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426: Servant Leadership That Overflows: Creating a Culture of Impact

Best Christian Workplaces : January, 20 2025

Healthy Communication Culture Nonprofits Employee Engagement

426: Servant Leadership That Overflows: Creating a Culture of Impact

Are you looking to create a workplace culture that overflows with servant leadership and Christ-centered values? In this episode, Gilbert Montez, president of Christian Community Action, shares how transparent communication, spiritual leadership, and a heart of surrender can transform not just your organization, but the lives you serve.

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In this episode:

Mission and Impact of Christian Community Action (CCA)
- Generational Impact:
  - Shared a story of a young woman who benefited from CCA as a child and has now become a successful attorney, donor, and volunteer, demonstrating the long-term impact of their services. (04:37)

- Mission Statement: In the name of Jesus Christ, CCA ministers to the poor by providing comprehensive services to alleviate suffering, bring hope, and change lives. (05:57)
- Programs and Services: Wraparound support includes food, clothing, school supplies, and other essentials, aimed at helping families move out of poverty. (04:48)

Leadership Journey of Gilbert Montez
- Corporate Background: Transitioned from corporate communications leadership to ministry in 2003, where he embraced spiritual leadership and lifelong learning. (06:50)
- Surrender to Ministry: Faced a calling to ministry, encouraged by his wife to take a leap of faith. (08:30)
- Influences on Leadership:
  - A desire to continually learn and grow. (07:33)
  - Parents modeled servant leadership. (07:38)

Workplace Culture and Employee Engagement
- Early Experience with Surveys: Managed a nationwide employee-communication survey in the corporate world, sparking an interest in employee engagement and workplace culture. (09:18)

- Inspirations:
  - Influenced by William Kahn’s research on employee engagement, emphasizing healthy work relationships and treating employees as individuals. (09:58)
  - Scriptural principles of servant leadership, such as Mark 10:42. (10:25)
- The Importance of Culture: Believes that organizational culture starts with leadership and overflows to affect employees and external stakeholders. (11:26)

Implementing Employee Engagement Practices at CCA
- Survey Use and Analysis:
  - CCA conducts regular employee engagement surveys and analyzes results with the help of consultants. (14:06)
  - Surveys are broken down by department to identify specific areas for improvement. (13:18)
  - Emphasis on celebrating successes alongside addressing challenges. (13:33)

- Sharing Feedback:
  - Results (both positive and areas for improvement) are shared in monthly all-staff meetings. (14:00)
  - Leadership develops actionable plans based on survey insights. (14:13)
- Fostering Trust:
  - Transparent sharing of survey results builds trust and shows commitment to continuous improvement. (15:08)

Building Trust and Caring for Employees
- Transparency fosters trust-based relationships, which lead to stronger teams.
- Survey results show staff feel valued through opportunities for growth, spiritual alignment in work, and care from supervisors.
- Practices like Lunch on CCA encourage personal connections between leadership and staff.
Using Tools to Understand and Develop Staff
- Implementation of Patrick Lencioni's Working Genius Assessment (16:25):
  - Helps staff identify preferred working styles and frustrations. (16:35)
  - Enhances teamwork by understanding individual strengths. (16:45)
  - Practices like Lunch on CCA encourage personal connections between leadership and staff (16:53).

- Leadership teams use books on servant leadership (e.g., Ken Blanchard, Mark Miller) to align practices and foster discussions. (19:00)
Fostering Communication and Listening
- Regular communication practices:
  - Monthly all-staff meetings celebrate birthdays and milestones while sharing department updates (20:00).
  - Weekly "Friday Thoughts" emails from Gilbert provide concise encouragement, insights, and scripture reflections. (20:29)
- A focus on active listening: Inviting input from staff, fostering healthy conflict, and ensuring two-way communication. (20:55)
Encouraging Work-Life Balance
- Providing meaningful time off, like a full week at Christmas. (23:24)
- Annual two-day training sessions to pour into staff development. (23:34)
- Leadership supports passionate employees by actively addressing survey feedback and implementing actionable changes. (23:56)