Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

• Finding a Job That Fits. Are you in the right job? On this episode of Renewing Your Mind, R.C. Sproul gives practical guidance to help us seek a vocation where our gifts align with the motivation necessary to succeed.
• The Multitasking Myth. Reagan Rose writes “What I’ve found is that disciplining myself to finish one task before moving to the next isn’t just more effective. It’s actually more fulfilling.”
• Christlike Work in a Burnout Society. Kyle Tucker writes “In the malaise of modern work, God offers us a hopeful alternative. First Thessalonians 4:9–12presents a theology of work rooted in divine love, quiet ambition, and missional living.
• Three Myths About Aging In the Third Third of Life. Amy Hanson writes “I have found that the third third of life tends to be viewed the most negatively in culture. We are conditioned at a young age to see aging as a bad thing and something to avoid.”

Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:

• More links to interesting articles
• The Top 10 Faith and Work Quotes of the Week
• Work and Leadership Book Review ~ The Gold Standard: Building a World-Class Team by Mike Krzyzewski with Jamie K. Spatola
• Quotes from the book Working for Better: A New Approach to Faith at Work by Elaine Howard Ecklund and Denise Daniels

• Serving Others Through Our Work. Russ Gehrlein appeared as a guest on the Embrace Our Callingpodcast, hosted by Marcus Mok, on Sunday, January 25. Russ and Marcus discussed several faith and work concepts found in Russ’s book, Immanuel Labor: God’s Presence In Our Profession, and life lessons Russ has learned throughout his career. Below is a partial transcript of their conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity. Read part one of this conversation or listen to the full conversation.
• Called to Lead. My book Called to Lead: Living and Leading for Jesus in the Workplace is available in both a paperback and Kindle edition. Read a free sample (Introduction through Chapter 2).
• How Are We Supposed to Rest on Sunday? Megan Hill shares several ways to rest with the Lord’s people on the Lord’s Day.
• Ground Rules for Gospel Greatness. Dave Harvey writes “What are the ground rules for gospel greatness? If we don’t answer that, we’ll keep swinging between two familiar ditches—despair and denial.”
• Building Relationship Through Storytelling: A Conversation with Jennifer Ware. What does real connection look and feel like in our closest relationships? On this episode of Working with Dan Doriani, Dan talks with counselor Jennifer Ware about Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), how patterns of connection and disconnection shape marriages and families, and simple practices couples can use to deepen their bond. Jennifer also shares about STL Storytell, a St. Louis-based live storytelling event that helps people process and share their stories in community. Dan and Jenn discuss what it means to be a good listener and how storytelling can help us break out of loneliness.
• A Leader Worth Following. My new book A Leader Work Following: 40 Key Leadership Attributes and Applications to Masteris available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions. Read a sample of the book (found under the book cover in the above link).
• How Do I Know If I’m Idolizing Work? Kaitlin Febles responds to the question “I work in finance. Besides having the gifts, opportunity, and desire to do this work, I also feel this is an area God has called me to work in. I really want to be excellent in it. But sometimes—OK, often—it’s hard to lay it down to focus on other priorities, like my family, my church, or my health. How do I know the difference between being diligent at work and making work an idol?”
• Why AI May Lead to More Work, Not Less. Jacqueline Isaacs writes “Christians ought not live in fear but should rather be at the forefront of utilizing new technologies to expand the possibilities of work in ways that allow more people to use their God-given gifts in service to others.”

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Top 10 Faith and Work Quotes of the Week

• Work of all kinds, whether with the hands or the mind, evidences our dignity as human beings—because it reflects the image of God the Creator in us. Tim Keller
• Success comes from building upon your strengths and making the most of them, not from bringing your weaknesses up to par John Maxwell
• A leader is first of all a repenter-in-chief. If I am not honest before God and others, I cannot lead anyone anywhere worth going. Jack Miller
• No one has ever been called to do something he or she wasn’t suited for. Calling always matches who you are. John Maxwell
• Greatness is displayed in serving, not in being served. Alistair Begg
• If the ultimate example of a leader is our Savior, who forsook his lofty place, suffered willingly and laid down his life for his own, then wherever we are called to lead, we should be known for humble, tender service, not for our power and control. Paul Tripp
• God has so much to say in the Bible about working, serving, and employment that it is a wonder how Christians made this major chunk of our lives seem so unimportant and “secular” in the sight and presence of God throughout the week. Bob Smart   
• Serving others is the only valid motivation for leadership. Patrick Lencioni
• If we take our meaning in life from our family, our work, a cause, or some achievement other than God, they enslave us. Tim Keller

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WORK AND LEADERSHIP BOOK REVIEW:

The Gold Standard: Building a World-Class Team by Mike Krzyzewski with Jamie K. Spatola. Business Plus. 274 pages. 2009
*** ½

This book is part diary of Duke basketball coach Mike “Coach K” Krzyzewski’s time as the coach of USA Basketball, culminating with the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, and part leadership lessons. He writes that he is often asked how he builds a team. This book is his response to that question.
This book is divided into “times” and “moments”, with each chapter devoted to a particular quality of time he feels is vital to team building. Within each chapter, he includes some of the moments that defined that time for the USA Basketball Men’s National Team.
The USA had once dominated international basketball, but by 2004, when they lost the semifinal game in the Athens Olympics to Argentina, that was no longer the case. The USA had lost its competitive edge in international basketball.
A new approach was needed. When approached to be the first head coach under the new National Team concept by Jerry Colangelo, Coach K readily accepted the commitment. This was a three-year plan leading up to the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing.
I enjoyed this book, the story about how he built his team, the three-year commitment he, his assistant coaches and players like Kobe Bryant, Lebron James and Jason Kidd made, and the drive to the Olympic gold medal in Beijing.
Here are twenty helpful leadership quotes from the book:

• You do not select a team; you select a group of people and then work together to develop into a team.
• Your team-building plan must be personalized and specific to your personnel, your competition, your goal, and your leadership style.
• Leadership can be lonely. But I believe you can fight that loneliness by finding kindred spirits and surrounding yourself with those people who will bring out the best in you.
• When building a team, the members of that team need to be explicitly told what the parameters of their commitment are going to be, what is expected of them.
• In team building, you want this foundation to be one of trust and forthright communication. There shouldn’t be any surprises.
• Remember that choosing your people is the first decision you will make as a leader. Take the time to make it a good one.
• Take the time to gain perspective. Let that perspective operate along with your understanding of context. Context should serve as your guide in what you do on the court, or on the playing field, or in the boardroom. It brings about the feeling that what you are doing is of great consequence.
• To be a world-class champion, you have to have both context and perspective. You have to understand how big and how small you are, and be able to internalize both. When you have that combination, you can approach your undertaking at a new level, one that allows your emotions to bring out your best.
• The single most important factor in bringing a team together is the formation of relationships.
• The relationships that a leader wants to see develop among his or her team are based on communication.
• In developing teams, I don’t believe in rules. I believe in standards. Rules don’t promote teamwork, standards do.
• Leaders should remember that not all the good ideas have to come from the top, and they should be secure enough to change plans based on the input of the team.
• Great teams have multiple leaders, multiple voices. A major part of building a team is discovering who those voices will be and cultivating them, making sure that their leadership is established within your group.
• Take the time to cultivate leadership. Recognize that yours is not the only voice that your team wants or needs to hear, and be unselfish with your leadership.
• In the formation of teams, every single person must adapt. And for those who have met with much individual success, adaptability can be a challenge.
• A lesson that any team leader can learn is that it is important to give everyone some autonomy.
• I’ve always believed that failure can be an integral part of success. When you attempt something in which failure is possible, you test your limits. Failure requires you to reevaluate.
• Internal leadership is good for a lot of things, but the team leader is the one who needs to step up when it’s time for confrontation.
• Self-assessment is not a thing that you do once in a while; it is something that should be taking place all the time.
• I believe that a common mistake that leaders make is not motivating their best people.

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Faith and Work Book Club – Won’t you read along with us?

Working for Better: A New Approach to Faith at Work by Elaine Howard Ecklund and Denise Daniels 
Please join us in reading this book on faith and work.

From the Amazon description:
“In a world where workplaces are becoming increasingly diverse, Working for Better by Elaine Howard Ecklund and Denise Daniels offers a timely guide for Christians navigating the modern faith-at-work landscape. Drawing from over twenty years of research and personal insights, Working for Better presents a groundbreaking exploration of how to express Christian faith in professional settings without compromising beliefs or alienating others.
Through detailed studies involving focus groups, surveys of more than 15,000 workers, and interviews with over 300 individuals, Ecklund and Daniels identify five key tensions in the faith-at-work movement. With compelling stories and practical applications, Working for Better addresses the need for Christian workers and leaders to adapt to cultural shifts, offering guidance for a more redemptive presence at work. Each chapter concludes with thought-provoking questions for individual reflection or group discussion, making this book an essential resource for anyone seeking to integrate faith with their professional life. Whether you’re a Christian worker, workplace leader, or pastor guiding others, Working for Better invites you to consider how to flourish in a rapidly changing world.
As workplaces continue to evolve, the ability to maintain one’s spiritual values while contributing positively to the organizational culture becomes ever more crucial. Working for Better not only equips readers with the wisdom and tools needed to face such challenges but also inspires them to become agents of change, promoting a more inclusive and harmonious work environment.”

This week, we look at the Preface: Why This Book? Here are a few helpful quotes from the chapter:

• One of the best ways we can live out our calling as Christians in the workplace is to radically embrace those who are different from ourselves.
• That is what you will find in this book: a research-based examination of how religion and spirituality enter the workplace, how American workers see the connections between faith and work, and how organizational leaders can understand and lead religiously diverse, faith-friendly workplaces.
• At the end of each chapter, we have provided some reflection questions. These questions will be useful to individuals or groups.
• In most chapters we also include questions that are designated for faith communities.