Gift of Community — Jewish Business Secrets #11

In a world where the perception is the reality, with terrorism and corruption poised to challenge honorable opportunity and the innocent, there is a need for safe places. The issue is power and a culture designed to preserve the righteous. Since God has had a people, the struggle of the righteous was never designed as a retreat. Good and evil do not blend. While this conflict has often involved a remnant operating against overwhelming odds, the equalizer in the equation has been God. It is within this context that God has given His people a gift to help them not only to overcome, but to thrive. That gift is community.

Entrepreneurship and God’s Economy — Jewish Business Secrets #10

Entrepreneurship is about opportunity and risk and the response in terms of strategy. We have suggested that at the core of Jewish business secrets is a different way of thinking. Part of this difference in mind-sets is the entrepreneurial way of thinking. Entrepreneurial thinking is just as valid for startups as it is for multinational corporate enterprises.  Now, in keeping with embracing new mind-sets, I’d like to describe what can happen when making God your Senior Partner. It affects not only your destiny but the way the spiritual supersedes the natural with the operation of our enterprises.

Entrepreneurship — Jewish Business Secrets #9

Many mistakenly view entrepreneurs simply as people in business. Entrepreneurs are a great deal more. In taking a closer look at Jewish business secrets, it is important to understand the distinction. Entrepreneurs are change artists. They create and innovate. They are people of discipline who spot opportunity and know what to do about it. They build, establish a new order of things and in so doing they bring increase. They challenge the status quo with better solutions to problems and they know how to do so at a profit. The Jewish perspective in viewing these prime entrepreneurial characteristics, of creating and bringing increase entails even more.

Culture — Jewish Business Secrets #7

We’ve taken a look at the foundations, the model and gifts that are vital to understanding the dynamics of what have given Jews the renown of being a people of business. Now, before we start digging into the dynamics of entrepreneurship, I want to cover some background about Jewish culture. This background will provide keen insights into the uniqueness of entrepreneurship from a Jewish perspective. 

Gifts and Destiny — Jewish Business Secrets #6

God gives gifts to men. There are natural gifts and there are spiritual gifts. When a person applies excellence and masters their gift, it releases creativity and opportunity. During this session on Jewish business secrets, I’m going to expand upon what I’ve discussed about our gifts and talk about how our gifts become essential in mapping […]

Misguided Tongues

MISGUIDED TONGUES Dedicated to the Memory of Trisha Ruddick Stemple (June 14, 1966-Oct 24, 1996) Memorial Day is a time of reflection. October 24, 1996 is a date our family will never forget. It is the day our 30 year old daughter Trisha Stemple was brutally murdered. Trish, a beautiful young mother of two, was […]

Perspectives and Opportunity

PERSPECTIVES AND OPPORTUNITY Back in the early eighties, I served on the Political and Public Affairs Committee of one the most powerful trade associations in the energy business. In addressing one of our agendas, the Chairman of the committee and CEO of the Rowan Companies, posed an illustration. He suggested that had the rogue, totalitarian […]

The Gifts — Jewish Business Secrets #5

God gives gifts to men. Ancient Jewish writings elaborate that a person’s gift makes room for them and brings them before great people. When vital combinations of these gifts are nurtured within a trust community, it provides ripples of opportunity and a dynamic that strengthens the community. Business is about providing a product or a service to customers. It involves outperforming competition with that product or service. What is required is developing excellence, becoming the best in what your business offers. That is where the gifts, the talents on which the business is based, come into play.

Model Applied — Jewish Business Secrets #4

In the last session I talked about the ancient model established Abraham: the God-centered, entrepreneurial community. I began telling you about a friend of mine, with a most unusual story of how this model can be applied, how this model can work in the most adverse of circumstances. Globally today, two thirds of the world has little to no middle class. These are people who live on less than $2 a day. Well-intended humanitarian efforts, as well as the efforts of many church-related groups to alleviate poverty and hunger have simply not changed things. So let’s look at a real-life example of how this ancient model applied can change things.