Leader Fluent with Stephen Blandino

In today’s episode of the Leader Fluent Podcast, I’m talking about “Four Ways to Handle Criticism in Leadership.” Criticism is an increasing problem in the leadership landscape. It might be a problem, but how we handle it can become a bigger problem. If you're not already a subscriber, I'd love for you to subscribe to Leader Fluent today on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Android, Pandora, or your favorite podcasting platform. And as always, your RATINGS and REVIEWS are deeply appreciated. SHOW NOTES: You don’t have to be in leadership for long to realize that criticism comes with the territory. People have opinions, and they’re not afraid to share them. That was certainly the case for Nehemiah when he began rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem. Nehemiah 4:1-3 says, “When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, ‘What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble—burned as they are?’ Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, ‘What they are building—even a fox climbing up on it would break down their wall of stones!’” These weren’t subtle grumblings under their breath. These were blatant criticisms meant to dissuade Nehemiah and the people of Jerusalem from completing the way. But they didn’t Nehemiah or the people of Jerusalem. They doubled down on their efforts until the wall was finally finished in only 52 days. What about you? What critiques are your critics lobbing onto your leadership and the ministry God has entrusted to you? More importantly, how are you responding? Here are four ways to respond appropriately. 1. Consider the Source Everybody has an opinion, but that doesn’t mean you need to give every opinion equal weight. Sanballat and Tobiah were neither trustworthy nor interested in Nehemiah’s success. Quite the opposite. They schemed to harm Nehemiah (6:2), were relentless in their efforts to distract him (6:3-4), told lies to him and about him (6:5-9), and repeatedly tried to intimidate him (6:10-14, 19). Their critiques were born out of fear and intimidation rather than genuine care for Nehemiah and Jerusalem. You will encounter criticism, but when it comes, consider the source. Disagreement doesn’t mean disloyalty. We must ask, is the source credible and caring? Are they trustworthy people who genuinely want what’s best for you AND for the organization? If they only want what’s best for you, your leadership will become self-serving. And if they only want what’s best for the organization, they may be fine bulldozing you in the process. The source needs be both CREDIBLE AND CARING. Being credible gives them permission to speak into the good of the organization. And being caring sets the tone in how they treat you in the process. 2. Look for the Truth There was no truth in the criticisms coming from Sanballat and Tobiah. Again, they lied to and about Nehemiah (6:5-9), and Nehemiah had the discernment to know they were lying. However, that’s not always the case. Even in hard criticisms, sometimes there’s a kernel of truth. Several years ago, I heard Carey Nieuwhof interview Scott Sauls, a pastor from Nashville who once worked with author and pastor Tim Keller. In the interview, Scott Sauls shared a powerful response Keller had toward criticism. Sauls said, “In a dozen false things said about him, he would search for a kernel of truth that he could repent of, because every opportunity for repentance is an opportunity to draw closer to Jesus.” What a powerful practice. When Keller found the kernel of truth, he would humbly admit it and pray over it. Notice, Sauls didn’t say, “He searched for a kernel of truth he could agree with.” Truth sets us free,

In today’s episode of the Leader Fluent Podcast, I’m talking about “How to Prepare for a One-On-One with Your Leader.” If you’re a team member, I’ll share four questions you can ask to prepare or your one-on-one. And if you’re a leader, you can use these four questions to train your team how to come prepared for their meeting. If you're not already a subscriber, I'd love for you to subscribe to Leader Fluent today on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Android, Pandora, or your favorite podcasting platform. And as always, your RATINGS and REVIEWS are deeply appreciated. SHOW NOTES: One-on-one meetings with your boss, supervisor, or leader are an important part of organizational life. In some environments, one-on-ones are a consistent part of the workflow. In other environments, they are erratic or even non-existent. What’s the key to a successful one-on-one meeting? Preparation. So, how can you prepare for a one-on-one meeting with your leader. I recommend four simple questions that can have a powerful impact: 1. Communication: What updates do I need to provide? This part of the meeting is primarily designed to keep your supervisor in the know. Generally, this is a quick summary of the things you want your leader to be aware of. Bosses hate surprises, and the communication part of the meeting is your opportunity to keep them aware of updates on projects, decisions you’ve made, or issues that might affect them, the department, the team, or the organization. 2. Clarification: What questions do I need to ask? If you don’t understand something, it’s your job to ask for clarification. You might seek clarification about unclear expectations, timelines, next steps, or other important items. Don’t leave it to chance. Ask quickly and kindly and be sure to take notes. One-on-one meetings help leaders cultivate healthy people, teams, and organizations. In this insanely practical guide, you'll learn the why and how of leading one-on-one's, and how to introduce the idea to your team. Plus, you'll get two tools: 1) A meeting planner to help team members prepare for a one-on-one; 2) A One-On-One Supervisor Meeting MAPP to help you guide the meeting. Download this 21-page guide today. BUY NOW 3. Challenges: What problems, challenges, or ideas do I want to discuss? Every team member experiences problems or challenges in their work. You might be hitting a wall with a new strategy, struggling to resolve a conflict with another team member, or dealing with a crisis or looming problem. Do your best to come to the meeting with solutions to problems, and then seek your leader’s perspective and advice. On the other hand, you might have a new idea you’d like to pitch to your leader. It might be a new product, an improved service, a more effective strategy, or an innovative solution to an organizational challenge. The key is to pitch your idea without expecting an immediate response. Give your leader time to think about it without being pushy or demanding. 4. Coaching: In what areas do I want to learn or grow? This final part of the meeting is an opportunity to learn new insights, sharpen your skills, and enlarge your leadership capacity. This doesn’t need to be complicated. Instead, come with one or two questions you’d like to ask your leader that would help you get better. Again, don’t expect your leader to read your mind. If you desire to grow in an area, share that with your supervisor and ask for their help. Your leader likely has a ton of wisdom to offer. Rather than waiting for them to share their insights, learn to ask thoughtful questions coupled with a posture to listen, learn, and grow. Next time you meet with your leader, come prepared with answers to these four questions. Not only will the meeting be far more productive, but your leader is more likely to be appreciative of your initiative and willingness to learn. RATING OR REVIEW

In today’s episode of the Leader Fluent Podcast, I’m talking about “Seven Keys to Resolve Conflict.”Conflict is a part of life and leadership, and how we resolve it matters. If you're not already a subscriber, I'd love for you to subscribe to Leader Fluent today on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Android, Pandora, or your favorite podcasting platform. And as always, your RATINGS and REVIEWS are deeply appreciated. SHOW NOTES: Every leader encounters conflict. In fact, conflict is a part of life, whether it’s at work, at school, or at home. And one of the biggest reasons for conflict is when there’s a gap between expectations and reality. So, how do you resolve the conflict in an effective and healthy manner? We find a really practical strategy on conflict resolution in the book of Acts chapter 15. In this passage, a conflict arises between Paul and Barnabas and some men from Judea. The conflict is over a Jewish religious practice that existed under the Old Covenant that was abolished when, through Jesus, a New Covenant was established. But these men from Judea are trying to impose this old religious practice onto the Gentiles. Needless to say, this difference of opinion became a point of conflict in the early church. So, Paul and Barnabas head to Jerusalem to meet with the apostles and elders of the church to resolve this issue. And from this meeting, we discover seven keys to resolve conflict. 1. Seek Understanding Acts 15:7a says, “At the meeting, after a long discussion…” Why did these leaders have a long discussion? Because they needed to create space to hear both sides of the issue. In other words, a long discussion made room to gain understanding. Author Stephen Covey said, “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” But what do we like to do? We like to seek first to make our point, so then they’ll understand. But that rarely works. You don’t gain understanding with answers. You gain understanding with questions. 2. Begin with Common Ground Acts 15:7 says, “At the meeting, after a long discussion, Peter stood and addressed them as follows: “Brothers, you all know that God chose me from among you some time ago to preach to the Gentiles so that they could hear the Good News and believe.” Peter established common ground. He said, “You all know.” But again, we like to begin with what I know rather than what we know. But that approach burns the very bridges that would allow us to resolve the conflict. John Maxwell calls it The 101% Principle. He says, “Find the 1% that you agree on, and give it 100% of your effort.” In other words, start with common ground. Start with what you both know to be true. 3. Articulate the Facts Without Emotion Acts 15:8 says, “God knows people’s hearts, and he confirmed that he accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us.” Peter begins by sharing some basic facts, but he does so without emotion. Again, how we handle conflict reveals our level of maturity. If you handle conflict wisely, calmly, and with self-control, then you are being mature in how you handle it. But if you handle conflict in a harsh, demeaning, or uncontrolled manner, then you are only revealing your immaturity. Proverbs 15:1 says, “A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare.” Articulate the facts without emotion. 4. Acknowledge One Another’s Value Acts 15:9 says, “He made no distinction between us and them, for he cleansed their hearts through faith.” Jews in Jesus’ day had issues with the Gentiles because they wouldn’t conform to Jewish rules. So, what does Peter—who was a Jew—do in this situation? He acknowledges the gentiles’ value, because God acknowledged their value. If you want the other person to value your opinion more than you value them as a person, you will only escalate the conflict. Every person on planet earth was made in the image of God, including the person you’re having the most conflic...

In today’s episode of the Leader Fluent Podcast, I’m talking about “Five Keys to Build a High-Performance Team.” Today’s episode gives you a very small taste of a brand new coaching cohort I’m launching that’s focused on building highly effective teams. You can learn more HERE. If you're not already a subscriber, I'd love for you to subscribe to Leader Fluent today on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Android, Pandora, or your favorite podcasting platform. And as always, your RATINGS and REVIEWS are deeply appreciated. SHOW NOTES: Every leader wants his or her team to excel at the highest level possible. But building a high-performance team doesn’t happen just because we want it to. It requires a lot of work and intentionality with five foundational keys. 1. Create an Effective Hiring Process Author Jim Collins once said, “If I were running a company today, I would have one priority above all others: to acquire as many of the best people as I could [because] the single biggest constraint on the success of my organization is the ability to get and to hang on to enough of the right people.” According to a study released by Leadership IQ, the reason for 89% of job failures is due to Attitude Issues, and 46% of them failed within the first 18 months. But here’s the kicker: 82% of managers in the study said that, in hindsight, the failed hires elicited subtle cues DURING the interview process that they would fail. So, how do you pick up on those subtle cues that indicate whether a candidate is or isn’t a good fit? You have to create an effective hiring process. Here are three tips to start with: Multiple Candidates – Do everything you can to secure multiple candidates to interview. In my experience, only two out ten resumes are actually worth looking at. Multiple Interviews – Your interview process cannot be one interview. We use five different interviews including a screening interview, experience interview, deep dive, candidate and spouse interview, and team interview. Multiple Interviewers – If possible, involve other members of your team in the interview process. This will help you see the candidate from different perspectives and catch any potential red flags. Again, there are multiple stages to an effective hiring process, but these three keys will help you get started. 2. Maximize Your Onboarding System Onboarding is how you set new team members up for success, and that’s the job of the leader. A good onboarding system should answer several questions including: What basic steps does the new team member need to take to be employed here? What equipment, software, technology, and training does the team member need to successfully do their job? What does the team member need to know about their role, expectations, and areas of responsibility? What do we need to share with the team member about the organization’s DNA to help them successfully acclimate to our culture (things such as vision, values, culture, history, and common questions asked by new employees) What does the team member need to know to successfully work with their supervisor? Who do we need to introduce the team member to (including staff, key leaders, and key volunteers)? What does the team member need to know about our facility and their budget? What demographics and data would help the team member better understand who we’re reaching, the community we’re located in, and the growth trends of the organization? What training, resources, and coaching does the team member need during their first 3-6 months to help them successfully integrate into our culture and maximize their performance on the job? 3. Invest in Your Team's Growth John Maxwell often says, “The only thing worse than training staff and having them leave, is not training them and having them stay.” So, as leaders, it’s our job to invest in our team’s growth regularly and systematically. By regularly,

In today’s episode of the Leader Fluent Podcast, I’m talking about “How to Equip Your Team to Set Great Goals.” We’re going to look at five questions to ask to give you the green light on your goals. Not only are these great questions to ask yourself, but they’re great questions to help you equip your team to set great goals. If you're not already a subscriber, I'd love for you to subscribe to Leader Fluent today on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Android, Pandora, or your favorite podcasting platform. And as always, your RATINGS and REVIEWS are deeply appreciated. SHOW NOTES: Goal-setting is designed to help us and our team make forward progress, both personally and organizationally. To help our team at 7 City Church set goals, I have a pretty particular goal-setting system. That system includes a one-page goal-setting worksheet that helps them set a clear, specific, measurable, and time-bound goal, as well as a specific action plan to reach the goal. But in addition to these common, goal-setting components, I also include five questions that help each staff member determine if they’re ready to START their goal. When we can answer “YES” to all five questions, then we know they're ready to pursue the goal. I use the word START as an acronym to remember the five questions: STRETCH: Will this goal stretch you? Author Dave Anderson once said, “We are not at our best when life is too safe. In fact, too much certainty is cause for depression. Uncertainty keeps you alert, interested, and engaged.” That’s what “Stretch” is all about. It’s about setting goals that stretch you outside of your safe and secure comfort zone. By stretch, I’m not suggesting that team members should set “completely unrealistic” goals. What I do mean is that the goal should be something beyond what they’re currently doing. TASK: Is this goal within your job responsibilities? In general, a team member’s goals should focus on the tasks you hired them to do. That’s why I include a section on our goal worksheet that lists their job responsibilities. This isn’t a detailed job description, but it’s a brief bullet point list of their six primary job responsibilities. Again, those six responsibilities don’t get into the nitty gritty…they are more like broad categories. ALIGNED: Is this goal aligned with our vision and priorities? It’s not enough for goals to be in a team member’s job responsibilities. The goal must also be aligned with the overall vision, strategic priorities, and key result areas of the organization. Why? Because if it’s not, you’ll create sideways energy. With those three things in focus—vision, strategic priorities, and key result areas—team members write a brief description of how their goal contributes to at least one of them. This ensures the goal is aligned with the overall direction of the organization. REACHABLE: Do the action steps for this goal make it reachable? Without a clear action plan, team members risk setting goals that they cannot reach. Our goal worksheet provides a space for team members to list 5-7 action steps they would take to actually reach their goal. Then, when I review the action steps, one of the questions I’m thinking about is this: “How are these actions steps different than what they’re already doing?” If what they’re planning to do to reach their goal is no different than what they’re already doing, then they’re not going to get an outcome that’s any different than the outcome they’re already getting. It’s the old saying, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten.” TIMING: Is this the right time to pursue this goal? Sometimes a team member can set a goal that will stretch them, it’s a task within their job responsibilities, it’s aligned with the organization’s vision and priorities, and their action plan is rock solid. The problem is, it’s just not the right time to pursue the goal. Sometimes,

In today’s episode of the Leader Fluent Podcast, I’m talking about “The 5 Stages of Vision Casting.” Vision is an important part of leadership, which means the ability to cast vision is an essential leadership skill. In this episode of Leader Fluent, we’re going to look at the five stages to casting vision, and how to maximize each stage in your leadership environment. If you're not already a subscriber, I'd love for you to subscribe to Leader Fluent today on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Android, Pandora, or your favorite podcasting platform. And as always, your RATINGS and REVIEWS are deeply appreciated. SHOW NOTES: Author Michael Hyatt said, “Vision, as I see it, is a clear, inspiring, practical, and attractive picture of your organization’s future.” But for that vision to have its greatest impact, the leader must communicate it in a clear and compelling way. It’s not enough to simply have a vision; you also need to create buy-in so the vision can be fulfilled. As author Ray Pritchard once said, “Good leaders have a vision; better leaders share a vision; the best leaders invite others to join them in spreading this vision.” The question is, how do you get others to understand the vision, embrace the vision, and rally around the vision? In other words, how do you effectively cast inspiring vision in such a way that people want to join you in the journey to a better future? I believe there are five stages in effective vision casting. 1. CELEBRATION Vision casting doesn’t start by looking at the future; it starts by celebrating the past. This lets people who have “paid the price” for yesterday’s vision know how much they are appreciated. It’s a simple way of showing honor and respect to the people who paved the way for the church or organization to get to where it is today. Celebration sets the tone. It focuses on the wins, and it reinforces the organization’s ability to influence positive change. So, what should you celebrate? Celebrate growth, impact, testimonies, and life change. 2. THE PROBLEM So often leaders share a vision before they’ve ever defined a problem. And yet, every vision is the answer to a problem. In this stage of vision casting, you’re introduce the problem you hope to solve. To make the transition from “celebration” to “problem,” use a phrase like this: “We celebrate the impact we’ve made over the last 12 months, but our mission is not done.” Or you might get very specific and say, “We celebrate what God has done in the last five years…but there’s a problem.” Use statistics, research, demographics, photos, and stories to raise awareness of the need you’re trying to meet or the problem you’re trying to solve. Then, once people feel the weight of the problem, transition to the next stage of vision casting. 3. THE SOLUTION The solution is the part you’ve been wanting to get to all along. It’s the exciting picture of the future that you want people to see. And now that you’ve honored the past and helped people feel the weight of the need, their hearts are ready to hear the solution. Begin to unfold the vision in a clear, compelling, and specific way; the key is to connect the dots between the problem and the solution. That’s when your vision carries the most weight because people see the vision as something we must do not just something we could do. Every leader has to create and cast compelling vision. In "The Insanely Practical Guide to Create, Communicate, & Capture Vision," I take the guesswork out of vision to help you see, share, seize, and safeguard your vision. Get this downloadable 36-page guide today HERE. 4. THE PRICE Every vision comes with a price tag, and the bigger the vision, the bigger the price. And the bigger the price, the more intentional you have to be about layering your vision-casting. In other words, you must cast the vision to different groups of people at different times. At each vision gathering, celebrate the impact,

In today’s episode of the Leader Fluent Podcast, I’m talking about “The 5 Faces of Pride in Leadership.” Humility is often the forgotten ingredient in effective leaders, but it is essential to the health of our soul and the health of our leadership. If you're not already a subscriber, I'd love for you to subscribe to Leader Fluent today on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Android, Pandora, or your favorite podcasting platform. And as always, your RATINGS and REVIEWS are deeply appreciated. SHOW NOTES: Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.” Pride is destructive to our souls, but the destruction doesn’t end there. Pride is also destructive to our leadership. In other words, when we’re prideful, we not only undermine our own lives, but we undermine those we influence. So, what does pride look like in leadership? A closer look at the Pharisees in Matthew 23 reveals five faces of pride in leadership. 1. Pretending In Matthew 23:1-3 Jesus said, “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach.” And in the remainder of this chapter, Jesus calls the Pharisees as hypocrites six times. Pretending says, “Do as I say not as I do.” 2. Power Matthew 23:4 says, “They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.” What were these “unbearable religious demands” that Jesus was referring to? It wasn’t God’s Law. It was the 613 laws the Pharisees added to God’s Law. So, you can only imagine how the Pharisees felt when Jesus came along and simplified everything down to only two Laws: Love God and Love People. But that wasn’t good enough for the Pharisees because their pride had blinded them. And as a result, their pride was causing them to abuse their power to get people to obey all of their man-made laws. Whereas the “Pretender” face of pride says, “Do as I say not as I do,” the “Power” face of pride says, “Do as I say, or else…” The “Power” face of pride is based on self-serving, fear-based demands. But that’s not what a spirit of humility does. 3. Perception Perception is all about how I see myself, and, how I think others see me. So, how does a prideful person see themselves? They see themselves as better than everyone else. Matthew 23:5 says, “Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels.” Perception says, “Look at me. Aren’t I great?” The reason perception is such a deceptive face of pride is because it’s not based on reality. Instead, it’s based on a version of ourselves that only exists in our heads. And in our heads, we think we’re bigger and better than we really are. 4. Perks We love perks, don’t we? We love to be escorted to the seat of honor. We love to show our friends our awards, prizes, and possessions. We love to casually mention in conversation that our office is in the C-Suite. Perks and privileges make us feel important. But the moment perks make us feel important, is also the moment our identity has been stolen from us. Because if who you are is based on what you have, then your life has become a hollow shell of deception. Jesus said, “And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues” (Matthew 25:6). Perks says, “I deserve it, and I’m entitled to it.” Now, does that mean that all perks are wrong? No. But, because perks have a way of making us feel like we deserve them and we’re entitled to them, we need a filter for our perks. My friend Steve Moore developed a great filter for perks when he developed these five questions. Do I need—fill in the blank—for example, bigger office, special parking space, or private bathroom—to do my job more effectively?

In today’s episode of the Leader Fluent Podcast, I’m talking about “Seven Words of Wisdom for Graduates.” The graduation season is a great time of celebration, but as you enter into a new chapter of your life, I’d love to share seven practical insights that will help you succeed in the future. If you're not already a subscriber, I'd love for you to subscribe to Leader Fluent today on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Android, Pandora, or your favorite podcasting platform. And as always, your RATINGS and REVIEWS are deeply appreciated. SHOW NOTES: After celebrating your graduation, let me encourage you to take to heart seven practical and helpful words of wisdom. 1. Put Character at the Top of Your List Be careful not to sacrifice your character on the altar of achievement and results. In other words, don’t take shortcuts that ding your character. Ruth Haley Barton once said, “We set young leaders up for a fall if we encourage them to envision what they can do before they consider the kind of person they should be.” So, what kind of person do you want to be? Work hard to cultivate character so that your success doesn’t outpace who you are. 2. Graduate School but Don’t Graduate Learning Authors James Kouzes and Barry Posner call learning the “Master Skill.” In other words, it’s the skill that makes all other skills possible. Learning is the skill that opens the door to future opportunities, future growth, and ultimately the person you want to become. Today might be the day you graduate school, but the day you graduate learning should be the day you draw your last breath. Do your future a favor and be a lifelong learner. 3. Pursue the Boredom of Success Success is usually perceived as a glamorous, adventure-filled road of glory, but it’s easy to forget that most overnight successes are actually twenty years in the making. Unfortunately, we tend to see the beauty of success but never the boredom of success. So, what’s my point? Behind the glitz and glamour of successful people is usually a very routine, even at times very boring, set of disciplines. Let me say it another way: riveting success is always preceded by routine boredom. In other words, before success ever shows up, there are days, weeks, months, and even years of disciplined, step-by-step, methodical, vanilla, bland routines. Think about it—professional golfers spend hours every day on the golf course…when the cameras aren’trolling. Musicians spend countless hours practicing…before a single concert ticket is ever sold. CEO’s spend untold hours in long meetings making tough decisions…before the bottom line ever shows a profit. And authors agonize over every chapter and go through endless rounds of edits…before a single copy of their book hits the shelves. That’s the boredom of success. But it’s worth it. It makes the success sweeter, and it helps us develop the character necessary to sustain the success. Boredom is part of the journey. So, rather than getting caught up in looking successful, pursue the boredom of success by establishing daily disciplines that will produce long-term health in key areas of your life. 4. Avoid Bad Attitudes While there are all kinds of bad attitudes, let me mention just three of them that can be particularly disruptive to your future. An attitude of negativity An attitude of arrogance An attitude of entitlement. If you avoid these bad attitudes, you will go farther, faster. If you have a positive attitude, you’ll connect better with people and you’ll be positioned with the mindset to see and seize the opportunities before you. 5. Develop a Healthy Perspective of Success and Failure All of us will have both successes and failures in life. Nobody is all success and zero failure or all failure and zero success. So, here’s the truth you must keep in mind: Don’t let success go to your head, and don’t let failure go to your heart. Don’t’ let success inflate your ego,

In today’s episode of the Leader Fluent Podcast, I’m talking about “Leading When You Feel Like a Failure.”The last two years have been the most difficult years to lead through for millions of leaders, and if we’re honest, we’ve all had moments in this season where we’ve felt like a failure. The question is, how do we lead in those moments. That’s what we’re dealing with in today’s episode. Plus, if you haven’t picked up my new book, Stop Chasing Easy, I’d like to encourage you to get your copy today. It’s available in print and ebook formats, and when you purchase a copy, you’ll also gain access to several FREE BONUS RESOURCES including the “Stop Chasing Easy Masterclass for Leaders.” If you're not already a subscriber, I'd love for you to subscribe to Leader Fluent today on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Android, Pandora, or your favorite podcasting platform. And as always, your RATINGS and REVIEWS are deeply appreciated. SHOW NOTES: Every leader has moments and seasons when they feel like a failure. It might be after an event that didn’t go as planned. It might be after a speech that fell flat. It might be during an extended season of decline, or maybe after a major rift in your organization. Regardless of the area, I’m guessing at some point in recent weeks, months, or years, you’ve experienced “down and to the left” instead of “up and to the right.” So, what do you do in these moments? When you feel like a failure—even if only for a moment—how do you lead? Consider these five keys. 1. Remember Your Identity It’s very easy—especially in leadership—to attach our identity to our performance and to our growth. The problem is, if we’re not careful, we’ll assume that God uses that same standard—that same measure—to evaluate us. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been studying God’s love in Scripture, which has been a pretty amazing journey. The most common description of God’s love in the Bible is the phrase, “unfailing love.” For example, Psalm 36:7 says, “How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.” And Psalm 52:8 says, “But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever.” Here’s the good news: God’s love does not fail, even when we do. His love doesn’t fall short, break, or run dry. It is an everlasting love that stretches from generation to generation. And, as difficult as it is to believe, our performance has nothing to do with how much God loves us. In fact, consider Jesus, for example. Luke 3:21-22 says, “When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” Notice, the Father declared His love for the Son before Jesus every performed a single miracle. In other words, the Father’s love wasn’t based on Jesus’ performance. His love wasn’t dependent on whether or not Jesus had a big crowd or a fruitful day of ministry. The Father loved Jesus, and was pleased with Jesus, before his ministry ever began. The same is true for you and for me. Our identity must be firmly rooted in the unwavering love of God. So, remember, even when you feel like a failure, your failure doesn’t define you. Jesus’ love does. 2. Reframe Your Perspective Dr. Bobby Clinton has observed that the difference between followers and leaders is perspective. And the difference between leaders and better leaders is greater perspective. In other words, how we see life will determine how we respond to life. And how we see our leadership challenges will determine how we respond to those leadership challenges. Elisabeth Elliot once said, “If you believe in a God who controls the big things, you have to believe in a God who controls the little things. It is we, of course, to whom things look ‘little’ or ‘big’.

In today’s episode of the Leader Fluent Podcast, I’m talking about “Five Parts of an Effective Team Meeting.” No matter where you are in the organization, you likely lead meetings with staff members or volunteers. In this episode, you’ll learn how to lead effective meetings by incorporating five practical parts. Plus, if you haven’t picked up my new book, Stop Chasing Easy, I’d like to encourage you to get your copy today. When you do, you’ll also gain access to several FREE BONUS RESOURCES including the “Stop Chasing Easy Masterclass for Leaders.” If you're not already a subscriber, I'd love for you to subscribe to Leader Fluent today on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Android, Pandora, or your favorite podcasting platform. And as always, your RATINGS and REVIEWS are deeply appreciated. SHOW NOTES: The longer you lead, the more you’ll find yourself in meetings. They might be staff meetings, departmental meetings, board meetings, one-on-one meetings, or meetings with your volunteers, but there is never a shortage of meetings for leaders to attend. At the same time, we’ve all found ourselves in meetings that were poorly led and a total waste of our time. And if we’re honest, we’ve probably led a few of those meetings as well. I know I certainly have. So, what does an effective team meeting look like? I believe it includes five parts. 1. Celebration The first part of the meeting is focused on celebrating wins. Celebrating wins will remind your team of the value and meaning of their work. Think about wins in four categories: Stories – What stories of life change, connection, or transformation can we celebrate? Stats – In what areas of our ministry or organization are we seeing numerical growth? Steps – What progress are we making with our goals and priorities? Success – What team member can we celebrate for modeling our team values? These four areas—stories, stats, steps, and success—provide a framework to help your team think more wholistically about wins in your organization. In general, this part of the meeting usually lasts 5-10 minutes…maybe longer if you’re coming off a really big church-wide or organization-wide win. 2. Communication There are usually a few housekeeping items that need to be communicated during a team meeting. For example, you might do a quick review of the calendar, or you might provide a few quick details on an upcoming event that are relevant to the entire team. The communication part of the meeting is usually no more than 10 minutes, but it can eliminate confusion and keep everyone on the same page. The key to remember about communication is that it’s not a discussion. Instead, it’s providing simple bullet-point updates. 3. Collaboration Collaboration is the part of the meeting where you dig into items that require concentrated discussion. For example, you might collaborate on an upcoming event, discuss a staff-wide goal, or brainstorm a new initiative. In general, the collaboration part of the meeting is roughly 20-40 minutes long. If it’s going to take longer than that, I’ll usually schedule a separate meeting for it. 4. Coaching We have a high value for personal growth, and so we’ll often include coaching in our team meetings. By coaching, I’m referring to any kind of training or reading that’s focused on staff development. For example, we might read a book together as a staff, and then discuss a couple of chapters each week during our meeting. Or we might watch a leadership video from a great speaker and then discuss it as a team. Or I might do a leadership teaching with our staff on a topic that would be helpful. The coaching part of the meeting is usually 20-40 minutes, depending on what approach we’re taking to staff development. 5. Connection This part of the meeting can play out in two ways—spiritual connection and relational connection. Spiritual connection is where we take time to pray as a team.

I'm so excited to announce that my new book, Stop Chasing Easy officially releases today. To celebrate the launch, I'm flipping the mic on the Leader Fluent Podcast as my good friend and business leader, Derek Moffatt, interviews me about the book. We talk about several great insights including: Three types of gratitudeTrusting God when you want to make life count Five questions to find your mission Three gifts of a mentorThe value of unity And more If you're not already a subscriber to Leader Fluent, I'd love for you to subscribe to the podcast today on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Android, Pandora, or your favorite podcasting platform. And as always, your RATINGS and REVIEWS are deeply appreciated. STOP CHASING EASY BONUS OFFERS: When you buy Stop Chasing Easy, you’ll have immediate access to some great BONUS CONTENT including: OFFER #1 ONLY $17.95 + S/H (Total Value $117.92) When you buy Stop Chasing Easy, you'll receive 3 great bonus resources including: Stop Chasing Easy Sermon Series – A 4-part sermon series through Philippians (and based on the content of the book). Stop Chasing Easy Small Group Study – A 5-part study through Philippians complete with great content and practical questions. Stop Chasing Easy Masterclass for Leaders – A 4-session video masterclass and application guide for leaders where I apply the principles of Stop Chasing Easy to a leadership and organizational context. All of this is FREE when you purchase a copy of Stop Chasing Easy (a $117.92 value). But there’s also additional bonus content when you buy the book in Bulk or Case quantities. If you order 10+ COPIES of Stop Chasing Easy, you’ll also receive: OFFER #2 ONLY $144 + S/H (Total Value $329.40) 10 Copies of Stop Chasing Easy All of the Bonus Content (sermon series, small group study, masterclass for leaders) A Digital Copy of Stop Chasing Easy A Digital Copy of my book, Do Good Works A Digital Copy of my book, GO! Starting a Personal Growth Revolution That's 10 books plus all the resources above for only $144.00 + S/H (that’s a $329.40 value). Check it out HERE. Finally, if you buy a CASE OF 36+ BOOKS, you’ll receive all of the bonus content above as well as a ONE-ON-ONE PERSONAL LEADERSHIP COACHING CALL WITH ME. We can talk about organizational health, team development, life purpose, or whatever leadership challenges you’re facing right now. That’s only $360 + S/H (total value of $996.10) for: OFFER #3 ONLY $360 + S/H (Total Value $996.10) 36 Copies of Stop Chasing Easy All of the Bonus Content (sermon series, small group study, masterclass for leaders) 3 Digital Books (Stop Chasing Easy, Do Good Works, and GO! Starting a Personal Growth Revolution) A One-On-One 60-Minute Coaching Appointment with Me You can order Stop Chasing Easy and check out all of the bonus resources HERE. I know you’ll be challenged, encouraged, and equipped. I hope you’ll check it out today.

In today’s episode of the Leader Fluent Podcast, I’m sharing a lesson that comes straight from my new book, Stop Chasing Easy. In today’s episode I’ll talk about “Developing an Opportunity Mindset. Plus, in this episode I’ll share how you can get a copy of Stop Chasing Easy, along with several FREE BONUS RESOURCES including the “Stop Chasing Easy Masterclass for Leaders.” If you're not already a subscriber, I'd love for you to subscribe to Leader Fluent today on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Android, Pandora, or your favorite podcasting platform. And as always, your RATINGS and REVIEWS are deeply appreciated. SHOW NOTES: Samuel Truett Cathy is remembered as the successful entrepreneur and founder of Chick-fil-A. Cathy died in 2014, but his quick-service restaurants continue to thrive today. In fact, each Chick-fil-A makes more money per store than McDonalds, Starbucks, and Subway combined. While the success of Chick-fil-A is obvious, what you may not know about is the struggle that Truett Cathy experienced along the way. He grew up in the Great Depression. As a child he had a speech impediment so bad that he couldn’t even pronounce his own name.In 1949, Truett’s brothers, Ben and Horace (both licensed pilots), tragically died in a plane crash as they flew to Chattanooga, Tennessee. In 1960, one of his restaurants burned to the ground. The worst part? Truett only had $25,000 worth of insurance, not near enough to cover his loss.Not long after, Truett discovered he had polyps in his colon. As a result he had two surgeries, and had to have twelve inches of his colon removed. While we admire his success, the hardships made Truett Cathy. He later said: “The history of Chick-fil-A, in fact, is a series of unexpected opportunities. When we responded to them, we often found ourselves richly blessed. The Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich itself was born in the wake of an unexpected opportunity. When one of my first two restaurants burned to the ground, I found myself with time on my hands and the availability to develop a new recipe.” Cathy could have wallowed in defeat—most people would if they watched so many hours of hard work burn up in flames. Instead, Truett discovered a billion-dollar idea in the ashes. What enabled Truett Cathy to successfully navigate his setbacks? The right perspective. He exchanged pessimism for possibility. He looked for the right opportunities in the uncomfortable and the unexpected. Truett once said, “We change the world, and ourselves, by our response to unexpected opportunities.” So, how do you develop an opportunity mindset in the face of problems and hardship? It begins by taking four steps. 1. Embrace the Problem Problems can be difficult, discouraging, and even downright painful. That’s why we like to ignore them. In fact, our tendency is to only address problems in two situations—when they’re easy to solve or when they’ve become a crisis too big to ignore. It’s in the messy middle that we pretend problems don’t exist. But here’s the problem in ignoring your problems. When you ignore your problems, you simultaneously ignore the opportunities buried within them. 2. Examine the Problem To discover possibilities in your problems, you have to diagnose the problem. Embracing the problem forces you to deal with the problem, but examining the problem gets to the root cause. Sakichi Toyoda, founder of Toyota, developed a diagnostic approach which became popular in the 1970s, and is still used by Toyota today. The strategy is simply this—define a problem and then ask “Why?” five times until you get to the root cause of the issue. 3. Explore the Possibilities Once you’ve uncovered the root cause of your problem, start exploring the possible solution (or opportunity) hidden within your problem. That’s exactly what Truett Cathy did. After his restaurant burned to the ground (which I think we would all agree was certainly a problem),

In today’s episode of the Leader Fluent Podcast, I’m talking about, “Questions to Start the New Year.” As we launch into a new year, I’ve found some great questions to help me reflect on where I’ve been and prepare for where I want to go. Today, I’ll share these questions with you, and I have a very special announcement to share with you at the end of the episode. If you're not already a subscriber, I'd love for you to subscribe to Leader Fluent today on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Android, Pandora, or your favorite podcasting platform. And as always, your RATINGS and REVIEWS are deeply appreciated. SHOW NOTES: It’s the start of a new year and that means many of us are setting goals and planning our path for what we’d like to do accomplish in the days ahead. To help you maximize where you want to go, I’d like share two types of questions that I ask myself each year at this time: REFLECTION QUESTIONS and REFOCUSING QUESTIONS. The reflection questions deal with the past 12 months, and the refocusing questions deal with the next 12 months. Under each category I have five questions. REFLECTION QUESTIONS: 1. What am I thankful for? When you start the reflection process by asking, “What am I thankful for,” you’re able to reframe the year from a positive perspective. 2. How did I grow? This question is important because it forces me to reflect on the lessons I’ve learned over the last 12 months (in any area of life). This can happen by reflecting on my personal growth plan, life lessons in general, and the books that I’ve read. 3. Who did I invest in? This question is really important because our legacy in life is often tied to the people we invested in the most. These people may be family, friends, colleagues, clients, or a host of other people. When you reflect on your list of people, you’ll quickly discover where you saw the greatest return on your investment of time and effort. 4. How did I spend my time? John Maxwell says that your success is determined by your daily agenda. Therefore, each year I’ll take my calendar from the past 12 months and reflect on how I used my time each day. When I do this, I’m looking for the three P’s: Priorities – How much of my time did I spend on my highest priorities? People – How much time did I spend with my family, friends, staff, leaders, and other important relationships in my life? Patterns – What patterns have emerged in my schedule that reveal a poor use of time? When I go through my calendar, I’ll take notes on these three things—priorities, people, and patterns. Then, I’ll make appropriate adjustments for the new year. 5. How did I live out my mission and values? Several years ago I created a life mission statement and a handful of core values. At the close of each year, I’ll reflect on my mission and values to determine how well I’m living them out each day. REFOCUSING QUESTIONS: 1. What is my growth plan? Each year I create a personal growth plan at the start of the year—I often refer to it as a personal growth TRAC…T-R-A-C. The word TRAC stands for Target, Roadmap, Accountability, and Check-Up. In other words, I identify the target areas I want to grow in, then I create a roadmap to grow, then I invite someone to hold me accountable for my growth, and finally I’ll do check-ups throughout the year to monitor progress. You can access my free ebook, How to Create a Plan for Personal Growth (which unpacks the Growth TRAC model) HERE. 2. What are my ministry goals? While a growth TRAC focuses on my personal growth, ministry goals focus on the health and growth of the church I lead. So, how do you know which ministry goals you should pursue? Consider a few thoughts such as: Will this goal drive us closer to our vision?Will this goal help us become more healthy as a church or organization?What single goal, if reached, would make the greatest difference in our organization right now?

In today’s episode of the Leader Fluent Podcast, I’m talking about, “Jesus on Habit Formation.” As we prepare for a new year, many of us are thinking about new habits and new resolutions, so in this episode I’ll share four keys to habit formation from the life of Jesus. If you're not already a subscriber, I'd love for you to subscribe to Leader Fluent today on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Android, Pandora, or your favorite podcasting platform. And as always, your RATINGS and REVIEWS are deeply appreciated. SHOW NOTES: John Maxwell often says, “Most people have uphill hopes, but downhill habits.” In other words, lots of people have uphill dreams and goals—things they want to accomplish or become—but the problem is their habits don’t match their hopes. There’s a lot of great research on what the formation of habits looks likes, but I want to share four observations on habit formation that I see in the life of Jesus. As you read the Gospels, you discover that one of the habits Jesus modeled most frequently was prayer. Not only does Jesus’ prayer life give us a great example of prayer, but it gives us a great example of how to form a habit. Four Keys to Habit Formation: 1. Habits Need a Time When you look at Jesus’ habit of prayer, he prayed at various times, but Scripture makes a specific reference to mornings. Mark 1:35 (NLT) – Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. Luke 4:42a (NLT) – Early the next morning Jesus went out to an isolated place… For a habit to form, you need a set time and a right time that works for you. When habits aren’t directed by a time, they become dictated by your feelings. And let’s be honest, we never feel our way into a habit. There are 525,600 minutes in a year. You’ll spend approximately 175,200 of those minutes asleep (if you get eight hours a night). That means you’ll have 350,400 minutes during your waking hours. And if you have a job and work eight hours per day, five days per week for fifty weeks a year, you’ll have 230,400 minutes remaining. So, the question is, how many of those minutes will you give to form the habits that will make you healthy. And if you think you don’t have enough time, consider one more number: 51,830. That’s how many minutes the average person spends on social media each year. It’s 142 minutes per day…863 hours per year…22% of your minutes outside of work and sleep. 2. Habits Need a Place Each time Jesus prayed, Scripture refers to the place he prayed. The place wasn’t always the same, but the place was always secluded. Luke 4:42a (NLT) – Early the next morning Jesus went out to an isolated place… Mark 1:35 (NLT) – Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. Luke 5:16 (NLT) – But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer. Luke 6:12 (NLT) – One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. Mark 6:46 (NLT) – After telling everyone good-bye, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. What do all of these passages have in common? They reveal a secluded place where Jesus prayed. Simply put, every habit needs a home. That home is the place where the habit can take root and the habit can produce fruit. 3. Habits Need a Frequency This seems obvious because habits imply frequency and regularity. But I believe it’s worth pointing out when it comes to Jesus’ habit of prayer. Luke 5:16 (NLT) – But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer. We know Jesus’ prayed often because of all the passages of scripture I’ve shared already. Why is this important to point out? Because frequency is what gives a habit its power. In fact, without frequency, a habit isn’t a habit; it’s a hobby. As you’re developing your habits, ask yourself this question from Dan Sullivan: "IS THIS WHERE I STOP?" Each time you answer no, you’re building frequency into your habit.

In today’s episode of the Leader Fluent Podcast, I’m talking about, “10 Signs of an Emerging Leader.” One responsibility of a leader is to develop young leaders, but first, you have to identify the potential leaders that are emerging around you. Today, I’ll share the ten signs to look for. If you're not already a subscriber, I'd love for you to subscribe to Leader Fluent today on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Android, Pandora, or your favorite podcasting platform. And as always, your RATINGS and REVIEWS are deeply appreciated. SHOW NOTES: How do you know if somebody has leadership potential? Leaders have the responsibility for developing more leaders, but before you can develop more leaders, you have to know what to look for in a potential leader. I want to encourage you to pay attention to ten signs of an emerging leader. I’m not suggesting that an emerging leader has all ten of these qualities; I’m simply saying, these are the qualities to pay attention to when you’re trying to determine if somebody is a potential leader. 1. They Have Influence This one’s fairly obvious, because at its core a leader is someone who has the ability to influence others. If you see somebody with the ability to gather followers, that’s a sign that they have leadership potential. 2. They Take Initiative When someone takes regular initiative to get things done without being asked or told, they likely demonstrate the ability to lead themselves. If somebody can lead themselves, then there’s a greater likelihood that they’ll be able to lead others. Ask yourself, “Who around me takes initiative?” 3. They Possess Forward-Thinking Abilities Forward thinking abilities reveals a person’s ability to envision the future. If they can envision better ways of doing things, they may be able to use their vision to inspire others to take action. 4. Their Spiritual Giftedness Indicates or Assumes Leadership Leadership is one of the spiritual gifts the apostle Paul describes in Romans 12. However, leadership isn’t the only spiritual gift that requires the ability to lead. For example, people who have the spiritual gift of pastor, or teacher, or apostle, or administration often find themselves in leadership roles as well. Consider administering a spiritual gifts assessment and look for those whose gifting indicates or assumes leadership. 5. They Possess Strong People Skills Leadership is all about leading people, and people like to follow people who make them feel valued. If somebody exhibits strong people skills, they likely have greater influence with people than those who exhibit poor people skills or low emotional intelligence. 6. They Have the Ability to Motivate and Mobilize Others Anybody can see a need, but seeing a need doesn’t make you a leader. However, some people not only see a need, but they also take initiative to do something about the need. These people can lead themselves, and possibly others. But other people have the ability to not only see the need and do something about the need, but they also have the ability to motivate and mobilize others to do something about the need too. These people have an even higher level of leadership capacity. 7. They are Problem Solvers One of the quickest ways any leader can gain influence is to solve problems. Don’t pay attention to the people who whine about problems. Pay attention to the ones who can wrap their heads around a problem and work diligently to find the right solution to it. These are emerging leaders. 8. They are Growing as a Disciple Followers of Christ are committed to lifelong growth, and part of that growth is learning to serve. And here’s the trend that I’ve noticed…when a disciple of Jesus proves faithful in serving in the small things, God tends to elevate their responsibilities—often in areas of leadership. 9. They are Teachable When someone is teachable, it reveals their attitude and it enables their ability.

In today’s episode of the Leader Fluent Podcast, I’m talking about, “Five Signs of a Hard Worker.” Most people believe they work hard, but in this episode we’ll discover that working hard is more than working long hours…it’s how we work that makes the difference. If you're not already a subscriber, I'd love for you to subscribe to Leader Fluent today on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Android, Pandora, or your favorite podcasting platform. And as always, your RATINGS and REVIEWS are deeply appreciated. SHOW NOTES: What are the signs of a truly hard worker? I believe there are five signs that separate hard workers from people who simply put in long hours. 1. Right Priorities A hard worker is not focused solely on getting things done. Anybody can do that. Instead, a hard worker is somebody who gets the right things done. In other words, they understand their high-return priorities, and then they allocate the bulk of their time and energy to those priorities. So, how do you establish the right priorities? Start by practicing the 80/20 Rule. The 80/20 Rule says that 80% of your outcomes are the result of 20% of your activity. Simply put, if you have ten priorities, the top two priorities will produce 80% of your results. You can identify the right priorities by asking yourself, “Which priorities will give me the highest return on my investment of time?” 2. Personal Initiative Personal initiatives show up when we practice the three P’s. First, be PROMPT. Arrive on time to work, to meetings, and to appointments. If you’re continually late, then you’re probably overscheduling, oversleeping, or underestimating how much time a task will take. Second, own PROBLEMS. Hard workers don’t point fingers, blame others, or say, “That’s not my job.” Instead, when problems arise, hard workers take initiative to resolve them quickly. Third, be PROACTIVE. One of the hallmarks of a hard worker is that they don’t have to be told what to do. Instead, they’re self-motivated. They take initiative without waiting on someone else to light a fire under them. 3. Quality Work Years ago, Truett Cathy (the founder of Chick-Fil-A), told his vice presidents and marketing team, “Gentlemen, I am sick and tired of hearing you talk about us getting bigger. What we need to be talking about is getting better. If we get better, our customers will demand that we get bigger.” Truett’s words that day shifted the entire conversation, and by 2000, Chick-Fil-A hit a billion dollars in sales. If you’re going to get better and do quality work, it will require a growth mindset, regular evaluation, excellent execution. 4. Efficient Delivery We’ve all heard the phrase, “Work smarter, not harder.” That’s what efficient delivery is all about. It’s choosing to wisely steward time, talent, and treasure to deliver outcomes in the most efficient way possible. One of the best ways to provide efficient delivery is create good systems. Think of the word SYSTEM as an acronym that stands for: Saves You Stress, Time, Energy, and Money. That’s what an efficient system does. 5. Unwavering Persistence Author and psychologist, Angela Lee Duckworth, has done extensive research on the subject of grit. This is what she observed about grit…she said: “Grit is passion and perseverance for very long-term goals. Grit is having stamina. Grit is sticking with your future, day in day out, not just for the week, not just for the month, but for years, and working really hard to make that future a reality. Grit is living life like it’s a marathon, not a sprint.” Hard workers have the ability to stick with something even when that something is hard. They have the ability to persevere and persist. They have grit and they are resilient. So, if they have to put in more hours, they’ll put in more hours. If they have to do extra research to figure something out, they’ll do the extra research. They don’t quit.

In today’s episode of the Leader Fluent Podcast, I’m talking about, “Eight Ingredients of Good Decision-Making.” Leadership and decision-making go hand in hand, and in this episode, I’ll share eight keys to make better decisions. If you're not already a subscriber, I'd love for you to subscribe to Leader Fluent today on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Android, Pandora, or your favorite podcasting platform. And as always, your RATINGS and REVIEWS are deeply appreciated. SHOW NOTES: Leaders make countless decisions in their organizations, and those decisions are on a wide spectrum…from easy to difficult, from small to big, from simple to complex. The real question is, how do leaders consistently make great decisions? Let me share eight ingredients to help you make better decisions, and a simple question to go with each one. 1. God: What is the Holy Spirit Saying? One temptation in leadership is to restrict our decision-making inputs to the latest research, the newest books, our closest friends, and the most respected leaders in our field. There’s nothing wrong with any of these, and we’ll talk about them in a moment, but great decision-making starts with God. James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” The most helpful prayer a leader can pray is, “God, fill me with the wisdom and knowledge of your perfect will, and give me the courage to pursue it.” So, when it comes to an important decision, invite the Holy Spirit to direct you and speak to you. 2. DNA: Does the Decision Violate Our Identity? Every church and every organization has a unique DNA. In general, an organization’s DNA is made up of four things: Vision – Where you’re goingMission – Why you existValues – What’s most importantCulture – How we do things For your DNA to positively impact your organization, you have to integrate it into your decision-making. If you don’t, you’ll start to experience sideways energy. 3. Research: Have I Done My Homework? In-depth decision-making requires some in-depth research. In fact, Jesus once said, “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish’” (Luke 14:28-30). The lesson is clear—good decisions require proper planning and research. 4. Experience: What Does Past Experience Reveal? One of the greatest informers of future decisions is past experience. Job 12:12 says, “Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding?” The longer you live, the more perspective you glean and the more insight you uncover. So, when you’re making decisions for your church or organization, pay attention to three types of experience: Personal Experience – This is the experience you personally bring to the table. It usually consists of your failures, successes, habits, education, proficiencies, and observations. Historical Experience – This experience draws on your church or organization’s historical trends, traditions, metrics, and behaviors. The purpose of historical experience isn’t so much to define a future strategy, but rather to understand how the church or organization might respond to future decisions. External Experience – This experience comes from leaders outside of your church. You might look to a coach, consultant, mentor, or another experienced leader in your field to provide fresh input before making an important decision. 5. Advice: Have I Sought the Wisdom of Others? The book of Proverbs has some of the most practical insight on the importance of advice. For example,Proverbs 13:20 says, “Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.” In other words,

In today’s episode of the Leader Fluent Podcast, I’m talking about, “How to Discover Your Life Mission.” People of every age and every generation have wrestled with the question, “What was I made to do?” In this episode, I’ll share four steps you can take to get greater clarity about your unique mission in life. If you're not already a subscriber, I'd love for you to subscribe to Leader Fluent today on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Android, Pandora, or your favorite podcasting platform. And as always, your RATINGS and REVIEWS are deeply appreciated. SHOW NOTES “What was I made to do?” That question has haunted people of every age and every walk of life for thousands of years. And while there’s nothing wrong with that question, I actually believe there’s a second question—perhaps a better question—that will help you discover your life mission. That better question is, “How did God design me?” Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Not only did God create us to do good works, but he prepared those good works before we were even born. And here’s the good news: when God created us, He designed us with those good works in mind. The more we understand how we’re designed, the more clues we’ll discover to the mission God created us to fulfill. Think about it like a puzzle. When you dump a puzzle on a table, what’s the first thing you do? You start turning over all the pieces of the puzzle. Why? Because you want to see the different shapes and colors so you can connect the pieces together. Your life mission is the same way. The more pieces of the puzzle you turn over, the more you begin to discover the common themes and patterns in how God designed you. You start to see how the pieces connect together to help you fulfill a specific mission in life. So, what kind of puzzle pieces do you need to turn over to help you clarify your life mission? Start with these four puzzle pieces. 1. Experience Our experience quickly reveals what we’re good at, and what we stink at. In other words, when you reflect on your past experience, you quickly discover where you’ve experienced success, and where you’ve experienced failure. This process helps you narrow the circle of your life mission. So, in what areas have you experienced the most success? Your answer to that question will give clues to how God wired you. 2. Destiny Markers I learned the concept of destiny markers from my friend Steve Moore. A destiny marker is an event, experience, relationship, or circumstance that reminds you that God has a specific purpose for your life, or it provides clues to what that purpose might be. Destiny markers come in a variety of forms. For example, a destiny marker might be a formative relationship, a personal milestone, or a providential occurrence. Destiny markers reveal how God has been at work in your past. They reveal the seeds of destiny God has been sowing throughout your lifetime. 3. Giftedness In Exodus chapter 35 and 36, Moses mobilized a team of people to help construct the sanctuary. And in Exodus 35:31-35, Moses said, “The Lord has filled Bezalel with the Spirit of God, giving him great wisdom, ability, and expertise in all kinds of crafts. He is a master craftsman, expert in working with gold, silver, and bronze. He is skilled in engraving and mounting gemstones and in carving wood. He is a master at every craft. And the Lord has given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach their skills to others. The Lord has given them special skills as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple, and scarlet thread on fine linen cloth, and weavers. They excel as craftsmen and as designers.” What is Moses doing in this passage? He’s describing in detail the giftedness of Bezalel and Oholiab. In the same way God gifted these two men,

In today’s episode of the Leader Fluent Podcast, I’m talking about, “Coaching Others to Succeed.” Coaching can make a huge difference in your life and leadership personally, but it’s also a great tool to develop others. In this episode, I’ll share three practical ways to use coaching to take AIM at others’ potential. If you're not already a subscriber, I'd love for you to subscribe to Leader Fluent today on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Android, Pandora, or your favorite podcast platform. And after you subscribe, be sure to leave a RATING or REVIEW of the podcast. It helps us spread the word to other leaders. SHOW NOTES: Coaching is a powerful tool to help people grow. I know for me, I’ve gained a huge amount of insight and perspective from the coaches I’ve had over the years. But coaching isn’t just something I’ve personally benefited from, it’s also something I’ve been able to leverage to help others grow too. So, that raises a question: what exactly does a coach do? I like to say it like this: Great coaches take AIM at potential. AIM stands for Assessment, Insight, and Motivation. In other words, a coach will take AIM at personal or organizational potential by providing assessment, insight, and motivation so the leader or organization can realize their greatest potential. Let’s unpack each of these: 1. Assessment One of the first things a coach has to do is assess the needs of the person their coaching. Sports coaches do this all the time. They observe their players, and they note what they’re doing well and how they need to improve. Why? Because you can’t help a person reach their full potential if you don’t understand their growth gaps. You have to assess where they’re at, where they want to go, and the gap between the two. So, when you’re coaching someone, how do you assess their needs? By asking questions and administering assessments. Asking questions is important because the most significant growth in a person’s life will usually occur in the area where they have the highest intrinsic motivation to grow. Question-asking reveals those key growth areas. And assessments are valuable because they reveal how a person is wired and can often help a leader garner 360 degree feedback. A couple of great tools to help with this process is the 360 Degree Refined Leadership Test or the Leadership Practices Inventory. 2. Insight Following an accurate assessment, coaches provide valuable insights that will help a leader grow, improve, and accelerate. There are four different approaches to provide insight to the person you’re coaching: Probing – Probing happens when the coach asks good questions to uncover the insight already inside the person. In other words, by simply asking the right questions, the coach is able to pull out of the person the solution to their challenges. The solution was there all along, but it wasn’t until the coach started probing by asking good questions, that they were able to bring the insight to light. Processing – When a person is being coached, they will often share ideas, strategies, or pathways they want to pursue. A coach’s job is to help them process these ideas and insights by serving as a sounding board, asking clarifying questions, and pointing out potential blind spots. Permission – Sometimes the person being coached knows what they should do, but they’re lacking the confidence to do it. The person being coached doesn’t actually need the coach’s permission to act. However, when the coach affirms what the person is thinking, it gives them a confidence boost to actually act. In this way, giving permission is the insight needed to get dislodged from the paralysis of analysis. Perspective – Perspective is all about offering breakthrough ideas, best practices, and a fresh viewpoint. In other words, the coach doesn’t just ask questions, they actually offer practical solutions. Rather than pulling the solution out of the person,

In today’s episode of the Leader Fluent Podcast, I’m talking about, “Delegation in 3 Simple Steps.” Delegation is critical, but it also requires an intentional process. In this episode, I’ll share three simple but profound steps to help you delegate effectively. If you're not already a subscriber, I'd love for you to subscribe to Leader Fluent today on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Android, Pandora, or your favorite podcast platform. And after you subscribe, be sure to leave a RATING or REVIEW of the podcast. It helps us spread the word and help other leaders. SHOW NOTES: Delegation is a critical part of leadership. Not only does delegation allow you to create a sustainable pace, but it also helps you cultivate a people-development culture. One of the greatest delegation examples in Scripture is the story of Moses and Jethro. One day Jethro, who was Moses’ father-in-law, came to visit him. After watching Moses carry out his duties, he said these words: “What are you really accomplishing here? Why are you trying to do all this alone while everyone stands around you from morning till evening?” (Exodus 18:14, NLT). Notice how Moses responds to Jethro’s question: “Because the people come to me to get a ruling from God. When a dispute arises, they come to me, and I am the one who settles the case between the quarreling parties. I inform the people of God’s decrees and give them his instructions” (Exodus 18:15-16, NLT). Jethro could have patted Moses on the back and said, “Wow, sounds tough. I’ll pray for you, Moses.” Instead, Jethro looks at Moses and says, “This is not good!” Isn’t that what you’d love to hear your father-in-law tell you? But then he told him why it wasn’t good. He said, “You’re going to wear yourself out – and the people, too. This job is too heavy a burden for you to handle all by yourself” (Exodus 18:17-18, NLT). So, what does effective delegation look like? Consider these three steps. 1. PRIORITY ASSESSMENT Delegation doesn’t begin by giving anything away. Instead, delegation begins by determining what NOT to give away. You have to start by identifying your priorities so that you know where to focus your time and energy. That’s what Jethro did with Moses. In Exodus 18:19-21, Jethro basically told Moses to do three things: Be the people’s representative before GodTeach the people God’s decreesSelect capable leaders In other words, Jethro helped Moses identify his highest priorities before he ever delegated a single responsibility. And we have to do the same. How? Start by asking yourself three questions: What are my job requirements?What are my greatest strengths?Where do I get the greatest return on my investment of time? Your answers to these three questions will reveal your priorities. However, where your answers overlap and intersect reveals your highest priorities. Then, once you’ve identified your highest priorities, create a second list with everything that you should delegate. 2. TEAM EMPOWERMENT Team empowerment is all about empowering your team with responsibilities and opportunities. It’s handing off the things that fall outside of your highest priorities and entrusting them to your team. So, where do you start? Start with the four “A’s” of delegation. What are the four “A’s” of delegation: Assignment, Authority, Accountability, and Affirmation. The first “A” is… Assignment: Who should I delegate these responsibilities and opportunities to? Authority: What authority do I need to give to the person I’ve delegated a responsibility to? Accountability: How do I need to hold accountable the people I’ve delegated responsibilities to? Affirmation: How can I best support and encourage the people I’ve delegated responsibilities to? Without these four steps, you’ll have nothing more than order takers. Captain Michael Abrashoff once said, “If all you give are orders, then all you will get are order takers.