Transcript: Leading a Foster Care Ministry That Uplifts Families and Employees // Ryan Stanton, Compass

Flourishing Culture Leadership Podcast

“Leading a Foster Care Ministry That Uplifts Families and Employees“

September 16, 2024

Ryan Stanton

Intro: Welcome to another episode that could influence your leadership journey. Today we're unpacking the transformational power of inspirational leadership, a key factor that could elevate your organization's performance. If you're serious about creating a flourishing, God-honoring workplace culture for your team, stay tuned. This episode is packed with actionable items from a leader who is seeing his family-care ministry grow its Kingdom impact.

Welcome: Welcome to the Flourishing Culture Leadership Podcast, your home for open, honest, and insightful conversations to help develop your leadership, your team, and build a flourishing workplace culture.

Al Lopus: Hi, I'm Al Lopus, the co-founder of the Best Christian Workplaces and author of Road to Flourishing. My passion is to equip Christian leaders like you create engaged, flourishing workplaces.

This fall we're dedicating our Flourishing Culture Leadership Podcast to one of the most powerful drivers of flourishing cultures, and that's inspirational leadership. Join us as we dive into insightful conversations with top leaders, who provide you with the tools and inspiration to grow and excel your leadership journey.

Today I’m delighted to Ryan Stanton to the podcast. Ryan's the CEO of Compass, which invests in the lives of foster parents and families who are in crisis in Nebraska.

Throughout our conversation, you'll hear Ryan talk about the keys to directional clarity that enhances organizational performance, intentional steps to create a flourishing workplace, steps to impact the emotional and spiritual formation of employees, and keys to his own personal leadership growth.

I think you're going to enjoy this interview with Ryan. But before we dive in, this podcast is proudly brought to you by the Best Christian Workplaces’ Employee Engagement Survey. Don't wait. This fall is a perfect time to gather vital insights from your employees to assess the health of your workplace culture. As today's guest wisely notes, creating a flourishing workplace facilitates the impact on people's lives for eternity. Ready to transform your culture? Visit workplaces.org to learn more and to start your journey to becoming a flourishing workplace today.

Well, hello to our new listeners, and thanks for joining us as we honor your investment of time by creating valuable episodes like this.

And now let me tell you a little bit more about our guest, Ryan Stanton. Ryan received a bachelor's degree in management and organizational leadership from Grace University in Omaha, Nebraska. He thought that he'd be working for a for-profit business, but God had different plans. In the midst of his blessings, Ryan saw that there were children who were growing up with adverse experiences, and he felt compelled to do something about it. This led him to child-welfare work, where he's been working his entire life. In 2007, Ryan and his friend co-founded Compass. Compass builds launch pads for children in Nebraska by investing in the lives of foster parents and families in crisis. They restore the relationships of parents and their children and families in crisis with their community, including the local church. Ryan’s been the president and CEO since the beginning, leading the organization through multiple changes in the Nebraska child-welfare system, and growing from two employees to now nearly 50. Ryan is passionate about his wife and his children, his church, and children and families who experienced hard things.

So, here's my conversation with Ryan Stanton.

Ryan, it’s great to have you back on the podcast. I'm looking forward to our conversation today.

Ryan Stanton: Thanks, Al. It's good to be back.

Al: So, Ryan, I know that you've been on the podcast before, but people don't always remember the different ministries that we include, and we're always looking for new listeners. And so share with us an impact story from your ministry. You know, is there a family or person that you can highlight that illustrates the mission of Compass as you serve foster families and families in crisis in Nebraska?

Ryan: Sure. Well, there were two children that we were working with. They were ages eight and ten, and they were removed from their biological home due to substance abuse and neglect in the home. They were placed with grandparents. And foster-care placement is happening more and more, like, with relatives or kinship families than in the past. And in Nebraska specifically, it happens about 60% of the time. So usually, it's with grandparents or maybe another family member, like an aunt or an uncle. Sometimes it's family friends or teachers or coaches. But these two children lived in a small town, and we were supporting the children as well as the grandparents, in this case.

And grandparents were looking for positive, age-appropriate activities that the kids can participate in. And our foster-care staff suggested that the children try out Sunday school at their local Baptist church. So the kids got involved, and the teachers and the volunteers got to know the kids, and their hearts were full of compassion. And so they wanted to help the kids in extra ways.

Over the time in Sunday school, the children were introduced to Jesus as well as the community of love within that church. And they understood and they accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior. So that was just a really neat experience to hear about that. Now, the parents were asked, and they are always asked in the foster-care space, but if the children could get baptized, and they agreed.

Now, when the kids were placed outside of the home, not only were the kids getting the support and help that they needed, but the parents were also working on the things that they needed to help the kids to eventually become reunified, to come home with Mom and Dad. And so, they were working on their case goals and plan that was in place. Now, that included getting clean and sober and then also getting help with parenting skills. And so initially the visits were supervised. But as they made progress, they became unsupervised. And that led up to the day that they were able to move back home.

So Mom and Dad saw the community that had wrapped around the kids, and they wanted that to continue, even though Mom and Dad didn't attend that church. But that led to Mom and Dad, then, eventually going to church as well. And that led to their conversions and their baptisms as well.

And this all happened several years ago, but we got an update recently, and we actually found out that the dad has even moved into church leadership and helps by becoming a deacon in the church. So all the stories don't end up this way, Al, but this was one powerful testimony of the church really stepping up to be the church and to seek out connection with a family in crisis. And what we found out is that connection changed everything for that family, and not only for now, at this time, but also for an eternity.

Al: Amen. Well, thanks so much, Ryan. That's a fantastic story. Wow. Yeah, the way it should be, isn't it?

Well, one of the top strengths of your organization, Ryan, is that we see from your Employee Engagement Survey that you explain decisions to your staff openly and regularly. And I know that Cary Humphries, your Best Christian Workplaces’ consultant, has often referred other ministry partners to you to see how you actually do this. And this is one of the keys to having a flourishing workplace culture, which yours is historically at the high end of flourishing. Share with us the secret to involving staff and decisions and communicating well. And often, again, these are decisions that impact the staff directly. Are there some regular rhythms or habits that you and your leadership team use to listen to and engage your staff?

Ryan: Sure. As a leadership team, we're making decisions all the time. In fact, in our weekly leadership-team meeting, we spend more than half of the time in that meeting identifying issues, discussing them, and solving them. And these decisions, oftentimes, need to be brought down to the weekly team meetings, where we can kind of explain the decisions of what we made and then how it affects them as a team. And that's our regular rhythm. And it's not just at the leadership-team level. I mean, each week those teams are regularly solving key issues that are affecting those teams, and those issues can be solved and carried out on the individual-team level. Not all the decisions have to raise to the leadership-team level. So I think that's important for us to realize and recognize. And one of the things that I think that does is it really empowers each of the team members to be part in those decisions or understanding the reasons behind those decisions.

Now, at Compass one of our core values is speak with HEART. And HEART is an acronym for honor, empathy, assertiveness, respect, and tact. And really at the heart of that core value is around communication. And so we want our staff to have the courage to speak hard things with honor for the benefit of others. And so sometimes it's having hard conversations about performance with the direct report. Or maybe it's addressing an area of conflict with a coworker or even a supervisor. We believe that communication is key to building a strong team.

Al: Yeah. Those are very interesting values that you've got: honor, empathy, assertiveness, respect, and tact. And, you know, being in the work that you're in, assertiveness, which is not one that I've heard of many times as a core value, I can see where that's really important in your organization. Is that why you've included it?

Ryan: Yeah, it is. Quite a bit of our hiring happens from young people that are still in college or maybe that had just graduated college. So it's kind of their first real job, I guess I would say. And oftentimes, we see a little bit of timidity because they're just kind of getting used to having that job, being in a new workplace, not knowing. And so we encourage them to be assertive. And so oftentimes, whether it's speaking up in a team meeting or maybe in their one on ones with their supervisor, we encourage that not to just be our supervisor talking to the employee, but really our employee speaking up and being assertive in that way as well.

Al: Well, that's great.

Another strong area for Compass is directional clarity. Your staff feel like you've got really effective strategy and goals, and that might be an outcome of your entrepreneurial operating system, EOS, approach that you follow. But how do you and your leadership team reinforce those goals and keep people moving in the same direction? You know, oftentimes, you know, I listen to leaders, and they feel like, “Well, we've got a lot of our people going in different directions,” but, really, organization effectiveness, flourishing workplaces, everybody's working together in the same direction. So how does this goal clarity help your organization with the unexpected challenges and opportunities that come up? Do you have any examples you can share with us?

Ryan: Sure. So we at Compass talk frequently about goals. So it's been a priority for our leadership team at Compass to get better not only at setting goals, but then to be open and transparent with the whole staff team. We're a growing team, and strong communication isn't optional; it's a necessity. So every quarter we have an all-staff gathering, and we talk about the last 90 days and what we were able to accomplish during that time period. And then, what's the most important thing for the organization in the next 90 days to accomplish as an organization? And all of those goals are leading to accomplish the annual goals that we set for the organization intentionally at the beginning of the year. And so, because of that structure and rhythm that we have every 90 days, it's carried out on the weekly team level, where it's like somebody might have an individual goal or a personal goal or a team goal that really reflects back to the organization as a whole. Because we're talking about those goals every 90 days, the team knows, like, where we're headed. And because we know what direction we're headed, we're going in the same direction.

Al: Yeah. And that, also, because the goals are so clear, you're talking about it so often, that probably, also, breeds a higher level of accountability, wouldn't you say?

Ryan: Yep. Accountability and trust. So if we're doing well at setting the goals and accomplishing the goals, the employees can kind of trust that, “Hey, we're going to say what we're saying we're going to do.” So accountability, and we take full accountability when we don't meet a goal, but also trust.

Al: And you've just defined integrity is in this process, too, because you're, again, you're doing what you say you're going to do. You’ve got it visible. You meet with and talk about those goals on a regular basis. That's very insightful. Thanks, Ryan.

Compass has been flourishing for several years, as I mentioned earlier, and your employees are highly engaged. And one of the open-ended questions in your last Survey is that leadership makes an intentional effort to make Compass a healthy, positive workplace. So what are some of those intentional efforts that your employees are talking about, that you and your leadership team make so that employees see such a and have such a positive experience? Can you share a few practical examples or things that might help another leader grow in this area?

Ryan: So, I believe that it all comes down to having the right people in the right seats in the organization. And if everybody's aligned with our organization and they have the right roles for their seat, it really helps bring job satisfaction. It helps us identify who we want to be and then who we want to be when we build. And it keeps us talking about key issues where we're able to identify, discuss, and solve those key issues quickly before those molehills become mountains.

And one of the other things that we talk about at Compass, as far as it being a core value, is humbly serve. And so we, especially as the leadership team, want to care about and humbly serve in leading the organization. And so that means being open to feedback. Also, it means leading with compassion for our people.

One of the ways that we try to do that for our team members is by giving the employees the benefit of the doubt. Oftentimes, if we're assuming what their intention is before maybe a meeting, maybe a hard meeting, it really starts the meeting off on the wrong foot. And so if we can give the employees the benefit of the doubt, I think that really helps things go smoother.

One of the ways that we most recently felt like we wanted to make a change in our organization is encouraging people in their physical health. I think that's often an area that goes overlooked, especially in the helping profession that our staff are regularly involved in. It's often, meeting the needs of our clients first and then taking care of ourselves. And we're really trying to pour into our employees by, “Hey, take care of yourself first because that will enable you to help serve others.” We see that, like, in airplanes, where I always wondered why the flight attendants are saying, “Hey, if the masks drop down from the ceiling, put yours on first.” Well, it's because if you pass out, you're not going to be able to help assist your children or those next to you. So take care of yourself first.

So one of the ways that we did that, the board approved a workplace-wellness policy. And we actually got some ideas from our friends at the Christian Alliance for Orphans in this, where we allow our staff to become members of a gym or some other type of wellness activity—it may not be exactly a gym—or maybe it's a healthy eating plan, and they can submit that for reimbursement every month. And so we pay a large majority of that reimbursement cost. And we believe that that really is helping people take care of themselves, so that way we can be a healthy and positive workplace.

Al: Wow. I really like that, Ryan. Yeah. I have created family values, and I use LOPUS as the acronym. And the first one is love God, love our family, love our neighbor as ourselves so that we can love others, you know. So we have to love ourself. We have to be healthy in order to be in a position to serve others most effectively. And I love the workplace-wellness-policy concepts, and that's something for our listeners to consider, which, again, is something that's intentional, and it helps make sure that the right people that you've got are in the right seat and they're in a healthy position to serve and to humbly serve. And I'll point out to our listeners that, yes, leaders are humble at Compass, based on the employee feedback. So, of course, Ryan was too humble to say that himself, but that's really helpful. Thank you.

You know, you're committed to doing the annual Employee Engagement Survey. And even as your workplace has flourished over time, what do you and your leadership team do when you get the results? How do you decide what to focus on, and do you keep learning about new areas to grow in each Survey?

Ryan: Yeah. Well, first of all, I just want to say, Cary, our consultant with the Best Christian Workplaces, just does a wonderful job in helping us to understand and really look at the right data. And one of the things that he's taught us is to look at the areas that are kind of higher up in the FLOURISHing model, so that way, if we move the needle in that area, we're going to make more of a difference in that employee engagement and organizational health.

So, we also want to look for quick wins, so that way, employees will notice that we're listening to them and making changes. And not just for changes’ sake, but to make Compass an even better place to work. So, you know, and each time that we do the Survey, we've added new teammates to our team, and so each time, we do learn something new every Survey. And most of the time, when we put some intentional effort into a certain area, it's nice to see that reflected in the Employee Engagement Survey. But then, you know, as we add new team members and the team looks a little bit differently, that area of focus, it tends to shift a little bit year over year.

Al: Boy, I like your focus. As Cary has helped you look at the highly weighted drivers, if you do those things first, yes, you'll see more progress faster. Yeah.

I trust you’re enjoying our podcast today. We’ll be right back after an important word for leaders.

Female: Are you a leader searching for ways to enhance your organization's workplace culture and foster employee engagement? Well, we have just the solution for you. It's our proven Best Christian Workplaces Employee Engagement Survey for the Christian-led workplace. Picture this: your organization radiating with a renewed sense of purpose, where employees are excited to come to work every day. With our Employee Engagement Survey, you'll gain powerful insights into the heart of your organization, discover hidden strengths, uncover areas for improvement, and unlock the full potential of your team. But that's not all. By conducting the Survey, you'll see productivity skyrocket, increased job satisfaction, and decreased turnover rates. Imagine the impact on your mission as your team unites around a shared vision driven by purpose and fueled by a positive workplace culture. Your organization will become a beacon of light, inspiring others with its exceptional leadership. Don't wait any longer to create a flourishing workplace. Visit our website at workplaces.org, and ask for the Employee Engagement Survey Sample Report today. Take the first step towards transforming your organization into a thriving, purpose-driven powerhouse. Together, let's build a workplace culture that honors God and empowers your team to flourish.

Al: Welcome back to my conversation with Ryan Stanton.

You know, your staff is working in a challenging area and a challenging sector, working with families in crisis. And, you know, the vision of Compass is to go beyond the challenges faced in your field. Are there some practical ways that you support your staff, perhaps through training or resources or other support, that can help them continue to be hopeful in an area that might be focused or conducive to burnout, for example? So how does the spiritual formation of your organization help in this perspective?

Ryan: So yeah, our field is definitely famous for burnout, and we recognize that. And one of the ways that we want to help our staff kind of challenge that mindset is we belong to several statewide and national organizations. So I mentioned the Christian Alliance for Orphans before. We also are accredited by the ECFA. And then, we also belong to the FFTA, which is Family Focused Treatment Association. They have a state chapter as well as a national chapter.

And one of the things that we try to do is give everybody a chance to experience maybe a summit or a national training or a state training during their time at Compass. And oftentimes, it's just a great experience to go and learn, but then also be able to connect with like-minded people who are engaged in similar work. And oftentimes, it gives them an opportunity to talk through maybe what works and what doesn't work. And then, also, like, what challenges are present and what they're experiencing. And it's good to hear that other organizations may have challenges that are similar to yours. But then, also, maybe as you talk and learn from new people, you're able to identify areas where maybe you can help them and they can help you. So, we just like that a lot.

And then, just locally, organizationally, we really like to share impact stories. So oftentimes, at those quarterly meetings every 90 days that we have, we open it up with either a devotional or sharing an impact story that would be an encouragement to our teammates. And that really gives them hope and positive momentum in their cases. Oftentimes, we may have staff that are experiencing challenge after challenge, and it can weigh on a person, but maybe the win doesn't happen to them specifically. But we often see teammates really encouraged by their teammates when they share those impact stories, and it helps them keep going along with that hope that you kind of talked about.

Other real practical ways that we share hope together is, you know, our foster-care team, they have quarterly celebration breakfasts where they celebrate birthdays and other important events over a shared meal. And then, our therapy team spends one Friday a month doing training together, so that way, they can be equipped in similar ways, but then also have that shared experience that grows the team together. And, you know, oftentimes, you grow in team health when you have shared experience.

“Change lives, have fun” is one of our core values. And the reality is, is that we're involved in some very serious work, like you mentioned. If we're all business all the time, it's easy to get burnt out, and so, you know, because the reality is the work never stops. And so some other practical ways that we kind of gather with others are, like, movie nights. We're actually going to have an all-staff fun day coming up here in a couple weeks. Even try and do it when it's a little bit, when the budget's kind of tight.

And the last thing I’ll mention is prayer. Prayer is powerful. And when we remind each other to pray for one another, we have a group chat that prayer requests are often shared. And then, we also have weekly all-staff prayer and devotion time with an in-person and virtual joining option.

So those are ways that we try to combat burnout, to inspire each of our team members, and give them hope.

Al: Yeah. Those are great foundational aspects. You know the prayer, all staff, even a channel. Yes, we have a channel on our internal Teams platform that people share prayer requests. We have a weekly prayer time where our staff meet. Yeah. Those are great spiritual foundational times. And not only spiritually that you're describing, for emotional health as well is really a key part of that.

Well, Ryan, I know that your commitment to strong families isn't just your work. You and your wife, Danielle, have also welcomed foster children into your own home. And how have you seen God provide for the needs of your family through this experience? What are some of the practices and habits that you and Danielle engage in for a healthy family dynamic with this extended family, if you will?

Ryan: Yeah. Well, the reality is, is that foster care can be a very isolating experience. Your home becomes infinitely busier with extra children to take the school or daycare, and then you have monthly team meetings and weekly counseling appointments and extra doctor visits, and that's just to name a few. You're inviting caseworkers and attorneys and CASA workers and foster-care support staff into your home every month. And then, that's just on top of raising your other children and their activities. And so, we have to be intentional about church attendance and making date nights be a priority. Those two activities are often the first to be pushed aside, if I'm being honest. But if I'm not connecting with God, my other priorities are out of whack. But the reality is, is when I'm not connecting with my spouse, it also seems like nothing is going right. So focusing on those two areas has been important for us.

The other thing is that our biological children are really feeling the weight and burden of taking care of others as well. This is really a family ministry as a whole. And so we must prioritize our relationship with them because we're in that ministry all together.

And no matter what ministry you're in, it can be draining and tiresome. So one of the most important things that we've done as a family is to create an informal support system around us, and our small group at church is kind of the most natural way for us as we've created that support system. Sometimes family and friends step up when we need help, but realistically, the busier that we get, the less help we ask for. It's kind of this chain that we kind of get into, the cycle. So it really is a big deal when our support system initiates bringing a meal, helping with transportation, or mowing our lawn. Those are ways that we've seen people step up in small ways, but we really feel it in a very big way.

So, we also feel most supported when our support system tells us they're praying for us, and they ask how they can be specific with their prayers. Now, we can't share everything that's going on with what's going on because there's HIPAA and those type of confidentiality issues. But there are some things that we can definitely share, especially what's going on with our family.

So those are just ways that we’ve tried to be intentional. It doesn't always work out that way. I mean, we don't have it all together, Al. I mean, life is messy, sometimes our house is messy, and we might forget some appointments from time to time. But if we're on this journey together, that's what really matters.

Al: Oh, Ryan, that is really a thoughtful response. And I know all of our listeners are thinking about their own community and community members who are involved in foster care like this. And yeah, it can be isolating. And I’m encouraging all of our listeners to think about, okay, so who do you know that's doing some of this hard work of helping with foster care and how can you step in to support? You know, it's not necessarily an emergency going on, but, yeah, life is messy, as you said. And community support through the church is a great thing.

So, as Compass has grown, and you've seen some great growth, as we talked about earlier, as you've grown over the years, you've had to grow as a leader. And one of the things that we're talking about this fall with our podcast guests is inspirational leadership. And as I talk with leaders who are committed to growing their leadership and shepherding their flock well, I'm interested in learning how you have grown through this season of leadership. Share a few reflections, if you will, that have influenced you and your own growth as a leader. What are some of the catalysts, perhaps, that you've experienced that spur you on to growth in your own leadership?

Ryan: Yeah. Well, Al, it really comes down to people and connections that I've had the opportunity to look up to over my lifetime. So my parents were the biggest influence in my life. I mean, I lived at home for about 20 years or so, and so they were probably the biggest influence, I would say. But I also had teachers and Sunday school teachers and coaches and bosses, once I got a little bit older, who have all helped shape me into a leader I've become.

I would just point out a few specifically that had more influence than others. But my mom, also a band teacher in high school, and then a couple of high school basketball coaches, they really pushed me further than I ever thought I could go. And one of the things that they showed me is that if you're excellent in what you're doing, that will be a great testimony that would give influence to those around me. And so even in school, people look up to me, and not just because I was 6’5” and one of the taller kids in my classes, but really, I wanted to be salt and light to those around me. And I had been influenced by Christ from a very young age, and I was passionate about knowing Him and helping others know Him. And so that was a big value for me growing up.

And then I attended Boys State and other leadership camps in high school. And then as an adult, I went to a John Maxwell leadership seminar that really stood out. And so those are some of the experiences that really helped shape me into who I am today.

And I never want to stop learning and advocating for things that are important to me. So I read books; listen to podcasts, including this one, quite often; refining those lessons and thoughts with my friends and seeking and teaching to be an example to those that work with me. And, you know, it's a life-long journey, and I'm enjoying the ride.

Al: Yeah. Wow. Well, thank you, Ryan. That's really great. So yeah, even reflecting on your mom, so many of us are fortunate to have parents that have supported us in the journey. And I like the way you said that your mom and your coaches pushed you further than you would have gone yourself. And that's something for us as leaders to think about. How can we encourage those that we're serving with to actually do more, do better, and go beyond where we are, to really push for excellence, as you say? And yeah, to encourage young leaders to go to leadership camps, to engage with leaders like John Maxwell, and again, to read. Leaders are readers, as I've said just in last week's podcast. Leaders are readers. I've heard that over and over, especially in Christian circles.

So, Ryan, we've learned so much from our conversation with you today. Appreciate it. And, you know, we started right off with staff engagement and how you work through things. And appreciate learning about your HEART at Compass, which are your values of honor, empathy, assertiveness, respect, and tact; and how you communicate that on a regular basis. And also to humbly serve, how intentional you are to work with your leaders and your staff, to humbly serve by listening and giving them the benefit of the doubt, and also the way you also encourage them to take care of their physical health. And then, you know, the way you work to really build the emotional and spiritual foundation of your staff so that they can flourish individually as a way, then, to serve those that you're serving. So, and then your own growth and leadership, how that has been impacted.

So, as our listeners are reflecting in our conversation, let me just ask you if there's something else that you'd like to add that we've talked about.

Ryan: Well, it kind of goes back to that spiritual aspect that you were talking about. I just kind of want to share just a brief personal reflection from my Bible reading from the last couple of days. So, I've actually been reading in Matthew and in chapters eight and nine, one theme really stood out in those two chapters, and that was about faith. A couple of examples that Jesus talked about was He healed a man with leprosy. The man said, “Lord, if you're willing, You can heal me and make me clean.” And then what Jesus did is He reached out and touched him and said, “I'm willing. Be healed.” And then, instantly the leprosy disappeared. And then, there was another example where a Roman officer came to Jesus and he pleaded with Him, saying, “Lord, my young servant lies in bed, paralyzed and in terrible pain.” And that's when Jesus said, “I'll come and heal him.” And then the officer said, “Lord, I'm not even worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where You are, and my servant will be healed. I know this because I'm under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say go, and they go, or come and they come. And if I say this to them, they do it.” And then when Jesus heard this, He was amazed. And He turned to those that were following Him, and He said, “I tell you the truth, I haven't seen faith like this in all of Israel.” And then Jesus said to the Roman officer, “Go back home. Because you believed it has happened.” And the young servant was healed that same hour. And then, there were a few other examples of additional miracles that happened because of people's faith.

And, you know, there's, oftentimes, in my own prayer life, Al, that I ask for wisdom. I think that's important as a leader. It's a good prayer to have. I mean, He says that if any of us lack wisdom, we should ask Him because He gives generously and it will be given to us. But one of the things that I've started doing just in the last few days, since reading that in Matthew eight and nine, is that I've prayed for Him to increase my faith, and then I want to watch how He works.

So, I just want to encourage others maybe to consider doing the same. Like, not only ask for wisdom, but ask to increase your faith, and see what He does.

Al: And you've just helped to define inspirational leadership to a new level: faith. Amen. Thank you, Ryan.

Well, thanks so much for that. Thanks so much for your contributions and our conversation. And I appreciate your commitment to helping children and families thrive. So, thanks for taking your time out today and speaking in the lives of so many listeners.

Ryan: Well, I appreciate this opportunity to speak about it, Al, and just all the awesome guests that I've been able to listen to. You’re highlighting a lot of great work that's happening, and so thank you.

Al: It's been my pleasure and look forward to continuing with you on the road to flourishing.

Thanks so much for listening to my conversation with Ryan Stanton. And I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

And you can find ways to connect with him and links to everything we discussed in the show notes and transcript at workplaces.org/podcast.

And if you have any suggestions for me about our podcast or have any questions on flourishing workplace cultures, please email me at al@workplaces.org.

And leaders, if you want to improve your leadership, expand your organization's impact for good, and see greater faithfulness in our broader culture, help us achieve our goal to see more flourishing Christian-led workplaces. To help, please share this podcast with another leader or launch a program even in your own organization to discover and improve the health of your workplace culture. If you're interested in learning more, go to workplaces.org and request a sample report.

And if you haven’t subscribed, please go ahead and subscribe through your favorite platform.

Next week, we're excited about the content that we'll be offering for this fall season, focused on inspirational leadership. I know you won't want to miss listening in on my conversation with Northwestern College's president, Greg Christy, as he gives examples of the positive impact a healthy culture has on their students and graduates.

Outro: The Flourishing Culture Leadership Podcast is sponsored by Best Christian Workplaces. If you need support building a flourishing workplace culture, please visit workplaces.org for more information.

We'll see you again next week for more valuable content to help you develop strong leaders and build a flourishing workplace culture.