“In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” - 1 Thessalonians 5:18
"The key to mental health is giving thanks in everything.” - Bill Johnson
In our workplace, we have a little thing called the “Thankfulness Jar.” At the start of our Monday-morning meetings, our whole team would name one thing that we were thankful for, whether it be in the workplace or in our personal lives. At the end of the year, we would revisit and read through our stories and testimonies, and we honestly enjoy it so much. Cultivating a culture of gratitude and thankfulness has had such a positive impact in our business, and we believe it to be fundamental in any business.
Some years back, I tuned in to a podcast by Shawn Bolz & Bob Hasson titled "In the Marketplace" They discussed the concept of a Corporate Intercessor and I remember Shawn sharing that a corporate intercessor was pivotal for his ministry. This individual is dedicated to praying for his business/ministry, and in return, they receive a consultation fee, akin to compensating any other service. It was also a way of honouring and valuing them for their time.
Then he made a statement that I could immediately relate to. He said that when he was in the process of launching something new, everything seemed like it would go wrong at the same time, and then he would revert to “emergency prayer." I’ve experienced the same thing at Miinella. I remember, as clear as day, that just before we did the photoshoot for the Harvest Collection with Simone, so many things went wrong. On her way to the photoshoot, the gate closed on her sponsored car, my beloved dog got stuck in the palisade gate, and to top it all off, we had a pipe burst. That being said, I saw it as the devil trying to attack something good. I got excited knowing that we were going in the right direction. But in all honesty, I would have preferred being more proactive and being covered in prayer. Naturally, the next question popped up; where does one even find such a person? I was encouraged to pray about it and ask the Lord to send the right person.
I then decided to share the idea with my team, asking them if they might know of someone that would be open to praying for the business, I would be more than interested. One of my team members said that her mom had a war room (a prayer room) even before the War Room movie came out. She said that her mom really felt led to a lifestyle of prayer. We contacted her and asked if she would be willing to pray for our business and she was so willing to. And oh boy, this has been such a game changer for us. To have a dedicated person I can contact when there is something specific to pray for, it was such a blessing. She didn’t like the idea of being ‘paid for prayer’, but we have agreed that I pay her a ‘gift’ once a month or bless her in return for her time and I will pop her a message if we needed prayer for something. It has been so wonderful, to say the least.
I will never forget the time where I did a creative internship for an incredible woman by the name of Theresa Dedmon. She was one of the most generous people I had ever met, and she made such a point of celebrating and encouraging people. During that internship, before Miinella was born, I made the conscious decision to create a culture of celebration and make it part of our work environment. I wanted to cultivate a spirit of generosity by giving back.
There are so many ways to implement this in one’s business. This could be something as simple as giving employees half the day off when it’s their birthday, to encourage your team to say something uplifting or positive about their colleagues when we welcome a new person into your team, or one could donate a portion of your profits to a charitable cause. The crux being; to go out of your way to be generous and to celebrate your breakthroughs, together.
When wecelebrate and honour people for who they areand how God made them to be, we can encourage them to play to their strengths, to value their contributions within our organisation and community, and to provide them with a platform to operate from a place of strength, rather than that of weakness.
That's why we love tools like various personality tests, strength-finders, and other tools to help us colour in the picture. We want our team to feel known, to feel seen and to be celebrated so that they can operate from a thriving place. Sure, it might sound ideal and often we just have to get a job done irrespective of whether we like the task at hand or not, but for the most part, it is important to know and celebrate your team.
That is also a driving force as to why we make a point of celebrating our clients, their stories, their breakthroughs, testimonies, and so much more. We trust that it will inspire and birth faith within people where they can see these stories and say: “Lord, if you can do it for them, you can do it for us!”
I remember hearing a story of a business owner working in a small town, where another business owner came along and opened the same type of business in the same town. The new business had a grand opening, with all the bells and whistles one would imagine. The local business owner decided to attend this grand opening. He waited until the very end of the opening, and went up to the owners of the new business. He said to them that he didn’t have the capacity to give them anything, as it was going a bit tough at the time, but what he could do is pray for them. He prayed that the Lord would bless their business and make them prosper. Tears flowed down from the new owners’ eyes.
I would coin this as “Collaboration over Competition,” to celebrate your competition’s victories, to celebrate other people’s breakthroughs even if you are still trusting for your own breakthrough in that specific area. Not only are you blessing their business, but you are positioning yourself and your business for your own breakthrough.
The moment we partner and take hands with “Competition”, “Comparison” and “Jealousy”, we get stuck in a rut which negatively impacts our business. If we only look at the “facts” and make statements like ‘There is only a small percentage of tax payers that can afford my products in the country’, we have to look to God and trust in Him and His Kingdom’s principles. There is enough work for all of us. There’s no need to compete, we just need to stay in our lane and celebrate other people’s victories and breakthroughs instead of being consumed by jealousy. It’s a decision you have to make. When your breakthrough comes, would it not be a wonderful sight if those around you celebrated it with you?
Ask yourself, are you able to bless and pray for your competitors?
At the end of the day, when one day I stand before the Lord, and he asks me,“Did you learn how to love?,” I really want to be able to shout, “YES!” without a moment's hesitation.
When we are willing to pause and focus on the one, it will be as natural as breathing to provide a good experience and amazing service to our clients through loving them. Centre your business around the principle of love; treating employees, customers, suppliers, and competitors with kindness, respect, and empathy.
Do not hesitate to go the extra mile for those around you. We will treat our employees well if they have been struggling with health issues. We will pay a supplier or freelancer speedily if we know that they need it urgently. We will deliver the best quality product we can to our customers. We will make a point of taking responsibility and ownership, apologising, and to learn from our mistakes when we mishandled a situation. We will respond to the bad review as honestly and as honouring as we possibly can. We will pray for wisdom and insight in how to deal with difficult situations.
Is the act of loving an easy, fluffy and convenient action? Of course not! It is a choice that is made daily, where we need to be willing to walk the extra mile and stop for the one.
We are convinced that establishing businesses using a kingdom blueprint that embodies biblical values will be a blessing to both your business and your employees. However at the end of the day, the heart behind implementing these principles (alongside many others) is to steward our businesses in the light of eternity. Knowing that one day when we stand before God, we want Him to say to us, “Well done, My good and faithful servant.”
We know that none of our efforts, in good or in trying times, will be in vain when our hearts are postured towards giving God glory through the way that we steward the gifts and opportunities He has given us,
We are thankful for all we have learnt along the way and the trailblazers that have went ahead of us to inspire us. We can't wait to hear from you and learn from your journey of entrepreneurship. Our prayer is that your business will truly flourish as you become more like Jesus in the process!
To read more about our Business Culture and how we implement Christian values into our organisation, click the link below:
