Summer 2013

Valuing outcomes, performance, transparency and accountability

Outcomes matter. In past decades, many organizations were more focused on organizational culture and inputs rather than outcomes. These days, however, more and more organizations are focusing on outcomes, performance, transparency and accountability.

To provide an introductory overview, inputs are resources we add to our organizations. The most common resource inputs are human and financial. Th...

Three keys to creating a sticky organization

I’m often asked by top executives about our leadership succession plans, talent development models, and how we attract and develop new leadership. Together, we strategize on competencies, qualities, and the calling of those whom we identify as emerging leaders.

These steps are important, and I would be the last to say there’s no need for systems to assure both leadership stabil...

Saying 'I do" to workplace conflict

Standing together before God and the witness of family and friends, couples intending to marry engage in vows to love, honor, cherish — and communicate effectively through crisis and conflict — until death do they part. After the honeymoon, they head back to their respective places of employment. Once back, engrossed in the day-to-day routine, they begin to recognize that quite a bit of time is spent with ...

Focus on the Family shares insight on equipping future leaders.

I have had the privilege of serving in Focus on the Family’s Human Resources department for more than 12 years now (and counting!), and during that time our team has made significant strides in the art of recruiting, identifying, and equipping future leaders for the ministry. At a time when many Christian organizations are facing a “leadership gap” as the baby boom generation nears...

Managing a ministry's most important leadership transition

Perhaps no event in an organization’s life cycle is filled with a greater sense of both expectation, as well as angst, than the transition of senior leadership. The departure of the chief executive officer presents unique opportunities and challenges: opportunities to evaluate and re-engineer the vision of the institution, and challenges of ensuring continuity and viability of current operation...

Dennis Bakke is a revolutionary innovator, successful entrepreneur, and dedicated Christian leader. Outcomes editor W. Scott Brown interviewed Bakke on his newest book The Decision Maker: Unlock the potential of everyone in your organization one decision at a time (Pear Press, 2013). This book offers a fictional account of what it looks like when one applies the people empowering principles that Bakke outlined in his bestseller Joy at Work: A Revolutionary Approach to...