Strategies@work Podcast

Management must build organizations with stakeholders who live submitted to the lordship of Jesus and, therefore, are being sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Attempting to build with legalists is building with people who are under a curse; the end will be judgment as happened at the Tower of Babel.4 A true Christian lives under the lordship of Jesus submitting to his will and ways. Wise management understands that to build a God-honoring organization requires building with humble, submitted, and teachable people. Therefore, management must identify the legalists in the organization and seek to remediate them. If they cannot be remediated, they must be replaced.

Gleanings - July 2019

Gleanings - June 2019

Kingdom management is bringing order out of chaos, that is, aligning everyone and every initiative in an organization with the will and ways of God. Management must always seek this objective with all stakeholders. One aspect of alignment with God is the prudent use of debt. Management should always be aware of the peril associated with the imprudent use of debt associated with Keynesian economics. Given the record levels of global debt, at all levels, there is looming peril. Wise management will recognize this risk and seek the Lord for wisdom to prepare for a financial reset by finding and/or establishing modern-day Goshens for the people of God.

Gleanings - May 2019

Management can observe the gospel of each worker because it is manifested in what and how the worker delivers work-product. When a person is full of shame and performance, is not transparent, or refuses to take responsibility, such a person has embraced the gospel of cooperation and will never be an effective worker. To remedy this situation, the worker needs to embrace the gospel of the grace of Christ—the singular gospel. Wise managers recognize the traits of the gospel of cooperation in workers and will seek wisdom to introduce the true gospel of the grace of Christ to these workers. Those who embrace the true gospel will be empowered to produce excellent work and those who hold to the gospel of cooperation will never consistently produce excellent work.

Gleanings - April 2019

Strategic planning is a process of discerning God’s will (James 4:13–17). Managers must be interdependent to be able to discern God’s will. Such managers will progressively display Christlike character and be the clearest strategic thinkers and consequently the best organizational leaders because they can discern and align with God’s will. Workers should follow the lead of those who have authority over them. They must develop their skill and ability under the tutelage of wise, godly leaders and managers. An enemy of this process is autonomy—the presumption of independence and self-commissioning. When a person acts independently, there is no humility, submission, or teachability. Such people will be vulnerable to self-deception and poor workplace performance. Executional excellence is a by-product of godly leadership and godly workers who are humble, submitted, and teachable.

Gleanings - March 2019

Organizations that train people in a Christian work ethic and employ people aligned with their individual callings maximize the opportunity for temporal success. God works with intent and purpose in every area of life—individually and organizationally. Consequently, people are not fungible; they must be employed according to their callings. Failure to do so is abusive. In addition, workers must embrace a sound work ethic including valuing temporal work as part of their individual calling. When organizational leaders build based on biblical principles, excellent products and services will be delivered, all will be blessed, and God will be glorified.

Gleanings - February 2019

Wise managers build organizations with people who display the fruit of the gospel of the grace of Christ. These people no longer live in the fig-leaf state, seeking to gain God’s acceptance through their own works. Nor do they work for money, power, or fame. They work out of profound gratitude for the gift of eternal life given to them through the gospel of the grace of Christ. They obediently find and fulfill the call of God on their lives, including their workplace assignments. In every aspect of life, they live intentionally, seeking to discern and align with the will of God. Because they believe in God’s sovereign purpose in all of life, they live always as unto the Lord with gratitude because they have been made acceptable to God through the work of Christ. Consequently, their work-product will be excellent because they are divinely empowered and motivated. Such workers excel and, therefore, enable organizations to deliver products and services on time, on scope, and on budget. Organizations that deliver

Gleanings - January 2019

Gleanings - December 2018

Managers must be clear that spiritual reality drives physical reality. Long-term success is rooted in sound spiritual reality operative in the individual stakeholders of the organization. This is a nonnegotiable truth. One of the primary roles of managers is to walk circumspectly in this truth. They must diligently work with each stakeholder to help them grow and mature in Christ—doing the will of God in the ways of God in the timing of God. They must also help stakeholders find their specific callings, develop their skills to fulfill their callings, and set a context for them to succeed. This is sound management thinking, and action that will produce a consistently excellent, effective, and efficient value proposition for the organization.

Gleanings - November 2018

Wise organizational leaders understand the singularity of personal calling. Accordingly, these leaders will seek to build organizations by utilizing people congruent with their individual vocational callings. This demonstrates faith that God pays for what he orders and holds leaders accountable to properly utilize people. Leaders should understand that, if there is a genuine need for a person in a position, there will be divine provision. When management places a person in a position inconsistent with their calling, this is abuse. Consequently as an act of faith, leaders understand that for every bonafide personnel need, there is a specific divine provision.

Gleanings - October 2018

The correct measure of organizational success is not temporal wealth but true wealth. Wise managers understand that temporal wealth (money) is a tool—it is an asset to be stewarded for a higher purpose. The higher purpose is alignment with the will and ways of God. Money should be used to acquire true wealth. For example, use money to build a stellar reputation. True wealth is seen in the quality of the stakeholders and the excellence of their value proposition. An excellent value proposition will reflect values that are important to God and bless those the organization is called to serve.

Gleanings - September 2018