When Satya Nadella succeeded Steve Balmer as CEO of Microsoft in 2014, he took the helm of a once thriving company that now seemed adrift. The problem was not so much profitability but a stagnant culture. The company that Bill Gates founded was now more concerned about return on investment than creativity. According to Mark Miller in Culture Rules, the emphasis was on transaction rather than transformation.
In 2015, Nadella unveiled a new mission: “To empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.” This was definitely a desire to be transformational rather than simply transactional. But how would he help create a culture to achieve this aspirational goal?
To accomplish this, Nadella challenged every frontline leader to model, coach, and care.
First, the leader should have a growth mindset and embody the values of the organization. A leader should be committed to an expansive and productive future for himself/herself and for the company.
Second, the leader should coach people on how to be successful in their role. In order to do so, the leader should understand both what the organization was trying to accomplish and the potential of the employee to contribute to that outcome.
Third, the leader should care about people as individuals. People are more than cogs in a machine—they are creative and complex. This complexity is a strength.
What if we applied these rules to our church setting? Each of these approaches involves investing in people. Perhaps the most important activity for a leader in the church is to invest in people, assisting them in their journeys of transformation. We can model, coach, and care. I believe this is what Jesus did as well.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the author and/or publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR,Part 255.
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