The Best of Leaders in Living Rooms
About The Episode
For just over two years, you’ve been invited into the living rooms of over forty leaders; getting privileged insights into their life that few others have access to. Today’s show is a podcast milestone, marking the fiftieth episode of Leaders in Living Rooms! To celebrate 50 episodes, we’ve compiled seven of the top highlights and learnings from our guests. We invite you to listen in on the “cliff notes” from topics like leading your board well with Jud Wilhite to leading on empty with Wayne Cordeiro. You will be encouraged by all seven of these leaders as they speak incredible words of wisdom over the next generation of church leaders.
Welcome to Episode 050 of the Leaders in Living Rooms Podcast with Sean Morgan.
Jud Wilhite Episode 001: Leading Your Board
- Your board only has power when you speak with one voice
- 100% of your board business needs to be done together
- What do you want the board to look like by the grace of God? Lead your board. It may take 10+ years, but move towards that vision.
Dave Stone Episode 009: Fear Or Faith
Everyone is a bad leader in their worst moment.
Psalm 139:5 (NLT) “You go before me and you follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head.”
- My biggest mistake was pulling away from the people that I needed to lean in to.
- The byproduct of that was I got scared and I began to lead that first season out of fear instead of out of faith.
Pat Gelsinger Episode 011: What Got You Here Won’t Get You There
Our influence initially was by being an example setter. As you get promoted and are trusted with the next role, challenge yourself with the notion that… what got you here on the team, won’t get you there leading the team.
- You have to start grinding off some of those rough edges that aren’t making you or your team successful.
- Don’t let your strengths become your weaknesses. Oftentimes the very things that made you successful are actually preventing you from being successful.
Pastor Wayne Cordeiro Episode 017: Leading On Empty
You have your title on day one, but you don’t have the heads and hearts of your people on day one. You cannot move forward if you don’t have traction. Get traction first. And then find out what is going good in the church. Tell them what must never change, what won’t change, not what will change.
Slow down, think about the history of what your organization, your congregation has been through and look to their past for what made them successful. Reassure them that the things of their past aren’t going to change.
Not everybody can handle the same pace of change. Make sure you are instituting changes in a way that people can follow and get behind.
The first thing the shepherd must do is make the sheep feel safe.
Mike Foster Episode 016: Feeling Like You’re The Exception To The Rule
Do the deep work to grow your heart.
If we fail to deal with those moments, we’re shortcutting ourselves. Leaders miss out on this beautiful nuclear reactor of power in our lives when we fail to honor the pain we have experienced and to leverage it for good.
“You either are going to deal with your pain or your pain is going to deal with you. God will not be mocked when it comes to our pain and trauma.”
You are NOT the exception to the rule.
Danny Anderson Episode 032 & 033: Making Decisions Too Quickly
Typically, making decisions too quickly is a bad idea. Two exceptions to this rule, and when it’s ok to make quick decisions are:
- When you’ve inherited toxicity or cultural dysfunction
- When you feel like you’re dealing with a sink or swim situation
Joel Thomas Episode 034 & 035: Reasons Why We Leave
Finding peace in letting God architect our story. Not taking our hands off the wheel, but not necessarily pursuing at great cost the things we want ourselves.
Three possible dynamics anytime someone is transitioning:
- They aren’t happy and they are looking for something else;
- There’s a better opportunity;
- There’s a calling.
Episode Links
Pastor Derwin Gray, Steve Carter, Megan Marshman & Mike Hickerson will be leading our next Craft & Character Communicators Cohort this Spring. Don’t miss your chance to get in the living rooms of these leaders and grow in the unique craft of preaching while ensuring character leads the way. Check out the details here!
Book by Dr. Thom Rainer – Who Moved My Pulpit?
Thoughts on this podcast or a recent episode? Email Sean directly at: sean@theascentleader.org
Sponsors & Network Partners
Exciting announcement! We have officially joined Carey Nieuwhof’s Art of Leadership Network. The Art of Leadership Network is a new podcast network, and includes world-class leaders dedicated to teaching you how to live in a way today that will help you thrive tomorrow. We are thrilled to be a part of this new network with friends like Brad Lomenick, Jenni Catron and others. Click here to learn more about the Art of Leadership Network!
Thanks to our sponsors: CDF Capital and Food For The Hungry.
Hear directly from our friend, Jordan Gustafson, Director of Organizational Partnerships, at Food for the Hungry. Jordan personally walks us through how the goal at FH is to combine your church’s desire to grow disciples, with their heart for the poor, by partnering with Food for the Hungry for the opportunity to do so with a global mission and outreach experience. Learn more at fh.org/churches.
CDF Capital is hosting the 2022 Executive Pastors Summit taking place May 24th and 25th in Manchester, NH. Check out Xpsummit.org for more information.
Quotes From Episode
“My confidence is in Christ. My confidence is in the Lord that he has prepared me for this. I cannot do this on my own. I’ve got to lean on the Lord and he’s going to help me through it.”
-Dave Stone
“You can be prepared to take the senior role, but until you sit in that seat and you feel the weight of that pressure of the decisions that you make and the sense that the buck stops here… you don’t know what that feels like.”
-Dave Stone
(in the comments) …But guess what, the buck doesn’t stop with me. There’s a layer higher than the Senior Pastor, and it’s not the elders. It’s the Lord, this is His church.
“Don’t let your strengths become your weaknesses. Oftentimes the very things that made you successful in this role are actually preventing you from being successful in the next role.”
-Pat Gelsigner
“You have your title on day one, but you don’t have the heads and hearts of your people on day one. You cannot move forward if you don’t have traction. Get traction first.”
-Wayne Cordero
“The first thing the shepherd must do is make the sheep feel safe.”
-Wayne Cordero
“Leaders miss out on this beautiful nuclear reactor of power in our lives when we fail to honor the pain we have experienced and to leverage it for good.”
-Mike Foster
Listen to Recent Episodes
About the Host
Sean Morgan is a coach and speaker with a national reputation as a catalyst of fresh vision. His passion is to help ministries navigate obstacles and turn them into opportunities.
Throughout his career, Sean has pioneered initiatives impacting thousands of leaders across the country. He started out serving as Executive Pastor and CFO at New Life Church in northern California.
As host, Sean gives you access to amazing conversations, hard-won wisdom, and poignant insights from world-class leaders in intimate “living room” settings.
Your Host
Sean Morgan
Leaders in Living Rooms
Craft & Character
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