Kevin W. McCarthy

The Professor of On-Purpose

Business

Crown Ministries Founder Howard Dayton

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Howard Dayton is one of the creators of Crown Financial Ministries.  I've been blessed to participate in several Crown Ministries programs over the years.  In fact, my Crown Group still meets regularly to study, learn, grow, and support each other in life and work.  

Howard and I first connected back in 1993 when The On-Purpose Person was first released.  I remember having lunch with him and being impressed with his gracious manner, genuine faith, and sense of call upon his life.  Here was an on-purpose person par excellence.  At the time, I remember Howard's excitement that over 27,000 people that year had participated in the Crown Financial Ministries flagship program:  Biblical Financial Study.  Today, there are probably 27,000 per week doing this program.   It is life transforming.  Do this program! 

Over the years, Howard and my paths would cross from time to time with chance meetings in airports and such.   Wednesday, Howard was the keynote speaker at the stewardship dinner for my church – All Saints Episcopal- Winter Park. We shared a brief reunion. I was delighted to have this photo snapped so I could share it with you.  I treasure his leadership and example.

Few of us will ever have the opportunity to transform so many lives.  So meet my friend Howard Dayton and give thanks for his life and ministry.  By the way, October 7 was his 66th birthday.  Happy birthday Howard! 

Be On-Purpose!

Kevin

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On-Purpose Leaders Workshop

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The On-Purpose Leader program based on The On-Purpose Person was a meaningful event.  Here are the attendees after the event.  All were from the East Coast from South Florida to Baltimore, MD.   We had a tax lawyer, several health coaches, a COO, entrepreneur, several people from financial services and insurance, two married couples, and an HR executive. 

The joy of these programs for me is the chance to get to know new and existing people in a deep and profound manner beyond the typical chit-chat.  There's an intimacy and closeness that happens in these events.

Cindy Hedgepeth (red blouse) did a fabulous job of co-facilitating the program with me.  This globe trotting trainer is gracious enough to take a day and work with me on these programs.  

I look forward to seeing each of these participants again.  One of the things we do is offer a 50% discount to returning alumni and a guest on a space available basis.  I have a feeling we will see some of them again as they go to the next level of being on-purpose.  In the meantime, please keep them all in your prayers as they've taken some remarkable steps to examine their lives and invest in making their futures on-purpose.  Special thanks also to Mary Richardson and John Smith who volunteered to pray for the group, Cindy, and me in preparation and during the program. 

Welcome these new On-Purpose Leaders!

Be On-Purpose!

Kevin

Will I See You There?

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Central Florida Christian Chamber of Commerce

I hope you can join us at the next Business-Building Lunch, September 1st, with our keynote speaker, Des Cummings Jr., who is Executive Vice President of Business Development for Florida Hospital and the Florida Division of the Adventist Health System. In this role, Des gives leadership to the mission, planning, marketing, new business development, and foundations for the seventeen Adventist Health System hospitals in Central Florida.

Tuesday, September 1st 11:30am to 1pm.

Faith Hall Conference Center at First Baptist Orlando, 3000 S. John Young Parkway, Orlando.

Member price $20.00; Non-member price $30.00.
Plenty of free parking is available.

For Information: www.cfchristianchamber.com or 407 484-3899.

Des talks about building a business on a foundation of love, ethics, and spirituality here.

Customer Service Laughs

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We all have our travel war stories.  I just had to add my most recent experiences to the "I wonder what they are thinking" file.

Wireless Wonders
OK, so I check into the Phoenician Resort in Scottsdale, AZ for a convention. My wife and I just traveled way too many hours thanks to a thunderstorm over the Atlanta airport that had us missing our connecting flight and the next flight because it was already overbooked.  I go to power up my laptop to handle a few items while my wife is taking a bath before we crash for the night.

I'm greeted by a screen that informs me internet connections are $12.95 per 24 hour period or $3.95 per hour.   Let's face it – when Hampton Inn can give you free wireless access, why is a five star resort gouging its patrons by making wireless internet service a profit center?   Frankly, I was ticked off about it.  Here I was stuck for four days at this beautiful resort and I couldn't shake the feeling I was being raked over the coals.  At least they didn't have a meter on the water for the shower and bath tub.

Thinking there might be some sort of group rate or discount available, I called the front desk and asked if there was a group rate for wireless service.  "No," the woman told me.   Admittedly, I vented my frustration when I said, "Gee, Hampton Inn gives you free wireless; you would think the Phoenician would have this service for free."  Her response was priceless:  "Sir, we're a five star resort not a Hampton Inn."

The message I got was if you can't afford the car, then don't complain about the price of gasoline.  So come on Phoenician, get into the 21st Century of basic services for guests. 

Great place to stay otherwise!

Delayed Thinking
So we're heading home from the trip to Phoenix.  Delta Airlines calls my cell phone around noon Eastern time to say our connecting flight from Cincinnati to Orlando is delayed from 8:15 PM to 10:00 PM.  I'm impressed. 

We arrive at Cincinnati to find the 10:00 flight time is still the mark.  About fifteen minutes before boarding we're informed that the flight departure is now delayed to 11:30!  So with a 1 hour and 49 minute flight that puts us home at 1:30 am.  Thankfully, we've adjusted somewhat to the three-hour time difference in Phoenix. 

What few of us in the airport realized was the food court and all shops closed at 9:00 on this Sunday evening.  That meant you had about 200 souls and two vending machines tucked behind the food court half a concourse away.  Now Delta had only about ten hours to make other arrangements for the plane, but they bet they could get this one on the ground fixed.  About 10:30 someone from Delta threw a flat of water and some biscuit cookies and peanuts on the counter and announced, "Come and get it."

Judith and I were fine sitting there.  It was the families with all the little kids heading to Disney World for whom I felt true compassion. 

Fortunately, when we got on the plane, the flight attendant, Peter, had a plan.   A free movie and headsets for everyone. He did a great job of apologizing to the passengers.   The movie was 17 Again.  You aren't going to believe this, but the plane landed just before the movie ended.  So if anyone knows how the movie ended… email me!

It gets funnier…

Bathroom Humor
We land in Orlando just past 1:30 AM.  Judith and I head to the baggage claim to get our bags.   The Orlando airport is empty except for passengers from our flight and another from Atlanta.   They place all of us at carousel 30.   About this time, nature is calling me so I head to the bathroom for an on-purpose pee.  I see it has one of those bright orange cones in front and a cleaning cart.   I walk in and a woman is cleaning the men's room.   She scolds me for coming in and tells me to leave.  I comply. 

I walk half a concourse to another men's room.   It is closed with a barricade.   I walk back up to baggage claim 30 hoping the attendant is finished.   She's standing in front of the entrance blocking people from going in.  Get this… a male attendant is standing in front of the women's bathroom entrance blocking women from going in. Do you think they could have switched?  

So here you have about 400 people all waiting for the bags with the only two bathrooms within 500 yards being blocked by staff of the opposite sex from the bathroom they are cleaning.   Could they have switched bathrooms?  No!  Could they have accommodated the only two flights left to come into the airport at now 2 AM?  No!  My Spanish is not good otherwise I might have argued the point.  What were they thinking?

I just had to laugh… fortunately not hard enough to wet my pants.

Be On-Purpose!

Kevin

Syfy: Why?

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SyFy LogoThe SCI FI Channel has changed its branding.  Check it out with this link.

At On-Purpose Business Advisors we inevitably end up in branding because of our core work on business design and strategy.   Branding is one of the first external expressions and places to create alignment with customers.  

I had to laugh when I saw the new name.   SCI FI says it all.  Syfy – what does that say?  There are some names you just don't need to change.  That said, a logo update would certainly be in order, but to change the name at this point to Syfy is just plain stupid.   Perhaps they have some magic hidden up their sleeve with this new name.  I sense someone got paid a great deal of money to develop a new look and name.  Unfortunately, the emperor's new clothes made it through tight-lipped committee after committee for approval.

The new logo makes me think this is a Styrofoam cup business, a paper company, or a pharmaceutical conglomerate with some made up name due to some chemical compounding.  Certainly not an edgy science fiction television channel.  

The good news is the execution on the web site is stunningly well done in terms of navigation, look, graphics, etc.  They've kept the traditional purple (outer space?) for highlights.  There is a lot there and they manage it nicely.  So kudos to the team that took what was probably given to them and took it boldly where few have gone before.

For now, all I can do is sigh, fyi. 

Be On-Purpose!

Kevin

Are You Serving on a Board of Directors?

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Many of us who are business owners get invited to serve on boards.  We're used to running things, not governing via policy through the CEO (for profit) or Executive Director (not for profit).   The role of being a director is deeply misunderstood by most of us who serve on boards. 

Recently, I was quoted in the following article in California Executive.  Perhaps this will shed some light on your board involvements.

Now More Than Ever, Company Boards Must Respect Boundaries

Be On-Purpose!

Kevin

The On-Purpose Person

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TOPP_3D_PrintedBook The On-Purpose Person
Making Your Life Make Sense

Let's skip the usual jacket cover hype here.  Instead, I'll post bits and pieces of the back story – how the book and message of Being On-Purpose came into being.

There isn't a week that goes by when I don't get asked by someone about becoming an author.  It seems everyone wants to write a book.  Few actually step up to the challenge – and it is a challenge.  Even fewer find the commercial success they expected.  So you better understand why you're writing a book in the first place.

Please post your comments or questions here about becoming an author or about my books or publishing experience in general.

Ask YOUR Questions here about publishing a book and I'll share one best selling author's perspective.

Be On-Purpose!

Kevin

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Wall Street and Big Business: Thanks, Dr. Spock

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"The Financial Bailouts" have me thinking and pondering, Why do I find them so, frankly, offensive to my senses?

I can argue this from the viewpoint of being a capitalist and free market
advocate.  The debate can be political in terms of government and
policy – conservative and liberal.   Certainly, there is an economy at
risk argument that is being made along with the loss of millions of jobs. 

I read, listen, and watch "the experts" debate the issue eloquently on both sides and I find myself caught in the middle of which way to go.  All of the above enter into my opinion.

In the end, I've decided that the Bailout is just plain wrong.  What Dr. Spock did for parenting with his no spanking approach, government is now doing to society.  The United States is a nation "By the people and for the people…." Unfortunately, we've become a nation afraid to spank our children.  What Dr. Spock did to parenting, government is now doing to our nation.  

Dr. Spock made valid points, but there is a larger context to parenting.  There's something important to a child's development to have an authority in their lives who sets and secures appropriate behavior boundaries.  It prepares the child to be a more responsible and contributing independent adult.  A parent like a government needs to carry a full arsenal of options including the power of a good whack on the bottom.

As we hear reporters and politicians speak in terms of "taking the military option off of the table" it is Dr. Spock in the Congress.  Now the generation of Dr. Spock is running the nation as if it were their household – Democrats and Republicans alike.

Consequences

The Concept of Consequences has been decimated.  Simply, this states that a person is responsible for the results of his or her actions.   If I stick my hand on wet paint that is clearly marked as wet paint, then the natural consequence is I get paint on my hand.  Cause and effect.

Unfairly and sadly, sometimes we suffer consequences that are not the direct result of our doing.  Two relatives' careers with Arthur Andersen ended because of the Enron scandal.   One worked in Boston, the other in California.  Neither had any business dealings with Enron or the Houston office of Andersen, yet they paid the price as the result of the actions of others.  Curve balls come at us in life.

Consequences are often thought to be negative (punishment), but there are also positive consequences.  Study hard, get good grades, enroll in college, graduate, and gain greater opportunities in life.  This typical cause and effect pattern is predictably preached by many a parent.  Consequences for our actions are something we are supposed to learn as children.  It helps us grow into mature and productive adults. 

As a nation, perhaps, it is a season of reflection and consequences.  Money is never the answer to a problem.  It is simply an easy salve to apply, a seemingly quick fix that fails to deal with the fundamentals.  The "Me Generation" – of which I'm a part – needs to suffer the consequences of our avoidance to deal with the hard truth of overindulgence for decades.  Abundance has lulled us into apathy and complacency.  We're masters at avoiding the consequences of our actions. 

Images-1Popeye the Sailor Man's fat friend J. Wellington Wimpy taught all too many of our generation the use of credit.  To anyone who would listen, Wimpy offered, "I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today."

Like overindulged brats fattened by our parents, our due is coming.  Tuesday, dear Mr. Wimpy, has arrived and the bill is due.  Our character needs to be strengthened or our country will be lost.  I believe in the Spirit of America to face, survive, and improve.  We need a season of pruning and leaders who are willing to make the tough call.

From the ashes of Wall Street or Main Street, the U.S. economy will rise again because the character of its citizens will rise to the occasion.  Trust "We the people" to get it right, to pay the price, to be creative, and to make the most of a time such as this.  Given the challenges to freedom arising in the world today against them, the banner bearers of liberty may very well need this time of preparation if truly "Liberty and Justice for All" is to survive. 

Let Wall Street and the Automotive industry go into bankruptcy.  Let home borrowers who overextended themselves lose their homes. From out of pain and suffering, comes humility and wisdom which are more precious than gold.  We'll all be better people and a better nation for it.

Be On-Purpose!

Kevin