Strategies@work Podcast

Gleanings - August 2018

Gleanings - July 2018

Wise leaders and managers understand that the standard for best practices is defined by the truth of the Bible. To build excellent organizations requires alignment with the truth. It is therefore imperative that all stakeholders are accountable to deportment defined by the truth. When stakeholders deviate from this standard, correction must be administered. Correction is not easy or pleasant, nor is it necessarily successful every time. But building a culture aligned with the truth is an essential mark of wise leadership and management and is the predicate for building excellent organizations.

Gleanings - June 2018

The purpose of organizations is to produce excellent work product. To do this requires sound spiritual reality in the hearts of all stakeholders. A culture of transparency and prayer is therefore essential. The only prayers that will be heard and answered by God are prayers aligned with his will and ways. And the only people who can offer prayers of alignment are righteous people—people growing and maturing in Christ. These people are not perfect but over a prolonged period time display evidence of consistent growth and maturity in Christ. This should be the standard by which all stakeholders are measured because maturing in Christ is the predicate for individual and organizational excellence.

Gleanings - May 2018

Leaders and managers should model for all organizational stakeholders a life of meekness expressed by the proper use of the tongue. Organizational cultures populated with people prone to grumble against one another will be toxic. But organizational cultures built with people who are meek will be healthy. The difference is that grumbling against one another reflects discontentment with and lack of gratitude toward God, but meekness reflects contentment with and gratitude toward God. One of the marks of excellent, enduring, and productive organizations will be a culture of meekness that will facilitate the delivery of world-class value.

Gleanings - April 2018

Organizational leaders must recognize that one of the key tools—a means—for strategically aligning with the will of God is temporal wealth. God provides these resources to enable organizations to fulfill their mission in the divinely ordained metanarrative. Wise leaders recognize the purpose of temporal provision is to support God’s will for the organization and all stakeholders. This means, among other things, that management will use temporal resources to fulfill obligations on time, on scope, and on budget. This includes timely payment of workers, vendors, and subcontractors. Management will also guard against worker abuse and all forms of greed, particularly conspicuous consumption and excessive management compensation. Godly management will use temporal wealth as a means to support the will of God and, therefore, will gain transcendent wealth as well.

Gleanings - March 2018

God is sovereignly in control of his universe and therefore ordains the existence of every person and organization. Leaders and managers are, therefore, sovereignly placed in positions of authority. Like shepherds or pastors, leaders and managers would be wise to learn from the failures of the shepherds of Israel. Every leader and manager is sovereignly given authority to represent God and therefore must seek to fulfill the purpose of God both individually and organizationally. Pastoring organizations well leads to blessings. Failure to pastor well leads to divinely determined consequences that will negatively impact the leaders and managers and, very likely, all stakeholders.

Gleanings - February 2018

Management must guard against using workers for their own personal agendas, such as, using workers as pawns to make money. This is abuse. One of the key roles of management is to utilize workers according to their divine design and shepherd them into alignment with the will and ways of God. Shepherding workers correctly will produce healthy workers and healthy organizations. Healthy organizations will produce good results and will serve customers with excellence. In all this, God will be glorified.

Gleanings - January 2018

Management must develop strategic plans aligned with the will and ways of God. Care must be taken to humbly develop plans by seeking divine wisdom and guidance. Strategic planning is therefore a spiritual activity that requires prayer, obedience to scriptural principles, and spiritual discernment. The motive must always be pure—to seek alignment with the will and ways of God. When management functions accordingly, an efficacious predicate for success will be established.

Gleanings - December 2017

Management must humble themselves (go low) before God to raise the bar of excellence. Accordingly, management must recognize that God is engaged in his creation and grants favor when individuals and organizations work in alignment with his will and ways. Therefore, humble management will seek humble workers. Such workers will enjoy the favor of God in their work and display traits such as submission to authority and teachability. An organization built on humility as a seminal virtue will enjoy God’s favor, which will be manifested by healthy, efficient, and productive individuals and organizations. Going low will raise the bar of excellence and produce a profit, as well.

Guard your heart from the sin of mammon worship. Disdaining competition is an indicator of mammon worship. The opposite of mammon worship is the worship of God expressed in the principle of stewardship. Management must model and teach stewardship to all stakeholders. When this view takes hold in the organization, competition is valued because it challenges the organization to be more effective, efficient, and creative. Competition makes organizations better and serves the interests of the customers and clients. Also, competition facilitates mutual learning. Therefore, put aside mammon worship with its narcissistic hedonistic greed. Seek to serve God’s purpose through your organization by competing well.

Gleanings - October 2017

Organizational leaders must guard against the temptation to seek to worship God and money, which is impossible. The primary goal of organizations should not be financial profit but alignment with the will and ways of God. Profit is a by-product of alignment with God. And given the intentional strategic nature of God, the profit that God grants an organization is what is needed for the organization to fulfill God’s purpose. Organizational success is therefore measured by the degree of obedience to the will and ways of God. Financial considerations are secondary to the primary objective of alignment with God. This makes organizational leadership and financial stewardship spiritual activities.