Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles
Darrin Patrick, St. Louis Cardinals Chaplain, holds a Sunday morning chapel service in Spring Training on February 21
VOCATIONS:
Chaplain Works Behind the Scenes with the St. Louis Cardinals. Darrin Patrick is lead pastor of The Journey, a church in St. Louis, and Vice President of Acts 29, a global church planting network. He also serves as Chaplain to the St. Louis Cardinals.
Vocation of a Fast Food Worker. Gene Veith writes “Like a lot of people in this economy, my former student Stephen Williams is “underemployed” right now. But he understands the doctrine of vocation. Read his account of how working in a fast food joint is charged with spiritual significance and gives him occasion to love and serve his neighbors.”
Why Christian T-Shirts, Movies, & Music Aren’t Very Good. R. J. Grunewald writes “Christian t-shirts, mediocre films about the rapture, and Christian music that is a copycat of the Top 40 are proof that Christians largely misunderstand the doctrine of vocation.”
When Every Detail Matters. Bethany Jenkins interviews Erin Pommer, who works in the hospitality industry as the director of events at Frasca Food and Wine about she integrates her faith and work.
Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles
Center for Faith and Work Podcast. I’m very excited about this new podcast from the Center for Faith and Work at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City. Listen in on weekly talks, lectures, and conversations about the intersection of theology and culture as it applies to our everyday work. Topics range from vocational-specific (business, law, arts, education, etc.) to practical resources regarding prayer, discernment, calling, and more.
Joy and the Power of a Dream. Steven Garber, who spoke at my Covenant Seminary graduation in May, 2014, writes that the film Joy “a remarkably insightful account of creativity and imagination and gumption and grit, together forming a vocation in the life of Joy Mangano, played by Jennifer Lawrence”.
The Fashion Brand with a Heart for Adoption. Bethany Jenkins interviews Sara Brinton about her work. Brinton is the leader of marketing for Noonday Collection, a socially responsible fashion brand, and believes that entrepreneurship can be a sustainable solution to poverty and injustice.
6 Techniques for Getting the Most Out of Continuing Education. Dr. Alan Zimmerman writes “It’s never too late to make continuing education a center piece in your life. These six strategies will help you tap into the power of continuing education.”
How Do You Define Success? John Maxwell writes “Success means having those closest to me love and respect me the most.”
10 Ways to Increase Results in Meetings. One of my pet-peeves is poorly run meetings. They are frustrating and a waste of already busy people’s time. Selma Wilson offers these ten helpful ways to ensure your meetings have positive outcomes.
Labor of Love? Jamie Winship writes “What does it mean to work for the Lord on a daily basis? Do people who work wholeheartedly, as if they are serving the Lord, look any different from those who work hard just to get ahead in life? And if so, how?”
Work Is Worship. Enjoy this short video that shows that our work life is an act of worship.
Are Spiritual Disciplines Meant for My Work?Jessica Schaeffer writes “Keeping company with Jesus ought to be sustained throughout the day. He is not companion and Lord only when a Bible is open in the lap. We don’t leave him on the shelf with our devotional books and prayer journal.”
What the Image of God Means for Our Dignity and Work. Art Lindsay writes “Every person is created in the image of God, full of dignity, with unique talents and gifts to use for the glory of God in their work. One reason why so many Christians fail to discover their vocation is because they don’t fully understand what it means to be made in the image of God.”
Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles about LEADERSHIP
Are You a Hurried Leader? Selma Wilson writes “Are you a hurried leader? Out of breath most of the time trying to keep up? Are you drowning in emails, things to read, people to call, and not enough time on your calendar? Do you find yourself in your office more than out with your team? Do you look at all there is to do and sometimes it paralyzes you so you do nothing at all? If this sounds like you, then you are a hurried leader.”
7 Common Ways Leaders Waste Time and Energy. Ron Edmonson writes “I firmly believe when we get rid of some common drains on our time and energy we dramatically improve our performance as leaders. With this in mind, I’ve observed in my own personal development some ways to eliminate time and energy wasters.”
Can You Lead? Mark Miller writes “Every leader needs to develop a certain set of competencies. To be even more precise, every leader should pursue mastery in five specific facets of the role. Ken Blanchard and I wrote about these five practices in our book, The Secret. The title was derived from the truth: All great leaders SERVE.
4 Words Leaders Must Say on a Regular Basis. Eric Geiger writes “Leaders are always communicating, even when they are not talking. But what words must a leader say on a regular basis?”
Christian Leaders Desperately Need Four Kinds of Grace to Lead Well. Dave Kraft writes “I believe there is a big difference between me being at work and Jesus being at work. I long to see his fingerprints all over what he is leading and empowering me to do…otherwise, what’s the point!”
Five Ways Leaders Can Get Fresh Eyes. Eric Geiger writes that a downside to tenured leaders is that they can lose their fresh eyes. He offers five ways to get fresh eyes on the organization/ministry you are leading.
7 Powers of Weakness. Dan Rockwell writes “Arrogant leaders parade strengths. Successful leaders understand the power of weaknesses.”
How Leaders Can Avoid Burnout. In this edition of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins, Barnabas Piper and Eric Geiger address the issue of leadership burnout.
11 Things I Believe About Leadership. Mark Miller writes “I heard a talk years ago from a well-known leader in which he stated several statements he called his “I believes.” These beliefs shaped his life and leadership. The idea of articulating personal beliefs made sense to me then and it still does today.”
7 Effective Ways to Battle Discouragement In Leadership. Carey Nieuwhof writes “If you talk to most leaders long enough to get a real answer to ‘So how’s it going?” you will quickly discover that a surprising number of leaders are disheartened. Even discouraged.”
10 Habits of Ultra-Likeable Leaders. Travis Bradberry writes “If you want to be a leader whom people follow with absolute conviction, you have to be a likable leader. Tyrants and curmudgeons with brilliant vision can command a reluctant following for a time, but it never lasts. They burn people out before they ever get to see what anyone is truly capable of.”
Three Kinds of Leadership Decisions. Dave Kraft writes “Leaders make decisions. That’s what leaders do; the greater the responsibility, the more that can be riding on each decision made.” He states that “Almost all of the decisions that are being made will fall into one of three categories.”
Beyond You Leadership. Andy Stanley discusses common objections and misconceptions about a “Beyond You” leadership style, and discusses the positive impact of leaders who fearlessly and selflessly empower those around them, as well as those coming along behind them.
3 Reasons Your Team Needs Shepherd Leadership. Selma Wilson writes “Shepherd is most often used in reference to someone who herds, tends, and guards sheep. Your team could use your shepherd leadership, and here are three reasons why.”
How to Make the Difficult Look Easy. Mark Miller shares the fourth post in a series outlining a leadership eco-system that explains how leaders grow themselves and their influence. It also explains why so many leaders struggle. The four stages are Lead Self, Lead Others, Lead Teams and today, the final installment, Lead Organizations.
4 Leadership Advantages of Introverts. Kevin Spratt writes “We tend to think that the best leaders are charismatic motivators who are able to be sociable and cast a compelling vision, which are important and valuable leadership tools. An introvert often has a different set of tools, and, with the right motivation, an introvert can be extremely effective.”
Extraordinary Leadership. Dan Rockwell lists qualities of extraordinary leadership. Which ones most resonate with you? Are there any you feel he left off of the list?
Vision. In this “Minute from Maxwell”, John Maxwell discusses taking the vision from “me” to “we”.
3 Qualities of Every Great Leader. Dr. Alan Zimmerman writes “There are certain traits that great leaders exhibit. To the extent you can master and exhibit the same traits, you’ll be more effective in getting others to excel.”
I’ve previously enjoyed Dave Kraft’s books Leaders Who Last and Mistakes Leaders Make, and was looking forward to reading his latest book based on the Old Testament character Nehemiah.
Kraft writes that in Nehemiah’s story we see every facet of leadership lived out. He writes that Nehemiah receives a vision from God and then he casts the vision, recruits the vision and works tirelessly to insure the vision happens. In this short book, Kraft focuses on twelve leadership principles he sees in Nehemiah’s life. He includes helpful “Questions to Ponder” at the end of each chapter to stimulate your thinking as you consider your leadership role in light of these principles.
Kraft writes that leadership always begins with God. True spiritual leadership is getting on our heart what God has on His. The first task of leadership is to hear from God and let him form a vision. Kraft writes that if you don’t set the vision, you’re not the leader. Whoever is establishing the vision and goals in your church or team is the real leader. For the Christian leader, God must be the beginning, middle, and end of the vision.
Kraft writes that when a vision is clear, you have a way of measuring progress. When a company, group, team, or church is casting vision, it needs to be as specific as possible.
Kraft states that a leader is a person who is dissatisfied with the ways things are. He has a burden, a vision, and a call to see something different. He wants to see something change, to build a new future. He then begins to communicate what he thinks, and where he wants to go.
He lays out three aspects to leading:
Who the leader is: Identity
Where the leader is headed: Inspiration
How the leader brings others along: Investment
He tells us that anyone who has had a leadership role for any length of time knows that being judged, condemned, or having one’s motives questioned goes with the territory. Unfortunately, in many cases it comes from some of your key people and that’s especially hard to take. But, Kraft states, if everybody likes everything you’re doing, you are probably not doing anything of significant value. Leaders don’t lead and make decisions in order to be popular or appreciated.
Kraft writes that the wise leader confronts people and issues head-on by considering various solutions and then acting prayerfully and decisively. However, many leaders are cowards when it comes to confronting people, especially other leaders. He writes that he has known and worked with leaders who would rather quit and move on rather than confront people.
Kraft writes that it is powerful for leadership to often review what has been happening, both the victories and accomplishments as well as the difficulties. One of the things good leaders do is make a big deal out of victories regardless of the size. People are starving for encouragement and affirmation. Followers are hungry for leaders to express appreciation and affirmation, but seldom hear it.
He also states that leaders are at their best when they are calling followers to their best, not letting them get away with sloppy standards and sloppy living.
A leader should not be afraid to remind people what the organization or group values are and then hold followers accountable for those values.
Kraft states that Nehemiah exemplifies all the best in leadership. He is bold, courageous, confrontational (when it’s called for), and persistent in sticking with what he feels led to do. In his estimation, the book of Nehemiah is the best book of the Bible to study and learn exemplary leadership.
He concludes the book with some suggestions on how to apply what we have learned from these leadership principles seen in the life of Nehemiah. I appreciated this short, but helpful look at leadership principles in the life of Nehemiah.
10 Favorite Faith and Work Quotes of the Week
Leadership functions on the basis of trust. When trust is gone, the leader soon will be.John Maxwell
Allow your failures to be innovation benchmarks on your way to excellence and greatness. Brad Lomenick
Giving people real responsibility communicates that you trust them. Mark Miller
You discipline those under your supervision to correct, to help, to improve – not to punish. John Wooden
Work is a godly activity. Duane Otto
Essentially, your vocation is to be found in the place you occupy in the present. Gene Edward Veith
One’s purpose anticipates design. What’s your purpose?Tim Keller
It is not freedom for a fish to sun itself on the beach. It is death. The question of freedom is: What were you made for? John Piper
Be the varsity version of yourself, not the junior varsity of someone else. Brad Lomenick
Faith and Work Book Clubs – Won’t you read along with us?
Other than the Bible, this small book by John Piper has had the most influence on my life. It played a key role in my returning to seminary after ten years in 2005. I have read it almost each year since it was published in 2003. Listen to John Piper describe the book in this less than two-minute video.
This week we look at Chapter 3: Boasting Only in the Cross – The Blazing Center of the Glory of God
I plead with you: Desire that your life count for something great! Long for your life to have eternal significance. Want this! Don’t coast through life without a passion.
One thing matters: Know Christ, and gain Christ. Everything is rubbish in comparison to this.
What is the one passion of your life that makes everything else look like rubbish in comparison?
Paul means something that will change every part of your life. He means that, for the Christian, all other boasting should also be a boasting in the cross. All exultation in anything else should be exultation in the cross.
Therefore every good thing in life, and every bad thing that God turns for good, is a blood-bought gift. And all boasting—all exultation—should be boasting in the cross.
We learn to boast in the cross and exult in the cross when we are on the cross. And until our selves are crucified there, our boast will be in ourselves.
You become so cross-centered that you say with Paul, “I will not boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The world is no longer our treasure. It’s not the source of our life or our satisfaction or our joy. Christ is.
Therefore every enjoyment in this life and the next that is not idolatry is a tribute to the infinite value of the cross of Christ—the burning center of the glory of God. And thus a cross-centered, cross-exalting, cross-saturated life is a God-glorifying life—the only God-glorifying life. All others are wasted.
Patrick Lencioni is one of my favorite business authors. His books The Advantage and The Five Dysfunctions of a Team are among my favorites. I recently started reading and discussing The Advantage with two colleagues at work. I’m sharing key learnings from the book and this week we look at what Lencioni has to say about Question 1: Why Do We Exist ~
Answering this question requires a leadership team to identify its underlying reason for being, also known as its core purpose.
An organization’s core purpose—why it exists—has to be completely idealistic.
In order to successfully identify their organization’s purpose, leaders must accept the notion that all organizations exist to make people’s lives better.
There is a darn good chance that your company—in fact, any given company—has not yet identified its purpose.
This leads to two problems. First, those teams don’t achieve a real sense of collective commitment from their members.
Second, and this is certainly related, those executives don’t see the company’s reason for existing as having any practical implications for the way they make decisions and run the organization.
Some executives, especially those who are a little cynical about all this purpose stuff, will say that their company exists simply to make money for owners or shareholders. That is almost never a purpose, but rather an important indicator of success.
When leaders set about identifying the purpose of their organization, there are a few critical factors they must keep in mind to give them a good chance at success. First, they must be clear that answering this question is not the end of the clarity process.
Second, an organization’s reason for existence, its purpose, has to be true. It must be based on the real motivations of the people who founded or are running the organization, not something that simply sounds good on paper.
Third, the process of determining an organization’s purpose cannot be confused with marketing, external or internal. It must be all about clarity and alignment.
So how does an organization go about figuring out why it exists? It starts by asking this question: “How do we contribute to a better world?”
The next question that needs to be asked, and asked again and again until it leads to the highest purpose or reason for existence, is Why? Why do we do that?
There are a number of very different categories of purpose, any of which can be valid. Identifying which category fits your organization’s purpose can be very helpful in focusing your discussion of why your organization exists because it better clarifies who the organization ultimately serves.
Customer: This purpose is directly related to serving the needs of an organization’s customer or primary constituent.
Industry: This purpose is all about being immersed in a given industry.
Greater Cause: This kind of purpose is not necessarily about what the organization does, but about something connected to it.
Community: This purpose is about doing something that makes a specific geographical place better.
Employees: This purpose is not about serving the customer, the industry, or the region, but rather about the employees.
Wealth: This purpose is about wealth for the owners.
An organization’s reason for existing is not meant to be a differentiator and that the purpose for identifying it is only to clarify what is true in order to guide the business.
Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles
Every Square Inch’s Christmas Gift Guide 2015. Bethany Jenkins writes “This Christmas, our faith and work channel—Every Square Inch—wants to celebrate products made by companies founded by Christian entrepreneurs. As entrepreneurs, they created something from nothing and, along the way, have given people jobs, contributed to the economy, engaged in ethical business practices, been generous with their neighbors, and expressed the creativity of God. Gift Guide 2015
Sudden Breakthroughs in Subtle Blind-Spots. Dan Rockwell writes “Truth be told, you have blind spots. The most common blind spot leaders have is believing others have them, but you don’t.”
How to Witness at Work. Tom Nelson, in this article adapted from his excellent book Work Matters: Connecting Sunday Worship to Monday Work, writes “The excellence of our work often gives us the credibility to speak of the excellence of our Lord Jesus and to share the good news with our coworkers.”
15 New Books to Check Out. Brad Lomenick recommends these new books. I plan to read Intentional Living by John Maxwell.
6 Hacks for Better Work/Life Balance. Dr. Alan Zimmerman writes “If you’re like most people, you probably have some trouble managing your time. You may feel like you’re constantly hurrying or that you’re always short of time. You might even be the kind of person who paces in front of a microwave.”
4 Ways to Better Engage Women in the Workplace. Lauren Hansen continues a series addressing specific questions related to ministry among women through the local church. This time, the question is “Do you have any suggestions about how our women’s ministry can engage professional women more effectively and encourage them as they minister in their workplaces?”
Seeking the Prosperity of Our Neighbors. Watch this talk from Amy Sherman, author of the excellent book Kingdom Calling, as she explains how why recognizing our vocational power is so important when seeking the good of our cities.
Benefits of a Common Language. Mark Miller writes “Leaders who create a common language can often make the difficult look effortless.”
Faith & Work Prayer Journey. Prayer is absolutely critical in our ability to discern our calling. This winter, the Center for Faith and Work (CFW) is offering two options to deepen your understanding of prayer and vocation with their online Faith & Work Prayer Journey, and their Faith & Work Prayer Nights.
7 Signs it’s Not Really a Team. Ron Edmondson writes “In my world the word team is used almost on a daily basis. Most of us want to be in a team environment. However, in my experience working with churches – and it was true when I was in business also – more people claim to have it than actually do.”
Work Is Worship – Your Worklife is an act of Worship. This video from Work Life asks “Is your work a form of worship? Yes, it is! Worship and work should never become two different things. We worship when we work and we work when we worship, especially when our work is derived from God. It tells us in Genesis that in the beginning God went to work, and what he created was for his purpose and glory.
Success. In this “Minute from Maxwell”, John Maxwell talks about success from the perspective of starting with today.
Why Work? Because Work Matters. Steve Garber was the speaker at my graduation from Covenant Seminary last May and is the author of the excellent book Visions of Vocation. He writes about Dorothy Sayers book Why Work? “I think it is as a good a statement about work as anyone has written.”
Helpful Models. One of the main purposes of the advisory committee of the Oikonomia Network is to provide resources and support to all our network members, to help them develop pedagogical excellence. The first task has been to review syllabi, papers, videos, and other materials produced by our network schools. The first round of the committee’s review has just been completed. The committee has identified 34 helpful models that illustrate success in integrating work and economics in theological education. This got my attention as I respect two of the people on the Advisory Committee – Donald Guthrie, who formerly taught at Covenant Seminary and Tom Nelson, author of the helpful Work Matters: Connecting Sunday Worship to Monday Work.
Faith and Work Quotes
Change is the only constant— tied neck-and-neck with resistance to change.Dan Cumberland
Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better. Coach
People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing. Dale Carnegie
Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.Augustine
Successful people become great leaders when they learn to shift the focus from themselves to others. Marshall Goldsmith
There are three actions of being a servant leader: being present, being accepting, and being creative. It’s not all about you! Ken Blanchard
Don’t ever get comfortable when you have the ability to achieve more. Coach K
Being average means you are as close to the bottom as you are to the top. John Wooden
Faith and Work Book Clubs – Won’t you read along with us?
Other than the Bible, this small book by John Piper has had the most influence on my life. It played a key role in my returning to seminary after ten years in 2005. I have read it almost each year since it was published in 2003. Listen to John Piper describe the book in this less than two-minute video.
This week we start by looking at the Preface of the book:
The Bible says, “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). I have written this book to help you taste those words as sweet instead of bitter or boring.
If you are a Christian, you are not your own. Christ has bought you at the price of his own death. You now belong doubly to God: He made you, and he bought you. That means your life is not your own. It is God’s. Therefore, the Bible says, “Glorify God in your body.” God made you for this. He bought you for this. This is the meaning of your life.
If you are not yet a Christian that is what Jesus Christ offers: doubly belonging to God, and being able to do what you were made for.
Glorifying God may mean nothing to you. That’s why I tell my story in the first two chapters, called “Created for Joy.” It was not always plain to me that pursuing God’s glory would be virtually the same as pursing my joy. Now I see that millions of people waste their lives because they think these paths are two and not one.
The path of God-exalting joy will cost you your life. Jesus said, “Whoever loses his life for my sake and the Gospel’s will save it.” In other words, it is better to lose your life than to waste it.
If you live gladly to make others glad in God, your life will be hard, your risks will be high, and your joy will be full.
This is not a book about how to avoid a wounded life, but how to avoid a wasted life.
Some of you will die in the service of Christ. That will not be a tragedy. Treasuring life above Christ is a tragedy.
Remember, you have one life. That’s all. You were made for God. Don’t waste it.
Patrick Lencioni is one of my favorite business authors. His books The Advantage and The Five Dysfunctions of a Team are among my favorites. I recently started reading and discussing The Advantage with two colleagues at work. I’m sharing key learnings from the book and this week we look at Discipline 2: Create Clarity ~
The second requirement for building a healthy organization—creating clarity—is all about achieving alignment.
For all the attention it gets, real alignment remains frustratingly rare.
Within the context of making an organization healthy, alignment is about creating so much clarity that there is as little room as possible for confusion, disorder, and infighting to set in.
The responsibility for creating that clarity lies squarely with the leadership team.
There cannot be alignment deeper in the organization, even when employees want to cooperate, if the leaders at the top aren’t in lockstep with one another around a few very specific things.
All too often—and this is critical—leaders underestimate the impact of even subtle misalignment at the top, and the damage caused to the rest of the organization by small gaps among members of the executive team.
Thinking they’re being mature, leaders often agree to disagree with one another around seemingly minor issues, thereby avoiding what they see as unnecessary contentiousness and conflict.
What they don’t understand is that by failing to eliminate even those small gaps, they are leaving employees below them to fight bloody, unwinnable battles with their peers in other departments.
No matter how many times executives preach about the “e” word in their speeches, there is no way that their employees can be empowered to fully execute their responsibilities if they don’t receive clear and consistent messages about what is important from their leaders across the organization.
There is probably no greater frustration for employees than having to constantly navigate the politics and confusion caused by leaders who are misaligned.
Since the 1980s, many organizations have centered their clarity and alignment efforts around a singular tool that has been a major disappointment. What I’m referring to is the mission statement.
It can’t be denied that most mission statements have neither inspired people to change the world nor provided them with an accurate description of what an organization actually does for a living. They certainly haven’t created alignment and clarity among employees. What they have done is make many leadership teams look foolish.
What leaders must do to give employees the clarity they need is agree on the answers to six simple but critical questions and thereby eliminate even small discrepancies in their thinking.
Failing to achieve alignment around any one of them can prevent an organization from attaining the level of clarity necessary to become healthy. These are the six questions:
1. Why do we exist?
2. How do we behave?
3. What do we do?
4. How will we succeed?
5. What is most important, right now?
6. Who must do what?
If members of a leadership team can rally around clear answers to these fundamental questions—without using jargon and shmarmy language—they will drastically increase the likelihood of creating a healthy organization. This may well be the most important step of all in achieving the advantage of organizational health.
Answering these questions, like everything else in this book, is as difficult as it is theoretically simple.
It can be difficult, however,for a variety of reasons. First, as we explored in the last chapter, it requires cohesion at the top.
Second—and this is a big one—it’s often tempting for leaders to slip into a marketing or sloganizing mind-set when answering these questions, trying to come up with catchy phrases or impressive-sounding statements. This is a sign that the team is missing the boat and has been distracted from its real purpose: establishing true clarity and alignment.
Finally, answering these questions requires time.
Taking time to sit with the questions and ensure that all members of the leadershipteam understand what they mean and are truly aligned around the answers is essential.
There are no right or wrong answers. I mean, who’s to say what is right and wrong when it comes to setting the direction of an organization?
Waiting for clear confirmation that a decision is exactly right is a recipe for mediocrity and almost a guarantee of eventual failure. That’s because organizations learn by making decisions, even bad ones.
Attending poorly organized and managed meetings “weakens me”. The bad news is I’m in a lot of meetings each day at work, and I also attend meetings at church and with the professional IT organization in which I’m involved. Marcus Buckingham defines an activity that weakens us as one that drains us, bores us and is something on our calendars that we don’t look forward to.
Author and blogger Michael Hyatt shares this same weakness with me. He writes that he is weakened by long meetings of any kind. He states that he can focus intently for about two hours at the maximum. Then his attention begins to wander and he has to move on to something else or he actually becomes a distraction.
So what can we do to avoid creating meetings that weaken others? Here are 4 simple suggestions to help you have better meetings:
First, identify a clear leader of the meeting. This is the person who is accountable for planning and leading a well-managed meeting.
Second, have a clear purpose for the meeting. Everyone is busy and should know why the meeting needs to be held in the first place. I work with a leader who will often ask, “What problem are we trying to solve here?” That’s a great question and one we should keep in mind when planning meetings. If you don’t have enough content to cover in the meeting or the communication can be done via email, cancel the meeting and respect your attendees by giving them the time back to focus on other priority items.
Next, develop an agenda for the meeting. This would include a clear starting and ending time. Request agenda topics ahead of time, including the specific person assigned to that topic, and the amount of time they will need for their topic. If in the meeting you find that a topic is going to take longer than expected, adjust the agenda (not the length of the meeting) to accommodate the need for additional time. You may have to delay discussion on some topics so that you can devote time to the topics that have the higher priority. At times, you may also have to make the decision to take discussions that will need more time, off-line.
Finally, recap items agreed on. How many times do you leave a long meeting and not really know what the outcome was, or what the next steps were? I think that happens a lot. Patrick Lencioni helpfully suggests that at the end of every meeting take a few minutes to ensure that everyone is walking away with the same understanding about what has been agreed to and what they are committed to.
These are just a few suggestions I have to help you run better meetings. Meetings are necessary for many reasons, so let’s make the ones we run the very best. What suggestions do you have to add to this list?
I recently shared some thoughts about communication. You can read that article here. I’ve been helped in this area by the books of Patrick Lencioni, specifically The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Death by Meeting, The Three Signs of a Miserable Job and The Advantage. Here are a few additional thoughts about the important subject of communication.
Be direct in your communications. Don’t be so vague that your message doesn’t come through. Have you ever had a meeting with someone and when the meeting was over you didn’t know if you had just received some constructive criticism or not because the message was so vague? That could be a result of a lack of leadership courage from the person delivering the message. Sometimes people soften up their message because they are afraid to deliver the much-needed message. However, that can lead to the message being completely ineffective. Do you have that problem at times? You need to be direct so that your communication is effective. Be prepared, stick to the facts, make good eye contact and confidently deliver the message you need to communicate.
Confirm decisions at the end of meetings. Patrick Lencioni has stated that meetings are critical to an organization because it is where leaders spend approximately 25% of their time. But have you ever left a long meeting not knowing exactly what had been decided in the meeting? By then, you may just be glad that the meeting is over with. That’s why he recommends that at the end of every meeting, a team should explicitly review the key decisions made and agree on what needs to be communicated and to whom. Is this something that you do as well? Another thought is to list the decisions made and actions expected in the meeting minutes.
A lack of communication. Have you ever been part of a team, but found yourself left out of the communications, either intentionally or unintentionally? It doesn’t feel good. I’ve run into that myself recently. You have to take the initiative and bring this to the attention of the person in charge if you expect anything to change, and then hold the person accountable if you find that you are not receiving the appropriate information. Have you ever run into that situation? If so, how did you handle it?
Frequent communication. In Lencioni’s book The Three Signs of a Miserable Job, he introduces us to the concept of anonymity. It is a concept that has stuck with me since I first read the book several years ago. He tells us that people cannot be fulfilled in their work if they are not known, and that people who see themselves as invisible, generic or anonymous cannot love their jobs, no matter what they are doing. You need to know your team members as people, not just as a member of your team. I wrote about this in my article “5 Ways to Know Your Team Members Better, which you can read here. The way you get to know your team members is to communicate with them. If you don’t communicate with them on a frequent basis they will wonder if you even care about them. A good leader cares about his team members, about who they are, and not just what they can do for the organization. How do you assure through frequent communications that anonymity is not a problem in your organization?
Again, I can’t over emphasize the importance of good communications in every facet of life. I’ve now shared eight thoughts on communications with you. What additional thoughts do you have on the subject of effective communications?
Moses and Jesus Didn’t Have Their Dream Jobs By 30, Either. Liuan Huska writes “Maybe we should replace the question “What are you doing when you graduate?” with “What kind of person is God calling you to be?” This helps young adults reorient their identity away from careers, which will inevitably change, to character, which only deepens throughout a lifetime.”
Motivate. In this “Minute from Maxwell”, he discusses what it means to motivate.
Why Culture Matters. Tim Keller provides a fundamental perspective on why culture matters to God and therefore must matter to us.
How to Finally Achieve Work-Life Balance. In this edition of his This is Your Life podcast, Michael Hyatt covers three simple secrets that make work-life balance possible.
5 Points on Decision Making as a Leader. Brad Lomenick writes “Leaders are decision makers. Period. Whatever the time of year and season of life, lots of decisions are probably on your desk or in your to do list waiting to be pushed forward. It’s something we must do. Constantly.”
For most truly successful people, it was their failures, handled properly, that taught them how to do it better the next time around. Dr. Alan Zimmerman
Just be who God has called you to be right where you are, with the people he has called you to serve. Michael Horton
Before anything else, preparation is the key to success. Coach K
Feedback really is the breakfast of champions. If you have an idea you are not really sure about, share it with someone for their opinion. Ken Blanchard
Leaders who lift up & lighten the load of others are ultimately making others & themselves better. Brad Lomenick
If a person can’t thrive in your environment and you release him or her to find a place better suited for them, you’ve given them a gift. Mark Miller
Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time. Coach K
Faith and Work Book Clubs – Won’t you read along with us?
Kingdom Calling: Vocational Calling for the Common Good by Amy L. Sherman
I first read this book in a “Calling, Vocation and Work” class with Dr. Michael Williams and Dr. Bradley Matthews at Covenant Seminary two summers ago. King Jesus is on a mission to bring restoration in every sphere of society and has invited His followers to join Him in this Kingdom-advancing work. Learn to deeply, creatively and intentionally steward your vocational power in ways that advance foretastes of the coming Kingdom of shalom for our neighbors near and far.
It’s an excellent book, so let’s read it together. This week we’ll look at
Chapter 5: Integrating Faith and Work
Today thousands of Christian professionals sit in the pews, wondering, Can I participate in Jesus’ mission-and do so using the gifts and skills God has given me? The answer is a resounding yes-but such a word is tragically uncommon in many Christian congregations.’
Fewer than ten percent of regular churchgoers, surveys say, can remember the last time their pastor preached on the topic of work. When he or she did preach on work, inevitably the tone was critical-if not hostile-and painted all businesspeople as greedy and uncaring. Seldom do pastors honor the work world as a place for parishioners to live out their high calling.
Key periodicals addressed largely to clergy and church leaders do not often cover issues of faith and work integration.
While many Christians are not receiving guidance from their churches, they may be hearing about faith/work integration from parachurch sources. Hundreds of books have been written on this topic. There are also many marketplace ministries available for Christian businesspeople to join.
In short, although Christians aren’t hearing much about how to integrate faith and work in the pews, there’s a significant quantity of resources and organizations in the broader Christian community they can turn to. To disciple their people well for vocational stewardship, congregational leaders need to understand what their members may have learned from these sources about faith/work integration.
Miller describes the major themes in the movement as falling into four main categories or quadrants: ethics, evangelism, enrichment and experience.
Quadrant one: Ethics. Individuals and organizations in the ethics quadrant have primarily integrated faith at work “through attention to personal virtue, business ethics, and to broader questions of social and economic justice,”
Christians in this quadrant are concerned about appropriately balancing the demands of work and family. They desire to grow in wisdom in handling the temptations of secular success as well as the immoral social activities permitted or even encouraged within the organizations that employ them. Issues tackled here might include cheating on expense reports, putting corporate interests over human relationships, or navigating the toll taken on marriage by long periods of business travel.
Generally, discussions of ethics are limited to personal morality.
Quadrant two: Evangelism. As the label suggests, people of faith in this quadrant are primarily interested in integrating their faith and their work through evangelistic efforts. This includes cultivating friendships with coworkers from other (or no) faiths; sponsoring Bible studies at work; hosting events or conferences that offer platforms for believers to share their testimonies with nonbelievers within their organizations; or providing spiritual counselors or chaplains in the firm.
Quadrant three: Enrichment. The third theme in the FAW movement is personal transformation and spiritual nurture.
They are interested in healing, prayer, meditation-therapeutic and contemplative practices to aid workers. Such practices can help discouraged or downsized workers, or they may bring a new level of peace to over-stressed corporate executives. Maximizing one’s potential is also a major focus in this quadrant.
Quadrant four: Experience. This quadrant is composed of those FAW groups that examine questions of “vocation, calling, meaning, and purpose in and through their marketplace professions.”
Christians in this quadrant lament the common view that somehow secular work is “second class” or that only through a “ministry career” (such as pastoring or being a missionary) can a person truly live out her or his faith. These organizations provide counsel, books and conferences to help individuals discover their calling and align their natural and spiritual gifts with careers in which those talents can be well deployed.
Miller rightly affirms the strengths of each quadrant while simultaneously asserting that the healthiest approach is one that combines all these themes.
Miller’s Everywhere integrator type gets closest to the concept of vocational stewardship for the common good. It takes seriously the three dimensions of righteousness (vertical, internal and social). Evangelicalism could produce more believers who act like the tsaddiqim in and through their professions if its marketplace ministries, professional societies and books on faith/work integration helped move people as much as possible toward the Everywhere Integrator type Miller describes.
My staff and I analyzed the vision, mission and programs of twenty-three Christian professional societies. We found that the majority of associations were more internally than externally focused. That is, their principle aims had to do with member support, fellowship and peer-to-peer learning.
A vital part of vocational stewardship for the common good is a focus by believers on transforming the institutions in which they work.
My examination of marketplace ministries found no evidence that these business fellowships are discussing how Christian executives can reform practices within their particular industries that might be problematic from the perspectives of justice and shalom. Some of the Christian professional societies have taken some steps in this direction.
The average Christian professional sitting in the pew hears little from the pulpit or in Sunday school about how her life with God relates to her life at work.
Her church offers little specific guidance about why her work matters, how God can and does use it, or how her vocational power can be stewarded to advance his kingdom.
Lacking this guidance, some Christians simply “turn off’ their faith at work; they function as “practical atheists” on the job. They have no vision for what it means to partner with God at work, to bring meaning to their work or to accomplish kingdom purposes in and through their work. Others look outside their local congregation for guidance, joining a marketplace ministry or a Christian professional society.
Patrick Lencioni is one of my favorite business authors. His books The Advantage and The Five Dysfunctions of a Team are among my favorites. I recently started reading and discussing The Advantage with two colleagues at work. I’m sharing key learnings from the book and this week we look at
Behavior 5: Focusing on Results
The ultimate point of building greater trust, conflict, commitment, and accountability is one thing: the achievement of results.
One of the greatest challenges to team success is the inattention to results.
There is no getting around the fact that the only measure of a great team—or a great organization—is whether it accomplishes what it sets out to accomplish.
No matter how good a leadership team feels about itself, and how noble its mission might be, if the organization it leads rarely achieves its goals, then, by definition, it’s simply not a good team.
The definition of results and achievement will vary from one organization to another depending on the reason that a given organization exists.
When it comes to how a cohesive team measures its performance, one criterion sets it apart from noncohesive ones: its goals are shared across the entire team.
The only way for a team to really be a team and to maximize its output is to ensure that everyone is focused on the same priorities—rowing in the same direction, if you will.
Great teams ensure that all members, in spite of their individual responsibilities and areas of expertise, are doing whatever they can to help the team accomplish its goals.
The only way for a leader to establish this collective mentality on a team is by ensuring that all members place a higher priority on the team they’re a member of than the team they lead in their departments. A good way to go about this is simply to ask them which team is their first priority. I’ve found that many well-intentioned executives will admit that in spite of their commitment to the team that they’re a member of, the team they lead is their first priority.
When members of a leadership team feel a stronger sense of commitment and loyalty to the team they lead than the one they’re a member of, then the team they’re a member of becomes like the U.S. Congress or the United Nations: it’s just a place where people come together to lobby for their constituents. Teams that lead healthy organizations reject this model and come to terms with the difficult but critical requirement that executives must put the needs of the higher team ahead of the needs of their departments. That is the only way that good decisions can be made about how best to serve the entire organization and maximize its performance.
The surprising power of embracing team number one is one of the most gratifying and powerful things we witness in the work we do with leaders.
Checklist for Discipline 1: Building a Cohesive Leadership Team. Members of a leadership team can be confident that they’ve mastered this discipline when they can affirm the following statements:
The leadership team is small enough (three to ten people) to be effective.
Members of the team trust one another and can be genuinely vulnerable with each other.
Team members regularly engage in productive, unfiltered conflict around important issues.
The team leaves meetings with clear-cut, active, and specific agreements around decisions.
Team members hold one another accountable to commitments and behaviors.
Members of the leadership team are focused on team number one. They put the collective priorities and needs of the larger organization ahead of their own departments.
Feeling Stuck? Here are 8 Ways to Push Through. Brad Lomenick writes “Sometimes we just feel stuck. Not that anything is really wrong, but more the sense that we’re not going anywhere. That place where you sense that things are okay, but not great. Where it seems like you are just going through the motions. Dependable and reliable, yes. Consistent, absolutely. But not necessarily bringing your A-game.”
Being Gospel Centered at Work. Matt Perman offers two simple ways to begin letting the gospel impact your work right now.
Collaboration. Mark Miller shares four obstacles to radical collaboration that his team is working to overcome.
Work and Cultural Renewal. Tim Keller writes “I like the term ‘cultural renewal’ better than ‘culture shaping’ or ‘culture changing/transforming.’ The most powerful way to show people the truth of Christianity is to serve the common good.”
What Your MBTI Personality Type Says About Your Career Destiny Infographic. Paul Sohn shares this interesting infographic with the details of the four dimensions of personality type coupled with predictions on how much you’ll earn, how many people you’ll supervise, and even how much you’ll like your job.
YOUR CALLING:
What is God Calling Me To? Your Past Could be Key to Your Future. Peter Beck writes “There are three callings of God upon man. First, there is the universal call to repentance and faith in Christ. Second is the call for all Christians to make disciples of others. Third, there is the call to vocational ministry, the one that compels some to give up their careers, their homes, their fiscal security, and head off to seminary (or at least log on) with grand hopes of changing the world for Christ.”
Taking the Time to Find Your Calling: Two Ways to Get Started. Ken Blanchard writes “It’s never too late to make changes in your life by taking advantage of your most precious commodity—time. Life is a very special occasion, so celebrate it by finding and honoring your authentic self!”
Leading from the Middle. In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast Todd Adkins and Barnabas Piper are joined by Brad Lomenick to talk about the strategic position that middle leaders have.
15 Things I’ve Learned From Truett Cathy. I’m excited to finally get a Chick Fil-A in our community in a few days. Here, Paul Sohn shares 15 quotes from the Chick Fil-A founder.
What Great Managers Do. Marcus Buckingham writes “I’ve found that while there are as many styles of management as there are managers, there is one quality that sets truly great managers apart from the rest: They discover what is unique about each person and then capitalize on it.”
Work is a major instrument of God’s providence. It is how he sustains the human world. Tim Keller
What God initiates he orchestrates. Andy Stanley
If you want to keep everybody happy don’t be a leader; sell ice cream. Eric Geiger
Though I am in haste, I am never in a hurry because I never undertake more work than I can go through with calmness of spirit. John Wesley
On my calendar are but two dates: Today and That Day. Martin Luther
If you stop and do nothing until you can do everything, you will remain useless. Charles Spurgeon
Focus on controllable behaviors not uncontrollable circumstances.Dan Rockwell
Creating a sense of entitlement costs way more than you’d think. Malcolm Gladwell
The gospel frees us from a condescending attitude toward less sophisticated labor and from envy over more exalted work. Tim Keller
Nothing seems to be too foolish, nothing too wicked, nothing too insane, for mankind. Charles Spurgeon
A team is not a group of people that works together. A team is a group of people that trusts each other. Simon Sinek
You know your work is an idol when days off seem like obstacles rather than joys. John Starke
If you did something perfectly the first time you tried, you waited too long to start. John Maxwell
Don’t see people as a means to accomplish tasks. See tasks as a means to develop people. Craig Groeschel
Leaders who don’t listen will eventually be surrounded by people who have nothing to say. Andy Stanley
Learning and development is like time-released medication: the benefits are derived over time. Mark Miller
Success isn’t something that just happens – success is learned, success is practiced and then it is shared. Coach K
Instead of insisting you’re right, respond by saying, “You could be right. Tell me more,” and then really listen. Dr. Alan Zimmerman
Let me give so much time to the improvement of myself that I shall have no time to criticize others. John Wooden
Faith and Work Book Clubs – Won’t you read along with us?
I first read this book in a “Calling, Vocation and Work” class with Dr. Michael Williams and Dr. Bradley Matthews at Covenant Seminary two summers ago. King Jesus is on a mission to bring restoration in every sphere of society and has invited His followers to join Him in this Kingdom-advancing work. Learn to deeply, creatively and intentionally steward your vocational power in ways that advance foretastes of the coming Kingdom of shalom for our neighbors near and far.
It’s an excellent book, so let’s read it together. This week we’ll look at Chapter 2 ~ What Do the Righteous Look Like?
A central premise of this book is that the average middle-class (or wealthier) Christian in America has been blessed with much from God-skills, wealth, opportunity, vocational position, education, influence, networks. We are, in short, the prospering. The purpose of all these blessings is simple to state and difficult to live: we are blessed to be a blessing. Our generous heavenly Father desires us to deploy our time, talents and treasure to offer others foretastes of the coming kingdom. Those who do so are called the tsaddiqim, the righteous.
Clearly, living as the tsaddiqim isn’t easy. It requires tremendous effort and intentionality. More importantly, it requires power from God’s Holy Spirit.
In studying the biblical scholarship on this concept, I’ve found that it is helpful to see righteousness as expressing itself in three dimensions or directions: up, in and out
UP
By up I mean that “vertical” dimension of righteousness that involves our reverent worship of and humble dependence on God. By in I mean the state of our hearts: the internal characteristics of righteousness captured by the phrase “purity in heart” and expressed through personal righteousness (what the wisdom literature calls “clean hands”). By out I mean the social dimensions of righteousness, that part of righteousness involving our interactions with our neighbors near and far. This comprehensive expression of righteousness marks the tsaddiqim.
The tsaddiqim live Godward. That is, the central orientation of their life is toward God.
Their Godward stance makes them people of prayer,
The tsaddiqim are deeply humble.
The Godward orientation of the tsaddiqim also means that they have an eternal perspective.
This aspect of righteousness suggests several implications for vocational stewardship. First, this “vertical” righteousness means that we affirm that the purpose of life is glorifying God, not self.
It does mean that we are called to resist the modern assumption that personal happiness and satisfaction are the highest and most important criteria when considering vocational decisions.
Second, a Godward orientation means that in stewarding their vocations, the tsaddiqim do not fall into idolizing their jobs or the organizations they work for. Perhaps the most visible expression of this is that the tsaddiqim are not workaholics. They seek to draw their primary identity not from their work, but from their relationship with God. Their Godward orientation helps them remember to be faithful to all the various callings he has placed on their lives in addition to their work, such as family relationships, parenting responsibilities, service roles within the church, and duties to community and nation.
Not idolizing work also means that the tsaddiqim seek discernment about the limits of their loyalties to their employer.
Third, this vertical dimension of righteousness means that we seek to do our work in active, functional, daily reliance on the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. The tsaddiqim practice God’s presence in the midst of their labors.
Relatedly, the tsaddiqim do their work “heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men” (Col 3:23 NASB). That is, they know their audience.
Finally, because the righteous are fundamentally Godward in their orientation, they view their work in eschatological terms.
The tsaddiqim have an eternal perspective.
They are confident in God’s promise to make everything new (Rev 21:5). They trust that in their work they participate in the new creation, even if that very glorious idea is somewhat mysterious to them.
From this eschatological paradigm, they celebrate the significance of human work and see it as a matter of “cooperation with God.”8
IN
The second aspect of righteousness concerns the state of our own hearts. This aspect involves both right personal conduct and, importantly, holy motivations and dispositions. The righteous seek not only to act rightly but also to be right inside.
Personal righteousness also involves the zealous pursuit of “putting off” the old self and “putting on” the new self that is spoken of in Colossians 3.
The righteous are also deeply grateful people who understand that all they are and all they have comes from God.
The internal dimension of righteousness also involves the disposition of our hearts toward compassion and mercy.
When the righteous “care about” justice for the poor, it means they are intensely passionate to see justice done for the poor. Their concern is deep, intimate and heartfelt.
Most of the teaching on the integration of faith and work emphasizes the importance of cultivating personal righteousness in the context of our daily labor. That’s understandable given the considerable ethical perils of the contemporary workplace. The Fall has affected both our work itself and the environment in which we do it. Because of the Fall, work has become toilsome and sometimes feels futile. Because of the Fall, both we Christians and our nonbelieving coworkers are sinners.
The righteous ask God to help them maintain “clean hands” on the job by refusing to lie, cheat, steal or engage in a workplace sexual affair.
Pastors need to remind their people that they can indeed, though Christ’s power, be different kinds of workers than the nonbelievers around them.
Pastors should remind their members that professionals enjoying success on the job may need an even greater discipline than those who are persecuted at work.
The tsaddiqim, by contrast, pursue the common good out of a keen awareness of the cries of those at the bottom. Knowing God is the true
owner of all they possess, they are willing to share their resources and talents for the rejoicing of the whole community.
OUT
Also mandatory for the tsaddiqim is what we might call social righteousness.
Social righteousness is about how we treat our neighbors near and far. It is about how vertical love toward God is expressed in horizontal love toward the world he has made and the people he has created.
Social righteousness is nurtured when we look “out” at our neighbors near and far and deliberately consider how to advance their good.
Part of looking out involves considering the needs of those among whom we work. First, we simply have to see them. We have to make room in our hearts for caring about others. From this heart of compassion springs tangible action.
Looking “out” also involves considering the needs of all the stakeholders in our work, such as vendors, customers, partners, investors or neighbors (people living in the communities where our employing organization’s facilities are). The call to do justice is applicable in all these relationships.
Finally, looking out means taking seriously our potential role in encouraging institutional transformation. This begins within our own workplace.
Institutional transformation includes actions that can move an entire industry to higher standards of quality or safety or financial transparency or energy efficiency or racial diversity-or other social goods.
The call to righteousness in this book in no way replaces the doctrine of full reliance on Christ and his righteousness.
The church is supposed to be a collection of the tsaddiqim-people of deep personal piety and intense passion for the kingdom of God.
Those committed to stewarding their prosperity for the common good, of people who think creatively and strategically about how to deploy their talents to advance foretastes of the kingdom.
Patrick Lencioni is one of my favorite business authors. His books The Advantage and The Five Dysfunctions of a Team are among my favorites. I recently started reading and discussing The Advantage with two colleagues at work. I’m sharing key learnings from the book and this week we look at
BEHAVIOR 4: EMBRACING ACCOUNTABILITY
Even well-intentioned members of a team need to be held accountable if a team is going to stick to its decisions and accomplish its goals.
Peer-to-peer accountability is the primary and most effective source of accountability on the leadership team of a healthy organization.
When team members know that their colleagues are truly committed to something, they can confront one another about issues without fearing defensiveness or backlash.
The leader of the team, though not the primary source of accountability, will always be the ultimate arbiter of it.
So—and here is the irony—the more comfortable a leader is holding people on a team accountable, the less likely she is to be asked to do so.
At its core, accountability is about having the courage to confront someone about their deficiencies and then to stand in the moment and deal with their reaction, which may not be pleasant.
Unfortunately, it is far more natural, and common, for leaders to avoid holding people accountable. It is one of the biggest obstacles I find preventing teams, and the companies they lead, from reaching their full potential.
Many leaders who struggle with this (again, I’m one of them) will try to convince themselves that their reluctance is a product of their kindness; they just don’t want to make their employees feel bad. But an honest reassessment of their motivation will allow them to admit that they are the ones who don’t want to feel bad and that failing to hold someone accountable is ultimately an act of selfishness.
Some leaders don’t realize they have an accountability problem because they are more than comfortable confronting people about issues regarding measurable performance.
That is indeed one form of accountability, but it’s not the most important kind. The kind that is more fundamental, important, and difficult is about behavior.
It involves a judgment call that is more likely to provoke a defensive response.
The reason that behavioral accountability is more important than the quantitative, results-related kind has nothing to do with the fact that it is harder. It is due to the fact that behavioral problems almost always precede—and cause—a downturn in performance and results.
Whether we’re talking about a football team, a sales department, or an elementary school, a meaningful drop in measurable performance can almost always be traced back to behavioral issues that made the drop possible.
It’s difficult to overstate the competitive advantage that an accountability-friendly organization has over one where leaders don’t hold one another accountable.
It’s worth pointing out here that people often confuse accountability with conflict because both involve discomfort and emotion. But there is an enormous difference between the two. Conflict is about issues and ideas, while accountability is about performance and behavior.
A good tool for teams that want to improve their ability to hold one another accountable is something we call the team effectiveness exercise.
The greatest impact is the realization on the part of leadership team members that holding one another accountable is a survivable and productive activity, and it will make them likely to continue doing it going forward. And in some situations, the eventual result is particularly powerful.
Losing a team member is not at all a common outcome of building a culture of accountability. In most cases, team members simply learn to demand more of one another and watch their collective performance improve.
I’m often asked whether leaders should hold their people accountable privately during one-on-one sessions or in more public forums with the whole team, like during meetings. Although every case is a little different, generally I believe that on cohesive teams, accountability is best handled with the entire team.
When leaders and team members call one another on issues in front of team members, they get benefits that don’t occur when it takes place individually.
First, when accountability is handled during a meeting, every member of the team receives the message simultaneously and doesn’t have to make the same mistakes in order to learn the lesson of the person being held accountable.
Second, they know that the leader is holding their colleague accountable, which avoids their wondering whether the boss is doing his job.
Finally, it serves to reinforce the culture of accountability, which increases the likelihood that team members will do the same for one another.
When it comes to addressing relatively serious issues, or matters of corrective action in which a leader is wondering whether a member of the team might not be worthy to be on the team anymore, then everything changes. These are best handled privately, in a one-on-one situation, to respect the dignity of the person being held accountable.
The leader is often well advised to let her people know that she is addressing the situation to avoid unproductive and dangerous speculation.
I used to regularly get feedback indicating that “Bill doesn’t like conflict”. Well, I’m not sure many people really like conflict, but I do know that if you avoid situations because you don’t want to deal with conflict due to a lack of leadership courage it can result in other problems. In fact, Patrick Lencioni has written that the fear of conflict is almost always a sign of problems.
On the other hand, healthy conflict can be a good thing. I’ve been helped in this area by Lencioni and his books The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and The Advantage. These are two of the most helpful books I’ve read (and re-read), and discussed with others, and I refer to them often.
A trait of a cohesive leadership team (and any team), according to Lencioni is that team members regularly engage in productive, unfiltered conflict around important issues.
Although we have a natural tendency to avoid conflict, here are 4 ways in which conflict can actually be your friend:
It drives us to better results. We have to start with trust. We need trust to have healthy ideological conflict, or conflict around ideas, as opposed to unhealthy and unproductive personality driven conflict. Lencioni has written that if we don’t trust one another, then we aren’t going to engage in open, constructive, ideological conflict. However when there is trust, conflict becomes nothing but the pursuit of truth, an attempt to find the best possible answer. Having healthy conflict around ideas, proposals, direction, etc. will help insure that we ultimately arrive at better solutions. Have you seen better results when you engage in open and healthy conflict around ideas?
It builds stronger teams. I’ve been on teams where ideological conflict was seen as disloyalty as the leader was trying to build consensus with the group. This leads to what Lencioni refers to as “artificial harmony”, and he says that this is particularly seen in churches where people have the misguided idea that they cannot be frustrated or disagreeable with one another. He writes that what team members are actually doing is confusing being nice with being kind. Instead, we should feel compelled to respectfully disagree with one another when we see things differently. If done properly this will lead to team members having greater respect for each other, and help to avoid destructive conflict later on if the discussion doesn’t take place. Have you had experiences where teams have become stronger as a result of engaging in healthy conflict?
It results in greater commitment to decisions. Lencioni has written that conflict is so important that a team cannot achieve commitment without it. He tells us that when there has been no conflict where team members can express their different opinions it becomes nearly impossible for team members to truly commit to a decision. Have you been involved in situations where team members appeared to agree to a decision in a meeting, but then didn’t support the decision later? Lencioni refers to this unhealthy behavior as “passive sabotage”.
It helps leaders to grow. I often tell people that I am rarely the smartest person in the room. I’m not being humble when I say that. I work with very talented people, and I respect the knowledge and experience they bring to the team. A leader needs to demonstrate vulnerability and create an environment in which ideological conflict is encouraged. For example, the leader may have to break a tie if the team can’t come to consensus on a decision, but a mature leader should let all team members provide their input before that takes place. That takes maturity and someone who is not on a power trip. Have you grown as a leader by letting your team engage in conflict around your ideas?
Do you agree that healthy conflict around ideas is a good thing? What are some examples of healthy conflict that you have seen?
A few years ago I was excited to be a part of a professional learning organization that was bringing John Maxwell into our community for a speaking engagement. I was very active in promoting the event, including placing an article in my department’s newsletter at work. However, in doing so, I had overlooked the impact that hundreds of people attending the event would have on my department’s budget. I was too focused on publicizing the event to see the big picture. After being questioned about that by a senior leader, being told to come up with a plan and then discussing it with her, she stated, “Well, I hope you learned something from this.” That was quite the understatement.
We all make mistakes and fail from time to time. I have struggled with a fear of failure for as long as I can remember. A few years ago I read Dr. Alan Zimmerman’s book Pivot: How One Turn in Attitude Can Lead to Success with a team member. I remember joking as we started the book that it was funny that two positive people with good attitudes were reading a book about attitude. However, as it turned out, Dr. Zimmerman included chapters about worry and failure in the book. I have to admit that I worry about failing. My wife can tell you that I tended to stress about each new class at seminary after receiving the syllabus. After looking it over and feeling overwhelmed before class even started, I thought there was just no way I was going to be able to do it.
Since we all fail, the key is what we do with those experiences. I’ve been helped in this area by John Maxwell’s books Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Learn and Failing Forward. Maxwell has written that the major difference between achieving people and average people is their perception of, and response to, failure.
Here are six lessons from failure:
Failure is difficult, but worth it. Anyone who has tried something and come up short (and that is all of us!) knows that it can be painful. Think of a child learning to ride a bike. There could be some skinned knees and elbows experienced before success is achieved. John Maxwell has written that those things that hurt, instruct. Can you think of failures that have been painful but well worth it in retrospect?
Failure isn’t necessarily bad. We can be so afraid of making mistakes that we never take any risks, and just play it safe. As a result, we aren’t innovative or moving our organizations forward. Instead, we hold back and never achieve results that we could have. John Maxwell has written that if you succeed at everything you are doing then you are most likely not taking enough risks and not really moving forward. Are you so afraid of making a mistake or failing that you don’t take any risks?
Don’t make the same mistake twice. Mistakes are going to happen. The key is to learn something from them and not make the same mistake again. If you do make the same mistake over and over, then you haven’t learned anything and there will have to be consequences. However, if you learn from your mistakes and don’t make them again, that can be a positive experience. What is a mistake that you learned from?
Share your experiences with others. I have shared the story that opened this article with many people since it took place about eight years ago to encourage others to learn from their mistakes. John Maxwell has written that mistakes are painful when they happen but years later a collection of mistakes is what is called experience. Share your experiences with others so that they can learn from you.
Practice makes perfect. Think of something you’ve worked hard at to master, such as playing the piano, hitting a golf ball or making a presentation. Chances are your early efforts to learn these new skills were embarrassing, but they helped you to grow and develop those skills. Malcolm Gladwell talked about the “10,000 hour rule” in his book Outliers to illustrate his point that achievement is talent plus preparation. What is something that you failed at for some time but now are proficient at?
Be motivated by failure. I worked with a summer intern a few years back who told me that she was stirred up when someone told her that she couldn’t do something. That made her all the more motivated to prove them wrong. Another team member demonstrated to me on several occasions that he could take feedback, sometimes hard to hear and disappointing, and turn it around and use it for something positive. Make failure your friend and be motivated by it.
These are just a few examples of lessons from failure. There are many, many more. What lessons do you have that you could share?
and Work at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City. Listen in on weekly talks, lectures, and conversations about the intersection of theology and culture as it applies to our everyday work. Topics range from vocational-specific (business, law, arts, education, etc.) to practical resources regarding prayer, discernment, calling, and more.
BOOK REVIEW: 
10 Favorite Faith and Work Quotes of the Week
Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper
The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business by Patrick Lencioni
Every Square Inch’s Christmas Gift Guide 2015
4 Ways to Better Engage Women in the Workplace
7 Signs it’s Not Really a Team.
Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper
Attending poorly organized and managed meetings “weakens me”. The bad news is I’m in a lot of meetings each day at work, and I also attend meetings at church and with the professional IT organization in which I’m involved. Marcus Buckingham defines an activity that weakens us as one that drains us, bores us and is something on our calendars that we don’t look forward to.
