Courageous Influence
“Terry! The protesters are at the front door! What should we do?”
For a brief second, I thought my executive assistant was joking. But after weathering the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, I was now facing an urgent situation. Homeless activist leaders were protesting outside my administrative office, demanding an immediate meeting to air their grievances.
My first thought was, “How do I get them to be receptive so I can win them over to Christ?”
We had to transition them from an angry mood to a willingness to listen.
Hebrews 10:24 comes to mind as believers struggle under the weight of social compromise, leaning towards a misalignment with ability to influence each other in living out Jesus more effectively. This writer intentionally used the word “stimulate” describing a focused way to incite fellow believers lacking the right motivation, or attitude. This is another way to influence our staff for realignment on the chalk line for greater job satisfaction and fulfillment.
While working through Christian Leadership Alliance’s Credentialed Christian Nonprofit Leader (CCNL) program, the Stewardship Module provided fresh insight of how to attract and engage donors. Likewise, I learned how to apply the same principles in empowering our staff to live out Jesus more boldly through our vision and mission.
Awareness
Six months ago, we set up monthly listening sessions with our staff called, “Coffee with Terry.”
Six months ago, we set up monthly listening sessions with our staff called, “Coffee with Terry.” Each session has a limit of twelve staff members coming from Operations, Programs and Accounting. We asked them to be prepared to answer three questions:
- What is working?
- What is not working?
- What are you learning?
The response was amazing. Attitudes began changing as we unpacked their answers. Three key common themes surfaced:
- We want a voice prior to any decision impacting our department.
- Let us know how our department can help accomplish the Mission’s three-year vision.
- We need a more effective on-boarding process for new hires.
Intentional listening
To combat turnover and drive lower overtime in departments with open positions, we launched a new initiative call “Flexforce.”
This is a skill inventory of outside hobbies and interests by our staff that connects with tasks needed for other departments.
With the right matching, someone who may have a hobby in photography skills could assist for a project in Development without disrupting their main job responsibilities. It requires everyone to get on board raising their level of interest in projects outside their assigned role. As employees discover how to use their interests in helping other departments, they become empowered by the receiving department on open projects or tasks.
Connecting awareness to Interests is just a matter of asking: engagement.
Stepping into the CEO role four years ago, I inherited a monthly Executive Leader Team (ELT) meeting, where department directors gave a monthly report of what happened last month. Taking two hours to conduct an after-action report of the last month was not an effective way of using and engaging our C-Suite officers with our directors, the next level down of our leadership. So, we repurposed this ELT meeting.
Focusing on what the ELT should do; it was reformatted to share essential information, learning to lead and foster trusted teams. In the first hour, using the “stand-up” method, we give our directors three minutes to report “what is working, what is not working, what solutions they are applying.” The dynamics of this approach transformed and motivated other directors to connect afterward to work through potential solutions. Our second hour targets training to systematically grow their leadership capabilities.
Engagement happens when awareness and Interests are aligned.
You are probably wondering about the ‘invaders at the gate’ and how this ties together? We invited them into our conference room and provided refreshments, much to their surprise. The conversation eventually became less heated and more positive as they listened to our stories of success.
I call this courage: taking risks when feeling overwhelmed to inspire others for Christ.
When workplace engagement thrives, leaders are inspired to innovate collaboratively, benefiting those we serve and embracing openness and honesty about our goals and visions. In my book, Two Stitches and a Patch (Koehler Books, May 28, 2024), I call this courage: taking risks when feeling overwhelmed to inspire others for Christ.
When engagement in the workplace becomes natural, our leaders will be empowered to innovate together which vibrates directly with those we serve for greater impact. As a leader at any level, be open and honest about what you desire, what you would like to see, and what you need.
In my book, I describe this process as courage. Courage means being a risk-taker when you feel paralyzed and helpless to influence others for Christ.
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Dr. Terry Megli, CCNL, is an author, speaker and currently the CEO of City Union Mission, Inc., in Kansas City, Missouri. Along with thirty years in ministry leadership, his passion is to inspire others to live courageously for Jesus.
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