Strategies@work Podcast

Gleanings - May 2020

Don’t think like a naturalist; think biblically with metaphysical awareness. Don’t be unequally yoked! This is a divine imperative. Wise organizational leaders must always seek alignment with God’s will and ways. This is the path to excellence and efficiency. One of the marks of equal yoking is conflict that facilitates improvements. Unequal yoking will produce unhealthy conflict that will manifest in inefficiencies and poor productivity. Equal yoking will empower organizations. Unequal yoking will impair and eventually destroy organizations. Equal yoking is manifested by the right people in the right places doing the right things serving the right people in the right way at the right time for the right reason.

Gleanings - April 2020

Knowing God’s will about a matter is necessary but not sufficient. Organizational leadership must learn how to execute God’s will according to God’s ways. Therefore, organizational leaders must be both students and practitioners of divine precepts, and they also must develop spiritual discernment to know how to execute God’s will when explicit biblical guidance is not provided. This requires developed spiritual wisdom and discernment that is a mark of excellent leadership.

Gleanings - March 2020

Organizational leaders should seek to build with people who are clearly submitted to the lordship of Christ as demonstrated by their lives. Organizations with a culture of discipleship will properly utilize stakeholders to increasingly produce excellent products and services as their stakeholders grow in maturity in Christ. Their customers or clients will experience outstanding value. Such organizations will deliver excellent value and build stellar reputations. And, in the process, Christ will be glorified.

Gleanings - February 2020

Wise organizational leaders seek to discern both the level of maturity and the call of God on people. Such leaders develop people by facilitating the formation of Christ in them, understanding that maturity in Christ is a key to release calling. Leaders must avoid the temptation to use people for their own agendas, which is abuse. Instead leaders must disciple people into maturity in Christ. This is the predicate to organizational success, that is, the right people serving the right customers or clients by doing the right things the right way in the right place at the right time for the right reason.

Gleanings - January 2020

Wise senior leaders will seek to build organizations using the principles of equal yoking and C4. These principles will enable an organization to build an excellent workforce and organize effective teams that deliver world-class value to its customers and clients. Organizations that function at this level will enjoy internal harmony and an outstanding reputation plus enduring success and profitability.

Gleanings - December 2019

Wise managers understand the M&M syndrome is the default condition of mankind. Even professing Christians can revert to living in this state. Therefore, to detect the M&M syndrome, wise organizational leaders will consider more than just a person’s profession of faith. They will look deeper—they will seek to discern the person’s heart (his or her worldview). To do this, organizational leaders should consider many factors, such as a person’s key relationships (both family and friends), overall deportment, work history, outside activities, and prior work reputation. All of these will reveal truth about a person’s worldview and provide clues as to whether the person has the maturity to live aligned with the will and ways of God. Only those who so live work with excellence to serve the purpose of God in others.

Gleanings - November 2019

While it is commendable to simplify codes of conduct and allow decisions to be made at the lowest possible level, one must not forget the reality of human depravity. Don’t assume that all workers will consistently make wise choices—choices aligned with biblical standards. Only those who are self-governed under God will make wise choices because they are internally motivated to obey God’s standards. However, those who are not self-governed under God will be governed by their depraved nature and will not consistently make wise choices. These people will need detailed codes of conduct and accountability. This will cost time and money, which should remind us that managing sin is always costly.

Gleanings - October 2019

For organizational leaders to build excellent organizations requires submission to the transcendent values and principles of the Creator who singularly has the authority to define TUP. This means that organizational leaders need to be students of Scripture seeking to comprehensively understand TUP so that they can discern right and wrong in every area of organizational behavior: leadership, management, ethics, team building, finance, sales, marketing, pricing, service, customer support, personnel policies, and so forth. In every area, organizational leaders must engage in discovering TUP as revealed in Scripture to properly lead organizations and produce the fruit that pleases the Creator.

Gleanings - September 2019

Wise organizational leaders and managers understand that organizations exist to serve the will of God. Accordingly, they recognize that all stakeholders, by default, are not inclined to align with God. Therefore, organizational leadership must proactively engage in training all stakeholders to align with the values, principles, and practices that emanate from a Christian worldview. A culture marked by repenting from the default thinking of fallen mankind and embracing biblical thinking is a predicate for building an enduringly successful organization.

In a universe created by a spirit being, spiritual reality is primary and physical reality is secondary. To enjoy sustained blessings and favor in the physical universe requires proper understanding of and alignment with the Creator. Management must always recognize the importance of alignment with the will and ways of the Creator. When misalignment occurs, the organization’s ability to function properly will be impaired. Misalignment is sin, and sin has negative consequences. Sin, such as the wrong gospel, will manifest in people’s work product. Wise managers will learn how to discern sin in workers by evaluating their work, knowing that excellent work product is rooted in sound theology.

Gleanings - August 2019