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

Ethics

Leading with Integrity: Building a Culture of Ethical Business Practices

Leading with Integrity: Building a Culture of Ethical Business Practices

Throughout many stories In the Bible, we learn that integrity is rewarded. Joseph, Job, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s stories bring the value of integrity to light. Despite being sold into slavery by his brothers and then wrongfully imprisoned, Joseph remained faithful to God and his unwavering integrity in his faith eventually led to him becoming an extremely powerful man in Egypt, who would save many people from famine.


Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow down to King Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image. They chose to maintain their integrity, and so they would only worship our God. The three were thrown into a fiery furnace but were miraculously protected by God. Because of their faith and integrity, He saved them. 


The Book of Job tells the story of Job’s unwavering integrity in the face of severe suffering. Despite losing his wealth, health, and family, Job maintained his faith in God. In the end, we learn that God restored his fortunes and blessed him with even more than he had before in recognition of his steadfastness and integrity.

Ruthlessly Eliminating Hurry

It was a monastery on the top of a hill on a foggy, rainy afternoon in the Pacific Northwest. Just the monks, a spiritual coach, and me for three whole days – a silent retreat. I was excited yet nervous. What would I say to myself?! What would life be like without my phone?! Could I exist without checking the news cycle or answering family group texts with grandchildren pictures? I arrived at the front door and put down my bags as a brown-robed monk greeted me, “Are you here for the silent retreat?” I nodded, not sure if I was allowed to utter spoken words. He showed me to my room which to my surprise contained more than a wooden bed and chair. Whew! Silence and I were about to be better acquainted.

Too often I drive forward, make things happen, move on from one thing to the next with no space to process. Why bother thinking too long! It seems the whole culture is going at a breakneck pace.

Turns out that leaders need time to think and God is a raving fan of silence, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). The late author and philosopher Dallas Willard once was asked, “What do I need to do to become the me I want to be?” After a long silence, which was characteristic of Dr. Willard, he answered, ”You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.” Dallas did not say, read these 10 books, attend this weekend seminar, listen to my podcast, read your bible more, attend fewer movies. He said RUTHLESSLY ELIMINATE HURRY.  According to the story, the young mentee asked Willard, “What else do I do?” Dallas answered, “There is nothing else. Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day.” Boom! The end! No more to say! Stop the presses! Slow down! Stop running!

The Business Insider website says we touch our phones 2,617 times a day for about 2.5 hours of total use over 76 sessions. Through our electronic devices, we are connected to infinite knowledge and we can say happy birthday to people we haven’t seen in a decade. We can read news of places we will never go, read stories of the lives of ‘friends’ we don’t actually know and laugh at jumping cat videos, yet we’re missing out on the people right in front of our eyes. Last night at dinner in a restaurant, I watched a family of six celebrating a birthday. Five out of six of them were looking at their phones and not talking to each other. 

Pastor John Mark Comer writes in his book, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, “if you want to experience the life of Jesus, you have to adopt the lifestyle of Jesus.” Comer goes on to note that Jesus got up early and went to a quiet place to be with his Father. Jesus took time to get away from crowds. He sometimes slept in. He enjoyed long meals with friends and had long conversations about life, and finally, he practiced a day a week called Sabbath where he did what he loved, worshipped God, and rested.

If your life is a bit short on thinking, silence, or rest, take some time today to think, process, let your brain think on its own, and listen in the stillness for God’s voice. I know it’s hard for some of us. Start with turning off the music, turning off the radio, turning off the podcast, and listen to what you might discover in the silence. If that makes you nervous, just try it for five minutes. Life will wait as you reflect.

I’m pretty sure Jesus would actually own a computer and a phone if he were on earth today and he just might post on social media or text his friends his thoughts. I’m also sure He would live a life that is not rushed or hurried. I think that as he became aware of our deadline pressures, He would want to be sure we were making time with Him a priority and He’d send us a message. Maybe He’d post or text these thoughts …

 
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“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

— Matthew 11:28-30 

If you’re short on think time, we’d love to talk with you. We get groups of faith-based leaders together to work on their lives, their marriages, their families, and their business. Click the button below to learn more and get in touch with us. We’ve got time for you! 

About the Author

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GREG LEITH

Greg Leith is the CEO of Convene. He was born in Canada and lived in all four corners of North America. His career spans over 35 years of senior leadership roles in corporate, non-profit and academic sectors. Recently, he served as Director of Strategic Alliances for 13 years at Biola University in California.

Clean Living Leadership – It’s a Choice

Clean Living Leadership – It’s a Choice

“But the Hebrew word, the word timshel — ‘Thou mayest’ — that gives a choice. It might be the most important word in the world. That says the way is open. That throws it right back on a man.”

– John Steinbeck, East of Eden

I checked into the truck stop motel after a long 15 hours of driving. I deserved a break! It was just me, alone and tired in the little motel room. I flipped on the television only to have messages immediately hitting at me from the “adult” viewing channel. The way the television controller was set up, it made me jump through many hoops to exit this tempting mess. Next, I picked up my phone to read the day’s news on a reputable news website, only to be greeted by the clickbait headline about a TV star’s “barely-there bikini” I was supposed to look at.

An Ethics Quiz for Business Leaders

An Ethics Quiz for Business Leaders

I remember being a fresh college graduate and on the job in my first manager role. I was traveling on an overnight trip and on my way into breakfast, I bought a newspaper. I had missed reading the one I’d paid for already that was languishing on my doorstep at home, so it seemed quite justified that I would expense the one I bought that morning at Denny’s. A week later my expense report was paid, minus 25 cents for my newspaper. Newspapers were clearly NOT to be expensed in my company! Of course, I thought to myself I could just throw in another dollar to my tip account! Who would notice one dollar in the midst of hundreds?! I had a 25 cent ethical dilemma on my hands.