5/16/23 - Tom Beck: Creating a Culture of Compassion

Intro: Welcome to the iWork4Him podcast. I'm Todd t Riley, producer of the iWork4Him Radio Program, the Voice of the Faith and Work Movement. Our mission is to transform the workplace of every Christian into a mission field. What does that look like in your workplace? Let's find out right now.

Jim: This episode of iWork4Him was previously recorded for the Christian Leadership Alliances Outcomes Conference podcast, where leaders come to invest the best of what they know into other leaders.

Martha: Remember, if you have influence over just one person, you are a leader. Together, let's listen to this podcast and learn more about leading God's way. Enjoy.

Jim: We have an incredible conversation today coming up with Tom Beck, chief People and culture Officer with Compassion International. Hope to focusing on how Tom and his team lead and strive to create a culture of belonging at Compassion International.

Tom Beck, welcome.

Tom Beck: Good to be with you too. Thank you very much.

Jim: So before we get started talking about your leadership role and your perspective of how God is using you to create a culture of belonging at Compassion International. Tell us how you keep your faith strong and your leadership Christ-centered.

Tom Beck: Yeah, you know, it's really about, probably certain habits I've picked up along the way. You know, you've got your spiritual disciplines, you know, time with the Lord and Bible study and prayer, but. It's also really slowing down to listen, take time to listen to where God's leading me, to the guidance of the Spirit, but also to others.

You know I firmly believe we're created to relate to him but relate to each other and that, you know, you've got, there's a lot of power in those conversations. And so it's really slowing myself down at times, whether it's early morning or when I travel or with my wife or with my coworkers or my partners that I work with.

That really, those two things, the habits and the listening is really probably the two things that have the biggest impact on me in my journey.

Martha: So I'm just curious, what does that look like when you slow down? Cuz I think a lot of people listening, it sounds so good. But it's, but it's so much easier said than done.

What does that actually look like?

Tom Beck: Part of it is the, actually, it's the time of day for me. I am, my wife would call me an abusively early morning person. My day usually starts around 4:00 AM And so I, I have learned in the rhythms in my life that my most productive times and are, are during those quiet hours.

She is not a morning person, so we're not crashing each other in the kitchen. And it's a time for me just to reflect and you know, it's a peaceful, quiet time to be able to do that. And as you know, the day gets going and it gets busy and things kind of get crowded out. But it's also I have opportunities, you know, in either commuting, cuz I live in Denver and I drive down in Colorado Springs where I can connect with the Lord just quietly driving or with friends on my commute time.

Before Covid I traveled quite a bit, so a lot of quiet time. You know, you sit in airports or you're on airplanes and you just have different rhythms that you find. Listening to podcasts, you know, I appreciate the work you do because it is it's just a new world. I used to be a avid reader and that kind of got crowded out.

So being able to listen to things as well as part of the rhythm is, and, but it's also just understanding my, my own daily rhythms and when the quiet times are the best for me, which are, yeah, as my wife said, abusively early in the morning.

Martha: That's just, I love that line. I love that description. So, you know, for a lot, for a lot of us, it sounds to me like it's, it's just being aware of the opportunities God gives you and leaning into those, because a lot of people, you know, don't think of their commute as quiet time. But it can be if we see the opportunity that God gives us. So thanks for sharing that and diving in a little deeper.

So, I wanna talk about the theme of the Outcomes Conference for 2022. It is I belong. And I'm curious how you as a leader at Compassion International, especially in your role create that culture for your team of belonging.

Tom Beck: It's a great question cuz it's actually very timely with the work we're doing. We have what we call a neighbor prom. In the neighborhood where our workforce happens is one of the neighbors that we identify, and it's based on the Good Samaritan parable. And love your neighbor as yourself and who is your neighbor. And we've, we've come up with a brand promise that's called known, loved, and connected. And so it's really striving to, starting with my team and an extension of my team and into our global workforce, is to really have them start to feel that sense of being known, loved, and connected.

The other thing that's important for us, and at least for my direct team, is to create a sense of safety. And safety from the standpoint of that we can - we know each other. We trust each other and we, but it takes time.

Jim: Well, yeah. So talk about that. I mean, getting to know people does take time. I mean, how do you facilitate people to get known with each other on their team? I mean, that's, that takes time. That's like picnics, that's like dinners. I mean, how do you guys do it?

Tom Beck: Well, pre covid, we spent a lot of time together. We were, you know, our headquarters is in Colorado Springs, so I was able to do a lot of walk around, meet and greet people.

Most of my team actually is based in the field in the 26 countries that we work in. So, I travel quite a bit. In covid it is one of the, honestly, it's one of the bigger challenges we have is, you know, just like this, setting up a Zoom call and trying to connect with people and get to know 'em. There's intentionality around that.

I, I will admit, during the Covid environment and being on Zoom, you have to set aside time to connect with people. If you have a full agenda, you've gotta put time into the agenda on the front end or on the back end. Ideally, it's on the front end to just say, Hey, catch up with each other. How's, how's life treating you?

How's the family doing? How can we be praying for each other? But it takes time. There is no getting around that, and it's intentional time that I personally invest in the team that I'm shepherding. And then it kind of rep replicates itself from there.

Martha: You know, it's crazy because like you said, like pre covid, those beginnings of especially Zoom meetings drove me crazy.

Yeah. I'm like, let's get down to business. But as time has gone on, I have seen the value in that. So I'm so much more appreciative. I'm not a banter person. And a lot of times, you know, there's that because people are trying to like get in each other's lives quickly. But you're saying it actually helps to, you know, with the culture and to get to connected, and I love that it's a part of what you guys are intentionally doing.

So what are some of the challenges that you've encountered in trying to create that same space of belonging in that workplace culture?

Tom Beck: Yeah. Well, one that we were just talking about is distance, and that actually existed before Covid because as I mentioned, you know, we're a third of our employee base is in the United States. Two thirds are in the 26 countries that we work in. And so we were kind of in a, a global environment to begin with, from a remote perspective. So it's added to it. We did have the habits kind of built in to begin with. But then it's, you know, it's kinda like pouring fuel on an open flame when Covid hit it.

Just made it, you know, that much more challenging. We also do a lot just doing assessment work and, and two things. We use some testing, you know, like Myers-Briggs and disc and different things, just so you start to get to understand people a little bit better. And that helps on the known part. And we intentionally set aside time for team development.

The other thing that we do, and we're starting to see things open up, is just make sure we have intentional team time together.

Jim: So what do you do when people don't wanna be known?

Tom Beck: That's a really good question. You know, Jim, I think it, it's interesting cuz when you create cultures where that becomes part of it, it's almost like it attracts certain people. And in other cases, someone might, I don't wanna say self-select out. They might say, Hey, you know, you, you always wanna be respectful of boundaries. And so it doesn't mean, okay, everybody let's, you know, open our hearts up and tell what's going on with their families all the time.

But if you create the right safe environment, people become, it becomes attractive to them, right? And I, again, I see it in my own team, the extended team that I lead globally, and then, you know, hopefully that begins to replicate itself within the organization as well.

Jim: Fantastic. Hey, you're listening to the Outcomes Conference podcast as we talk with Scott Beck today. Well, nope, not Scott Beck. How about Tom Beck? Scott's his brother. I did that on purpose.

Tom Beck: Scott's my brother.

Martha: His brother, we had to get his his name in there.

Jim: I did.

Tom Beck: We look a lot. We look a lot alike, Jim , so that's okay.

Jim: That's right. We're talking with Tom Beck today from Compassion International. We'll be right back.

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Jim: Hey, welcome back to the Outcomes Conference Podcast as we talk today with Tom Beck from Compassion International.

Tom, you've got an interesting title, Chief People and Culture Officer. That just shows that compassion is very serious about having a good culture for their people. Have you always worked for compassion or, or is this an, I mean, tell, tell us about what's your job history?

Tom Beck: Yeah. I've been with Compassion going on nine years.

Jim: Okay. So prior to other organizations, did they ever have the focus that Compassion did on making sure culture and people were taken care of?

Tom Beck: It was not, not stated. You know, I come out of the private sector, so I was in the mid eighties. I kind of helped start Blockbuster Video. And so from the ground up, I always say you have a culture whether you want it or not. You're gonna have one. And so the intentionality around it, you know, the culture I had back then and then I was also with Boston Market during a startup phase. We were, we tried to be very intentional about it, but as we grew, it got harder and harder to do what that, those core values were and that culture that we wanted to create.

And so with compassion, it's been - you know, we try to be very intentional about it. When I shared with you earlier about the known, loved and connected, that's something we've adopted really in the last couple years. And to change a culture takes a lot of time. And especially when you deal with, you know, the number of staff and volunteers that we have.

But it's rather new. The role myself, the titling is new, but the desire behind it is not new. You know, that's something that I brought into compassion nine years ago, and I'm very, very sensitive to what our culture is and what we want it to be.

Martha: That's so good. So how about in your own personal life, what are a couple of the core principles that drive your Christian leadership?

Tom Beck: I would say one of the first things is what I call don't be your own limiting constraint. What I mean by that is I've learned through the years, and you hear this said a lot, you know, don't try to be the smartest person in the room. I always believe that if you really do that, then you become the limiting constraint.

And so it's really gathering people in from a leadership perspective, that our capacity that have a very different perspective than you do. And to be comfortable with that cause that builds a richer culture and that really feeds itself into diversity as well. And it's not just diversity from a gender or minority perspective. It's really diversity from a thought perspective.

Teams that take longer to form because you have different personalities and different thought process and different background actually are richer teams over time. It just takes longer to do that.

Jim: And when you add in that spiritual component and how people worship differently, when you get all that to gel, all of a sudden you realize, well, you got some in your group that are prophets and some of them are preachers and some are teachers and apostles, and you're like, Wow. Wow. We, we covered the spectrum here. I mean, that's the kind of diversity I love because you, you can, you're getting more of God in your team.

All right, so let's, let's talk about learning for Tom Beck. What, what role does pursuing continuous learning - you said you're listening to podcasts, you're, you've reading has gotten Xed out. I'm not quite sure how come reading got Xed out, but you know...

Martha: Can't read and drive very well.

Jim: Well, how do you accomplish continuous learning in your role?

Tom Beck: One is I, I get really back to the listening part. It's really sitting down, whether it's listening to podcasts, but it's more important, it's really listening to teammates and my peers on our executive team and those outside of compassion and listening to me can take, takes on different forms.

You know, I talked about reading going by the wayside. My wife, also one of my better leadership coaches that I have, tells me I have a little bit of ADD and sometimes she'll say more than a little, like a lot. So my attention span forces me into reading articles and listening to a podcasts more than it does reading a 300 page book.

So I also, I don't know if you've heard of the 70 20 10 principle behind learning. 70% of what you learn is more on the job experience. 20% can come through coaching and mentoring, and then 10% comes through content. And I really embody that. I've, I've seen that in my own journey, that it, it's really a lot about what you learn by experience and then supplementing that with you know, content.

And when I say content, it's it, you know, it could be the reading. It could be the podcast. It could be the seminars I go to. Critically important because they're catalytic. But trying to apply that in my own journey, that's where listening becomes so important. Because also the other thing that's really important is being open to feedback.

And that's, that's difficult at times. I gotta be honest with you. I don't always like hearing the things that sometimes people tell me.

Jim: Yeah. 360 reviews are a little tough.

Martha: But some of the, some of the things that you've said, Tom, I'm getting a picture of you as a leader, as someone with a very open door and you, cuz you've said you like to listen to those that you work with and learn from them as well.

And not being a leader that knows it all. You, you seem to have that air about you that you welcome that opportunity. So I, I appreciate just kind of the little glimpse that we're getting of you as a leader. So in the last minute here of this segment, I would love to hear something about Compassion International that most people don't know.

Just, just throw something at us.

Tom Beck: Sure. The one thing is our core strategy is built around three things: being Christ-centered, being church-based and then being child focused. Probably the one thing that people don't realize is we partner with 8,200 local churches in the 26 countries that we're in. They are the ones that implement our program.

So that strong partnership. I didn't realize that when I got involved with Compassion, cuz I just thought child sponsorship meant raise the money, support the family directly or something. So that partnership with the local church for holistic child development is critical. It's part of our core identity, and we do nothing outside of the local church.

And so that's probably the one thing that most people wouldn't realize about us.

Jim: Wow. Very cool. You listening to the Outcomes Conference podcast, as we talk with Tom Beck from Compassion International. We'll be right back.

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Jim: Hey, welcome back to the Outcomes Conference podcast. We talked today with Tom Beck from Compassion International Chief People and Culture Officer. The title, I just love the title. Every organization should have somebody in charge of people and culture, making sure that we get the most outta people.

Cuz when people know they're loved and they are seen and they're known, then they perform at a much higher level. Is that what you guys are seeing, that by, by investing in people and culture, you get a better rate of return on your people?

Tom Beck: Basically I would say yes. I think one of the challenges we have in the ministry context, and this was the difference I noticed between corporate, for-profit sector moving into ministry.

We, we struggle at times really with saying no to things because the demands and the needs are so great and those we're serving you know, and it's a joy to do that. And so that connectedness that we create really creates you know, not only the known, loved, and connected part that I talked about earlier, but it also creates the freedom for people to kind of fail along the way.

Cuz you can't, you can't learn things if you're not willing to fail. It creates really better productivity. And it depends on how you define productivity. And from where I sit, I look at it a little bit differently than maybe our marketing people look at or our program people would look at it.

But yeah, just that sense of belonging, that even what we're talking about, you know, at the conference, it's so critical to really allowing people to thrive and to ultimately find joy in what they do.

Martha: Wow, perfect. You know, and that's really, that's a beautiful connection between belonging and thriving, because when we feel that... That comes from the inside out, it can't be, It's not manufactured. It has to really be, be felt. So talk to, when you think about Compassion International today, what are you most enthusiastic about in terms of the mission and the impact that it's having globally?

Tom Beck: Sure. The thing that I just the greatest joy I get out of, it's really two things.

One is seeing children released from poverty in Jesus' name. Truly seeing that. And seeing it in a local context, as I mentioned earlier, you know, partnering with those churches that minister to those, those children and the youth and the extension of the family. That's probably the thing, Martha, that excites me the most.

And it, it is always there. And being able to see it firsthand like I did before Covid, but we're starting, as I mentioned earlier, we're starting to open back up to travel to see that firsthand. And then really the second thing is the joy I get out with the people I get to work with.

Martha: And give us, give us context for that. Like how many employees or you know, people on mission with compassion and volunteers? Like what is the scope of, of the culture that you are ultimately responsible for?

Tom Beck: Sure. The, the scope, if you add in our staff, our directly paid staff, our church partner, staff, and then volunteers is about 130,000 people.

Jim: Oh, holy smokes. That's a lot of people.

Tom Beck: Yeah, and the beautiful thing about it is that they're local contexts. They're local leadership. So when you're in Burkina Faso, our staff and the church partners are all basically from Burkina Faso. So there's a richness to the culture that is, can be complex at times, but it is a beautiful thing to be a part of.

And just to see the body of Christ at work in, in that context. You know, Jim, you talked about spiritual gifts and to see that Manifest itself on a day-to-day basis is incredibly powerful, and it's a joy to be a part of that.

Jim: Richness of the kingdom when we're one day altogether in one place. How incredible will that be? All right, Tom, as we close out this podcast, the Christian Leadership Alliance is a place where leaders come to invest the best of what they know and other leaders. Tom, what leadership idea or thinking would you like to share as an investment in those listening to today's podcast?

Tom Beck: Yeah. I heard it said one time that we teach what we know. We replicate who we are and teaching what we know is incredibly important, but being true to who we are as leaders, who God called us to be, it's such a powerful thing to see that start to be replicated in others and not, you know, me being replicated in someone I'm, I'm partnering with. But just to see them grow and to see them and to be part of that is an incredible joy.

And that's where I was saying earlier about don't be your own limiting constraint, you know, as a leader, especially as things grow and expand and the scale gets bigger. Surround yourself with people that are smarter than you in the areas that are important and have competency that you may not have. In blending that together and not being afraid of that takes it, it takes a lot to do that sometimes. But the beauty of seeing it happen and materialize in outcomes and impact is a wonderful thing to be a part of.

Jim: Teach what we know and replicate what we are. Isn't that, that's like parenting.

Tom Beck: But yeah, I don't tell my staff or my team that.

But that's the beauty of mentoring and discipleship, and that's really what you're doing with your team. That's just fantastic.

Tom Beck, what a great conversation today. Thank you so much for sharing from your heart and for sharing. About compassion international and, and really just giving us a peek into what does it mean to be a chief people and culture officer. Did I say that right?

Martha: Yeah. CPCO, I keep thinking it in my head.

Jim: So, so it's like CP 3 Oh, but CP CO.

Tom Beck: Yeah. No, I've gotten teased on that one. My title actually was longer before we re-aligned things. So could be worse.

Jim: Yeah. Well, if you had a gold suit on, I mean... But Tom Beck, thank you so much.

Tom Beck: Jim and Martha, thank you.

Outro: Did you know that God has a calling on your life? It's true. He's called you to bring Jesus to the world. For some that may look like a pulpit or a foreign mission field, but for most of us it looks like a construction site, a cubicle, a hospital, or a classroom.

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