ten traits of successful business people

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Ten Traits of Successful Business PeopleA Bible Message by Bayless Conley

Copyright 2009 Answ ers with Bayless Conley

Proverbs 4:7-8 says, Wisdom is the principal thing. Therefore, get wisdom. And in all yourgetting, get understanding. Exalt her, and she will promote you; she will bring you honor, when

you embrace her. We have talked about wisdom intersecting different areas of our life; healthand healing, marriage and family relationships, and finances. Today I am going to talk aboutbusiness.I am sure there are some people who feel like there is more inside of you than you areoutwardly experiencing right now in your life. Perhaps you feel that in some ways you arelocked in to a job that does not really satisfy the creativity of your heart, and it may not payadequately for the things that you desire to do and the amount you desire to put into Godskingdom. It just may be that there is a successful business in you that needs to come out andget a start.We just finished our Connect Conference, and one of the sessions was for questions and

answers. One of the questions that came in was directed to me: If you werent a pastor, whatwould you do? My answer was, Well, if it was just about me, I would probably be a park rangerbecause I would be really content doing that. I like to be outdoors, and that would suit me justfine. But it is not just about me. So the final answer to the question was: If I was not called to bedoing what I am doing now, and I had the liberty, I would probably engage in some businessendeavor so that I could funnel huge sums of money into the kingdom of God, because precioussouls are hanging in the balance. Eternity is long, heaven is real, hell is hot, time is short, and Icant think of anything more valuable than the kingdom and purposes of God. So I would beengaged in something where I could make a whole lot of money and put it into the kingdom ofGod, because the only thing we take to heaven with us are the precious souls that we win forChrist.

Today I am going to talk to you about business and the wisdom of God intersecting that area. Idid an interview recently with a precious couple in church who own a carpet mill and have asuccessful business making custom rugs and carpets. They were just delightful to interview. Ihave known a lot of very successful business people in my lifetime. Some are very closefriends. I have also known some people in business who have not been successful. I want tobriefly share with you ten things that all of the successful business people I know have incommon.1. THEY HAVE A DESIRE FOR FREEDOMPlease open your Bibles to Proverbs 22. The first thing that all of the successful businesspeople have in common is a desire for freedom. In Proverbs 22:7, it says,

7 The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower isservant to the lender.

That is true. It is much better to be the lender than it is to be the borrower. Financial freedom isan amazing thing. Every successful person I have found has had a desire for morefreedom in their personal schedule and more freedom with the creativity within thecontext of their job. Personal freedom is limited, or can be limited, when you are working forsomeone else. So there was always a desire for freedom; be it financial freedom, freedom to dosome things they desire to do, freedom with their own time and their own schedule. You might


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ask, Well, doesnt everyone desire that kind of freedom? Well, most everyone says that theydo; but honestly, very few people desire it enough to do anything about it.In John, chapter 5, Jesus comes upon the guy at the Pool of Bethesda. He has been a paralyticfor 38 years. The Bible says that an angel came at a certain season, troubled the waters of thepool, and that whoever stepped in first after the troubling of the water was healed of whatever

disease he had. This guy had been in this condition for 38 years. He is there at the pool, andJesus asked him what is seemingly a ridiculous question, perhaps even an offensive question.Jesus said, Do you want to be well?Jesus, what person who has been paralyzed 38 years would not want to be well? He is at thepool, isnt he? That is why people are there! They come to the pool so that when the waters arestirred up, they can get in and they can get healed. What kind of a question is that? Of course,he wants to be healed!Jesus was not convinced because many people have lain down on the inside. They become soaccustomed to the circumstances of their life, or living in a dead-end job, or with their infirmitiesor whatever it is, that they may go through the motions to escape or get freedom, usually

because they know that is what is expected of them, but in their heart of hearts they have reallystopped pressing toward the goal. Jesus asked the man, Do you want to be made well?At the risk of offending someone, I just want to ask you, and I do it with humility of heart, do youreally want to be free? Do you want it enough to do something about it?2. THEY LOVE WHAT THEY DOThe second thing that successful business people have in common is they love what they do.They are passionate about their work. Isaiah 65:22 says this: The Lord says, And my electshall long enjoy the work of their hands. In The Message Bible it says, My chosen ones willhave satisfaction in their work.

I have a dear friend. In fact, I just spoke to him two days ago. He has done extremely well withseveral business ventures, in more than one nation. He is very wealthy, has a lot of freedom, alot of independence, and is hugely generous to his local church and the work of God in his ownnation. He shared how he was in a job as an executive in a very established firm. He was beingpaid a very handsome salary, but he was not loving what he was doing. He came across averse from Isaiah 55:2, King James Version. The Lord asked the question: Why do you spendyour labor for that which satisfieth not? It struck his heart like a hammer. He said, You knowwhat? I dont love what Im doing. Im spending my labor for something that I dont findsatisfaction in. And even though he actually was the CEO of a very large company in hisnation, he went in that day, turned in his resignation, and launched off on his own. He hasbecome just hugely, hugely successful. The thing that stands out to me most about him and the

other people like him, is that they love what they are doing. They find great satisfaction in theirwork.Not for the faint of heart. Did you notice they both mentioned passion? That is a key factor. Ithas to do with loving what you do. I think there are other recommendations that actually broughtto mind a verse of Scripture from the Book of Proverbs, and I want to quote it to you. It is fromthe Living Bible. Proverbs 24:3 says, Any enterprise is built by wise planning, becomes strongthrough common sense and profits wonderfully by keeping abreast of the facts.


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3. THEY BELIEVE THEY ARE HELPING PEOPLENumber three: People who are successful believe they are helping people, that the service orthe product they are providing is beneficial. Whether it is healthy food, a way to save peopletime, or some product to weatherproof your deck, whatever it is, they are not using cheapmaterials or making unrealistic promises.They are offering good things for the good of people.

4. THEY DO WHAT THEY DO WITH A SPIRIT OF EXCELLENCEThis ties closely with the fourth thing that I found in common with successful business people;they provide the very best they can for their customers. They believe they are actually helpingpeople, providing a service or product that helps folks, and they provide the best they can: Thebest food, the best music product, the best media service, building materials, whatever it is.They do what they do with a spirit of excellence. You know, that is one of the things atCottonwood that we insist on. If we do something, we want it done right. In fact, for our people inthe media, we have a saying: No cheesy stuff allowed, unless we are trying to be cheesy onpurpose to get a laugh, because we want things done with excellence. In the Book of Daniel inthe sixth chapter it says that Daniel was promoted above others in the kingdom because he had

an excellent spirit. That really is part of the culture of the kingdom of God: excellence. TheScripture says of Christ: He has done all things well. When God created everything in theBook of Genesis, He did this, He did that, and on this day He created this, created that, and itsays, And when it was finished, God saw everything that He had made, and it was very good.Excellence is the culture of the kingdom. I mean, the thing we want to hear when we standbefore the Lord Jesus Christ is, Well done, good and faithful servant. How many want to hearthose words? Its not just Done, good and faithful servant. It is well done! That is excellenceby choice.I try and do the very best with what I have when I preach. Business people who are successfulare doing the best that they can do. You go into a place that is haphazard, slipshod, as opposedto a place of excellence, and it is apparent right away. People are drawn to excellence. People

who do things excellently get repeat customers. They dont sell something they wouldnt usethemselves.5. THEY HAVE HAD THEIR SHARE OF FAILURESThe fifth thing that successful business people have in common is that they have all had theirshare of failures. That is a word that some Christians are afraid of. You cannot be afraid offailure. In fact, I think failure can be important in the process of getting to success. Justbecause you have failed, does not mean you are a failure. Everyone that I know has had theirhead end up where their feet were a moment before. They have had things happen. Look withme at Proverbs 24:16. It says,

16 For a righteous manmay fall seven times And rise again, But the wicked shallfall by calamity.

That means that it takes just one calamity for the wicked to fall. Yet a righteous man may haveseven setbacks, but he will get up and get going again. He is going to fall, going to fail, thingsare going to go wrong; but when we have the hand of God in our life, we can get up, and we canget going again. You are going to find that any successful business person has failed at sometime. They have done things wrong. They have made mistakes, but they have recovered from itbecause they dont quit.


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Please look at Psalm 37. What Im about to quote is going to help somebody. I just have asense in my heart. Psalm 37:23,

23 The steps of a goodman are ordered by the LORD, And He delights in hisway.

How many have ever heard that verse of Scripture before? What a good verse! The steps of agood man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way. Well, look at the next verse:

24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the LORD upholds himwithHis hand.

How could you possibly fall if the Lord is ordering your steps? Because there is always thehuman factor! I dont know about you, but I have never gotten it right a hundred percent of thetime. Sometimes I have done my best to hear from God, and God has had His hand on me. Hehas been directing me, and I have still messed up. There is always the human factor in things.Sometimes we just dont get it right. Sometimes there are just human choices. People make

wrong choices, sometimes in the people with whom we associate. Think about God Himself.God chose Saul to be Israels first king. Saul messed up. At the end, Saul became an associateof witches and people contacting evil spirits. He just went off the rails. He became a murdererin his heart. He became disobedient to God, and God said, I regret to have chosen Saul. Well,God, whats up with that? You are God! You knew he would mess up, and You regret Your ownchoice? I think that at the end of the day nobody is going to be able to say, God, You were notfair with me, because God, even though He knows what we are going to do, still gives us everyopportunity.Think about Adam. The Garden of Eden is perfect. God is the perfect Father. It is the perfectenvironment, everything is provided, and look at the choice that Adam made. The human racehas been paying for it every day since. Human will is a very powerful thing. I can honestly tell

you there have been some people whom I have associated with that I can earnestly say withouthesitation, God, You led me to engage with that person. You led me to associate with thatperson, and there have been a few times that I have been bitten. There have been a few timeswhen things were great, but because of choices that were made, the bottom fell out. Thingswent south. I cant shake a fist at God and say, God, You are unfair! How could You have ledme to do that? I think God just knows the end from the beginning, and He gives people everyopportunity in the world. Sometimes things are not going to go a hundred percent right, but youknow what? A righteous man falls seven times and gets up again. He does not get bitter at Godor at people, and realizes that God sees the end from the beginning. The end is going to begood for those who dont quit and that keep on going.It is all right to fail. In fact, Im going to tell you: If you are not having any setbacks or any

failures, you are not doing much. Sometimes you are going to take a wrong step. Some peopleare so afraid they will do the wrong thing that they just sit and do nothing. They never becomethe blessing that they could be because they are afraid of failure. Sometimes it is just going tohappen.Think about Peter. What a brilliant choice! Jesus, You chose Peter as Your disciple. You toldhim, Follow Me. Ill make you a fisher of men. Peter came and listened to Jesus preach in hissynagogue, saw miracles take place, and then the next morning Jesus said, Come on. Wehave to go to other cities. For this reason I have been sent. When you read the gospel


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narratives together, you find out that Peter bailed. Peter did not go with Jesus. He stayedbehind. He left the ministry right after he was invited to be a part of it. Jesus went on a circuitpreaching in the cities, and came back into Galilee and the City of Capernaum. There were4,000 boats on the Sea of Galilee at that time, and Jesus picked one to preach a sermon out of.Who did it belong to? Peter. Peter was there washing the nets. Jesus said, Launch out into thedeep for a catch. Peter caught the fish and everything, and then he knelt down and said,

Depart from me. Im a sinful man, Lord. That was because Peter knew his own heart. He hadabandoned Jesus. And Jesus had just come back his way and performed a miracle. Jesussaid, Dont be afraid. From now on you will catch men. The calling came to Peter a secondtime. Then, even after the resurrection, Jesus told them, I am going to go before you intoGalilee. Then the angel told the women, Tell Peter that Jesus is going before him into Galilee.They got there and were so excited. But Jesus never turned up. Day rolled into day rolled intoday, and then Peter made a little statement. In our English Bibles its quite harmless, butactually in the original text it carries a punch. Peter said, Im going fishing. In the Greeklanguage it is in the infinitive verb form. I am going fishing from now on. I am going back tofishing, it reads in the original text. He left the ministry, even after the resurrection. That is whenJesus came on the shore and said, Catch anything children?No.

And then He said, Well, drop the net on the other side of the boat.They caught 153 large fish. Peter jumped in, swam to shore, and Jesus had a little talk with him.Peter, do you love Me more than these? He pointed to the boats and the 153 fish flopping onthe shore.Peter said, You know I love You.He said, Well, feed My sheep. You are not called to fish for fish. You are called to deal withpeople, Peter.Peter failed and he failed and he failed. I even left out the part where he denied Jesus. But youknow what? He became the pillar that Jesus said he would be. You are Simon. You will beCephas. You are going to be a rock by the time Im through with you, Peter. You just cant quit!Maybe you have had some big dreams in your heart, and you have fallen flat on your face.

Welcome to the club! Listen, if you have something inside of you telling you that you could dosomething significant and put a significant amount of funds in the kingdom, then do it. Take therisks you need to take. Follow God. Be wise. Do your homework. I am not saying, Launch offhalf-cocked. But be ready to do something significant for the kingdom because souls are tooprecious to not give our all for the kingdom. If God has put things inside of us, let us do them.6. THEY ARE ALL LEARNERSNumber six: Successful business people are all learners. Throughout Scripture, this is probablythe most repeated quality of a wise person. If you look in Proverbs, again and again and again itsays that a wise person listens. A wise person heeds instruction. In the Bible, the number onetrait of a fool is that they spurn instruction. They wont listen to counsel. They wont learn. In

the Scriptures, the number one trait of a wise person is that they are a learner. Please look atProverbs 18:15. It says,

15 The heart of the prudent acquires knowledge, And the ear of the wise seeksknowledge.

The heart acquires and the ear seeks. Think about those words, acquires and seeks. It speaksto me of actively pursuing knowledge. Any person who is successful is trying to grow. They arealways learning; they are always trying to expand, always trying to find a way to do it better, to


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find somebody else who has already been through it so they dont have to make all the mistakesthat others have made actively pursuing knowledge. Look with me at Proverbs 24:6,

6 For by wise counsel you will wage your own war, And in a multitude ofcounselors there issafety.

Do your homework before you start: Talk to people; gain knowledge. We wont turn there, butProverbs 13:20 says he who walks with wise men will be wise.Between yesterday and today I have spent at least a couple of hours on the phone with somecolleagues of mine trying to get some wisdom from them. There is something that I have beenconsidering doing. It is an area that I feel like I have overlooked, an avenue of the wisdom ofGod, and I had to talk. So I called five different people who I thought would have some insightinto what I was considering doing. So far I have been able to talk to three of them. Two of them Ihavent been able to reach yet. Between those three people and myself, we probably spent agood two hours on the telephone talking about the ups and downs, the ins and outs, the prosand cons of what I was thinking about. Some of them are farther along the road than I am; someof them, not quite as far, but considering doing the same things. Ill tell you: I got some brilliant

nuggets of wisdom from them. But you need to talk to other people. The man or woman who willonly listen to themselves has a fool for a counselor. You know, one of the greatest blessings in my life is that my mom and dad come to churchhere. They are here every Sunday morning. Dad is an interesting fellow, those of you who knowhim. He is very unique and doesnt care a whole lot about what people think, but I will say mydad has been one of my greatest counselors. He is just full of good old-fashioned horse sense.He is very perceptive about people, and I have been able to talk to him about a lot of things. Ithas been a terrific blessing to have my own father in my life. Although he has not had theexperience in some of the arenas that I may need wisdom in, he has good old-fashionedanointed horse sense. That goes a long way.

7. THEY HAVE HAD TO TRUST GOD WHEN FACED WITH IMPOSSIBILITIESThe seventh thing that they have in common is that they have all been faced with impossibilitiesand have had to trust God. I have never met a successful Christian business owner that hasntfaced their Goliaths, hasnt faced insurmountable odds, and had to at some points just trustGod. There was nothing else they could do except take a hold of the word of God. First John5:4 says, This is the victory that has overcome the world: Our faith. We do not gain grounduncontested. You have to have a positive spirit, and you must anchor your trust in Gods word. Itis vital to success. It is true of every pastor I know who is winning souls and going forward in thekingdom. It is true of every successful person in the kingdom. You are going to face yourimpossible obstacles. Do any of you have a Goliath or two in your life going on right now? Well,you know what? God is still in the business of equipping His Davids. He can still put the Holy

Spirit velocity behind that stone that you have and knock your Goliath out. He can do it. Peoplein and outside of the church that I have known have at many times come and said, Pastor, willyou pray with me? We are facing this thing. We dont know what to do. We dont have the fundsto meet these bills. Or, Our particular industry has been really hit hard with the economy. Wedont know what to do. They faced huge obstacles, but faith in God has brought them through.Friend, faith in God can bring you through, as well.I want to pray. If you are facing an impossible situation in your business, in your family, or inyour body, I just feel like we need to pray right now.


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9. THEIR BUSINESS IS MINISTRY OR CREATES OPPORTUNITIES FOR MINISTRYThe ninth thing I found in common is that all the believers whom I know who are successful inbusiness feel like their business is ministry, or that it creates opportunities for ministry.I met a gentleman just recently in England, a beautiful Christian. I sat down and talked to him for

about a half an hour. He is the CEO of a company that has over 70,000 employees in 30different countries. He regularly spends time with the most influential political leaders in Britain.He said It is ministry. The media gets after him because he very openly says, I believe thatGod put me here. He shares Christ with all of his employees, all 70,000 of them! The status hehas because of his position allows him into circles that a lot of other people would never be ableto get into to minister. He is hugely generous with the monies that he makes through hisbusiness. But to him, first and foremost, it is ministry, and it opens opportunities for ministry.There is a couple who live in Munich, Germany, that I have gotten to know over quite a fewyears. They have been incredibly impacted by the broadcast here from Cottonwood. In fact,their marriage was on the rocks, and he came to Christ in a very real way. The broadcast had avery vital role to play in that. They own one of the most famous restaurants in Munich. They also

run what I believe is the largest tent during Oktoberfest. You have to understand, for a German,drinking a beer is just part of a meal. In fact, the old German monks used to call it liquid bread.You know, from being here in the United States, it is just a very, very different mindset. Theyhave this huge tent that seats about 12,000 people inside and out, and it is full every moment ofevery day during Oktoberfest. It is the most famous tent there. This gentleman comes to Christwith a fury, and they start going to this church. They have come to the church because we aredoing a meeting in the church. They saw it advertised. They got plugged in to that church, andthey came to the pastor who is a dear friend of mine, and said, Look, if what we are doing iswrongyou know, we serve beer at Oktoberfest we will shut it down, and we will stop rightaway. Thank God they had a wise pastor. He said, No. What you have is an amazing ministryopportunity. So they have been very, very vocal about their faith in Christ. A lot of the otherpeople who are in their position have marriages that have broken up because of the stress and

everything of it, so the media came and interviewed him because they had such a goodmarriage. He said, Jesus saved our marriage. It was on the front page of the Munich paper!You know, Jesus saves and it has their name saves their marriage! Because of that,tons of people come in to their tent. They actually have a room built on to the tent where theybring people back, influential people, to minister to them. Political leaders in Bavaria, other cityleaders, they bring them back and lead them to Christ in this room back there. It is an incredibleopportunity for ministry that they have. There is live television all during Oktoberfest, and it allcomes out of one tent, their tent. So they are on television eight hours a day live, and he has anhour a day, himself, that he talks on the television. He just openly talks about Christ, influencingall of the city of Munich and Bavaria for Christ! What they have, their business, is ministry tothem. In fact, I got to get up on the platform with 10,000 people with their beer steins and leadeverybody in a song. I actually filmed a television piece up there, as well. It was very, very cool.

In fact, it was Italian Day, and I think we had 10,000 Italians out there. It was an interestingthing. So all the people who are successful in business, all of them that I know, look at it asministry or an opportunity for ministry.10. THEY USE THEIR WEALTH FOR KINGDOM PURPOSESNumber ten: They use their wealth for kingdom purposes. They support the local church. Theyfund missions. We need to remember God blesses us to be a blessing. That should be ourdeepest motivation. Yes, we began with they all have a desire for freedom, and I think that is


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true. I think, if they are honest, probably everybody would like to be financially free and be freeof some of the restrictions. But a deeper and better motivation than that, even though thosethings can be sanctified and holy and great, is precious souls and the work of Gods kingdom,the work of Gods house that God blesses us to be a blessing. I look at the personal benefit asa fringe benefit. I think the main reason for Gods blessing is to fund His kingdom, to bring thegood news of Jesus Christ to a lost and a dying world. As I said earlier, the only thing we take

to heaven with us are the precious souls that we win for Christ. So why not desire to prosperand do something significant in that arena? You know, to support the work of the local churchand to send missionaries out, to get the gospel into every form and fashion of media that we canto saturate this world with the good news of Jesus Christ. What purer and better motivation canthere be than that? With everyone who I know in the kingdom that is successful, business-wise,it is their strongest heartbeat to be able to fund the kingdom and to be used by God. They lookat it as ministry, and they look at it as something holy. When they are out there in themarketplace doing what they do, they are doing business for God because it will translate intoprecious souls being saved.We should use whatever gifts God has given us if it is in the arena of business, if it is in thearena of speaking, if it is singing, if it is art, if it is coaching, or if it is computer programming.

Whatever we do the Bible says we should do it for the glory of God .

Copyright 2009 Answ ers with Bayless Conley

ten traits of successful business people

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