447: Thriving Leaders Start Within: How Self-Leadership Shapes Organizations

If you’re feeling the weight of leadership, this episode offers a timely reminder: your most effective strategy may not be something new you do, but someone deeper you become. Join us as Tami Heim, President and CEO of the Christian Leadership Alliance, shares how personal spiritual formation is the foundation for lasting impact in Christian leadership.

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In this episode:

Podcast Relationship and History

• Tami Heim is a returning guest and long-time collaborator with the host, Al. (05:00)
• First appeared on the podcast in August 2016, almost nine years ago. (05:12)
• Mutual appreciation expressed for the ongoing partnership and commitment to Christian leadership development. (05:35)

Inspirational Leadership as a FLOURISH Factor

• Inspirational Leadership is the most impactful factor in the Best Christian Workplaces’ FLOURISH Model. (05:53)
• It plays a key role in workforce engagement. (06:10)
• Ties closely to spiritual and self-leadership, core elements of effective Christian leadership. (06:18)

Shift Toward Heart-Centered Leadership

• A broader movement is emerging among organizations like CLA, ECFA, and Best Christian Workplaces: renewed focus on the heart and spiritual health of leaders. (06:48)
• Historically, leadership development focused on metrics and competencies. (06:56)
• Post-COVID, there’s a deeper emphasis on spiritual transformation and care for the leader’s inner life. (07:35)

CLA’s Initiatives in Leadership Development

• In response to post-COVID realities and research:
  • CLA launched a personal-leadership track in 2021. (07:41)
  • Partnered with Azusa Pacific University to identify what enables Christian leaders to thrive. (08:12)
• Developed a 50-week Thriving Leader Journey with five courses:
  • Focuses on leading self, leading others, and organizational leadership. (09:34)
  • Includes mentorship and accountability to support lasting transformation. (09:59)
• Personal leadership is the most attended track at CLA’s conference. (10:19)

Leadership Health and Spiritual Disciplines

• Leaders must be connected to God to lead effectively and inspire others. (11:09)
• Practices and habits that strengthen that connection are essential. (11:10)
• Leaders should model Christ-like behavior—humility, compassion, Spirit-led decision-making. (11:40)

Team Development and the CLA Outcomes Conference

• Strong encouragement for ministries to attend the conference as full teams:
  • Shared experience allows for deeper application, contextualization, and post-conference impact. (13:42)
  • 84 ministry teams attended this year, showing a strong shift toward collective development. (14:12)
• Anecdote about witnessing young leaders at the conference:
  • They shared how worship, teaching, and community deeply impacted them. (15:01)
  • One remarked how powerful it was to find a community of like-minded believers doing similar work. (15:49)

Reach and Impact of Best Christian Workplaces

• Over 2,000 Christian-led organizations have completed BCW’s Employee Engagement Survey. (22:10)
• Organizations like Joni and Friends have participated annually for 20 years, compounding the long-term impact. (22:29)
• BCW works with 500 unique organizations each year, capturing data on thousands of employees. (22:38)
• The data reveals that Christian workplace culture health has improved significantly over two decades. (23:32)
• Christian organizations are beginning to set a new standard for healthy, effective workplaces. (24:14)

Movement Potential and Influence

• Of the 87,000 faith-based nonprofits in the U.S., BCW has served more than 10%—a movement-making percentage. (22:46)
• The influence of this 10% could transform broader perceptions and practices in Christian workplaces. (22:55)
• CLA and ECFA are key partners in this movement, reinforcing high standards and accountability. (24:32)

Training and Leadership Development

• High-impact organizations are intentional with training investments—more than just approving conference attendance. (25:36)
• Best practices include:
  • Defining specific learning goals and required sessions at events like CLA’s Outcomes Conference. (26:12)
  • Requiring participants to teach what they’ve learned to reinforce and spread knowledge. (26:32)
  • Processing learning through guided questions: What did I hear? Why did it matter? What changes because of it? (27:01)
• Encouraging follow-up actions like lunch-and-learns builds internal leadership capacity and transformation. (26:56)

Leader Well-Being and the New ECFA Standard

• The board’s top responsibility after vision and mission is the care and development of the CEO. (29:23)
• New ECFA standards emphasize holistic leader care—emotional, spiritual, and physical. 
• Boards are now asking deeper questions: How are you doing? Are you resting? Are you spiritually grounded? (31:07)
• Examples of healthy practices:
  • CEO sabbaticals (31:05)
  • Spiritually focused self-evaluations (31:11)
  • Guarding time for prayer, Scripture, and personal renewal (32:10)

Spiritual Maturity as a Performance Driver

• A leader’s spiritual health directly affects their behavior, decision-making, and team culture. (34:03)
• Past attitudes (e.g., “pray on your own time”) are shifting toward integrating spiritual life into the workplace. (34:20)
• A spiritually filled leader is more likely to lead with clarity, purpose, and sustained impact. 

The Importance of Peer Relationships for Leaders

• Leaders need peers outside their organization for mutual encouragement and understanding. (36:20)
• Even with loving family support, peers with similar leadership experiences provide unique empathy and insight. (36:33)
• Tami emphasized the value of peer groups, retreats, and forums (like CEO forums or CLA events) to build these relationships. (36:42)
• She shared a personal story about praying for a “battle buddy” and quickly being led to someone who became a close, spiritually aligned peer. (36:56)
• These relationships grow from intentional connection, obedience to God’s prompting, and shared purpose. (37:47)
• Women’s retreats were designed to foster these deep relationships, addressing the challenge that women often don’t create space to connect deeply like men might through shared activities. (39:14)
• Tami now has a strong peer network through these retreats, with bonds of trust, prayer, and mutual support built over nine years. (39:59)

Biggest Challenges and Opportunities for Christian Leaders

• The pace of change is accelerating, creating both challenges and opportunities. (40:57)
• Leaders must stay anchored in the Word, spiritual disciplines, and prayerful discernment. (41:31)
• A thriving leader is not one who has all the answers, but one who is:
  • Confident in God’s sovereignty (41:44)
  • Ready to take the next faithful step (41:53)
  • Willing to wait on God when clarity is lacking (42:28)
• Leaders must guard their hearts and resist being overwhelmed by technology, crises, or cultural noise. (42:48)
• Tami emphasized the importance of asking: “What is my part in using new tools (like AI) for God’s purposes?” (42:47)
• The call is to respond with humility and confidence, not react in fear or haste. (43:08)

Leadership Formation and Organizational Impact

• The Outcomes Conference’s personal-leadership track is one of the most popular, indicating leaders’ desire to grow spiritually and personally. (44:46)
• Self-leadership precedes leading others or organizations; grounded leaders create stronger, more unified teams. (44:56)
• Conferences and shared learning experiences help teams return with common language, tools, and vision. (45:09)
• Tami noted the joy of seeing new ministries, groups, and ideas take shape through CLA’s work and partnerships. (45:25)

Final Reflections and Encouragement

• Tami encouraged leaders to maintain a posture of active seeking and spiritual attentiveness, looking for God’s hand in all circumstances. (46:09))
• Leaders should strive to respond with wisdom rather than react impulsively, rooted in God’s guidance. (46:24)
• The conversation closed with mutual gratitude and recognition of the partnership between CLA and Best Christian Workplaces in equipping godly leaders and building flourishing cultures. (47:14)

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