Road to Flourishing: Eight Keys

 

Issue No. 514 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (April 19, 2022) highlights a new book (published today) that asks, “PICK ONE: Life-Giving Work or Life-Sucking Work?” And this reminder: click here to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies).   In one organization in Road to Flourishing, “…when compensation became the last remaining complaint and nothing was done about it, it stuck out like a sore thumb.” PICK ONE: Life-Giving Work or Life-Sucking Work Right now. Clear your calendar. (Really!) Next, order multiple copies of Road to Flourishing and schedule a day—or an offsite retreat—with your team members. If “collaboration is the secret sauce of a high-performing culture” and “eating together is a sacred thing,” as Al Lopus notes, then use this powerful book to assess and enrich your organization’s culture. Unlike any book you’ve ever read, this practical, practical roadmap oozes with both best practices and worst practices from the trenches—and you can learn from both!  EXAMPLE #1: “THE LAST 10 PERCENT.” Lopus writes, “One of the best conflict-resolution principles for teams that I’ve heard comes from Rock Point Church in Arizona. They call it ‘the last 10 percent.’  “As lead pastor Bill Bush explains, ‘When we’re in a tough meeting, we always ask around the room, ‘Hey, did everyone say the last 10 percent?’ Because I know there are a lot of people who will say 90 percent of what’s bothering them. And the problem is, that last 10 percent is usually the real problem. And so you keep having meetings that sound so good. We high-five each other—‘Hey, we got through. We communicated so clearly. That was great.’ And then everybody walked out of there with the real problem still tucked away.’” As the CEO and Cofounder of Best Christian Workplaces Institute, Al Lopus has seen it all! (Oh, my!) BCWI launched in 2002 as an employee engagement ministry dedicated to helping Christian leaders and organizations achieve their full potential by creating flourishing staff workplaces. BCWI helps measure and improve the health of organizations through surveys, a unique 360 Leadership Review process, and consulting services. (Visit their website here.) Road to Flourishing is no pie-in-the-sky, trendy book from academic idealists. On the contrary! Research-based, the book delivers what Lopus and the team at BCWI have learned from “the most widely used Christian-based engagement survey” across the globe. And get this! They have actually inspired more than 1,000 churches, ministries, and Christian-owned businesses to measure the health of their workplace cultures. Using the helpful “FLOURISH Model,” Road to Flourishing goes deep on “Eight Keys to Boost Employee Engagement and Well-Being” (the book’s subtitle). So…how would your team members rate these eight factors—and have you ever discerned an objective, quantifiable way to measure overall engagement at your shop?    • Fantastic Teams    • Life-Giving Work    • Outstanding Talent    • Uplifting Growth    • Rewarding Compensation    • Inspirational Leadership    • Sustainable Strategy    • Healthy Communication EXAMPLE #2: COMPENSATION CONUNDRUMS. I don’t need to urge you to read the chapter, “Rewarding Compensation,” because you and your team members will skip to Chapter 6 first (like I did!). Lopus describes two Christian organizations that “committed the same classic error in opposite ways.”  • Classic Error #1: Sore Thumb! Seven of the eight “FLOURISH” factors improved in one organization—“but when compensation became the last remaining complaint and nothing was done about it, it stuck out like a sore thumb. Despite how far the organization had progressed, poor compensation yanked employee engagement back like a bungee cord around its waist.” (Memorable metaphor!) • Classic Error #2: Bribed to Cause Mayhem! In another organization, employee pay and benefits did receive high marks—but the staff “gave their employer low marks on most keys to a flourishing culture.” The problem? “…there was a disturbing number of disengaged employees, people who weren’t just unenthusiastic at work but were actively pumping toxicity and dysfunction into the culture.” Lopus notes that “…they were being paid so well that they were sure never to leave on their own. They were being bribed to keep causing mayhem, and they were not about to kill the golden goose.” EXAMPLE #3: “CULTURE IS A BUCKET OF PURE WATER.” The book shines well-deserved spotlights on healthy organizational cultures, including Joni & Friends, where Doug Mazza, the former president and CEO, used a “bucket” metaphor (nice!):  “Culture is a bucket of pure water,” says Mazza. “If it’s polluted, dropping in a great strategy is not going to clean it. Great strategies flourish in clean water. Get the culture right, point to it constantly, and new strategies will evolve and are invented in healthy cultures.” Lopus adds, “Put another way, while a sustainable strategy nourishes a flourishing culture, a flourishing culture irrigates a sustainable strategy.” (Note: Chapter 8, “Sustainable Strategy” mentions why the Joni & Friends team followed Henry Blackaby’s approach in Experiencing God.)   BONUS PODCAST! Click here to listen to Al Lopus interview Doug Mazza on The Flourishing Culture Podcast, “How Flourishing Workplace Culture Fosters a Thriving Mission,” (Season 7, Episode 16). Lopus doesn’t mince words when writing about the toxic work cultures he’s observed. But Road to Flourishing is also upbeat—you can create “life-giving work” for every team member. You have two options: (1) continue to apply inappropriate Band-Aids to your sick workplace, or (2) go deeper and discover how your organization’s culture will flourish with God-honoring and intentional best practices. Reading this book with your team members is a no-brainer.  PICK ONE:  [  ] Life-giving work. [  ] Life-sucking work. To order from Amazon, click on title for Road to Flourishing: Eight Keys to Boost Employee Engagement and Well-Being, by Al Lopus with Cory Hartman. Listen on Libro.fm (6 hours, 52 minutes).  YOUR WEEKLY STAFF MEETING QUESTIONS: 1) In the foreword to Road to Flourishing, Peter Greer, president and CEO of Hope International, urges organizations to invite BCWI to assess and measure their organizational cultures. “You can’t fix what you don’t know is broken…” writes Greer. How are we measuring employee engagement and well-being? (Note: Watch for my next eNews with my review of The Gift of Disillusionment, by Peter Greer and Chris Horst.) 2) Of the eight factors in a flourishing culture, Al Lopus notes that “The strongest overall influence on workplace culture is inspirational leadership, closely followed by life-giving work.” List the eight factors (see above) in F.L.O.U.R.I.S.H. and discuss: What do we do well? What needs dramatic improvement? And…what’s our plan?    The Culture Bucket Core Competency includes this zinger: “We invite those who won’t live out our values to exit.” Buckets Countdown:  The Culture Bucket (#8) Insights from Mastering the Management Buckets Workbook: Management Tools, Templates and Tips from John Pearson, with commentary by Jason Pearson (2nd Edition, 2018) - Order from Amazon. The Culture Bucket Core Competency: “We strive to create a corporate culture with core values that are crystal clear. We yearn for a God-honoring workplace where grace and trust are alive and well. Because we are human we will always have relational conflicts, so we are zealots about resolving conflict early. We invite those who won’t live out our values to exit. We experience true joy at work.”  QUESTION: Why do you think that more than 1,000 churches, ministries, and Christian-owned businesses invested time in measuring the health of their workplace cultures? What would be the upside of achieving recognition as a Certified Best Christian Workplace? Check it out here! The 20 management buckets are perfect content for the lifelong learning segment in your weekly staff meetings (you do have weekly staff meetings, right?). Visit the 20 buckets webpage here. For more, visit the Culture Bucket here. For supplementary resources, click on John's  "Bucket" book and workbook below:                   JASON PEARSON: UNEXPECTED CREATIVE. “Outstanding Talent” is one of the eight factors on the “Road to Flourishing.” We can help you identify, recruit, train, and inspire the right people for the right spots on your communication and marketing teams. Contact Pearpod Media (Design, Digital, Marketing, Social). PODCASTS! Listen...as Al Lopus of Best Christian Workplaces Institute interviews John Pearson on The Flourishing Culture Podcast, on “Books, Board Governance, and Hoopla!” (Season 2, Episode 26). Do you know the reading styles of your team members? Are they readers or listeners? MORE RESOURCES: • BLOG: Pails in Comparison • SUBSCRIBE: Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews • JOHN'S BOOK REVIEWS: on Amazon  • WEBSITE:   Management Buckets • BLOG: Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations IMPORTANT NOTICE! Effective Oct. 1, 2025, all 657 eNews issues, previously archived on Typepad.com are slowly (!) being moved to a new website here. New book reviews will also be archived at John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. Or, click here for John’s recent book reviews on Amazon.

You Should Write a Book

 

Issue No. 536 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (Nov. 15, 2022) asks if you've preserved your memories and defining moments for future generations? Six ideas on why "You Should Write a Book!" And this reminder: click here to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies).   Don’t wait until it’s too late. You should write a book now!   You Should Write a Book! Looking back, I wished I had asked my grandparents more questions. Learned more about their Swedish heritage. Their defining moments. Their joys. Their mistakes. Their Christian faith.  I do have a framed black-and-white photo of then U.S. Vice President Richard M. Nixon talking with my Grandpa Carlson (1889-1966) at the Bit of Sweden Restaurant in Portland, Ore. I do remember my grandpa’s hand-written Sunday morning letters to Nixon and President Eisenhower! Oh…to have copies today of those weekly epistles! If only…my grandfather had written a book. How about you? Are any of those memories and defining moments preserved for you? Perhaps you could still inspire your parents or grandparents to write a book—sharing their hopes and dreams for the next generations. (David Green, the founder of Hobby Lobby, is thinking ahead to five generations: his great-great-great-great-grandchildren.) In this issue, I’ve curated a collection of sample books and methodologies to inspire you, your family, your colleagues, and maybe your boss—not to write the Great American Novel, but something more personal and meaningful. Enjoy reading how others have blessed the next generations of lifelong learners and listeners. Six ideas and templates: YOU SHOULD WRITE A BOOK #1:  Fasten Your Seat Belts! Some years back, I was in the crowded jetway for a full flight at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. Next to me was a tired, middle-aged passenger—a double for Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman. He was talking to a young, uniformed soldier and as we boarded, he gave this serviceman a poignant benediction: “Young man, thank you for your service —and please enjoy yourself. These years will be the best years of your life.” I thought of that moment when reading Ed Sabol’s page-turning narrative from his U.S. Air Force service years (1954-1958). While Sabol had a very meaningful life well beyond those post-high school years (FAA leadership roles, consulting, and more)—you’ll be amazed at the sights, sounds, and serious reflection that this short chronicle delivers. I couldn’t put it down! A Life In The Day Of: A Strategic Air Command Veteran's Memoirs of The Cold War invites us back to the 1950s. Fasten your seat belts! • The Flying Coffin. More than 200 crew members “lost their lives in the B-47 and RB-47 by crashing or being shot down by the Soviet Union.” (Your odds: “One in eight airman would not return to base.”) • SAC. You’re onboard in the cramped quarters of the most modern planes the Air Force used in the 1950s for reconnaissance missions for the Strategic Air Command. • See the World! Sabol’s passport in his four action-packed years was stamped in Japan, Okinawa, the Marshall Islands, Alaska (not yet a U.S. state!), Turkey, England, and other stops. • Fill-‘er-Up! Imagine this: gas was 18 cents per gallon in 1955! Hush. Hush. One dark night in Turkey, Sabol returned to the base with two airmen to finish a project for a morning flight. Yikes! An overzealous guard, protecting the RB-47 planes, fired at Sabol and his buddies! (They survived.) Why? “At three different times during my tenure on this base, Soviet spies dressed in Turkish uniforms were caught on base asking questions related to the U-2 and our RB-47s. They were all caught when they were asked questions that a Turkish military man would have known.” There’s so much more in this quick-reading book, including almost 100 photos. When you read the last page, you’ll be grateful for the thousands of young men and women who enlisted during those perilous Cold War years. My five grandchildren are now reading this fascinating book because it was written by their other grandfather, Grandpa Ed Sabol. (Thank you for your service, Ed, and thanks for the autographed review copy!) To order from Amazon, click on the title for A Life In The Day Of: A Strategic Air Command Veteran's Memoirs of The Cold War, by Edward D. Sabol.    YOU SHOULD WRITE A BOOK #2:  And God Did It!   Pastor Robert Palmer is now in his 90s and his family is so grateful that he and his wife, Eleanor (1927-2018), wrote this labor of love in 2017 for family members, the legion of church members they served, and pastors everywhere. (Yikes! Being a pastor is tough duty and often involves a moving van or a church member’s pick-up truck!) Just 140 pages and populated with family photos and memorable stories, Faithful: The Robert & Eleanor Palmer Story is the perfect template for other pastors and ministry leaders who are inspired to write their stories. There are many highlights, including: • “I was very young—only 18—when I became a pastor. I had so much to learn…” • His prayer: “I prayed for a wife who could play the piano, sing alto, and love me.” (She did so much more!) • In 1943, Palmer’s father was the Caretaker/Manager for FA-HO-LO Park—the Assemblies of God camp meeting grounds now called Faholo Conference Center (Faith-Hope-Love). “At that time, we had a 1941 Plymouth. The gas ration board allowed us gas stamps for only 60 gallons of gas. Mother and I drove the whole trip from Kansas…to Grass Lake, Michigan, at 35 miles an hour, and averaged 25 miles per gallon.” SERMON TOPICS!  • While pastoring in Galena, Mo., Palmer was bi-vocational and worked at the courthouse—a strategic location for meeting people. The church invited a young evangelist to preach. “There was some interest because some people didn’t believe in women preachers. So, one night she preached on ‘Should a Woman Preach?’” • He pastored 11 years in Lee’s Summit, Mo. His first Sunday’s sermon title: “Expectations: What You Can Expect From Me, What We Can Expect From You—What We Can Expect From God.” (Brilliant!) • While pastoring in Ottumwa, Iowa, Palmer hosted the “Happy Hunters.” Charles and Francis Hunter preached on “Divine Healing: Baptism with the Holy Spirit and Deliverance From Smoking.”  92 BOARD MEETINGS! • Clearly a lifelong learner, Pastor Palmer attended the “Pastor’s School” in Hammond, Ind., where Jack Hyles was pastor at First Baptist Church. (And yes, Palmer’s church then started a bus ministry with four buses and two vans.) • Upon retiring in 1992 from their pastorate in Santa Maria, Calif., the Palmers ministered widely to Assemblies of God pastors and churches. He writes, “In one given year, I attended 92 board meetings.” Oh, my! • Working across the globe in their “retirement” years, they visited almost 50 countries, including Egypt, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Russia, and Ukraine. What a gift this book is to the next generation of Palmers and Christ-followers. My big take-away? Frequently, throughout these inspiring pages, the memorable stories conclude with one line: “And God did it.”  To order from Amazon, click on the title for Faithful: The Robert & Eleanor Palmer Story, by Robert E. Palmer and Eleanor M. Palmer. (And thanks to Paul Palmer for sending me a review copy.) YOU SHOULD WRITE A BOOK #3:  Grandpa Conversations on Character Traits     Picture this! A fictional grandfather engages with his twin grandchildren, Nate and Nancy, in a robust conversation that germinates their Top-30 list of character traits. In the process, they learn about the YOUquation toolbox and “the universe’s simplest and most magical secret formula”—and why traits like love, self-respect, control, humor, curiosity, and gratitude are essential for a happy and successful life (What a great exercise with your children or grandchildren!) The learning is two-way and the twins add a creative wrinkle to “The Serenity Prayer,” retitling it, “The Serenity, Courage & Wisdom Prayer.” That conversation prompted me to search for this toe-tapping number, “The Serenity Prayer Song.”   Listen to "The Serenity Prayer Song" (4 minutes). Bonus Video! By the way, you’ll also appreciate this hilarious/poignant sketch by The Skit Guys, “The Serenity Prayer” (13½ minutes). Click here. Read the full review here. To order the book from Amazon, click on the title for YOUquation: Living Your Dream—Your Happiness + Your Success, by Thomas M. Dean and  Linda B. Awar. (And thanks to John Moorlach for inspiring Tom Dean to send me a review copy.) YOU SHOULD WRITE A BOOK #4:  Weekly Emails = Keepsake Book Last month, The Wall Street Journal featured a “write-your-own-book” process from Storyworth. The headline: “How to Preserve Your Family History, No Awkward Interviews Required. Instead of having to make sense of a recording or spending your weekends digging through public records, try Storyworth, a service that gets your loved one’s memories down in writing.”   Storyworth fashions the process “like a conversation.” Step 1: Once a week, choose a question to inspire them to write. Step 2: They'll simply reply with an email, which is shared with you. Step 3: At the end of a year, their stories are bound into a beautiful keepsake book. (Current price for the process and one book: $99.) Visit Storyworth. YOU SHOULD WRITE A BOOK #5:  “Reach Millions!” Amazon’s company, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), promises that you can “self-publish eBooks and paperbacks for free…and reach millions of readers on Amazon.” (Well…maybe not millions.) I’ve self-published on KDP (Mastering Mistake-Making, 100 Must-Read Books, Buckets Workbook, etc.) and it’s fast, free, and easy—even for an old, non-tech guy like me. OK, I did have a little help from my son, Jason.) Visit KDP and view the how-to video here:   View the 2-minute video on Kindle Direct Publishing.   YOU SHOULD WRITE A BOOK #6: Fill-in-the-Blanks on 52 Topics! Here’s the fastest/simplest/niftiest version of passing along your history, wisdom, and faith to the next generation. Our son, Jason Pearson, teamed up with prolific author Doug Fields, to write THIS, as in… “I just want you to know THIS.” Beautifully designed as a tool (really a treasure) for parents and grandparents to think, write, and then pass along to each child or grandchild—you’ll be prompted to share meaningful messages on 52 topics in this fill-in-the-blanks journal. (Read my review.) To order from Amazon, click on the title for THIS. 52 Ways to Share Your World With Those You Love, by Jason Pearson and Doug Fields. YOUR WEEKLY STAFF MEETING QUESTIONS: 1) While Steve Macchia has written many books, including his latest, The Discerning Life, he waited until he was 60 to write Legacy: 60 Life Reflections for the Next Generation. Chapter 3, “Mistakes Regretted,” is perfect for sharing with teenagers and helping them to avoid a few of life's pitfalls! So…should you write a book?  2) Judges 2:10 (MSG) reads, “Eventually that entire generation died and was buried. Then another generation grew up that didn’t know anything of God or the work he had done for Israel.” How are you inspiring the next generation to know God, as described by J.I. Packer?        Mastering 100 Must-Read Books Part 2: Books-of-the-Year Book #7 of 100: Doesn't Hurt to Ask For your team meeting this week, inspire a team member to lead your “10 Minutes for Lifelong Learning” session by spotlighting Book #7 in Mastering 100 Must-Read Books.    Doesn't Hurt to Ask: Using the Power of Questions  to Communicate, Connect, and Persuade  by Trey Gowdy Books #6 through #21 spotlight 16 books that I named the Book-of-the-Year from 2006 to 2020. Trey Gowdy’s book shared the 2020 honors with Book #6. • Read my review. • Order from Amazon: Doesn't Hurt to Ask • Download the 100 Must-Read Books list (from John and Jason Pearson) Trey Gowdy, who served eight years in the U.S. Congress (2011-2019), confesses, “The mistakes made early in my career were many and largely rooted in two areas: not understanding the dynamics of persuasion and not understanding the nature and characteristics of those I was trying to persuade.” His book is persuasive, not political. Although Trey Gowdy interjects numerous stories from the House committees he served on (or chaired), including Judiciary, Oversight, Intelligence, and the Select Committee on Benghazi, this book is not political—it’s persuasive, in the same way Rumsfeld’s Rules (Book #69) is not political.                     PEARPOD | TELLING YOUR STORY. OK, you just refreshed your website—but is it persuasive? Your elevator speech: clever and concise—but is it persuasive? Your Rotary Club talk: short and sweet: but is it persuasive? We can help you persuade! Contact Jason Pearson at Pearpod (Design, Digital, Marketing, Social). MORE RESOURCES: • BLOG: Pails in Comparison • SUBSCRIBE: Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews • JOHN'S BOOK REVIEWS: on Amazon  • WEBSITE:   Management Buckets • BLOG: Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations IMPORTANT NOTICE! Effective Oct. 1, 2025, all 657 eNews issues, previously archived on Typepad.com are slowly (!) being moved to a new website here. New book reviews will also be archived at John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. Or, click here for John’s recent book reviews on Amazon.   INSIDE MARINE ONE The World’s Most Amazing Helicopter. What's not to like about a 10,000-foot view of four U.S. presidents from the cockpit of Marine One, the president's high performance helicopter? Read Inside Marine One: Four U.S. Presidents, One Proud Marine, and the World’s Most Amazing Helicopter and you'll have dozens of quotable facts and fun for impressing your friends. Read more on the Pails in Comparison blog.

Making Numbers Count

 

Issue No. 502 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (Jan. 12, 2022) notes that “our brains process stories better than statistics.” And this reminder: click here to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies), and click here for my 2021 Top-10 Books and Book-of-the-Year. Translate Dry Stats Into Emotional Moments! Chip Heath, bestselling author, says that “our brains process stories better than statistics.” I was hooked on this brilliant concept in the introduction, but by page 25 (my measure of the “meat and potatoes” of a book), he nailed it—and I’ve already repeated this example to friends and family! THE STATISTIC: “40% of U.S. adults do not always wash their hands after using the bathroom at home.” THE STORY: “2 out of every 5 people you shake hands with may not have washed their hands between using the toilet and touching your hands.” (Yikes!) You MUST read or listen to this book (hot-off-the-press yesterday): Making Numbers Count: The Art and Science of Communicating Numbers, by Chip Heath and Karla Starr. I’ve already recommended this book to two CEOs, one national association executive, and a chief development officer. Just look at the tempting section and chapter titles on why you must “translate everything” to up your communication game:    • “Avoid Numbers: Perfect Translations Don’t Need Numbers”    • “Convert Abstract Numbers Into Concrete Objects”    • “Human Scale: Use the Goldilocks Principle to Make Your Numbers Just Right” On using “emotional numbers—surprising and meaningful—to move people to think and act differently,” check out:    • How to avoid dry statistics by using transferred emotion (Florence Nightingale did this!)    • “Bring Your Number into the Room with a Demonstration” (brilliant!)    • “Selecting Combos That Hit the Right Notes Together” EXAMPLES (Stats vs. Stories): What’s the difference between a million and a billion? You could give the dry statistics—but where’s the fun in that? (And who would remember?). So the authors create a story. You enter a lottery to win either $1 million or $1 billion—with a catch. If you win, you must spend $50,000 per day. How long will it last?    • You win $1 million—and “you go bust after a mere 20 days.”    •  Your friend wins $1 billion—and it would take her 55 YEARS to squander $50,000/day! I know. Why read a book about numbers? First—the authors are hilarious! Noting that it would take about two generations to spend $1 billion, they add, “Almost 14 presidential terms” or “one wait to hear your name called at the DMV.” Lol. The genius of this book (less than 150 fast-reading pages, plus almost 50 pages of fascinating notes) is in the mouth-watering examples of stats versus stories. (Oh, my. I could have used this during my CEO years. Just brilliant.) STATISTIC (Accidental Deaths): “There are a little more than 50 million people in England, and around 50 deaths each day via accidental causes (slipping in the tub; being swept away in a flooding river; falling from a ladder). The daily risk of dying there in an accident is roughly 1 in a million.” STORY (Accidental Deaths): “Your risk of dying unexpectedly in England on any given day is the same as your odds of having to guess which date someone is thinking of between 500 BC and August 1, 2200.” ATTN: CDC AND NEWS ANCHORS! Please, please, please—read Making Numbers Count. Retain Chip Heath as your consultant. Most of your COVID statistics make no sense at all—there’s no context. Dry stats—meaningless. We can’t relate. Chip Heath can help you! Please! Example: Remember the container ship, Ever Given, that ran aground in a sand storm and blocked the Suez Canal in 2021? Here’s the stat vs. story comparison by two news outlets describing the size: STAT: “The container ship Ever Given is almost a quarter-mile long.” STORY: “Imagine the Empire State Building tipped over on its side and blocking the canal. The container ship Ever Given is actually longer than the Empire State Building if you take off the tiny, needle-like antenna at the very top of the building.” You get the idea: what’s more effective? Dry, mind-numbing stats or “Wow! That’s Amazing!” stories and examples that relate to your own experience?” (I’ve been to the Empire State Building.) What stats should you turn into stories? • Homeless meals served • Enrollment comparisons (students, campers, inmates, church attendance, etc.) • Year-to-date donor comparisons for the board • Budget vs. Actual reports • Inventory excesses? STAT (true story on inventory procurement): “We’re wasting millions, perhaps 10s of millions on an inefficient procurement system. Here’s a 9-tabbed spreadsheet that summarizes my findings.” STORY (bringing the demonstration into the room): “Come see my collection of the 424 different gloves that our company is currently ordering. This represents just one minor product that we purchase…” The demo: Jon Stegner, a business exec, recruited an intern to “track down one of each glove, attached price tags to them, and brought them into a conference room where senior leaders met. Then he poured the gloves out onto the conference room table and invited the leaders, one by one, to come see the ‘Glove Shrine.’”  The result: “The minute anyone saw the Glove Shrine, they immediately jumped to a question, the very one Stegner had wanted them to ask: ‘If we’re wasting this much money on gloves, what else are we wasting money on?’” I gotta stop, but I could list the dozens and dozens of the book’s STAT vs. STORY examples for the next 20 issues… Wait! Maybe Chip Heath and Karla Starr would say: “In the time it will take you to listen to this book, you’ll drink just 7 cups of coffee (aka 7 trips to the restroom—and please wash your hands) and you and your team will easily have stumbled upon at least 17 ways to leverage the art and science of communicating numbers. That’s the equivalent of…” (Well…you get it.) OK…just one more—on how to “Recast Your Number in Different Dimensions: Try Time, Space, Distance, Money, and Pringles.” (Yikes! “In order to burn off the calories in a single Pringle, you’d have to walk 176 yards, or almost 2 football fields.” Uh…I’ll have just one, thank you.) STAT (NEA budget): “In 2016, the $148 million allocated to the National Endowment for the Arts accounted for .004% of the federal budget expenditures ($3.9 trillion). Suppose we eliminated it in response to criticism?” STORY (NEA budget): “Trying to balance the budget by eliminating the NEA would be like editing a 90,000-word novel by eliminating 4 words.” Ready…set…SPRINT! Gather your team together and start reshaping your dry stats into memorable stories! Suggestion: read the demonstration stories about the speed of a baseball pitch. (Strike Three!) Plus, marvel at Usain Bolt’s speed (19+ seconds) in the 200-meter race at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro (and the narrow margins). If you can clap your hands four times in a second, Bolt crosses the finish line on Clap 1…and by Clap 3, the eighth-fastest person in the world crosses the finish line—“hopelessly out of contention—and the race is over.” Enjoy! To order from Amazon, click on the title for Making Numbers Count: The Art and Science of Communicating Numbers, by Chip Heath and Karla Starr. Are you a listener? Listen to the book on Libro.fm (4 hours, 35 min.). And thanks to Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster, Inc. for sending me a review copy. Note: Chip Heath is also the co-author, with Dan Heath, of The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact (my 2017 book-of-the-year). Read my review.   YOUR WEEKLY STAFF MEETING QUESTIONS: 1) I couldn’t help myself! Reading Making Numbers Count reminded me of an early comparison question—first asked by Steve Allen on the 1953 TV quiz show, What’s My Line? (He asks the question of the last guest: “Is it bigger than a bread box?”) Click here. Florence Nightingale was “ahead of her peers, by more than a century, she started by equating basket size.” So instead of describing cold stats following the Crimean War in the 1850s (“…in its first 7 months, 7,857 troops died out of 13,095”), she “translated” that into this memorable line: “We had 600 deaths per 1,000 troops”—“a rate of mortality which exceeds that of the Great Plague of London.” What stats in our organization need to be basket-sized—and appeal more to the emotions? 2) If you’re a “Six Sigma” zealot, you could say: “Six Sigma is 3.4 defects per million objects.” Or…use a memorable story: “To achieve Six Sigma as a baker, imagine baking a batch of 2 dozen chocolate chip cookies every night. You could do that for 37 years before finding a cookie that is burned, raw, or doesn’t have the perfect number of chips.” OK, team! In groups of two…here’s one of our boring organizational stats. Turn it into a memorable story! (Winning team gets these chocolate chip cookies!)    Oops! Has attention to detail and clarity been replaced by fuzzy thinking and leaky buckets? Time for a refresh? Visit the 20 buckets webpage here.   Buckets Countdown: The Printing Bucket (#19): aka The Communications Bucket Insights from Mastering the Management Buckets Workbook: Management Tools, Templates and Tips from John Pearson, with commentary by Jason Pearson (2nd Edition, 2018) - Order from Amazon. The Printing Bucket Core Competency: “We elevate the power of the written and spoken word and leverage our communication tools to create synergy and alignment between our mission, BHAG, strategic plans, and programs. We believe proofreading and style matters!” FUZZ NOTE! “I learned to write to burn the fuzz off my thinking,” commented Fred Smith in his pithy book, Breakfast With Fred. The big idea in the Printing Bucket: Use print deadlines to burn the fuzz off your organization’s blue sky plans that otherwise would rarely be committed to the printed page (or the website). The 20 management buckets are perfect content for the lifelong learning segment in your weekly staff meetings (you do have weekly staff meetings, right?). Inspire your team to begin a buckets refresh over 20 days, 20 weeks, 20 months, or (if you’re young enough!), 20 years! Visit the 20 buckets webpage here. For supplementary resources, click on John's  "Bucket" book and workbook below:                   JASON PEARSON: UNEXPECTED CREATIVE. Need help “translating” your dry and boring organizational stats into memorable stories—ones that your raving fans will repeat frequently to others? Contact Pearpod Media (Design, Digital, Marketing, Social). 25 WEEKS OF WEEKLY STAFF MEETING INSIGHTS! STUDY GUIDE:  See the study guide, “5 Ways to Maximize Learning at Your Weekly Staff Meeting” (page 141) and the bonus chapter, “Do-It-Yourself Mistake-Maker.” More here. Order from Amazon.  GIVE BOOKS IN 2022! MORE RESOURCES: • BLOG: Pails in Comparison • SUBSCRIBE: Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews • JOHN'S BOOK REVIEWS: on Amazon  • WEBSITE:   Management Buckets • BLOG: Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations IMPORTANT NOTICE! Effective Oct. 1, 2025, all 657 eNews issues, previously archived on Typepad.com are slowly (!) being moved to a new website here. New book reviews will also be archived at John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. Or, click here for John’s recent book reviews on Amazon.

Lead Like a Saint

 

Issue No. 675 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (March 17, 2026) wishes you a Happy Saint Patrick's Day—but wait! Was Patrick really a saint? Carson Pue, with Irish blood and wisdom, weighs in. Plus, click here for recent issues posted at the new location for John Pearson’s Buckets Blog, including my recent review of Storytelling for Leadership & Influence, by Jeff Evans. Also, check out the 20 management buckets (core competencies) and more book reviews at the Pails in Comparison Blog. Asking for a friend: Does Carson Pue’s book, Lead Like a Saint (about Saint Patrick), recommend raising a glass (I mean…a Shamrock Shake) to leaders everywhere—including on the Chicago River today?   “Going Irish” on the Annoying Passenger! Oops! Carson Pue was on a cross-country flight with work to be done—but the guy across the aisle continued to pester him with questions—and simultaneously annoy other passengers. “Argh…I was on the verge of telling him (in a not-so-nice manner) to leave me alone.”  He resolved this dilemma creatively—offered grace (see Chapter 12)—but then this: “When the plane landed and we were leaving the aircraft, a man and his wife approached me, saying they had recognized me from a leadership conference I had spoken at. They had watched how I had handled the difficult situation and thanked me for showing leadership and practicing what I taught.” Carson’s reflection: “Oh, my gosh! They were watching me, and I had no idea. I was so close to not modelling a good response and going Irish on the guy.” That’s the big idea from Chapter 12 of this inspiring and immensely practical book of 15 leadership lessons, including how to know when you should move on.   Lead Like a Saint: Lessons and Values from the Life of Saint Patrick  by Carson Pue (Jan. 15, 2025) TRUE OR FALSE: A Saint Patrick’s Day Quiz! Whether you’re wearing green today, or celebrating with Irish friends on the Chicago River, raising a glass or a Shamrock Shake to all-things-Ireland, here’s a quick quiz for your office or family party this evening: [   ] #1. TRUE OR FALSE? Saint? Summoning his Irish roots, leadership guru Carson Pue takes us on a remarkable journey through Ireland with Saint Patrick in Lead Like a Saint. But…the Catholic Church never officially recognized Patrick as a saint. [   ] #2. TRUE OR FALSE? Holiday? The author and his wife “would pull our sons, Jason, Jeremy, and Jonathan, out of school on March 17th. I wrote to their teachers explaining they would be absent as it was a religious holiday for our family. That was my way of making religious pluralism in Canada work for us.”  [   ] #3. T or F? Strategy? In Lesson 7, “Be a Good Strategist or Get One,” the author notes that “Patrick didn’t have models to emulate his new missionary approach, but he has become a role model for many. During his time as bishop, he introduced a completely new approach to Christian missionary work.” And this: “Leadership research by the American Management Association has shown that the most important competency for a leader to possess is the ability to develop strategy.” [   ] #4. T or F? Big Deal? Pue mentions the Will Ferrell line in the movie, Anchorman, “I’m kind of a big deal”—and reminds us in Lesson 10, “Never Believe Your Own Press Releases.” Fascinating: Carson then bounces from Saint Patrick’s values (hungry, humble, and intelligent) to similar values by another Patrick: Patrick Lencioni and his book, The Ideal Team Player. [Read more about the three values: humble, hungry, and smart.] [   ] #5. T or F? Quiet? “Use Times of Quiet to Hear” is the message in Lesson 11—and you’ll be prompted to go deep; to look in the mirror. Think you’re on the mountain top in your work or career? Stop and listen. This reminded me of Leighton Ford’s foreword to Ruth Haley Barton’s book, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership. And wow—Leighton Ford also writes the foreword to Carson Pue’s book, and notes that Lead Like a Saint "is not just another book on leadership; it is a transformative guide that allows leaders to see Patrick as a mentor.” [For more on listening, read Leighton Ford’s masterpiece, A Life of Listening.] [   ] #6. T or F? Stupid? Carson Pue’s family “affectionately dubbed” his 15-year project of writing this book, “The Stupid Patrick Book.” [   ] #7. T or F? A What? The author, who also co-hosts The Mentored Podcast, coaches leaders to ask questions and then listen—don’t talk (see Lesson 11). He urged one leader to “Have a glass of water near you and take a long sip while you wait for them to respond.” He requires his mentees to actually practice this with him! [   ] #8. T or F? Courage? Must-read: Chapter 8, “Never Go Where Angels Fear to Tread.” The author explains why—and gives a stunning example from the years he lead Arrow Leadership—and why he says “courage is overrated.” [   ] #9. T or F? Competitors? Each chapter includes takeaways and questions you’ll use with your team. In Chapter 4, we learn how Patrick learned the lay of the land—and why that’s an essential discipline for leaders. Mentoring Question #1: “Consider holding a staff meeting called ‘Lay of the Land’ and ask each of them to come prepared to make a brief three- to five-minute presentation on something they have observed about the field of business you are in and who they think is competing for your client’s time and dollars.” (Bonus question: “How do you think your competitors view you?”) [   ] #10. T or F? Singing? Patrick and his team “…were known to sing as they traveled from one village to another, and The Lorica is one of the songs that survived from this time, helping to calm fears of spiritual or physical harm.” When Carson was on a writing retreat for this book, his morning alarm played Gayle Salmond’s rendition of The Lorica. Other versions here. [Question: Does your team have a favorite “whistle while you work” song or hymn?] [   ] #11. T or F? Pouting? Carson Pue lists 12 “guiding values” in the last half of the book, including these:    • Prophetic Instead of Popular    • Timeless Instead of Trendy    • Quiet Instead of Attention-Seeking    • Prayerful Instead of Pouting    • Inviting Instead of Isolating Listen to the podcast, “Being a Non-Anxious Presence,” and/or read Chapter 13 in Steve Brown’s book, Finding Courage. [Note: for more on values, read Patrick Lencioni’s HBR article, “Make Your Values Mean Something.”] TRUE OR FALSE ANSWERS:  Read the book or email me—or call the author! (You’ll love this book.) TO ORDER FROM AMAZON, click on the title for Lead Like a Saint: Lessons and Values from the Life of Saint Patrick, by Carson Pue. YOUR WEEKLY STAFF MEETING QUESTIONS: 1) Lead Like a Saint is one of 12 “inspirational” books I’m reading this year. (See my list here and read my review of Finding Courage.) What books (note: plural!) are you reading this year to become a more competent and God-honoring leader? 2) In Lesson 13 of  Lead Like a Saint, “Remember You Have Your Own Shortcomings,” Carson Pue writes that “Leaders should also strive to create an environment in which people feel safe and comfortable enough to share their innermost thoughts without fear of being judged or having those thoughts exploited.” BUT…he adds, “Sadly, there are not a lot of executive leadership teams that create such an environment.” He lists five main reason. Question: Share one or two reasons why teams often don’t enjoy “safe and comfortable” environments.       SECOND READS: Fresh Solutions From Classic Books You have changed—and your problems have changed—since you read this the first time! Book #43 of 99: Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works For your team meeting this week, inspire a team member to lead your “10 Minutes for Lifelong Learning” session by featuring Book #43 of 99 in our series, “Second Reads.” The big idea: REREAD TO LEAD! Discover how your favorite books still have more to teach you and the people you’re coaching and mentoring. Playing to Win:  How Strategy Really Works  by A.G. Lafley and Roger L. Martin (updated: 9/30/2025) For many years, when I facilitated workshops on strategic planning, I brought along a roll of Bounty paper towels—and this book by Prof. Martin and A.G. Lafley, the former CEO of P&G. It’s fascinating! (See also my review of Martin’s book, A New Way to Think.) Based on consumer research, Bounty discerned there were three market segments, not just one. So at stores across North America today, you’ll find at least three choices: Bounty, Bounty Extra Soft, and Bounty Basic.    • Read my review in Issue No. 334 (Dec. 3, 2015).    • Order from Amazon.    • Management Bucket #3 of 20: The Strategy Bucket. The big idea? One size doesn’t fit all. You already knew that, but when is the last time you did a careful, detailed analysis of every program, product, or service you offer? Have you hit a sales plateau? Are you forcing one program down the throats of three or more very diverse customer segments? (Memo to nonprofit CEOs and fundraisers! Stop sending me mail and emails thanking me for my faithful support—if I’ve never given you any money. Start with two segments: current donors and non-donors. For more insight, read the book, Development 101.)    CLICK HERE FOR BOOKS BY JOHN      Peter Drucker famously preached, “If you have more than five goals, you have none.” That’s just one of the takeaways in the 13-page section of the Strategy Bucket chapter in the Mastering the Management Buckets Workbook. See page 43 for a “Rolling 3-Year Strategic Plan” template, with thanks to consultant David Schmidt. MORE RESOURCES: • BLOG: Pails in Comparison • SUBSCRIBE: Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews • JOHN'S BOOK REVIEWS: on Amazon  • WEBSITE:  Management Buckets • BLOG: Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations IMPORTANT NOTICE! Effective Oct. 1, 2025, all 657 eNews issues, previously archived on Typepad.com are slowly (!) being moved to a new website here. New book reviews will also be archived at John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. Or, click here for John’s recent book reviews on Amazon. Does Your CEO Need a Coach? BOARD BLOG. John Pearson (and guest bloggers) address key issues at ECFA’s Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations Blog. Example: Boards must inspire even new CEOs to begin succession planning in their first year on the job. Read the 11-part blog series on succession planning, including: “Does Your CEO Need a Coach?” According to Soderquist Leadership, “92% of executives who received coaching said they would be willing to be coached again.” POP QUIZ:  “Cliché Swap-Out” Try this with your team! After our new intern, gives us a 10-minute summary of Chapter 6 in the book, Speak, Memorably, your assignment is to rewrite 10 clichés, with a new-and-improved “Cliché Swap-Out” phrase. You’ll learn that the author, Bill McGowan, hates clichés with a passion. (Is that a cliché?) And yes, Helena has 10 Starbucks cards for the winners. Visit here. See more staff hoopla! ideas at the Pails in Comparison blog.