| Alignment | Alignment results from team members agreeing on first principles and priorities (e.g., core values). In business, goals should be linked to cash flow projections that have support of team members. When members of a team share commitment to core values and goals, they have reason to contribute to the success of one another, thereby enhancing productivity and increasing the likelihood of fulfilling the mission. |
| Calling | A person identifies calling using the process at www.covenant.net/BiblicalPurpose. The process relies on results from tests, such as those at www.covenant.net/Calling |
| Covenantal Institution | God has given all authority to Christ as He rules over the 3 primary institutions: government, family, and church. According to God's Word, the government has the sword of discipline (Romans 13:4); the family is given the rod of discipline (Proverbs 23:13–14); and the church holds the keys of discipline (Matthew 16:19). The Westminster Confession of Faith ("WCF") and similar creeds summarize passages about these three mediating institutions. Some authors argue that the business is a 4th covenantal institutions because it has characteristics of the above 3 primary institutions. The grid at www.reflectinggod.info/Business6Elements shows how corporations, partnerships, and other business relationships reflect the 6 elements of the covenant. |
| Covenant Sequence | A covenant defines bond of love in which the parties of the covenant solemnly swear to devote themselves to seek the blessing of the other party. The covenant is the formal expression of the mutual commitment of love among Father, Son, and Spirit. In the Triune God's relationship with man, the covenant is the formal commitment to reflect divine love and grace to man. This unconditional expression of care elicits reciprocation. Man therefore loves his Creator by, 1) seeking to know His revelation, 2) pursue his purposes, 3) respect Godly leaders, 4) obey divine commands, 5) encourage the blessings of obedience, and 6) build covenant communities that can grow and be replicated. These 6 responses are part of deeper 6-element covenant sequence developed and explained by Meredith Kline, Ray Sutton, Vern Poythress and other theologians committed to a covenantal view of the God-honoring relationships. The 6-elements of the covenant sequence can be observed in personal communion with God as well as in covenant communities patterned after those in Scripture. |
| Disciple-maker | A true disciple is a follower of Jesus who abides in His word (John 8:31). According to Matthew 13:23, a disciple is one how hears God's word, understands it, and sows in good soil in order to bear fruit. A disciple-maker (or "discipler") follows the command in Matthew 28:19-20 to assist in spreading Christ's teaching to develop other disciples. Discipler-makers trust Jesus in the power of the Spirit for the glory of God as they teach repentance and encourage followers to obey all that Christ has commanded. |
| Goals | Spirit-led planning focuses on managers speaking with "one voice," as in Genesis 11:6 and Romans 15:6. To test whether managers are in agreement, it is very helpful to ask each manager to rank and quantify goals for the quarter, year, and a reasonable future timeframe. Goals can be depicted with spreadsheets or project management timelines so that managers can all focus on the same numerical targets, thereby keeping managers sufficiently unified when showing how goals are consistent with the purposes of each manager as well as the vision and mission of the organization. |
| Mediating Institution | In his Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville warned that a society of individuals can easily become atomized when "every citizen, being assimilated to all the rest, is lost in the crowd.” He believed that a society of individuals needed intermediate social structures, provided by traditional hierarchies, to mediate relations with the state. Tocqueville saw how the religious family and church helped Americans carry, "to the highest perfection the art of pursuing in common the object of their common desires." Reading Tocqueville reveals how religious ideals perceived by Tocqueville had deep roots in the 3 Covenantal Institutions described at www.ReflectingGod.info/3Institutions. |
| Mentor | Apostle Paul encouraged believers to follow His example (e.g., 1 Corinthians 11:1), and this example has included active mentoring, as when Paul mentored Timothy. Paul established the standard for mentoring in 2 Timothy 2:2, where he wrote, "And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." The mentor builds a personal relationship with the protégé (or "mentee") and focuses on the personal and professional development and success of the mentee. In a business context, the mentor focuses on developing specific skills and competencies for the present job while fostering talents that can equip the mentee for future career opportunities. |
| Mission | The shared purposes of team members form a mission. This mission should be defined in full view of the vision (described below). Clarifying the mission involves prayerfully discerning how God's wisdom applies to the opportunities and strengths given to a family, church, or other organization. Because these opportunities and strengths will change, the mission can/should evolve. |
| Prosperity | God prospers the faithful! Prosperity comes in the form of rich relationships. The rich relationships are enjoyed most in covenant community. When a member of the covenant community focuses too much on personal property or material wealth, this is a sign of the greed, pride, envy, gluttony, laziness and other deadly sins that can easily undermine teamwork and prosperity. When a pastor preaches prosperity, he should focus on how the promises of blessings are often made to YOU as a plural "you" referring to members of the covenant community. Pastors frequently misappropriate these verses to promise blessings to you (the singular person interested in autonomous freedom and blessings apart from the covenant community.) |
| Purpose | A person's purpose statement is based on the unique calling given to each individual. The calling is refined into a statement of purpose that can be shared with others, especially leaders who know how to build teams. |
| Shareholder | An owner of shares in a company is a shareholder. Some may expand this definition to include all equity owners in for-profit entities and others with vested financial interests, such as banks and certain types of donors that support non-profit entities. |
| Stakeholder | In a corporation, a stakeholder is a member of "groups without whose support the organization would cease to exist"[1]. Stakeholders include employees, customers, community members, and shareholders ("4 main constituencies"). An organization considers the interests of these four main constituencies when making decisions and seeking to maximize the quadruple bottom-line. Primary stakeholders are usually internal people or groups engaged in economic transactions with the business, such as shareholders, customers and employees. External stakeholders are those who do not engage in direct economic exchange with the business but seek to be heard because they are affected by the business. External (community) stakeholders may include the general public, community groups, activist groups, business support groups, and media organizations. People with no economic impact on business are normally not viewed as stakeholders. |
| Stewardship | Fundamentally, stewardship is about exercising our God-given dominion over His creation, reflecting the image of our creator God in His care, responsibility, maintenance, protection, and beautification of His creation. See http://www.ReflectingGod.info/Stewardship/ |
| Trainer | A trainer teaches a person skills, knowledge and/or behaviors related to the development of specific job competencies. The goal of training is to be competent for every good work. See, e.g., 2 Timothy 3:17. |
| Values | Core Values are the principles, beliefs, tenets, and priorities upon which an organization is based. Core values remain constant, are the essence of an organization's identity, and guide decision-making and behavior. Core values are the pathways for translating the mission into practice. For core values to be effective in a company whose leaders seek to honor God, they must be rooted in God's Word and consistently and courageously modeled and enforced by the leaders. |
| Vision | Vision is developed as part of God's revelation. Divine revelation reveals the immutable character of God as well as His unchanging law. See, e.g., Proverbs 29:18. Because the vision is closely linked to God's unchanging revelation, authors of strategic planning books frequently write that vision must remain constant. |