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Trust the Fog
It will clear and the vision will be beautifully revealed.
“”Please sir, the weight is too great for my branches to hold. Please put some braces under them to help support my fruit as it grows to maturity.” The apple tree said to me as I looked at the broken branch dangling from its trunk.”
I had a dream two nights ago that my wife and daughter found quite funny as I relayed it to them. And on the surface it is, but a deeper examination leads to a powerful life metaphor.
Several years ago, ‘our’ local Walmart had market down their remaining fruit trees from the Spring season, compelling me to jump on the deal. (I love a good deal!). We bought apple, peach and pear trees with great enthusiasm and expectation. We lovingly planted them and waited for the bounty to come. And waited, and waited, and waited.
As we watched the trees, two of the six we planted died due to our co-inhabitants, the deer, enjoying the tender bark and leaves of these young trees to the point of their death. (Another metaphor story awaiting.). I would cautiously mow around the remaining trees, slowly losing faith that they would bear fruit after years of quiet. And as the years went by without fruit, my caution when mowing and expectation of production moved from expectation to resignation.
“Moses’ arms soon became so tired he could no longer hold them up. So Aaron and Hur found a stone for him to sit on. Then they stood on each side of Moses, holding up his hands. So his hands held steady until sunset.” Exodus 17:12 NLT
This fourth year, the largely ignored fruit trees are filled with young apples and pears. While their caretaker cared less, their purpose for existence emerging. The years of growth, patience, preparation and existence now yielding fruit, beautiful fruit. These trees, resolute in what they are, ignored the silence, fought through the neglect, weathered the seasons of flood and drought and now quietly and majestically are delivering the fruit that they were created to provide.
By now I am sure that the life metaphor of this little apple tree is clear. The extension that I want to make sure is also understood is the need for support as we deliver the purposes of our lives that God has uniquely placed within each of us. My dream of the apple tree’s broken branch filled with fruit provides a clear image of the need for preparation. The preparation involving aligning with others who will help support us as we achieve what we have been created and assigned to deliver. There is zero shame in asking or admitting the need for help. Failure lurks in the form of foolish pride when the fruits of our labor require the help of others in our path, and we don’t ask.
My current favorite verse in the Bible is Matthew 4:11 “Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.” (NKJV). In my current season, this verse gives me permission to be vulnerable and admit I desperately need help. How great to know that Jesus needed the care and nurturing of the angels after his 30 days of temptation in the wilderness with Satan.
So, my little discounted trees, discarded by time and waning expectation are thriving. Quietly growing the fruit they were created to deliver. I love that God reminded me in the form of a dream that his timing and his yield abides within each of us. I love that He reminded me that we cannot achieve our purposes without the help, encouragement and when exhausted, being held up by those He has placed in our path.
You’re close to yielding what God has placed within you. Please don’t give up. Shout out, “I need someone to hold my exhausted heart so I can breathe again.” Rest in the knowledge that God hears you. That he is growing you. That he loves the vulnerable you who admits need and accepts help. Ability is a burden worth the weight. Achievement is never a solo journey.
Your days of yielding fruit are coming. Being ready begins with surrendering to the life preparation that most likely is not crystal clear.
Take another step today…
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Life Lessons, Comfort Zones
The great theologian Jimmy Buffet sang it so well, “Changes in attitudes, changes in latitudes…” causes our mental state to let go and joy to invade. Gotta give it to Jimmy. He was right on. Right, on this.
I am excited about a project that I have been working on for months now with a very talented team who pulls so much out of me. The truth is, they cause me to go to areas of vulnerability within myself. The irony is that I am witnessing in first person, their moving my comfort zones.
Why are we oftentimes, or possibly most times, so resistant to change. We changed life from an umbilical chord in our mother to breathing on our own. Our diapers were changed. We changed from dependency to independence. (Or we should have!). We change the channel on the TV (or streaming). We change lanes. We change clothes. We change hairstyles, clothing styles, lifestyles and for some like me, just style (or lack thereof) in general. We change to improve the comforts of our life, but resist the life-altering impact of change.
We change whatever we decide to allow or identify as needing changed.
Conversely, we guard against change when the unknown causes angst or fear. And much of the time, irrational fear. The aphorism “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” is widely attributed to Albert Einstein but was actually penned by Rita Mae Brown in her book, ‘Sudden Death.’ I often hear things like ‘if only I had’ or ‘I wish I could’ and even more sad, ‘I am too afraid to change.’ If you want a different career, body, mindset, financial position, relationship status, change! This type of change involves behavioral and mental change. Change can be hard. Results from change, so fulfilling.
I have always likened myself as a change-agent. I have developed products that solve problems, or change outcomes. I encourage and coach life approach through the lens of expectation and flexibility. I strongly encourage replacing the ‘we’ve never done it this way before’ mindset with a fear-less approach of exploring and allowing growth, leveraging the life experiences and abilities that reside within each of us. I believe that change lies within each of us, desiring to breakthrough.
Romans 12:2 says “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
Change involves a willing mind. Real, personal change requires a willing heart. Profound, life impacting change requires a repositioned mind.
Philippians 4:8 tells us “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
I love Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Faith requires surrender. Surrender involves gaining control by giving control. (Ask me, this is truth.). Change results when minds expand. Life expands when change is embraced.
Time to change the channel. Let’s go.
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Unspeakable Joy
“I just screamed. I was so happy. It was just pure elation and just a visceral, emotional reaction to not only being home, but people there coming to us and bringing us out — just unspeakable joy.” Reid Wiseman, Commander Artemis II
Commander Wiseman, who said he is “not really a religious person,” may have unknowingly provided one of the great insights into what our arrival in Heaven might be like. People coming to us. Unspeakable joy.
I am so in awe of the comments the Artemis II astronauts have made describing spiritual experiences as they hurled through space and went further from earth than any humans have ever gone. As they witnessed the sun eclipsed by the moon. As they emerged from the silence and darkness of the back side of their travel around the moon. These scientists. These intellectuals. These learned people from a community that often looks for ways to deny the existence of a higher deity, all commented on the deep spiritual awareness this trip caused. It seems that the vastness of space caused the reality of an Omnipotent God to be revealed through firsthand experience.
I often have a vision of Jesus standing next to his father, God, rubbing the scars in his hands from those nails driven through them and into the cross, saying “I would do it all again for him (me).” God responding, “no need, once paid the eternal price.”
I am increasingly aware of my inability to comprehend the eternal, permanent, never-ending, without condition love of the Father. Equally, my meek human mind seeks to compare God to humans, resulting in significant limitations of my expectation. It seems Commander Wiseman and all of the Artemis II crew experienced the clarity of God when the fog of earth and sin was removed. Faith causes me to accept what I cannot see and expect what I cannot understand and accept what I cannot earn.
“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalms 16:12 (ESV)
Heaven awaits all of us who seek and accept salvation offered because of the blood of Christ. So too, Hell awaits those who reject the truth of God and his forgiveness freely offered. Choose wisely.
“The moment we take our last breath on earth, we take our first in heaven” by Billy Graham
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Go to H-E-double hockey sticks!
I remember as kids that we would so loosely say this to each other in anger, not understanding what we were saying.
“The demons kept begging Jesus not to send them into the bottomless pit.” Luke 8:31 (NLT)
If I could pray one prayer for you beyond eternal salvation, it would be that you would experience the incredible joy and flooding of hope that comes when God reveals his love and immeasurable majesty as you read his Word.
I once heard what for me is the most understandable description of Hell as ‘the eternal separation from God and all hope.’ That resonates in my head and my heart because my identity, my purpose, my reason, my joy, all abide in me and drive me forward because of the love and relationship that I have with my Father in Heaven, and he with me.
Now I have read Luke Chapter 8 in the Bible dozens of times. The marvelous parables of the farmer sewing seed, the lamp. The recounting of his family, calming the storm, the demon possessed man, the woman whose faith healed her and raising the little girl from the dead? All combine to make this one of my favorite chapters in the Bible.
This morning as I was reading this incredible chapter again, I was stopped by these words: “The demons kept begging Jesus not to send them into the bottomless pit.” New Living Translation. The Berean Standard Bible translation says “And the demons kept begging Jesus not to order them to go into the Abyss.” The King James says “And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep.”
How horrid is Hell? So terrible that even the demons that roam this earth desiring to influence you and me to choose Hell in exchange for a few years of deceitful decadence and ‘happiness’ in this very short life, begged Jesus not to send them there. Perhaps nothing better illustrates Satan’s evil and desperation than the understanding that even his minions sent to do his evil work, begged not to return.
So why is this so beautiful for you and me and all who believe? Well, like everything in the Bible, I encourage you to read on. Read on when you are at a life roadblock. Read on when there seems no hope. Read on when you are paralyzed by fear. Read on when you doubt that anyone hears you. Read on when you’re at a crossroads in life and your desire is to make the right and best decision. Read on when you desperately need to feel love and loved. Read on when what you hold, is all that you need. The living, breathing, life guidebook and life’s breath, the Bible.
“There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding on the hillside nearby, and the demons begged him to let them enter into the pigs. So Jesus gave them permission.” Luke 8:32 (NLT)
So take another step today. The one who came and died, and rose and reigns forevermore, loves you. The Evil One must ask God’s permission to perpetuate evil upon you. You are in control if you have surrendered all to he who controls all and provides agape love to each of us who choose him. This is just too marvelous to fully comprehend, but freely given to all who ask.
It’s okay. Just rest in the knowledge that he who Satan must bow and ask permission, also loves you so much that he freely provides the beauty of the lilies in the field. Consider that what you are walking through is God’s way of saying, “I love you. Please hold on to me. I have so much that I want to show and teach you. You are safe. Trust me in the lessons that I allow in your life. I love you that much.”
If you’ve chosen Jesus, there is nothing that has control over you. You are the child of the King of all Kings. Satan had to ask God’s permission to attack Job. His demons begged not to be sent to the bottomless hopeless pit of Hell. Reject the irrational fear that Satan schemes, to prevent you from being all that God created you to be.
Invading pigs and drowning was a better option for demons than Hell. What a magnificent God we serve, whose love too marvelous to full comprehend. You’re fine. He’s has you.
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They will take a mile…
Think about this. Thirty (30) years ago firearms were effectively outlawed in the UK. Today in England, Scotland and Wales, you can and likely will be prosecuted for ‘offensive’ social media posts. The once great leader on the World stage has effectively been castrated as evidenced in its stance toward current events. So who determines what is and isn’t offensive? Truth gives way to the cultural mob of the moment. A house with no foundation surely will fall.
Years ago, I was invited to serve as a lobbyist representing the firearms industry in Washington DC. The anti-gun lobby had developed a strategy with many of the nation’s largest cities to sue the industry into bankruptcy. Whether they won the lawsuits (they didn’t) or they lost (they did), the plan was to win the war against gun ownership through attrition and unsustainable costs. Most gun manufacturers, distributors and retail outlets saw their insurance rates quadruple, or higher. Paid for, as with all special ‘social’ interests efforts, by you the consumer. The cities joining the lawsuits with visions of financial windfalls dancing in the heads. This is a backdrop for the purpose of this post.
The lawsuits contended that the firearms industry was negligent for not providing trigger locks with each gun being sold. On the surface, this seemed logical. BE CAREFUL, only 10% of an iceberg is above water, 90% is submerged and not seen.
The strategy of the anti-gun groups was (and still is) that any concession of missed safety protocols, would break the proverbial dam, and liability for negligence even to the point of holding the industry liable for a customer’s behavior would flood our legal system. “If you can’t legislate them out, litigate them to death” was a common phrase. Removing any personal responsibility expectation. Sound familiar. Using this thought process, Ford or General Motors could be sued for negligence when the vehicles they manufactured were involved in an accident resulting in injury or death by any driver, even those impaired, unlicensed or illegal. Or, continuing this thought, Louisville Slugger could be held liable if the bat they manufactured was used as a weapon, versus what it was designed for, hitting balls.
My role during the lobbying was to present the associative risks of owning a firearm, compared to other consumer products. And as you likely have guessed, making a case for firearms as a safe product was very simple. At the time, bicycles caused significantly more injuries to children than gun violence. Football more trauma. Car accidents exponentially more injuries and death. All activities chosen by the consumer with an understanding of certain degrees of risk. By the way, I respect your position on firearms and changing your stance is not the purpose of my post. The simple truth is this, a culture that dismisses the value of life will use whatever means at their disposal to end life. Do you really think the signers of our Constitution envisioned the ending of 64-million lives (and growing by over a million annually) because the lives were deemed a choice, versus a responsibility?
As I was presenting our case for gun ownership, extending beyond the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, a Senator at the time from Mississippi, Trent Lott said in his deep southern drawl, “Mr. Mullins, son you just don’t get it. We all know your products are safe, but mamas and daddies drive their kids to soccer now. They don’t teach them to shoot like they did when I was a boy. You are fighting fear that has no desire to be rational.” And there it was, the issue was perception influenced by the agendas of the few. Agendas with much deeper and insidious strategies than the 10% on the surface would ever reveal. Create unreasonable fear and the masses are easily controlled under the guise of good stewardship. Ask standardized testing companies how our children are testing since COVID. We so quickly surrendered inalienable rights to assuage the fears of the masses, sans any truly reliable data. And today we pay.
In 1997 the United Kingdom (England, Scotland & Wales) passed a law fundamentally prohibiting handgun ownership and significantly restricting shotgun and other long gun ownership. This happened because of what the media titled, ‘massacres’ in two unrelated and tragic shootings that took the lives of too many. One is too many, by the way! So the problem was addressed and resolved. Remove the rights of the masses. One problem, violent crime rose in the years after the law was passed, with robberies increasing by 45% and murder by 54%.
The insidiousness of the laws passed in the UK to ‘protect’ its citizens is having the desired effect. The law-abiding citizens are more easily controlled while criminals continue to be criminals. What lies beneath requires study and understanding that I am afraid is being surrendered to ChatGPT that, you guessed it, offers answers generated from human data. Human data with 90% of its agenda beneath the surface.
Where am I going with this rambling? There is an underlying movement in Western Christianity today to erode the veracity of scripture. THE BIBLE, the singular source of absolute truth’s message is slowly being eroded under the rejection of Biblical patriarchy versus complementarianism. What seems to be a modern and independent challenging of scripture, has the markings of the iceberg. Present 10% of the argument for scriptural error and acceptance will reveal and erode the remaining 90% of currently accepted truths. There is no 90% right. There is 100% wrong, if the 10% known is reasoned to be with error.
“Those who would learn the things of God, and be assured of them, must know the Holy Scriptures, for they are the Divine revelation. The age of children is the age to learn; and those who would get true learning, must get it out of the Scriptures. They must not lie by us neglected, seldom or never looked into. The Bible is a sure guide to eternal life. The prophets and apostles did not speak from themselves, but delivered what they received of God. 2 Peter 1:21. It is profitable for all purposes of the Christian life. It is of use to all, for all need to be taught, corrected, and reproved. There is something in the Scriptures suitable for every case. Oh that we may love our Bibles more, and keep closer to them! then shall we find benefit, and at last gain the happiness therein promised by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the main subject of both Testaments. We best oppose error by promoting a solid knowledge of the word of truth; and the greatest kindness we can do to children, is to make them early to know the Bible.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary on 2 Timothy 3:14-17.
The idiom “give them an inch and they’ll take a mile,” was a proverb in John Heywood’s 1546 collection. (Substituting ‘ell’ with ‘mile.’) Malcolm X was said “a man who stands for nothing, will fall for anything.” This same sentiment made popular in the ‘90’s by country singer Aaron Tippin’s song, “You’ve Got to Stand for Something.”
The question is does your commitment to truth match and exceed the passionate purposes of those who reject those very truths? I have no issue with opinion, but marvel at how quickly opinion retreats when truth and reason enter the conversations.
“Evil succeeds when good men (people) do nothing.” Edmund Burke
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A rich man’s tomb…
“He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.” Isaiah 53:9 (NIV)
Roman law provided that those crucified were to be left on their cross for weeks as birds stripped their flesh and then their bones thrown in a pit containing the bones of all criminals for the feral dogs to eat. Among the many reasons for this were psychological and spiritual. The bottom line is that those subjected to crucifixion as their death, were sentenced to torture and abuse long after their physical death.
Joseph of Arimathea’s “request” of Pilate for Jesus’ body was in defiance of Roman law. His simple request to take and bury Jesus was one of the boldest moves in early Christianity. His action of defiance against Roman law likely involved bribing Pilate, which was quite common with Roman governors of the day. A move that could have resulted in his being charged with a crime and Roman punishment as well.
Why would a member of the Sanhedrin make this move and place his standing of authority an wealth at risk? The beautifully simple answer is the that he had met Jesus and believed. Joseph of Arimathea is often referred to as a secret disciple. This bold move revealed his secret. Why did he ask for Jesus’ body. Well, Isaiah had written of this event occurring 700 years before, so it was certainly predestined.
As a member of the Sanhedrin, Joseph of Arimathea would have known of Isaian’s prophecy that this event would occur because he knew scripture. The Book of Isaiah was one of the prominently studied books of prophecy among the Jews during the time period of Jesus crucifixion, known as the Second Temple period. He knew scripture and he knew these things must happen.
I have often wondered why this wealthy man of position and influence would ‘throw it all away,’ to take and bury Jesus. Shame on me! Joseph of Arimathea’s understood the yet to be written truth of Mark 8:36, “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?
So on this day of silence, I don’t believe that Joseph of Arimathea was experiencing the fear and doubt of Jesus’ death. He had taken the step of faith to retrieve and honor his Savior’s body. He knew and acted upon prophecy. I believe a man who would take the ‘risk’ that he did, did so because he knew the truth of what was to come. These are my beliefs and not verified, but I have to believe that when Simon of Arimathea was told that the tomb was empty, he confidently responded “of course it is.”
There is much written and theorized about this man’s influence after Jesus’ death. And while much is unverified and stories of legend, I know this truth, that I will meet him on day in Heaven.
The gates of Hell have been invaded and Satan’s legions have realized that they have chosen the ultimately losing side. Sunday is coming. Love came down and life eternal is the reward for all who believe and receive.
“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15:55-57 (NLT)
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The day that hope died.
Can you imagine investing 3 years of your life to someone who now hung on a tree? Flesh ripped off from horrendous and sadistic flogging. Blood running down his beautiful face because he was mocked with a crown of thorns. Hanging between two men described as thieves and best case scenario, hardened criminals that society had deemed too horrid to continue living.
Can you imagine the thoughts running through the minds of the men and women who had left their families to follow this man? Now hanging from what was regarded as the most shameful, brutal, agonizing way to die. They had left everything. Were rejected by everything that they had been raised to believe mattered. Realizing that without him, they had nothing. They had the courage to reject the religious entrapment that had enslaved generations. Now that ‘courage’ hung bloody, mutilated, dying then dead on that horrid cross.
We know these men and women were afraid. Scripture tells us that they ran (Mark 14:50) with fear and confusion. One young man fleeing naked as they tried to hold him and ripped his linen clothing off. Fear reigned in those moments. Confusion instantly caused a cloud to cover what had been so beautiful and clear.
“Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who stands next to me,” declares the LORD of hosts. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; I will turn my hand against the little ones.” Zechariah 13:7 (ESV)
When, if ever, do you think the awareness that all of these things, even the disciples fear and desertion, must occur to fulfill the prophecies 800+ years before? Why is the knowledge and understanding of scripture so needed? Because in moments of seeming complete devastation, seeming complete desertion, understanding what has been written ‘must happen’ returns us to the very hope and assurance that brutally hung on that cross.
Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6), now lifeless on this horrid day that redeemed humanity, pleased his Father. While I can only guess the angels mourned and Heaven stood silent, Jesus was mutilated so our broken and wretched lives could be redeemed.
What a day. What a terrible, horrendous day that delivered never ending hope and unquestioned assurance. I am thankful for the example of those disciples who revealed their human failings in this seminal moment of eternity. Their failings and abandonment give me cause to accept that I am loved and forgiven despite, not because.
Good Friday. What a omnibenevolent God that he permitted the sacrifice of his only son on this day that reflects love in ways too marvelous to understand. On this ‘good’ day, hope reigns as death mocked evil. The event that caused Hell to be invaded and the righteous that went before us to be redeemed. The paradox of death delivering eternal life to those who believe and accept is too amazing to fully comprehend and too beautiful to refuse.
Sunday is coming. Galilee awaits. Affirmation for the disciples is pending. Love has not left them. Forgiveness will reveal itself in the resurrection and life of their/our Savior, Jesus. They had not wasted 3 years and this will soon be revealed.
Please join in the joyful mourning of the day that leads to the most beautiful morning that will ever occur. Hope never left, even in death.
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‘You’ve got to know when to hold them…’
“My wife and I were offered $100-million for our company when we were $10-million in debt and we declined.” Okay, you have my attention.
When I was a young President of an outdoor sports distributor, I was recommended to attend a weeklong training offered exclusively to presidents of companies. You had to be recommended by a prior attendee, who was also a President of a company. A fairly unique and surprisingly transparent group of people.
This training was called ‘The Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence’ and was located in Dayton, Ohio at the IAMS Pet Food corporate campus. IAMS had recently been sold to consumer brand giant, Procter & Gamble and was in a transitioning phase. Interestingly, this weeklong training was free and they considered the executive willing to surrender a week of time, payment enough. They wanted us there for the right reason.
A real gentleman came in dressed in a polo style shirt and khakis. I always remember those khakis for some reason. It was the corporate uniform of the season, unless you worked for IBM and a blue suit and red tie were required. He started with “if you don’t love dogs or cats and are not passionate about pet health and nutrition, you do not want to work at IAMS.” He went on to tell us that in the two decades he had owned and led IAMS, no person, no matter how qualified, had stayed with IAMS longer than a couple of months if they did not care deeply about pets and own a dog or cat. Interesting.
The gentleman sharing with us was Clay Mathile. He shared that he had convinced his wife to buy IAMS pet food from the original owner by selling their house, moving in to an apartment and basically starting over at a time when they were becoming empty nesters after having raised a family. He was all in. And thankfully for him, so was his wife. Clay shared with us IAMS strategies for success in the land of dog and cat food giants. Identifying and pursuing a channel that they could dominate while operating in relative obscurity so as not to awaken the giants they wanted to ultimately beat. Fascinating strategies were underscored by passionate commitment to the health of animals, not the wealth of the owners. So with stealth, strategy and zeroed in focus on a single lane, IAMS dominated…a channel that had not been valued as a dog and cat food sales channel. It wasn’t. It was a dog and cat owner channel made up of hyper passionate dog and cat owners committed to the best care of their animals. (Yikes, don’t tell them I called them animals. Their ‘kids.’). IAMS targeted the veterinary channel for selling dog and cat food. And it worked!
The lesson of the week could be drilled down to a single statement. “If your company is not passionate about the health of your customer to the point of obsession, you are not meaningful to them.” This lesson was reiterated over and over by imbedding in us that every decision must be guided by this simple question: Is this good for the health of our customer. I took from that a new commitment to the health of our sporting goods retail customers and that idea became and obsession that allowed us to separate our company, selling the same products to the same group of retailers to the point that we developed a ‘co-ownership’ with our partners that effectively shut our competition out. Another story.
We as a group were very intrigued by Clay’s telling us of declining the $100-million offer for his company, when $10-million in debt. Finally on the last day of training, which was really a leading of C-change in thinking, we were ready. When offered the $100-million, IAMS owned a 60% market share of the veterinary channel pet food sales. Clay knew there was more to be done to protect the health of pets and deepen IAMS market share within their single market vertical. So, after talking in depth with his wife, praying and considering, he turned down the offer. There was more to be done. By the way, the suitor in the $100-million offer was Procter & Gamble.
So IAMS kept their head down, their focus solely on the veterinary channel and commitment solely to improved products that contributed to pet health for another 10 years. After these next 10 years, the Mathild’s were no longer in debt. IAMS “owned” the veterinary market for pet food with an 88% market share. Their up and to the right had ever so slightly shifted downward. It was time to sell to a company whose reach involved existing market channels dominated by the giants.
Clay sold IAMS to P&G in 1999 for $2.3-BILLION in cash. 23X what they had offered him 10 years prior. Each % of market share growth in their single channel, equated to almost another $100-million in valuation. At that time, this was the largest cash purchase that P&G had ever made. And there were provisions that protected the health and welfare of dogs and cats through IAMS products.
The Mathild’s awarded their team with $100-million in bonuses from the sale. The original amount offered for the company because the team bought in to the timing and most importantly, the purpose of the organization.
Knowing when to hold is best understood by a clear understanding of your market, your strategies and girded by a corporate culture immovable in the face of giants.
David, the young Jewish boy killed the 9 foot giant, Goliath, in front of him with a string and a rock because he had trained on those lonely hillsides as a shepherd protecting his sheep from lions and bears with that same string and rock combination. When in the face of attack from a better armed foe, his training and his ability proved themselves. He knew when he stepped up, victory was already assured.
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.” Proverbs 3:5 (NLT)
Clay wanted more than anything for us to understand the need for focus on faith when building something amazing. “Great companies are bought, not sold,” he continually said to us. Great leaders serve, he showed us.
“Know when to fold them.” Timing is everything. Your time is coming. Trust. Believe. Succeed.
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Changes in Attitude, Changes in Latitude
“I was lucky that I was always smart enough to realize that if I wanted to be a better man, I needed to hang out with better people.” Wendell Weeks, Corning CEO
The great American philosopher Jimmy Buffet defined so well how attitude determines our altitude with his profound lyrics “It’s those changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes; Nothing remains quite the same; With all of our running and all of our cunning; If we couldn’t laugh we would all go insane.”
I have always gravitated to people who did not see brick walls. They saw opportunity for new directions, alternate pathways or differing methods of delivery. They understood the objective, conveyed the vision in ways that their team could see, and empowered the collective to achieve ridiculously fantastic results.
I love the story of Apple’s Steve Jobs needing glass screens for his company’s new product coming, the iPhone. He was challenging Corning, a 175 year old glass and materials science company, to get uncomfortable. To commit to supplying the critical element of what would become the transformational product of a generation. Mundane glass, that had existed for 4000 years was the pivotal variable in the iPhone equation. And our minds were blown when we first held those units and swiped.
Now Corning was no paper tiger having proved its organizational willingness to change and evolve over 17+ decades. Yet, in this moment of opportunity, Jobs looked at Corning’s CEO and said: “Do you know what your problem is?” Jobs asked. When Weeks admitted he didn’t, Jobs continued: “You’re afraid. You know, you’re afraid I’m going to launch the biggest product in history, and I’m not going to be able to do it because you failed, and I’m going to eviscerate you.”
It is easy to get caught up in the intensity and brilliance of Steve Jobs vision, but I believe the story here is of the willingness of an ocean liner (corporate giant Corning) to assume the agility of a speed boat (entrepreneurial spirit) needed to move quickly and reconfigure to meet the need wrapped in the guise of opportunity. Visionary leadership embraces change and speed when the opportunity becomes clear as glass (no pun intended).
I remember being at a technology conference in the early 2000’s, listening to leaders of then emerging technologies that have impacted our lives today. Theories that these leaders foresaw as vehicles for life enhancement and societal contribution. Then the CEO of a design company called IDEO stepped up and owned the room. He described envisioning new brands and businesses and bringing them to life. It was clear that if you were a “by the book” type of person that you would be miserable and fail at this company. If you had never seen a box, a wall, a barrier, you might just fit this company’s culture and more importantly, contribute to motion that was changing the latitudes of dozens of innovations then, that are standards today. And their innovative mindset and trend establishing corporate culture continues.
Latitude is measured by North and South. I believe that life can be described as a canoe in a river, either proceeding against the stream and determining one’s own direction and achievement, or pushed by a culture that washes one out on the side somewhere downstream. I use this illustration to say that life is not easy and neither is seizing opportunity. Equally, opportunity is available to all, but realized by those who seek it with unquenchable tenacity and vision. I marvel at brilliant friends who can take exponentially complex issues and break them down into ‘problems’ that can then be attacked. Many of these same friends look at me as a resource who can deliver results for the problems categorized. My point is this, we all become much more effective when we accept the gifts we hold and share them for the greater good of the team and society as a whole.
The greatest leader who ever walked the face of this earth was and is Jesus. In 3 short years he took a ragtag group of marginalized people in a culture that provided zero opportunity beyond the caste in which you were born, and taught them to see eternity.
He empowered them to speak, teach and provide the hope of salvation and eternity to a World that was ruled by overlords who squashed every threat of hope. He walked with them. He ate with them. He sweated with them. He mourned and laughed with them. More than all of this, he empowered them to see beyond themselves. He included doubters, zealots, corporate flunkies, doctors, achievers and deceivers because he knew that the tenacity that delivered life-changing results existed within each of them. He changed their latitude of thinking and they changed the latitude of life for 1000’s of generations because of the truth of his vision.
“The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” John 10:10 (NLT)
Know that latitudinal change lies within you. Allow your attitude to catch up with the plans for impact you were created to contribute. Belief is a power that cannot be contained when properly pursued.
You matter.
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Myron Speaks 