Rob Voyle's Appreciative Way Blog
Thinking about Language: Are People Assets or Treasures?
Posted: March 1, 2012 by Rob Voyle
It has become common in business circles to hear leaders say something like: "our employees are our greatest asset, or in churches our staff or parishioners are our greatest asset.
At first glance that seems to be an affirmation of employees or parishioners until we reflect on what we do in the United States with our assets: We leverage them, trade them, sell them, deplete them, mine them, and all sorts of things that I wouldn't want done to me.
One time when I was in West Virginia I heard people complaining about strip mining, which I to typically think is bad for the environment. However my reaction at the time was to think the strip miners were real wimps in comparison to the ways I have seen many churches strip mine the emotional and spiritual environments of their parishioners and employees.
When people experience burnout that tells me some one has been strip mined. They have been working in a way that is not ecological, in the physical, emotional and spiritual realms they inhabit. Thinking of people as assets is a first step on the path to strip mining them. It is the beginning of legitimizing treating people inhumanely.
Rather than thinking of people and especially employees and parishioners as assets, think of them as treasures. Take a moment and remember a time when you were treasured. What was that like?
Who do you know that needs to be treasured? What is one thing you could do to treasure them? For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
With blessings on your life and work.
Rob Voyle
Previous Posts By Category
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- Get Feed-Forward not Feed-Back
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Forgiveness
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Performance Review
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2016
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- Teach Your Congregation to Forgive: Five Week Lenten program
- No, You Don't Want to Take Your Ministry to the Next Level
- Parishioners and Staff are Treasures not Assets
- Why Be Good
- Teach Us to Pray
- Good Samaritans and What Is Love Calling Us To Do
- I Saw Satan Fall From Heaven
- We Are God's Chosen People Not God's Protected People
- Forgiveness and Standing Silent Before the Pilates of this World
- Transforming Anger Into Practical Compassion
- Teaching Forgiveness and Staying in Love
- Church Growth Makes Absolutely no Sense
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2015
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2014
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- Coaching Next Steps to Achieving Goals
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2013
- Incarnational Leadership
- Changing the Paradigm of Blame
- Core Leadership Competencies: Three Ways of Being a Leader.
- Core Leadership Competencies: The Art of Wise Pruning.
- Core Competencies for Being Your Congregation's Chief: Asking Powerful Questions.
- Core Leadership Competencies: Empowering Others
- Core Competencies for Being Your Congregation's Chief
- An Appreciative Lent
2012
- The Sermon I Need to Hear this Christmas
- Blue Christmas Meditation
- Remembering Dr. King
- What's the Purpose, What's My Purpose?
- The Language of Growing in Love
- Church Growth and Making Disciples
- Transforming Victim Narratives: Mark 7:24-30
- Find Resurrection this Easter not Reincarnation
- Creating Sustainable Change through Incarnational Leadership
- Lent, Coaching, Change and Transformation
- Thinking about Language: Are People Assets or Treasures?
- From Transfiguration to Tempting Job Offers
- Transfiguration and Agents of Transformation
- Managing Resistance to Change
2011
2010
- The Importance of Understanding Your Purpose
- Thinking about Lent, Sin, and Grace
- Ensuring Change is a Blessing
- Thinking and Acting Like a Leader
- Growing Leaders Through Intentional Coaching
- Forget Balance, Get Integrated!
- Get Feed-Forward not Feed-Back
- Lent and an Appreciative Approach to Repentance
- The Power of Great Questions
The Appreciative Way
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About the Author
Rob Voyle
The Rev. Dr. Rob Voyle is a leader in the development and use of appreciative inquiry in church and coaching settings.
Rob's Approach to Training
- Helpful: Training must provide practical, sustainable solutions for today's challenges.
- Humorous: Creativity and humor go together as people enjoy new insights.
- Healing: I create opportunities for people to experience transformational insights that lead to new ways of living, working, and being in the world.
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