One Thousand Word Excerpt. Whatever facet of management you are working with go to the Bible for assistance. Many Christian managers are finding conflict with the secular styles of management and their Christian beliefs. This handbook will focus on principles from the Bible in regard to managers and management. It focus on leading people. It will be on serving people. The same topics found in most secular texts on management will be explored.. One chapter is different and focuses on anger. It is included because this very normal emotion can get managers in trouble. My definition of a Christian manager is quite simple. A Christian manager is one who says he is a Christian. Christian management in many aspects is the same as secular management. What is different is the mental attitude and approach of Christian managers. This handbook is intended to show Christian managers how the Bible supports many of the aspects of secular management, and how they can become successful as Christian managers using the servant leadership model. The Christian manager will at times find it difficult to be a servant leader. If he is to be true to this calling on the Lord and the gospels, this Christian manager must persevere and manage with a strict code of ethics. There are many similarities between secular management and Christian management, but there are also profound differences, particularly in regard to working with people. Is Christian management only secular management by people who call themselves Christian? Are Christian managers people that hold them to a higher level of ethics? Do Christian managers apply the principles of servant management, which conforms to Biblical principles? These questions are critical when addressing the elements of organizational structure and authority within a particular business. The secular organization has the profit motive at its core. A Christian manager should operate with a people motive at its core. When operating with a people motive profit is a natural result of a more efficient organization. The secular approach is materialistic. The authority positions are often used to manipulate and control people. The secular definition of management is getting work done through others. This gives management the right to control and exploit those under them. In the book of Mathew 20: 27 it states, If you want to be first, you must be a slave of all the rest. The Christian manager is to be the servant and serve those under him by helping them to achieve the most they can. Secular management skills and techniques get people to change so you can get more out of their employees, thus more profit. The Biblical definition of management is meeting the needs of people as they work at accomplishing their jobs. A manager will find by using this approach to management the people will look forward to their work. In return the managers needs will be met. Another important aspect of Christian management is to train your people. Too often people are given a job and put to work and then it is sink or swim. If you train and serve people the sky is to limit as to what people can become. Most organizational problems can be grouped as follows. lack of training, lack of commitment to a clearly defined goal, lack of being united and poor communications. In most cases lack of communication causes the other problems. By learning the skill of identifying the basic problem the Christian manager will be able to lead his people to solve the problem. Leadership style can exert an influence on how organizations flourish and on their productivity. The manager should not exploit his people. The effective Christian manager uses his position to serve the needs of others. The Christian manager should serve willingly and eagerly. In management texts there are usually four basic styles of leadership. They are dictatorial, authoritative and participative. To this list we add servant leadership. Servant leadership includes trust, mutual care and concern, worker empowerment and loyalty. Three key points greatly influence leader style. How you use authority. How you view people resources. How you relate to people. Secular management texts usually have planning as the first subject, which is the foundation of successful management. Planning is the foundation of Christian management as well. Without planning things just happen. Lack of proper planning puts people on the defense. Too much time will be spent on problems that just happen. The Bible has a lot to say about planning. It provides many principles on how planning should be done. Trust is the most important element to develop and maintain a productive work environment. Trust brings about security and confidence. Trust is essential to innovation and creativity. Management actions may be reduced to three basic categories. These categories are management of people, things and ideas. It is easier to manage things than people and ideas. People need to be needed. A team can be defined as two or more people working together toward a common goal. Unless these three elements are present there is no team. Both quality and quantity of production will improve with an effective team. A team lets people use their gifts, skills and talents more effectively. The five steps for decision- making are: diagnose the issue, gather facts, develop alternatives, evaluate the alternatives and select the best alternative. What is the need for action? The manager must always ask himself this question. If there is no need dont take any. Remember as time goes on, the possibility of making the right decision decreases. Conflict causes us to fabricate and magnify faults and weakness in others. We are convinced we are correct and the other person is wrong. There are ways of dealing with conflict that are constructive. Anger does not just occur. Behind it there will be a hurt, a wound, or a shadow. We can camouflage our anger. One day your anger will boil over. Three items for you to remember. Know thyself. Read your Bible. Have prayer as a part of your daily routine.
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