Round Table FAQs
What is a Truth At Work Round Table?
It is a four hour monthly meeting of 8-15 Christian business owners, CEOs, Presidents, Executives, and business leaders who impact change in their company. Each Round Table is led by a certified trained facilitator who work together to help each other grow and lead their businesses based on biblical principles and practices.
What types and sizes of companies are represented?
Members represent all sized companies and industries. Members range from sole proprietors, to business owners, to CEOs, and Presidents of divisions from large multi-national companies, as well as Executive Directors from leading non-profit organizations. Annual revenues of our membership range from a few hundred thousand dollars to hundreds of millions of dollars per year. Number of employees range from sole proprietors to organizations with hundreds of employees. Dozens of industries are represented including, but not limited to, manufacturing, retail, financial services, transportation and distribution. Professionals, such as, doctors, attorneys, and CPAs find our program very rewarding.
Who develops the content for the meetings?
Our Round Table content is developed by the Truth At Work team in conjunction with a Christian content company called Good Comma Editing. From time to time we also incorporate other leading business and thought experts from a wide variety of disciplines and areas of expertise.
How long has the program existed?
The first Round Table group was launched in April 2000 and today there are more than 750 participating members in over 20 cities across America.
What is the Round Table Content Portal?
It is an online digital delivery system of the Truth At Work proprietary monthly Round Table program. The Content Portal contains several key elements that offer value to our members including Round Table content, additional resources that help our members incorporate faith with good business practices, and more. A Community Forum is available that allows Christian business leaders from across the country to connect in meaningful ways and give counsel on business and spiritual issues. We continue to develop our portal to meet the needs of our business leaders and continue their personal, business, and spiritual development.
How is this program different from other small group programs in my church or area?
It is a true peer group for Christian business owners, Presidents, CEOs and key executives. The model provides true ROI in terms of business improvements in the organizations of participants. The content and model is designed for instant application in the real world of business and today’s marketplace. It is a Christ-centered, biblically principled business and professional development and growth program, not a Bible study or small group program. It has been proven for decades with hundreds of business owners and leaders across the country.
What is the financial investment to participate as a Round Table Member?
There are various formats, price points and programs available for all sized companies and budgets.
The Round Table formats are:
1. Established Enterprise Group- for owners/leaders of larger businesses to meet in an environment of their peers.
2. Sole Proprietor/Start up Group- for owners of small businesses to meet with others at a similar stage in business.
The Truth at Work Round Table model is facilitated by a professionally trained and certified Truth at Work Chapter President. The Chapter President is an independent licensed agent, and is generally a professional business consultant or coach building their group(s) as a profession. In addition to facilitating monthly meetings, the Chapter President meets individually with members for additional coaching and consulting. Groups facilitated by Chapter Presidents are designed for owners, Presidents, CEOs and “C” level executives of companies or organizations. This adds significant value for all members because of the collective wisdom and experience of participants. Following the suggested Truth at Work guidelines, the Chapter President sets the pricing for participation in the group.
What are the terms to participate in a Round Table?
The initial commitment is either six or twelve months (depending on format), and then a month to month commitment with a 30 day cancellation policy.
Why is Truth At Work a non-profit rather than a for-profit organization?
From its very inception, the vision of Truth At Work has been to be a ministry with a national impact and footprint. The founders of the organization understood that if God were to grow the organization to have a national membership with hundreds or perhaps even thousands of members, that database would be of high value and of strong interest to many individuals and companies across the country. Imagine what some might be willing to pay for the ability to market programs and services to a large database of successful CEOs, Presidents, business owners and executives on a national basis. It could be worth millions of dollars. In order to protect the integrity of the relationships with all members, the founders of Truth At Work determined it would be most appropriate that they “own” nothing in it. As a non-profit organization, the founders and staff of the organization cannot sell the membership base to any organization or individual, and do not have the ability to sell the organization or any of its products, programs and services. The organization is accountable to a full and functioning Board of Directors, who help guide and watch over all aspects of Truth At Work. It is our firm belief that this approach and structure allows Truth At Work to maintain the highest level of integrity in its relationships with its membership base.
If Truth At Work is a non-profit organization, why is there a charge for members to participate?
First, Truth At Work Round Table groups provide tremendous value to members. Every meeting presents innovative content paired with discussions that help our members grow their businesses and leadership skill sets. The program provides real business value that is worth much more than it costs to participate. Consider what it would cost to gather a group of advisors, experts, and consultants each month to help you process real business issues. That alone could cost thousands of dollars per month. By providing our members with a Christian Board of Advisors, the value of participation is tremendous. Additionally, Truth At Work charges a monthly dues fee structure in order to help us meet our operational costs and budgets so that we can continue to offer our high quality products, programs, and services to compensate professional content developers and meet our production costs. It is helpful to think of the program dues along the lines of paying tuition for education at a Christian college or university, but in this case, it is for participating in a Christ-centered, biblically principled personal and professional development program. Many ministries focus a large percentage of their time on raising funds for ongoing operational sustainability. By having a fee structure attached to its programs, Truth At Work is able to maintain focus on the personal relationships with our participating members, while allowing to fairly compensate our staff and local Chapter Presidents for their efforts in serving Round Table group members.
Are all members committed Christians or are some still considered “seekers”?
We cannot know what is in the heart of any of our individual members, only they and God know the depth of their relationship and commitment to Him. What we can say is that every participating has signed our Statement of Faith indicating their agreement to it and that they personally believe what it says. While we are committed to encouraging and equipping members to conduct outreach and ministry in and through their organizations, a big part of the “value proposition” of participating is the ability for members to receive “Godly counsel” on their opportunities, challenges, and issues. We believe that in order to give “Godly counsel” to other members, each person must have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit through a personal relationship to God through Jesus Christ. All members must sign to indicate that they are in agreement with the Truth at Work Statement of Faith.
What is the criteria to participate?
Prospective members must sign off agreement to our Statement of Faith. Must be in control of your calendar in order to attend the monthly Round Table meetings. These are business meetings held during business hours. Members must be in a position to implement applicable new ideas and “Best Practices” learned in meetings. Members must also value yourself enough as a leader to invest in yourself each month with your time and financial resources.
Executive Round Table Formats
Different formats ensure each group is comprised of a true peer environment.
Established Enterprise Round Table
This group type is our regular, monthly, four-hour roundtable comprised of members who are business owners, CEOs, division presidents, and executive directors from leading non-profit organizations. Annual revenues for this membership range from one hundred thousand dollars to hundreds of millions per year. The number of employees ranges from teams of 3-5 to organizations with hundreds. Roundtable members represent dozens of industries.
Sole Proprietor Round Table
This group type is a monthly, three-hour version of the standard roundtable. It is comprised of sole proprietors, independent consultants/contractors, and owners from smaller enterprises. The focus of the group is on content and community that wrestles with issues related to businesses without established employees or a management team base.
Top Leaders Round Table
This group type is for key individuals or leaders within our established enterprise roundtable member’s companies. This monthly, three-hour format provides a similar forum relative to content and context as our standard group. It does so with those not leading an entire enterprise, but who still want to develop patterns of integrating faith and work.
The Round Table deliver best practices utilized by cutting-edge organizations and leaders, providing participants with tremendous business value. This model has helped hundreds of Christian business leaders over the last decade. Truth at Work Round Table feature a structured and proven content in a format that addresses the relevant issues and challenges of today’s marketplace.