The Number One Way To Do What God Says

We must allow the Word of God to confront us, to disturb our security, to undermine our complacency and to overthrow our patterns of thought and behavior.
John R.W. Stott

I want to do the right thing.  Don’t you?

I spend my “free time” in the car or on the treadmill listening to podcasts, so I can learn more.  On my nightstand, I have a few leadership books.  I listen to 150 podcasts every week, and I read through (or skim through) over 330 blogs whenever there is a new post.

I stand by the saying “Leaders are readers.”

But I think I sometimes take it too far.

When I say I want to do the right thing, I mean this:

• I want to be a great husband.
• I want to be a great father.
• I want to be a great employee.
• I want to be a great boss.
• I want to be a great leader.
• I want to be a great friend.
• I want to be a great teammate.
• I want to be a great giver.
• I want to be a great person.

I don’t want to mess up when it comes to these areas of my life (and other areas).  I’m a perfectionist.  Unfortunately, I get it wrong if these are my pursuits.

I want to be a great Christ-follower.  If I can get this right, the other things should take care of themselves.  If I’m serious about this proclamation – if I’m serious about wanting to be a great Christ-follower, I should do what God says.

What is the number one way to do what God says?

If you want to do what God says, you have to know what God says.

“But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it – he will be blessed in what he does.”  James 1:25

“How can a young person stay on the path of purity?  By living according to your word.  I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands.  I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”  Psalm 119:9-11

If I want to follow Christ, I have to start by digesting God’s Word.  Spending time in God’s Word does not happen with a closed, dust-covered Bible on the coffee table.  It happens when I open it up, when I study it, and when I take time to chew on it.  Only then can I truly do what God says.

If you want to do the right thing, start with God’s Word.

When was the last time you spent time studying God’s Word?  How do you make the most of time reading The Bible?  What has God recently been teaching you through His Word?

10 Ways To Get the Most out of the Performance Management Process

This week, I’m in the middle of the performance management process for my team members.  This is an annual opportunity to provide feedback to my team members on their performance over the past year.  I could be easy to rush through this process which is required by my company.  I could simply write a couple of sentences about each team member and move on to the next year.

Taking this approach doesn’t do my team members any favors, and it doesn’t help my team or the company get better.  A well thought out and carefully executed performance review can be the bedrock of success for your team and your company.

In today’s post, I offer ten ways to get the most out of the performance management process.  This is written from a managers perspective; however, this is a great reference for those who don’t manage direct reports.  After reading today’s post, you may want to suggest that your supervisor start this type of performance management process for you.  You may simply want to tweak what is already happening at your job.

Whether you are a manager of direct reports or not, I hope you’ll find this list helpful in understanding ways to get better.  Success doesn’t happen by accident.  Success happens by being intentional, and this list offers suggestions – no, essentials – for being intentional with the performance management process.

10 Ways To Get the Most out of the Performance Management Process

1. Start with regular one-on-one meetings.  It’s important to meet with your employees on a regular basis.  These meetings provide an opportunity to touch base on performance issues and other business and non-business related items.  You can read about the power of one-on-one meetings in a guest post I wrote for Matt McWilliams.  This year I started having monthly one-on-one meetings with my team, and it’s been helpful for my team members and for me.
2. Set performance targets.  It’s critical that employees have SMART targets.  Targets should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely.  At the beginning of each year, I sit down with my team members to set targets.  These targets align with our overall business objectives, and they also provide opportunities for individuals to grow personally.  (For more details on why employees should set performance targets, click here.)
3. Quarterly review progress towards targets.  It shouldn’t be a surprise at the end of the year when doing a performance evaluation.  I sit down with my employees once a quarter to review their progress in achieving their targets.  Doing this once a quarter provides an opportunity for my team members to make performance corrections that will help them meet or exceed their targets.
4. Get feedback from others.  I encourage my team members to ask for feedback from their peers.  And I get feedback from other managers and supervisors regarding the performance of my team members.  Before completing the annual performance management process, I meet in a roundtable meeting which helps to calibrate my overall assessment.  This meeting also provides extra insight into developmental action items I might want to suggest to my team members.  (To read a different angle on the discipline of getting feedback, click here.)
5. Take time to write an honest and detailed assessment.  When I write evaluations for my team members, I want them to be fair, well-thought, and encouraging.  Writing this kind of assessment takes time.  I schedule time to carefully review the past year of activity.  I look at notes from my past one-on-one meetings.  I review previous results from the quarterly updates.  And I take into account comments shared by my fellow management team members.  A written record provides employees a tangible document to review as they seek to grow and improve.
6. Meet with employee to review results.  At the end of the year, it’s important to let your employees know how they have done.  Feedback provides information necessary to help them improve.  Feedback also keeps them doing the right things.
7. Remember the good things.  Make sure you praise your team members for the good things they have done throughout the year.  A pat on the back goes a long way towards encouraging the right behavior.
8. Create a development plan correcting issues.  As managers, it is our responsibility to help our team members succeed.  We have to give our team members help in getting better.  The performance review process is the perfect time to help employees get better.
9. Discuss career progression essentials.  Most employees want to know what it will take for them to get tho the next level in their career path.  It’s important to talk regularly to employees about their plans for the future.  What are their goals for the next 5 years or 10 years?  What do they need to do in order to be ready for the next steps?  These are questions that will help you help them.  Are their expectations realistic?  How can you help them?  The performance review process provides an opportunity to discuss essentials for career advancement.
10. Do it again.  It may seem repetitive, but you have to do it over and over and over again.  Doing this for only one year does not demonstrate a long-term interest in the performance of an employee.  Repeated year after year is essential to a successful performance management process.

How has the performance management process helped you succeed?  What would you add to the list above?  What do you need to do differently in order to improve your own performance management process?

Here’s an interesting article to go along with this post:

• 4 Ways to Avoid the Worthless Annual Performance Review and Give Valuable Feedback by Andre Lavoie at Entrepreneur.com

The Discipline Of Getting Expert Advice – 6 Ways Getting Expert Advice Will Stretch You

The top experts in the world are ardent students. The day you stop learning, you’re definitely not an expert.

After seeing our nutritionist, I changed by morning routine.  I used to do cardio and leave a little time for lifting at the end.  Now, I lift first before I do the cardio part of my workout.  Yesterday morning, I was at the gym when one of the trainers started watching me as I spent time on a few of the strength machines.  He interrupted me a few times to give me tips on how to more effectively use the machines.  Then he took me over to a few other pieces of apparatus to show me a few other strengthening exercises.  Again, I just needed a little expert advice to get me heading in the right direction.

Last night, I contacted a garage door expert to help me with a problem with one of my garage doors.  When he came over, he made a few adjustments and recommendations, and my garage door started working properly again.  I just needed a little expert advice.

My natural tendency is to do things on my own.  I don’t like asking for help, but I don’t have time to figure everything out by myself.  Sometimes it pays to call in the experts.  I must learn to practice the discipline of getting expert advice.  This discipline will save me a lot of time and aggravation when I hit a roadblock.

If you are like me, you probably struggle to practice the discipline of getting expert advice.  Here are a few ways expert advice will help you stretch:

6 Ways Getting Expert Advice Will Stretch You

1. Getting expert advice will humble you.  Most men have trouble asking for help.  Asking for help requires humility, and learning to be humble can be a stretching experience.
2. Getting expert advice will help you learn.  As the garage door repairman worked on our garage door, I watched and learned.  Next time I have a problem with the door, I will have a few things to try.
3. Getting expert advice will give others the opportunity to speak into your life and your challenges.  People want to help, and they want to use the knowledge and skill they’ve picked up along the way.  When you ask for expert advice, you provide the chance for others to help you.
4. Getting expert advice will ultimately save you time and energy.  Most of us don’t like to ask for expert advice, because we don’t want to pay for it.  In reality experts often bring value into our lives that far outweighs the financial impact.
5. Getting expert advice will help you meet many new people.  I didn’t know the trainer at the gym or the garage door repairman before I asked for their expert advice.  I like meeting new people, and asking for expert advice gives me the opportunity to plug into people I don’t know yet.
6. Getting expert advice prepares me to help other people.  Ultimately, I want to help other people.  By asking for expert advice, I either gain transferable knowledge or valuable connections that I can pass along to others.

How would your world be different if you made the decision to practice the discipline of getting expert advice?  How has expert advice made a difference in your life?

5 Steps To Creating A Personal Success Plan That Works

If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!

Benjamin Franklin

Earlier this summer, I was elected to be president of my Toastmasters International club.  It was an honor to be selected for this position, but it also comes with a lot of work.  I have to kick-off and close our club’s bi-weekly meetings.  I have to plan and lead our club’s executive committee meetings.  And I have to interface with fellow officers, club members, and guests.

One of my responsibilities as the club president and member of the club executive committee is to create a Club Success Plan.  Essentially, this is a document to record the club’s current status, challenges, and goals for the coming term.  And the Club Success Plan provides a place to write down a plan for overcoming obstacles and achieving our goals.

This week spent time completing the Club Success Plan, and I’m excited for the results when we look back at the plan throughout the term and at the end of the term in June.

As I was working on the plan, I reflected on the importance of writing a success plan for other areas of our lives.

What do you want to accomplish this year?  What goals do you want to achieve?

Do you have a plan to get there?

Typically, we talk about goals at the beginning of the year.  Everyone gets hyped up on New Year’s Resolutions.  The enthusiasm lasts for a few weeks or even a few months before we settle back into our normal existence trying to survive the pushes and pulls of our busy lives.

By the time we get to this time of year, our resolutions and goals are long forgotten, and we are trying to make it to the next weekend.

As Benjamin Franklin said, many of us fail to achieve our goals because we fail to create a plan for getting where we want to go.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t like to fail.  I like to succeed.  I like to achieve.  I like to make progress towards my goals.

Writing a personal success plan doesn’t have to take forever.  You can write a success plan for yourself using these simple steps:

5 Steps To Creating A Personal Success Plan That Works

1. Evaluate your current condition.  Self-assessment is critical to creating a personal success plan that works.  What is working well?  What isn’t working so well?  What changes do you need to make in your life?  Take time to evaluate you.  This may require time away from the things that normally distract you, and it may require feedback from those who know you best.
2. Determine your goals.  Where do you want to be in one year?  What do you want to achieve?  There is no point in completing a success plan if you don’t take time to determine your goals.  If you don’t know where you want to go, you can be certain you will get there – no where that is.
3. Recognize the obstacles and challenges in the way.  What is keeping you from achieving your goals?  Is it time?  Is it skill?  Is it lack of knowledge?  We all face challenges.  When creating your personal success plan, you have to know your weaknesses and challenges.  Being aware of these will help you make changes to get around, get over, or get through the obstacles in the way of achieving your goals.
4. Write down a map for overcoming these obstacles and challenges and for achieving your goals.  Create a SMART roadmap to reaching your goals.  Be specific.  Have measurable check points along the way.  Make sure your goals are attainable and realistic.  Finally, determine the timetable for reaching your goals.  When you write down your road map, be as detailed as possible.  Who is responsible for reaching your goals?  What help do you need to meet your goals?  What specific steps will you take to make sure you succeed?  Write it down!
5. Work your plan.  Finally, a plan does nothing without action.  Once you’ve created your plan for success, follow through.  Take the necessary steps to succeed.  Stop along the way to evaluate your progress.  Then keep going.  Don’t stop until you reach the end – SUCCESS!

What do you want to succeed in the next year?  What is your plan to succeed?

What measures have you taken to achieve your success goals?

Stretch Quote – Delegation (@HarveyMackay)

The Discipline Of Self Assessment – 10 Areas For Self Assessment

Confront the dark parts of yourself, and work to banish them with illumination and forgiveness. Your willingness to wrestle with your demons will cause your angels to sing.
August Wilson

As I mentioned yesterday, my basement flooded.

The first step in dealing with a flooded basement is understanding what caused the water problem.  Both of my sump pumps were working, but they obviously couldn’t keep up.  Why was water coming into the basement more quickly than it should?  The rain earlier in the day had been very heavy, but the pumps should have kept up.

When I walked around the outside of the house, I discovered that one of the downspouts at the back corner of the house was not attached correctly.  This was causing a large amount of water to flow straight into the foundation.  I fixed the downspout, but the damage was already done.

Had I walked around the house before the rainstorm, I would have noticed the problem, and I would not have been dealing with a wet basement.

As I have been reflecting on this experience, I was reminded of the importance of taking a regular inventory of our lives.  Regular self assessment gives us an opportunity to see where we are – to see what things are okay, what things could be better, what things need to change, and what things need to be removed.

By practicing the discipline of self assessment, we minimize the potential for disaster, and we maximize the potential for achieving future success.  Here are some areas where you should be conducting a regular self assessment:

10 Areas For Self Assessment

1. Personal property.  What do you own?  Car, house, computer, jewelry.  Things wear out, break down, and need maintenance.  Regularly examine your personal property to make sure it is in working order.
2. Career path.  When was the last time you updated your resume?  Are you making progress towards your career goals?  Career growth does not happen by accident.  You must be intentional if you want to move forward along your desired career path.
3. Educational pursuit.  Are you feeding mind?  And are you feeding it with the right material?  Read.  Listen.  Grow.
4. Physical fitness.  Are you being a good steward of your body?  Take time to assess your nutrition, your exercise, and your overall fitness.
5. Financial fitness.  Take time to budget.  Take time to keep track of your financial condition.  Are you on track to meet your long-term goals.  Get rid of debt in your life, and find ways to save.
6. Emotional condition.  How is your general attitude?  Are you a happy person?  Or are you a grumpy person?  Attitude often determines our altitude.  If you want to go somewhere in your life, learn how to be a positive person.
7. Relational status.  How is your marriage?  How is your relationship with your kids?  How is your relationship with your family and friends?  Relationships require effort, and they change throughout time.  For this reason, you must regularly assess these relationships.  If your marriage is going well, determine what is helping this and keep doing it.  If your marriage needs some work based on your assessment, make changes today to improve it.
8. Generosity.  Are you giving away your time, talents, and money?  Are you giving away too much or too little?  A regular assessment of your generosity will keep you on the right track to living a life that really matters.
9. Time.  Sit down with your schedule on a regular basis.  Are you building margin into your schedule?  Are you spending time on things that matter?  How are you wasting your time?  A regular assessment of your time is essential avoiding burnout and boredom.
10. Spiritual well-being.  How is your spirit?  How are you feeding your spiritual self?  How is your relationship with God?  In our busy lives, it’s too easy to let our spiritual well-being take a back seat.  When you are assessing your life, don’t forget to take an inventory on your spiritual life.

Self assessment won’t happen or be effective unless you take it seriously.  Create a routine for taking an inventory on these areas of your life.  Some things require daily assessment.  For other things you might check in weekly, monthly, seasonally, or annually.

Don’t miss out on an opportunity to prevent a flood in your basement or to prevent another kind of disaster in your life.  Decide today to practice the discipline of self assessment.

How would your world be different if you made the decision to practice the discipline of self assessment?  How has self assessment made a difference in your life?

The Discipline Of Getting Feedback – 6 Steps For Getting The Feedback You Really Need

It’s impossible to read the label when you are inside the bottle.  You need somebody to speak into your life – someone who will read the label and tell you what is really on the inside.

Do you like getting feedback from others?

What kind of feedback do you like?

What kind of feedback do you really need?

Are you surrounding yourself with people who will tell you what you need to hear instead of what you want to hear?

Stretching can be painful, and getting feedback from others can be a stretching experience.  And yet feedback is what we often need in order to grow – in order to recognize our gifts and shortcomings – and in order to live our life to the fullest.

With this in mind, I think it’s time we start practicing the discipline of getting feedback.

Today, I need your feedback, but first I want to give you some advice on practicing the discipline of getting feedback.  By using these six steps, you will keep stretching in a worthwhile direction.

6 Steps For Getting The Feedback You Really Need

1. Open up your mind and heart.  Do you really want to stretch and grow?  Are you really willing to listen to feedback even when it is hard to hear?  Before you even ask for feedback, you have to decide to be open to what you will hear from others.  Some feedback will be easy to hear.  And some feedback will be very difficult to process.
2. Ask people you trust.  Asking foolish people for feedback is like inviting people to throw tomatoes at you for the fun of throwing tomatoes.  But there is wisdom to be gained from those you can trust.
3. Examine the feedback.  Once you’ve received feedback from others, it’s important to evaluate the feedback.  Run it by others to see if the feedback is on target.  What feedback deserves attention, and what feedback should you ignore?
4. Filter out any off base feedback.  Once you’ve examined the feedback, get rid of the off base feedback.  Feedback that misses the mark will lead you to the wrong target if you decide to listen to it.
5. Take action on justified feedback.  Whatever is pure, trustworthy, and just deserves our attention.  Take corrective action on constructive feedback.  Continue to act on the things you are doing well, and stop doing the things you need to stop.  Make the necessary changes based on the feedback you receive (otherwise, you are wasting the time of those giving feedback).
6. Repeat the process.  Asking for feedback is not a once and done event.  Getting feedback is an endless process that should be followed again and again.  So go back to step one and start it all over.

Now that I’ve laid out these six steps for getting the feedback you really need, it’s my turn to ask for your feedback.

I’m in the process of evaluating my writing focus and I really need your help.  I am going through this exercise to help me stretch and to help others stretch.  I started this process by asking myself to write down the names of 20 people who I think could truly, genuinely benefit from what I have to say.  I filled a page in my journal with these names.  Then I spent time considering the most common questions people ask me.  Here are a few of the questions that came to my mind:

• How do you have time to do everything you do?  (And when do you sleep?)
• When are you going back to Guatemala?  (And can I come?)
• How did you and your wife raise such great kids?
• When is your next book coming out?
• How did you get into that (home-brewing, chicken-farming, blog-writing, etc.)?
• Do you have any advice for long distance running?
• How do you stay so positive all the time?
• Can you be my mentor?
• How do you stay so consistent?
• What have you done to get to where you are now (and what do I need to do to get there myself)?
• How do you live out your faith in a faithless, fallen world?

To confirm I’m on the right track (or to add to the list), I have been intentionally asking the 20 people on my life (and a few other people) to give me feedback.  I’ve been asking them this question:  “If you could ask me any question, what would the question be?  In what area of my experience do you think I could help you?”

It’s a little scary to ask these questions, but it’s an experience I need to have.  I need this feedback to make sure I am on the right track.  I need this feedback to help me see what is on the inside of my bottle.

And it’s feedback I need from you as well.  I value your feedback as a reader and participant in The Stretched Community.  And so, I leave you with this question, and I hope you will take time to leave me a comment.  I need you to help read the label on my bottle.

If you could ask me any question, what would the question be?  In what area of my experience do you think I could help you? 

Please take time to leave your response in the comments.

3 Ways To Honor American Workers – Labor Day Thoughts

Today is Labor Day.

For most of us, it is a day to celebrate the end of summer and to look forward to the routine of fall.  Our family will most likely be doing a few projects around the house, going to the pool for one last outdoor swim, and having a picnic.

Labor Day was created in the late 1880’s in an effort to honor American workers for their contribution to our country.  I’m guessing most of us have forgotten this as we enjoy the day off.  To help us remember the reason we have the day off from work and school, here are a few ways to honor workers past and present:

3 Ways To Honor American Workers

1. Treat others the way you want to be treated.  The golden rule applied to workers means we treat workers the way we want to be treated.  If you are a boss, treat your team members well.  If you are a customer, treat those working for you with respect and dignity.  If you are a co-worker, treat your colleagues like they are valuable teammates.  Honoring workers starts by treating those who work around us the way we want to be treated.
2. Work hard.  We dishonor those who work hard when we don’t give our best effort in our own work.  Be intentional as you work.  Be diligent.  Be laser-focused.  Resist the urge to be lazy.  If you really want to honor workers, you must work hard yourself.
3. Say thank you.  Honoring workers starts and ends with appreciation.  Write a thank you note to a well-deserving worker.  Say thank you when a worker provides excellent service.  By putting some gratitude in your attitude, you can bring honor to those who work around you.

Thank you for the hard work you do.  Thank you for putting in the extra effort even when you felt like throwing in the towel.  Thank you for your contributions in making the world a better place.  I hope you enjoy the day off, because you deserve it!

Happy Labor Day!

What is your occupation?  Tell me about it in the comments.

How To Live A Meaningful Life

“Grapple with finding ways to serve God’s children.”

Quote from a recent unknown podcast

Do you want to live a meaningful life?

Do you want to do things that matter?

Do you want to make a difference in this world?

Do you really want to know the answer to these questions?

I think I may have the answer, and it’s actually pretty simple.

Are you ready?

Here it is:

SERVE.

S-E-R-V-E.

If you want to live a meaningful life, serve others.

If you want to do something that really matters, serve others.

If you want to really make a difference in this world, serve others.

Be like my friend, Camela, who decided to serve her husband by giving him one of her kidney’s last week.

Be like my co-worker, Bob, who stopped to serve me by holding open the door as I was coming into the office the other day with my hands full.

Be like my friend, Mark, who is giving up his day off this Saturday to serve a family in our area as they move from one house to another.

Be like my friend, James, who is serving the poor and broken in Guatemala by providing medical care for the poor and powerless.

Be like my friend, Dave, who is intentionally serving widows and orphans in the village of Santo Domingo Xenacoj.

Be like my friends, German and Susie, who despite having little find ways to serve by opening up their home to feed the hungry in and around Xenacoj.

Be like my brother, David, who serves the inner-city youth of Milwaukee by providing discipline, guidance, and a caring shoulder to lean on at Frank Lloyd Wright Middle School.

Be like my friend, Sean, who serves my church week in and week out by setting out our signs early in the morning and picking them up at the end of our Sunday services.

Serving others can take a few seconds, a few minutes, a few hours, a few days, or the rest of your life.  Serving others doesn’t require special training, a certificate, a specific formula, or an invitation.  It simply requires a willingness on your part to focus on others instead of yourself.  Along with the willingness, it takes a little action.  Serving others can happen through a phone call, an email, a walk across the street, a drive across town, and a plane ride to a far away land.

If you want to change the world, serve others.

Who do you know who is serving others?  How has serving others made a difference in your life?

6 Ways To Respond When A Team Member Decides To Leave

As an operations manager at my company, I am evaluated on employee turnover.  I receive “higher” marks when our voluntary turnover numbers remain low.

It takes time and it costs money to bring new employees on board, so it’s seen as an advantage to keep existing employees as long as possible.

This year, I’ve lost three of my team members.  In November, one of my employees retired after twenty-three years with the company.  In December, one of my project managers left after fifteen years with the company to pursue an opportunity with a consulting engineering firm.  And last week, one of my project managers left after seventeen years with the company to pursue a new challenge with a mechanical contractor.

According to company standards, this is not a good trend.

Trust me, I want to keep my employees.  I want to help them grow and succeed in their careers within the boundaries of the company.  But sometimes this is not possible – sometimes they have to pursue opportunities outside the company in order to reach their vocational aspirations.

As I was helping my team member carry his personal items to his car on Friday afternoon, it was obvious he was struggling to contain his emotions.  In fact, he wept as we walked out the door and proceeded across the parking lot.  I shook his hand, hugged him, and reminded him of the importance of taking leaps of faith.

Taking a leap to a new employer can be a scary prospect especially when you’ve been at one place for over seventeen years.  But sometimes this type of leap is necessary.  In his case, he would never know unless he took the risk of getting outside his comfort zone.

Over the next few weeks, I will be tasked with cleaning up his office and the projects which still needed attention at the time of his departure.  I’m sure I will especially miss him during these weeks.  As I tackle these challenges, I will pray that my former team members lands well at his new place of employment.

As a Christ-following leader, I believe this is part of my responsibility.  If I really mean what I say when I say “I want to help my team members succeed”, I have to support them even when they leave the company to pursue new directions.

As leaders, we want to handle times of transition well.  Here are some ways to respond when a team member decides to leave.

6 Ways To Respond When A Team Member Decides To Leave

1. Listen.  When a team member announces his resignation, leaders must learn to listen.  Find out why he is leaving.  Find out as much as you an about his new opportunity.  As questions to help you understand his decision to leave.
2. Celebrate.  This can be a bit of a challenge especially when an employee is leaving you with a big hole to fill, but leaders must learn to celebrate the opportunity of the departing team member.  Congratulate your team member for the upcoming opportunity.
3. Transition.  Depending on the situation, you may or may not have time to transition their current workload.  If you have a week or two before the team member departs, use the time wisely.  Go over a list of the items on your team members to do list, and help him prioritize to focus on certain tasks during the time of transition.  If possible, find other team members who can help take on the work when the team member leaves.  Use this time of transition to conduct hand-offs.
4. Appreciate.  Be sure to thank your departing team member for the time and efforts he has given to your team and to the company.  Consider taking him out to lunch on his last day.  Send him a thank you note.  Let him know he is appreciated.
5. Provide opportunity for good-byes.  If possible, give the departing team member an opportunity to say good-bye to others in the company.  An employee spends a lot of time with their co-workers.  These relationships mean something, and it’s important to provide an opportunity for closure.  (Note:  In some cases, this is not possible.  If a departing team member is heading to a competitor or is leaving for performance or compliance issues, it may be necessary to escort the employee to the door without time to say good-bye.)
6. Pray.  Pray for your departing team member.  Pray he would land successfully at his next place of employment.  Pray he would have good memories of his time with your company.  And pray that others would rise up to fill the hole left by your departing team member.  Pray you would have wisdom to lead your team through this time of transition and beyond.

How have you responded when a team member left your company?  What advice would you give someone handling this situation?  Share your response in the comments.