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

value

The Selling CEO

Over the years I have worked with many CEO’s and the best ones fully understand their role as The Selling CEO. This article is written for the rest of you. The CEO of any organization is not only the Chief Executive Officer but the CSO or Chief Selling Officer. As the CEO he or she must sell their vision, mission and values along with their products or services. In fact they are in a constant state of selling; ideas, proposals, concepts, projects, etc. Whether it is to their executive team, their front line employees, their board or their banker they need to be champions of sales.

It all starts with the person. In Tom Stanley’s book; The Millionaire Mind he states that all self-made millionaires have four common characteristics; integrity, discipline, good interpersonal skills and finally courage. Although courage is not on the list with the first three, he does say in later chapters that most of these individuals will be found in church on Sunday, thus their Spiritual connection gives them courage. I am reminded of Joshua 1:9, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

I believe the CEO too must possess these qualities. Integrity being the key to any selling situation, always doing what’s in the best interest of employees and customers. “For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints.” Proverbs 2:6-8

The next critical element for every selling CEO, or any sales professional for that matter, is understanding your “why”. Most people in either position understand what they do, they can generally explain how they do it but rarely do they understand the why of their products or services. A CEO must sell from their “why”, not the “what” or “how”. Ask yourself, why does my company exist in the eye of my customers? What difference do we make in the marketplace, in the world for that matter? The best example of this is Apple, they truly understand their “why”, which fuels their success! To explore this concept further I suggest reading both Start with Why by Simon Sinek and It’s Not What You Sell but What You Stand For by Roy M. Spence, Jr.

Moving on as the Selling CEO you must have a compelling vision for your organization. We are all familiar with the verse in Proverbs 29:18B, “Where there is no vision, the people perish…” A passionate leader with a clear vision will inspire “sell” other to excel.

I won’t spend much time on mission because that ties back to your “why”. I do want to close this article with “values”. Values are the anchor for any organization, they will guide each individual in the organization on how they respond to customer service issues, quality focus and frankly every action and interaction in the company. The Selling CEO must have a strong set of core values, these values translate to the company’s values, which serve as a moral compass or guide for everyone.

In my 30 plus years as a sales professional as well as a trusted advisor to executives and CEO’s I learned that without these fundamentals, the Selling CEO will fall short. Live with integrity, courage, discipline, abnd develop your interpersonal skills. Understand your “why”, develop a compelling vision and set a strong set of values that act as a compass to all concerned. Remember every CEO is a Selling CEO.

 

Just Do It

The phrase, "Just do it," strikes a chord with me. What I find with other members as well as myself is that if I expect something to happen, it needs to happen IN MY RHYTHM or in the member’s rhythm. I have developed a monthly rhythm of sending in reports to Convene, including my monthly chair report and updated goals.  It is not easy to get all of these done, but it will happen because it’s in my routine. And each thing that becomes part of my rhythm knocks out something else. The key is finding the right combination of meaningful activities and efforts. So if I don’t blog, it won’t be because it is a big task or I need to “just do it.” It will be because I have or have not developed the technique and rhythm for doing it.  I haven't yet placed value in doing it. I didn’t think I’d like Facebook, but it became a rhythm that is kind of automatic now.  When I first enrolled, it was a month before I visited the site again.  The difference was my son looking over my shoulder and saying, “Pops, see that number in red up there?  You need to click on that and answer those notifications and messages…that’s your prompt.”  Duh.  So the FB prompt now appears on my favorites bar and I see I have four messages. Enough to make the difference for me to hop on and see what's happening.

How many members have a Dashboard, operating plan, updated annual strategies, 90-day action plan, and more?   Most of my members have these because I make it part of the rhythm of being in the group.  I say, “It’s Dashboard Month,” and they all show up with a copy for the group. Most of the plans, dashboards, and strategies are completed in the rhythm of the Forum or One-to-One meeting. I don’t expect them to do it on their own…it's not yet part of their rhythm.

Blogging has not yet become a rhythm for me. How can I/we become accustomed to a rhythm of blogging?  I believe that if it could become rhythm/routine for us, Convene would have plenty of entries for our blog….we would “just do it.”