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.
‘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.
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.
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.
“We feel the spirit of God here.” That is a powerful statement, and when you realize the individual is talking about a commercial business enterprise, it is even more potent. That is how one customer described the business of Infinitely Beyond Award recipient, Mr. Bob Weaver. In 1984, with the help and full support of his family, Bob acquired a small Chevrolet dealership in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, the heart of “coal cracker country.” He started with 17 employees. By 2014, this small dealership had expanded to include all the GMC brands and was now a sprawling campus of five buildings with over one hundred employees. And all of this survived the General Motors bankruptcy reorganization and dealer cuts. Bob gives all the glory and praise to God.
And it wasn’t just the dealership that was growing. In 2015, a small church plant was looking for a temporary place to meet, and they began to use the drive thru service lane at Bob Weaver Auto for Sunday morning praise and worship. It worked out great for them; you just can’t put God in a box. Freedom in Christ Church continued to grow and they held their first service in their newly acquired facility on Easter Sunday.
Bob has a strong commitment to local and national ministries. He has served on various church boards, and the advisory board of the Salvation Army. He supports the work of Dawson McAllister Ministries, Hope International and the Pocket Testament League.
When the Pocket Testament League approached Bob for support, he took a photo of his pastor’s car, a red Camaro convertible, and had it placed on the cover of the “pocket-sized Gospels of John”, and ordered his first 5000 booklets. Bob has used them ever since, including them with the paperwork when each car is purchased. Little did he know, that Camaro photo would become one their most popular covers, with over one half million with that cover being ordered in 2016 by a community in China.
Bob remains committed to his family and business. He is blessed to have his wife of 30-years, and both sons joining him at work in the family business.
Bob joined Convene about the same time as his beloved father passed away. Convene became a place where Bob was mentored, encouraged, challenged, held accountable, received and gave sage wisdom and advice, and provided a godly influence on how to be a better husband, father and leader in his business.
Bob began a workplace chaplain program, workplace bible studies at lunch, employee mission trips, a Christian resource library and the completion of a Christ-centered vision and mission statement that is prominently displayed throughout his facility.
It is easy to see why his customer stated, “We feel the spirt of God here.”
Anyone who is familiar with the show “Undercover Boss” knows the thrill of seeing the CEO truly understand what his or her workers go through in a day on the job. Andy Bales, CEO of Union Rescue Mission in Los Angeles, took this to a whole new level...
In November 2008, Tony Lancaster was driven to Southern California by his brother, and dropped off with a change of clothes and a backpack. Fresh out of rehab, having just lost his business and all of his money, Tony was without hope. But later that year, everything changed. He found Jesus Christ, which eventually led him to make a difference in the world by giving back what he himself had been given: hope. Tony started, and still leads, HOPE Café and Catering, which serves fresh, gourmet food to groups of any size (between 10 and 10,000!).
At a recent One2One meeting with a long-time Convene member, Steve—a man with a great heart for God, family and business—shared about a recent vacation to Yellowstone National Park with his extended family (wife, 4 daughters with husbands, and grandchildren). He described the park as a sanctuary of geothermal activity, forests, mountains and wildlife in an ever-evolving landscape. Steve was evidently moved in spirit by this experience. Steve described Yellowstone in this way:
“The environment is constantly changing”
“Only the strong survive”
“God’s hand is so evident there”
My immediate reaction was to ask, “How is that like your business environment?”
For certain, in our information-deluged and technology-advancing world, the environment is constantly changing. How does your business keep up with the pace? Our Convene team has a saying, “What got you here, won’t take you there”.
For certain, in our still-precarious economic environment, the strong survive by great leadership and team building, innovation and operational efficiency. How do you hone your leadership skills?
“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another”—Proverbs 27:17.
For certain, God’s hand is active in your business. How do you stay focused on God’s intent for your company and your stewardship thereof? Convene helps to impel your decisions through the filters of Kingdom Purpose, Vision and Values.
Could your business have a legacy like Yellowstone?
“Let us not give up meeting together…but continue to encourage one another”. Hebrews 10:25
