DENNIS BAKKE has been on a life-long crusade.  As a committed Christian and business leader, he wonders why both the corporate world and the ministry world continue to base their people policies on assumptions that don't pan out.  Management book titles over the last 20 years, says Bakke, are often biased with non-people, non-human terms, like "re-inventing," and "re-engineering"- things you typically do with machines, but not people. 

He shudders when ministries boast, "Our people are our most important asset!"  Bakke believes you buy assets, but people are people. The classic business equation of "Labor + Capital + Resources = Productivity," proves his point about how wrong-headed we think about people.  Unfortunately, businesses (and ministries) view people as part of a mathematical equation.

At The AES Corporation (www.aesc.com), which Bakke co-founded and where he remains on the board as Emeritus CEO, they began with a basic question, "What are our assumptions about people?"  This global power company with more than 40,000 people in 33 countries, has a refreshing view about its people and how to bless them.

Bakke believes that people do think clearly, they're creative, they're accountable and they're responsible adults. He says people are unique, they love to make decisions, they're trustworthy and - like their managers - they're fallible.  And, they want to be part of a cause. Those assumptions will dramatically change the way leaders lead, says Bakke - and he believes ministries are the perfect proving ground for showing the rest of the world how this works. 

For a day-long interactive baptism into this innovative approach to blessing your people, register for Bakke's all-day Monday workshop at CMA Colorado Springs, Feb. 24.   His topic: "The Biblical Model for Leading and Managing Your Team: Making the Ministry Workplace Fun by Giving Away Power and Decision-making!"  Steve Woodworth, president of MasterWorks Associates, a CMA Business member, attended Bakke's all-day CEO Dialogue in Seattle last year and told CMA, "This day will change the way I lead my company."  For more information, go to www.CMAonline.org.