Big Hairy Audacious Goals for Christian Workplaces

Posted on July 28, 2010 by Lane Lopus

One of my favorite books about creating an effective and great organization is by James Collins and Jerry Porras called Built to Last. They look at 18 visionary companies (like 3M, Wal-Mart, Walt Disney, Boeing, Sony, Hewlett-Packard, etc) and discuss their practices that make them the wildly successful companies that they are.


One of those practices is goal setting.  Not just any goals for ordinary companies, but Big Hairy Audacious Goals for extraordinary companies.  BHAGS such as Kennedy saying “Lets put a man on the moon and return him home safely.”  BHAGS like Ford saying “Make cars so everyone with a good salary can buy one.”  Having a goal like these “engages people – it reaches out and grabs them in the gut.  It is tangible, energizing, highly focused.  People ‘get it’ right away; it takes little or no explanation”  (94).  These goals are in line with the company’s mission and require the entire company’s time, energy and resources to accomplishment them.  Everyone must be on board to achieve a BHAG, but there is a clear finish line for people to strive for.

In Christian ministry, BHAGs are also crucial.  God has given us a BHAG: become servants that help Him redeem and transform the world by bringing His kingdom to earth.  “Then Jesus came to them and said ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” Matthew 28: 18-20.  If that’s not a BHAG, then I don’t know what is!

For Christian organizations, BHAGs need to be big enough to allow God to be present in their company.  Bill Hybels describes leading the team for the creation of BHAGs at Willow Creek Community Church: “We decided we wanted our goals to be big enough to require the supernatural activity of God.  We wanted to set goals that would keep us on our knees” (Courageous Leadership 57).  God will help us achieve the remarkable, the noteworthy, the audacious.  With God all things are possible.  This certainly applies to the workplace as well.

I have a friend who lives his life by BHAGs.  Needless to say, he is one of the most remarkable people I know.  Ray has biked across all 50 states and all 10 provinces of Canada.  He has sea kayaked the Baja Peninsula, covering 1000 miles in 33 days (not counting resting on Sundays).  He has also hiked 2,898 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail running from Mexico to Canada through California, Oregon and Washington in 102 hiking days spread over 5 months.  These expeditions are an integral part of his faith journey and every time he returns home he reports how he has seen God’s hand in his accomplishment.  He intentionally sets his goals higher than what he thinks he can do to show how God always pulls through for him.  He achieves his goals with God’s help alone.  Ray’s life is an example of God’s faithfulness when we strive for the BHAGs we set in  accordance to God’s vision.

BHAGs are inspiring and bring out the best in people.  Christian ministries and organizations need more of them.  But how to create a BHAG?

1.    Make sure you have a clear vision and set of core values.  Your BHAG must be in line with the core of the organization or else people won’t jump on board.  The BHAG will require a lot of decisions, which will also need to be made in alignment with the core values.
2.    Ask “Where do we want to grow?” to everyone in the organization.  The employees on the front line of the ministry know what needs to be achieved and where energy and focus need to go.
3.    Determine what your “Critical Success Factors” are.  What must happen for this goal to be achieved?  What do we need to do to make this happen?
4.    Crunch some numbers.  What would be a reasonable amount of growth in this area for a certain time limit?  What would achieving this goal look like?  What are all the implications we need to look at?
5.    Push those numbers even higher.  Remember, this is a Big Hairy Audacious Goal, not a Easily Attained Ho-hum Goal.  In the words of Bill Hybel, it should make you feel “challenged, nervous and excited about them all at the same time” (Courageous Leadership 58).
6.    Put the goal into clear, compelling language.  It should be easy to remember and to the point.  Think “We are going to put a man on the moon” instead of a 15 point thesis.
7.    Find someone to spearhead the BHAG.  Be its champion, its knight-in-shining-armor that will promote, protect, and rescue it if it runs into problems.  Having one, maybe two, people in charge is critical.  Putting ten people in charge of something means that no one is really in charge.  Things slip through the cracks and there will be communication problems.  One person feels the responsibility and is ready to take action and chaos is limited.
8.    Get every single person on board and working towards the goal.  A BHAG is big enough that only unified organizations and ministries can achieve it.  This may mean structural re-figuration in your ministry, especially if your organization has entrenched silos.  A company with internal conflict like silos will not achieve BHAGs.
9.    Determine measurements of progress and success.  How are you going to be able to show your employees, supporters, and clients that you are achieving what you said you would set out to achieve?
10.    Think about your next BHAG when you have accomplished this one.  James Collins said that the problem with Ford was that they achieved their BHAG of putting a car in the driveway of every American, then lost momentum because they didn’t come up with another one.  Good leadership is always looking to what’s further down the road.

Christian leaders need to dream big because with God we can achieve big.  With a BHAG, there is always the risk that everything will crash and burn.  That’s what makes a BHAG a BHAG.  And that’s what trust and faith are for, to give us the courage to strive for the audacious.  BHAGs take courage and are not for the faint-of-heart.  They are exactly what we need to achieve God’s vision.

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A Biblical Model for Organizational Values

Posted on July 19, 2010 by Lane Lopus

In a recent discussion with leaders in a Christian ministry the comment was made, “we need to begin living the values we have written down.” It was a telling statement, and unfortunately all too common. As fallen people, we all need reminders of the strongly held shared beliefs that guide our behavior in the workplace.

Values:

Strongly held beliefs evidenced by outward behaviors. throughout an organization that help form its culture.

Creating organizational values is a key step in building a healthy culture. For any organization, a logical question arises: is there a biblical basis for building virtue-based values statements? At a recent Christian Leadership Alliance conference workshop, Dr. Richard Biery presented a Biblical concept from Micah 6:8 that guides us in establishing meaningful values in a workplace, Christian or not. You can listen to the original lecture on our podcast page. http://www.bcwinstitute.com/podcasts.xml

Richard tells us to look at Micah 6:8 not as a list, but as a more complex integrated system. By understanding how the three characteristics mentioned in Micah 6:8 relate to each other, a very clear picture begins to emerge. But first, let’s look at what the verse actually says:

“God has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8 (NIV)

Each of the key requirements has a special and unique meaning for us to examine as we explore a model to evaluate our personal and organizational value system.

1. Act justly: looking at what justice is in a cultural setting, it translates into “doing what is right” and personal integrity. To act justly in today’s world would include speaking and acting honestly, seeking truth, pursing excellence (which is integrity in action) and being diligent to act fairly.

2. To love mercy: The mercy is translated from the Hebrew word, ‘chesed’ is a complex word, but in summary it means ‘loving kindness.’ NH Snaith discusses the meaning of this word in his article simply entitled “Chesed” from A Theological Word Book of the Bible by Alan Richardson. Snaith suggests that “the word is used only in cases where there is some recognized tie between the parties concerned.” God created a covenant with Israel, so his ‘chesed’ for Israel takes place in the context of a formal relationship.

However, the word also takes on one more meaning: “the continual waywardness of Israel has made it inevitable that, if God is never going to let Israel go, then his relation to his people must in the main be one of loving-kindness, mercy, and goodness, all of it entirely undeserved. For this reason the predominant use of the word comes to include mercy and forgiveness as a main constituent in God’s determined faithfulness.” So, NIV scholars translate ‘chesed’ as mercy because that’s what God continually showed to Israel, but it translates more like “loving-kindness to people that I am in a covenant with whether or not they hold up their end of the covenant.” Another way to consider the meaning is the use of the term ‘committed love.’ This committed love in the workplace looks like being thoughtful, treating others with courtesy and respect, and kindness.

3. Walk Humbly With God: Having humility in the workplace requires putting other people first, listening, asking for and giving forgiveness, having an attitude of gratefulness and being teachable (open to learning).

When we put these three traits as points on a triangle, we can see how they interact with each other. Each interaction point is a key aspect of Christian culture in an organization. If one of these aspects were missing, then the culture could turn toxic. Let’s look at these aspects and examine how they fit into the workplace.

Justice + Mercy= Trustworthiness

The combination of integrity from doing justice and the committed love of mercy is trustworthiness and transparency. You need both integrity and love for trustworthiness to work. An example of what integrity without committed love looks like is the IRS. When an IRS agent comes to examine your finances, you know he’s going to do an accurate, thorough and honest job. But he’s not on your side; there is no mercy or kindness coming from him. You don’t trust him despite having integrity because the committed love isn’t there to inspire trust. On the other hand, committed love without integrity is also untrustworthy. Even if you know that a coworker is going to treat you with kindness and respect but you don’t trust them to do the right thing, or be honest, or do their work with excellence, then you don’t trust them either.

Leadership Visibility and Trust: Similar to the IRS agent example, a leader of an organization that is holed-up in their office, or absent because of travel, has difficulty building a trusting relationship with their staff. As we explore the reasons behind low levels of trust between senior leaders and staff in Christian organizations we find visibility to be an important criterion. Personal connection is required for an individual to feel kindness or respect from a leader. In fact, we have often listened to staff that feel disrespected because their leader is absent from the workplace on a prolonged basis. They feel the leader has no interest in them as individuals.

To meet the need to build trust and transparency through relationships, leaders have employed a tactic known in many circles as “Manage by Wandering Around” (MBWA). The following are a few tips to guide leaders who are interested in building trust.

• Appear relaxed as you make your rounds. Employees will reflect your feelings and actions.
• Remain open and responsive to questions and concerns.
• Observe and listen and let everyone see you do it.
• Make certain your visits are spontaneous and unplanned.
• Talk with employees about their passions — whether family, hobbies, vacations, or sports.
• Ask for suggestions to improve operations, service, ministry, etc.
• Try to spend an equal amount of time in all areas of the organization.
• Catch your employees doing something right and recognize them publicly.
• Convey the image of a coach — not an inspector.
• Encourage your employees to show you how the real work of the organization gets done.

MBWA works best when you are genuinely interested in employees and in their work and when they see you as there to listen. It sometimes requires follow-up. When you can’t answer an employee’s questions on the spot, get back to them with an answer within 48 hours.

So, in the workplace we need to act with both integrity and committed love. In doing so, we will become trustworthy and invest our trust into our coworkers, leading to a more effective and healthy workplace. Trust helps decisions be made and executed faster, cutting down on time, money, and the emotional energy it takes to bring suspicious people onto your side. Trustworthiness also enables people to give wise and constructive feedback, helping you to pursue excellence in your work and correct mistakes when wrong. “Speaking truth in love” is an attribute that Best Christian Workplaces use effectively.

Mercy + Humility= Servant Leadership

The combination of committed love and humility is an abundance mentality and servant leadership. This attitude can be described as ‘generous thinking’: not just getting a bigger piece of the pie, but making the pie bigger so everyone can have more. Having committed love with humility brings sincere caring about both your work and the people you work with. It also enables servant leadership, putting others before yourself with that committed love. Part of this servant leadership is openness and transparency, enabled because of humility. Once one’s ego is out of the way, then people can work together and be open about ideas, feedback, and progress.

A great example of servant leadership is from a Best Christian Workplace: Southland Christian Church. In their interview for BCWI’s podcast on Positive Core Attributes, Kurt Braun, Charlotte Ewing and Gordon Walls (the leadership team at SCC) discussed how they demonstrate and promote Christian culture at their workplace. Kurt began describing how Gordon models servant leadership by MBWA, not only to engage with his employees but also ask what he can do for them. Kurt says that Gordon is constantly asking the questions: “How are you doing?” and “What can I do to help?” This demonstrates genuine chesed for employees and also demonstrates how the SCC leadership team wants their managers to demonstrate concern for those who work under them.

Humility + Justice = Meekness

The final combination of humility and integrity is meekness. The term meek has taken on a new meaning in the evolution of the English language, so looking back to the Greek will help understand what this idea means. The Greek work that meekness is translated from is proutes. They used this word to describe incredibly powerful and highly trained warhorses riding into battle. They were extremely strong, but disciplined, self restrained, and completely submissive to their riders. The old English use of the term also brings across this idea: incredible strength that is restrained to the point of gentleness. We look for meekness in our Superheroes: strength that follows a higher ideal or power and is a team player. This idea is really important for senior leadership because of the guard against arrogance. Arrogance leads to entitlement, and entitlement leads to embezzlement and greed. Having good leaders who are humble and have integrity are surefire ways to hedge against corporate scandal.

Another aspect of meekness is teachability. Someone who is humble and also seeks truth will always be open to learning what others can offer. This curiosity will lead to new innovation and promote an innovative attitude in other employees.

Heart of the System is Courage and Grace

This system of integrity, committed love, and humility which leads to trustworthiness, servant leadership, and meekness is crucial in a workplace to bring out the best potential of employees. Having a Micah 6:8 mentality will create a workplace that respects each employee, builds trust, loves, encourages, and unleashes the creative talent and productivity in each person to further God’s kingdom. However, this does not mean that it will be easy, or that your workplace will be a ‘pie in the sky’ utopia with no conflict and everyone in perfect harmony. Acting with integrity is hard work. Loving people is hard work. Being humble is hard work. There will be conflict and hurt relationships and tumbling off the straight and narrow. That’s why at the heart of this system is the courage God instills in us to do this work and the grace for us and each other to make mistakes. Hopefully you find this as helpful as we have in creating a Christian culture in the workplace. You can find more information about this idea on Richard Biery and the BroadBaker Group’s website: http://www.broadbaker.com/artValuesmodel.htm or visit the podcast of his lecture here.

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Call to Action: Toxic Free Christian Workplaces!

Posted on June 19, 2010 by Al Lopus

I have always enjoyed Henry Mitzberg’s writing on leadership issues.  This summer’s Harvard Business Review (HBR) included a thoughtful piece entitled “Rebuilding Companies as Communities.”  He states we are facing a crisis that is more significant than our current economic one.  That is – “the depreciation in companies of community where people’s sense of belonging and caring for someone larger than themselves.”

Minzberg goes on to say companies need to re-engage their people, and that the practice of both management and leadership needs to be rethought.  Why?  Because there is a belief that people in leadership isolate themselves, therefore undermining a sense of community in organizations.

The kind of community Minzberg describes is very familiar to Christians.  He describes community as caring about our colleagues, our work, our place in the world and in turn being inspired by this caring. He goes on to describe examples like Toyota, Pixar and General Electric.

Further, keys to building community, according to Minzberg, include finding where it already exists within an organization, build an atmosphere of trust and define a compelling culture.  The article ends with four recommendations on how to develop community – the core of healthy organizations.

Here’s a question.  Does your organization meet the criteria Mitzberg identifies as having community?  I’m pleased to say, after leading BCWI for seven years, we can and have identified many Christian workplaces that shine as great examples of community.

At this year’s Willow Creek Leadership Summit, Bill Hybels challenged the 120,000 Christian leaders present to build an environment where we radically love one another in community.  He firmly believes the local church is the hope of the world and he challenged us to “be the church” to each other in these difficult days.  Yet even with the remarkable gift of the Holy Spirit, community does not seem to happen automatically.

Let’s admit it.  There are still too many organizations that have a Christian purpose that can describe their workplace culture as “toxic.”  What do I mean by toxic?  When I use the term, unfortunately people seem to intuitively know what I mean.    They are places filled with internal politics, fear, lack of trust and closed to new ideas, causing low levels of engagement, even detachment.

Toxic cultures in Christian organizations must be changed, for God’s sake and our own.  Yet, we recognize this is not easy.  As Minzberg says, to re-engage people we must rethink how we practice both leadership and management.  I suggest we need to go another step beyond his recommendation to slow down and reflect and that is …to pray.  See our website for more resources to improve your leadership and management competence for staff engagement.

Will you join me on the quest for Toxic free Christian Workplaces!  To see a list of Best Christian Workplaces to learn from, go to www.bcwinstitute.com.

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A Vision for Christian Workplaces

Posted on May 22, 2010 by Al Lopus

We look forward to the day Christian workplaces are the best, most effective places to work in the world.  The day when the secular business world will look to the standards of management and leadership set by Christian organizations.

Effective Christian workplaces have an unusual vitality and effectiveness because of their servant leadership.  They have thick cultures with high levels of character, competence, a commitment for learning, a climate for change, and fair compensation.  There is a high level of trust among all employees, empowering them to achieve extraordinary results because of their authority to make decisions, are well trained and supported, and held accountable for results.

These workplaces are recognized as places of remarkable community and unity enabling them to work as groups and individuals to the best of their ability for the ones they serve.  This work environment attracts everyone.

A key to these organizations is a deep level of spirituality in everyday life, practiced as a community.  Employees share and pray with each other on a personal level, supervisors care for the whole person, not just a worker.  There is a Spirit of unity binding everyone together.  There is a sense of humility and compassion instead of arrogance and self-absorption.

Staff in Christian organizations serve in jobs that fit their unique skills and gifts, and encouraged to develop their potential.  They receive total and fair compensation, including medical and other benefits for themselves and their family.  These organizations are known for supporting a diverse workforce where opportunity is based only on character and competence.

These Christian workplaces are models for the world, attracting talented workers who are nurtured by the organization’s culture to experience transforming love, joy, health, prosperity, and peace more than ever before.  Everyone willing serves to promote the Father’s Kingdom and as a result more are added to their number daily.

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Vision – The Leader’s Role?

Posted on April 22, 2010 by Al Lopus

Listening to Ken Blanchard talk about the role of leadership in creating and implementing vision is both educational and fun.  He has a tremendous gift communicating complex ideas very simply and when it comes to talking about vision, he is a master.

What is the leader’s role in creating vision? My experience is that Christian organizations are very leader centric and people look to the leader for vision and direction.  In fact, as Blanchard believes, it is the leader’s role to lead the creation of the vision and it cannot be delegated to others.  In the “Lead Like Jesus” program, a pyramid is used to illustrate the concept.  The top of the pyramid is responsible for leading the creation of the vision and the followers are responsive.

Many leaders follow the ‘Moses model’ of visionary leadership, arguing that it certainly worked for him!  I suggest on the other hand, that it is a very rare leader that can pull off the ‘solitary leader going to the mountain to bring back the new vision on tablets made of stone’ approach.  This was reinforced at a recent workshop I attended at a Christian conference.  Jerry White, the President Emeritus of The Navigators, was talking about his accomplishments during his remarkable tenure as The Navigator’s president.  He volunteered that he tried to develop a new vision three times in his eighteen years as president.  What worked the third time, he said, was involving others more in the development process.  As a result, “it stuck.”

Shared vision.  As I interview staff in Christian workplaces, over and over again they express a desire for greater clarity and a shared vision – a clearer, more compelling sense of “where we are going.”  Such a vision seeing that the more people are included in giving input into the vision, the more successful the design and ultimately the buy-in for implementation.

What is the leader’s role in implementing the vision? This is where traditional top down, hierarchical leaders get in trouble.  These hierarchical leaders can’t let go and the energy in the organization goes towards the leader and away from those the organization is trying to serve.  The result is often a frustrated and underutilized staff.

Blanchard points out the pyramid must be turned upside down for the implementation of the vision.  Why?  Because the people who have the primary contact with those they serve (the customer) must be on top and the leader must be on the bottom supporting them.  The implementation role of the leader is to live according to the vision and direction and to support the staff in making it happen.  Micro-managing the implementation leads to failure.

I’m often asked to compare the differences between Christian workplaces and secular ones.  My response is similar to man who have worked in both worlds.  It’s true that in many Christian organizations it’s all about vision.  Leaders and their staff are often very passionate about the vision they feel called to and are trying to achieve, and certainly more so than many secular organizations.  What is different is that Christian organization often stumble on the vision implementation.

Our research indicated management competency is the most highly correlated element of staff engagement in Christian organizations, and yet, is often a weakness.  As a result we find frustrated staff.  Why?  Because staff feel called by God to serve in ministry, yet are frustrated because poor process hinders their own ability to serve.  As a result, the structural dysfunctions often lead to broken relationships and a lack of trust with leadership and with each other.  The level of cynicism that creeps into Christian organizations as a result is not only discouraging but crippling.  Gradually, the culture can become toxic and effort required to change becomes significant.

The picture of Jesus washing the feel of the disciples is the example of visionary leadership transitioning to the implementation role.  This requires leaders to get their ego out of the way and move to a facilitation role instead of a command and control role.  To move the power to the people closest to those you serve.  This will facilitate a culture of innovation and excellence.  A culture where staff are engaged, fired-up and positive as they work with dynamic and effective servant leaders in a culture of high authenticity and collaboration.  It is when His people are in unity that their ministry will be exceedingly blessed.

For top leaders, their role is key in developing and living the organizational vision.  Once the vision is created, the task is transformed to day to day coaching.  That is, helping people live according to the vision.  If your people are describing the organization structure as top down, hierarchical, autocratic or authoritative, you are underachieving your potential as an organization.

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