The Called to Flourish Podcast

I think we can all agree that organizational growth is a good thing. Yet, growth can be both a gift and a huge challenge. Today, we're going to learn how one church has paid attention to the challenges of the continual growth to build a healthier church. By building healthier culture, this church is poised to make a greater overall ministry impact . Today we have the pleasure of talking with Josh...

Are you interested in improving the relationships on your team and across your organization? I believe our topic today has the potential to radically improve the relationships among the employees in your team and organization. Having just heard of this recently, we had to include this innovative idea in a podcast for our listeners. What is it? Paul writes in Romans 12:10 to be devoted to one anoth...

Today we have the pleasure of talking with Peter Greer , President and CEO of HOPE International , a global nonprofit focused on Christ-centered job creation, savings mobilization, and microenterprise development. Peter is the co-author, along with David Weekley, of the new book The Board and the CEO: Seven Practices to Protect Your Organization's Most Important Relationship . Find full show notes...

Today's podcast is something completely different. Normally, I'm the one asking the questions. In the next few minutes, the questions will be coming straight  at me!    Playing  the role of host, today, is  Mark Cutshall . As  a  professional writer and creative  consultant is a member of the team at the Best Christian Workplaces Institute. He' s a  long- time  friend and I have a good  idea of  w...

If you're a CEO or other senior leader who answers to a board of directors, OR if you chair a board, OR if serve on a board of a Christian organization (pause) and if you want your board to be more effective to further and fulfill the unique work to which God has called your organization, church or business, then these next few minutes are just for you. And even if you're not directly involved wit...

It always gives us great joy when we see a Christian organization make a significant improvement in their culture and reach the flourishing level. Today, you're going to hear an inspiring story that will give you some powerful, practical approaches you can use to improve the health of your culture. We have the pleasure of visiting with Sam Barfell , Superintendent of Southside Christian Schoo l in...

Christian leaders, listen up. There's a critical demographic trend playing out before us right now. It's called the Millennial generation. 75.4 million millennials make up the largest living generation. Why should this matter to your church, organization, or business? Because Millennials are the future of your culture. Millennials are the "tomorrow" of your culture that you need to take notice of,...

When it comes to transforming an organization's culture, there are inspirational stories, unique comeback stories and memorable stories. The story you're going to hear over these next few minutes is ALL of these things—inspirational, unique, memorable—and more. Today, we have the pleasure of visiting with Gary Lausch , Vice President of Human Resources  at  ELIC – English Language Institute of Chi...

Without intentional, strategic leadership development focused on the continued growth of your people, the health of your culture is sure to weaken, thus jeopardizing your organizational impact. But here's the good news: A wise, strategic plan of leadership development can cause your culture to flourish and take the growth and impact of your organization, your church, or your business to a whole ne...

While many of our podcast listeners are with church, parachurch and other Christian organizations, a healthy segment are Christian business owners or involved in Christian-owned businesses. If that's where you are, you're really going to enjoy today's guest.  Mike Sharrow  is the new  President  and  CEO  of  C12 . The C12 Group is the largest network of Christian CEOs, business owners, and execut...

There's a new generation of leadership serving today's ministry organizations, churches and Christian-owned businesses. I'm talking about the men and women of the Millennial generation born between 1981 and 1997. Who are these Millennials? What do they bring to the table and what could be their lasting imprint on God's Kingdom work in the world—including your church, organization, or business? Our...

One of the smartest, most effective ways to value and improve the health of your organizational culture is to think about your culture through the mind of an engineer. Today, you're going to hear from a Christian leader—an executive vice president and chief operating officer—who's been trained as an engineer. Wait till you see what her analytic mind, her sense of  teamwork, attention to detail, co...

As a leader, what's one of the hardest things you face at work? What's the one thing you put off, the thing you avoid, the thing you absolutely do not look forward to?  If your answer is "having difficult conversations," then you're really going to get a lot out of today's episode. You may have also seen Sheila present at last year's Global Leadership Summit . And if you missed her there, be sure...

Embracing change in any environment is never easy. And yet, as church leaders who are inviting others into life-change, it's critical that our lives are changing too. Looking at the good and the bad in your workplace culture can reveal that God wants to grow and sanctify us – personally, as teams, as a culture, an organization, and as followers of Christ. Here to talk with us about this today is ...

Few churches have made a long-term impact on New York City, like  Redeemer Presbyterian Church under the leadership of Tim Keller. As Redeemer had begun to prepare for Tim Keller's transition from Senior Pastor, they have embarked on a journey to improve the health of their organizational culture to better position them for the future.  Today we have the pleasure of visiting with  Brian Stanton ,...

Over the last 5 years,  Pantano Christian Church  has experienced a 200% increase in employee engagement. Today, 9 out of every 10 staff love coming to work. That's 90% employee engagement vs. 52% engagement for the typical Christian organization.  Here to tell us how they did it is  Glen Elliott , Lead Pastor of  Pantano Christian Church in Tucson, Arizona.  Tune in to hear how their team has pul...

How can an incoming leader rebuild trust after a longtime, well-loved lead pastor retires? That's the story of today's guests. The two leaders you're going to meet have shown a remarkable track record of achievement. They've worked together to move their church staff culture from critical condition to a flourishing workplace. Joining us today are  Shan Moyers , Lead Pastor, and Linden Kirby, Pasto...

What can a ministry's Senior Leader and Board Chair do to better their working relationship and thus increase the health of an organization's culture? "A well-functioning board is the single-most important variable for any ministry that wants to achieve its mission." So says Bob Andringa , who has made a career out of helping boards and executive leaders succeed simultaneously. Today, he'll help u...

Is your organization facing a major leadership change on the horizon? How can you create a healthy transition at the CEO level? And how might having a flourishing culture help in the process? Today's guest is Vince Burens , the new President and CEO of the  Coalition for Christian Outreach (CCO) , one of the most respected organizations involved in student ministry on university campuses. Over thi...

You only have one chance to make a good first impression. And nowhere is that more true and relevant than in onboarding new employees. Research has proven that an employee's first impression of an organization has a significant impact on their future engagement and commitment to that organization. In addition, it's important to the organization's performance to get new hires up to speed in their j...

Have you ever had a conflict with another person in your organization? Well of course; we all have. But how can a leader effectively manage conflict? We have found it is  especially difficult in Christian organizations because people are so often afraid to face conflict directly. So today, let's talk about key ways to look at conflict. To help us address this topic, we're talking with our very own...

In this episode, Al has the great pleasure of talking with longtime friend, colleague and board and leadership consultant  John Pearson . Join us for this fun and far-reaching conversation that covers everything from great leadership books, to board governance best practices, and even how to infuse fun (or as John likes to call it, "hoopla") into your workplace culture. John's fingerprints are all...

Every once in a while, we run across a leader who has helped create such a remarkably flourishing culture, that we have to ask, "How did your people pull it off? How did you do it?"  Our guest today is  Paul MacDonald , Headmaster of  Crossings Christian School in Oklahoma City. He's worked incredibly hard to diagnose and improve the organizational health of the school he runs. As a result, the sc...

How can you transform a workplace culture from healthy to flourishing in the course of just one year—and experience organizational growth at the same time? Today, we'll hear some practical tips from a leader who's had his hand on the culture levers at his church with over 100 staff. We have the pleasure of visiting with Jeff Abshire , Executive Pastor and Elder at Antioch Community Church in Waco,...

One of the top drivers of organizational success is the quality of your employees. But how do you attract and select outstanding talent that will be successful in your organization? Wouldn't it be great if we could predict hiring success?  Today we are going to address this very topic with Chad Carter , the chief human resources officer at The Gideons International . For the past five years, Chad...