Summary of Week One: Family Guy with Walt Tomme

This week kicked off the series Family Guy and for those of you who could not make it, I wanted to recap for you what we discussed.

Families are just like organizations; and all organizations have problems with unity, retention, motivation, and success.  So the Gallop Organization commissioned a study of 10 Million people to develop the characteristics of a successful organization and after years of research they boiled it down to the top 12.

The following 12 characteristics are the core principals of the most successful businesses on earth; and its these same principals that will help us engage with our families, the team that we live with every day.

12 Keys of Engaged Team Members
1.    I know what is expected of me on the team.
2.    I have everything I need to do my job right.
3.    I have the opportunity on the team to do what I do best, every day.
4.    In the past seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing my job right.
5.    My coach or someone in team leadership seems to care about me as a person.
6.    There is someone on the team who encourages my development.
7.    On the team, my opinions seem to count.
8.    The mission/purpose of my team makes me feel my part is important.
9.    My team mates are committed to doing things well (the right things).
10. I have a best friend on the team.
11. In the past six months, one of my coaches has talked to me about my progress.
12. This past year, I have had opportunities to learn and grow.
© The Gallop Organization

These 12 key characteristics do not come about without an agreement on basic values.  It’s here that we develop the template of our family dynamics, by having basic values by which we live by.  And this is where God has already laid the foundation.

The Job of a Committed Husband and Father
Deuteronomy 6:
3 Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you. 4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.5Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

The bible gives us instruction on life, and encourages us with 6 basic values that build our character, and gives us insight into the character of God; of whom we were created by in his very likeness.

These 6 Foundational Values are Courage, Integrity, Respect, Responsibility, Empathy, Self-less
C-I-R-R-E-S

Courage   Joshua1:9
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Integrity    James 5:12
“But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath ; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment. “
Respect   Philippians2:3-4
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Responsibility    Galatians6:3-5
“ For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he
deceives himself.    But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another.    For each one will bear his own load. “
Empathy    Ephesians4:32
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.“
Self-less   Philippians 2:3-4
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

The task at hand is to know understand how that value plays out in our homes.

What does a value look like in action?

Take a few hours this week with your wife and review the 6 basic values and put together a list of up to 5 characteristics that explain the value in the following 4 circumstances.

1. When the family      is together as a unit; Responsibility looks like…(knowing       your role, pulling your weight, etc)
2. When individual      members of the family interact with each other; Empathy looks      like…(Being supportive, etc..)
3. When the family      interacts with others, Self-less-ness looks like…(Serving others      at the table first, etc…)
4. When no one is      looking; Integrity looks like…(Doing the right things always…)

Do you get the picture?  Putting values in to actions makes our children and ourselves see what that would do to transform the way the family functions.  Its more than just words; its actual action.  And actions bring results, words on a wall do not.

I encourage you, take that action this week, and join us next as we continue this informative and enlightening series!

See you next week.  Please forward this to the person you invited and ask them to join our email list below.

Invest, and Invite.

Pat