What does God want me to know about leading His business?

By Dave Shoemaker

Owner, C12 Philadelphia

Principal Chair

God, you want to make all business owners and CEOs aware that You have a specific purpose for them. You have an individual purpose for each leader which includes their business, their marriage and family, and the leader’s individual walk. There are few things (any?) that can supplant this purpose as one’s highest priority. With a desire to discover, understand, and walk it out, You apply a Biblical model where a group of leaders help each other develop and pursue their respective greater purpose.

I am a C12 Chair. I facilitate multiple CEO tables around which there are a limited number of seats; 12 to be precise. Permission to sit at the table is not based on ability to pay. Nor is it for the biggest or most famous. A seat at the table is based on a desire to know God’s best and apply it to change the world by advancing the truth of Christ in the marketplace.

Does this sound too churchy for you or do you expect the Christian foundation to make it wimpy? Yes, some people have that preconceived notion depending upon prior “religious” experience.

At the C12 table you’ll meet owners who have 10x’d their business.
Others who have turned a toxic culture into a magnet for great people who want to work in an environment their friends rave about.
Still others have gone from giving little and paying no attention to ministry initiatives in/through their business to blessing their employees and communities in ways they would have never through possible.

You want them to know, Lord, that this table is not like anything they’ve ever been part of. The room is safe. The members are extremely vulnerable. And the Holy Spirit’s presence is palpable.

Intrigued? Explore some of the fundamental truths we experience in a C12 Forum:

You will always have everything you need to do all He asks of you. God won’t ask you to do something and then hold back on what you need to accomplish His task.
Everything comes from God. One of His most important resources is the people He brings to serve in your company. Our leadership responsibility is to develop people to their God-given best. To the extent that can’t be done, our job is to help them find an alternate place of employment that suits their ability.
We can’t give what we don’t have. We are blessed to be a blessing. God loves to pour out abundance on those who share generously what He gives us. This applies to material gifts as well as the knowledge of God’s word and principles (more precious than money).

What is this organization, C12 Business Forums, about which you know little or nothing?

C12 is the largest global organization serving Christian business owners and leaders.
Starting 34 years ago, C12 serves 5,000 members with 242 Chairs worldwide.
Coming to Greater Philadelphia in 2008, there have been forums meeting here for 18 years; some with original members still engaged.
C12 is a full-time, for-profit entity. The Chairs are former business owners and executives who have the experience to call on personal lessons and ask the tough questions that get to the issues.

Next?

If you think this may be for you, let’s explore that. Respond to this note indicating the level of interest you have and we’ll talk.
If the talk takes us further, you’ll be invited to participate in a live C12 Business Forum to confirm the value you anticipate.
If you and the group seem to fit, you’ll become a member.

Purposefully in Christ,

Dave Shoemaker