In this series, we’re talking about leadership lessons I learned from the many bank presidents I observed early in my banking career. My first example is Tom. Many bank presidents wanted a favorable audit, so they typically were somewhat courteous. But not Tom. He came across as aloof and too important to be bothered. Even Tom’s staff described their ...
As a young banker, I learned a lot about leadership by watching the many different styles of bank presidents I observed. In my role doing bank examinations at that time, I interacted with a lot of front-line people like tellers and loan clerks. The reactions and interactions these people had with the bank president were typically a truer reflection ...
For many of us, one of the hardest parts of leadership is speaking truth to one another. As someone who likes to please people, this has been particularly difficult for me over the years. If you desire your employees to become the best versions of themselves, it will occasionally require that you speak hard truths to them about the ...
Peter Mallouk, founder of Creative Planning, shared, at an event I recently attended, a lesson he learned about maintaining a strong corporate culture. Peter used to exhaust every option for keeping a troublesome employee. That is until a team of employees approached Peter about a problem employee. Peter had refused to fire this troubling employee, harming the entire team. Peter ...
On paper, the company’s decision to separate related functions into two separate divisions seemed like a good way to encourage healthy competition and accountability. In reality, the leaders of both divisions quickly lost focus on customers and instead fixated on how to outshine each other. Proverbs 4:25-27 reminds us to stay focused: “Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your ...
Professors Denise Daniels and Elaine Ecklund developed a Faith at Work Matrix for the different ways we can live out our vocational calling. The third way we leverage our work is to realize that work serves the common good. In 1962, President John F. Kennedy visited NASA. When he asked a janitor who was sweeping a floor what he did, ...
Christianity Today Editor in Chief Russell Moore recently reflected on lessons learned over 30 years of ministry. He observed that periods that feel dry or distant from God may be times when God is most active. “They are almost always the points where—much later in your life—you will look back and see that God was most at work, preparing ...
I was angry when a vendor’s invoice was nearly twice what I was expecting. The vendor documented the higher costs, but I objected so strenuously that the group vice president had to intercede. After hearing both sides, she decided we should pay the invoice. Now I was angry with her! My response was not only unproductive, it was un-Biblical. “Let ...
No one was surprised when Darrell was promoted to lead the team. He had been a subject matter expert and go-to guy for years. But he quickly discovered that his technical skills weren’t as helpful when it came to leading people. Darrell realized he needed to find ways to engage, motivate, and encourage the team to do the work and ...
According to Pew Research, the percentage of female managers in the workplace has increased from 29% in 1980 to 46% in 2023. In part, this happened due to a significant increase in the numbers of women who have completed college, and due to relational skills becoming more important to the workplace. During Jesus’ time on earth, the Pharisees often excluded ...
Equipping Others to Do Work Differently
