Leading From Alignment

In today’s episode John and Jim welcome Karl Vaters to the mic to discuss his bestselling book, De-Sizing the Church. We dig into Karl’s research on the church growth movement and explore how discipleship and integrity are the answers to every problem a church encounters.

In Episode 284, John and Jim covered the first three of six inspirational thoughts from John's February vacation. Today in Episode 285, they present three more insights from his time soaking in God’s awe-inspiring and creative masterpieces.

It is amazing what God can reveal to us when we slow down and listen. In today’s episode we unpack the first three of six inspirational moments from John’s vacation earlier this year. If you feel tired, or discouraged, or even a bit distant from God, this episode is the medicine you need.

In today’s episode John and Jim welcome Karl Vaters back to the mic to continue our conversation around his compelling book, De-Sizing the Church. Today Karl reveals what he is most optimistic about and most concerned about regarding pastors and the local churches they serve.

It’s not easy to finish. It’s even less easy to finish well. With the attrition of well-known ministry leaders over the past several years, you can begin to wonder, does anyone finish well? The good news is that with intentionality, God’s help, and the help of our Christian community, we can finish with a flourish. In today’s podcast John & Jim consider three ideas that increase the chances of finishing our race in full stride.

The top contributor to pastoral burnout? The ongoing stress of the role. If you have answered the divine call to pastoral ministry, you have signed up for both a fulfilling and stressful journey. In today’s episode John and Jim work through five of the most stress-inducing realities of the pastoral role and then offer a practical tip to successfully navigate each of those five stressors.

You do not exist to cater to every whim of those you lead. It’s not good for them . . . or for you . . . nor the organization you lead. In today’s episode John and Jim explore three ideas that help leaders locate the middle ground between the extremes of people-pleasing yeses and people-dodging no’s.

Hurrying seems to be our national pastime. And pastors are among the biggest hurry-ers. The question is—how do we deal with the tension between our God-given assignment and His call to stop hurrying? How can we be productive without always being on the move? Into today’s episode John and Jim unpack four master keys to embracing a less-hurried life.

Leadership is a journey fraught with peril. Numerous temptations lurk. In today’s episode John and Jim explore three less talked about, more subtle temptations that threaten to sneak up on and ambush a leader.

One of the hardest things to do for most lead pastors is to separate from work. Failure to pivot from work to our personal life leads to overscheduling, overcommitting, and rest-deprivation. So here is the question: How do we work hard, how do we fulfill our calling, without running ourselves into the ground? We learn how to pivot.

How we forgive is a harbinger of leadership fruitfulness and longevity. In part two of their conversation about Leadership & Forgiveness, John and Jim focus on extending forgiveness to ourselves, and then close with four powerful forgiveness principles we need to know.

Are you in pain today? Even while the organization you lead is growing? Growth, while often desirable, is usually accompanied by pruning, both in our personal and pastoral lives. And pruning often is joined by an unwelcome companion . . . pain. In today’s episode John and Jim outline four ways pruning brings more fruit into our life at home and at the church or ministry we lead.

Last week John and Jim began a two-part conversation on the irreplaceable role core values play. Core values answer the question, how?. How do we behave on our way to the vision God has given us? Core values provide the fuel that thrusts our organization toward that vision. Today’s episode unpacks how leaders can utilize core values to shape the culture they need.

In the past two episodes John and Jim focused on vision development and vision-casting. Vision answers the question, where? Today they begin another two-part conversation on the irreplaceable role core values play. Core values answer the question, how? How do we behave on our way to where God is telling us to go?

Last week John and Jim started a two-part series about casting your 2025 vision. In today’s episode they continue their conversation on vision with extremely practical vision development exercises that will help you begin the vision-development process.

In 1900, the Ford Motor Company commissioned a series of tests to determine how long a workweek should be to optimize productivity. Ford discovered the “sweet spot” was 40 hours per week. If you are a pastor, a 40-hour work week is likely elusive, not practical, even difficult to conceptualize. But the question remains, how do pastors migrate toward a smarter, more reasonable weekly work rhythm? In today’s episode John and Jim attempt to answer this most important question.

What is the top contributor to the ongoing burnout crisis for pastors? The ongoing and immense stress of the role. The solution is not the total elimination of stress. The truth is some stress is actually good for us. But the unrelenting variety of stress is where challenges emerge. So, what is a leader to do? In today’s podcast we unpack three big ideas and five practical behaviors that will help you reduce your risk of burnout, or help you recover from its menacing grip.

Vision is a clear, compelling, mouthwatering picture of where God wants to take the organization you lead. In today’s episode contains part one of our conversation around this most important leadership skill: Vision development and casting. We are cheering for you to dream big this year!

Human nature leans toward noticing problems with other people while being blind to our own. Jesus identifies this tendency when He asks: “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” This tendency can trip up even the best of leaders. In today’s episode John and Jim unpack how we as leaders can take care of our “own yard” first.

Episode 268:John’s Four Biggest Aha’s of 2024 by Converge Coaching

The second leading cause of pastor burnout is isolation. All of us need people in our life who energize us, refresh us, make us laugh, who we can have mask-off community with. Leadership is too hard to do alone. In today’s episode John & Jim explore two major friendship obstacles, and then outline seven quick friendship tips for pastors.

What is it like to be on the other side of you? The answer can be a leading indicator of your emotional intelligence level. Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand your emotions, the emotions of those near you, and the impact your emotions have on the emotions of those near you. In today’s episode we focus on four threads that help a leader gain more of this precious leadership commodity

Ever feel like there is more work to do than hands to help? If so . . . you need a team. A team that feels free to help you. In today’s episode we explore three master keys to developing and releasing a team to help share the ministry load with you.

What is the most limiting behavior for a leader? The inability or unwillingness to have tough conversations with those you lead. In today’s episode John and Jim unpack six practical steps that will help you find the sweet spot between the tendency to bully and the tendency to wimp out when it comes to difficult conversations.

One of the most vulnerable times in an organization’s life is when it is transitioning from its current senior leader and passing the baton to the next one. In today’s episode John and Jim explore a high-level plan for a senior leadership transition. They answer two of the most frequent questions pastors ask when being coached through the leadership transition journey and then outline an example of a succession plan.

Should I stay, or should I go? A question most pastors have asked multiple times. Churches can experience two extremes when it comes to lead pastors: pastors who leave prematurely, or pastors who hang on too long. In today’s episode John and Jim unpack four powerful questions and four practical steps to help leaders discern if a necessary ending is nearing

In last week’s episode 257 we explored a leader’s most important assignment . . . building a strong inner life. In today’s episode we piggyback on that idea today by unpacking a practical way to get arrive at a stronger inside life . . . responding to Jesus’ invitation to weary leaders. The more we say yes to His invitation in Matthew 11, the stronger our inner life grows.

In today’s episode John and Jim do a quick flyover of three quotes from Peter Scazzero’s book, The Emotionally Healthy Leader. Together they unpack the #1 assignment of every pastor—an assignment that if taken seriously, is the biggest contributor to a pastor’s longevity and fruitfulness.

It’s national election season again. It’s safe to assume there’s going to be some tension leaking into the churches you lead. In today’s episode John & Jim unpack four perspectives we hope will help you manage that tension.

Today John and Jim welcome to the mic Lewis Brandon, pastor of Jordantown Wesleyan Church in Vinton, Virginia. A vibrant, growing church led by a vibrant, growing pastor. His powerful journey of healing from brokenness, anxiety, and depression is one of the most moving interviews we’ve had in the history of this podcast.

Finding character-filled, talented people to add to your team is challenging. In today’s episode Johne and Jim conclude their three-part series on Staffing Your Church from Within. They welcome to the mic today, Pastor Jim Westheim, Director of Operations at Faith Alive Church in West Branch, Michigan. He will unpack the practical steps Faith Alive has taken to successfully build their team from within (including 225 volunteers) over the last three years.

Finding character-filled, talented people to add to your team is becoming increasingly challenging. The pool of available candidates seems thin right now, and we sense it could stay that way for the near future. Considering those realities, we offer Part 2 of our series, Staffing Your Church from Within. In today’s episode we get extremely practical about taking next steps to implement this way of adding to your team.

Over the past few weeks, more than a dozen pastors have reported to us they are trying to add staff. They have the budget for it but are finding the talent pool shallow. We believe this trend will continue to grow in the years ahead. With that in mind, today’s episode is the first in a series of three podcasts dedicated to the idea of staffing your church from within.

The health of your marriage is foundational to the health of the organization you lead. The most impactful thing a pastor does for a church’s health is to have a healthy marriage. In Part 2 of their conversation with Greg and Rachelle Colegrove, founders of The Fun Marriage Workshop, John and Jim explore what pastors and their spouse can do if they find themselves in marital crisis, how they can get in front of marital struggles, and the impact marital health has on the church they lead.

In today’s episode, Greg and Rachelle Colegrove, founders of The Fun Marriage Workshop, join John and Jim on the mic. Together they unpack the leadership marriage landscape, the contributing factors to marital stress in a leader’s life, and finally what leaders can do to address those stressors both biblically and practically.

There is beauty in order. But the truth is there is also a beast . . . a dark side to task-orientation. In today’s episode John and Jim take a look at the darker side of task-oriented leadership, and what leaders can do to minimize its negative impact.

In today’s episode John and Jim explore a seismic shift in leadership style that holds the promise of leadership excellence over a long period of time . . . becoming a leader of leaders.

Statistics drawn from over 12,000 coaching and/or counseling sessions with pastors during the years 2022-2023 revealed the following top four needs being addressed in descending order were: Burnout/exhaustion; marriage counseling (both critical and preventative maintenance); unhealthy addictions/behavior (pornography, alcohol); and leadership coaching. In today’s episode John and Jim explore the second most addressed need . . . the health of our marriage. The most powerful influence for good or not so good in the churches we pastor is the health of our marriage.

Discouragement is the universal experience of leadership. Extended seasons of discouragement can cause leaders to doubt their calling, capability, and value. Some leaders even prematurely exit ministry due to a growing sense of hopelessness. In today’s episode John and Jim unpack four master keys to beating this unwelcome trouble of all leaders.

Welcome back to Part 2 of John and Jim's conversation centered around eight trends emerging in churches this year. Last week in Episode 244 they explored the first four trends: The gravitational pull toward the tactical at the expense of the strategic; the way church health is measured; the loneliness of the people we lead; and the need your team has for face time with you. In today’s episode they unpack four additional trends in the Church post-pandemic.

Pastoring in 2024 is not like it was pre-pandemic. We can either live in denial or figure out how to adapt without diluting our message. In today’s episode John & Jim explore four trends they are noticing in the Church post-pandemic and how pastors can respond to those trends.

In today’s episode, John and Jim welcome back Greg Surratt, founding pastor of Seacoast Church in South Carolina, co-founder of the Association of Related Churches (ARC), and a pastor to thousands of pastors across the world. Today's conversation concludes a compelling two-part look at the challenges regarding the health and wellbeing of pastors. It unpacks a pathway for responding to elevated levels of burnout among pastors and . . . explores how to get in front of this problem with higher-risk younger and emerging leaders.

Today John and Jim welcome Greg Surratt to the mic. Greg is the founding pastor of Seacoast Church in South Carolina, the co-founder of the Association of Related Churches (ARC), and a pastor to thousands of pastors across the world. In their conversation today, they begin a two-part look at how to reduce your risk of pastoral burnout.

Have you ever felt like an underdog? Like you are operating at a disadvantage? If so . . . welcome to the club! The Bible is full of people who felt they were underdogs. In today’s episode, John and Jim unpack an encouraging idea: You + God is a winning combination!

Psalm 23 is one of the most beloved of all the Psalms. It carries fresh meaning for those of us who lead. Before God leads you in your calling . . . He leads you to Himself. In today’s episode, John and Jim unpack how leaders can navigate chaotic times by getting quiet enough to tune in, listen to, and follow God’s voice.

Do you want to lead better? Longer? Have more fun along the way? If so, three foundational items in your life need to get healthier: Identity, Affection, and Affirmation. In today’s episode we unpack these three pillars of healthy living and leadership that, if properly applied, will improve your leadership, lengthen your shelf-life, and increase the enjoyment of your calling.

Gossip . . . perhaps the most pervasive problem in the church today. And the lack of unity it produces weakens the witness of the Church and ultimately the reputation of Jesus. In today’s episode John and Jim tackle a subject that comes from a friend of Converge Coaching, Jay Fowler . . . collapsing relational triangles. Today's conversation carves a path that will help build unity in the church or ministry you lead.

Conflict . . . for most leaders, the bane of their existence. Something to be postponed instead of embraced. But the way we deal with conflict is a barometer of our future leadership capacity. In today’s episode John and Jim unpack a biblical and practical approach to a problem many leaders would rather avoid . . . managing conflict.

Are younger male leaders, and female leaders more emotionally aware than their older male leader counterparts? In today’s episode we welcome back our friend, Josh Spurlock for Part 2 of our conversation focusing on how the way our personal world impacts our ministry world, and how leading with a limp makes a leader easier to follow, and the generational and gender nuances of pastoral leadership.

In today’s episode we welcome back to the mic our friend, Josh Spurlock, founder of My Counselor Online. In our conversation today we unpack the current leadership landscape in terms of wellbeing and explore how leaders from different generations can help each other become more resilient.