I had the privilege of discussing Relational Leadership: A Biblical Model for Influence and Service by Walter Wright a few weeks ago with two other amazing, leadership-minded couples. One of my favorite chapters in the book discussed the topic of values and culture.

Walt writes, I believe you can learn more about the culture of an organization by observing the behaviors and actions of the people than by reading the statement of organizational values.

As I read more of Walts description of values, I was reminded that its ultimately values that lead an organization or ministry more than people themselves.

At FYI, we hold a few values very dear:

-Learning: from research, practitioners, and parents

-Warm and accessible: responding to those who contact us

-Intentional: holding to strategic priorities

-Partnership: everything we do is in partnership with others

But even as I was reading Walts chapter, it occurred to me that its been at least a year since weve revisited our values and assessed at how well we do at embodying them.

What is your ministrys values? When is the last time you assessed how well youre doing at living them out?