Engaged Leadership - Lesson 6

Well, welcome back. We're in session six of Engaged Leadership. And today we're going to shift gears a little bit.

Our previous skills have focused on how that we need to adapt to our employees and how to bring them in and give them that sense of confidence. But we're going to move now in how to actually elevate the confidence once they trust us, understand that conflict is good, and we have a regular coaching process with them. So today we're going to begin to focus on how do the tough decisions that we make require that they begin to adapt? And how do we make sure that they trust our judgment? To bring it all together, it's important for them to understand that we're building a relationship and hopefully their confidence in us.

Now there's two aspects that are critical. The first is integrity. They need to know that not only can they trust us, but we are the kind of people that are going to share our knowledge, understanding, and wisdom with them to help them grow and develop in their walk with Christ.

But secondly, something that's often misunderstood is the fact that charisma is not just born into someone. When we look at the biblical word for charisma, we see that it is that grace that is extended. And what we're going to find out in our next session is how God uses grace within our personalities and the way we interact with other people to build them up and attract other people as they see Christ living in us.

Now here's the key. Integrity and charisma are a little bit easier for some personalities, but they're a little bit more difficult for mothers. And as we have in the past, we're going to build in some best practices and some ideas on how you can grow that and how you can develop yourself into the person that God created you to be.

So we're here to help you with that process. So let's dig in to our session on integrity. And so why integrity? Aren't Christians supposed to have integrity? Sure, but we're human too.

And because we're human, we have to focus on the fact that there are critical elements in developing integrity, not just when we're by ourselves, but when we're other people and we feel stretched. So let's think about these concepts. Are you the same person behind closed doors that you are in public? Do you have the trustworthiness that is just exuding to people and communicating to people that they can pour out their hearts to you, that they can be honest with you and you won't judge them? Are you doing the right things and not so much the easy things? Because integrity requires every one of the things that we have just discussed.

Now, let's focus on what organizations and ministries worldwide have discovered. And that is the fact that companies ranked with integrity in the last 10 years, the top 25% have literally outperformed the rest of the market. And those organizations in the bottom 25% were not only less profitable, but less functional in their work to a point of a minus 7.4% return.

Now, integrity also does something for an organization. It attracts the kind of staff that you need. It brings better employees and better ministry and volunteer people to the table so that you can use them and not have to worry about the things that they're going to say or the actions that they're going to perform.

It's also going to bring more people into your ministry. And in doing so, what it's going to do is it's going to build the engagement process. And as we've discussed in the past, engagement is something that causes people to want to go that extra mile rather than just punch a clock and do what's required and then move on.

Additionally, integrity attracts donors, people willing to support your ministry and help you build the ministry according to your mission, vision, and values. That is critical. So here's the challenging news that we have discovered about integrity.

If there is not integrity in an organization, there is literally a loss of purpose because unhappy employees, ministry, volunteers, et cetera, can no longer align with the mission, vision, and values of what's going on. Second, there's a loss of effectiveness and the productivity decreases. What we see in ministry so often is the fact that people that are in this state of mind often say, well, if I don't get it done, the Lord will handle it.

That's really the wrong attitude because our relationship with God is not 50-50. It's 100-100. God is going to do what He promised He was going to do, but He's also calling us to run the race to win.

So effectiveness is not just based on God doing something for us. It's us doing something out of the love that the Spirit generates, not for self-approval, but because we love God enough to want to do that and achieve the objectives of the ministry that He's called us to. But there's also a third reason, and that is a loss of vision because when employees and ministry volunteers are not engaged, they can actually disregard the goals of the ministry.

All of that causes a loss of value within the ministry, and that's something we really can't afford because we are here not just to serve ourselves in the organization, but to serve the kingdom. So what are some of the characteristics of integrity that we need to bring to the table if we're going to be serving the ministry that God called us to? Well, first of all, there has to be a level of humility so that there is an openness to change. There has to be an elimination of the fear of failure.

In previous lessons, we used the whole concept of sanctification as a way to help us understand that God expects us to fail from time to time because that failure grows us and develops us better than just doing things right. So there has to be an elimination of that fear of failure because we are in a constant learning mode. When we get to the point to where God feels that learning mode has reached its peak, then he'll call us home, we graduate.

But we can't overlook the fact that we have to be continually seeking guidance and approaching the ministry that God's called us to with a deep sense of integrity. Now, what we're going to find is that it's easier for someone with a strong theoretical mindset, but it's harder for the high C, especially if they are linked into something that they have learned and they don't want to change, as well as that high individual. So it's easier for a realistic person who thinks they have all the answers or they feel called to do things that way.

Additionally, that high traditional may not want to forsake what they feel they've learned that is appropriate. So you can see that different types of personalities and mindsets are going to have different views of what integrity looks like. So what we're going to do in the days ahead is help bring that to a realization so that you can actually see it in individuals, especially if you take the time to invest in them and bring the profiles together.

So let's look at the graphic that we're getting ready to put up on the projector here. First of all, acquiring a growth mindset is extremely important. You can see here from Jamal's scores that he is a strongly task-oriented and very objective person.

He tends to be a little bit skeptical and moves from one project like it's a new project each time. Many times, not referring to the team that he works with with that low social and low aesthetic, but he has that high traditional, high theoretical, high utilitarian, and a reasonably high individualistic. So he is probably going to have a very strong fixed mindset.

So how do we grow him? The important thing is that interacting with other people is going to be very important. He's going to have to move past the point of thinking that he has all of the answers to moving to a more collaborative mindset and working with other people that have some creativity rather than just relying on the structure and the task that he has experiences with. So he's going to have to change his perspective because that requires being willing to share recognition.

And that high individualistic, high traditional, high theoretical are people that have a little bit of a struggle doing that. So they're going to need to share what they have, but also being willing to listen. When we talked about the coachability aspects, we defined the fact that there needed to be a high level of humility, yes, but there also needed to be a desire to seek and receive feedback as well as implement it.

And that's the way we can help this particular type of employee grow. They have to have that constant use of empathy or they have to develop it. Otherwise they can be very difficult.

And the only way that they may be able to fit into their role is if they either work remotely or they are in a very focused area that doesn't require a lot of interaction. Now, having that proper perspective is easier for a high S person with social mindset. Why? Because they're great listeners and they're open to a wide variety of individuals.

But we know it's harder for the high D, the high individualistic person because they are much more focused on doing things the way that they think they need to be done. So let's take another example. And you have it here on your screen now of how do we understand our role in the organization.

And let's use Roberta for this example, because you can see that her perspective is one of a listener. You can see that high S. High S people we know are great listeners and they will take all the information in that you're willing to share with them and try to put it into practice. Once they do with her high C and high theoretical, it's pushed by her strongest mindset, which is the social aspect.

In other words, Roberta is open to a very wide group of people. And because she is open, she's willing to listen and she's willing to implement ideas if she feels they will help the organization. But most of all, look at Roberta's last three mindsets, the social, the individualistic and traditional.

That's critical because that tells us Roberta has a servant's heart. When you see the high social, I care about people in their causes. When you see the high individualistic, God's called me to leadership.

And when you see that high traditional, which is God's system is the best system. And therefore I'm gonna do whatever I can to impact people with that system. You have a servant's heart.

That is going to help Roberta have integrity probably at a greater level than we saw in our previous example. So what else do we need to know about integrity? Well, the first thing that I would say outside of seeing whether it's easier or harder for an individual is simply the fact that we need to keep our promises. Sometimes that's difficult, especially if we're in a high stress environment or if we're under pressure to do something that we've been directed to do.

But keeping your promises is something that requires three aspects. First of all, we have to know the limit of our own capabilities. If we can't do something, we need to refer the person to someone else who has those capabilities.

And sometimes if we have that desire to please people, may not be easy to relinquish control during that process because we want to be approved of, and that's human nature. But second, we need to recognize when we don't know something, that's humility. We have an opportunity to grow, but we have to stay in those boundaries of our own authority so that we don't make promises that we can't keep.

Next, a critical factor for us is being honest. Make sure your words are in line with the truth. All of us want to be seen in our best light.

That's human nature. We don't like to be seen for our faults, but we want to be seen for the goodness that we do. The challenge is, is when that becomes our priority, we can slip into legalism very, very quickly, and that's not a good thing because there's nothing we can do to earn our salvation.

Jesus has already done that for us first. So think about it this way. When you are honest and you make sure that your words are in line with the truth, you don't have to be the authority in everything like a high D or a high C or someone with a traditional mindset.

If you don't know something, that's understandable, but the high I has a tendency to want to be recognized and applauded for the things that they do. They have a little bit of a propensity to exaggerate because they're strong communicators and the need for approval is their number one thing. So it may be harder for that particular group, but help them understand that honesty is always going to be the best policy.

So let's look at a group of people in this next graphic about being honest and keeping promises. We can see that this particular individual is also extremely objective with the high DC, but we see that the number one priority is the high traditional and that high traditional person is someone that's strongly focused on God's system and wants to be a part of doing the right thing rather than just doing something. And if you'll notice too, there's a very low individualistic.

They're not actually seeking applause. They are being governed by the Holy Spirit. And how do I know that? Where is their areas of service? It's serving people and making the circumstances conducive.

This individual would probably make a great worship leader, a great prayer partner or someone who is there to support the system through the process because their reasoning is focused on doing the right thing. So the right thing's not always going to be the easiest thing we have to understand that because high integrity leaders are not prone to taking shortcuts. They create an environment where corner cutting is rare.

And we see that easier for the high DC theoretical and traditional mindset because their focus is effectiveness or doing things properly. But it may be harder for the high IS, that people orientation and the utilitarian mindset because they tend to get in a hurry or be governed by their emotions. And we don't want to have emotional responses.

We want to make responses that are guided by the Holy Spirit himself. Above all else, what we wanna focus on is that you need to be consistent. We don't change behind closed doors.

We live out our values and we pass them onto our teams. So now that you understand the fundamentals of what integrity looks like in a ministry setting, I think it's critically important that we move on to the next step and actually put this to work. So how do we put integrity into practice? Well, the important thing is for us to know that having integrity means that we have a plan.

Let's go back a couple lessons to our lesson on trust. If you will remember one of the key elements of applying trust within a group, within a marketplace or wherever you might be is having a feasible plan. And without that feasible plan, we are prone to take shortcuts.

We are prone to dismiss the priorities of things that come along that may interrupt us. So having integrity is something that you can actually work towards in small pieces. And that requires you make a personal development plan.

Now, why am I suggesting that you plan something that you may have already been given direction on? Because if you'll go back to our first two lessons, the key that we tried to help you understand in achieving the greatest growth and development was self-awareness, the foundation of emotional intelligence. And we established at that time that emotional intelligence is much more important than IQ. So as we think about that, it's important that we begin to put something together feasible, because if you're doing God's work, people will see it.

And people will also want to follow what you're doing. It's that natural attracting factor that the spirit has when he's all over us. The more that we can attract people, the more we can accomplish for the kingdom.

So let's talk about how to put a plan together. If you've had the time to take the SMART course that we did, some of this may be a review. But if not, I wanna cover this because building integrity is not something you do just by changing your mind and say, I wanna be a person of integrity.

It takes work, it takes effort, and it takes prayer to move through that process and get you to a point. Because human nature is always going to carry the whole concept that at times we have to have a little bit of a façade, because we don't want people to see us as we truly are, because we wanna be cared about. So what we're gonna focus on now is a SMART plan to help you build integrity.

And in this next slide, what we're going to encourage you to do is look at the process, because the process is going to change the ability for you to achieve the objectives. And it is amazingly effective. So first of all, we want specific goals.

It's not, I wanna be a better Christian. Explain yourself, I want to be a better Christian by reading my Bible every day. Measurable, how much are you going to do on a regular basis? Attainable, when can you plug it into your calendar so that it becomes part of your daily process? And why is it relevant? This is really the second most important thing, because if it's not relevant, you're not gonna be motivated to complete it.

So the final T stands for timely, and timely is important because it gives us a way to measure things, because here's the terrible way that Satan messes with us. He's going to tell us that, yeah, you read your Bible every day, but really all you've learned is how little you know, and therefore you're not really any more mature than you were before. But if you go through your record and show that you've read the Bible every day, you know that God's been at work in your life.

And if he's been at work in your life, you're not going backwards, you're going forward in the sanctification process. But let's think about how is this going to actually affect you? First of all, here's some statistics that we know. First of all, if you write your goals down, they're four times more effective, and they will reach the objectives four times better than if they were just up here.

Then a SMART goal that chunks it down into processes makes it actually manageable. And anytime we feel that it's so big, the chances are we won't even start it. But once you make it measurable, it is 10 times more likely to be achieved than a written goal.

So 10 times 4 is 40. That means that a smart goal is 40 times more likely to be achieved than one that's just up here in your head. Now, can people achieve them without them written? Yes, but it's rare.

So as a diligent believer, it's important for you to think about, not should I pray each day? Not should I find a way to worship God each day? But also, how can I achieve the objectives that fulfill my purpose as a believer? In our early stages, we talked about purpose. But remember this, we all have the same purpose, and that is to glorify God. But the question you have to answer is: How do I glorify God? And the simple answer is by becoming the person he created you to be.

When you become the person he created you to be, you will have direction and you will have focus and your smart goals will be the anchor and the foundation that allows you to achieve those objectives. Don't take this lightly. Remember the fact that God tells us it's not what we do, but it's the obedience to his direction that is important.

And being obedient is better than being sacrificial, according to Isaiah. So let's think about the smart goal in more depth for just a moment. Look at the graphic that we've given you on this particular page.

Specifically, what exactly do you want to accomplish? Focus on your goal, be precise and avoid ambiguity, and give specific statements that start with 'I will.' Let's use an example that is applicable to most of us: "I want to be a great dad to my children. I will therefore read biblical stories or a story that has spiritual connotations to my children at night." 

So specifically, this person is becoming a better dad by spending time with their children and investing scriptural principles into their lives when they're young so that as they grow, they become foundational beliefs. That's specific, not just wanting to be a good dad.

What is about measurable? Measurable is how are you going to actually do that? How are you going to achieve your goal? What steps do you need to take? Break it down into measurable milestones along the way. Let's take our example one step further: "I want to read my children the Chronicles of Narnia."

Well, that's a fairly long book, but how many chapters are in it? Focus on 90 days, folks. How many chapters do I have to read each week to get through the Chronicles of Narnia in 90 days? If there were 27 chapters in 90 days, that is what, 13 weeks. So that means two chapters a week.

That's not that bad. You see, now it becomes manageable because you've measured it out. So your measurable statement would be this: "I will read two chapters to my children at nighttime every week." Now, let's move on to attainable because attainable tells us where does this fit into our schedule? Because let me assure you of one thing. If it's not on the calendar or not in the schedule, the chances of it being done are pretty slim.

So where do they fit into the calendar? And if it's not on the calendar, it's not realistic. So what is our statement for attainable? "After the kids have had dinner and their bath at 7:30 p.m., I will read for the next 45 minutes or so until they fall asleep. And I will do that on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays because oftentimes their sports activities or special school activities on Friday nights."

So in three days, we get to read those two chapters every week. Now, moving on to relevant. Why is this important to you? Why is it that you must be prepared to defend your answer? This is the most critical step of the process.

If you struggle with the why, you better choose a different what you're trying to accomplish because there has to be passion. There has to be a desire to do this. Otherwise, you are not motivated.

So what's our statement here? "I am going to read two chapters a week on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday nights, which will pour gospel principles into my children. And that is my responsibility as a dad. And I'm not gonna miss that opportunity."

Now you have the passion involved in the process. And timely, I suggest 90 days for achieving these objectives because this allows us an end in sight. In other words, people need to see that this isn't gonna take the rest of their life.

It's like, I remember someone handing me a book with 849 pages in it. And I said, I'll never be able to do that. So make it chunkable.

You see, I had a great opportunity to speak with Zeke Ziegler many years ago when he was still with us. And I asked him, how does he get so much accomplished? And he said, "Remember this Chuck, there are no unrealistic goals. There's just unrealistic timelines to achieve those goals."

And moms, dads, friends, you can achieve the goal that God has set out for you because it's part of the purpose of your life. And if you follow that process, he will give you the desires of your heart. It's just like prayer.

If we look into Isaiah, it tells us that before they opened their mouths, their prayers were answered. If you think about that logically, then you have to understand that who placed the desire of praying inside of you had to be the Lord. So all he was asking you to do was release the power of prayer to achieve the objective that he put the desire in your heart for so that you can fulfill the purpose that he's called you to.

SMART goals help us do that by considering both our strengths and weaknesses as we look at our personality. So here's a quick summary of how to work through these SMART goals. Identify the integrity related aspect that you want to focus on in your SMART goals and follow these steps.

Number one, review your behaviors, mindsets, spiritual gifts assessment. What are some of the things that you might struggle with? What are the elements of integrity that might be weaknesses that you correspond with? Which of the job duties that you are assigned with that have an element of integrity that you may need to focus on? Then look back at those behavioral assessments. What are your strengths? What do you draw on to achieve those goals? Now, in this next graphic, you'll see the SMART goals box.

And if you would like it, all you have to do is look underneath and you'll be able to download that in a Microsoft Word format so that it's already formatted for you. Summarize those strengths, summarize the weaknesses, and then be very specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely. And you now have a plan to increase your integrity as you work within the role that God has assigned you.

Don't take the whole concept of integrity for granted. People watch us. And I want to remind you of something that Gandhi said many years ago. He said, "I don't have a problem with Jesus. As a matter of fact, I think he was an amazing person. And I love your Jesus. It's the Christians that I have a problem with." And integrity is part of the reason why Gandhi had those beliefs. And as believers, our goal is to be called apart.

That's what sanctification is. And in doing that, if we are people of integrity, we represent Jesus Christ the way that he wants to be represented. And by teaching the people under your leadership to be people of integrity, not only do we expand the gospel, but we deepen the kingdom in the process.

Now, I know that you probably have some questions, and I'd be more than happy to take those questions for you right now. 

Student: You said integrity is an important part of any organization. How do you evaluate whether an organization has integrity or not? And if not, what do you do to increase the integrity of an organization? 

Dr. Coker: Well, first of all, an organization will have integrity if the very top leadership has it a value of the organization. Most organizations have mission, vision, and values. And the value system of the CEO, CFO, president of the organization should have principles that illustrate integrity. That integrity then must be congruous as you go down the ladder.

And anytime you have someone in those intermediate levels, you can quickly lose integrity and thereby lose engagement with the employees underneath it. So it has to be ingrained in the system. How can you identify if there's not integrity in the organization? You will see a link to the Culture Performance Index.

This is a measure of how engaged an employee is within the organization. That measures whether they believe there is enough integrity in the organization for them to buy in and be engaged to the organization. That Culture Performance Index will also give you an idea of where pockets of lack of integrity and engagement exist within the organization if the organization will push it throughout.

So I think it's not only starting at the top, but it's measuring to identify if you have pockets outside of that integritous mindset that can interrupt the whole process. Because when you look at organizations like Chick-fil-A, this whole concept is pushed from the top down. And when they identify that it's not there, perhaps we have the wrong person in the wrong role.

Student: So you're saying that in an organization, some of the key elements to determine whether you're functioning with integrity are whether the people are honest and whether they're following through on their promises. So if you're a leader of that organization and you see some of those things, then you can do some things either personally or with your staff, depending on the personalities, to direct that to change. What if you're one of the staff members in an organization like that and you see some of those things lacking in integrity? Do you have any practical suggestions what you could do in that situation to help increase that? 

Dr. Coker: Absolutely. I think the key is remembering what Jesus said, when you see a brother that stepped outside of the lines, and that is go to them and talk to them. But you cannot approach them negatively.

You have to remember that as we talked about in previous lessons, we talked about the whole concept of collaboration. Bring something to them like an example. "You know, Joe or Mary or whatever, a couple of years ago, I thought this was correct. But the reality is it's not truth in the Scripture. And one thing that I noticed the other day was the fact that you brought this subject matter up and you looked at it from this perspective. Could you explain that to me as to why you communicated it in that particular manner?" And let them explain.

And after they've explained and they're trying to justify themselves, respond with something: "What do you think would have happened if you had explained it this way?" Or "Here's an example of something that I heard a long time ago." And never make it your reference, you heard it from someone else that they explained it this particular way.

And in doing so, not only did it communicate at the point, but it did so non-offensively. And we have to remember that two thirds of the people we talk to are emotionally driven. And if they are emotionally driven, then when you ask them about this, they're being questioned.

So what's gonna happen to their heartbeat, their adrenaline rate and their cognitive abilities? The fight and flight begins to come in at that particular point. So what you wanna do is begin with a collaborative effort so that "I'm just trying to better understand." And when you approach it that way, it really reduces the temperature level and helps a person understand that you're not there to blame them. You're there to claim them for the appropriate way to approach a similar situation in the future. 

Student: So you mentioned Chick-fil-A that they would identify people that are in the wrong role and make a change. What other strategies would you have to increase the integrity of an organization if you determine that it's necessary to do that? 

Dr. Coker: Well, I think the first thing that any organization has to do, especially during the interviewing process, screening process, and if they decide to hire the individual during the onboarding process, it needs to be ingrained during that onboarding process because as we've discovered, the first six months are critical to an employee's success because they will make up their mind whether they want to be a part of the organization.

And integrity is something that is not just within the individual, but it can be visible by people around them. And most states are called at-will states. They can remove a person within 90 days for no reason whatsoever.

And I think it's important during that onboarding process as well as the screening and hiring process that the values of the organization are deeply ingrained in the person. And in many of the newer job descriptions, an individual will actually sign the fact that they can perform the roles in the organization with the character that is designed for that particular role. And if they sign that, they literally are giving the company a release to let them if they are not gonna treat others with integrity.