Since this Independent Study is focused on Biblical Management Principles in Developing High Performance Work Cultures, I am limiting my comments to the author's perspective on Great Managing.

     Marcus Buckingham, researcher of leadership and management, concludes that a common trait amongst "great" managers is that they "...all excel at turning one person's talent into performance" by acting as catalyst and "speeding up the reaction between each employee's talents and the company's goals" (40). Buckingham outlines four attributes of "great" managers:

1. select the right people
2. set clear expectations
3. give constant praise and recognition
4. show care and concern for their people

Selecting the Right People

     In hiring someone for the team, the manager is hiring a person gifted with predictable patterns of emotion, learning, memory and behavior (74)."The Gallup Organization has written extensively on this topic in Now, Know Your Strengths.

     The Biblical evidence of being selective when choosing people who have the right gifts and talents to accomplish the given task is extensive. From Moses calling leaders to help him judge Israel (Ex. 18: 13-26), to the division of labor based on individual giftedness in the building of the tabernacle (Ex. 31: 1-11), to Jesus calling the twelve disciples in the Gospels, to the call of Paul (Acts 9:1-19). Each person is uniquely gifted to excel in different arenas. Therefore, it is a Biblical principle to choose members of a team based on their gifts and talents.

Defining clear expectations

     Buckingham states that the second skill of great managers is to define clear expectations and that the manager articulates these expectations at every opportunity (76).

     Throughout Scripture, God continually communicates clear expectations for humanity. In the Garden of Eden, God directs: "Do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die" (Gen. 2: 17). Mosaic Law clearly indicates tha the Israelites will be blessed through obedience. In disobedience, they will experience severe consequences and punishment (Gen. 26).

     This clear—expectation motif is carried into the New Testament. For example, the Beatitudes have a clear cause-and-effect relationship, including the expectation of persecution (Matt. 5: 3-11). When Jesus sends the Twelve (Luke 9: 1-6) and later the Seventy (Luke 10: 1-12), he is clear on what they can expect.

     We conclude, therefore, that defining clear expectations for one's team is a management principle which is supported by Scripture.

Giving praise and motivation

     In studying high performance managers, Buckingham discovers that these managers, in addition to recognizing and praising above-and-beyond excellence, will also "...notice incremental improvements in performance and celebrate it" (79). As leaders, they intuitively understand the psychological principle of positive reinforcement. Although many Christians are motivated to receive a well-done-good-and-faithful-servant verdict at the end of their lives, this is not the principle Buckingham is discussing. He's talking about immediate rewards. Again, the Biblical evidence is extensive: the creation story in Genesis 1 is repeatedly punctuated with, "And God saw that it was good," acknowledging a job well done. This attribute is so important that God gives the gift of Encouragement to individuals so that those in the Body of Christ can be built up into perfection.

Showing you care for your people

     High performance sales managers succeed because they are able to draw the best out of their staff. According to Buckingham, "...the only way to pull this off is to make certain your employees believe, genuinely believe, that their success is your primary goal" (42).

     Throughout Scripture, God continually shows Himself as someone who deeply cares about his people. In the creation story, God repeatedly demonstrated His care for Adam and Eve: He makes trees that are good for food and pleasing to the eye (Gen. 2: 9), He creates a helper (Eve), for Adam (Gen. 2: 18), and He provides clothing (Gen. 3:21). In the New Testament, we see Jesus repeatedly interacting with compassion: the Woman at the Well (John 4:11) the Healing at the Pool (John 5 1-14), and the Feeding of the Five Thousand (John 6: 1-22). He was deeply concerned about them as whole people, not as "souls" to be saved or even as vessels by which to demonstrate His power.

     This deep care often called Jesus to confront others and/or reflect truth to them, such as in the story of The Rich Man (Mark 10:17-23). Buckingham states that great "...managers are not afraid of speaking truth as a way to demonstrate their care. "They cannot stand the sight of someone they care about staggering along at a mediocre level of performance. Counterintuitive thought it may sound, the caring manage confronts poor performance early (81).

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