Month: January 2016

The Spearhead of Reform & Beacon of Light in Kenya’s Prison System

Posted on January 13, 2016 by - Africa, Calling, Government, Prison, Stories

As a young woman from a humble background, Wanini Kireri never imagined she would become a respected leader of prison reform in Kenya’s justice system. “My intention in life was to become an air hostess, but down the line, I found myself enlisted in the Kenyan prison service as a Cadet Officer, and I began empathizing with the inmates,” shares Wanini. “I developed a passion for change, especially in the way prisoners were treated.” In what is known as a notoriously corrupt justice system, Wanini is a beacon of light seeking to serve God and bring integrity into the system.

Wanini has since gotten her degree in Counseling and Psychology at Manchester University, and is now the Regional Prison Commander in Nairobi, Kenya. She is respected for her successful work in prison reform, but it hasn’t been an easy task. “It was not easy to initiate any change in the early stages because of resistance from people who wanted to maintain a status quo,” she shares. “The criminal system in Kenya needs more education for prison officers and inmates on attitude change and perception of their holistic personality in dealing with day to day life. Also, the rehabilitation programs were archaic and needed to be changed to be in line with the market outside the prison’s wall.”

Some of her challenges in initiating change included a lack of support and cooperation from officers and the government, lack of financial resources and a general fear of the unknown. “I had to deal with a lot of rejection,” she explained. And as a woman, she shares that her leadership skills have been tested, “People have had a perception that I’ll let them down, but I was able to cultivate self-esteem and confidence by believing in myself. I am proof to the Kenyans that women can also handle any responsibility and opportunities availed to them.” Wanini audaciously seeks to become an expert in her work, and to one day to become the Commissioner General. She’s already become the first female officer to head a male maximum facility of 2,400 inmates.

She presses on. “I stay encouraged by knowing that what I do in changing the lives of prisoners and their environments is a service to God. My service is to do good, move on and leave a legacy. As I serve my country, I will always have a little story to give. My faith has helped me trust in God for His divine power, press on in this world and comprehend the fact that each human being has the capacity of doing their best given their conducive environment. My biggest prayer right now is to see a smooth re-integration program of inmates back into society.”

As a result of her efforts, she’s been able to initiate and develop several programs in the prison system:

  • A forum of partnerships with criminal justice leaders to improve prison conditions, and initiate reform.
  • Remote Parenting, providing prisoners with opportunities to have unrestricted quality time with their family members. It is also a correctional and reform tool that uses a holistic approach meeting psychological, emotional and social needs, ultimately helping in rehabilitation and reintegration back into society.
  • Prison condition improvements including improved libraries, prayer facilities and living conditions.
  • A “best practice” concept in prison reform and rehabilitation adopted by institutions across the country, and incorporating international trends in reform, which includes:
    • Educational programs—School systems, language classes, computer training and a religious program called “Women of Peace and Men of Honor.”
    • Beauty Pageants—Giving women inmates opportunities to build confidence and discover hidden talents, not only in modeling, but also in fashion design.
    • Creative Arts classes and Performance programs—Music, drama therapy and dance allows inmates to have an avenue to relieve psychological thoughts and stress.
    • Sports programs—Give inmates opportunities to work together in teams and compete against other prisons.

inmates with their family members during the remote parenting event3

Her work is not in vain. What she’s been able to accomplish is slowly, but surely transforming the prison system in Kenya. Though she’s been recognized with multiple nationally recognized awards for her efforts, the lasting legacy she leaves is in the lives of the inmates and their families for generations to come.

Wanini learned about the GLS from her friend in charge of chaplaincy in the region. Knowing the impact great leadership can have on the prison system, she gathered 150 prison officers for their own GLS event last month. “The GLS helps me interact and compare notes with people who have been triumphant in their work in overcoming various challenges and how to achieve tremendous results,” she explains. “The Summit is a very powerful tool for training in leadership. It enables participants to see things in a different light. I was gratefully blessed.”

Thank you for making the Leadership Summit possible in places like Kenya. The GLS is encouraging leaders like Wanini as she passes on ideas, training, tools and encouragement to other leaders to continue to build up leadership integrity in her field.

The Power of Loaves and Fishes Leadership

Posted on January 11, 2016 by - Articles, Leading Organizations, Relationship with God, Vision

At the 2015 Global Leadership Summit, Albert Tate accomplished something truly remarkable for a Summit speaker.

He managed to make us laugh hard, think deeply and resolve to act—all at the same time.

In his memorable Summit talk, Tate drew our attention to the biblical story of how Jesus took the loaves and fishes provided by a young boy, and proceeded to feed thousands of people.

With a focus on the boy’s astonishment at what Jesus had done, Tate challenged us by asking, “What if Jesus is going to do a miracle using what you bring?”

The central point is that Jesus can radically multiply the effectiveness of any leader, when we bring Him our skills, talents, opportunities and resources, and let Him take them, break them and multiply them.

As Take brought this challenge, I found myself writing on my notepad, “What prevents leaders from being like the boy in this story? What prevents leaders from bringing all of their leadership resources to Jesus?”

As I thought about this, here are three obstacles I identified…

1.     Lack of resourcefulness

One of the key points Tate raised was that the boy was the only person in attendance who seemed resourceful enough to bring a lunch to the gathering that day.

Tate asked this leadership question, “What does it mean for you to pack your lunch?”

It begins by doing a “leadership audit” of your resources.

2.     Lack of courage

It was a tremendously courageous act for the boy to hand over his lunch. That was his sustenance for the day.

Similarly, it requires a level of courage for leaders to be able to authentically lay down all of their leadership resources before God and to say, “Take it; it’s Yours.”

3.     Lack of security

The credit for the miracle that day didn’t go to the boy; it went to Jesus.

Some leaders have a very difficult time releasing credit to anyone beyond themselves. And until that changes, they’ll never see the kind of outpouring witnessed by the crowds that day.

If you do, 2016 could be the year when God can multiply your leadership as never before.

Faces of the Global Leadership Summit – Swaziland

Posted on January 11, 2016 by - Africa, Stories

ZakesLxubaloSwazi“Coming to the Summit has energized, empowered, challenged and encouraged me greatly. I feel like running because this Summit was so relevant. I don’t think I could function if I didn’t come here. I’ve done leadership seminars and pastor seminars in Swaziland for the past 23 years. What hit me most at the Summit is that it covers all business, politics, clergy, and ordinary leadership in the family. Sometimes we can compare leadership seminars with others, but what we have here is unique. This is what we need for Swaziland. We need leadership for the desperate situation that we have economically. We need it urgently. The equipping that is found here is so professional and spiritual. It is the whole package. I insist that all those who are in leadership attend – business, clergy and politics. This is an answer we have been waiting for in our cries and our prayers, ‘Lord, when? When? When?’ I think this is the way to go.”

– Bishop Zakes Lxubalo, GLS attendee, Swaziland

 

 

NaomiChitambiraSWazi“My name is Naomi Chitambira, and I’m married. Together we are blessed with three children. I’m also an executive coach, and co-founder of Strength Inc. with my husband. My calling is leadership. I had a burden for leadership and God said, ‘why don’t you start with yourself?’ That’s how I got myself into coaching and leadership development in southern Africa where we’re focused. One of the greatest joys of this conference is knowing the leadership burden is carried all over the world. Sharing it is tremendous. Learning from like-minded people has given me hope that we’ll see a day where leadership will be at a level where we overcome obstacles, and that the big hairy audacious dream is possible with God.”

– Naomi Chitambira, GLS attendee, Swaziland

 

 

 

FransPienaarSwazi“I’m the chairman of a construction company that operates in Sub-Saharan Africa. A major takeaway for me is that we’re in the service business. We’re providing services, and we have to connect with our clients and all our stakeholders. We must mobilize our team of dedicated people to work in the areas where we operate. We work in a destitute society, in a continent where there is huge need. We have an opportunity to make a difference. We must contribute to our people, our stakeholders and to the communities. Everywhere we go we must go with purpose to make a difference and bring God’s love and his heart – to be his people.

Today [at the Summit], the excitement was growing. People were getting more and more alive as they were being exposed to the Summit material. It’s really refreshing. In the area where we operate, times are tough, and people here really experienced encouragement through the Summit. People are growing in confidence and hope in a time in this country when we desperately need it. We want to spread the message amongst all other people that weren’t here. There’s a great future for the Summit in this area, this country and this region. The Summit will change your world. It will change the world of the people you touch.”

– Frans Pienaar, GLS attendee, Swaziland

Totally Rethink Employee Engagement

Posted on January 7, 2016 by - Articles, Culture, Leading Organizations

Are you confident in the way you track employee engagement?

It’s a challenging metric to measure, partly because it’s constantly changing and partly because the things that make it up can be hard to define.

TMBC (The Marcus Buckingham Company) has built a whole business around bringing out the strengths in companies’ workforces by helping them pinpoint and address challenges like accurately measuring engagement.

In fact, TMBC worked for years to develop tools like the StandOut Engagement Pulse, which seek to rethink employee engagement and how to measure it.

Their founder and chairman, Marcus Buckingham, stopped by SurveyMonkey’s blog to talk about the issues he sees in today’s employee engagement measures.

Take it away, Marcus!

The future of employee engagement

It is a truth universally acknowledged that an organization in search of performance must focus on employee engagement.

A 2015 Deloitte study found that 87 percent of HR and business leaders thought that “lack of employee engagement” was their top challenge. So we all agree that we should do everything we can to drive engagement across the entire organization. And this is where we go so very, very wrong.

These days, you can’t turn around without finding another list of “best places to work.” And there’s no doubt the places that top these lists have lots of growth opportunities, perks and rewarding work. But ask yourself this: would you rather work for a great boss at the #300 best place to work, or a terrible boss at #1?

The truth is, there is no such thing as a uniformly great place to work. Because whatever your company is like, your team leader is going to determine much more profoundly and directly what your real experience, and therefore your engagement, is at work.

Our approach to engagement has to change radically to take this simple truth into account.

How we’re getting it wrong

Here’s what our engagement process looks like today. We take a pre-existing list of boxes representing our employees, and we use our organizational records to define which boxes report to which other boxes on the org chart. Then we lock in that org structure and send out our engagement survey of perhaps 60–100 questions to all the boxes, er, team members.

The first people to receive the data—six weeks after the survey has been deployed—are the HR function. They get the data, they scrub the data, they go back to the survey vendor and ask them to do some “driver analysis” to see which items drive engagement.

Then they look at the broad patterns revealed in the organization. (“Communication is up this year! Oh, but recognition is down.”) These patterns are then socialized with the CEO first, who then decides to publicize them in a newsletter, or address them in a town hall.

Then, six weeks after that, the person who’s actually on the front lines of that data—the team leader—finally gets it, after every other person in the organization has had their grubby little hands on it.

The team leader looks at the data (n=7) and says, “Wait a minute. I don’t have 7 people on my team. I have 10. Is this my team?” Because the survey happened half a year ago, and the team has changed since then. HR then responds weakly not to worry about it and just do your engagement plan.

We know that we need to measure what we want to improve. So we generate data, all right. But we generate the wrong data for the wrong people at the wrong time in the wrong way. We can do better. We have to do better.

Change Your Approach to Engagement

Use the StandOut Global Engagement Pulse survey template to find out whether your teams are engaged.
Learn More →

 

This post originally appeared on the Survey Monkey blog, here.

The Impact of the GLS | Inspiring Youth in Taiwan to Become Seeds of Change

Posted on January 6, 2016 by - Asia, Stories

In 2015, the GLS will have been presented in seven cities in Taiwan: Taipei, Tainan, Kaohsiung, Hsinchu, Taichung, Hualien and Taitung. As a new addition to this year’s Taiwan Summit series, a special “Youth Night” program was held on the first evening of the GLS in each city, with free admission for attendees 30 years of age and younger.

Shia In Taipei, a special Youth Night program attracted more than 700 young leaders from churches across the Greater Taipei area. Describing the vision behind Youth Night, Reverend Mark Shia shared, “If we don’t actively help our young people come into their own today, it will be our churches that will be falling tomorrow!” Youth and Adult Ministry Pastor Yueh Wu shared that Taipei GLS Youth Night’s deeply inspirational program could “help the church’s young leaders make a real impact at their schools … It is truly wonderful!”

Two first-year high school students, Yung-chi and Li-ting of City Of Light Covenant Church, shared their excitement over the Youth Night experience. “TOMS’ buy-one- give-one story was so moving. Even though the program lost money for the first two years, Founder Blake Mycoskie held true to his principles. I think that was such a brave thing to do.”

 

youthSan-hsien Pi, Shih-en Kao and Yi-tze Chen of Yungho Methodist Church shared, “We’ve heard about the TOMS shoes story before, but didn’t know that it had inspired Walgreens ‘Buy One, Give One Away’ campaign, which gave free polio and measles vaccinations to nine million children. We think that’s just fantastic!” They further said they would encourage their friends in other counties to attend the GLS Youth Night program.

 

san-hsienpiLocal leader Yu-jen Yang also spoke at the event, and shared his story about how he was only in his early 20s when he began “Old Shoes Save Lives,” a campaign that has already channeled several hundreds of thousand of shoes to needy children in Africa, keeping them safe from the often-debilitating infections caused by Chigoe flea infections. He said that despite his junior high school education, his special calling in life shows that God takes care of all who give their life to Him.

Yu-ting Su was impressed with Yu-jen’s story about blazing his own trail despite his young age. Yu-ting said his story has started her thinking about what she can do to help others.

The Reverend Mark Shia encouraged all church workers to encourage their young leaders to join in the GLS Youth Nights at the next six venues in Taiwan. The stories and Christian testimonies given by GLS speakers will help prepare and inspire Christian youth to become heavenly seeds of worldly change.

Christmas in Germany | A Message from the President

Posted on January 6, 2016 by - Europe, Stories, Western Europe

“Merry Christmas” and “Happy Holidays” are a very frequent greetings you hear in Germany leading up to Christmas. The same is true for Christmas songs.  It does not matter where you are . You hear it on state television, on commercial television, as a sign off at the end of ads from major brand name companies, from news casters, just about everywhere. Even though I have come to Germany many times for Christmas, it struck me more this time than ever before, perhaps because it so widely differs from the US.

Flicking through television channels on Dec. 24 , it did not seem to matter what station I hit, everywhere the talk was about about the Christ child and celebrating Holy Night.  On some of them the Christmas story, as recorded in Luke, was read, both on state television or on commercial television! How can that be? What about sensitivities of those who don’t celebrate Christmas?

Germany just admitted about 1 million refugees, most of them Muslims, and yet it did not seem to matter. Celebrating Christmas as it has been going on here for centuries and accepting big numbers of people of a very different faith  expresses the Christmas spirit better than anything else. Attending Christmas service at a Lutheran Church, held on Dec. 24  at 11pm in many churches, I noticed several Muslim families, and they seemed to be following the order of service with full attention. The message during the service was about the Christ child being a refugee born in a stable and related to the blight of the refugees flooding Germany. We heard that only through a relationship with Christ can we be reconciled with God.

Most churches have welcomed these refugees with open arms. I heard very little talk about the dangers of terrorists infiltrating the country, just talk about how to make life easier for those among us who have lost everything. The difference in the US could not be greater, at least that’s how it seems to me. There are of course reports about refugee homes being burned down by anti-refugee groups and police raids on homes where terrorists may be hiding; but all in all, I could not have been more struck by the different atmosphere surrounding Christmas here compared to the US.

My prayer is that I, Christians everywhere, and especially Christian leaders everywhere, may be able to share Christ’s love in word and deed throughout the year and lead well in a world with so much conflict.

garyGary Schwammlein
President of Willow Creek Association

The Impact of the GLS | A Challenge to Forgive

Posted on January 4, 2016 by - Character, North America, Stories

SteveSlackSteve Slack is a teaching pastor at Pathway Church in Wichita, KS. His church has hosted the GLS since 2005, and he serves as the onsite host. In 2009, Steve sat in the front row, preparing for his role—unaware of what God had in store.

During the GLS that year, there was a convergence of a number of different things going on in my life and for my family.  Since 1990, I had served in ministries in five different roles in five different churches, including the church I’m still serving in here in Wichita. Three of those five ministry experiences had been difficult, filled with conflict, discouraging, and had led to church splits at two out of three of my ministry experiences. They were awful!

Wess Stafford spoke at the GLS that year, and one of the most memorable moments was when he held a match up with tears streaming down his face. It’s an image I cannot forget. Wess talked about needing to forgive because the hatred in his heart was taking up space reserved for God, and God alone.

6035228215_f82158b91f_zAs I listened to Wess, names, faces and experiences I had tried to forget came rushing back into my heart, mind and life. More than once during my past experiences, I had wanted to quit ministry all together due to the toll it was taking on my life and my family. I never blamed God—I just wasn’t sure that the local church and ministry were for me after all. If the local church was still the “hope of the world,” I hadn’t found one yet, and I wasn’t experiencing much joy through trying to help the church become that hope once again. It was killing me and my family, frankly.

Wess helped me realize that my unwillingness to forgive and move beyond was simply another form of idolatry, and God did not want that for me or my life – It was a way for me to remain in control. The pain of the past that I held onto was taking up residence in my heart and life and making it that much more difficult for me to be completely surrendered to God 24/7.

I realized that I did truly hold hatred, resentment and anger toward a number of people, and I began to write their initials down on a piece of scrap paper I found on the seat next to me. I wrote down the initials of about 12 people. That day I realized that more fully and knew that I had to come clean. I at least had to come clean with God and make the effort to come clean with the 12 sets of initials on that sheet of paper.

In going through my list, I realized or was reminded of several things. I was tempted to turn this task into accomplishing something, making it once again about me and getting the response I wanted or felt like I deserved from others. I realized that for my darkened heart, this was just another form of idolatry along the way. Wes helped me realize and understand that forgiveness cannot be based on my understanding of fairness, justice or receiving the proper response. Forgiveness is ALL about God and not about me or others. I now have a better and greater understanding of God’s grace and forgiveness.

Each year it seems the bottom line is that the GLS helps me see God as bigger, better, greater and more gracefully trustworthy than I believed Him to be. Every year, the GLS produces in me a heart that is more surrendered to God. I always come away seeing God more clearly and myself more clearly at the same time. The GLS helps me grow as a leader, and that’s exactly what happened as I listened to Wess Stafford. God increased and I decreased!  A win, win!

If God can use the greatest and most egregious injustice in human history (the Cross) to literally save and transform the entire world, why would I believe He cannot use everything in life for the good? And God usually does this in ways and through people and means I would have never expected. That’s just like God!

Life IS indeed too short and God’s grace and forgiveness too great to allow “un-forgiveness” to rule my heart and life. It is still a work in progress, but I would say to others, do whatever you can and whatever it takes to rid your heart and life of bitterness, anger, resentment, grudges and hate. The world is dying to see hearts and lives fully surrendered to Jesus Christ, not partially surrendered and otherwise compartmentalized. We don’t need God to live with divided hearts—we’re quite capable of that on our own. Only God makes a whole heart through Jesus. Don’t live with part of a heart.

In my role and for the church, I want this Jesus who forgives, heals and restores hearts to be and become The King!  He is the hope of the world and the local church must fully surrender to Him if the local church is to proclaim the good news with integrity, truth and credibility. God is bigger, better, greater and more completely full of truth, grace, love, mercy and justice!  He’s the God who must be seen in my life and in His Church!

The GLS helps me rid my life of idolatry every year when I see God more clearly again and again. Jesus said, “In this world you WILL have trouble. Take heart. I have overcome the world!”  Amen.

The Impact of the GLS | An Inspiring Letter From Our Friends in Uganda

Posted on January 1, 2016 by - Africa, Calling, Stories

Hello dear friends,

We are enjoying fruit in our ministries because of the GLS! People have been sharing their testimonies as a result of attending the Summit over the years. Some of the attendees have become good leading figures, and business managers. Some have advanced in their education to run for better positions to lead globally. And some have come out to boldly participate in political affairs. How awesome is this Summit?

As Christians, we are changing Uganda and far beyond. The foundation of Uganda should go back to being a godly, Christ-like, God fearing nation to make meaning of our nation’s motto, “for God and my country”. I pray to be the initiator of an idea that will transform nations. Oh my God, I wish and pray for to have such a grander vision! I believe it will happen.

God bless you all,
Prossy Kaitesi (GLS Leader, Uganda)

 

Enjoy these testimonies from leaders who attended the GLS in Uganda:

I want to thank God for the message of commitment. It changed my way of fulfilling my responsibility in ministry and in my surrounding life at work. Being confident, to love and to welcome the feedback as I pursue to lead. God bless you dear donors for imparting us with leadership skills. – Nason Richard , GLS attendee, Uganda

This was my first time to attend such an organized and high-class event. It was a turning point for my life style. Oh, how I would have missed a great transformation in my life if I did not attend this Summit. It was illustrated very clearly that leadership the intangibles of leadership like self-sacrificing love, self-awareness and resourcefulness. Above all, self-sacrificing love is the strongest of all because it never fails. For any successful leader, they should always reflect the character of God. God is love. Many times, I have been left out thinking that to start something I should have money; but money follows the vision. This was a revelation for me to have a grander vision. – Mbeiza Lillian, GLS attendee, Uganda

The GLS has enhanced my lifestyle. After the 2011 conference, I got the urge to do a course at Uganda Management Institute (UMI) of post Graduate Diploma in financial management. After this Summit, I am determined to start up my own business. I have ventured into portfolio management and I want to take it on seriously in 2016. Each time I am pray, I ask God to grant me Craig’s 5Cs; confidence, correction, competence, character and commitment. I appreciated the new adventure, and new friends I met. – Twinomujuni Julius, GLS attendee, Uganda