5/23/23 - Al Lopus: The Road to Flourishing

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 coming up today with Al Lopus, co-founder and c e o with Best Christian Workplaces Institute. We'll be focusing on how Al and his team lead and strive to create a culture belonging at Best Christian Workplaces Institute and within all of the organizations they work with.

Al Lopus, welcome.

Al Lopus: Hey, it's great to be with you. Thanks. I'm, I'm pleased to be back and and looking forward to seeing you in person at the outcomes Conference.

Jim: Yeah. Just a few weeks away. Before we get started, talking about your leadership role and perspectives of how God is using you to create a cultural belonging at Best Christian Workplaces Institute and the ones that you have influence over.

Tell us how you keep your faith strong and your leadership Christ-centered.

Al Lopus: Yeah, great question, Jim, because you know, Don't we all wanna finish strong in our leadership? And as I think about finishing strong, as I've read about it and as I've put things in practice I have a definite discipline around, around this topic.

And actually it integrates the spiritual, emotional, and physical aspects of my life. And so if I'm strong in each of those areas that really also underpins my spiritual strength and foundation. And, you know, to do that, you know, it's the traditional disciplines. You know, I have a purpose, a spiritual purpose that I've written, and that's important to me.

And I grow in my relationship with God and to regularly experience a union with Christ while bearing the fruit of the spirit and service to others. And so, in order to do that, I think about that. I focus on it. And so I have a daily devotional time. I hardly ever miss it. I've, I've started to listen to a couple of spiritual devotional podcasts.

Just for the audience Pray as You Go is one or Electio 365. Of course there's you version and other, other studies and, but then, you know, the Bible is the core. Prayer is the core on a daily basis. Even some meditation is part of that then. On a quarterly basis, I actually have implemented now for the last several years, quarterly spiritual days.

I'll take a day off and I'll go to a place where I can focus on, on just quiet a quiet day of scripture reading of prayer, devotion, meditation, and I find that to be rich. And then back on a, on a daily basis no, I'm sorry, on an annual basis. I'll also take a three day, kind of a prayer and fasting retreat every January.

That's how I start my year off. And so those are some of the spiritual aspects. Of course there's a weekly Sabbath that I try to keep as well. And then from a physical standpoint you know, I believe that that really impacts my spiritual life as well. And so I exercise pretty close to five days a week.

And then for rest and vacation, you know, sun and beach is just something that I, that I find really restorative, emotionally. The third part you know, that's really wrapped around relationships. And I make my wife a cup of tea every morning, Jim and Martha, I don't know if that's something that Jim does for you, but

Jim: I get her a diet Pepsi in the morning. That's what she wants.

Al Lopus: That's what she likes. Well, that's time I spend with my wife every morning. And of course then there's small groups that I have as well. But kind of a long answer to your question, but it's all integrated and it's something that, again, I wanna finish strong. And and as I've talked with mentors and as I've experienced over my, this year will be my 50th year as a, as a believer that's how I've maintained it.

Martha: You know, there's great intentionality in the things that you just told us. And I think that it's good to hear other people's rhythms so that we can learn from each other and go, oh, there's a new idea. Or there's something that I've been talking about doing, but actually doing it and implementing it.

So thanks for sharing that with us. So I have a question that has to do with the Outcomes conference theme, which is I belong. So how do you at the Best Christian Workplaces Institute create - what are the keys for creating that culture of belonging with your own team?

Al Lopus: Yeah, that's a great question. And I think the belonging theme is a great theme that we need to focus on as Christian organizations because people need to feel like they're part of something even bigger. We call that life giving work, you know, is the work that you're doing, life giving? Well, if you don't feel like you belong, then that doesn't really reinforce life giving. So, so we practice that.

And that's a big issue for us at the Best Christian Workplaces Institute. And that's actually something that we work with organizations to do. You know, so we have a rhythm also, like I've described as spiritual rhythm. We have a rhythm with meetings, you know, so that part of our meetings is a, is a fellowship and camaraderie time.

Every week we have a 90 minute leadership team meeting, and the beginning of that meeting - and we're virtual, so our people are all over the country and we're not in the same room. And so we have to work a little harder at that to make sure that that's part of our culture. So, you know, part of our 90 minute leadership team meeting every week is is that social fellowship interaction.

We also have weekly all team prayer meetings. You know, we sometimes will have an honor chair where we put somebody in the honor chair and everybody in the meeting we'll communicate a positive aspect about that person's personality that really strikes them, and then pray into that.

Or we'll have a hot seat where we'll put focus on somebody's needs and pray for those needs on a weekly basis. So that's another kind of a, of a belonging experience. One of the things we found also is the one-on-ones between employees and their supervisors. And we have implemented that.

That's something that we found is really important and for a lot of Christian organizations that we talk with, we encourage that because that's the way that especially was during covid. That's the way org people were able to connect with the organization was through their frontline supervisor.

And so to have any sense of belonging, you know, there needed to be that kind of emotional connection. And organizations that did that better than others came out stronger after Covid. I mean, so there's, those are just a few of the things that, that we do, Martha.

Jim: Now, when you take those ideas of how you're operating within your own organization, then you have influence as you talk with organizations across the country and rate them in the Best Christian Workplaces Institute and, and influence them.

What kind of challenges do you see in implementing that kind of a strategy in other people's organizations in order to help them create a belonging culture?

Al Lopus: Well you've asked the question even what, what's the challenge to doing this? And, you know, the challenge is time.

You know, just the sense that is this important? And is this important to our organization? You know, am I gonna get a return on that investment of time and I'll say over and over and over again. Absolutely. Because, you know, with a strong engaged workforce that feels like they belong and connected and it's in a place, you know, even the definition of engagement is where people bring their discretionary effort to the organization to help the organization succeed.

Well, you know, that only happens through inspiration, and that's through personal relationships and this sense of belonging. So are they willing to put the time in to actually create those kinds of experiences? That's the issue that you know, and maybe it's because, well, I'm not willing to put the time in a leader might say, and it's because they don't understand the value of it. Sometimes we see that, but yeah, It's critically important.

Jim: Yeah. Appreciate the answer. And time. Time, something we all feel starved of yet. It's the one thing that our savior never seemed to have too much of or not enough of. He always seemed to be able to manage the clock better than anybody we know. You're listening to the Outcomes Conference Podcast as we talk today with Al Lopus from Best Christian Workplaces Institute. We'll be right back with more conversation.

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None of that is by accident. Your workplace is your mission field. Change the way you think about faith and work by picking up a copy of our new book iWork4Him by going to, iWork4Him.com/bookstore. And remember, you aren't just working for yourself. You're working for the Lord!

Jim: Hey, welcome back to the Outcomes Conference Podcast as we talk today with Al Lopus.

He's the founder and c e o of the Best Christian Workplaces Institute. Got a great book coming out. We're gonna talk about that in just a minute. Al, what are the top two core principles that guide you daily? If you were to narrow down core principles that guide you personally daily, what are those?

Al Lopus: Well, the first thing as a leader and I've discovered this talking with great leaders on my podcast over time. And that is that you can't give what you don't have. So, you know, what is it that you actually have as a leader that you can give to others, you know, as you shepherd the flock that God is entrusted with you?

And so making sure that you are In a position where you're preyed up, where you are resourced, where you're ready to give and have something to give, then you know, that's the first thing. Cuz if you're burned out, if you're at the end of your rope, if you are, you know in a lousy you know, situation or a poor situation you don't have anything to give, then, you know people are gonna look someplace else for leadership.

So, I'll say you can only give what you have. And that's the first thing. The second thing I'd say is for me, I don't ask people to do something that I wouldn't do myself. And that's kind of an integrity issue. I learned that pretty early in my career as I was leading others.

And I found that if, if I was willing to do it, then I could ask somebody else to do something, whatever it would be. So, yeah, make the coffee, whatever.

Jim: Clean the toilet. If you're not willing to clean the toilet, how do you ask somebody else to do it? As a leader, you gotta be willing to do everything.

Martha: As long as you make good coffee, because like, that would not be my role. I'm just saying. So I dunno how to do that. But, you know, but what a great couple of things that we can take with us and, and be reminded of in our own leadership, that we can look to.

So, Al, I'm curious. Where does learning fit into your role as a leader? Because not only are you an influencer in your own organization, but yet all of the workplaces that you encounter because of your organization. So where does learning fit into all that for you?

Al Lopus: Yeah, I'd like to think well, actually I have, you know, one of my goals is to be a lifelong learner.

And again, you know, I learned this at CLA. Leaders are readers. Now, you know, there's lots of ways of consuming as another way of describing it, consuming information of learning. But I've taken a number of the CLA courses, for example. You know, that those have been very thoughtful and helpful.

But I read books. In fact a lot of listeners will know John Pearson. I, I listen to John Pearson and in fact I'm reading a book right now called Winning on Purpose, and it's a tremendous book from Frederick Reichhold on the Net Promoter score. Many people know what that is.

And, and, but yeah, I read books and that gives me a lot of ideas. So I'm, I'm the one in our organization that's bringing new ideas, discussing new ideas. You know, Donald Miller has a whole bunch of good ideas. Michael Hyatt, somebody else. I listen to their podcasts. Every day I'm listening to some podcast from some leader.

I was listening to John Maxwell this morning. So, so every day I'm listening to a lot of podcast. Of course, there's the annual outcomes conference. I can't help but mention that. And I also go to the Global Leadership Summit every year, so to avail myself to the top Christian speakers.

And again, at GLS even, they bring in non-Christian thought leaders, which I think is an important type of person to learn from. You know, and again, put my own biblical worldview into into what I'm learning. But yeah, just learning from all types of things. I mean yep.

Break: You never stop learning. That's for sure.

Jim: What about listening? Where does listening fit into your growth as a leader?

Al Lopus: Oh, no, you're really kind of starting to poke at, at something that's at my core, you know. So. Listening. Communication is one of the most important things that any leader can do effectively.

And, and I remember talking at a debriefing of one of our ministry partners and they said, oh, we have professional communicators that will, you know, address this communication issue that we have. And I'm saying, this was a church. And I said, what you mean by communicator is not what I mean by communicator.

You mean a communicator as a preacher. And the first part of what I'm talking about of communication is listening. Because if we don't listen first, then we, we miss the whole, the whole issue. Listening is a part of two-way communication. So even we ask in our employee survey questions, does my supervisor seek my suggestions?

I mean, that's listening. Or is the organization acting on my suggestions? That's where people really start to feel engagement. Well, they've listened and they actually listened so well they're changing as a result of my input, you know, or, or do I feel involved in decisions that impact me?

Those are questions we ask in our employee engagement survey. So listening is a core part of an effective organization and effective leadership. So, for example, you know, as a CEO and co-founder I'm usually the last one to express my opinion in any kind of a group meeting.

You know, we've all seen where, where a CEO, no matter how they might say it, if they express their opinion, it's usually the end of the conversation because, well, that's how he thinks or she thinks Their attitude, their response is more important than mine, you know, so I'm done.

You know, we'll just go with that. And that's never effective, you know? Also, how do you listen? Well, you ask open-ended questions. That's another thing that I I like to do. I, I've studied appreciative inquiry. What are some positive, open-ended, future-oriented questions that, that you can ask to get at a situation? And also, you know, before we implement any kind of a new process, I wanna make sure I've listened to the people who that process is gonna impact. You know, if it's gonna be even salary decreases. Oh gosh. Well, let's talk about what's the best way to do that? What's important to you?

You know, just to talk about a sensitive topic, so, you know, getting people as the question we ask I feel involved in decisions that impact me well that's listening. Yeah. So Jim, you, you really hit on a, on a core thing for me.

Jim: Well, I love it. We're talking today with Al Lopus right here on the Outcomes Conference podcast.

When we come back, we're gonna talk about his brand new book that was voted the Christian Leadership Alliance book of the year. The Road to Flourishing, not the road. It is Road to Flourishing: eight keys to boost employee engagement and wellbeing. We'll be right back with more from Al Lopus.

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Jim: Hey, welcome back to the Outcomes Conference podcast. Thanks again to Faith search partners.com for being your sponsor of the show today. We're talking today with Al Lopus. Check him out online. Best Christian Workplaces institute. What's the website, Al? For some reason it just slipped my mind.

Al Lopus: Oh, it's bcw institute.org.

Jim: Bcw institute.org. All right. You just finished your new book. It's getting released at the Christian Leadership Alliance annual event in 2022. The name of the book, Road to Flourishing - God's Idea Behind Work - Road to Flourishing: eight keys to Boost Employee Engagement and Wellbeing. All right. Tell us about the book. Tell us about the book.

Al Lopus: Well, Jim, let's start off. I believe that Christian led workplaces should set the standard as the best, most effective places to work in the world. Nonstop, you know, best, most effective places to work.

And so my hope is that readers will capture a vision of how they can create a flourishing workplace, not only for their team, but for their organization. So that's what I hope will be the outcome. And what's unique about this book is this is not Al Lopus's sense of what creates a Best Christian Workplaces.

And I've been doing this for a long time. It's, it's actually a statistical analysis of what creates a Christian workplace and a flourishing Christian workplace. So we've taken research. We've taken hundreds of thousands of employees input through questionnaires and taken that data and done a statistical analysis to determine the outcome and the outcomes tell us there's eight drivers that really impact engagement in Christian led workplaces.

And so this book, it's their stories and some teaching about what those eight are and how an organization can actually improve their culture.

Martha: So you have had such an amazing overview of so many organizations, and I love this approach because what I'm hearing you say is it's not like, well, I feel like it might be a good idea to do this.

You're saying we've seen the results, we've seen that when these are implemented, this helps. So give us one of those areas just as an idea, just a sneak peek. Just a sneak peek of what one of those keys to boost employee engagement and wellbeing might be.

Al Lopus: Well, the most important... so we've also calculated using relative weights analysis, how important each of the eight are.

So I'll just lead off with the most important, that's inspirational leadership. And so leadership is the key. That is, we've found the most important driver of employee engagement and Christian led organizations, and that, that encompasses three aspects. One is A person's character, and particularly Christian character.

I mean, that's at the basis. And for Christian led organizations, I mean the Christian culture is really a competitive advantage. It's, it's, you know, we take it for granted too many times. But it starts with a leader's character, and then there's competence. One of the questions we ask - is the organization well managed?

Well, when there are good systems and processes in place, then relationships work more smoothly. There's less conflict and relationships are healthier. So, so that's part of inspirational leadership is the not only character, but the competence of the leader. And then, Also we find when there's high levels of trust between leaders and employees, between teams, more gets done.

And that's the glue of every organization. That's what brings positive people together, working positively together. So, that's inspirational leadership. Yeah.

Break: That's so good. And so who do you hope reads this book? Because like when you're looking at an organization, is it only the HR person that you want to read it?

Or who do you really want to read the book and, and apply it?

Al Lopus: So this is targeted to a couple levels. First is the leaders of an organization, the c e O, the executive director, the president. For them and many of the people that we've interviewed and included in the book are those people in Best Christian Workplaces.

So that's, that's the start. And then there's the C-suite, and then there's everybody that actually manages people, you know. This is a, this is an opportunity for training and development, for current managers and supervisors and people that will see themselves becoming managers and supervisors because it will inform to them what is important to create a healthy workplace again for their team, you know, for their group, for the organization.

Jim: You know, Al, you stated something at the beginning of this segment that you believe that as Christ followers, the workplaces that we provide should be the best workplaces in the world. And we say something on our show all the time, that I really believe is the statement of faith that all believers should have.

As Jesus followers, everything about us is changing. And because of that change, everyone around us should be benefiting from our faith, whether they believe in Jesus or not. And that's the essence of the Christian workplace. Everybody should be benefiting from the faith that the leaders who are following Jesus, whether they're having, whether they happen to follow Jesus or not, they should be benefiting from it.

Do you agree with that statement or not?

Al Lopus: Well, yeah, absolutely. I mean, I believe this kind of gets at my holy discontent in a sense. So my point is, That if a Christian is working and serving Christ in a Christian workplace, their faith should grow.

My discontent is when I hear about leaders or employees who, because of a toxic workplace environment, have actually seen their faith hurt or you know, and I've heard of people who have left the faith because of the experiences they've had in a toxic workplace. I think that's wrong. And so let's work together to make sure that our faith is growing as we serve because that's what's gonna attract other peoples to Christ.

You know, I believe again, a healthy, flourishing Christian workplace is gonna attract others to that organization and because it's a Christian workplace, they'll be attracting people to Christ. I mean, that's, that's kind of gets at the core of why I do what I do.

Jim: And that is a powerful leadership idea that we can all learn from. Al Lopus. Thanks.

Al Lopus: Great to be with you. Thank you.

Martha: And congratulations on your book being chosen as the Christian Leadership Alliance Book of the Year for 2022.

Al Lopus: Yeah, thanks, Martha. I'm really excited about that.

Jim: And make sure you check out Al and his whole team and BCWInstitute.org.

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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