interactions with people. Without a sufficient quantity of quality interactions, the company will die. These connections are the life blood of the organization, the only way to make it survive.

The average corporation is 20 to 30 years old but most don’t make it to the age of 5, and many die in their infancy. If corporations are treated as people then what does this mean, how do we create corporations that last? A company survives based on the number and quality of its relationships to people, no company is an island and it cannot live alone. These relationships are the fuel, the life blood, the sustaining force.

The Company’s character determines its value to customers and how it communicates that value, the quality of the connections it can establish, determines how long it will stay alive.

Do you see it this way? Do you think it’s fair to treat companies as people in this manner?

A Little Story About Me… If You Are So Inclined

By: jehoshuakilen

05-11-2009

Personal

I’m not going to actively promote this post but I want the information to be out “there” at least, and I want to be the one to tell my story.

First of all, I haven’t been very good about a regular posting schedule and I’m not sure I ever will get to the point where I can post 4 or even 5 days a week. Can’t imagine I have that much to talk about everyday. Plus, who really wants to be just that much more noise on the internet? There is SO much out there, repeating myself over and over would only be a disservice to those hardy few who actually want to hear what I have to say.

While I haven’t been posting, I have been busy consolidating and typing a lot of notes. Last year I read over 200 books, taking notes on almost all of them, and I still get in at least one a week. It’s a lot of work but I love the challenge of consolidating and connecting ideas.

How can anyone find time for over 200 books? Well I ended up with a lot of time on my hands and here we come to the storytelling/confession part of this post.

From March 2008 to March 2009 I was in prison down in Sheridan, Oregon. This was not a proud moment, but it ended up being one of the most positive experiences of my entire life. I learned more from that one year than most of my life combined (more than just how to make wine from tomatoes, yes it is possible). It gave me time to reflect, to read, to learn, to decide my character, course, and purpose. I wish it didn’t have to happen but I’m glad everyday for the positive experience.

For those who are still interested, the short version of how I got there is this: I was working at a bank and generally loathing my life for no good reason. I had no purpose, no greater story to hold on to, and I floundered every day. I was miserable. Then one day I ran across some accounts that belonged to two gentlemen who passed away a few years ago. No one had claimed the money yet and it was about to be turned over to the government. I did some searches online and found no family for either gentlemen. Then, that part of us that we don’t like to express, that we never talk about, took hold of my thoughts. I decided to take the money, rationalizing that no one would miss it, and I told myself this was a “gray” area. Never was I so wrong.

Eventually I was caught and taken into custody, embarrassed and relieved all at the same time. It was never my life ambition to be a thief and criminal, and my conscience was killing me.

After some time I was sentenced to 18 months, 12 of which was served in a prison, 4 in a halfway house, and 2 off for good behavior. This was actually a lower sentence than I deserved and I was one of the few people in the system to get a lowered sentence.. The sentencing judge, Ronald B. Leighton, saw the person in front of him rather than the crime I committed. He actually said if it was up to his wishes, he wouldn’t send me to prison at all but there needed to be a deterrent for potential future criminals.

Now I am on supervised release and continuing on with my life. My wife, Megan, is the most supportive and wonderful woman, a Noble Wife to be sure. She has stood by me through all of this and has never wavered in her support. Our son has been the same, understanding and thoughtful, he has taken my experience to heart and I think he will be a better person for it in the end.

Some people would see this whole section of my life and say it speaks to who a person really is, that I’m not a good person. They wouldn’t say it out loud (ok, some might) but a lot of people would think it at least, or feel it to be true. I think of it as a terrible and destructive series of choices that was made right in the end. God turned it around in the end and I am a better person for accepting what I have done and making the choice to live right.

This isn’t a story I am proud of, and one I have been dreading to tell. But the ending is positive and happy. And now I am creating a new story that perhaps wouldn’t be as rich without the old stories. What do you think?

— Enliven The World

Can You Change the World?

WHY you do what you do

What if….?

What Calling Has God Placed On Your Life?

Do you know why stories are important?

The “why” is the Story!

How can YOU change someone’s life for the better?

Do You Know Why Stories are Important?

Spam to the world, the Adverts have come!

Imagining The Soul of A Business

A Little Story About Me… If You Are So Inclined

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