Sanctifying the COO’s Office
As I consider the COO and his range of duties, it feels as though we could reasonably distill them into three broad categories that could each benefit from being well marinated in blessings.
There are systems that allow the internal flow of raw materials and ideas to result in finished product. Positioning of buildings and equipment for anointed flow is really important to God. Ezekiel 46 is the chapter in the Bible that has the most instructions about flow, all the way down to the details of the people flow in the Temple. If you come in the south gate you have to use one particular exit and so forth. Flow matters to God.
I would probably do blessings for flow on the third year.
For the second year, I would focus on the alignment of resources coming into the company and the stock leaving. For an IT company, that would be the flow of data from and to cyberspace. For a manufacturing company it would be the proper sequencing of “Just In Time Inventory” systems and the efficient shipping of finished products. Again, Scripture has an abundance of teaching about supply chain dynamics.
For the first year, I would definitely start with personnel. If the COO has the right people, in the right place, doing the right thing, he almost is out of a job. So we would get the biggest bang for our buck up front by blessing him and his office, so that he can see what he needs to see for his personnel decisions to become brilliant, not excruciating.
Where to start? Well, having eyes to see potential would be a key first step. Probably a month of blessings in this category would be in order. Frankly, resumes are about as worthless as a politician’s promise. Figuring out who people really are, is an art form that is better done with the spirit than the soul.
A familiar verse comes from Samuel checking out Jesse’s sons. They were a bunch of good-looking men on the outside, but God spoke to Samuel’s spirit and said they had a disconnect between the outside and the inside.
Father, I bless this leader and this land so that he can hear your Spirit when he is assessing his staff and never be mesmerized by the easily visible stuff. I bless the land with being a place where veneer and facades become as see-through as Saran wrap. May this land have an open heaven over it so that the voice of the Spirit will be easily heard by the COO in every discussion with his staff.
After the broad stroke screening for people who are real or not real, there is the need to see the good in a broken person. David was a master of that. Those who came to him in the wilderness were in distress, in debt or were discontented. Yet a few years later, these were the leaders of leaders who helped establish his kingdom.
“Father, I bless this leader and this land with being able to draw out of an individual the treasures that you placed there. As men and women sit at this desk and discuss their work situation with the COO, I ask that you could cause them to say things they don’t even know about their design, and cause the COO to have ears to hear the untapped potential that is available for him to release into the team.
“In every company there are unique individuals who have always felt that their uniqueness was a liability, not an asset. When those people are celebrated, they often have a huge motivation to excel in their niche. The tribe of Benjamin celebrated the 700 left-handed warriors who could sling a stone at a hair and not miss. This was a treasured elite group in their army of 26,000 soldiers.
“Father I bless this land with being a place where nuances of design are celebrated. Let the gift of dignity flow like a river to those who have waited a very long time to be affirmed. Let the treasures you have already placed in the house be redeemed and released on this land.”
You could do several months of blessings regarding identifying and unpacking the design of individuals. Then you should shift to some prayers for the middle management leaders. I like the timeless accolades given to the men of Issachar in I Chronicles 12:32. They knew what Israel should do in a time of transition, and because of that, instead of listing the total number of troops available, God only listed the 200 chiefs. They were the asset!
“Father, I bless this land with becoming a place of perspective for the management of this company. When they come into this office, may the scales fall off their eyes. Allow them to see so clearly what the bigger picture is and what the tradeoffs are, so they can make wise decisions. May this land so unleash their perspective, that the middle management of this company becomes legendary to their followers who trust their leadership implicitly.”
Of course, personal loyalty is always an asset in team. Let’s use the story of David’s mighty men who risked their lives just to get him a drink of water from his favorite well.
“Father, the men who came to David were looking for what they could get. They were needy and expected life to flow from him to them. And it did. But in the fullness of time, they got over their neediness and were able to see the bigness of the man who was leading them. They learned to love and trust him, and they were prepared to serve him out of love, not convenience.
“Father, the people who are employed here, came primarily because of personal needs. They wanted a paycheck and a respectable playing field on which to earn that income. I bless the land in this office with becoming a place where the staff can see the measure of the leader who sits here. Although they come in the door with some issue to resolve, may they not leave without having seen the finest qualities of the leader who you placed over them. Allow loyalty to the man to grow into a deeply rooted tree in this company, because the land reveals the strengths of their leader, and evokes loyalty.”
Finally, there is the whole area of synchronization of a team. Again, Scripture is replete with passages to draw from. Being a somewhat transient person, I love the picture of the Tabernacle in the wilderness. The Levites had to take it down, load the carts, march all day and get it set up again in time for the evening sacrifice. You talk about tightly refined synchronization! Every person had a job which was done in a precise order, without getting in someone else’s way!
“Father, Israel came out of Egypt as a ragged group of slaves, running from bondage and the oppressor. After a year or so at Mt. Sinai, you organized them into a tightly structured group so that millions of people could pack, move and unpack on a daily basis, if needed, without crises.
“I bless this land and this leader with having an anointing for synchronization. Let this land be a metronome that all of the staff can synchronize to with spirit, soul and body, hearing the clean, clear sound of the Spirit’s cadence for the day.”
Well, there is so much more I could put here, but I need to redirect my energies for today. One of the bizarre facets of modern Christianity is that most of the interface between the church and Christian businesses is little more than exhortation and prophetic words. There is so very little equipping of businesses with Biblical principles, yet there is far more in Scripture about business than there is about heaven, hell and salvation combined.
Our separation of the secular and sacred has cost us a vast treasure of insight into the Biblical resources for businessmen, and if I don’t stop right this second, this blog is going to deteriorate into a loooooooong rant!
Copyright with an attitude November 2010 by Arthur Burk
From the Quarterdeck, in Anaheim
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