Your Business Success Isn't Just About Financial Metrics—It's About Eternal Impact

Christian business leaders need to measure beyond traditional key performance indicators by adopting Kingdom Performance Indicators (KPIs) that track eternal impact. These new metrics reveal why we're doing business and who we're truly impacting beyond immediate stakeholders.

• Traditional KPIs measure financial and operational performance but fall short of measuring kingdom impact
• The shopping cart story illustrates how small acts of stewardship reflect our approach to business and leadership
• Kingdom Performance Indicators might include charitable impact, volunteer hours, or testimonials from affected lives
• Define your "why" with eternal significance—understand your purpose beyond providing products or generating profit
• Implement the 3H framework: Heart (demonstrating love), Home (cultivating culture), Hands (using resources to serve)
• Intentionally measure kingdom impact with SMART goals and regular assessment
• True success transcends the bottom line and creates a legacy of positive impact

Go and grow champions.

Thanks for listening in to the Uncommon Leader Podcast. Please take just a minute to share this podcast with that someone you know that you thought of when you heard this episode. One of the most valuable things you can do is to rate the podcast and leave a review. You can do that on Apple podcasts, or rate the podcast on Spotify or any other platform you listen.

Did you know that many of the things that I discuss on the Uncommon Leader Podcast are subjects that I coach other leaders and organizations ? If you would be interested in having me discuss 1:1 or group coaching with you, or know someone who is looking to move from Underperforming to Uncommon in their business or life, I would love to chat with you. Click this link to set up a FREE CALL to discuss how coaching might benefit you and your team)

Until next time, Go and Grow Champions!!

Connect with me

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Here's the critical question Are those traditional
key performance indicatorsenough for a Christian business
leader to measure?
They tell us how well we'reperforming financially, how
efficiently we might beoperating, but they often fall
short of telling us why we'redoing it or who we're truly
impacting beyond our immediatestakeholders, and that's where
Kingdom Performance IndicatorsKPIs a new KPI really comes into

(00:23):
play.
Hey, uncommon Leaders, welcomeback to the After Show.
I'm your host, john Gallagher,and I'm excited to share with
you another episode pertainingto a recent conversation I had
on the Uncommon Leader podcast,designed to ultimately inspire,

(00:44):
encourage and equip you forgreater impact as a leader.
I'm glad you're taking the timeto meet with me today.
Recently, I had the privilege ofchatting with Rich Sanders,
who's the author of theChristian Capitalist, and his
perspective on integrating faithand business aligns really well
with the topic that I want tochat with you about today.
I would encourage you to goback and listen to the entire
episode and share it with others.

(01:05):
I think you'll find it veryinsightful and I'll put a link
to the episode in the show notesfor this after show.
But let's go ahead and getstarted Now.
In light of that conversation,I was taken back to a recent
presentation I was able to dowith a group of about 25
Christian business leaders abouta topic that's been close to my
heart recently and that'skingdom impact.

(01:25):
I got to tell you theconversations that we had as a
result of that topic were richand thought-provoking and I just
thought I wanted to sharereally the main topic of that
presentation with you here, thelisteners, so that you could
hear from it.
Today we're going to unpack acrucial concept from that
presentation.
It's how to define success inbusiness, not just by the
traditional metrics that we talkabout, those key performance

(01:49):
indicators, but something alittle bit deeper kingdom
performance indicators.
So what exactly is kingdomimpact?
Well, to illustrate that, letme take you back to a seemingly
ordinary moment in my life.
It involves a grocery storeparking lot and something we've
all encountered the abandonedshopping cart.
You know the ones, the onesthat are left alone in the

(02:10):
parking lot, wandering aimlesslylike sheep that are lost as
well, but ultimately they're insearch of what we know is
another car in the parking lotthat they can go up and nestle,
nest to and bump into andultimately create a scratch on
somebody's vehicle.
That we don't want to happenFor me.
Those stray carts have become abit of a personal reflection

(02:33):
point for me.
It reminded me of a specifictime back in Fort Wayne, indiana
, around Christmas time 2002, apivotal moment when God's grace
basically intersected with mewhen somebody got behind me in
the checkout line at the grocerystore when I was pushing one of
those big shopping carts, andultimately gave me a tap on the
shoulder, something that Ineeded inside of my life.

(02:53):
Ultimately, it was a pastor inthe local community who ended up
inviting me and my family tochurch that we were in search of
, and it became restorative forus as a family.
It taught me that even some ofthe smallest moments can have
profound consequences.
So those shopping carts becomevery important to me, and it's

(03:14):
recognizing, ultimately, thosesmall things as business leaders
that we're stewards of ourresources far just beyond our
finances.
We're entrusted with ourtalents, our time and our
treasure to achieve a biggerimpact in our communities, in
our homes and, frankly, in theworld that we can use those
gifts to tangibly positivelymake a difference.

(03:36):
It's not just solely for profitthat we're looking to run our
business or to run ourdepartment in terms of what's
happening, but as a vehicle forthe purpose that we're trying to
carry out.
It echoes the parable of thetalents as well in the Bible
Ultimately, that we're called toinvest and multiply what we've
been given for a greater return,not just for ourselves but for

(03:57):
His glory.
And I think it's something thatbecomes again from a purpose
standpoint, not just about doinggood things, like pushing the
shopping cart back into thecorral where it's supposed to go
, but utilizing again ourresources and not being selfish.
It's about bringing thatpurpose into the very fabric of
our life, of our business.

(04:19):
So let's get a little bitpractical in terms of the
conversation.
We're all fluent in the keyperformance indicator world in
terms of business metrics,whether those are tracking
revenue, profit margins, marketshare, acquisition costs for a
customer or a customer service,or even employee turnover rates
in our business or employeeengagement.
And let's be clear, thesemetrics are all vital.

(04:39):
A healthy, sustainable businessis essential, but, as I was
reminded by a nun in charge of aCatholic hospital in Chicago
one time, if there's no money,there can be no mission.
So we've got to be able to runour business in a profitable way
if we want to have kingdomimpact.
This is not really about whatthis podcast episode is about is

(05:00):
how to run our business, butultimately recognizing that we
need a solid foundation tooperate and to have the
resources we need to make anykind of kingdom impact that we
want to make.
We shouldn't be afraid ofmaking a profit as an
organization, especially ifwe're stewarding those resources
well for the future.
But here's the criticalquestion Are those traditional

(05:20):
key performance indicatorsenough for a Christian business
leader to measure?
Traditional key performanceindicators enough for a
Christian business leader tomeasure?
They tell us how well we'reperforming financially, how
efficiently we might beoperating, but they often fall
short of telling us why we'redoing it or who we're truly
impacting beyond our immediatestakeholders.
And that's where KingdomPerformance Indicators KPIs a

(05:41):
new KPI really comes into play,a different lens through which
we measure success.
They're designed to gauge theimpact of your business on the
world, on the lives ofindividuals, and how
authentically you're aligningwith your values in your
operations.
So what might these KPIs looklike in the real world?
Consider some of these examples.
Maybe you might think about thenumber of lives that are

(06:02):
tangibly being impacted by yourcompany's charitable giving
initiatives.
Or what about the number oflives that are tangibly being
impacted by your company'scharitable giving initiatives?
Or what about the totalvolunteer hours your employees
contribute to worthy causes andyou still pay them for those
volunteer hours?
Or how about heartfelttestimonials from employees
about the impact you've made onthem and on their families
outside of the workplace, oreven those whose lives have been

(06:24):
changed positively by theimpact that your volunteers have
made inside the organization?
Many times I've heard ofstories of people digging wells
for people in differentcountries who don't have clean
drinking water, or even somebodyparticipating in a day of
service at a baseball field tohelp those with special needs.

(06:45):
And these are just a fewexamples and they might vary
depending on your workplace.
They might vary depending onyour values or, frankly, they
might vary depending on your ownunique calling and what is most
important to you.
That's why that, why developingthat?
Why developing that?
So that, as I often talk about,is so critical.
So how do we move from thesimply tracking key performance

(07:08):
indicators to activelycultivating and measuring
kingdom performance indicators?
I've got three key principlesthat emerged from my recent
presentation that I think willhelp you to move in that
direction, as I already talkedabout.
First, you want to define yourwhy with eternal significance as
a part of it.
That all starts with clarity.
What is the ultimate purpose ofyour business beyond just

(07:30):
providing a product or serviceand generating a great profit?
What problem are you trulysolving for someone, and how can
that be connected later to akingdom-oriented vision?
And when your why is rooted inyour faith and a desire to see
God's will in the marketplace,it naturally leads to a focus on
impact.

(07:51):
Secondly, you can implement the3H framework.
Drawing from 1 Peter, 4, 8 to10,.
We can use a simple frameworkto guide our actions.
It's 3Hs.
Think about your heart first.
How are you demonstrating love,compassion and grace in your
workplace with your employees,customers and their community?
The second H is your home.

(08:12):
What kind of culture are youcultivating inside of your
workplace?
Is it one of support, integrityand growth?
That would be like a home, oris it much more difficult than
that?
And the third is to examineyour hands.
How are you actively using yourgifts, talents and resources
God has given your business toserve others?
It's as simple as sometimesvolunteering to just go move the

(08:34):
shopping carts back into thegarage or into the store so that
somebody's car doesn't getdamaged and has an expense they
have to deal with.
It really can be that simpleand it's that difficult as well.
And third, you have tointentionally measure what truly
matters.
If you're going to make akingdom impact, you have to
measure kingdom impact.
If you're going to make akingdom impact, you have to

(08:55):
measure kingdom impact Just asyou meticulously track your
financial KPIs.
Be deliberate about thosekingdom performance indicators
as well.
Set measurable time-bound goalsfor your kingdom impact.
I talk about SMART goals in aprevious episode of the After
Show and I think it's veryimportant to be measurable and
time-based.
Don't make it complicated, butit does have to be intentional

(09:17):
and then regularly assess yourprogress to those goals,
celebrate the wins and adjustwhen you're not getting to where
you want to go.
It's just like measuring toyour key performance indicators,
but that accountability, thatmeasurement, that tracking,
visual indicators, setting agoal and writing it down is
going to help you make a biggerdifference.
So those are the three ways Ithink you can really make a

(09:37):
difference with regards tokingdom performance indicators.
Define your why, implement the3H framework of heart, home and
hands, and intentionally measure, in a smart way, what truly
matters.
So I want to leave you withthis challenge.
Take some time to brainstormand identify at least three
potential kingdom performanceindicators for your home, for

(09:58):
your church or for yourworkplace that you could start
tracking and see if it doesn'tmake a big difference in your
life and the lives of othersaround you.
Even those small, intentionalsteps in this direction can
create significant ripples.
Think about that legacy thatyou want to build.
What's the story you want to betold about your business, not
just in terms of financialsuccess, but in terms of those

(10:19):
lives that you've touched andthe positive impact that you've
made.
It's about recognizing thattrue success, the kind that
lasts for eternity, goes farbeyond the bottom line.
It's about aligning ourbusiness with God's greater
purpose and actively workingtoward kingdom impact.
So thanks so much for tuning intoday.
I hope this has inspired andequipped you to think

(10:39):
differently about success inyour business.
And until next time, go andgrow champions.
And that wraps up anotherepisode of the Uncommon Leader
Podcast.
Thanks for tuning in today.
If you found value in thisepisode, I encourage you to
share it with your friends,colleagues or anyone else who
could benefit from the insightsand inspiration we've shared.
Also, if you have a moment, I'dgreatly appreciate if you could

(11:02):
leave a rating and review onyour favorite podcast platform.
Your feedback not only helps usto improve, but it also helps
others discover the podcast andjoin our growing community of
uncommon leaders.
Until next time, go and growchampions.