Where Will The Next Generation of Christian Leaders Come From – In Ministry and In The Marketplace

— by Greg Barnes

We are in an increasingly challenging culture, where great leaders are hard to find. McKinsey & Company coined the phrase “war for talent” in 1997. Now, more than 20 years later we know that talent chooses you as much as you choose talent. And if you’re searching for great leaders of Christian faith who have executive-level talent, your pool gets even smaller. As Baby Boomers retire and a new wave of leadership is needed, where will we find the next generation of leadership for our ministries, churches, and faith-aligned businesses? 

Christian leaders are urgently needed for faith-motivated leadership in the marketplace and in nonprofit ministry positions. There are nonprofits and Christian-led organizations seeking executive talent every day. But there is a disconnect. 

The other side of the coin is this: Executive leaders often speak a different language while trying to find roles that align with both their talents and passions, while Kingdom-impact companies struggle to find people of faith to serve in their top leadership roles.

Barriers to Permeability

During my career in executive search, and now focusing on faith-based ministries and faith-motivated companies, I have gotten to know countless individuals in a deeply personal way as they approached mid-life and/or career re-assessment. There is a pervading desire for more meaningful and eternally significant work. Many feel the calling to transition from a significant season in the marketplace to a new season in the nonprofit world, but they often don’t know how. The permeability of marketplace and ministry is still very complicated. It is difficult to move from one to the other and back again.

As if looking through a window to what’s outside, executives have dimly lit insight into what’s outside the corporate world. However, there are barriers that keep them from easily passing beyond. The most obvious barrier is typically having to compromise on income, which can be a hit to their family life. Beyond that, there can also be a fear that their talents and skills will not be adequately utilized outside of the marketplace. Also underlying a move from marketplace to ministry is the question, “Would I be able to move back into the for-profit world afterward?” 

On the other hand, ministry organizations are struggling to find high-quality talent willing to move into the nonprofit realm. They are searching for executives who can lead and run businesses, but they do not know where to reach for that kind of talent. For faith-based organizations, an added barrier is finding leaders who are aligned spiritually with their mission.

Yet, as many of us know well, ministry is not only found in the nonprofit sector. 

Another Side of the Same Coin

What about for-profit companies that have been founded or are run by Christian leaders? Many of these companies have built a culture and a mission that goes beyond the products and services they bring to the marketplace. The ethos of the organization has been heavily influenced by the faith and faith-in-action mindset of the leadership. What happens when these leaders retire or want to scale back and the organization needs a new wave of leadership? 

These leaders struggle tremendously to find executive-level talent (whether that is replacing founding leaders or adding to executive staff) that share the same alignment of values and beliefs. When you've built a successful for-profit company, infused with an ethos that is centered around servant-hearted leadership, Christian values, and kingdom impact, you want to preserve and enhance that culture. But how do you scrutinize for marketplace talent that shares those values without being accused of discrimination?

At the same time, there are seasoned leaders currently working in traditional marketplace roles who would love to join Business As Mission (BAM) leadership teams or lead a business founded by a faith-filled leader. Many believers employed in a corporate job would consider it an upgrade to do the same kind of work in a company that has a missional focus. How do they find such companies? In the marketplace, it is not as apparent from the outside which companies have such a focus - another barrier to permeability.

Creating a Pathway

When we founded FaithSearch Partners, our goal was to create a pathway between experienced business leaders and faith-based nonprofits that desperately need their talent but don’t know how to access it. We’ve built a network across both marketplace and ministry segments that makes more permeability possible.

Yet during our many years of working with nonprofits, we discovered something else: the same network that produces great marketplace leaders for the nonprofit ministry sector is also a reliable network that can produce faith-filled leaders for Business As Mission (BAM) companies in the for-profit sector. We recognized, however, that there may be a hesitancy - even in a company run by a Christian leader - to bring on a firm with such a faith-forward name as “FaithSearch”. Their boards might discourage the connection. Yet we knew we could solve a big need for these businesses with our network.

So, we decided to go out on a limb and try something new. We began a separate entity, FSP Leaders, a distinct brand run by our same team and network. At FSP Leaders, we serve for-profit businesses run by faith-aligned leaders. We help these businesses find executives that share their same faith-in-action values and leadership culture. 

FaithSearch Partners and FSP Leaders are serving two sides of the same coin. In both brands, we are helping faith-filled executives move through mid-career transitions in a way that is aligned with who they are and what brings them joy and purpose, and simultaneously helping organizations find top-tier talent aligned with their mission and culture.

Executive leaders are no longer sitting inside their context, unclear of how to reach a world beyond their barriers. We are acting as that screen that allows the breeze in. Our hope is that the permeability in marketplace and ministry for candidates (and organizations) will begin to increase and we’ll be able to make an impact in getting talented Christian leaders into positions that leverage their gifts and align with their callings.

Setting Up the Next Generation for Success

So, what has this looked like, practically speaking? One such organization that is working to continue Christian leadership in their next stage is Office Pride, a commercial maintenance services company with 135 franchises nationwide. FSP Leaders assisted in finding a faith-aligned CFO for this franchise company. Office Pride wants to ensure their core values and cultural DNA remain the same as they bring in new leadership. FSP Leaders was tasked with finding a marketplace leader of faith who can continue the legacy and vision the organization was founded upon. 

Morning Star Transformational Tours has found itself in a similar situation. Founded by two very strong leaders of faith, MSTT is a for-profit company that organizes tours and events for global nonprofit ministries, seminaries and churches. Having leadership grounded in a Christian perspective is vital as Morning Star’s founders transition. FSP Leaders is searching for new leadership for MSTT that matches the vision and faith of their founding principles and core Christian clientele. 

Both companies are looking toward their future. They have developed and thrived from their Christian-centered roots, and their leaders are taking proactive steps to prepare for their next phase of growth. Selecting executives who share their ethos equips the companies to continue on their legacy and sustain their ministries in the marketplace.

Ministry in the Workplace

Are you a marketplace leader looking to transition into a new role that uses your talents and passions to glorify God through your work but scared to take the plunge? 

Are you a Business As Mission (BAM) company struggling in your search for an executive who will continue the same faith-based DNA and culture of your organization? 

Or perhaps you’re a part of a Christian ministry or church desiring more marketplace expertise in your next leadership hire but feeling discouraged? 

Take heart. Know that the barriers between marketplace and ministry are being permeated, and God is using executives in both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors to advance His kingdom. 

No matter your path, “Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; Yes, establish the work of our hands!” (Psalm 90:17). 

At FaithSearch Partners and FSP Leaders, we pray this over all who put their faith in the Lord— that He may guide us all to use our hands to do His great work.

This is one of the 2020 CEF Whitepapers. For more information on the Christian Economic Forum, please visit their website here.

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[ Photo by camila waz on Unsplash ]