Competitive Advantage – Part IV

“Information is power, particularly when the competition ignores the opportunity to do the same.” – Mark Cuban

One of the greatest testimonies we can have in our place of work, is to add value to it. I have mentioned many keys to being irreplaceable at your job throughout this series, but there is one that deserves to be expanded on. Companies, big and small, are all fighting for a competitive advantage because a good one is priceless.

“The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding” Proverbs 4:5. I will argue that wisdom is the oldest competitive advantage there is. I will also submit that too often, we are in short supply. This is ironic considering that the writer of Proverbs tells us in chapter 1 verse 20 that “out in the open wisdom calls aloud, she raises her voice in the public square”. Wisdom is personified to be looking for us, but do we look for her, and if so… where?

Let me tell you a story about a young woman who told me a recent incident that occurred with one of her clients. She is a real estate agent and she was faced with a problem that seemingly had no solution. She said “it was a probate case, a few days before closing and the 5 sellers who were not on speaking terms with each other disagreed on something. They petitioned the court for the executor to be able to have the POA, but there was no time left and I was simply washed over with defeat. There was logically no answer to the problem. I reached out to other experts in the field, and so I had to call the attorney to convey the bad news. It was about 9 o’clock and when the attorney’s paralegal picked up, they told me that their office was about to pray before they began their day and invited me to join in. At the end of the prayer I already was filled with more hope. I proceeded to deliver the news about the file to them and they lifted that up in prayer as well. We hung up the phone, still no answer in sight and it wasn’t 7 minutes later when I received a phone call. The 5 sellers spoke to each other, which was a miracle in itself, but they came to an agreement. No court needed, we moved forward and closed the next day.”

People go to work and try to be like everyone else at work rather than realizing that they can tap into a greater source, a greater competitive advantage. When you are faced with a situation with someone who who works under or over you, do you stop and ask God for wisdom? When facing a complicated problem do you turn to traditional knowledge first? We can outperform the market and ask God for wisdom in those times. When everything around you may say the deal is dead, God can make a way. If someone is about to be fired, wisdom might say to give them a second chance. Maybe you aren’t hitting your sales numbers, well stop and ask God to speak to you, maybe its too much netflix. Yes, God could tell you something you don’t want to hear, but either way we have a responsibility to ask and to connect with God.

Look at Nehemiah’s example for trusting God with his work. In Chapter 2 verses 3-4, Nehemiah asks the king, his boss, for time off (roughly 12 years), to change foreign policy and for the king to fund the rebuilding project! When is the last time you asked your boss for something that outrageous? Why would Nehemiah do such a thing? He was connected with his God; verse 8, “And the king granted them to me because the good hand of my God was on me.” Before he asked this tall order from his boss, Nehemiah prayed to God. I wasn’t there, but I assume it probably wasn’t out loud, shouting in tongues hoping for an interpretation; he probably gently and quietly prayed in his mind and God saw his heart posture and God gave him what to say in that prayer. I believe that prayer is what began changing the king’s heart. Think back to Nehemiah’s predecessor Ezra when he tried to do the same thing and failed. That had to be in the mind of Nehemiah, but he did not lean on his strength but rather, he leaned on God’s understanding.

“If you don’t have a competitive advantage, don’t compete.” – Jack Welch