Clinton Longenecker, a 29-year faculty member of the University of Toledo’s College of Business and Innovation, told Christian athletes that they can be “game changers” in life as well as on the field.

Speaking at one of the local Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ monthly “Power Lunches,” Longenecker shared his recent research findings, published in the 2011 Drake Business Review, that cite 10 factors leading to successful careers and survival across industries, functional areas and organizational levels:

1. Performance track record of getting desired results.
2. Effective communication talents and practices.
3. Strong interpersonal and teaming skills.
4. Possessing/Maintaining a positive personality and attitude.
5. Ability to develop self to meet job demands.
6. Learning and leveraging work experience.
7. Ability to handle stress and pressure and stay poised.
8. Problem solving and decision making effectiveness.
9. Ability to use power and resources effectively.
10. Possessing a mentor and/or accountability partner.

He then went on to share that these success factors hinge upon how busy a person is, citing the 10 Deadly Sins of Busyness:

1. Communication breakdowns
2. Loss of focus/attention to detail
3. Ineffective decision-making
4. Strained relationships
5. Problems left unresolved
6. Fail to plain/disorganization
7. Loss of life balance/health
8. Loss of perspective/attitude
9. Loss of bigger picture
10. Growing inefficiencies

Longenecker, who earned a Ph.D. in philosophy from Pennsylvania State University and both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in business administration from Toledo, is the Stranahan Professor of Leadership and Organizational Excellence Executive MBA Faculty at UT.

A football player when he was at Toledo, Longenecker knows the value of being a Christian student athlete. He has been a board member, strategy consultant to various FCA leaders and an active participant with local athletes for 17 years.

“The FCA is a game-changer for a lot of young people right now. We are at a time where a lot of young people don’t have a lot of hope, encouragement, or role models, and the FCA does a good job of helping to satisfy those needs along the way,” Longenecker said.

“The great thing about the FCA is it is community-based, there’s ownership in the schools and there are plenty of testimonies from young people who’ve been part of FCA whose lives have been truly transformed by the experience,” he said.

Longenecker is one of 15 candidates up for the Global Business Professor of the Year award from The Economist. When asked what we can do to help move the award process along, Longenecker simply said, “Pray.” Either way, he said, he feels honored to be up for the prestigious global award.

The Rev. Rick Isaiah, vice president of field ministries for the FCA’s Great Lakes Region, said one of the FCA’s focuses is working with coaches.

The organization’s vision is “to see the world impacted for Jesus Christ through the influence of coaches and athletes.”

“Coaches need a coach and the FCA is a coach to the coach,” Isaiah said. “When a coach gets it, his or her athletes get it and God does the rest.”

A former star football player at the University of Toledo who played for 1 1/2 years for the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals, Isaiah has been with FCA for 13 years.

The FCA accomplishes its mission through regional divisions, area directors and staff. Northwest Ohio Area Director Ed Bellner and Urban Director Jenai Hicklin and their staff decided to organize monthly “Power Lunches” to make an impact in the Toledo area.

These lunches, held on the first Tuesday of the month at the Toledo Club, help connect local business owners who have an interest in the FCA. The speakers at the monthly Power Lunches are selected to minister and empower the business community to help the FCA live out its vision.

Longenecker, who spoke at the Jan. 8 Power Lunch, left everyone with some final words of advice:

Slow down, think, give the day to the Lord, have a game plan for your spiritual development … then perform.

For more information on FCA Power Lunches, contact Dena Rozzi  at drozzi@fca.org. For more information on the Northwest Ohio FCA, go to www.nwohiofca.org/ and for the Regional FCA, go to www.fcagreatlakes.org.