Jim Lange is a graduate of The University of Toledo where he was a 4 year member of the basketball team. Jim has been in business for over 30 years and currently serves as President of Five Feet Twenty (www.5feet20.com). Five Feet Twenty helps people become more of who God made them to be through mastermind group facilitation, through the monthly Five Feet Twenty magazine, and through books, workshops, and coaching services.

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• [2 min 26 sec] Tell us about your basketball career.  More of a role player, not the most athletic, started in junior and senior year. Played against many former NBA players.
• [3 min 25 sec] Tell us about you and your family. Has always struggled with too much work and not enough play. Father of three grown children–one son, two daughters.
• [4 min 37 sec] Tell us about your current vocation. The name “Five Feet Twenty” originated from Jim saying that that was his height. Leads six Truth at Work groups in his area. These groups are comprised of business leaders that act as a board of advisors of sorts. The magazine is a monthly periodical for Christian business people and doctors. Jim has also written many books.
• [8 min 30 sec] How has God led you to this point in your career? In the 1990s, first job was with a company that was bought and sold numerous times. At one point, Jim took a position as vice president of sales. His boss failed in many ways to be a good boss. This was a trial that turned into a blessing in the form of a book idea: contrasting the leadership of Jesus with the leadership of this anonymous boss. His book sold well. The next 7 years were kind of a financial drought that Jim needed; through this drought God taught him that security is of the Lord, not found in money. In 2007, he was approached and asked to be the chairman of the National Day of Prayer Breakfast in his area. He chose a speaker that was the founder of Truth that Work and they later got to know one another. Through this conversation, Jim was convinced that he and this man needed to be doing something for God together.
• [18 min 35 sec] Biggest career challenge: When he left the company at which he had his first job. He felt like he let his team down by leaving the job “undone.” Biggest challenge was to maintain his Christian testimony when his boss was very aggressive and explosive, which happened frequently.

SECOND SEGMENT

• [26 min 55 sec] What was your biggest career success? Doing what he is doing today.
• [27 min 45 sec] How are you using your career to impact others for Christ? One specific instance was where one person asked for prayer for encouragement because some people said very hurtful things to the point where suicide became an option. The group helped this person in the Lord. There were many other cases where some people were getting ready to do some bad things, and the group interfered in a good way and saved them from doing horrible things.
• [34 min 10 sec] Time where you were confused about which career path God wanted you to take. At one point, 5 job opportunities were presented to Jim, but none of them came to fruition. Soon after, he was approached to be the chairman of the prayer breakfast, leading to his connection with Truth at Work.
• [36 min 30 sec] #1 personal habit that drives career success. Adequate rest. Sometimes Jim will implement a plan for work: 90 min of work then maybe 15 min of rest.
• [43 min 07 sec] #1 business habit that drives career success. Jim takes at least an hour every week to plan the next one.
• [44 min 18 sec] Productivity tool. Toodledo: task management tool; Trello
• [45 min 24 sec] 3 things that you would tell a startup business owner in order to be successful. Find supportive people: a group that is encouraging, will provide you with true and wise council, and will have grace.
• [46 min 14 sec] #1 book (besides the Bible) that you would recommend. Calming the Storm Within: How to Find Peace in This Chaotic World by Jim Lange, Boundaries for Leaders by Henry Cloud (See also Boundaries by Henry Cloud and John Townsend, and Discerning and Defeating the Ahab Spirit by Steve Sampson
• [48 min 09 sec] Advice for high school seniors. Find mentor(s).
• [49 min 53 sec] Best way to connect with you. www.5feet20.com

Resources Mentioned:

• www.5feet20.com
• Calming the Storm Within: How to Find Peace in This Chaotic World by Jim Lange
• Edgementoring.org
• Boundaries for Leaders by Henry Cloud (See also Boundaries by Henry Cloud and John Townsend
• Discerning and Defeating the Ahab Spirit by Steve Sampson
• Trello
• Toodledo

Sponsors:

• Career Direct Assessment
• Amazon.com. Shop Amazon.com via this link and a portion of each purchase will go to support the Career Callings Radio Show.
• Samaritan Ministries If you apply, please list Robbie Romeiser as your referrer to support the Career Callings Radio Show.
• Hostgator.com
• Amazon Prime (Free Trial Offer)
• Audible.com

Killer Resources:

• Get a FREE audio book at Audible.com.
• Daily devotions from Robbie Romeiser at TodaysQuoteFromGod.com.

Subscribe to Career Callings Radio!

Robbie Romeiser is a commercial real estate broker, real estate instructor, and author of the daily devotional Today’s Quote From God (www.TodaysQuoteFromGod.com). Desiring to help his own children follow God’s calling in their lives, Robbie founded Career Callings (www.CareerCallings.net) to help people find, prepare for, and pursue the work God has called them to do. To have Robbie speak at your church, business, professional association, or civic club, please email Robbie at robbie@careercallings.net.