If you are following the story of the Pregnancy Center Executive’s journey to a Linear Service Model (LSM) the first step
In Pursuit of Wisdom
is to acquire wisdom. This post deals with the Executive application for being more intentional around the personal pursuit of wisdom. As executives we are constantly forced to make decisions. Those decisions are almost never binary. Meaning we don’t have the luxury of making choices that are black and white, right or wrong. Our choices are usually determining which of four or five good options is best. This is why we need wisdom, to discern what is best. Will we make mistakes? Yes. Is there grace in those mistakes? I believe for those who are pursuing wisdom with all diligence that there is an ocean of grace. So below are some practical steps to begin building into your personal executive experience to be more intentional around the virtue of wisdom.
1. Get wisdom (Proverbs 4:7) because the understanding needed for yesterday will not be enough for tomorrow.
__Identify at least two professional experts (i.e. Current executive of a medical service that consistently reaches and serves women at risk for abortion, a marketing professional, a strategic planning consultant, etc)
__Compile questions you can ask them that would help shed some light on issues that you are facing as an organization.
__Call those two people and ask them those questions.
__Create a reading list for executive leadership (See suggested reading list at prcoptimizationtool.com)
2. The staff of the organization are key to accomplishing the mission: Affirm and support them.
__Provide them with the resources they need to get the job done
__Determine two ways to reward your staff within reason in the next month
__Give them clear direction
__Determine the primary goal to be accomplished by the organization this year (e.g. It should be the biggest obstacle to accomplishing the mission of reaching and serving more women at risk for abortion.).
__Initiate weekly one hour staff meetings (Click on the follow for a sample Strategic Leadership Tool used in CompassCare’s LSM call the Optimization Tool: Weekly Core Staff Meeting Agenda)
__Communicate that goal to the staff and begin to brainstorm on ways to overcome the obstacles to accomplishing that goal.
__Begin to have weekly one on one meetings with your key staff (e.g. Client Services Director, Development Director, Nurse Manager) in order to begin to set clear expectations for them with respect to the organization’s overall mission and annual goal.
__Begin to communicate the goal and plan of the organization to accomplish its annual goal to donors through every means available.