ClickCease
Matt Rusten
Why Joy is Vital for Your Leadership and Company

Is joy an underrated asset in your leadership? In our latest article, Matt Rusten explores why joy, much like humor, plays a vital role in building a thriving company culture. From increasing team engagement to fostering resilience, joy can transform workplace dynamics and inspire purpose-driven work. Discover three key ways to cultivate joy in your organization and why it’s essential for leaders who seek both results and fulfillment.

Why Joy is Vital for Your Leadership and Company
Business, Faith, Faith at Work
Convene
Do Not Worry

‘Do not worry.’ We’ve read Matthew 6:25-34 in the Sermon on the Mount, but what does that look like on a day-to-day, minute-by-minute basis? God knows our every worry, fear, and concern – and He can handle it. Many thanks to Darrell Passwater, Convene Forum Team leader, for his encouragement to think about how our lives might be different by truly living out this scriptural principle.

Do Not Worry
Greg Leith
Who Will Lead Your Firm the Day After the ...

Got a quick minute to chat? I’ve been wanting to share something with you as you lead in the midst of the election cycle in the USA or when your political election takes place in your country. When the dust settles on the election and the new country leader is declared, one thing will still be as true as it is right now. You’ll still be the one leading your firm the day after the election. Your team members will still come to work the day after the winner is declared. They’ll still be looking to you for leadership, for a paycheck, for a sense of community at their workplace.

What do they want most that only you can deliver? It’s meaning. That meaning they’re looking for begins with you and your leadership. To be sure, what Washington DC does actually can impact your business significantly, however, the president of the United States or the leader of any country does not lead your firm. You do. It’s an enterprise entrusted to you to lead as a steward. It’s a place where people look to you for answers, where people want to be part of a team that cares about them and where people want to be valued, appreciated, and loved. The next president of the country will not show up this week at your office to encourage your team, fix a broken piece of equipment, hire the next team member, sell a big account, or cast a bold vision about how your team will reach your goals and impact the culture.

Who Will Lead Your Firm the Day After the Election?
Chip Neidigh
A Safe Place To Fall
A Safe Place To Fall
Dave Ulrich
3 Principles of Hope That Enable Transitions

As we find ourselves mid-October and a blink away from a new calendar year, it is an opportunity to prepare for how we view transitions. Transitions allow for reflection and renewal, for letting go and beginning anew, and for learning from the past and creating the future. Instead of laying out trends for the next year, I would like to comment on a fundamental enabler of any transition: hope. Leaders who want to improve, CEO’s who work toward excellence, HR professionals who aspire to deliver more value, and employees who seek well-being all achieve their transitions by realizing hope.

Hope integrates many of the positive traits that shape transitions for others and matter to me personally: learning, patience, service, faith, humility, optimism, gratitude, and so forth. I send hundreds of formal and informal e-mails every month to invite people to programs, to thank people for attending programs, to check in on those I mentor, and to stay connected to those I care about. I begin almost every one of these notes with “Hope you are well.” Hope is one of my personal desires, tag lines, and biases and an enabler of any transition.

If I could implant one trait in my family, friends, and colleagues who are undergoing continual transition, it would be hope. 

3 Principles of Hope That Enable Transitions

decision making

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The Convene points of difference: A conversation among Convene chairs

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Convene Chairs eat their own cooking. They get together and work challenges and opportunities just like the CEO teams they gather. In a recent conversation we talked about how we have come to understand and respond to the question that often comes:  "What are the points of difference between Convene and other peer-based advising groups for CEOs and business owners?"

 

Our answer? We have:

* An Essence Process (that distills the team's best thinking)

* The Holy Spirit Co-Creating Wise Counsel (with like-minded peers)

* A Safe Peer Environment Committed to the Ongoing Transformation of the Leader (producing trust, vulnerability and speed of decision-making)

 

These elements, when combined, lead to greater clarity sooner.

 This in turn, empowers our members to make more confident decisions, grounded in deeper understanding for greater (Kingdom, business and family) impact.

Three great temptations wage war against a CEO:  fear, pride and confusion. When a CEO does not have clarity on the issue at hand, on God's will for them and their stewardship of the company, or on a particular opportunity, it is nearly impossible to act dutifully. Fear, pride and confusion block right and timely action.

 

The alternatives are twofold:

1) To not act, delay the decision, gather more facts, avoid, put off, minimize, rationalize or spiritualize.

2) To act with compromised effect based on un-clarity of purpose, opportunity, etc.

 

By engaging a Convene Team with a tough issue, a CEO is:

1)   Humbling themselves by submitting their pride to the counsel of the team, thereby counteracting the enemy's tool of pride;

2)   Gaining truth, wisdom, insight and clarity, thereby counteracting the enemy's tool of confusion;

3)   Gaining depth as a leader, borrowed experience and encouragement from others thereby counteracting the enemy's tool of fear.

 

"For God is not a God of confusion, but of peace." (1 Cor 14:33 - ESV)

It is interesting that Paul, who wrote those words, creates a dichotomy between confusion and peace.

And so, we answer the question about the Convene distinctive as more confident decisions, grounded in deeper understanding for greater (Kingdom, business and family) impact... and personal peace.

 

 

Convene Chairs

-Harris Wheeler

-Marcus Bigelow

-Mark Vincent

-Michael Powers

-Mike Petty

-Ron Hoover

-Todd Kemp

Do Your Teams Make Good Decisions?

When questioning if a good or bad decision was made we need to look beyond the outcomes. It is normal to consider only the outcomes but what makes a decision a good one is more than that. A good decision is not outcome based only, you need a good decision process. If your teams were literally rolling dice to decide between options how would you feel? Even a string of past success is not enough to say, “Keep it up”. It is intuitive; we know that is not a sound process. To get important options in a decision considered, evaluated, and committed to takes purposeful agreed to steps.

So what if your teams were making decisions based on who talked the loudest or the most? Not much better. What if the decision was driven by who got paid the most, had the most seniority, and was the “ranking” person in the room? We’re no longer in the randomness of rolling dice. But these unstated decision-making processes are not getting the most from your teams. If you truly want a team decision you need a process that outlines how the team works together.

We avoid teams defaulting into decision process ruts of loudest or highest in the org chart by defining an alternative. Consider the following four decision-making roles.

  • Facilitate Making the decision process move forward. Insuring others participate and carry out their contribution to the decision. Insure the team understands the decision and the options being considered.

  • Consult Similarily evaluating alternatives and narrowing down to a choice but when you consult your input may or may not be followed. If you consult into a decision your recommendation may not be followed and that is OK. If your input was heard, understood, and considered then the consult was completed.

  • Decide Actually making a decision through evaluating alternatives and narrowing done to a choice. When multiple team members have a ‘decide’ role then they need to agree on the choice. This is the much-maligned consensus. Sometimes consensus is essential.

  • Inform Being informed after a decision was made. That is often key in that decisions impact others. At times those impacted need to know but don’t need to participate for a decision to be effective.

Team decision effectiveness rises meaningfully when all those who are involved understand their part. The alternatives are people guessing or trying to discover their fit over time. As leaders, we equip our teams for decision success by outlining how the group works together. Use the four decision-making roles, Facilitate, Consult, Decide, and Inform as a guide. Good team decisions are not just about good outcomes; you need a solid, well-understood process for each person. Each needs to know how to carry out their part. Equip your teams with this clarity, they will appreciate it and the chance of better outcomes will increase. It beats rolling dice.

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Recognizing and Eliminating the Isolation Factor

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One entrepreneur summed up the feeling of many, “The people who are safe (like my Bible study group) can’t help me grow my business. The people who can help me grow my business (and have mixed motives) aren’t safe.” Most entrepreneurs relate to the saying: “It’s lonely at the top.” We’re responsible for leading the company to short- and long-term success, and for making decisions that will affect people’s ability to provide for their families. We’re typically operating in uncharted waters and wondering how to avoid the next big threat or exploit the next opportunity. There aren’t many people who can relate to what we’re facing.

Isolation breeds fear, insecurity and distrust, which can result in poor decisions, negative thinking and low team morale. Being isolated in business can also result in negative emotions spilling over into our family lives, so they end up paying a high price too. Without a doubt, isolation can derail our lives, our leadership and our businesses.

Many entrepreneurs have discovered developed safe relationships with successful Christian peers, and regularly building into each other’s lives and businesses is an effective way to eliminate isolation. When the isolation in a leader’s life dissipates, they'll have more confidence and a broader base of resources, which results in wiser decisions, better relationships and greater progress toward goals.

“Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisors they succeed” (Proverbs 15:22).