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

Member Stories

Congrats, Glenn!

We are proud to announce that this year one of our members, Glenn Hart, was honored as an Aggie 100 for his alma mater Texas A&M.  Every year, the Aggie 100 recognizes and commends the 100 fastest growing Aggie-affliated businesses across the globe.  Hart, the CEO and founder of Laredo Energy, IV experienced a 31.22% growth this year. In recognition of their success, Hart was featured as #98 on the Aggie 100 list this year.  We are so proud of all that Glenn and everyone at Laredo Energy has accomplished this year and can't wait to see that growth continue!

Member Company Turnaround

A fairly new member with a civil engineering company in Group 6 had been experiencing losses for the last four years.  The $5-6M Company had lost $800K, $400K, $200K, and $150K respectively.  Morale was very low and seemed impossible to reverse. The member, being an engineer, is very analytical and was reluctant to act.  The group had been advising him to right-size, but the pending work that could possibly come in was keeping him from cutting too deeply in manpower. Fear was ruling his decisions. It had come to the point where he would occasionally talk about going back to the farm in Tennessee and escape the whole problem.  “I’m not cut out to be a leader…someone else should lead this company.” Finally, having a “father/son” talk with the member, I encouraged him to implement the advice of his group.  A few critical moves would put him above the waterline on costs, and a little bit of profit would be a WORLD of difference from a bunch of red ink.  After all, the employees had heard of nothing but bad news for so long, and they had lost hope of winning.  Some of his employees had NEVER experienced a profitable year.  He decided to make the moves.

The cuts were combined with a new strategic push by the member who began aggressively going after local work and avoiding international projects. (While lucrative in theory, they were long shots.)  Things began to look up right away, and since the costs were lowered, productivity went up considerably.  Sales per employee numbers rose by more than 40% in some cases, until in July profit came in at $200K. While some of that month’s profits had to be adjusted in August, he has been profitable every month since.

Some of the culture change, surprisingly enough, was provided by young new interns, college students or new grads working for $12 an hour.  Those four interns will be offered regular employment and added to payroll this month.  They are adding lots of energy and will help the company sustain the elevated contract volume for the remainder of the year.

This member's faith has been tested through this ordeal.  He really didn’t know how to live out his faith at work.  He was never comfortable interfacing with his own people, especially in confronting issues.  Early on he took my cue to “Walk the 4 Corners” (W4C/MBWA).  It really bothers him, being unnatural behavior, but he believes it is building his relationships and leadership with the flock.  He is even praying for people in the business suffering with cancer, etc.  Becoming more relational, more strategic, more confrontational, and now making a reasonable profit…his testimony as a Christian business leader is becoming rock solid.  It is also showing up in his Convene Team. He has become bolder, more engaged, and is ready to help his fellow members.  This is a clear case where assisting a member to better run his business was DIRECTLY responsible for his testimony becoming more credible.

This member is convinced of his calling to be the leader of this company.  He is committed to Christ in the business and at home.  He is one of the most beloved members of the group now and he has finally honored his group by implementing their advice.