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

Leadership

Command - Courage to Speak

People with the Command StrengthFinder talent theme have courage to speak, especially in times of crisis or conflict.They have a strong charismatic presence.

Understanding the Command Strength

Command is the least frequent strength at 34 of all StrengthsFinder themes worldwide. It can be easily misunderstood because it is so rare in individuals.

Command is most likely paired with Strategic at .35% and least likely paired with Developer and Discipline at .01%.

Command can take control of a situation and make decisions, especially in crisis or conflict. They thrive with clarity and honesty and hate unresolved conflict. They prefer to expose conflict so it can be dealt with quickly.

Other words to describe Command are: Persuasive, Assertive, Direct, Decisive, take charge.

Command is part of the Influencing domain of leadership. My mentor called Command a dynamite theme. It’s a powerful theme that can blast mountains and road blocks to open up the highway. Raw Command can be explosive causing harm and intimidation if not used appropriately in the board room.

Refined Command Strength

My ancestor Lieutenant Presley Neville O’Bannon was the first to raise the American flag over foreign soil at the battle of Derne on the shores of Tripoli, on April 27th, 1805.

He led a group of men across the desert to overcome Barbary Coast pirates who were holding 180 American seaman for ransom. For his heroic leadership he was honored with the Mameluke sword now called the Marine sword. After serving in the Marines he then served in the Kentucky State Legislature.

Notice the courage to speak and lead in crisis and conflict. Notice the strong presence he not only used to serve in the Marine Corp but also for his country.

Today he is remembered by the words “to the shores of Tripoli” being a part of the Marine Corps Official Song.

A simple Google of his name will lead you to a fascinating study of a man with the Command strength that was lived with courage to lead.

Raw Command Strength

When Command strength is under developed, immature, or speeding it can be seen as bossy, controlling, intimidating, strong – willed, even a bully.

Command is my #4 strength. I’ve had to learn to soften my Command with my #2 Individualization strength.

Command can get into a “telling mode” and Individualization keeps me into an “asking” mode.

Contrasting Command

Empathy seeks emotional connection; Command seeks emotional clarity.

Harmony enjoys consensus and agreement; Command exposes conflict and disagreement.

Developer is patient with little progress; Command is pushing for powerful persuasion.

The Power of Command is to silence the critic and ignite personal power. The Joy of Command is seeing others have confidence to speak and act boldly. The Beauty of Command is the courageous presence in emergencies. The Hope of Command is to break bottlenecks and heal wounds.

Action Items for Command

  • Take the lead to resolve conflicts.

  • Be the voice and powerful advocate for an organization that you feel passion for.

  • Speak up and voice the opinions of those who are

  • Get certified in dispute mediation.

  • Leverage other strengths to soften your Command.

Scriptures Demonstrating Command

  • Proverbs 27:5-6 Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.

  • Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

  • Galatians 2:14 (Paul said) When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, …

  • Judges 4:4-9 (Story of how the prophetess Deborah led the army into battle)

  • Ephesians 4:25-27 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. “In your anger do not sin.” Do not let the sun go down while you are angry and do ot give the devil a foothold.

Discovery Questions for Command

  • Who and what organization needs your courage?

  • When have you been a powerful voice and advocate?

  • Where would you like to be in charge?

  • How do you use Command to influence others?

  • Who and what strengths would be a complementary partner for you?

About the author: Brent O’Bannon coaches individuals, teams, and organizations as a PCC and the 1st GALLUP Certified Strengths Coach in the world. He is an Amazon #1 Best Selling Author. Learn more at  brentobannon.com & strengthschampion.com

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Godly Exit Strategy | Dan Lucas

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Welcome back to Season 1, Episode 11 of the Convene Podcast. Dan Lucas from CVG Advisors joins us this week to talk with us about exit planning strategies with a biblical perspective and how CVG Advisors can help.

CVG Advisors offer sound strategic advice throughout the entire business lifecycle – from helping you to develop a business transition plan, identify viable exit options, get you “sale-ready”, evaluate strategic alternatives and act as your trusted financial advisor throughout a transaction.

They take the time to understand your business, including your financial profile and key value drivers, so that we are well-positioned to advise you on how to best maximize and protect the value of your business.

CVG Advisors not only help you navigate the strategic, operational, financial and compliance risks in pursuit of successful company performance but they also focus on helping you to build sustainable value in your business in order to close the gap between where you are today and where you want to be in the future.

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Follow as I Follow

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Follow as I Follow

One beautiful aspect of this digital age is the capacity to scan in old documents and free up precious bookshelf space. My bookshelves once held massive black notebooks, full of more than 30 years of preaching manuscripts. I’ve slowly been scanning them in, giving me the opportunity to re-read some awful as well as some beautifully tender stuff, in addition to gaining board footage for boxed up books I had not found room for previously.

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Letting Go Is A Process

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Funerals are always times I reflect on life, particularly the time that has flown by. Eulogies are told and memories of days-gone-by with lifelong family and friends run through my mind. It’s a time when I realize the inescapable finiteness of my human existence. I’m in one of those “seasons of funerals” that tend to come, more often, as I grow older. Besides the corpus in the casket, many of the mourners are aging and/or terminally ill or have someone dear to them in those situations. The reality of mortality weighs heavy in the church. I believe it’s how God prepares us for our own ending—through the experience of the death of others.

Those are moments when everyone in the room deals with the question: “Do I really believe what I say I believe—that I will be swept into the arms of the Lord when I, too, face that threshold?” It’s difficult to let go of who we know and love even though we believe in the eternal presence of God. The pastor’s role as spiritual leader is to remind us of that truth.

If you pause to think, our lives are filled with moments of dying and grieving, and those experiences train our spirit to accept death and move through it to resurrection. It’s the letting go of the familiar--what we know and love—what we can see and touch—with the assurance of a better outcome.

So, it is with our businesses. What we know and love can be projects, employees, processes, assets, or clients that we well know are beyond their useful life. Yet we protest, we cling to memories of vitality, and refuse to let things go.

In his excellent book, “Necessary Endings,” Dr. Henry Cloud explains that endings are necessary for growth—some things die and some must be “killed.” He distinguishes between real and false hope; false hope is when more effort will not bring about different results.

As a Christian business owner, you are the spiritual leader and steward of the company whose role is to navigate through these decisions of life and death to ensure the legacy of the organization.

At Convene, we help by bringing perspective, wise counsel, and encouragement around those decisions—the decisions that can be so hard to let go, even though we know there’s a better place on the other side.