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

self-appraisal

Far Exceeds

“God’s plan for your life, far exceeds the circumstances of your day.” As the end of the year is here, it is customary to review our performance with our manager / employer. The first step often is a “self-appraisal” that we prepare and present to our boss for consideration. This process typically entails a review of our goals and objectives for the year, an assessment of how well we did in terms of our job responsibilities, an evaluation of our work effort, and ends with our perspective concerning our strengths and “opportunities for improvement.” And many times we are asked to rate ourselves on the company’s rating scale – e.g., far exceeds, exceeds many, meets all, meets some, fails to meet.

What would it look like if you did a self-appraisal with your Creator / God?

We would start with our job responsibilities, which could be summed up in a few words … Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. And, Love your neighbor as yourself.

From there we could move on to the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes, the “Whatever You Did to the Least of My Brothers” responsibilities. How would you and I rate ourselves? Outstanding? Very Good? Satisfactory? Needs Improvement? What specific examples do we have to support our rating?

We then would move on to the section on how we get the work done … things like problem-solving, organizing people and resources to accomplish tasks, handling pressure, following through, meeting deadlines, achieving balance between work quality and quantity, taking responsibility for actions, cooperating with others, having a positive attitude, listening to feedback well, striving to do the best job possible, and so forth. How would we evaluate our prayer life, loving one another in our relationships, extending forgiveness, honoring the Sabbath, serving the poor, multiplying our talents, being humble, giving thanks?

Finally, we come to the last page – the identification of strengths and those darn “opportunities for improvement.” And the bottom line – our overall rating / grade / score.

This process feels quite daunting and intimidating to me. Yet very valuable and meaningful if I truly want to serve God with all my heart, soul, mind, and body. And the amazing news is that we always get the maximum reward! No matter what our performance! Because God gave us His Son to redeem us. His Love is not conditional on your or my performance. God “far exceeds” all the time.