People first, mission always! Those four value-laden words defined our leadership approach during my last position within NOAA Fisheries. Our leadership team saw the old motto of mission first, people always as insufficient. Too often, it led to leaders treating people as an afterthought in pursuit of the mission. A shift in emphasis was needed as we were servant leaders who loved our people as we pursued the mission.
Our VALUES Leadership Model became a gold standard within the agency. Leaders visited our center to observe our management firsthand. Some leaders invited us to speak to their staff. Students in leadership development programs sought our insights. Yet, nothing about our model was particularly groundbreaking—we simply emphasized excellence through virtue, and made them the first principles throughout our science enterprise.
For me, people first, mission always wasn’t just a management strategy; it was a reflection of my calling. One of the most striking aspects of Jesus’ ministry was how He prioritized people. Religious laws had their place, but Jesus made clear that they were meant to serve people—not the other way around. When religious leaders condemned Him for healing on the Sabbath, He responded, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). When a crowd gathered to stone a woman caught in adultery, He challenged them to examine their own hearts first (John 8:1-11).
Whether it was stopping to heal the blind, feeding the hungry, or washing the feet of His disciples, time and time again, Jesus demonstrated that true Christ-centered leadership always prioritizes people—because in the kingdom of God, it’s people first, mission always.
Cutting Costs
Yet, the road of values-based leadership wasn’t always easy. As labor costs rose while budgets remained flat or declined, we had to reduce our 410-person workforce by over 20%. This included the difficult decision to close high-performing research programs, ensuring that resources were directed toward the highest mission priorities. To navigate these changes, we relied on a priority-based resourcing process that balanced fiscal responsibility with fairness and strategic focus.
We did this empathetically, emphasizing listening, compassion, generosity, and transparency, engaging in extensive discussions to balance mission priorities with staff concerns. Although the actions were difficult and had an impact on staff, we successfully achieved the necessary reductions while maintaining mission success and preserving overall staff trust. People first, mission always.
A Different Approach: DOGE Cost Cutting Strategy
The Trump Administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was created to streamline federal operations. While fiscal responsibility is essential, DOGE’s approach has raised serious concerns:
Legally and Constitutionally Questionable Actions
- Courts have ruled that the Trump administration’s firings of 25,000 probationary federal workers were likely illegal and ordered them reinstated pending further litigation. [Personal Note: if you aim to reduce nonperforming people to streamline operations with reduced cost, your new probationary hires are the last people you cut. They will likely be the lowest-cost but most productive part of your workforce.]
- Courts have blocked some DOGE actions, ruling that the President cannot impound funds Congress has appropriated. To wit: if Congress says ‘spend this,’ then the President is constitutionally obliged to ensure that the laws are ‘faithfully executed.” [Personal Note: When Congress said jump – and their members and/or staffers would often visit us – we said, “how high” as we were mindful of the Impoundment Act and the Anti-deficiency Act which required us to execute the congressional directives in accordance with their intent.]
Reckless and Unwise Actions
- DOGE falsely claimed to cut $50 million in “condoms for Hamas,” which was actually contraceptive aid for Mozambique.
- Closing Social Security offices forces rural Alaskans to travel long distances at great personal expense.
- Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old DOGE staffer known as “Big Balls,” was given access to sensitive government systems, including Social Security, IRS, and Treasury data despite his past involvement with a cybercrime group where he provided technical support for data theft and cyberstalking.
- Firing Inspector Generals – the very officials responsible for reducing waste, fraud, and abuse. [Personal Note: I met with Inspector Generals or their staff multiple times throughout my career. They carried out their mission with diligence, and we valued their recommendations, which led to meaningful improvements in organizational excellence.]
Erroneous Accounting of Savings (The Tale of the Tape on DOGE’s “Wall of Receipts”) – The list of errors in DOGE claims is long, suggesting that they either don’t understand the actions they are taking or the nature of the government service they are impacting, and/or they are just being sloppy.
- A canceled contract DOGE claimed saved $8 billion was only worth $8 million.
- DOGE triple-counted a $655 million contract, inflating savings to $1.8 billion.
- Of the 2,334 “terminated contracts” on its “Wall of Receipts,” 40% had already been fulfilled, resulting in no savings.
- Savings are often calculated from contract ceilings rather than actual expenditures.
- One of DOGE’s largest savings was achieved by “canceling” a $1.9 billion contract already canceled under the Biden administration.
Lack of Transparency – DOGE has operated with “unusual secrecy” and “rapid pace,” according to federal judges. Shielded by a Trump-created exemption from public disclosure rules, DOGE has been minimally transparent despite its claims of “maximum transparency.” The lack of independent verification casts doubt upon the veracity and integrity of their claims.
[Personal Note: Transparency is critical to accountability. It was one of the most effective tools for reducing agency budgets while maintaining trust.]
Employee Abuse – DOGE’s “Rip and Replace” strategy—effective in some tech firms—is reckless and abusive when imposed unlawfully and without warning on federal employees who were not hired under that understanding.
- Elon Musk’s illegitimate demand that federal employees report their weekly work via email or be fired—later made “voluntary”—was abusive and coercive.
- A friend’s husband and son both work for the National Park Service and were falsely told they would lose retirement benefits if they didn’t retire immediately. Such manipulation is abusive.
How Should We Then Live?
This question, famously posed by Francis Schaeffer nearly 45 years ago, remains just as relevant today.
Many assume DOGE’s efforts are necessary and beneficial. For the sake of the nation, I hope this process yields some good. However, significant concerns remain, and its true impact will only become known if the courts are successful in ensuring that DOGE’s actions are independently verifiable.
But the question still remains, even if we give DOGE the benefit of the doubt: How Should Citizens of Christ’s Kingdom Respond to This Issue?
- Prioritize People – Kingdom-minded people value actions that respect and serve all people – both those who carry out the policies and those affected by them. Ruthless cost-cutting without regard for people is incompatible with Kingdom ethics. Remember: we don’t own our witness, Jesus does.
- Take Jesus Seriously – The Beatitudes call for empathy and concern, not celebrating harm done to others. When Jesus said, “Blessed are they that mourn, he was establishing a posture of empathy and concern. His Golden Rule is not “hope that others experience the bad stuff I’ve experienced.”
- Choose Godliness Over Tribal Loyalty – People bear God’s image. Those who applaud the dehumanizing of others or dismiss livelihood concerns as “fear porn” should reconsider where their loyalty lies.
- Examine Your Fruit – Are our words, actions, and beliefs about this issue laden with the fruit of the Spirit, i.e., kindness, goodness, and gentleness?
- Are You a Friend or Enemy of God? – Remember that in the Kingdom of God, loving our neighbor is inseparable from loving God. This love is revealed in how we treat those who are different from us—especially those so different that it requires overcoming feelings of disdain to serve them with genuine, sacrificial care.
Final Thoughts
Government efficiency should balance cost-cutting with ethical, people-honoring leadership. DOGE’s approach prioritizes aggressive reductions with little regard for transparency, legal constraints, or human impact. In contrast, the VALUES model is founded on the inherent dignity of people and prioritizes ethical processes, virtuous leaders, care of others, and excellence in mission.
If you think this is just pie in the sky and not applicable to the “real world” of business, rest assured, we are not alone. The notion of “loving” your employees is a core value of the CEO of Southwest Airlines. The CEO of Snapchat believes creativity, smarts, and kindness are the three essential ingredients to successful employees, with the greatest of these being kindness.
How Should We Then Live? For Citizens of His Kingdom, the answer is found in 2 Corinthians 5:20. “We are Christ’s Ambassadors, as if God is making his appeal through us.”
Citizens of His Kingdom can be supportive of DOGE’s basic goals. But isn’t the applauding of its methods, though, incompatible with their ambassadorial calling? We are Jesus people, “in whom we live and move and have our being.” If Jesus put people first—teaching that even the sacred Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath—shouldn’t we do the same? And given my experience in government, you don’t need to choose. You can honor people, like Christ did, and still reduce the workforce.
People first, mission always isn’t just possible. It’s the way of Christ.