The Called to Flourish Podcast

"It's great to work in your area of passion, but it can become toxic if you don't have some boundaries." These are the words of today's guest, Dave Ferguson, the Lead Pastor of Community Christian Church, with 10 locations across the Chicagoland area. Often ministry staff are deeply passionate about their organization's mission, and they're willing to work so hard toward it that life can sometimes get out of balance. Tune in to this conversation to hear the innovative ways Dave and his leadership team are encouraging and even incentivizing healthy habits. When Community's staff are able to flourish at home, their ministry outcomes have soared as well. The evidence? In 2016, they celebrated more baptisms than ever before. Dave is the author of five books, including Finding Your Way back to God: Five Awakenings to Your New Life, and his most recent book, Staring Over: Your Life Beyond Regrets. Find the full show notes at http://blog.bcwinstitute.org/s2-e20-dave-ferguson-community-christian-church.

If you were a new leader in an organization, what would be an important first step to create a healthier culture? Today's guest started with creating core values to take his church's culture to the next level. Join us for a conversation with Doug Sauder, the Lead Pastor of Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale. Doug found himself in this role after a surprise transition and was faced with multiple challenges all at once, including a staff culture that was in a critical moment. Listen in to see how one key initiative became the difference-maker that really improved Calvary's staff culture. Find the full show notes at http://blog.bcwinstitute.org/s2-e19-doug-sauder-calvary-chapel-fort-lauderdale.

Transforming the workplace culture of a Christian ministry is a challenging proposition. Our guest today knows this for a fact, because he's been a key part of transforming the employee culture of one of the largest, best known churches in the world. Listen in on this conversation with Colby Burke, the director of human resources at Willow Creek Community Church. Find the full show notes at http://blog.bcwinstitute.org/s2-e18-colby-burke-willow-creek-cc.

Why does having a healthy staff culture matter? Is it really worth the effort? Does it ultimately impact your organization's performance? Today's guest has a fascinating response to this question. Today we have the pleasure of visiting with Gary Schwammlein, who is President and CEO of the Willow Creek Association – known for helping Christians grow their leadership to maximize Kingdom impact through the popular annual Global Leadership Summit. Last fall, Gary spoke at the Church Culture Conference in front of 200 ministry and human resources leaders. In his talk, "Why Culture Matters," he outlined the direct connection between staff health and ministry outcomes. He's going to tell us about that direct connection in today's episode. Find the full show notes at http://blog.bcwinstitute.org/s2-e17-gary-schwammlein-willow-creek-association.

How can you make sure your entire team is aligned around the same goals and working toward your mission and vision? And why is this important for your workplace culture? Today we're talking with Roland Warren, the President and CEO of Care Net, based in Lansdowne, Virginia, which provides services for more than 1,100 affiliated pregnancy centers across the country. In the past 4 years, Roland has found that clarifying goals, along with transparency, honesty and a little humor, goes a long way to create a flourishing culture. Find the full show notes at http://blog.bcwinstitute.org/s2-e16-roland-warren-care-net.

How does a church that has a very healthy staff culture go about making it even better? There is nothing normal about Eastview Christian Church other than it's in . . . Normal, Illinois! As a growing church with nearly 90 staff, Eastview reached a tipping point where they realized their human resources efforts needed to move from a committee to a strategic department within their staff. Here to tell us how they did it is Tyler Hari, Eastview's Executive Pastor of Ministry Operations. Find the full show notes at http://blog.bcwinstitute.org/s2-e15-tyler-hari-eastview-christian-church.

How can clearly defining your church's distinct culture both transform your team and increase your ministry impact? That's exactly what happened with the 120-employee staff at Central Christian Church in Mesa, Arizona. With us today is the best person who can tell this amazing story: Kelly O'Donnell has a dual role as Executive Director of the Connect Ministry and Human Resources. Find the full show notes at http://blog.bcwinstitute.org/s2-e14-kelly-odonnell-central-christian-church. BONUS: Visit the show notes page to download Central Christian's Cultural Distinctives document Kelly mentions in the interview.

What can leaders learn from "the greatest leadership role model of all time"? Our guest today not only coined that phrase, but is also best known as one of the most influential leadership experts in the world. Today we have the pleasure of talking with Ken Blanchard. Ken's writing career includes over 60 books, including The One Minute Manager, which has sold over 13 million copies. Many of us also know Ken as a passionate conference speaker and co-creator of the Lead Like Jesus movement. Ken's official title is the Chief Spiritual Officer of the Ken Blanchard Companies, a global firm that allows organizations to create results-oriented, people-focused leaders. Find the full show notes at http://blog.bcwinstitute.org/s2-e7-ken-blanchard.

What are the secrets of leaders who continue to have significant influence over long periods of time, where age doesn't seem to slow them down or see their influence diminish? Today, we're talking to just such a leader: Jerry White, president emeritus of The Navigators. He doesn't disappoint in offering sage advice for Christian leaders at any stage. With his Ph.D. in astronautics, Jerry served as an Air Force mission controller at Cape Canaveral, working on the beginnings of America's space program. He is the co-author of the current textbook on astrodynamics at the Air Force Academy, and he retired from the Air Force Reserves as a Major General. In 1986, he was elected as the third president of The Navigators and served as International President until 2005, nearly 19 years. He is also the co-author of a dozen Christian books with his wife and ministry partner, Mary. Find the full show notes at http://blog.bcwinstitute.org/encore-jerry-white-navigators.

One of the most remarkable cultural transformations we've seen comes from one of the oldest and most revered Chrisitan ministries. In the past 6 years, Craig Warner, Executive Director of The Gideons International, has moved their workplace culture from toxic to one that's very healthy. Today, we're going to learn about a few of the steps they took to accomplish this remarkable feat. Starting in 1908 as an association of Christian businessmen placing Bibles in hotel rooms,The Gideons International has expanded dramatically, placing more than two billion Bibles and Scripture portions in more than 95 languages around the globe. Find the full show notes at http://blog.bcwinstitute.org/s2-e12-craig-warner-gideons.