Head on.
I bumped into an old friend at the airport last week and discovered we were booked on the same flight home. It made for a quick two-and-a-half hours. He was excitedly describing his meetings, especially the opportunity to “witness” to his colleagues. “I told them I read the Bible and pray.”
“That’s great.” I know my friend is pretty grounded and secure, so I followed up with a simple question. “How many men do you think went home and began to pray and read the Bible?” He thought for a moment and whispered: “I bet no one did.” My question was not designed to discourage him. People of faith ought to witness to others. But we don’t typically brag about sales meetings where no one responds. “I bet my words didn’t make a whole lot of sense to them, did they? What could I have done differently?”
According to business consultant Challenger, Gray and Christmas, Inc., beginning today – March 16th – lost productivity in the American workplace will increase by at least 3.8 billion dollars over the next three weeks. The bleeding will only take place on ten of those days, during which keyboards stop clicking, voice mail goes unanswered (of course that’s not unusual), email traffic slows, and cautious colleagues crane their necks to catch scores – hoping the boss doesn’t notice. The good news is – with a ten trillion dollar economy - the bleeding is not that significant and will be staunched on the morning of April 4th.
