Creating Environments That Bring Success Faster

Culture is the soil of your business—and the harvest you reap depends on how you tend it. We break down eight environments that turn good intentions into reliable results: collaborative, inclusive, innovative, supportive, growth-focused, learning-centered, accountable, and purpose-driven. Each one is grounded in Scripture, tested in real workplaces, and translated into steps you can implement without adding corporate fluff or complexity.

We start with collaboration that dissolves silos and honors diverse gifts, then move into inclusivity that reflects God’s impartial love and sparks better decisions. From there, we open space for innovation—creative work guided by prayer, ethical guardrails, and fast learning loops—before building a supportive culture that carries burdens, reduces burnout, and keeps talent thriving. We map a clear path for growth and learning with personal development plans, workshops, and peer teaching that make adaptability a daily habit, not a yearly retreat.

Accountability provides the backbone: clear roles, monthly feedback, and leaders who go first in humility. Finally, we anchor everything in purpose—linking every role to mission and impact so excellence becomes witness. Along the way, Harold shares a cautionary story of a toxic culture, practical tools like team huddles and cross-functional projects, and measurable outcomes like higher engagement, lower turnover, and stronger innovation. If you’re a Christian business owner, department head, or team lead, this is a field guide to building an environment where people grow, performance improves, and Christ’s light shines through everyday work.

If this helped you, share it with a leader who needs a fresh start, subscribe for new episodes, and leave a review with the one environment you’ll build first.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome, Mission, And Global Community
• 1:05 Growth Request And Shoutouts
• 2:11 Why Environment Shapes Godly Success
• 3:32 The Toxic Culture Story
• 4:33 The Garden Soil Analogy
• 5:21 Collaborative Environment
• 10:06 Inclusive Environment
• 13:14 Innovative Environment
• 17:25 Supportive Environment
• 20:04 Growth Environment
• 22:10 Learning Environment
• 23:46 Accountable Environment
• 26:03 Purpose-Driven Environment

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Welcome to the Christian Business Concepts with your host, Harold Milby. Christian Business Concepts is dedicated to guiding companies and business owners and becoming effective, efficient, and successful through God's Word and godly principles. Now, here's your host, Harold Milby.

SPEAKER_01: 0:17

Thanks again, Kelly, and welcome everyone to this week's Christian Business Concepts Podcast. I'm so glad that you've downloaded this podcast and have decided to join the CBC family today. You know, you're a part of a worldwide listening audience with people in over 20 countries who want to pursue true godly success. I just I'm asking if you would please help us to continue to grow the CBC family by sharing this podcast with four or five other people that you may feel that it'll help, and by adding a post on your Facebook and LinkedIn pages that you tell people about the podcast and put a link there on how they can get the podcast. So, you know, it's my sincerest hope and my prayer today that you are encouraged, enlightened, and empowered as you listen today. But before we get into today's topic, I want to give a big shout out to the country of Zambia, to the country of Zambia and to the city of Cedar City, Utah. So Cedar City, uh Cedar City is a new uh listening audience there that have decided to download some of our podcasts. We appreciate you there in Cedar City, and we also appreciate you, those of you that are in the country of Zambia. Welcome to the CBC family, and we're so glad that you've decided to be a part. And uh we thank all of those of you who listen every week, who are trying and striving to be uh better Christians, who are trying to be Christian business owners or trying to be um uh Christian department heads or whatever it may be, whatever that career is in your life, you're trying to use biblical principles to be better at what you do and to find that true godly success. And I thank you for that. I'm excited. Now, as uh Christian business leaders, you know, it's important, it's very important to be in that right environment uh that that fosters godly success, you know, in business and even in departments, you know, there there are specific environments that that we sometimes maybe call the culture of the company or culture of that department. And every every company uh has created these environments either purposely or involuntarily. Uh there are many types of environments. Some are good, some are not so good, and some are even harmful. I was once hired by a uh owner of a small company as a VP of sales and operations. And that uh the owner told me that he wanted to step back from the business and spend time on his hobby, and it didn't take me long to find out that this person had little to know about true um leadership. He didn't have uh very much leadership skills at all, and the company had a very horrible environment. In fact, it was very toxic. No one there ever smiled. Uh the way that the owner treated employees uh, you know, was the reason for that, uh, not surprising. Uh and it was sad because the company had great potential. But leading this, uh needless to say, I didn't stay there long. Uh that environment was not conducive to success. It was not conducive to growth either personally or uh as a company. You know, the environment of that company was not created purposely, I don't think, but but it was really just an extension of the owner's personality. And I felt really bad for the employees as you could see the lack of hope or encouragement that they had. So it's so important that that we create positive environments that breed success. Uh, and that we do that, it has to be done purposely. It doesn't just happen. It doesn't just by accident just take place, but you create those environments that you want to have, and you do that in a purposeful manner. And uh so anyway, I want to include a lot of those uh today in today's podcast. You know, it's it's like growing a garden. You know, your harvest is going to be greatly determined by the condition of your soil. So if you have really good soil, you're gonna have a good harvest. If you don't have good soil, if it lacks the right nutrients, if it doesn't have the right water runoff, if it doesn't absorb water in the right way, if it has too much clay in it. There's all kinds of things in soil that can hinder your garden from growing and producing a good harvest. And it's the same way in any business or department. You've got to have those right conditions, and you create that by having these different environments. So I want to talk to you today about several environments that you need to create within your department andor your business. And so let's talk about the first one. The first one is a collaborative environment. You know, a collaborative environment encourages your team members to work together towards shared goals. You know, you you leverage diverse skills and perspectives, but but you have open communication and you've got mutual respect and you've got collective problem solving. You know, 1 Corinthians 12 uh and verses 12 through 27 in the NIV, it just says, just as a body, though one has many parts, so it is with Christ. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. And this just illustrates the unity and the interdependence uh of God's people. It's like a body working together, you know, all the different parts of your body. You know, Ephesians chapter 4, verse 3 says, make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace. It again, it just emphasizes this collaboration uh for God's purposes. And and collaboration reflects God's design uh for a lot of diverse gifts. You know, you can you can read about that Romans chapter 12. It it fosters synergy and it reduces what I call silos. That's not a term I've come up with, but it's a common term uh because a lot of times in businesses things get stuck in silos, and you have all these multiple silos, and nobody's communicating with each other. They're just communicating within their silo. And uh so what we want to do is reduce silos and eliminate them if at all possible. And uh it also helps us to serve uh or or to align with that servant leadership uh that God calls us to. Uh, you know, in Philippians chapter two, verses three and four, it says, in humility, value others above yourself. And in business, uh, you know, this collaboration, it drives efficiency. It drives innovation. You know, a lot like Apple, you know, a lot like Apple products, you know, that their company, it's a very uh uh efficient business, but it's driven by innovation, which is driven by collaboration. They're really strong on collaboration. So what are some practical steps that you can take to create it? Well, first of all, you need to foster that open communication. We've talked about that. Open communication. Um, uh you can do that by using tools like Microsoft Teams. You can hold weekly meetings or huddles, or you can share ideas. Uh, the next thing you can do is organize team building. So have uh, you know, uh some special times together with your employees where you just kind of develop team building skills, um, maybe some service projects, maybe some community projects that you can do together. And then create some kind of cross-functional projects, you know, assign tasks uh that require input from different departments, and then make sure you find a way to reward teamwork. And uh and then make sure that you model humility, you know, admit your mistakes, seek input. Uh, and uh, you know, that again goes back to 1 Corinthians chapter 12 when we look at the analogy, analogy of the body. So collaboration boosts productivity in most cases by 20 to 30 percent. So there's a reason for doing it just right there. Uh, and that's according to many business studies. Uh, it reduces turnover, it creates a great testimony of Christian unity uh and spirituality, and it just fosters this workplace where employees feel valued. Uh, so that's important. So the next environment is an inclusive environment. An inclusive environment ensures that every individual, regardless of what their background is, what their gender is, ethnicity is, or ability, they feel valued, they feel respected and empowered to be a contributor, uh, to be fully active. And what we're trying to do here is remove the barriers. And we want to celebrate diversity. I want to celebrate different people. You know, it's easy to hire people that are like you. We get a little uncomfortable when we begin to hire people that are not like us, but can you imagine a company filled with people just like yourself? Uh, I think you're gonna get stuck. I think you're not gonna be as innovative, and I don't think you'll be as efficient, and I think that you will limit your success. So you want diversity. You want diversity within your company, diversity in education, diversity in experiences and age and and genders. Uh, you want to have this diversity uh and you want to have this inclusivity uh because that really reflects God's impartial love. Because God says in Acts chapter 10, verses 34, 35, he says God does not show favoritism. Uh it, you know, it just kind of creates division, and what we want to do is have justice and equity. You know, in business, uh diverse perspectives, that's what drives innovation. Everybody brings to bear their experiences and their background. And uh so that's what we do need to create, this inclusive environment. So, how do we do that? Well, you need to have training with people, you need to have some workshops and try to explain why you need different types of backgrounds in education and those types of things. Um, you know, you need to implement some inclusive policies, you know, make sure that your HR department understands what you're looking for, what you need, that they they don't need to try to find another you, um, you know, and uh you want to make sure that you've got a lot of flexible work options because you want to attract a lot of different people, right? Uh and then make sure you celebrate, celebrate diversity, you know, celebrate that diversity. Um, and then make sure that you, you know, maybe mentor underrepresented groups, you know. You you just want to model Christ's inclusivity by investing in a lot of diverse talent. You know, inclusivity, it really increases engagement by up to 50%. It enhances creativity, it leads to better decisions, and spiritually, it demonstrates God's love, fulfilling that great commission. All right, let's move on to the next environment. So the next environment is an innovative environment, and you want to have an innovative environment and encourage creativity, you know, uh uh, and especially experimentation. That's that's a great thing. You know, you want to be forward thinking where ideas are freely shared and failure is a learning opportunity. It's not a it's not a negative thing. You want to learn from those failures, but there's nothing wrong with failure. And uh so you you want these ideas there, and you want it you want people to feel free to share those ideas and try those experiments and try things out. You know, Genesis 1 and 1 says, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. You know, God has a creative nature, very, very creative nature. And so innovation, it just really honors God's creativity. I mean, it drives progress, obviously, to solve problems. Uh you can see that in Proverbs 2 and 6. So, what are some practical steps that we need to take to encourage and to have that type of environment? Well, you can encourage idea sharing. I think that you you set up innovative type uh opportunities, do some brainstorming sessions. I think that's important. Uh, you can pray for wisdom. I think that's another great thing. It's very important to do. So you and you want to reward risk taking. You don't want to shut people down who take risks. You want to reward that because you celebrate those attempts, even if it's it ends in failures, because they're learning steps, right? So provide some resources, allocate some uh uh allocate some time and some tools. You know, maybe you can you can look at like um auto have an AutoCAD, providing AutoCAD for certain areas, and there's all kinds of software out there that you can try and that will help you. And uh and and uh you know, foster curiosity, you know, offer training. Uh I would really encourage you to offer training in creative thinking. Uh and of course that's tied to Proverbs chapter 9, verse 10. Uh, but you can do that. I I would definitely say that's uh like a number one thing you can do is offer some creative thinking training. And uh how to integrate faith, you know, start innovation, uh, you know, initiatives with prayer, and you want to have good ethical creativity, and let God give you that. I'm not the most creative person in the world, but I pray for creativity on a regular basis because I know I don't have that creativity. And I gotta tell you something, God answers those prayers. There's many times that I need to be creative, and God will make a way and give me the ideas that I need to have. So that's important. So let's look at the fourth environment. The fourth environment is a supportive environment. You know, a supportive environment provides emotional, practical, and even spiritual encouragement. And that really ensures that your team members feel like they're cared for, that they feel empowered to overcome challenges. Uh, you know, Galatians 6 and 2 says, carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Uh 1 Thessalonians 5 and 11 says, therefore, encourage one another and build up each other. And again, that just kind of emphasizes a lot of mutual support. So, so support reflects this Christ compassion uh that he was always a great example of. And it builds resilience, uh, it helps to counter burnout. So in business, it really fosters a lot of loyalty, and uh it really, you know, creates this culture uh within the company that you're very supportive. So, what can you do? Well, you know, you can offer a mentorship, you can put employees together to try to help them mentor other employees and give them guidance. Um, you can provide like wellness resources, you can implement some counseling or flexible policies, uh, encourage open dialogue, you know, and create safe spaces for sharing. Uh, that's important. Uh, and recognize people's efforts, you know, use affirmations and lead with empathy, share testimonies of God's support to inspire faith. And this support, it really reduces absenteeism, according to a lot of studies, even by up to 30%. And it really fosters this great caring community, and uh you get the opportunity to witness Christ's love. And uh I think it's it's pretty pretty powerful. Uh so the next uh growth environment is a uh or next environment is a growth environment. You know, a growth environment prioritizes personal and professional development. Uh it really encourages people to have some type of a continuous improvement program for their skills, their character, and even their faith so that they can achieve God's purpose in their life. You know, Philippians 3, 12 through 14 says, not that I've already obtained all of this, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me, straining toward what is ahead. So Paul's pursuit really reflected growth towards maturity. He said, I haven't got there yet, but I'm striving for it. So he saw the need for growth. You know, Luke 14 in uh verses 28 through 30 uh is the analogy that Jesus gave of counting the cost for building a tower because it emphasizes emphasizes this preparation, this preparation for growth. Um, you know, a growth environment really aligns with God's call to mature, to mature in Christ, mature as a person. And uh so in business, it really drives performance uh and it fuels growth. And spiritually, it really reflects sowing for spiritual maturity, according to James 1 and 4. So, how can we do that? How can we establish this growth environment? Well, first you got to set some growth goals. So you need to encourage employees to set personal and professional goals, you know, uh that are tied really uh to Colossians 1 and 10, for example, bearing fruit in every good work, it says. So we we want to encourage them to set some goals, but then you want to provide some help. So you want to provide some workshops, maybe some certifications, uh, quality assurance training programs, leadership programs. Um, and so you want to provide this kind of training for your for your employees. And then you want to celebrate the progress, you know, recognize those milestones that they have and have some rewards. Um, you know, I think that's important. And and and do everything that you can to help these employees develop a personal growth plan, one that affects them personally, but then also professionally. And I think you can help them do that. So I think that's important because growth environments increase productivity by 25%, according to studies. And it and it fosters a lot of spiritual maturity too. It aligns teams with God's purpose, uh, which is growth. Again, growth is so important. Uh, and then here's another environment which I think is it kind of couples with this uh one that we just talked about, uh, and that is a learning environment. A learning environment really promotes continuous education, curiosity, and skill development, and encourages employees to seek knowledge and wisdom in their own uh work and even in their faith. You know, 2 Timothy 3, 16 through 17 says, all scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. So this really emphasizes learning for being equipped, you know, being prepared. Um, you know, Proverbs 2.6 says, For the Lord gives wisdom, from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding. So learning really reflects the pursuit of God's wisdom and it equips people for service. You know, in business, it really drives a lot of uh adaptability. Um, you know, so you want to have this environment, this great environment of learning. You know, you want to you want people to learn. And and learning takes a lot of forms. You don't have to have, you know, send somebody to college to learn. Nothing wrong with going to college, but there's a lot of other opportunities. There's things online, there's podcasts, there's there's uh uh uh training programs that you can enroll in that are day-long training sessions or two or three-day seminars. There's all kinds of ways, but you want to have a learning environment, and that's something that you create again purposely. So you have to figure out a way what is going to be the way that you help your employees learn. It's very important because it boosts a lot of innovation uh as people learn new things and they apply them. So that's important. All right, another environment is an accountable environment. An accountable environment ensures really clear expectations. Um, you know, I think a lot of honest feedback, a lot of mutual responsibility. Uh it encourages integrity. I think that's important. You know, Proverbs 27, 17 says, as iron sharpens iron, so one part person sharpens another. And that kind of highlights mutual accountability. Uh you know, Galatians 6.1 says, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. So there's not only this mutual accountability, but there's this loving accountability too. Because accountability uh fosters this idea of integrity. Uh, you know, uh in Hebrews chapter 10, it talks a lot about trying to urge uh people to help uh one another, to encourage one another towards good deeds. And in business, it really helps us to ensure alignment with our goals. So that's important. So what can we do? What are some practical steps? Well, first set clear, very clear expectations. So you got to define the roles and the goals. I think it's important that in every management position and in mostly every position in your company, you should have a job description, a job description. Because what happens a lot of times is employees don't really know what's expected of them, and then all of a sudden they get called in on the carpet for something they really didn't even know was their responsibility, and so they leave feeling very discouraged. So you want to be able to have these job descriptions so that employees know exactly what's expected of them. They even know when they're doing a good job because they can compare it to what they understand from the job description. So I think that's really important. I think that's really important. So give very clear expectations, provide regular feedback. Uh, I would say at least monthly. You ought to review, sit down, and have some guidance and some performance uh uh advice for them to help them. Uh and you need to have some uh you know some peer-to-peer accountability. So you want to encourage team check-ins, you know, again, like that that verse we read, like iron sharpens iron. I think that's um important. And uh I think you you again you model integrity. Make sure you admit mistakes, seek forgiveness, you know. I I think that's important. I think that's important, and people see that that is really uh the opportunity to help create uh this accountable environment. You know, if you're if you're gonna be successful in business or even in a department or an organization, you have to have this absolute um uh environment of accountability. So what's the next one? Well, this next one uh is is really uh I think important. It it's a purpose-driven environment. You know, Steve Jobs said, be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected. So we need to have this purpose, you know, a purpose-driven environment because that aligns our work with our mission. Uh, it really inspires employees to see their roles as part of, you know, not just the overall vision of the company, but even as God's kingdom work, you know, because you you're trying to help foster meaning and direction. You know, you want to have a purpose-driven environment. You know, Matthew 5 and 16 says, let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. So this is emphasizing purpose. In this case, purpose and glorifying God. You know, Ephesians chapter 2 says, we are God's handiwork, created in Christ to do good works, which God has prepared in advance for us to do them. I think it's really important to create these environments. A purpose-driven environment connects work to our mission, it helps us to stand against aimlessness. I mean, that's the worst thing a business can have is just no aim at anything. Uh, it drives motivation and uh I just think it fosters maturity. Uh so what can we do? How can we create that? Well, you know, what you want to do is you want to define your mission. You want to define the vision and the mission of your company or organization. You need to have a very good mission statement. Um you need to make sure you connect every role to the purpose that you have established. Um, you can share a lot of examples, a lot of testimonies to highlight how work impacts lives and how it inspires purpose. Uh, I think those are those are great. And you need to celebrate the impact uh that the organization uh has because of its purpose, you know, and recognize those contributions that advance the mission, advance the vision. I think that's important too. So purpose-driven environments increase engagement, according to studies, by 40%, and it really inspires employees to live out their faith, uh, impacting the marketplace for Christ, which is what we're talking about. You know, creating these collaborative, these inclusive, innovative, supportive growth, learning, accountable and purpose-driven environments, it's really a calling uh for Christian business leaders to reflect God's kingdom. These environments, I think, prepare our organizations for leadership and and to really seek accountability from other believers. And uh, you know, I just pray that that your workplace can be a place of light where it draws others, you know, to Christ. Lord, we thank you today for the ability and the responsibility, Lord, to create the proper environment in our lives, in our careers that will help us find your success. Lord, we pray right now that you give us the courage, the desire, and the focus to apply these principles and create those proper environments. Lord, let us see their importance to not only our lives, but to the lives of those we affect. In the name of Jesus, Lord, we thank you for it. Praise you for it, Lord. Amen and amen. Well, thanks again for downloading this week's uh Christian Business Concepts Podcast. We're so thankful that you're a part uh of CBC. Continue to pray for CBC and continue to pray for the impact that we can have on Christian business and Christian business leaders. Well, that's all the time we have for for this week. So until next time, remember Jesus is Lord and He wants you blessed.

SPEAKER_00: 28:39

Thank you for tuning into this week's Christian Business Concepts Podcast. Go to Christian Business Concepts.com for more information and resources. Be sure to check out other podcasts that will help you take your business and your personal life to a whole new level of success.