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

Faith

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40-Year Awakening

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Awakening…after 40 years! An individual called as a member referral. He heard that I was connected with business guys and contacted me for help finding a board member or two. I interviewed him and his board and told them that as a coach/chair, my job is not to tell members what to do but to help extract the knowledge they have and help them execute a plan based on it. He was skeptical that Convene could do anything for him, but his pain was getting too high to mess around any longer. He agreed to give Convene a chance. I emailed the board some of the tools I use (One Page Plan, Skittle KPI chart) and scheduled a Candidate Breakfast for him and the team members.

The breakfast and testimonies convinced him (as usual!) AND HE SHOWED UP HAVING ALREADY FILLED OUT HIS DASHBOARD FOR THE PREVIOUS YEAR! He showed me the red color on the chart and said, “You don’t have to convince me that I have pain…look at this. The pain is in the red-colored boxes!”

In his first Forum Day he heard a challenging speaker presentation and participated well. When I got to his first One-to-One, he had his Dashboard completed, had partially completed his One Page Business Plan, had his 1-1 Worksheet done AND had also written a three-page report to his board about all he had learned at the Forum Day and what resulting actions they needed to take as a team. He also had his team members fill out an Expectations Questionnaire and hand it in to him. Incredible!

Did I mention that this member is over 70 years old? Today at his second One-to-One, he had it all laid out again for us to go over. Looking me soberly in the eye, he said quietly, “Jeff, next month I will have owned this business for 40 years…and I have NEVER been as energized and excited about running and improving my business as I am now. It’s all because of Convene. I always wanted to do better, but it’s like I wanted to make furniture but I didn’t have a table saw. NOW I HAVE THE TOOLS TO BUILD AN EXCELLENT BUSINESS! And I have Convene to thank for it. This One Page Business Plan will help me finally penetrate the hardened hearts of my partners and get their ownership in the process. And I couldn’t be happier.”

Every once in a while, God will give me the gift of someone who totally shifts the balance of how hard it can be to help people discover their potential. Today was that day for me. (Did I mention this member is over 70 years old?)

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Full Feeling vs. Fulfilling

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Are you someone who knows what it is like to have a feeling of success and achievement, but don’t really feel fulfilled?  Is your routine of running from place to place and task to task leaving you less than satisfied?  Do your instincts tell you there has to be more to life than this? You’re right, and your life is not just supposed to be full every waking moment in a mad dash to the finish line.  When you align yourself with God’s perspective, you can sort out what is important and fulfilling and what is simply busy work that leaves you full feeling.  Psalm 32:8 tells us “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.”

Personally, I have always run full steam ahead with a calendar that contains no blank spaces.  My life has always been—and continues to be—very full, but today I can also say it is richly fulfilling.  The difference is when I use my gifts and abilities to pursue God’s calling, the completion of each task feeds me and reenergizes me to tackle the next one. I feel a strong sense of purpose and peace, even when I am not sure just how it is all going to get done.  I don’t feel anxious.  I may be tired at the end of a challenging day, but I never feel depleted.

When we reach the finish line, we will not be asked, “What did you do?” but rather “What did you do with what I gave you?”  God has given each of us a calling, and when we find it, we owe it to Him to nurture and pursue it; that is the key to our well-being, and the difference between living a fulfilling rather than a full feeling life.

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Could You Come Out as a Christian Businessperson?

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It seems like every time I turn on the national news, someone is announcing their beliefs, value system, lifestyle, etc. and being commended—if not praised—for it. Their willingness to “come out” and make public their conviction is seen as a valiant move—representing, validating, vindicating and inspiring like-minded others who do not have the courage or the audience to do the same. It is considered poor protocol to disagree with or voice opinions against these pacesetters. So could you, a business owner or CEO who maintains Christian values and beliefs, “come out” publicly and profess the reason behind your success? Are you confident enough in your business principles and, more so, in your foundation in Jesus Christ to let it be known to the world?

“Your light must shine before others so they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:16). Convene believes in building and running excellent businesses—producing great products, providing first-class customer service, treating employees with respect—and making a profit from doing all of that well. If you actualize that in your day-to-day business practices, would you be willing to come out publicly and let the marketplace know the reason behind your success? “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope” (1 Peter 3:15).

A 2011 Barna poll found that only 5% of consumers would be less likely to do business with a company who managed its business according to Christian principles and/or who embraced and promoted its Christian faith. For the vast majority it would either make them more likely to patronize your business or make no difference in their decision.

Your employees, vendors and clients are characterized by this data. Think of how leading by professing your faith, beliefs and values will inspire and motivate them to invest and achieve more in your company, and, perhaps, to step out and lead in the same manner.

The eternal reward is much greater than the perceived risk of "coming out.”

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A Wheelchair Container

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I have been a champion of  Free Wheelchair Mission since 2008 when I saw the video at a Barnabas Group meeting. I showed that video to my Convene members back then. Things were very tight in the economy, and I had lost a fair share of members. One of our members was very moved and decided if he ever had a chance again, he would make a donation, but as it was, he couldn’t even stay in the group. Fast-forward four years…we have been in touch, and my wife and I were even invited to his son’s wedding (his son has been employed at the company of one of my members for a couple of years). The member who had left the group has had his best year in company history, and while on a Christmas ski vacation, he felt moved by the Lord to make a contribution. Finally the timing was right. Driving home, he and his wife decided what to do.

“Hello, Jeff, Happy New Year!” He shouted into his cell phone with his wife listening. “How are you doing? Have you been on another trip yet to South America? Did you take a container of wheelchairs? How does that work? How many do you take? How many are in one container? How much does a container cost? OK! I’m gonna buy one of those! Come down to my office and we’ll work out the details!” Of course I was blown away and told him how grateful I was that he would think of such a thing to do.

“You know, it really blesses me to see you taking teams down to Ecuador and doing this for the people, and I can’t think of a better person to give the check. When you showed us the video way back then, I saw a man walking on his elbows. This should never be. That image was burned into my mind, and all this time I have never been able to escape it. I told the Lord I want to give Jeff some money for his work way back then but I couldn’t. Now it’s different. We’ve had our best year ever.”

I thanked him and went down to receive the check…$40,000. “Just rounded it up to 40,” he said. I delivered it to FWM a couple weeks ago, and of course they were thrilled.

Sometimes the benefits of being a Convene Chair are direct…you can see them. Other times, the Chair battles through disappointment and discouragement over a member leaving his group and so on. It is meaningful to me that the Lord would encourage me through this, not that I got some money in my account (though that is a great encouragement), but that a member learned to be generous and faithful, and associated his giving with a lesson that I had taught him years ago. It is my prayer that all of my Convene members would be touched in some way where they decide to take significant steps of faith and stewardship, not just with their money, but with their lives. Delayed gratification…the life of the Convene Chair.