In this Bible and Business video series on the eight “A’s” that kill healthy, business partnerships, Bill English, Publisher of Bible and Business, explores the second “A”: Apathy. You can download the slides for this video series from the download section at www.bibleandbusiness.com. This content comes from Bill’s books, “A Christian Theology of Business Ownership” and the abridged version, “What the Bible Says About Owning and Business.” You can watch the companion video on the Bible and Business channel. Download the series slides.
[00:00:18.310] – Bill English
And welcome. Welcome back. I’m Bill English, the publisher here at Five One Business. I want to thank you for joining me today. We are in a series on the eight as that kill healthy partnerships.
[00:00:29.440] – Bill English
So the previous series was on the ten elements that you need to have a really healthy business partnership. In this series, we’re looking at the eight A’s that kill healthy partnerships. And today we’re in the second of this eight part series, and this is on apathy. Apathy. This content is taken from my book A Christian Theology of Business Ownership.
[00:00:51.630] – Bill English
An Introduction for Christian entrepreneurs on what the Bible says about owning a business. But you can also pick up a condensed version or an abridged version of that book. And I’ve titled it what the Bible Says about Owning a Business. So I invite you to pick up either or both. And you know what?
[00:01:10.890] – Bill English
Read it and then pass it on. Maybe there’s another business owner that can benefit from the content. Just a note again, if you have one of these A’s in your partnership, you probably do okay. But if you have two, it’s going to get difficult. Three or more don’t even try.
[00:01:27.870] – Bill English
The partnership will eventually fail. It doesn’t really matter which three or which two. It’s going to be difficult. And three or more, it’s just not going to work. It’s going to fail.
[00:01:37.380] – Bill English
So just a note on that. Also, I just want to invite you to head over to Bibleandbusiness.com, take a look at the articles, and listen to the other podcasts. We have some tools out there for you as well. You can also download the slides and PDF format for this broadcast from our downloads section. And I would just ask that you take a moment if this is helpful to you.
[00:01:59.340] – Bill English
These weekly videos are helpful to you. As a Christian who owns a business or as a Christian who’s considering owning a business, I would just ask that you subscribe to this Bible and Business YouTube channel. I would appreciate it very much. So let’s get going. Apathy.
[00:02:13.960] – Bill English
Apathy. Apathy. What is apathy? When you lack motivation to do what you should do or you just don’t care about what’s going on around you, you got some apathy going, all right? Usually there’s an absence of feelings or emotions, and you can also have a loss of interest in social or emotional situations.
[00:02:38.060] – Bill English
That’s apathy. And really, quite frankly, those who avoid conflict are displaying a type of apathy that can injure both themselves and those around them. And obviously, the business as a whole. I’m a big one who believes that if you have if you have a lot of unresolved conflict, then you’re leaving a lot of opportunity on the table. You’re leaving a lot of profit on the table.
[00:03:07.780] – Bill English
You can’t get some traction without some friction. And apathy is a good way to make sure that your business doesn’t grow. That your business at best, stays the same and just doesn’t do that well. So I would just invite you to take a look at yourself and see if you’re a little bit apathetic here’s. James 117.
[00:03:29.530] – Bill English
If anyone then knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them. I think James here is describing at least a little bit apathy. When you have the opportunity to do good and you have the means to do it and then you don’t help, james says that’s sin. It’s a sin of omission. It’s a sin of not wanting to be bothered.
[00:03:55.000] – Bill English
Don’t. I just don’t want to deal with this mess right now. I’m just going to move on. That person’s just going to have to figure it out. It’s a sin of apathy.
[00:04:08.060] – Bill English
And when it comes to partnerships, apathy is often seen in the partner quietly withdrawing, lessening his contribution to the firm, and expressing that he doesn’t have the same quality or intensity of care or concern that he once had for your products, your services, customers, partners, vendors, employees, and so forth. Okay? Apathy is a real danger as we grow older, because as we grow older, we start to lose energy, we start to lose emotional energy, we start to lose physical energy, and it really becomes something where we just don’t care that much anymore. Just let me sit on the couch and watch a movie or watch a ball game or something. And that’s what apathy and partnerships, where I’ve seen it really take hold is when one of the two partners is in their mid to late 60s into their early 70s, they’re not willing to let go of the partnership because, frankly, they probably need the income out of it.
[00:05:15.520] – Bill English
They need the salary, but they’re only pulling maybe half or a quarter of the weight that they used to pull. It’s really not a good situation. I know of one manager who told me that his belief was this, that if I have to motivate you, then I might as well fire you. And I think there’s some truth to this. If you’re apathetic and I have to come in and motivate you every day to do your job, then I don’t know why you’re here.
[00:05:42.580] – Bill English
Go find a job that you’re really interested in, that really you can be motivated because of what you’re doing or the cause or the purpose behind it or something. But I personally do not take time to motivate my people, and I tend to agree with this. If I have to motivate you, I might as well fire you and find somebody who is motivated to do your job. Tough to do, though, by the way, when the apathetic person is in your partnership, right? Because partnerships, they’re just a different breed all the way around.
[00:06:20.380] – Bill English
So it’s just difficult when it’s your partner. So, look, you can’t fix and you can’t manage apathy in another person. You’ve heard the phrase you can’t fix stupid. You know what? You also you can’t fix Apathy, right?
[00:06:35.810] – Bill English
And once apathy is part of the picture in an ongoing, persistent way, you’ll need to look for ways to either end or exit the partnership, or you’re going to work a heck of a lot harder to maintain a healthy partnership. Just like servant leadership doesn’t work when the other person doesn’t want to be served or led, apathetic partners cannot be motivated. So don’t try to motivate an Apathetic partner. Just realize you’re either going to pull a lot more of their weight in order to make the business work, or you’re going to end up having to exit the partnership. All right?
[00:07:18.060] – Bill English
Apathy, it’s a lack of motivation or interest in what you’re doing or in those around you. Remember that you can’t fix or manage Apathy in another person. And once Apathy sets in, your partnership will become much more difficult because you’ll be pulling their weight too. And I think that’s the piece for most business partners that really just really drives the wedge between them and their partners. They’re tired of pulling the other guy’s weight.
[00:07:48.640] – Bill English
So you may have to consider exiting the partnership if Apathy continues to persist. All right, next week we’re going to look at affairs. How do affairs injure healthy partnerships, and what can we do about it? So until then, I’m Bill English, the publisher here at Bible and Business. I want to thank you for joining me today.
[00:08:11.130] – Bill English
If this series is helpful to you, just drop me a line at email. Just bill@bibleandandbusiness.com. Bill@bibleandbusiness.com, I’d love to hear from you, love to dialogue with you, and would love to just find out what you’re doing in business and just how you’re doing overall. If you happen to be in the Twin Cities area where I live here in Minnesota, just drop me a line. I run a monthly business group.
[00:08:38.160] – Bill English
I don’t charge for it. We go to lunch together, and we just talk about the Lord and business. And right now, there’s about seven or eight guys who are in this group, and if you would like to be a part of that group, just drop me a line if you can make it here to the Twin Cities. So thank you for joining me today, as always. It’s good to see you.
[00:09:01.990] – Bill English
I hope you go out and make it a great, great day. God bless you. Take care.