Probing Questions

As leaders we are supposed to have answers. Answers for our staff. Answers for our supporters. Answers for ourselves. But in order to have answers, we need to know the questions. And we need to be willing to ask probing questions about ourselves and our ministry.

Our friend Bob Teide specializes in such questions, and believes leaders need to ask question of themselves and their staff to move the organization forward toward God’s goals. He recently ran a list of questions for leaders to ask themselves gleaned from Paul Kearns, the head of an organization called Maturity Institute. I’ve picked a few for your consideration and added some of my own comments to them.

1. What is the purpose of my organization? Am I here to serve shareholders, customers, or society? Most of all, am I serving the purpose the Lord has for me and the organization?

2. Have I defined value in clear and simple terms? Does our staff clearly understand the value of our organization? The message we send out is our “product.” Have I shared with the staff so that they know the importance of what they do?

3. Am I trusted? How will I know and what will I do if I lose trust? What am I doing to maintain trust with the staff, listeners, donors, supporters?

4. What are my core values? What values underpin my own thinking, actions, and behavior?

5. Do I live by clear principles? Are my values translated into my guiding principles for myself and the whole of the organization? Do I practice what I preach? Do I act when I see those principles being ignored by others?

6. Do we have the right culture? What is the “personality” or culture of our organization. Is it built on biblical principles? Do I fully appreciate how important the culture of our organization is? Can I accurately articulate the sort of culture we need today and am I constantly aware of how my decisions might affect it? How will I monitor it, and will I know when we are deviating from it?

7. Am I passionate about never-ending improvement? What is my own management philosophy? How can it be anything else, other than the pursuit of continuous improvement, forever? How do I demonstrate that I follow this philosophy myself in everything I do?

8. Am I authentic? Does our publicly available company information and reporting truly reflect who I am and the underlying health of our organization, or is the presentation of our image more cosmetic than substantive?

By the way, our steps to make sure our ministries and organizations are pleasing to God are worth the effort. It falls in line with Timothy’s admonition to the believer of his day…and ours.

[blockquote author=”II Timothy 2:15″ link=”” target=”_blank”]Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.[/blockquote]

What do you think? Are there any other questions? And… how will you answer?