Search results for "leadership"

And to seal the deal, I gathered the leadership on a call with this employee and he shared his new commitment Watch how integrity in your company is taken to new levels as you make the ultimate leadership power

My branding agency is committed to one thing:  helping companies reveal their true God-given identity and bringing that vision to life. We don't do public relations, advertising, or digital marketing. We only do....branding. However, this clarity in my service offering wasn’t always there. I used to dabble in a bunch of different agency services.  Whatever my clients needed, I would tell them I could do it, and we'd launch a new service offering. The problem with this model is that you're always having to learn a new service offering in a new industry. It takes any momentum and stops it in its tracks in order to shift in a new direction. My lack of commitment to one industry, one service, one plan, one purpose, and one vision ultimately hurt my company and I lost credibility with my employees and my clients. We entrepreneurs have a tendency to switch gears too fast. And when the money isn’t right, we even tend to switch directions too fast. But God’s example to us is one of faithfulness and commitment to one thing:  our God is love. No matter how far we deviate from the plans, he is love. No matter how bad we screw things up, he is love. It’s that commitment to ONE THING that makes God so great in our lives and in our businesses. In the final chapters of Nehemiah, we see people that are being redeemed. Remembering their past is hurtful but it's strengthening their faith because it's reminding them that God is love and is for them and their success. Nehemiah 9:26-27 “But they were disobedient and rebelled against you; they turned their backs on your law. They killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you; they committed awful blasphemies. So you delivered them into the hands of their enemies, who oppressed them. But when they were oppressed they cried out to you. From heaven you heard them, and in your great compassion you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies." God is the ultimate example of sticking to one thing and doing it better than anyone.  And this motivated the Israelites into a new season. You can motivate your followers in the same way.  It’s going to take a commitment on your part to be one way, move in one direction, with one purpose. Imagine a marketplace where love ruled entrepreneurs and their commitment to their products and services were focused.  We’d all be experiencing better goods, and we’d all be giving the best, which is what God intended. #ShareYourTestimony #SharpenLeadership

I have a confession: I’m not the best at recognizing when I need to pray. My prayer life is something I work on. I know its not my strength. Usually, I try to solve things on my own. When the sales pipeline dries up, I frantically look for business. When I have a new idea, I implement without seeking counsel.  It’s just my nature. For entrepreneurs, there's nothing wrong with feeling the pressure and acting accordingly. However, sometimes we’re missing one key element in the pressure cooker: going to God in prayer FIRST. If we go to God and ask for strength, THEN we can move to doing what we were going to do. This is efficient because we've got the mindset we need to continue: God is backing me up. In the Bible, Nehemiah was being attacked while rebuilding the wall at Jerusalem. Instead of caving in to the pressure by trying to take on the enemies through his own strength, he asked God for His strength. Nehemiah 6:9 says, "They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.” But I prayed, “Now strengthen my hands.” God wants us to come to him for strength as we build our God-first businesses. Are you implementing prayer into business decisions? We can start today! P.S. I did a Business bible study called 40 Days to Restarting Your Business, God's Way. Check it out: 40 DAYS TO RESTARTING YOUR BUSINESS, GOD'S WAY A business Bible study to help you rethink, reinvent, and restart your business, but this time, God's Way! We parallel Nehemiah's rebuilding of the wall to your journey in rebuilding your business. Also, coaches and Christian business leaders, you can use, edit, and repurpose the teachings for your own tribe! Check it out. #StrengthenIntegrity #BecomeDisciplined

In the book of Nehemiah, we witness Nehemiah’s leadership throughout the rebuilding of the wall at Jerusalem

As you read about Nehemiah and his leadership style, are there any comparisons to you?

Before I became born again, I discovered a spiritual world that wanted me to WIN, be rich, and have abundance. It was called "The Law of Attraction," and I learned it from a book called The Secret. I was so fascinated with the concept that I bought the DVD, purchased books for my staff, and began sharing the enlightening idea with my friends. I couldn’t contain myself from sharing it with everyone I encountered. It was like I had discovered the secret of life! However, one friend stopped me when I tried to share it with him. He said, ‘Alex, that’s great!  But do you know who is the power behind this law of attraction?’. My friend explained that this "power" is God, and God is the one that wants me to succeed. My friend said that I’m on the right track, but I’m missing one key component: give credit where credit is due. See, I was on the right track in terms of a "power in the universe" that wanted to provide for me, but I didn't recognize God as that source. My friend was helping me realize that I wasn't alone in this world. We entrepreneurs tend to want to do this world on our own.  Even the best Christians can stray away when we forget that God is the power and force behind our business.  We come to God when our companies are struggling. Then, when the business starts doing great, we spend Sundays on the boat that we purchased from the successful business God helped us create.  We forget God. We fail to give credit to where credit is due. Nehemiah and his leaders have a solution for this, and as you can suspect, it’s centered around giving credit to God. Nehemiah 9:5 says "And the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah—said: “Stand up and praise the Lord your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting. ” “Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise." After Nehemia led the charge to rebuild the walls at Jerusalem, the leaders read the word of God. They gathered together for an incredible service of worship. “Stand up and bless God,” and they start praising him. God is the only God, the Creator of heaven and earth. He is the creator of your business. He is worthy of the praise from you and your entire team. When you give credit to God for the business's successes, it’s powerful because it keeps your mind focused in a positive direction. I’ve been close to over-drafting my business bank account, and the only thing that kept me from depression and suicidal thoughts is praising God for who he is!  And guess what? A check would appear, or a lead will call with payment to get started on a project. Out of NOWHERE, someone will call to buy my product. Coincidence? No.  This is how God works. As long as we Godpreneurs give credit to where credit is due, we are putting our hearts in a place to be used by God in a greater way in our marketplaces. God wants this for us if our minds and hearts are always aligned in giving Him credit. P.S. I did a Business bible study called 40 Days to Restarting Your Business, God's Way. Check it out: 40 DAYS TO RESTARTING YOUR BUSINESS, GOD'S WAY A business Bible study to help you rethink, reinvent, and restart your business, but this time, God's Way! We parallel Nehemiah's rebuilding of the wall to your journey in rebuilding your business. Also, coaches and Christian business leaders, you can use, edit, and repurpose the teachings for your own tribe! Check it out. #EnhanceFocus #FindMyCalling

My wife and I used to get into small spats that would turn into big arguments that would evolve into all out wars. To show my toughness, I’d become the opposite of a loving husband. I'd become a hate-filled war monger. In these times of hatred, I stopped being the husband God called me to be. I'd stop helping around the house I'd put in more hours on the business so I can get home late I'd spend more time at CrossFit I'd go to a friend's house at night I would do all of this so that I could stay away from her. Consequently, my business would suffer for days and weeks in these times where I'd walk away from my marriage. It was a terrible cycle and part of a deep, dark time of depression in my life. I hated it. As an entrepreneur, this is dangerous territory and I’ll tell you why. The problem is that our minds become so consumed with fighting the war that we can’t possibly have all the energy needed for us to lead the disciplinary life required of us in our businesses. Our prayer life goes down. Our morning readings stop. We're filled with so much negativity and hate that it becomes difficult to see the opportunities God is placing before us in the business. Married Godpreneurs…this is how SIN works! For me, sin crept in through my marriage. For you, it could be drugs, alcohol, adultery, pornography, illegal's business activities, or any myriad of sins that break up our relationship with God. We all battle sin. So how do we get back on track? How do we get back in line with God’s plan for our lives? In the book of Nehemiah, after the wall was completed, after the wall was working, after the people had heard and obeyed God’s Word, and after the Holy Spirit was doing a significant work in the lives of people – the people were changing and they started acting differently. Nehemiah 9:1-3 says "On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and putting dust on their heads. Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors. They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the Lord their God." What a scene of dramatic, humble repentance. The the people were hearing God’s word and it was changing them. We see here three things the Israelites did. they confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors they continued reading God’s word they worshiped Because I knew that my marriage had a huge impact on the mental game I needed to succeed in my business, I started to find the ways I could get out of the depressing hole I would get myself into.  It all started with confession - honestly coming to God and saying, I know what I’m doing is wrong, and I don’t want to do it anymore. Repentance gives way to a renewed relationship and the pursuit of holiness. You must confess, repent, and move forward….for the sake of your business, your family, and your relationship with God. This is why we entrepreneurs need to carve out time every morning to spend time with God. We can confess, repent, pray, and worship all in this time so we can align our minds with the new opportunities God has for us today. P.S. I did a Business bible study called 40 Days to Restarting Your Business, God's Way. Check it out: 40 DAYS TO RESTARTING YOUR BUSINESS, GOD'S WAY A business Bible study to help you rethink, reinvent, and restart your business, but this time, God's Way! We parallel Nehemiah's rebuilding of the wall to your journey in rebuilding your business. Also, coaches and Christian business leaders, you can use, edit, and repurpose the teachings for your own tribe! Check it out. #MarriedEntrepreneurs #StrengthenIntegrity

I read somewhere that your day really starts at night. Now, I’m very productive in the morning. I wake up ready to go after my day. I get a lot accomplished! But what you don't know is that I set myself up for ultimate morning productivity the night before. Dishes are done, the gym bag is packed, coffee is set up, and I’ve checked my calendar and planned my next day. Another thing I do at night is I'm moving any of my major projects forward. I use the nighttime to catch up on tasks and blast some emails for my team to read in the morning. That's been my nighttime routine for years. However, if I'm not careful, burning the midnight oil can also be a time of major distraction. Some things that distract me are my side projects, a game of Mario Kart, watching the news, late-night snacking, or social media snooping. Normally, these activities would be considered as relaxing and unwinding from a hard day of work. But when you're rebuilding and relaunching your entire business, there needs to be a refocusing of our most prized commodity: our time. Nothing on this list is part of the plan of getting the task at hand done - restarting our business, God's way. For those of us taking on the task of rethinking, reengineering, and relaunching a business or project, the nighttime is when the enemy wants to attack. He knows that during the day you're pumped and focused. It's at night when he plots his attack. We’ve all been preconditioned to “relax” at night and take it easy. While I believe in turning the lights down lower to wind the day down in our brain, I don’t agree that it’s a time to go to sleep on our rebuilding project. A commitment to rebuilding a God-first business is sacred time - we were ordained to do this!  It’s our duty and responsibility in this season to stay focused. In the Bible, we see that Nehemiah had the insurmountable task of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. And during that rebuilding project, he was under attack by haters. And not just words, but the threat escalated to a potential physical confrontation.  But Nehemiah didn’t get scared.  He knew God had his back, he knew he had a purpose in what he was doing, so he did what great leaders do:  move forward in the face of adversity. Nehemiah 4:6-9 says "So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.  But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the people of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat." Nehemiah and his team posted guard....day and night. I heard someone once say "white space in the calendar is the devil." He’s right!  And if your nighttime calendar isn’t filled with something to-do (even sex and time with your wife should be on the calendar), then you’re giving way for the enemy to come in and attack what you've been rebuilding. As we're rebuilding our businesses or relaunching a project, we need to realize that anything done in God's name is going to be attacked. We need to keep watch - day and night. Be expecting the attack, it's coming. And keep praying for God to give you the strength to thwart or endure that attack. Pray today that you’ll also guard your nighttime and that God would cover you and give you the wisdom to be the best leader possible - day and night. #WorkLifeBalance #TimeManagement All my best, Alex Miranda Get to know me at www.alexmiranda22.com P.S. I did a Business bible study called 40 Days to Restarting Your Business, God's Way. Check it out: 40 DAYS TO RESTARTING YOUR BUSINESS, GOD'S WAY A business Bible study to help you rethink, reinvent, and restart your business, but this time, God's Way! We parallel Nehemiah's rebuilding of the wall to your journey in rebuilding your business. Also, coaches and Christian business leaders, you can use, edit, and repurpose the teachings for your own tribe! Check it out.

I’ve been dead broke, struggling to find clients, waiting for the mail man to arrive with a check from a client, desperate to deposit it before an employee cashes their check. I’ve been rich, totally out of debt, money in savings, lots of business, and thinking about investing in property. And...both situations above were within the same quarter of the year! With a rollercoaster ride like this, we entrepreneurs could be considered suicidal and depressed in the same month as excited and hopeful! What I’ve learned on my Godpreneurial journey is that JOY is the only feeling I need to be seeking. Joy is present in good times and bad. Joy is hope in God and trusting that he has my best interest at heart. But.... How do you feel joy when the checks are bouncing? How can I be happy when I haven’t paid myself in weeks? God has a remedy:  RETURN TO GOD AND CELEBRATE 🥳 Return to God? What do you mean, Alex? I don't know about you, but my rollercoaster of emotions typically coincided with the amount of time I was spending with God in his word. If I'm meditating every morning doing my blog posts and connecting with my spirit, things around me seemed to be doing fine. If I was straying from my morning Bible reading routine, things around seemed to get a bit choppy. My connection with God didn't change the circumstances in my business life; my connection with God changed the way I processed and reacted to those circumstances. All of us entrepreneurs can wander far from the Lord – we can leave our first love and, fall into foolish sin - we can buy into various false personal development teachings from so-called business gurus, run our businesses in selfish pride and even keep the Lord Jesus standing outside the door of our businesses. When we stray away from God's direction and take matters into our own hands, it's guaranteed that circumstances and situations will have a different perspective to them. No longer will you be as tuned into God's point of view, and instead, we'll be in our own heads trying to figure things out. That's a recipe for the opposite of joy: misery. In the book of Nehemiah, we see that Nehemiah had rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem and many Israelites had returned to to their homeland following the nation’s 70-year exile in Babylon. It was the first day of their new year, the feast of trumpets, and the apostate nation of Israel stood in the city square and started to listen to Ezra the priest reading the Word of the Lord - he read from the book of the Law, that had been given by God to Israel. Nehemiah 8:9-10 says "Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.  Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”….. Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them." As the people of Israel listened to God’s word being read to them, this errant nation as one man, realized how far they had wandered from their God – how deeply they had fallen into sin. Oh, at first, they started to rejoice, and cried out AMEN, AMEN, – but as Ezra continued to read the Scripture, they started to realise how deeply they had fallen into sin and how far they had wandered away from the truth of God’s word – and both men and women began to mourn and grieve deeply. The people wept as they heard the scriptures being read, for they acknowledged their sin, but Nehemiah, the governor stood up and reminded the people that this first day of the new year was a special feast day of the Lord. He comforted them saying… Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength. Have you strayed away from your morning time with God? 4 Steps to Returning Back to Your Morning Routine Like Israel, you should Confess your sin and recognize how far you may have wandered from the Lord. You should turn away from your wrong attitudes and actions and look to Jesus, for every day is a day that is holy to the Lord. You should not remain in self-condemnation – but rejoice that there is now no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus You should follow the wise advice of Nehemiah – for the joy of the Lord is indeed our strength. Like Israel, today is a day that is a feast day for us Godpreneurs! Jesus Christ has redeemed us by His blood and we have been released from the bondage of slavery to sin into the freedom of Christ’s saving grace. Like Israel, we should listen to the Word of the Lord, for faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Godpreneurs, imagine if all of us kept the Word of God fresh in our hearts each day. Let's all recognize our faults and failings and readily confess our sins to our Father in heaven – and, from this day forward, let's recognize that every day in our business is a day of rejoicing! Let's never forget that we are the people of God, who have been purchases with the precious blood of Christ - and that the many precious promises of God towards us, his sons and heirs, are yes and amen in Christ Jesus. Let us in everything by prayer and praise rejoice in the Lord and abide in His love – for the joy of the Lord is indeed our strength, through time and into eternity. My Prayer Father thank You that You are my joy and my strength in my business - thank You that there is no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus and thank You that Your grace is sufficient for Me. Keep me and my daily business operations faithful to You for You and my faithful and generous God – in Christ name I pray, AMEN. P.S. I did a Business bible study called 40 Days to Restarting Your Business, God's Way. Check it out: 40 DAYS TO RESTARTING YOUR BUSINESS, GOD'S WAY A business Bible study to help you rethink, reinvent, and restart your business, but this time, God's Way! We parallel Nehemiah's rebuilding of the wall to your journey in rebuilding your business. Also, coaches and Christian business leaders, you can use, edit, and repurpose the teachings for your own tribe! Check it out. #DifferentiatingMyself #ShareYourTestimony

I have a confession: I first came to a relationship with God because of a girl. I liked her. I wanted to make her happy by going to church with her on Sundays. Listen, God will use whatever he can to bring us into relationship with him. I have another confession: when I read the Bible now, I mostly see messages on how Jesus wants to partner with me on my entrepreneurial journey and how God wants to grow my influence and business. I see it as the ultimate guide to owning a business!  Am I crazy? With this insight and knowledge, I can't help but to want to show other entrepreneurs how God and the Bible are relevant to their business growth and success.  I think that if I can translate that to others, I’ll actually be helping people develop a stronger relationship with God. Like I said at the beginning, God will use whomever and whatever to bring you into relationship with him. We all see the world through our own passions, gifts and talents.  We all fall in love with God and the Bible in different ways. It’s part of the beauty of the omnipresence of God. Some of us find the Bible confusing. Some find it irrelevant to the times we live in.  Others think it’s a bunch of folktales told by some good people, but likely never happened. I believe these thoughts pervade the mind because we haven’t made the Bible relevant to our lives today.  If we can see the Bible as a manual to entrepreneurship, then I think more entrepreneurs would read it.  To this end, God uses ministers to translate the Word into ways we can make it practical in our lives. God inspires people like me to do that translating, and then he wants you to go out and teach other entrepreneurs the same. In Nehemiah 8 we read that the people were hungry for the word, but not everyone understood it.  So watch how a group goes out to bring understanding. Nehemiah 8:5-8 says "Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. Ezra praised the Lord , the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.  The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah—instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read." Ezra and his band of Levites read from the Book of the Law of God and made it clear, giving meaning, so the people understood. God designed the Bible to be expounded on by ministers so that it's better understood. It would please God if you were able to give your views of Divine truth in your respective marketplace. You might not feel equipped, yet. You might not understand every part of the Bible. However, you also don’t understand every part of business, and yet you’re committed to moving forward, growing, learning, and building, right? The same is true with the greatest business book ever written:  the Bible. The best MBA course you will ever enroll in happens Sundays and in Bible studies at your church. If all of us Godpreneurs can fall in love with the Bible as our business handbook, then we can not only help our businesses succeed, but we can now have a way and reason to go out and ‘spread the gospel’ in ways we entrepreneurs can uniquely understand. P.S. I did a Business bible study called 40 Days to Restarting Your Business, God's Way. Check it out: 40 DAYS TO RESTARTING YOUR BUSINESS, GOD'S WAY A business Bible study to help you rethink, reinvent, and restart your business, but this time, God's Way! We parallel Nehemiah's rebuilding of the wall to your journey in rebuilding your business. Also, coaches and Christian business leaders, you can use, edit, and repurpose the teachings for your own tribe! Check it out. #FindMyCalling #TimeManagement

Almost every morning I have a routine. I wake up at sunrise, make a powerful cup of bulletproof coffee (Google that!), sit down in my prayer & meditation chair, open up my bible app (YouVersion), and begin ‘eating’ my daily bread. Incorporating this time with God into my "diet" every morning transformed my business and personal life. Where do you think I get the energy and content to write the hundreds of blog posts on DailyGodpreneur.com? I’ve developed a true HUNGER to want to draw closer to God, which happens to also help me grow and lead a God-first business. God got my attention through the rebuilding of my business. The Spirit of God was moving in me, around me, and through me. I couldn't help but to want more of God. People go to God for a variety of reasons: mine is business.  I feel led and called to do so.  I expect that to change over time, but this is currently the season I’m in. When we see God transforming our lives and businesses, it should motivate us more to draw closer to Him. We see the fruits it produces, and we want more of that sweet stuff. That daily bread is what we need as entrepreneurs to stay on track and continue growing. In Chapter 8 of Nehemiah, the wall has been built and now the city is growing.  The people come to the leaders and literally beg them to teach them from the Word of God.  They had just witnessed Nehemiah and company rebuild the wall, something they only dreamed of. Nehemiah's faith, along with the indisputable evidence that God had his hand all over the rebuilding led the people to want more of God. Nehemiah 8:1-3 NIV "All the people came together as one in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel.  So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law." It's clear that the Spirit of God was at work in Jerusalem even before the reading of God’s Word in chapter 8. People do not gather together as one man for the things of God unless the Spirit of God has moved them, and they do not desire God’s Word unless the Spirit of God has moved them. The rebuilding of your business into a God-first business should be evidence to yourself, your team, and anyone involved, that God was with you throughout the process. Your thirst for God should be through the roof! God wants to continue to grow your business.  He wants to speak to you every morning and direct your steps.  He wants you to come to him with problems, conversations of concern, and continued praises as God paves the way before you. We Godpreneurs need our daily bread to lead our teams to new heights. P.S. I did a Business bible study called 40 Days to Restarting Your Business, God's Way. Check it out: 40 DAYS TO RESTARTING YOUR BUSINESS, GOD'S WAY A business Bible study to help you rethink, reinvent, and restart your business, but this time, God's Way! We parallel Nehemiah's rebuilding of the wall to your journey in rebuilding your business. Also, coaches and Christian business leaders, you can use, edit, and repurpose the teachings for your own tribe! Check it out. #ArticulatingMyIdeas #WritingGreatCopy

I’ve been a brand strategist since 2001.  Almost all of my entrepreneurial career I’ve spent helping businesses have cool logos and websites. Naturally, I pay attention to my own identity.  My logos and websites are always in tip-top shape.  I am obsessed with how I am perceived by my target audience and people that work with me. But in 2014 I had an identity crisis that forced me to go back to the drawing boards of my own life and company brand and rethink an entirely new approach to branding. Long story short, my company was the top branding agency for nightclubs around the world.  In 2008 I started going back to church, and over the following years, I felt God pulling me away from that world completely. In 2014 I dropped every nightclub client to follow God completely and trust he had my back.  Almost overnight I lost it all…Employees, contracts, partnership…Myself…My identity as the king of nightlife marketing. What did I do when my life flip turned upside down? Where did I go when I lost almost everything that had been there to me for almost a decade? How do I find my way back to a brand identity that would make me feel like I matter like I have a purpose? This is exactly where God needed to take me in order to show me my true identity – His identity through me. What I’ve discovered since then is that branding is the external spoken word of the internal embodiment of God within us, trying to express Himself through us. I know, it’s a mouthful. It’s a very advanced thought.  I’ve been at this for years now – I’ve dedicated my life to this topic of identity. When things aren’t right at home or in business, when life is crumbling around me and it seems like I’ve lost hope, I’ve come to understand that this is God’s way of correcting my brand and trying to line my company up with who He is, not who my selfish self wants us to be. The dictionary defines identity as “who someone is, the name of a person, the qualities, beliefs, etc., that make a particular person or group different from others.” I’ve come to understand brand identity not as who my company is, but WHOSE my company is.  It’s not so much about the cool logo and website, but more about lining up my qualities and beliefs with God’s qualities and beliefs.  It is in this mirroring effect that God begins to attract to Himself, through me, the clients, and people He needs me to work on. The Bible says: "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord , “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11 NIV To find my true brand identity, all I need to do is focus on one thought: I am a child of God. The foundation of my company is grounded in my faith in a God that loves me, gives me purpose, sees the big picture, and reveals to me what I was born to do – the greater plan for my business. What’s my company’s brand identity?  It’s an object of His love, poured out from me for my customers to taste. So while the roller coaster ride of Entrepreneurship takes its sharp twists and turn, that foundation truth doesn’t have to change in me: this business is God’s business.  Even if I wrestle with internal feelings of not being clear on the external appearance of my brand, I can hold on to God’s truth. I know He’s got a plan for my business, even when I don’t know what it is or when it seems to look totally different than what I’ve imagined. This is what brand identity is about. The only constant is that it comes from God. Everything else is ever-changing because as we draw closer to God and allow our companies to be used by God, the company always changes. God gives us the growth we so desire. How do you see your company’s brand identity? How do you think God sees your company? P.S. I did a Business bible study called 7 Steps to Launching Your Christian Personal Brand. Check it out: 7 Steps to Launching Your Christian Personal Brand This business Bible study will help you launch a God-first personal brand that will help you strategically, financially, and personally. Developing your personal brand starts with launching something new and completely different from what you already have. Also, coaches and Christian business leaders, you can use, edit, and repurpose the teachings for your own tribe! Check it out. #BusinessBibleStudy #FindingMyBrand #BuildMyPersonalBrand

Are there any areas of the business where you can show awesome leadership by giving up your rights?

Sometimes, the same leadership quality you don’t like about yourself is the same thing God wants to use

It revealed to me how LITTLE I knew about management - and how management correlates with leadership.