News from Boundless Results

Where she has written a chapter on finding and living your passion. If you are wondering if the life you are living is the right one for you, based on your passion, be sure to read her chapter. This chapter will help you find and live your passion.

The book is also chock-full of practical career strategies from 11 other experts. Buy it by clicking here.

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"© 2009 Jan Dwyer. Jan, president of Boundless Results, is an expert on customer service, communication skills, and leadership. She delivers workshops, key notes and provides consulting and career coaching. Contact her at 253-891-1609 or at Jan@JanDwyer.com. Or feel free to visit her website at www.JanDwyer.com."

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Jan Dwyer
jan@jandwyer.com
www.JanDwyer.com
PO Box 1914
Sumner, WA 98390

Jan Dwyer, founder of Boundless Results, specializes in and helps clients make great leaps in the areas of customer service, communication skills, leadership, and career development and her speeches and training sessions help employees achieve breakthroughs in service culture and personal leadership.

Jan has a University of Chicago MBA and hands-on experience in Fortune 500, small business, and non-profit organizations. Her clients include Boeing, Starbucks, Weyerhaeuser, Getty Images, Medtronic Physio-Control, Seattle's Union Gospel Mission, the State of Washington, and Los Angeles County.

She has been an active member of the National Speakers Association (NSA) since 1995 and served as the President of the Northwest chapter of NSA from 2005-2006.

Jan is a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), a designation earned by less than 500 of the Certified Speaking Professionals worldwide.

You can reach Jan at: 253-891-1609, at Jan@JanDwyer.com or learn more by visiting her website at www.jandwyer.com.

Message from Jan Dwyer

Everyone is talking about downsizing these days. Budget cuts, hiring freezes, staff reshufflings, and organizational restructuring all can cause havoc on a ministry's potential.

And yet the question that God would have us focus on is how can we add value? How can we glorify Him more? What ways can I show Christ to my co-workers? This edition focuses on adding value both in your personal lives and in your ministries.

News Flash!

You can join my on-line community called Boundless Results for Ministries on Linked-In. Get resources and join others in my community - filled with both Christian and Non-Christian leaders across a span of industries - non-profit, for-profit, and public sector.

Check out my new blog - with entries that span topics such as customer service, leadership, and the state of the economy. Click on this link to get to my Blog Jan Dwyer's Blog and I welcome your comments.

Adding Value

Yes we are in a time when many ministries are cutting back staff and shaving off expenses - but that doesn't mean that Christian leaders stop adding value. Your donors and stakeholders are your customers and as such - they want value. As Christians, there is another reason why we add value - God calls us to glorify Him in all we do. "Work hard and with gladness all the time, as though working for Christ, doing the will of God with all your hearts." Ephesians 6:7 (TLB).

Here are four tangible ways you can add value to your ministry:

Treat your staff like your major donor. Your employees are your "internal customers" and are the spokespeople for your ministry. When they are treated well, they will serve your donors and clients more compassionately. Find ways to build relationships with your staff, similar to how you do with major donors. What are you doing on a daily basis to recognize and honor those who God has called to serve alongside you? A simple thank you or word of encouragement takes so little time but can mean so much, especially those who are working on the front lines of your ministry.
Start the process of succession planning now. So many leaders focus exclusively on what they are accomplishing during their tenure that they overlook developing leaders around them. Indeed, your legacy as a leader is predicated on what your ministry does after you leave. Start the process of succession planning now. Who can you mentor and coach for the future? Many churches are looking at a "co-leadership" model - that is made up of an experienced Senior pastor mentoring a Junior Pastor. This kind of model assures that there will be succession planning.
Bathe your ministry in prayer. What an example that Nehemiah leaves for us - for in the pages of Scripture - Nehemiah's most frequent recourse is to pray (Nehemiah 1:4; 4:4, 9; 5:19; 6:9, 14; 13:14, 22,29,31). Jim Cymbala, Pastor at The Brooklyn Tabernacle, author of several best-selling books, including Fresh Wind Fresh Fire, and international speaker, recently commented in one of his messages that as Christians, we need to operate less like technicians and more like prayer warriors. Indeed, The Brooklyn Tabernacle was birthed out of a prayer meeting and has quickly grown from a small handful of members to a congregation of nearly 10,000. One of the elders of my church who visited the church recently shared that every single ministry is bathed in prayer. What a testimony of God's people faithfully continuing to pray and lift up the name of the Lord! What about your ministry? Sometimes we need to spend less time doing - and more time praying.
Allow room for "God" planning. Certainly, as a Christian leader, you need to be wise about meeting annual budgets. But at the same time, this is an incredible opportunity to see God do what only He can do. Are you stepping out in a faith-stretching way as you plan for the future? What are you doing to allow room for God? How are you modeling faith to your staff?

Boundless Boosters for your Business

What do kangaroos and successful people have in common? Both cannot go backwards. Sure we all have our moments, hours, even days when things seem to be going backwards - but the difference is that successful people are able to "break through" and learn from what happens to them. After all, why not get as much out of a "bad situation" as you can? Yes, it is a fact that kangaroos don't go backwards. And you don't have to either.

Here is one boundless booster that you can do on a daily basis - Focus on what you control. In the words of one Christian leader - "Anything else is gossip!"

Focus on what you can do. Dr. Stephen Covey describes this as "working in your sphere of influence." So much of what we often focus on is what is not going well, what we can't control, or what we would like to fix - but can't. This is a critical time to be mindful of our use of words and our focus. Are we using language that exhibits hope, optimism, and movement forward? Or are we succumbing to the negativity around us and operating in a victim mentality? Our language shows off what is in our hearts - and when we engage in gossip - which essentially is talking about things we cannot control - we also cause another negative byproduct: creating divisions between individuals and departments.

What do we do when we feel discouraged? As Christians we have something that those outside the body of Christ do not have -faith in the living Christ. Jesus tells us that if we have faith as small as a mustard seed, we can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17:20-21. (NIV). Remember to tell your mountain how big your God is...rather than telling God how big your mountain is.

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Jan Dwyer
Boundless Results