Marketplace Convention Part 1-Character

Marketplace = Family, Government, Spirituality, Education, Arts, Media, Mass Communications

This term above defines how the world functions or orbits around where business is being done. No one individual is spared from engaging the marketplace unless he/she chooses to isolate in seclusion whatsoever. This is where people will look for a Standardization of a particular language. The term "Kosmos" is defined as culture. Before we proceed, we need to understand the term Marketplace in more detailed form.

Marketplace is
1) the Interpreter of supply and demand (it defines what's hot and what's not)
2) the Sphere of Intangible values that competes for acceptance.
the latter, where relatively crucial, is where youngsters (mainly) live out these values. And influence shapes values.

why study all these? because its important to understand these and deal with/build relationships with people that have opposing values to you. many a times, we want to convert people; whatever reasons it may be, to our thinkings, habits, preferences and it only backfires. its not just about conversion but influencing. We got to use our belief/faith, live it out and influence.

Influence = the ability not just to affect, but have an effect on 3 areas.
*a) Character (an individual or situation) - it takes character to influence character*
b) Development (of someone, something, ideas, directions)
c) Behaviour (of people and/or organization)

therefore, one may ask, how do we go from here? The answer is to move forward without compromising mercy and justice. its important for both mercy and justice to go together. Mercy + Justice = Restorative justice, leading to restoration and redemption. (an important aspect because graciousness is what it takes to be a great person especially leaders)

Honor those you want to influence. A saying goes like this that " A man's gift will make room for him". i love to give gifts to people reason being, gifts open hearts. Most people only want to keep and reward themselves and miss out great things in life. some people managed to move a little bit out from that space by honoring those on top but it is important to know that you also need to honor those around him/her. sometimes, we can so coped up with our managers, CEOs, COOs etc that we forget those who are close to him/her. in Management theories, we learnt that those around are closest to the Power core of the management ladder and he/she may have influence over that manager's decision indirectly. therefore, if you aspire to mount the corporate level, remember that you don't just need your managers' support, you need comrades, friends that can rally or give you support. you also never know if one day, you may need someone elsewhere's help.

there're 2 types of power of influence; the invisible and the visible. Influence is 10% visible and 90% invisible. especially if you're in a place of influence, always take extra care in everything you do. we influence people around us unknowingly and subconsciously on a Daily Basis. its a hard truth and even myself need to repent and change in this area constantly.

therefore having said so much, how can we attain a certain level of influence in our lifes? 2 ways.
i) walking in shadows - unintentional benefits of relationships (experience benefits but if the person leaves, no more benefits)
ii) walking in footsteps - by way of life, conduct or action (a person's consecration), leaders are here.
-never live in a person's shadows. -> this happens so often...
We need to know the importance of growing our influence though following th footsteps of others. Don't ride on others' success, create your own! There'll always be tension between those in shadows and those in footsteps. True success comes and resides in a person's Character.

Several important points to take note.
-Relationship precedes ministry and/or business.
-Success comes through Service + Integrity.
-Promotion comes from Service and Integirty.
why are we studying all these? because integrity is the core of character. Honesty is core of Integrity and integrity begets Trust. and its important to know all these because all of us will face constant attacks and tests of our integrity. There's a price to pay to walk in integrity and Values is about what Price we're willing to pay for integrity. Honesty is not the best policy but the ONLY policy.

when we go through false accusations, the way we handle it brings out our character and purges your relationships. it will help you discover who your true friends are. therefore, its important to choose the right relationships and friends. when the wrong people comes into your life, it makes your life sad. but even so, we will never stop building relationships inlife because its like staple food for our lifes. the need to build relationships and through them, influence.

a side note: Christianity is about 2 things - Theology of Person (Change people), Theology of Place (Change place and society). its been long that many churches isolate/alienate themselves and its people from the rest of the world. they preach separation but practise isolation and it has created such a barrier that people fear to engage christians and christians dislike engaging the people. as such, how do we fulfill the Great Commission.

Relationships is how the marketplace or world functions. the differences between seasons of life is a person/people. the differences between success and failure is a person/people. People is both answer and problem. this is something important that we all got to embrace whether you like it or not. Relationship precedes ministry and businesses. and also the right and wrong relationships can come at the same time. when a wrong relationship occurs, the person will never leave voluntarily. humans have this uncanning ability to adapt and if you're not careful, you can adapt to that person's presence and it can affect your life, future, destiny. therefore you got to make a choice to remove him/her/them or remove yourself.

all successes comes through a process of purification/purgification and it comes with a price. Nelson Mandala, from prisoner to president and it is the first ever. we got to adjust the way we think. when people do wrong things, we need to understand the motivation behind it. this is where it matters the most. In US, courts determines the sentencing of a criminal based on his/her motivation behind the act. Most of the time, none of us struggle with the black and white region in life but rather its the grey area.

i learnt a hard truth and really brought about a paradigm shift in my thinking. i'm a workaholic in nature so i can work for hours without stopping. actually i took up 2 jobs and had to study in the evening during a span of 3-4months period couple of years back. i wanted to earn more money and i thought it was good. some close friends who knew about it said i'm crazy coz i had to juggle 2 jobs and my studies in the evening. it didnt matter much but the matter of fact is, we're actually paid not by/for our time, but rather for our value. taking on extra jobs only diminishes our value by compromising our health.

as we move on in life, most of us will definitely come to a certain level of influence and power. it takes character to balance that power. it is believed that currently, its not an economic crisis but rather a crisis of power without character where we see great managers and leaders fall. Franklin Roosevelt,"To mentor a person in mind and not in moral is creating a menace in society". it is easy to go to a position of power/influence but it takes character to sustain. Character brings about order and stability. the world is in a chaotic situation and really, how much order and stability is being searched and look for. people want to know when the economy will be back and runnning, when stocks will recover and bounce back, when retrenchment will cease, when employment will boom again, when business will prosper once more. there're so many chaos and questions and yet, what we get are simply, improved forecasts after forecasts.

Order and Discipline -> Consistency -> creates Security -> creates Stability -> strengthens relationships.

a common complaint amongst women is that men are inconsistent beings. women looks if men consistently fulfills his word in the relationship because inconsistency breeds insecurity and instability. we need to urgent in bringing a whole new standard of character.