Kingdom Class.
Radical Impact.
Highest and Best Use.
If you take the time to read any of ADG’s publications, you see these phrases sprinkled liberally throughout the writing. Hopefully you come away from each article with the feeling that each concept is genuine and not just a buzz phrase. Hopefully they challenge you. Because these concepts are coming from a group of individuals who each feel personally called to see the concepts instilled in the lives of individuals and in companies…for Radical Impact on both. And I know this because of the time I get to spend with them.
My role on this team consists very much of that: spending time with the leadership team, listening to and observing the steps taken by them on a daily basis to ensure that ADG’s key concepts never devolve into nothing more than motivational posters. To say you should be jealous of me is an understatement. The decades of experience, the wisdom, the humility…each team member has all of that and more in spades. As I get to know each one on a more personal level, I get to discover their “why” when it comes to the concepts that are held here in such high regard.
Recently, we gathered on a conference call to talk about the ever-growing number of individuals who are a part of the 3 (soon to be 4) ADG Portfolio Companies. As is many times the case, I had prepared a few specific questions related to what was happening from their point of view that exhibited Kingdom Class, what challenges we were facing and what new opportunities were on the horizon. As we visited, a theme began to develop, something that took the concept of Highest and Best Use to a deeper level.
The theme was that of tragedy.
On the call, a participant made this observation: “One of the greatest tragedies in life is for someone to be 'living' without really ever finding their place. We see these people functioning in a position that, for them is 'out of place', a position where they are simply not connecting with their full potential, where they are not flowing in the stream in which they were designed, created even, to flow.” There was a moment of pause as everyone pondered this statement. In your minds eye, you could almost see the people that each person on the call was picturing, either people they are interacting with currently, or someone from their past, someone who was never really satisfied with life and was just “living out of their best place."
As the discussion continued, the phrase “Kingdom Class” came up again. However, in this context, it was presented as a mandate. For this group of leaders, Kingdom Class was a mandate to do everything in their power to ensure each person under their care or inside their sphere of influence was provided the direction and opportunity to apply their hearts and minds in their "best place", to operate in their Highest and Best Use. A continual drive to put right people in right seats and equip them to live their Highest and Best Use is an ADG mandate, a Kingdom Class approach, and a core best business practice.
I could go on. Ultimately, the point is 1) that these concepts really aren’t just buzz phrases but are living, breathing principles that have tangible impact on individuals and corporate cultures and 2) this is just a snapshot of what is happening each day as this team of leaders seeks to operate in a way that, truly, is Kingdom Class.
So stay connected to what is happening with ADG. Then you won’t have to be quite as envious of my spot.
Stephen Leckenby serves as ADG's Director of Communications