Strategies@work Podcast

Management must recognize the context for work. Work is performed in a fallen world that will disrupt the organization’s ability to efficiently deliver its value proposition. As a maxim, the minority of the people will produce the majority of the work. Therefore to overcome this maxim, it is essential for management to find the right workers, that is, people who possess a biblical view of work as demonstrated by their actions. Such people will progressively grow and mature in their ability to overcome sin both in themselves and in the physical world. Furthermore, these people will seek to find and fulfill the call of God on their lives in the workplace. In other words, these people will seek to find work that they have C4 to do (note 8). As a maxim, C4 people will produce the results that enable organizations to deliver world-class value to those served.

Gleanings - December 2015

Leading an organization is first and foremost an exercise in stewardship. The real owner of the organization (and all assets of the organization) is the Master; human stakeholders are simply stewards. Stewards are required to faithfully steward the organization according to the will and ways of the Master. “It’s not personal, it’s just business” or “What’s in it for me?” are inappropriate attitudes for stewards to embrace. The only valid question for stewards in any situation is “What’s in it for the Master?” This perspective provides freedom from mammon worship and facilitates stewardship aligned with the will and ways of the Master.

Gleanings - November 2015

Management must learn to function as healthy authority figures for organizations seeking to release the God-ordained potential of each worker. There must be a culture of submission to authority throughout the organization. Workers should be screened to see if they understand the importance of submission and are willing to truly submit to authority. Proper submission to parents is an indicator that a worker understands submission to authority and should be one of the key hiring qualifications of every organization. Avoid hiring workers who do not have a history of submission to authority both in their family of origin and in the workplace.

Gleanings - October 2015

Part of the responsibility of organizational management is to find leverage points to present Christ in a positive light to all stakeholders (workers, customers, suppliers, contractors, and regulators). Since Christianity is a rational worldview in the sense that reason can be employed to present and defend it, management should seek to rationally present the truth about Christ using common ground with the stakeholders as launching points. Wise apologists will find points of commonality with stakeholders using wisdom gleaned from pundits to illustrate biblical truth, which will then be used to present a clear, compelling, and cogent case for Christ.

Gleanings - September 2015

Given the Christian view that all humans are born morally evil and have only limited ability for moral goodness based on common grace, management must seek to develop workers who have been and are being redeemed from their moral depravity by Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. These workers are difficult to find. Therefore it is incumbent upon management to develop an organizational culture that helps workers come to a saving knowledge of Christ and mature in this knowledge. Such workers will be empowered—beyond common grace—by the Holy Spirit to increasingly overcome evil as evidenced by progressively improving alignment with the will and ways of Christ. Organizations with such workers function selflessly to serve customers and clients.

Gleanings - August 2015

Management must recognize the Scriptural validity of individual workplace callings as ministry. Furthermore, workplace callings are not humanly defined; they are defined by God. Therefore, building organizations aligned with God requires management to find the right people—people God has called and assigned to the organization. One of the keys to finding the right people is finding those who have discerned their workplace callings and view their work as ministry—a way to execute the commands of Christ. Work produced by people so aligned with God will be performed with passion and excellence since they know their work reflects their relationship with the Lord. Organizations built with such people will enjoy a worldclass reputation and deliver outstanding value to those they serve.

Gleanings - July 2015

To build enduringly excellent organizations, management must build with people who are called of God to be part of the organizations. Wise management will search for people who are both called and commissioned by authority figures to the work of their organizations. Workers seeking to find and fulfill their life purpose will, among other things, display the traits of preparation, humility, and submission to authority. These traits will facilitate the release of the purpose of God in the lives of workers, enable the workers to enjoy career success, and facilitate the delivery of excellent value to those the organization serves. Wise management will patiently search for such people and build their organizations as God provides the right people.

Gleanings - June 2015

To build excellent organizations requires obedience to the best practices of economics and business established by the Creator. It isn’t enough to build an organization with workers limited to the empowerment afforded by common grace. Management must seek to find and build with workers who are empowered by God to obey divinely defined best practices, that is, workers who are working congruent with their callings and in accordance with a Christian worldview. One of the key practices of wise management is to fervently pray for their workers to be firmly established in the calling of God on their lives and to fulfill that calling using the divinely ordained best practices.

Gleanings - May 2015

Work takes place in one of two kingdoms: the kingdom of darkness or the kingdom of light. Management must be clear that excellent value propositions and enduring success can only occur in the context of the kingdom of light. To be excellent, management must focus on aligning everything in the organization with the kingdom of light. The questions that management must faithfully ask about every aspect of an organization are: “Is what we are thinking and doing congruent with Christ and his kingdom?” and “Is each individual in the community working synergistically in alignment with the will and ways of God?” The only right answer to these questions is yes. Working as a community in alignment with the kingdom of God is the only way to enduring success for every organization.

Gleanings - April 2015

To build organizations that deliver excellent value to their customers, management must build with trustworthy workers who are bound together in a spiritually familial relationship (brothers and sisters in Christ). Each worker must be committed to sacrificially serving—helping—one another and to executing his or her work based on obedience to the will and ways of Christ. Workers must have a profound sense that ultimate accountability is to Christ who is the master of all workers, including managers. Such workers will labor as a mutually edifying community that empowers organizations to deliver excellent value propositions to those the organization is called to serve.

Gleanings - March 2015