397: Strategies for Building a Flourishing Church Through Engagement and Trust

Join us as we unlock the true potential of your organization with insights from Ashley Wooldridge and Jeff Osborne of Christ's Church of the Valley. Discover how they’ve built a culture of teamwork and trust, and learn practical steps to elevate your leadership and create an engaged, flourishing workplace.

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In this episode:

• Building Trust in Leadership
  • Top-Down Culture: Emphasis on the importance of trust starting at the top with the executive team. (02:53)
  • Teamwork: Executive team prioritizes teamwork and trust, influencing the entire organization. (03:10)
  • Performance Reviews: Focus on teamwork in executive team performance reviews to ensure trust and collaboration. (04:42)
• Employee Development and Growth
  • Individual Growth Plans: Every employee has a growth plan to ensure continuous personal development. (07:04)
  • Leadership Training: Leadership-fundamental courses for people leaders to manage and empower teams effectively. (08:20)
  • Ministry Skills: Key-ministry-skills courses for staff from marketplace backgrounds to adapt to pastoral roles. (08:51)
  • Role Certification: Certification programs for key positions to standardize training and performance. (09:05)
• Feedback and Adaptation
  
  • Learning Management System: Introduction of a system to centralize knowledge and training resources. (09:45)
  • Responding to Surveys: Implementing changes based on feedback from Best Christian Workplace Surveys. (10:04)

• Strategic Focus and Communication
  • Clear Strategy: Five key strategies: expanding reach, building a strong team and culture, encouraging next steps in faith, maintaining financial health, and improving systems. (11:45)
  • Repetition and Simplicity: Ensuring everyone understands and focuses on the main strategies. (12:19)
• Innovation and Experimentation
  • Innovative Culture: Encouraging innovation within clear strategic boundaries. (17:48)
  • Wow-Idea Program: Program to incentivize and reward innovative ideas from staff. (18:52)

• Employee Involvement and Innovation

  • Encourage new team members to innovate and ask questions. (22:09)
  • Support risk-taking and recognize that some failures are necessary for innovation. (23:07)
  • Cultivate a culture where failure is seen as a learning opportunity rather than a setback. (23:48)
• Healthy Communication
  • Focus on teamwork over clarity to enhance communication between central and campus teams. (24:50)

• • Utilize a communication platform for quick updates, videos, and prayer requests to keep everyone informed and connected. (28:19)
  • Develop a structured input-feedback model to ensure voices from all campuses are heard before rolling out new programs. (29:49)
• Cultural Fundamentals and Behaviors
  • Clearly define and ritualize desired behaviors and cultural fundamentals. (31:30)
  • Examples include extending trust, speaking straight, and exercising humility. (32:31)
  • Use regular meetings and a communication platform to reinforce these fundamentals. (34:43)
  • Recognize and reward staff who exemplify these behaviors. (34:52)
• Measuring and Improving Culture
  • Conduct regular surveys to measure the effectiveness of cultural initiatives. (36:05)
  • Take feedback seriously and implement changes based on survey results. (36:31)
  • Ensure accountability by addressing staff not adhering to the cultural fundamentals. (36:37)
• Practical Implementation
  • Encourage organizations to start their cultural improvement journey, no matter their current state. (40:09)
  • Influence upwards if senior leaders are not as passionate about culture. (41:44)
  • Take small steps and gradually build a stronger, more positive culture. (41:57)

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