Team of Teams by General Stanley McChrystal

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My brother in-law, David Huisenga is someone that I look up to. He’s smart, compassionate and doesn’t beat around the bush. He’s usually very quiet, so when he has something to say, I listen. He’s been a successful business man, now at the top of his career (so far) as the CEO of a communication company in Washington DC, working directly with the government on a variety of projects.

This last summer we were fortunate enough to be able to enjoy a vacation with him and his family to the Black Hills. During our vacation I was able to talk to him about business, I enjoy picking his brain when I can. As an introvert, I find it fascinating how much of a successful leader he is, managing and motivating his team on a regular basis. In our short conversations, he taught me a lot about delegation, focus, effective communication and leadership. When to speak up and say something, and more importantly, when not to. He suggested a book for me, written by his own personal friend and colleague, General Stanley McChrystal. Of course, hanging on every word, I made sure to read the book – and what an eye-opener it has been in today’s world of immediate communication.

The basic idea this book is demonstrating, is the old way of teams, using hierarchy to manage important decision making is dead. Life moves too fast now for decisions to make its way down the pipeline. It’s much more effective to teach another or secondary leader in the group on how to decide on certain situations. This can be done by a specific algorithm or training of thought process, but the point is not to bottleneck the situation to one person.

Furthermore, the teams must not be siloed into columns with no communication between them, but it is also too chaotic for all team members in one department to know all the team members of another department. So the solution is that one or two members of the team knows or better yet, has a relationship with one or two members of another department as shown in the above graph designed by Beau Gordon.

My company, with a total of five employees on a busy day … doesn’t exactly have multiple departments of teams, however … I am making sure to build my business with this in mind. Our team is scattered over three states, so we do naturally have our separate departments, so I take the steps now to strategically bring specific employees together to create relationships that benefit each other in our processes and to expedite our decision making. I look forward to using this more in the future as our team grows! Thanks David!

Credits: https://medium.com/@beaugordon/key-takeaways-from-team-of-teams-by-general-stanley-mcchrystal-eac0b37520b9

The Bible – It’s Life Changing

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It’s astonishing to me, of all the books that we read during our lives … from “The Millionaire Next Store” to “Fifty Shades of Grey” the Bible is one that is typically kept on the shelf, at least it was for me. Yet, it contains the most valuable information us human beings could ever possess – and it even includes secrets to success and even dirty tales of erotic sinful behaviors .. unfortunately.

So, not only does this book contain best kept secrets, true wisdom, shocking history – it contains the key to ETERNAL LIFE with God our Father, his son Jesus Christ – and the Holy Spirit – being able to see, feel and walk with our creator and our ancestors for eternity after we leave this dimension creates so much peace and love for us as individuals while here on earth.

I finally decided that it was time cross “reading the entire bible” off my bucket list during one of the hardest times of my life. A little over a year ago I found myself in a rut – suffering from chronic fatigue, depression, severe anxiety and high blood pressure. I kept it all a secret, with only my family aware of some of the symptoms. The fatigue got so bad I would have to work from home, only two hours at a time. The foundation of these health issues was the stress and worry of my ill father and letting the business I proudly founded and operated for almost 10 years slip away between my fingertips to some really poor staff decisions I had made, letting me get completely taken advantage of – to the point of almost completely lost everything.

After stepping away for a couple weeks, talking with family and listening to my clients – I decided to fight back. This required everything I had in me to take this head on. I needed God. Knowing all the work I had to do along with fighting my fatigue, I decided instead of actually picking up the book in my “spare time” which I knew would rarely or never happen, I jumped on Amazon’s audio book technology service, “Audible”. I quickly determined a great version with theatre-like audio to make the story really come alive and started to download. I was completely engaged and listened intently for weeks. I played it in the car, in the office, in bed and even while I worked outside. I was shocked. I couldn’t believe how much I’ve been missing! I listened, re-wound and re-listened, studied, searched online for facts in history, maps and imagery … I would submerge myself in learning this for hours.

I will never forget hearing one of the last verses of the Bible, after months of listening, to hear the words of Jesus say, “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to each one according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” (Rev 22:12-13) It send shivers down my spine.

I knew I had to hear it again. I was hooked. The words, the stories – it communicates to your soul, answering life’s questions that you are needing answered at that very moment in your life. It makes EVERYTHING so clear, creates PEACE, LOVE and true BLISS for the one who reads, listens and abides by his word. The story is true. It has even played out in my very own life, I’ve seen it first-hand. I’m writing this today, with no more depression or anxiety. I have been diagnosed and treated for sleep apnea, which was causing my chronic fatigue and high blood pressure – and business has never been more successful than it is today – and I know, it’s God that has been blessing me. In the grand scheme of things, I couldn’t be happier that it all played out like it did, I am closer to God now more than ever … “Well played, God .. well played.”

That being said – this is the GREATEST BOOK that has ever or will ever be written. Nothing can even compare, but I am happy to share my story – so please share, comment or contact me with any questions or a cup of coffee to talk to me about my beliefs, I welcome it with open arms – but more than anything … don’t miss this opportunity you have in life to read God’s word. There is nothing more important or no other book more important than this. God bless! †

 

Resources:
The Word of Promise Audio Bible – New King James Version – This faithful rendering of the New King James Version presents the Bible in more than 90 hours of compelling, dramatic audio theater format.

Slicing Pie by Mike Moyer

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This is PERFECT for start-ups who don’t have the cash flow, but need the work done now – so they can get the payday they deserve later.

The best part, is that the business is divided based on a mathematical equation, not by the opinions of the individuals..

– Christy Huisenga (Beving)

I wish I would have had this book from the beginning of my entrepreneur career and would recommend this read to any new company so that they may take “grunt funds” into consideration. It fixes that … “How do we split up the business…” awkward conversation all together and prepares you to be set-up correctly and fairly in the beginning.

The best part, is that the business is divided based on a mathematical equation, not by the opinions of the individuals.

Done. No hard feelings, no awkward conversations – and no premature death to a poor, defenseless little business that barely got a chance to grow.

Furthermore, the author highlights fairness in this book many times. It’s a great reminder that you will get a lot more when you recognize those who got you there and sharing the wealth rather than being greedy, trying to keep everything for yourself.

I am already excited to start this on my next start-up!

The Secret by Rhonda Byrnes

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This is by far, the best book I’ve ever read – and the most important.

I was in awe of their success, just like an inspiring entrepreneur would be. So I jabbed a little deeper in the subject. She then brought out a book out of her library. It was “The Secret”.

– Christy Huisenga (Beving)

It’s been ten years ago almost to date – and I remember the first time like yesterday. It just so happened to be the day that the 35W bridge collapsed.

That day my life completely changed.

I remember hearing about this book multiple times before giving in and finally doing something about it – and the only reason I did give in, was because it was by successful entrepreneurs who I looked up to.

The person that finally got me to give in, even though I don’t remember a name nor why I was even there … probably an acquaintance from a networking group or something. But I remember the drive, I met her at her home. It was a long, winding road in the rich part of southern Minneapolis. I remember the road was like a spiral staircase leading up to the most beautiful houses, with every turn they got bigger and more extravagant. I finally reached my destination. A gold gate led us up a long paved driveway, and the house was at least three stories high of pure brick. I walked in and my mouth dropped. I could see all the way to the ceiling and there was a walkway from the very top all the way down. Everything in the house was expensive, I was scared to touch anything. She wasn’t afraid to drop in that her husband is an account executive to a large corporation and he was very specific about his home finances as well. She also dropped in that he goes nuts if their checking account falls under $100,000.

I was in awe of their success, just like an inspiring entrepreneur would be. So I jabbed a little deeper in the subject. She then brought out a book out of her library. It was “The Secret”.

Soon after I left her house, even though I never did “read” it, I had the video at home and that’s what made me finally watch it. (Luckily I did make it home, I took 94 instead of 35W – a choice may have saved my life.) When I put the movie in … I stood for the whole two hours. I was so intrigued I couldn’t even look away to sit down. My jaw hurt from being down must the time in pure shock.

Half of me said, “Oh God Almighty, where has this been all my life!? This is the biggest secret of mankind! My life will never be the same!” and the other half said “What a hoax! I can’t imagine what my dad would say. I’m never going to bring this up to him, I would be so embarrassed.” I couldn’t believe this, I’m not a fool that would fall for this.

But of course, I gave it a try anyway.

My life hasn’t been the same and I’ve made up my mind about it. It’s absolutely, positively true.

It happens to me almost daily and I’ve finally got the hang of it. It does take a lot of effort to change things around. Some of the areas in my life I haven’t been successful at using it – but for the most part, I have. I actually have.

I’ve even proven it by manifesting in front of one of the biggest skeptics of all, my husband. Another skeptic, my sister, manifested her dream home. I’ve manifested work, money, family and almost any of my wants that I truly desire.

It’s been proven, this is a law of science, not a gimmick. But yet, it’s one of the hardest things for people to wrap their head around.

It makes perfect sense to me because God created us in his likeness, with the Holy Spirit within us – we are much more powerful than we think!

This book is an absolute must read for anyone. Do yourself a favor, read it and take it very seriously. I actually have the book on audio and must of listened to it hundreds of times until it was memorized. There is so much great information in this book. Your future self, will thank you!