
15 Oct #298 – Integrity Idea 085: Support the Supporters
Integrity Ideas are specific actions a leader can consider during the Re-Align step of Integriosity®–actions that will begin to Re-Align the organization with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities. You can find more Integrity Ideas at Integrous | Integrity Ideas (integriosity.com)
INTEGRITY IDEA: Support the Supporters
“Support the Supporters” is about implementing practices to support, care for, and recognize the employees who keep “stars” looking good, keep initiatives moving forward, and keep teams working together. They are the account managers, program coordinators, team leaders, service partners, mentors, encouragers, and connectors who may never seek the spotlight but without whom the lights would not stay on.
Integrity Ideas are practical actions toward implementing a bigger WHY for the organization. Some are critical steps in the RENEW/RE-ALIGN/RE-IMAGINE/RESTORE process; others are ideas to consider through prayerful discernment as faithful leaders steward the organization toward its WHY. While some Integrity ideas are challenging or costly to implement, “Support the Supporters” can be as simple and free as saying “thank you”, though it may also involve revisiting recognition, staffing or compensation practices. In whatever form, “Support the Supporters” should be part of any organization aligning itself with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities.
“Support the Supporters” recognizes that it is humanizing for people to be “seen”–to know they are valued and valuable and their efforts are appreciated. It honors Imago Dei and lives out the Golden Rule and the commandment to love others. It is also an opportunity to help a person flourish by connecting their God-given identity and unique gifts to the organization’s bigger WHY.
A recent Wall Street Journal article called these types of employees the “glue players”, drawing on Jon Levy’s book Team Intelligence: How Brilliant Leaders Unlock Collective Genius. In Levy’s words:
A glue player is the team member who multiplies everyone else’s results, helping the team win. They have unusually high emotional intelligence and know how to move the group forward. They anticipate needs, take actions no one asked them to and help teammates perform at their best, often without seeking recognition. They put the team above themselves and don’t fight for credit because their priority is progress, not attention.
Levy notes that “glue players” tend not to be recognized because “most evaluation systems measure what is obvious; Sales closed, code shipped, campaigns launched.” He says organizations “rarely track” the acts of glue players that “build trust, reduce friction and unlock better collaboration.”
The employees we are calling “supporters” are committed to faithfully pursuing the organization’s bigger WHY rather than their own self-promotion–serving the bigger WHY by doing the unglamorous work that allows the salespeople, rainmakers and visionaries to shine.
Biblical Examples
The Bible is full of examples of “supporters”. Consider these:
• Aaron and Hur famously held up Moses’ hands until victory was won.
Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. (Exodus 17:11-12)
• Barnabas, whose name meant “Son of Encouragement”, vouched for Paul, which opened the door to his ministry.
And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. (Acts 9:26-28)
• When Paul objected to taking Mark along with he and Barnabas because Mark had deserted them earlier, Barnabas gave Mark a second chance and presumably mentored him, even at the cost of parting ways with Paul.
Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and departed. (Acts 15:37-40)
• Aquila and Priscilla quietly strengthened the church by privately mentoring Apollos, which paved the way for him being endorsed more broadly and sent to Achaia.
Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. . . He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. (Acts 18:24-27)
• Even though he was the son of King Saul, Jonathan put his friendship with David and the good of the nation above his own glory by acknowledging that David should be king and agreeing to stand by his side.
And Jonathan, Saul’s son, rose and went to David at Horesh, and strengthened his hand in God. And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Saul my father also knows this.” (1 Samuel 23:16-17)
• A less well-known character, Epaphroditus, risked his life serving Paul and, when he was ill, was more concerned that his illness grieved others.
He has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. . ..So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me. (Philippians 2:26-30)
Like Aaron and Hur supporting Moses’ hands, or Barnabas encouraging Paul, or Priscilla and Aquila strengthening the early church, supporters embody humility, faithfulness and collaboration–working quietly in the background to break-down silos, mediate tensions, encourage collaboration, maintain morale, and mentor new or struggling employees.
Biblical Support
Scripture also calls faithful leaders to support those quietly working behind the scenes toward the organizations bigger WHY.
Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. (1 Thessalonians 5:11)
Respect those who labor among you . . . and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. (1 Thessalonians 5:12-13)
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works. (Hebrews 10:24)
Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. (Romans 12:10)
The parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable . . . God has so composed the body . . . that the members may have the same care for one another. (1 Corinthians 12:22–25)
When a faithful leader implements “Support the Supporters”, they communicate to the entire organization that the pursuit of faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing really is the heart of the organization–and that faithful integrity is not about charisma or titles but about character and care. “Support the Supporters” reflects and reinforces an organizational culture that values humility, prioritizes relationships, community, human dignity, and flourishing, embraces Imago Dei, and encourages employees to live out the Golden Rule and the commandment to love your neighbor.
CONTINUUM: Practices
The Integriosity model organizes “heart change” along six Covert-Overt Continuums. There is nothing magic about these categories, but we believe they are helpful in thinking about practical execution of a Re-Imagined Purpose, Re-Imagined Values and a Re-Imagined Culture. The Continuums are Prayer, Proclamation, Policies, Practices, Products, People.
Each Continuum represents an area in which leaders can begin to think about, plan and institute Re-Alignment changes to the heart of the organization.
“Support the Supporters” is on the Practices Continuum. Practices reflect, and at the same time help shape and reinforce, an organization’s culture. Purpose and values define the culture of an organization; the culture shapes the behavior of the people in the organization; and the behavior of the people drives the results of the organization. “Support Supporters” furthers the bigger WHYs of Humanizing People, Beautifying the World and Glorifying God, and reinforces the priorities of the Creation Mandate, Imago Dei, the Golden Rule and the commandments to love God and love your neighbor.
COVERT-OVERT RATING: Highly Covert
The Integriosity model breaks the Covert-Overt Continuums into six gradations–from Highly Covert to Highly Overt–that we believe are helpful in beginning to pray and think about what is most appropriate for an organization at a particular moment in time.
Most Integrity Ideas will have one place on the scale. Some can vary depending on how they are implemented.
“Support Supporters” is Highly Covert (an action that would be taken by a secular company), because every organization could and should support, care for, and recognize the employees who keep it connected and moving toward its priorities.
“Support Supporters” can also be Overt (An overtly faith-based action known generally within the organization) if the leader chooses, for example, to explain the organization’s bigger WHY in Biblical terms, recognize the employee’s contribution to that WHY, and share the Biblical significance of valuing every person and treating each person with dignity and respect because they were created in the image of God with unique gifts.
STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees
When we categorize faith-based actions, we also consider the stakeholders principally impacted by the action: Employees, Customers/Clients, Owners, Suppliers/Vendors, Community and Kingdom.
“Support the Supporters” principally serves employees by showing them how much they are valued and appreciated.
Respect those who labor among you . . . and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. (1 Thessalonians 5:12-13)
IMPLEMENTATION
While some Integrity Ideas can be difficult to implement and others can be expensive to implement, “Support the Supporters” can be relatively easy and inexpensive. But even easy and inexpensive requires prayerful discernment by faithful leaders.
“Support the Supporters” can be as simple as saying “thank you”, which is a great place to start. But authentically supporting, caring for, and recognizing your “glue players” probably calls for more. We think “Support the Supporters” is most effective when tailored to the situation and the people being supported, cared for, and recognized.
Assuming a faithful leader decides to move forward with “Support the Supporters”, it is helpful to think about implementation in terms of Who, What and How. Who are the “supporters”? What practices will be implemented to support them? How will the support be communicated and encouraged? In the WSJ article, Jon Levy offers suggestions that address these questions.
The following may be helpful to faithful leaders as they prayerfully discern the implementation of “Support the Supporters”.
WHO (Identifying Supporters)
• Look for what Levy calls “clues”–people who organize community events and employee events or volunteer for internal groups that bring together different organizational functions.
• Review resumes for people who list mentoring or volunteer activities.
• Ask managers to identify people who emphasize team accomplishments when talking about their job and get excited in describing mentoring opportunities or cross-team collaboration.
• Ask peers to identify who helps out, makes sure the team functions smoothly, and tries to make sure everyone has a voice.
• Add review prompts that surface supporters’ behaviors (team building, mentoring, bridge-building).
• Create a recognition program in which employees can nominate their co-workers based on specified qualities such as team building, mentoring, helping others, reinforcing the organization’s purpose, values and culture.
WHAT (Practices to Support/Care/Recognize)
• Identify any existing practices that might be contributing to supporters not being properly supported, cared for, and recognized.
• Policies and practices that celebrate the “stars” while ignoring the contributions of those who support them.
• Compensation practices that undercompensate supporters or overcompensate the people they are supporting, such as special bonuses and profit sharing reserved for the “stars”.
• Consider practices can be put in place to support, care for, and recognize supporters.
• Gratitude: In post #212 (Integrity Idea 042: Give “Horizontal” Thanks), we considered ways to express gratitude to co-workers, which is the most basic form of support, care, and recognition.
• Compensation: In post #174 (Integrity Idea 024: Optimize Compensation) and post #261 (Integrity Idea 069: Share the Spoils), we considered ways to rethink compensation to ensure that all employees were being fairly compensated.
• Recognition: Create a recognition program to acknowledge the unique efforts of those who go above and beyond in “support” efforts such as keeping teams working together, tearing down silos, keeping initiatives moving forward, and mentoring co-workers.
• Manager Training: Implement management training to help managers identify, acknowledge and report exemplary support efforts.
• Pathways: Create mentoring/connecting roles with titles to communicate the importance of these functions within teams.
HOW (Communication and Reinforcement)
• Consider whether efforts to “Support the Supporters” will be made Overt by referencing Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities such as Imago Dei.
• Consider how recognition of exemplary support efforts will be communicated to the person being recognized: privately (by whom?), to the person’s team or department, in an organizational newsletter or organization-wide e-mail, at a team or an organizational gathering,
• Consider whether recognition will be used as a way to reinforce the organization’s purpose, values and culture.
• Consider the cadence for recognizing exemplary support efforts: annually, quarterly, monthly, ad hoc (when noticed), at certain regular events.
There is no single right Who/What/How. In prayerfully discerning the best path for the organization, faithful leaders need to keep in mind, and remain faithful to, the purposes behind “Support the Supporters”–the wellness and flourishing of God’s creation in obedience to the Creation Mandate, in recognition of Imago Dei, and in living out the Golden Rule and the commandment to love our neighbor. It is in pursuit of faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing. It is loving and caring for fellow humans.
PERSONAL NOTE (from PM): This post was inspired by the WSJ article, but I saw the star/supporter distinction when practicing law in a large Wall Street law firm. In the corporate practice, the “stars” were the mergers and acquisitions partners. When the department had a very profitable year, it was usually because of large M&A premiums. The transactions were high profile and frequently on the front page of the Wall Street Journal. The supporters were the finance practices doing securities offerings and bank lending transactions, often supporting the M&A transactions. Financing transactions flew under the radar, even as part of bigger deals. It was often said that the financing practices “kept the lights on”–not glamorous, but necessary to keep the firm running. There was also star/supporter distinction between rainmaking partners who brought in new clients and service partners who faithfully worked with them to get the work done. Because the firm operated on a lockstep compensation system, those distinctions did not translate into economic disparities.
I always believed it was my duty to do whatever and go wherever the firm needed me. When I became a partner, I was groomed for and slotted in the M&A practice. I got a taste of “stardom” with my first transaction–it got a lot of press, and I was featured in a trade publication as an up-and-coming “star”. Within a year, it became clear that the firm needed a young partner in London, but no young partner was willing to go (I was not asked because of my spot in the M&A practice). Seeing the need, I volunteered, despite being told by some senior M&A partners that it was not in my best interest professionally to leave the M&A practice.
When Sarbanes-Oxley was enacted, I realized the firm needed a partner to coordinate our efforts to understand the changes and educate our lawyers so that they could educate and advise our clients. As no one was taking up this role, I stepped in and supervised numerous client memoranda and helped advise multiple clients on complying with the new rules. I will never forget one of the senior M&A partners standing up at a partnership meeting and recognizing my thankless efforts as exemplifying the spirit of being a partner.
Over the years, I took on the task of training lawyers on securities matters and chairing the firm’s opinion committee because there was a need–and a request. I willingly shifted my practice to securities financings and then bank financings as the firm’s needs arose. While that one public expression of thanks was the only recognition I recall for being a “team player” through the years, I will never forget it. “Support the Supporters” makes a difference.
ESSENCE: Integrity Ideas are specific actions a faithful leader can consider in leading faithfully through business a better way.
INTEGRITY IDEA: Support the Supporters
“Support the Supporters” is about implementing practices to support, care for, and recognize the employees who keep “stars” looking good, keep initiatives moving forward, and keep teams working together. They are the account managers, program coordinators, team leaders, service partners, mentors, encouragers and connectors who may never seek the spotlight but without whom the lights would not stay on. “Support the Supporters” recognizes that it is humanizing for people to be “seen”–to know they are valued and valuable and their efforts are appreciated. It honors Imago Dei and lives out the Golden Rule and the commandment to love others. A recent Wall Street Journal article called these supporters the “glue players”. They are committed to faithfully pursuing the organization’s bigger WHY rather than their own self-promotion–serving the bigger WHY by doing the unglamorous work that allows the salespeople, rainmakers and visionaries to shine. Like Aaron and Hur supporting Moses’ hands, or Barnabas encouraging Paul, or Priscilla and Aquila quietly strengthening the early church, they embody humility, faithfulness and collaboration–working quietly in the background to break down silos, mediate tensions, encourage collaboration, maintain morale, and mentor new employees and those who may be struggling. “Support the Supporters” can be as simple and free as saying “thank you”, though it may also involve revisiting recognition, staffing or compensation practices. When a faithful leader implements “Support the Supporters”, they communicate to the entire organization that the pursuit of faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing really is the heart of the organization–and that faithful integrity is not about charisma or titles but about character and care. “Support the Supporters” reflects and reinforces an organizational culture that values humility, prioritizes relationships, community, human dignity, and flourishing, embraces Imago Dei, and encourages employees to live out the Golden Rule and the commandment to love your neighbor.
COVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action): Practices
COVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt): Highly Covert
STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees
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(image cropped)
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