6/20/23 - Mike Mantel: Thirsting for Living Water

Intro: Welcome to the iWork4Him podcast. I'm Todd T. Reilly, 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 Alliance's 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 Mike Mantel, Chairman and CEO with Living Water International. This ought to be good. A guy that names his company after what Jesus did at the well with the woman. Love that. We'll be focusing on how Mike leads and strives to create a culture of belonging at Living Water International. Mike Mantel, welcome.

Mike Mantel: Thank you, Jim. Hello, Martha.

Martha: Hi. So great to have you with us today.

Jim: Before we get started, Mike, talking about your leadership role and your perspective on how God is using you to create a culture of belonging at Living Water International, tell us first how you keep your faith strong and your leadership Christ centered.

Mike Mantel: Well, Jim, it's kind of like this conversation. I start each day talking to the Lord, and then I talk to my wife, and I talk to others. So I get up early, and I have determined that I need an open ended... time with the Lord.

And so grab my Bible, I get a journal and then I get a little piece of paper, a scrap piece of paper. Cause I know all of the challenges of the day are going to come into my mind and I need a place to put those to keep my mind open to the Lord. And then I just read his word and I try to be with Him and reflect on what I'm reading.

And usually I pick up some little nugget, some little understanding that often helps me during the day. And then I go to the coffee machine. I brew a couple cups of coffee. I go visit my wife. We talk about what she's learning in her devotions, what I'm learning in my devotions. We think about our family.

We do all the logistics. We talk about the challenges of the day. And then I go out and I start having conversations with my colleagues. And it all starts with a conversation with the Lord. And then beyond that, with others.

Martha: Wow. That's such a great, it seems so simple yet such a great format for your mindset to get you started and get your heart in the right place.

So the theme for the Outcomes Conference is I belong, and I am curious, as a leader, what have been some key things for you to create a culture of belonging with your team at Living Water International?

Mike Mantel: Well, I think people own what they create. And so what we do every three to five years is we spend an entire year engaging with the whole system - all of our staff, all of our board, many of our donors and partners, and we prayerfully reflect.

We strategically design what it is that we're going to do over the next year. So we start out, we got one on one conversations, small group discussions. We've got the big plenary presentations, but we, we talk about who we are, where we want to go, how we're going to achieve it. And everybody believes their fingerprints are on our strategic direction.

And then we live it out weekly. We discuss it quarterly. We have a business review. We tie it to our performance reviews. We continue to keep it fresh and in front of us. And people see themselves in our strategy. They see themselves in our performance objectives. They see themselves as we celebrate successes or we learn from our mistakes.

And I think it's because we all believe that's our plan, that we belong to this plan, that it's our plan, our team, our strategy, our celebrations. And I think it starts with just engaging the whole system and inviting them to participate.

Jim: I think it would be helpful, and I appreciate you sharing what you just shared, for us to understand what does Living Water International actually do?

Mike Mantel: We are a Christian ministry that helps people access clean water and to experience the living water, the gospel of Jesus Christ. We're about 32 years old. We grew up out of Houston, Texas. We are currently operating in 18 countries. Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, North, West, South India, three regions.

We've got teams, about 300 staff in these different countries, and we try to bring water to the driest areas where the most desperate people are. We work with and through churches we try to engage churches to be visible in our work and relevant. And so far in these 32 years, there are 7 million formerly thirsty people through 22,000 water projects.

So it's a great ministry and I love participating in it.

Jim: That's fantastic. 7 million formerly thirsty people.

Martha: So I don't know how you can possibly manage the culture with that huge team in all of those different countries. So I guess that's probably a challenge in and of itself, but I want to hear what, what kinds of challenges you face as you're trying to create that workplace of belonging in a global organization.

Mike Mantel: Martha, you are absolutely right that our teams work on four continents, different languages, different tribes, perspectives, denominations, preferences, ways of thinking, and it's that diversity that is our strength. It's that global footprint that is our strength. It's, it's also the flip side.

It is the challenges because there are lines there are carefully and drawn thick lines that separate us. They separate us geographically through our wealth, how we perceive things. So it's a real challenge and it's a real set of strengths to work in a diverse globally dispersed organization.

So what we do, of course, I mentioned, we try to strategize and plan and pray together. And then we try to reflect what we've agreed to through different voices, through different media, just continue to communicate what it is that we feel called to do and how it is that we want to do it. And then we press it through all of our communication channels.

We use video. We use WhatsApp. We use emails. Recently, a pandemic opened up this whole Zoom world. You know, in the past, we have a few people in a, in a meeting room and then a A few others would be looking in, but today we've got postage stamp people from around the world. We're at a balanced table and all of us can contribute with an equal position around the table.

So that's new, that's helpful. The challenge is that so much gets done relationally. You know, when we break bread, when we see each other in the halls, when we travel to each other's countries, when we sit around, kind of like the space between action planning, that's when the trust gets built, when the humor gets unleashed, when we, we have stories to tell one another.

So I think the biggest challenge is also the biggest solution. You know, we can now Zoom globally, but we can't connect globally. So we're just beginning to travel out once again across the continents and spending time with each other.

Jim: Hmm, that's fantastic. Have you ever, have you ever done the breaking bread together on Zoom?

Mike Mantel: Ha! You know, we have tried that. And it's, it's pretty cool. You know, we get the gift cards within the United States. You know, the delivery foods. And we haven't figured out how to do that globally yet, but we do time our our eating a little bit. That helps a little.

Jim: Yeah, that's cool.

All right. We got lots more coming up with Mike Mantel from living water international. Hang on.

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Jim: Hey, welcome back, as today we talk with Mike Mantel from Living Water International. I think, Mike, you said 18 countries, 300 teams, four continents, and seven million previously thirsty people. That's quite an accomplishment. What would you consider your top two core principles that guide you daily as a Christian leader?

Mike Mantel: That's a great question. You know, the first is just the rock solid belief that God actually is in control that that God exists, that he has been writing a story throughout eternity that it's discernible, or at least the portion that we can see it's discernible. And so the business principle is to believe that God is in control. He's the master strategist. He's got a plan.

And then our job, the second core principle, is try to understand what that plan might be and then invite others into that plan, because God has a plan for each one of us. It's not a mistake that we're working in the organizations we're working in or the churches that we're working in that God has a purpose for us.

And so every day I try to reconnect to the facts that God is the master strategist, that there is a plan that how am I going to discover it today? And how am I going to invite other people into that plan as they live out what God has for them?

Martha: So, what role does listening play in all of that?

Mike Mantel: That's the center of it. You know, if we don't listen we can't discern God's plan. We can't discern what he's inviting others into. So how do you listen? Well, you do it all the time. You ask questions and questions are powerful. What do you hope for? What, what do you think God's calling us to do?

What do you feel compelled to do? What have you done? That is very effective. What have you done that is unique? How can we do this differently? Can we agree? Can we build consensus? Do you think this is a good idea or a bad idea? You know, we just kind of invite questions and conversations.

But then you gotta stop and you gotta listen. I have to listen. I have to make lots of notes and then continue to encourage people to discover and live into what they want. What they dream about. What they feel God's compelling them to do.

Jim: How often do you practice, I mean this is, I mean when I'm trying to listen and hear what the Lord is saying to me, I'll write down or repeat what I think I've heard, and then I'll ask other people to pray about the same thing, or before I share what I've heard, I ask them what they believe they're hearing just to get a confirmation that okay, we're listening to the same God. It's not both of us you know because there's always three possibilities: One of us is right and one of us is wrong. Both of us are wrong or both of us are right. I mean, so how do you determine when you have nailed down what God is saying?

Mike Mantel: Well, there's little decisions and big decisions, you know. There's project decisions. There's missional direction decisions. And so I do what you do, Jim. So the first is in the morning. It's personal, it's private. You know, God loves me. He's trying to form me into his likeness. I'm trying to be a better person.

I'm trying to, you know, it's kind of personal, but every now and then when I take those business ideas and I put them in that little that little piece of paper that I'm going to look at later, there are some clues about what God is trying to do in my life, and there's some linkage sometimes to what he's trying to accomplish through our organization.

And then I start our senior team meetings and I ask everybody, how you doing? And they, you know, two minutes each. Well, how you doing? How's your family? What are you coming to the meeting with? How you feeling? And then I ask them, you know, what are the key things that you want to celebrate? And what's on your mind?

What are the key things this week that are on your mind? And I look for alignment. Is there anything that's repeated? Is there anything that's emphasized? Is there anything that's unique that's emerging out of those conversations? I rarely say, God said or told me to do such and such, but if through the, call it the community of the saints, there's validation, there's some thematic validation or sometimes even some alignment, specific alignment, then we test it.

You know, could I say that this is a spiritual direction, or is this an academic direction, or is this a practical direction, and if it appears as if it's uniquely informed spiritually, then we can agree that this is from the Lord. Let's push it. Let's test it as we go, but let's push it as far as we can.

Martha: You know, you seem to be someone who is such a thoughtful leader, that you are really in tune with the people that are working around you and really processing that. So is there anything that you're doing personally to help you with, you know, ongoing learning yourself as a leader?

Mike Mantel: You know, there are formal and informal continuous learning. There's structured and non structured. I always need at least one thing that's formal, because there's so much coming at me and coming at others, you know, like, unless there's some kind of structured learning process.

I get carried away by the tyranny of the urgent. So this past year, what was really cool was we had this spiritual formation cohort. It was a deal we did with Fuller Theological Seminary. They designed a cohort that allowed 25 of our leaders to have two annual two day retreats. Now, we had to do it virtually because of COVID, but we spent two days like this.

And then every quarter, the whole cohort would come together. Every month, our small groups would gather and to show up prepared, you needed to do something every day or every two days. You know, discover some tool or some approach or some reflection, and then, you know, to be ready to share it. That cohort was so powerful.

Half the time, I hated it because I had too much to do and I didn't want to do my homework and the other half the time I loved it because it allowed me to get deeper with the Lord. But it also allowed me to build relationships with my you know co leaders and it was so good that we've now replicated it in Latin America to cohorts in the United States and in Africa. And our dream is that all 300 of our staff will go through a structured spiritual formation program.

And that is a structured approach. We got other stuff, you know, certified fundraising executive, you know, professional project management for development people, diversity and inclusion. All kinds of structured courses, but I think the best is the unstructured, informal interaction with our colleagues that are on the other side of something, that are on the other side of the world, that are on the other side of a perspective, that see the world differently.

And you have to create platforms for that. And that's called strategic planning, cross functional work teams, you know tactical working groups. But it's that conversation, informal, linked to the formal and structured that allows me and others to continue to learn.

Jim: That's fantastic. When we come back, lots more from Mike Mantel as he talks about his brand new book Thirsting for Living Water. Hang on for a minute.

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Jim: Hey, welcome back. We talk with Mike Mantel from Living Water International. If you've missed the beginning segment, well, you can go back and listen to it. This is a podcast. It's been recorded. Mike, I want to talk about your brand new book, Thirsting for Living Water. What do you hope readers are going to take away when they pick up your book and read it from

cover to cover?

Mike Mantel: Thank you, Jim. Jim, that is my favorite question. Thank you for asking it. Thirsting for Living Water: finding adventure and purpose in God's redemption story. So this is a book that not only invites people to join me, you know, the ride with me down into my dark night of the soul, and then you ride with me back in time and around the world to discover great stories of God's faithfulness.

You also, the reader also discovers his or her own story through each reflection. And that's my hope is that when the reader picks up the book. That they have an engaging story. They have a great experience, but they begin to think about God's faithfulness in my life through the scriptures, through love, through faith, through hope.

And then, you know, we begin to look at God's faithfulness through family, community, city, and the world. And then as we travel around the world, we celebrate what the church is doing over there someplace other than here, what the church is doing right here, and this amazing ancient vision of a unified body of Christ.

And my hope is that when people read these stories, and they begin to discover their own stories, they validate that God is the master strategist, that he's inviting each of us into his big story, and we can find a path to live into that adventure and to live into that purpose. And that's my biggest hope, is that people discover God's faithfulness and take that step, take that courageous step that will change their lives.

Martha: I'm curious, I mean, there's so many things there, you know? I want to just encourage people if they haven't, to just pick up a copy of your book, Thirsting for Living Water, and then you said, Finding Adventure and Purpose, I think it's... In God's Redemption Story.

So what, what was it that told you, Mike Mantel, now is the time to write this book?

Mike Mantel: Well, it started four years ago and I was troubled by all of the negative discourse in society, in the media. Everyone was knocking the church about, you know, people were leaving the church, the church is out of touch, it's not being effective.

And that hadn't been my experience. My experience was quite the opposite and I just wanted to tell stories to shift that dialogue because that hadn't been my experience. I wanted to tell hopeful stories of what the church is doing at home, across town, and around the world. And it was just to kind of shift the dialogue into something that I believed was real.

And then halfway into the process I started getting so delighted with the stories that I was discovering through my colleagues and through my friends and through my families that I just began to capture them and write them and then polish them. And during one of those early morning prayer sessions I think I heard God say, Tell stories of my faithfulness.

Tell stories of my faithfulness. So then I had to shift a little bit because it's all about God. It's all about God's big story, and it's about the stories He's writing in our lives. So then I thought, well, what if... What if the reader actually begins to discover those stories in their lives? What if they begin to articulate them?

How can we help the reader articulate stories of God's faithfulness in their lives? And what if they told those stories? Imagine if everybody began to tell stories of God's faithfulness, how that would shift the discourse into a more hopeful, larger, a more productive and redemptive story. And so that's my hope is that some people pick it up and tell their story and find ways to communicate their story to others.

Jim: Mike, as we close out today's podcast, what is a leadership idea or a certain way of thinking that you'd like to share as an investment in those listening to today's podcast? Just a little story.

Mike Mantel: So 35 years ago, when I was in business, I went on a trip to Senegal. It was a lark. It was just to have an adventure, but to follow a donation my billionaire boss made to fund a water well.

I thought it'd be so cool to get on a plane. I'd never been to Africa. You know, I loved the idea of Serengeti glasses and zip off pants. I thought it'd be a really cool thing to do. And when I got to the Sahel Desert, In Senegal, what I witnessed changed my life. What I saw was a unique cast of characters doing the impossible.

Somehow, they were able to bring water from 300 meters below the desert surface. And that water brought life to a Wolof tribe, a tribe of herders, a Muslim tribe. And when that water broke through the surface, this leader of this drilling crew Preached the gospel of Jesus, the water of life, and the lives of this Wolof tribe would be changed forever, physically and spiritually.

And it was impossible, there was no possible way that water could be brought in the middle of this desert in this tiny little village. And there was all this unlikely group of people that brought that together. And so I'm sitting under a little tree, a little acacia tree on a sand hill. And I began to just kind of, hey, God, thanks. This is really cool. It's amazing to me that you put all this together. And I felt that I was in that story. I participated in some small way. And so this is the leadership principle. If I was in that story, then God must know me. If he knows me and he invites me into that story, he must love me.

And that was so powerful to me to not be alone, to be loved by the almighty God. And then it struck me that if I could work for the master strategist, I didn't need to sort out all of my life. I just needed to join him and do what he was doing and then I could bring along my friends and it would transform their lives.

So the leadership principle is to just believe. And if you don't believe, find evidence that God is in fact alive and well, working a big story and inviting us to participate. And my hope is that the reader of my book will consider that. Consider that God is alive and well. He loves us. He's inviting us into his work. And as leaders, we can just live into that big plan and invite others to participate and God will change the world.

Jim: Mike Mantel with Living Water International. Thanks.

Mike Mantel: Thanks so much, Jim and Martha. You bet.

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. Wherever it is that you work, live, volunteer, and invest. That is your mission field. To learn more about integrating your faith into your work in retirement, check out our books: iWork4Him. sheWorks4Him, and iRetire4Him by going to, iWork4Him.com/ bookstore.

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