Barnabas File

The Gallup organization did a  meta-analysis  of 100 million employee interviews to identify what makes a highly engaged team.  The key factor is the manager, but one with a particular style of leading.  In a recent blog post, Jim Clifton reported, “ Gallup has discovered -- through studying what the best managers do differently -- that great managing is an act of coaching, not one of directing and administrating.” At the center of compassionate accountability is coaching.  Good managers engage in regular coaching conversations to encourage, develop, and support team members.  In the blog, Clifton suggests several ways to implement this game changing strategy in an organization. 1.    1.   Recognize that Millennials and Generation Z individuals want to learn and grow.     Coaching provides this opportunity. 2.       Announce to your organization that your leaders will move from administer...

The Gallup organization did a meta-analysis of 100 million employee interviews to identify what makes a highly engaged team.  The key factor is the manager, but one with a particular style of leading.  In a recent blog post , Jim Clifton reported, “ Gallup has discovered -- through studying what the best managers do differently -- that great managing is an act of coaching, not one of directing and administrating.”   At the center of compassionate accountability is coaching.  Good managers engage in regular coaching conversations to encourage, develop, and support team members.  In the blog, Clifton suggests several ways to implement this game changing strategy in an organization.   1.        Recognize that Millennials and Generation Z individuals want to learn and grow.  Coaching provides this opportunity. 2.       Announce to your organization that your leaders will move f...

The term “performance review” elicits many reactions.     One colleague shared with me, “The first time my supervisor came to do my annual performance review, I got sick at my stomach.”     One of my own frustrating experience came when my supervisor took the occasion of our annual review to let me know he was not happy about something that happened six months earlier!     He had never mentioned the occurrence to me before then.      For many of us, the annual performance review or evaluation has been a “come to Jesus moment” that we would rather avoid.  We need a new approach to employee performance review that involves not simply evaluation of the individual’s activities during a period of time.  We need to find a way to encourage personal development, assess the support the person is receiving, and consider his or her role in the success of the organization.  Churches should be leading this effort, but they us...

In his book Good to Great , Jim Collins argues that those who build great organizations make sure they have “the right people on the bus and the right people in the key seats before they figure out where to drive bus.”  We need the right people on board to accomplish our mission.  He goes on to say, “When facing chaos and uncertainty, and you cannot possible predict what’s coming around the corner, your best ‘strategy’ is have a busload of people who can adapt and perform brilliantly no matter what comes next.”   Let’s consider a model for getting the right church staff “on the bus.”  First, we must be very clear about the need that we intend to meet and the resources available.  Generally, we define the area of responsibility and identify how an additional staff member might help the church meet that need. We also consider the resources we have available.  This may determine if we will meet this need through a volunteer/volunteers ...