Christian Business Concepts
Christian Business Concepts
From Chaos to Clarity: How Positive Habits Shape Successful Leaders
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Positive habits are the secret weapons of exceptional leaders. In this transformative episode, Harold Milby unpacks how small, consistent actions create compound interest in your leadership effectiveness and business success.
Research shows nearly half of what we do daily stems from habit rather than conscious choice. For business leaders navigating high-pressure environments where decisions impact stakeholders and agility is crucial, developing the right habits becomes a game-changer. As Vince Lombardi wisely noted, "Winning is not a sometimes thing, it's an all-the-time thing."
Drawing from both biblical wisdom and modern science, Harold reveals how habits follow a three-part loop: cue, routine, and reward. Scripture reinforces this understanding—from Proverbs' emphasis on starting children right to Romans' call for mind renewal and Hebrews' focus on disciplined perseverance. These principles align perfectly with today's habit formation research.
You'll discover a practical six-step process for building leadership habits that stick: clarify your goals, design your environment, start small, create powerful cues, stack new habits onto existing ones, and track your progress consistently. Harold emphasizes starting with just one habit—perhaps daily prioritizing, active listening, dedicated deep work time, or swapping worry for prayer—and committing to a 21-day challenge.
The podcast spotlights Barnhart Crane and Rigging, whose owners decided from day one to live modestly and give generously—eventually reaching $1 million in monthly charitable giving. Their story exemplifies how positive habits aligned with godly principles create extraordinary impact.
Ready to transform your leadership through the power of small, consistent actions? This episode provides the blueprint. As Bryant McGill notes, "The secret to permanently breaking any bad habit is to love something greater than the habit." For Christian leaders, that greater love is our calling to fulfill God's purpose in the marketplace. Start your transformation today.
Welcome to the Christian Business Concepts with your host, harold Milby. Christian Business Concepts is dedicated to guiding companies and business owners in becoming effective, efficient and successful through God's Word and godly principles. Now, here's your host, harold Milby.
Speaker 2:Thanks, kelly, and welcome everyone to this week's Christian Business Concepts podcast. And you know, each week we discuss godly business and leadership principles and how to apply them to your lives. I'm your host, harold Milby, and our goal at CBC is to help you find true godly success, and every week we pray that you'll be encouraged and enlightened and empowered by what you hear. So please help us to grow the CBC family. I would appreciate it if you'd greatly, or greatly if you would just share this podcast with four or five other people this week and be sure to post the link on your Facebook and your LinkedIn pages. I just can't thank you enough for helping us to grow the CBC family and appreciate your listening every week and being so faithful and, more importantly, I hope that these podcasts are helping you and helping you find that true godly success. Now, this week, I want to give a big shout out to the country of Turkey for being a new country that has started to listen to the CBC podcast and that are new to the CBC family. So we thank you, those of you in Turkey who have been downloading so many podcasts recently, and we're just humbled by your support and that the fact that there are so many of you out there around the world. You know, in the United States, obviously, we appreciate all of you, but really, around the world, we appreciate all of you that are supporting this podcast and saying that, yes, we believe in what you're doing and we believe there's a need for it in the world today. And we believe there's a need for it in the world today. Now, in our business spotlight, I want to tell you a little bit about this company called Barnhart Crane and Rigging. It's in Memphis, tennessee, and they basically lift and transport extremely heavy things. It could be equipment, it could be, you know, wind turbines or jumbotrons. They've even transported and lifted the walls of dams, and so they gross hundreds of millions of dollars every year. And Eric and Alan took over this business from their father in the late 80s, but they decided to start with the end in mind and then work backwards. So what they did is they first determined how much money that they thought their families would need to live in reasonable comfort, you know, and once they had that number established, they decided at that point that they wanted to give everything else away, and so that's so important that that's how they began, you know, when they took over the business. That's what they wanted to do, and so by 2005, they had gave away and were giving away $1 million a year and just a few years later the company was really blessed and that moved to $1 million a month and they gave to lots of different charities and lots of different organizations that were out there that were helping people, and we thank God for companies like Barnhart Crane and Rigging. So you guys there, we just thank you, we love you, we appreciate what you're doing and the heart behind what you're doing as a Christian business and as Christian business owners. So keep up the good work there at Barnhart Crane and Rigging. All right Today.
Speaker 2:As a business leader ricking All right Today. As a business leader, you know, or organizational leader, department leader, you know, your daily actions are going to shape your success. Your daily actions are going to influence your team and your daily actions are going to drive your organization's growth. And so we're talking about today in the world of business. It's a very high pressure world. It's where decisions impact stakeholders and competition kind of demands that you be agile, you know. You want to make sure that you're cultivating a positive, positive environment which takes positive habits. Positive habits are really a game changer in a person's life and in the organization in which they lead, and today what we want to do is we want to provide some practical, evidence-based type of building habits that enhance your leadership and your effectiveness as a leadership and hopefully it'll also boost a lot of productivity and it'll foster a great workplace culture. You know, habits are the small, repeatable actions that they kind of have a compounding interest kind of a thing over time and it really creates a significant outcome. Whether you're a CEO or an entrepreneur or a manager. I just want to help you and equip you to create these sustainable habits, these routines, and to help you to eliminate those behaviors that are counterproductive and that'll help you, I believe, will help you lead with a lot of clarity and a lot of purpose. And a lot of purpose Now, why habits matter in business relationship?
Speaker 2:First of all, it's really the backbone if you're going to have consistent performance, because what they do is they reduce the mental effort that you need for, just say, routine tasks. It frees your mind for more, let's say, strategic thinking and innovation. You know, research from Duke University indicates that 40 to 45 percent of daily actions are habitual. They're not conscious decisions. For a business leader, this means that habits can make or break your ability to navigate challenges and inspire teams and achieve long-term goals. You know, winning, according to Vince Lombardi, a great coach, he said winning is not a sometimes thing, it's an all-the-time thing. You don't win once in a while. You don't do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. And so we know the power of habits and how important they are. You know, because they're going to lead to improved decision-making, as I said, it's going to enhance productivity, you're going to have a lot more stronger team dynamics and it's going to help build in resilience.
Speaker 2:Now, according to science, the science of habit formation, the science of habit formation, it's really a three-part loop, and I get this from Charles Duhigg in the Power of Habit. He says that there's three things. First, there's a cue, there's a trigger that initiates the behavior, either a calendar notification for a planning session or something. But there's a cue, there's a trigger. The second thing is a routine, the action, in other words, the action that you take. Maybe it's reviewing your goals for 10 minutes every day. And the third thing is the reward, the benefit that reinforces the habit, it's a sense of clarity and control. And so you have the cue, youces the habit, it's a sense of clarity and control. And so you have the cue, you have the routine, and then you have the reward. And that's basically how that habits operate.
Speaker 2:Now, you know, I know that you're thinking. Well, how do you you know what's the word of God say about habits? But really, habits are not really a modern invention, you know, they're woven really into the fabric of God's design for our life as human beings. And the Bible emphasizes discipline, it emphasizes renewal and transformation as pathways to successful godly life, as pathways to successful godly life. You know, in Proverbs 22 and 6, it says start children off on the way they should go and even when they're old they'll not turn from it.
Speaker 2:Again, habits, we're talking about habits. Romans 12, 2 says do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing and perfect will. Again, we're talking about habits. Whatever. In Philippians 4 and 9, it says whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me, put it into practice and the God of peace will be with you. Again, he's talking about habits. And then Hebrews 12, verse 1, it says Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out before us. You know, any great runner, any great athlete, will tell you that their success is in their habits their habits in training, their habits in preparation, their habits in thinking through whatever that sport is. It could be the runner, it could be the golfer, and they have a habit or multiple habits that they have for training, for preparing, and so that's what he was talking about in Hebrews.
Speaker 2:So what are the steps to build positive habits? I'm going to give you a six-step process that's really inspired by James Clear's Atomic Habits Great book. You need to get it. It really will help you to create some really good, lasting habits that kind of are tailored towards leadership. So the step one in this six-step process is you need to clarify what you want to achieve as a leader, what you want to improve. In other words, you may say I want to improve decision-making, or I want to boost team morale, or write a clear vision statement or just have a goal. Maybe it's I want to make data-driven decisions, to grow revenue by 10%. That's a great goal. So that's the step one. You've got to define your goals. And then step two is you've got to design your environment.
Speaker 2:So you've got to remove temptations and add positive cues. Remember, we talked about that, there's the cue. So you've got to remove temptations and add positive cues. Remember, we talked about that, there's the cue. So you've got to have some positive cues. For example, if you really want to spend time in the Bible, at least five minutes a day, or ten minutes a day, whatever it may be maybe you need to place a Bible on your desk. That's your cue for your morning devotions and you can do that. You can put it on your calendar so that it pops up hey, you're going to study the Bible for five minutes. You can have Scripture verses in your office on Post-it notes or on 3x5 cards, on post-it notes or on three-by-five cards. You just want something to cue you into some ethical reminders for you to develop these habits that you're doing these actions, and as you continue to do them, they become habits.
Speaker 2:So the second thing is design your environment. Now the third thing start small. Break your goal into tiny, actionable habits. Instead of overhaul my schedule, start with, for example, spend five minutes daily prioritizing your task. Okay, so you're just starting small, because small wins will build momentum. Instead of read the Bible for an hour, start with read one verse and reflect for five minutes, and then you can begin to scale up, because that again it builds this momentum. You know, zechariah 4.10 says do not despise small beginnings. It's okay to start small, but just start. You know, the journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step. So you've got to be mindful of that. So you've got to start small. You know, robert Collier said success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out. Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out. All right, step four you need to create cues in your environment. So begin to create those cues. Design your workspace to trigger positive habits. Keep a notepad on your desk for daily goal setting, or set phone reminders for breaks, or remove any kind of distractions that you have there.
Speaker 2:Step five would be to stack habits. And what do I mean by that? I mean link new habits to existing good habits. So, for example, after your morning coffee that's an existing habit Review your top three priorities that's a new habit. So what you've done is you've stacked this new habit with a current habit, which is getting that cup of coffee in the morning. So you begin to try to stack these habits together and this leverages you know the neural pathways in your brain and it makes the new habit a lot easier to adopt into your lifestyle because you're stacking it up with habits that you already have, your existing habits.
Speaker 2:And then, number six, you need to track your progress so you can use like a habit tracker or an app or paper to monitor how consistent you are and mark each day that you've completed that habit and then have weekly reviews and celebrate your progress and then adjust it as needed. So I'm going to add another one here. Step seven you need to reward yourself, reward yourself, reinforce those habits with good rewards. Maybe, after completing a really focused work session, take a short walk, go enjoy maybe your favorite snack, whatever it may be, and over time the habit itself becomes rewarding. And you implement this with, say, a 21-day challenge. So you choose one habit and you apply, apply all these steps and then you track your progress for 21 days.
Speaker 2:So what's the key to positive habits for business leaders? I think the key is just to start, just to begin to start some habits. But what are some key things that you need to do? Well, first of all, you've got to have some kind of daily prioritizing. You need to spend five to 10 minutes each morning listing your top three priorities. Stephen Covey said the key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities. Let me say it again the key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities. He goes on and he says you have to decide what your highest priorities are and then have the courage to pleasantly, smilingly, non-apologetically, to say no to other things. And the way that you do that is by having a bigger yes that's burning inside of you. So you got to find out what your daily priorities are. And then you've got to listen actively. In meetings, you got to practice summarizing what other people are saying or what their points are before you respond, and that kind of helps you build trust and it improves the ability and the desire to collaborate. So all of your team members will begin to do that. But you've got to show some active listening.
Speaker 2:The next thing that you can do that will help you is to block your time. Block your time that will help you is to block your time, block your time, schedule uninterrupted blocks of time for especially what I would consider the deep work, the deep work, and try to do that at least an hour and a half a day and watch how that boosts your productivity and your innovation. The next thing you do is you need to gratitude practice. In other words, each day, try to see and identify three things that you're grateful for, because that'll really enhance resilience and so that's a very good thing to foster in your life. And then make sure you have a self-care routine. You need to make sure that you dedicate at least 30 minutes a day to exercise, to meditation or reading, and that really helps you to prevent burnout in your life and it really helps you to continue to have a lot of energy. And then you need to have a feedback loop. You know that's weekly. You'll ask one of your team members for some constructive feedback and that really kind of promotes growth and team alignment.
Speaker 2:And the next, you need to have a learning habit. A learning habit, in other words, read or listen maybe to 10 minutes a day of something that's related to your industry, a podcast or a book or something that you're actually learning every single day. It doesn't matter how much, it just matters that you are learning every day and it keeps you ahead of a lot of the trends. Also, what about daily devotion and prayer? I think you should try to develop a habit to start your day with about 15 to 30 minutes, depending upon your time of Bible study and prayer. It just helps you in the decisions that you make. And then along, that is, swap worry with prayer. Don't worry, don't spend time worrying. You know you can worry about things but that doesn't fix anything. So you swap the worry with prayer. You know the Bible says in Philippians 4, 6, and 7, it says do not be anxious, do not be worried about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding. So you've got to trade in that worry for prayer.
Speaker 2:Now you're going to have to overcome some negative habits. You're going to have to overcome those habits. See negative habits like, say, for example, procrastination or overworking. They stem a lot of times from stress or just having a poor system in place. So you've got to overcome some negative habits. You need to replace them. You know, I heard someone say that you can't occupy the space, that the good things can't occupy the space that bad things are already occupying. So you've got to route out the negative habits and begin to fill that time and fill your life with the positive habits.
Speaker 2:So the first thing you have to do is identify the triggers. So log, if you can write out, take a week and log when a bad habit occurs. Is it a stress trigger? Maybe late night emails or whatever it may be. But you've got to identify them. That's the first thing that you've got to do. And then you've got to replace the routine so you swap that negative action for some positive actions. So you journal, maybe take some time to journal instead of overworking.
Speaker 2:And then, the next thing you've got to do, you've got to change your environment. You know, remove the cues that enable the bad habits. Maybe you have to mute your notification after so many hours so that your notifications don't keep popping up on your phone, your Apple Watch or whatever the device is, but you mute them after so many hours in a day. You've got to begin to change your environment. And then this is very important you hear me say this a lot, but it's so apropos to what we're talking about today and that is, you've got to find accountability. So share your goals with maybe a trusted friend or colleague or coach for support.
Speaker 2:And then, lastly, make sure you reframe your mindset. So focus on your identity In other words, I'm a focus leader To make sure then, when you do that, you align your actions with your goals. So focus on your identity. Where you're wanting to go, what is it that you're wanting to be? You want to be a focused leader. So then, as you focus on that, as you reframe your mindset, then your actions and your goals will come along with you. You know, persistence is the key. That's the thing, persistence.
Speaker 2:Now, if you slip up, you make a mistake or you don't do it, or maybe you've got some negative habits that start to creep back in, you know you can restart. Just don't self-criticize yourself. What you've got to do is focus on the progress and not perfection, because perfection is the enemy of progress. If you think that you've got to wait until you're perfect, then it never happens, because nobody's ever perfect. You're not perfect, you know, bryant McGill said the secret to permanently breaking any bad habit is to love something greater than the habit. So that's key. That is so, so, very, very important.
Speaker 2:So positive habits are the foundation of exceptional leadership. You've got to begin to develop positive habits, and by starting small, by leveraging science. You know, we talked about what triggers it, what are the three parts of habits? And staying consistent. I believe that you can build routines in your life that drive personal success and organizational success. And, if nothing else, just choose one habit today and then commit to a 21-day challenge where you do that habit every day for 21 days and I tell you you'll see a compounding effect that will transform your leadership. But just start with one. Just start with one. You know, as Christian business leaders, I believe that positive habits are tools. They're tools to help you to fulfill your calling, to fulfill your purpose, to lead with excellence, to love other people and to advance God's kingdom. To love other people and to advance God's kingdom. So start today, take some small steps, because I believe they're going to yield an eternal impact. Commit to that one habit this week and watch God multiply your efforts.
Speaker 2:Heavenly Father, I thank you right now, today. I thank you for calling us to lead in business, to lead our organizations, lord. Help us, lord, to begin to form those habits that honor you, that renew our minds and bear fruit. Lord, give us discipline, through your spirit, you know. Give us grace for our failures and joy in that obedience. Lord, help us to be the leaders that you want us to be, and Lord to do that. Help us to have good habits. And, lord, we thank you for that and we praise you for it In Jesus' name, amen and amen. Well, thanks again for tuning in and downloading this week's Christian Business Concepts podcast and just continue to help us podcast and just continue to help us to grow and continue to help us to build the kingdom of God by building godly businesses and organizations. Well, that's all the time we have for today, so remember until next time. Jesus is Lord and he wants you blessed.