Transcript: How Flourishing Culture Leads to Greater Ministry Impact // Kevin Enders, 4KIDS

The Flourishing Culture Podcast Series

“How Flourishing Culture Leads to Greater Ministry Impact“

March 21, 2022

Kevin Enders

Intro: Do you have a vision to see your organization making a greater impact? Well, today we talk with a leader who has positioned his organization to do just that. Listen in as we talk about how he has prepared the soil to create an intentionally flourishing culture, facilitating the expansion of their vision.

Al Lopus: Hi, I'm Al Lopus, and you're listening to the Flourishing Culture Podcast, where we help you create a flourishing workplace. The problem employers are facing today is that more of our employees are quitting than ever before. Some people are calling this the great resignation. And now with millions of open jobs, how can churches, Christian non-profits, and Christian-owned businesses face this tidal wave of resignations while attracting new, outstanding talent? And we know that having a flourishing workplace with fully engaged employees is the solution. I'll be your guide today as we talk with a thought leader about key steps that you can take to create a flourishing workplace culture.

So, now let's meet today's special guest.

Strong employee engagement doesn't mean that everyone thinks alike. You know, it means that we've created an atmosphere for growth and flourishing. And when you're leading a team that's flourishing, how do you free them up to take risks and even disagree in a healthy way? We found that when people are free to put lots of different ideas on the table, we see better outcomes as an organization. And we’ll address this and other topics related to a flourishing culture in today's episode.

I'm delighted to welcome back Kevin Enders, the president of 4Kids. And we've talked with Kevin before, and I'm looking forward to today's conversation. He's built a remarkably strong team and a group of highly engaged staff at 4Kids. So, Kevin, welcome back to the Flourishing Culture Podcast.

Kevin Enders: Thank you so much, Al. And it's an honor and a privilege to be back with you today.

Al: Yep, thanks. And let's start off with this: 4Kids has been serving kids and families in Florida for 24 years now, and I know your journey started when you and your wife became foster parents back in 2007. And here, 10 years after that, in 2017, you became their CEO after a career in the business world. So, you know, for those who don't know about 4Kids and the ministry, can you share the main focus of 4Kids and help our listeners get a glimpse of this important ministry and the great work you're doing?

Kevin: Yeah, I'd be happy to. So 4Kids, like you said, was started—actually, we're now headed into our 25th year. We're celebrating this year, and over 30,000 children's lives have been impacted through our ministry here in South Florida. And it started with a mission to provide hope for kids in crisis, and that's still our mission statement today. And this bold vision of a home for every child, that shapes everything we do. Obviously, we know God’s heart. In James 1:27, the Word says that pure and undefiled religion in the sight of God Our father is this: to visit and care for orphans and widows in their distress. So that really shapes everything we do. We're really excited about what God's been doing over the last five years since I've been on board.

We talk about hope, homes, and healing a lot at 4Kids, and hope remains. We want to bring the hope of God's Word, the hope of Jesus Christ to kids and families in crisis in our community. We do want a Christian home for every child. We see the outcomes that these amazing families that God calls into becoming foster parents makes in the lives of children. And whether those children get reunified with their biological families, get adopted, or whatever the case may be, we get them for a time, and our job is to, really, shed the light and the love of Jesus into their lives.

And we've been focused a lot on healing, and I know we talked about that last time. When I started at 4Kids, we had one therapist on staff. And I'm happy to say that today I think we have over 28 on the team, and these are Christian therapists that provide training for parents that become foster parents. We continue to provide training for our adopted families, and we spend time with children, young adults, helping them process the trauma that they had in their lives and to let them know that even though the trauma may have happened, that God has a great plan for their lives. So it's really exciting. Our ministries continue to grow and flourish. So that's kind of a little bit of kind of like the passion you hear in my voice about what we do every day. We know it's close to God's heart, and it's our honor to be able to do this work for Him in our community.

Al: Yeah. That's exciting to hear. You're expanding, you know, beyond the areas that you've served even broader. But 30,000—

Kevin: Yeah.

Al: —kids you've influenced, that's a city. That's fantastic. Yeah.

Well, on your Employee Engagement Surveys with the Best Christian Workplaces Institute, your organization continues to show strong employee engagement and commitment to mission, with 80-plus percent of your employees are engaged. Your scores are well above the peers. I mean, we would say you're off the chart in a lot of ways when it comes to family-services sector. How have you continued to build on this culture over the years and not just become complacent, saying, “Well, we've got a great culture. We'll just leave it at that”?

Kevin: Yeah. Well, when I started, like you said, five years ago, we were in our 20th year, and just this ministry has been led so well from the beginning. And I'll tell you, BCWI has helped out tremendously for us to be able to take the Survey and look at the things that are working, and how do we continue to really do those things that are working? And how do we look at those areas where there's continuous improvement and focus on those as a staff? But we've always really just been so committed to culture. Again, we're a ministry; we're not a foster-care agency that hires Christians. We're an extension of God's church that has been placed in this area. And so culture for us is very important.

We have a Culture Keepers team on staff, made up of people across the ministry. It's a nice blend of people from different areas that really focus on our events. And we just happened to have our staff retreat last Friday that we do every year, and we pray and we fast and we ask God for a word for the year, a focus for the ministry. And we get together, we worship, we pray a lot and share what's going on. And so that's just a small piece of a well-thought-out annual calendar of these events that are really important not only to serve our families, but it's to serve and make sure we're healthy ourselves to be able to do the work that we do. So investing in each other and really approaching it from the ministry perspective.

We’re reminded of Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, so does one sharpen the countenance of his friend.” And we always kind of talk about and look at, how are we doing that, and how can we continue to improve? That, I think, is what keeps the staff so engaged.

Al: Yeah. So you mentioned Culture Keepers, Kevin. Tell our listeners what that group is, what they do.

Kevin: Yeah. So it’s a voluntary team of people on our staff, again, cross-sectional because we look at the ministry; we have programs; we have therapy; we have partner engagement, which is fundraising; we have marketing; we have H.R. and all the back-office-operations people. And you know, people from any area of the ministry can volunteer to be on this committee. And we like young people and older people and, you know, different generations represented so that we're really just navigating the changes in our culture and how do we, basically, put together a program of different events. You know, we have this amazing Thanksgiving event that we finally were able to celebrate back together because COVID was a little bit less intense this year. And everyone was so excited to be able to bring back their favorite dish from the country that they're from, or whatever it is that they like to make. From our Christmas parties or staff retreats and everything in between, you know, we really think through, just like when we talked last about strategy, we were intentional. You know, we're intentional. And so this group gets to kind of carry that baton and represent all the different areas of the ministry and bring recommendations and execute that plan. So that's what the Culture Keepers Committee and how it operates within 4Kids.

Al: Yeah. Thanks, yeah. Well, I appreciate your commitment to continuous improvement. And as we've talked over the years, you know, one thing that you're known for at 4Kids is a strong emphasis on a spiritual foundation. And you have regular prayer and worship times. You've already mentioned that. So share an example of how the spiritual emphasis has made a tangible difference recently, perhaps for a staff person or an individual team or maybe even 4Kids as a whole.

Kevin: Wow. So many examples. I mean, when we get together for these weekly devotions, we call them, on Wednesday mornings, we either have worship ourselves; we invite worship leaders from around our community to come in. We hear from pastors. And man, I can tell you, as we prayed over, again, over the Christmas break and into the spring, into January, about what our theme for the year was going to be, some amazing thing happened, and nobody really knew because we don't release that until the staff retreat, which was just two Fridays ago. And as we invite the guest pastors in to come and share, we don't tell them what to share. We just trust the Lord that He has a message for them. It's, like, two weeks in a row, the messages that they shared were right in line with exactly what we felt God was sharing with us as a team, to then release that to the staff and be able to share that, that God is really with us, and He wants us to come to Him. He wants us to hear from Him. So just the ability to share that, Al, and have everyone really just feel supernaturally, spiritually connected and be on the same page, it's just magnificent. It really is. If I can say that. It's what I think every leader would want is that, you know, that supernatural move of the Holy Spirit to unite people and to get behind a message And for this year, it’s Philippians 3:12-14. It's kind of like the theme verse, and our theme is to press on and take hold because, again, we're celebrating 25 years and all those great lives. But we're always working hard to get that next child in a home. And we just placed triplets in a home last week, and we get to share these stories. It's, like, we're pressing on. We're trying to take hold and lay hold of everything that God would have for us in Christ Jesus in the ministry and the work that we do. And again, when we get to celebrate placements of sibling groups or triplets or adoptions or reunifications, it really helps to bind it all together in a beautiful way.

Al: Well, I imagine that’s a challenge to place triplets into a home.

Kevin: It is. But God, we say.

Al: But God, yeah. Right. Wow.

Well, at Best Christian Workplaces Institute, we talk about conflict resolution in terms of healthy conflict skills. At one point I used to think that conflict was a negative thing, but, actually, when we look at it in terms of healthy conflict skills, it's a positive thing and something that Christian organizations aren't well known for. But we'd like to see people feeling free to express different viewpoints rather than burying conflict and disagreement under the carpet, because it always comes up later. A flourishing workplace doesn't mean that everyone agrees all the time. What are some of the ways that your teams at 4Kids engage in a healthy conflict or even disagreement that you can share with our listeners?

Kevin: Yeah, sure. I mean, again, as a ministry part of our onboarding of new staff, part of our orientation and training is just creating that culture of understanding that we have an open-door policy. So any time you have a conflict, a grievance, you can come share it with your supervisor, or anyone, for that matter. And we also stand behind, you know, the principles that Jesus taught us in Matthew. We just are actually in a Bible study going through the book of Matthew, and in Chapter 18, we're obviously all aware that Jesus kind of lays out this formula that if your brother or sister sins against you, here's the formula that Jesus has professed for us to walk through, and that is that you go to that brother or sister and try to work it out. And if you don't feel like that has gotten to a resolution point, then you can bring someone along with you and have a conversation. And it's one of those areas that, again, I think the Philippians verse is very appropriate because I'm not going to profess that we've attained perfection there, but we press on to lay hold of what Jesus's intentions are as us walking through conflict as brothers and sisters in Christ, that we don't let it fester as a root of bitterness because we know that's where it can become problematic long term. And you've got to encourage openness because then we can talk it out. We can pray together. We can have conversations with multiple people. And so as those things arise, and they do in every organization all the time, just promoting that culture of open conversation is really healthy.

Al: Yeah. Well, that's great to be able to share grievances, as you say, focus. I mean, you talk about Matthew 18, go to your brother or sister. That's great. Thanks.

You know, I know that children and families that you serve need specific therapeutic support to recover from trauma and to build trust with others. I'm curious if you see some connection between having an emotionally healthy staff who can handle conflict in a positive way and maybe their ability, then, to serve the families and children that you work with.

Kevin: Oh, so true, isn't it? I mean, I just was referencing a great Lencioni  book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, just last week, talking about trust as this foundation that everything is built from, right? That if you can't do that, you can't have good conflict resolution. You can't have good openness. You can't have creativity in your culture. You can't have anything that flows from that. It's so important. So I mean, it's critical, I'm sure, for any organization, but especially for us as we're dealing with the things we deal with. That's why we invest so much in the culture, again.

I think it blows people away when they come in from the outside and they see, Oh, we get to do this, basically, an hour and a half every Wednesday. We have prayer hour every day from noon to one. Another team last year came to me and said, “Hey, can we do a prayer hour in the morning from eight to nine?” I said, “Absolutely.” We've got to maintain that vertical relationship with God before we can go and serve each other and serve the community, serve the families.

It always reminds me of that example people use about when you’re in an airplane and they talk about the oxygen mask. It's like, put your own mask on first before you can administer the mask to the child or someone you're with, because if you're not healthy, if you're not in a good place spiritually, if you're not spending time with the Lord and recognizing we're all on a path of sanctification and, again, pressing on to attain what God has for us, then you really can't wholly serve the people that are around you, right? It's just becomes very, very difficult to do. So yeah, I think it's a super critical point.

Al: Yeah, I love that picture, basically, that having a healthy staff in your case is building a healthy community with healthy children that are growing up in healthy families. What a great picture that is. That’s great. Yeah.

Kevin: Mm. Thank you.

Al: Yeah.

I trust you’re enjoying our podcast today. We’ll be right back after an important word for leaders.

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Al: And now, back to today’s special guest.

Kevin, thanks for sharing these insights. You know, you've got many years as a business leader before you became the president of 4Kids, and it's really interesting to listen to you talk about the spiritual aspects of ministry from a business guy. But do you see some differences in problem solving and conflict resolution that you've experienced in the marketplace versus in a Christian ministry? Any thoughts for us there?

Kevin: Yeah. And as I was thinking about this, I would say that certainly before I became a Christian, which was in 2005 and I was in business, yeah, conflict resolution for me looked a whole lot different. Then, once I became a Christian, and obviously, you know, everybody that follows Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior can’t be planted in ministry. You and I know that well, that if you're planted in business, you should be different. Again, you should be salt and light, and you should approach all these things differently, and it will be recognized. Just like when I was in the technology company before I came on staff at 4Kids, I mean, people tell me all the time that they noticed there was a difference in the way that, you know, maybe I dealt with anything, let alone problem solving and conflict resolution.

So I think it's more about, are you walking your walk the way that Jesus is asking you to, with humility? It's hard, before we became Christians, right, to apologize or to take, you know, go the extra mile, as Jesus said. It's like if the Roman wants you to go one mile, you should go the extra mile; or someone strikes you on one cheek, you should turn your face and let them strike you again. Like, that's a Christian worldview, right?

Al: Right.

Kevin: That's not something you're going to probably see in the world happening unless it's someone that is really walking the walk with their Lord. So that's where I would say I would say the biggest difference, right, is that, are you engaged with people that are like minded, and how are you engaging in those conflict resolutions versus not?

Al: Yeah, yeah. And you know, for all of us, I know as I was in the business world as a Christian, it was kind of an insult when somebody would say to me, “Gosh, I've known you a long time, but I never knew you were involved in the faith.” And it's like, “Oh, ouch!” So, hopefully, you would have seen a difference. But yeah.

You know, we talked about this a little before, Kevin, but your organization has a strong commitment to thinking ahead, strategic planning, and your people embraced the process of growing together in strategy and vision. So what do you see as a leader when you do look ahead? Now, as we're coming out of the pandemic, what are the changes and opportunities that you see on the horizon?

Kevin: Yeah. Well, we actually just got done last spring casting a new three-year strategic plan, which will take us through 2024. And you know, again, we leveraged some of those strengths of the process in the past. We invoked some new processes as well to get more of the staff involved because that's one of the things that's really been beneficial as an organization to get all those voices, no matter where they are serving within the ministry, to be vested in the strategy, to take ownership. And really, again, we approach it spiritually first. What is God telling us to do? We only want to be where He wants us to be. We don't aspire to put a bunch of things on a piece of paper that we don't feel that the Lord has led us to put, you know, to accomplish.

But for us as a ministry, and I was talking earlier before we got started, our word of the year last year was go. We heard undeniably from God. And it's like when Joshua crossed over into the promised land, and you hear, you know, it's now time to take ground. And the years before that were preparation.

So 4Kids have been established in South Florida here for 25 years in Broward County. We've been in Palm Beach County for 15 years and up into the Treasure Coast and Okeechobee for eight years. And right now, we're expanding into Southwest Florida and Fort Myers and Naples area and Cape Coral, building a core team of people. And, you know, again, the need is great. The amount of children that are still not finding good, stable homes is heartbreaking. And certainly coming in and through the pandemic and out of the pandemic now, the numbers are starting to increase of kids that are now coming into care. So that's one of the things we're doing.

We're also praying about and having conversations with Miami-Dade County, which is to our south, and that's been on our radar for a long time. And we're just waiting for God's timing, and we believe that that timing could be 2022.

So for this year, as we go and believe God is leading the way, He’s opening doors, again, that no man could open. And I think one of the biggest challenges, and I know you probably hear this from a lot of your other friends and clients and businesses and customers that you work with, is human-resource capital, right? This great resignation and all the different changes of how we're navigating the new work environment post COVID, and how many are going to come back to the office, how many are going to want to work remote, the pressures on salaries and benefits and different things like that. So I would say that would be, in my humanity, one of our biggest challenges. But as I went away last summer and prayed, I really heard God say, “Don't worry, I have it,” because He knew that was something I was carrying. And He said, “Kevin, keep moving. I'm with you, and I'm going to provide all you need, according to My great riches.”

So that was a word I needed to hear last summer as we start to expand because we have, I think, 26 openings right now in South Florida, not including as we build these teams in new areas, but it's been amazing to watch God draw people from Minnesota, Alabama. We just hired two people from California. You know, God's drawing—Pennsylvania—God's drawing people from all over the country, which is beautiful for us to see that happening. So we'll continue to navigate that. But again, as we studied in Matthew 19, I think 16 this week, with man these things are impossible, but with God all things are possible. So we need to continue to walk in faith, believing that God is going to, where we say where God guides, God provides, right?

Al: Yeah, He does. Yeah. I like the old statement that, find where God is working and join Him there. Definitely, He is working at 4Kids, and that's an exciting story. And I'll say I can appreciate where you're leaving it up to God about this great resignation. Where are these people going to come from? And He says, “I have it.” Of course, I always say, and I think I've said it even on the intro, the anecdote to the great resignation is a flourishing culture, which you've got in spades. So go forth. Yeah.

Well, Kevin, as we know, your organization helps so many children and families every year. You give hope and transformation in their lives and in some very difficult circumstances that you work in. Is there a story that you might be able to share with us, where you've seen great impact on how 4Kids has made a difference for maybe a child or a family?

Kevin: Oh, yeah, I'd love to, and we could spend the whole half an hour on this. But you know, there's so many stories, so many beautiful stories of God's work here. One of my colleagues and I just got back a few weeks ago from traveling in Tallahassee as we go through the legislative process, and one of the stories that we just were sharing—again, there's so many—but one is this young couple. I think I can use their names: Tex and Courtney. And Tex came to us as a young man in the foster-care system years ago and was a resident in one of our independent living homes for a season, and then he became a staff member. His now wife, Courtney, came to us as an intern and then became a staff member. They met. And so there was amazing transformation in this young man's life. And Courtney was just a phenomenal young lady that came to us, I think, from Taylor University. And just to watch them get to know each other. Then, I think it was maybe a year before last they got married, and last year they welcomed their son into the world. But they had this burning desire and this burden to become foster parents. So they became foster parents and were fostering these two young men, who I got to meet at one of our Christmas parties last fall. And they were amazing, full of energy, super passionate little boys, amazing guys. I mean, just amazing. I love, love, love these children.

And then one of our neighborhood foster homes, which is a couple residents that we have in Broward and Palm Beach County, one of our locations came open a few months ago because one family kind of transitioned out. There’re always a season for that kind of work because it's very difficult. It's a home that we own as a ministry, and we put licensed foster parents in so we can keep siblings together. And this one family transitioned out, and Tex and Courtney transitioned in, not only with their son and their two current foster boys, but now another sibling group of three beautiful young girls.

So here you've got this amazing couple. They're young, and they're world changers, you know? And again, God reached into Tex’s life through the ministry of 4Kids. I believe he came to know Jesus as his Savior here and through the work of the ministry, became an R.A. And it's just this generational story that we love to say, we break cycles so that we can raise up a generation of cycle breakers.

And that's one thing I particularly love about this story because to see this young couple now having their own child and then saying yes to become foster parents, you know, that's a big deal. And then, having these two young boys, and then saying, “We want to do even more, and we're willing to move into this house so we can help keep these three girls together.” I mean, can you imagine? I love these people. They're just—they're amazing. And so believe that God can do exceedingly abundantly above all you can ask or imagine in your lives, because there's people that are around us doing that every day.

Al: Thanks, Kevin. That’s a great story.

Well, we've learned so much from our conversation. I really appreciate it. You know, I think about some of the highlights, starting off with 30,000 kids that you've influenced. One of them is Tex, and we're seeing the next generation of the cycle broken, and that's a great sign. And how you know you're not complacent about being in such an off-the-chart flourishing workplace. You're committed to it. I loved the story about Culture Keepers, how you've got a volunteer group internally that help to be intentional around your culture and to help plan events throughout the year. But the spiritual emphasis of 4Kids just really rang true as we had that conversation of how you have the weekly devotions, a prayer, even prayer hours every day, and the important theme of press on from Philippians 3. And I think that's something we can all feel at this point. Let's press on as we move ahead. Well, you know, conflict is something, again, in Christian organizations, that we have this Christian nice thing where we don't really encourage healthy conflict, and you've done a great job of managing that. Of course, Matthew 18 is a great place to start and just making sure that conflict doesn't fester, but it is dealt with. Trust is the foundation for good relationships, and you made a great point there. And your strategic vision, a three-year plan, 2024, where you're continuing to grow and expand to serve even more of South Florida. So that's been exciting to hear all that.

You know, is there anything else you'd like to add that we haven't talked about? This has just been great, Kevin.

Kevin: Thank you, Al. Yeah, I do. I'll take the opportunity and just go back in Philippians 3. A good brother in Christ, a staff member, taught at his church couple weeks ago, and I love that he went back for context and started teaching on Philippians 3, verse 8. And again, this is the foundation for all of us that call on Jesus as our Lord and Savior. And the key part of our strategic plan is to maintain authentic Christianity and deepen our foundation and spiritual intimacy with the Lord, not only for our staff, but for the families we serve. And in Philippians 3, verse 8, in the New Living Translation, says this, “Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my lord. For his sake, I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage so that I could gain Christ.” And it's just so powerful that we're here to encourage each other, you know, in our walk. But if we, you know, as brothers and sisters in Christ can get everybody focused on tapping into that infinite value of knowing Christ more. Matthew 6:33 has always been a great verse for me, right? “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these other things will be added unto thee.” You know, I think that that's just something that, again, we can encourage each other to do because we are with all these other amazing ministries on mission for God to help change our communities and change the world.

So, thank you for what you guys do, you and Giselle and the whole team. It’s a great partnership. And if anyone's listening to this and hasn't yet considered a relationship with Best Christian Workplace, I'm a huge advocate and would recommend that you reach out to them and get to know them because they care about you and your organization, and they want to make a kingdom impact. And so we're with them. Thank you, Al.

Al: Yeah. Thank you, Kevin. I just love that, the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Well, Kevin, I want to thank you for your contributions today, and most of all, from the depths of my heart, I appreciate your commitment to children and families to provide hope. Let's see, hope, homes, and healing, as you describe it. You and your organization provide tangible evidence of the love of Jesus every day. So thanks for taking your time out of this day and speaking into the lives of so many listeners. Thank you, Kevin.

Kevin: Thank you.

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