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Top 5 Business Professional Confessions

By January 24, 2012Church, Leadership

This is a guest post by Ben Lichtenwalner. Ben is a technology executive with a passion for servant leadership. His blog, ModernServantLeader.com, is a platform for spreading servant leadership awareness, adoption and action. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @BLichtenwalner.

Here are Top 5 Business Professional Confessions:

Pastor, I am a businessman and have confessions to make. I also want you to know that, while I do not pretend to speak for all peers, I suspect many business professionals have similar struggles. So please, listen carefully. While you may have heard these before, they are relevant to many in your flock.

Confessions of a Business Professional

I confess that…

I Fail as a Steward:

I routinely call it, “MY team”, “MY budget” and “MY success”. I know all we have is granted by God and we’re put in each role for His purposes. Yet I think too highly myself, believing I, alone, am accountable for the success. I need your sermons on stewardship to go beyond tithing and speak of what stewardship also means in the workplace.

Titles Matter More Than They Should:

I know it should not matter, but it matters to me what my peers think. As soon as I made “Manager” I wanted “Director”. Now I am Director and want “Vice President”. Not because I want to serve the organization more, but because I want to impress others. I need you to remind me the only title that matters is “child of God”.

I Miss Opportunities to Share the Good News:

Working in a secular field, I forget my role as lay minister. Worse, I let our lawsuit-happy culture scare me from sharing my faith. I could use practical advice like responding to “How are you?” With “Blessed” and finding unique ways to share my beliefs while being reminded of the call to share Good news.

I Don’t Practice Sunday’s Lesson on Monday:

Sunday is great and your sermons I love. By Monday morning though, I no longer remember the lesson. Worse, when I do remember it, I may forget the applicability in the office. I need tools and tips to remind and reinforce your lesson throughout the week.

I Fail to Treat Colleagues as Children of God:

Corporate politics and vanity cause me to forget that colleagues are brothers and sisters in Christ. I often perceive colleagues as competition for the next promotion or industry recognition. Instead of collaborating, I find myself second-guessing the motives of others and placing myself in a defensive position. I need lessons on dealing with difficult people as Christ would have us love them.

I know my colleagues and I have many more confessions. However, I am definitely a repeat offender of these top five and see the same in others. Thank you for listening to me. Please pray for me and my peers. I look forward to your next sermon.

Question: What common business professional confessions did I miss?

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