On March 10th we had a seminar at Hope Church, "Faith & Leadership in the Workplace". I was so excited for this event mainly because of the speakers. The speakers were Jim Collins the president of Loras College, Dr. Wee president of NICC and Renee Popee, Vice President of Customer Service at Med-line Industries.
The two hours flew by and the Q & A was too short, in fact I had so many questions they pulled the mic from me!! RUDE!!
I soaked up every word and took lots of notes, and now that I look back on all the notes it really comes down to one thing. Are you ready?.............
LOVE
"Not looking at your own interests but at each of you to the interests of the others." –Philippians 2:4
Love, so simple, right?? The concept is simple but we, make it complicated. We come with expectations and when they are not met, we are disappointed. Sometimes we walk away, hurt or angry, "shoot, why can't people read my mind!"
If you know me, I love LOVE!
"Love Does" by Bob Goff is my favorite book. This has caused a few issues at our house as my husband says my loving others is going to have us living in a van down by the river!! Bob Goff has a new book coming out and it is called "Everybody Always." My husband said NO, not everybody!!! LOL
At the seminar all the speakers had great insight on leadership. They talked about how you can use your faith as a game plan for your leadership style. All 3 are from different churches, but all 3 are followers of Jesus. Sometimes they are able to share their faith in the workplace boldly and other times they do it by example.
Renee Popee really spoke to my heart, I think we have the same love language. Renee believes it is important to develop a 1:1 relationship with volunteers & employees & create a culture where each person feels valued & appreciated. I could not agree more and strive for this daily.
People want you to know them, know their name, know something about them. I loved that Renee said when she hires one person on, she multiplies that by 4 (2 kids and spouse). She has the opportunity to touch 4 lives. With this leadership style, comes the experience (or privilege) of sharing a family's joys, like the birth of a child as well as sharing in their sufferings, like the loss of a loved one.
I keep a calendar with the dates of my volunteers' wedding anniversary's, birthday's, a loved one who passed away or any significant event in their lives. I love dropping a cup of coffee or a meal off to a mom who is struggling to keep her head above water. Sometimes you just have to show up or just send the "I care" text. I believe if a leader shows love and can explain the WHY of what they do, people will want to follow them. It is important to be a leader worth following...even if it is to the the van down by the river!
If you're wondering if this can get busy, the answer is YES... and at times it is even lonely. People think you are so busy they don't invite you or they will say I was gonna call you but you're so busy, SO NO ONE CALLS!
When you decide to be a leader who leads with love, it's not about who is seeing you or what you are doing, you have to make a decision to do it for the Lord.
It is a privilege to be in a position to lead others, and we need to remember that.
"He must become greater; I must become less." – John 3:30