To be a good steward of what God has given you, you want to pursue organizational excellence. You want your organization’s professional development to result in increased achievement of your God-given mission.

Question: To what extent are your administration and staff are involved in ongoing professional development that promotes mission achievement? To answer this question, respond to the following 4 statements with brutal honesty:

(1) ___% of our administration and staff have 1 or more individual professional development SMART goals that are a function of achieving our mission.

• More than 90% (5 points)
  
• 90% (4 points)
  
• 80% or more (meets standard, 3 points)
  
• 70% or more (2 points)
  
• Less than 70% (1 point)

(2) ___% of our administration and staff are involved in ongoing professional development.

• More than 90% (5 points)
  
• 90% (4 points)
  
• 80% or more (meets standard, 3 points)
  
• 70% or more (2 points)
  
• Less than 70% (1 point)

(3) Our professional development program ___ is a function of increasing mission achievement.

• consistently and systemically (5 points)
  
• consistently (4 points)
  
• generally (meets standard, 3 points)
  
• sometimes (2 points)
  
• rarely (1 point)

(4) Our professional development activities ___ result in increased mission achievement.

• consistently and systemically (5 points)
  
• consistently (4 points)
  
• generally (meets standard, 3 points)
  
• sometimes (2 points)
  
• rarely (1 point)

Now that you have responded to the 4 items, total up your points, divide the total by 4 to get your overall score, and use the following scale to analyze your overall score:

• 4.5+ Excellent
  
• 3.5-4.5 Above standard
  
• 3.0-3.4 Meets standard
  
• 2.0-2.9 Developing
  
• > 2 Starting

If your professional development score is 4.5+, I suggest you focus your energy elsewhere. If your professional development score is less than 4.5, identify possible action steps you can use to take your professional development to the next level. Here are 4 options:

(1) Identify who has yet to develop a SMART goal that is a function of achieving the mission. Communicate with them about the overall goal, and set a deadline for them to develop an appropriate SMART goal. Provide them with support, encouragement, and accountability.

(2) Identify who is not yet involved in ongoing professional development. Communicate with them about the overall goal, and set a deadline for them get involved in ongoing professional development. Provide them with support, encouragement, and accountability.

(3) Increase training results by…

• Encouraging each person to attend training with a colleague.
  
• Encouraging each person to use training within 24 hours of the training session.
  
• Providing the post-training support, encouragement, and accountability each individual needs in order to consistently apply the training to close the gap.

(4) Design more effective professional development. Effective professional development…

• Targets closing the gap
  
• Results in using knowledge and skills, not in having knowledge and skills
  
• Is ongoing
  
• Is data-driven
  
• Is job-embedded
  
• Is research-based
  
• Involves using knowledge and skills during the training session
  
• Involves reflection
  
• Involves teams
  
• Involves follow-up

The real question: What 2-3 actions will you use to take your professional development to the next level?

Steward what God has given you. Develop and use a professional development program that increases mission achievement. Pursue excellence today.