Leading From Alignment

When a leader casts a bold vision or enlarges their facilities to accommodate growth, it’s almost always accompanied by a certain percentage of people leaving. It throws some of these leaders into a bit of a panic: “Wait a minute! How can anyone not be excited about the clear direction we’re heading toward? How can they deny the energy and momentum we’re experiencing? Why don’t they see what I see?” From the human perspective, it often doesn’t make sense. But from the divine vantage point, it makes perfect sense. Growth often starts with subtraction. Today’s podcast will outline three reasons why this happens. You’ll discover a better way to interpret the “pruning of people” that almost always accompanies growth. It will help you resist the urge to panic when the “thinning of the herd” happens.

The other day I was talking to a bi-vocational associate pastor who was “the guy” for 3 months while his lead pastor was on sabbatical. He said something stunning to me: “Now that our pastor is on sabbatical, it’s like a switch turned on with our people. They know they have to step up, that they can’t rely on him to do all of the work because he’s not here! And it’s been an amazing season for us!” I wonder how many lead pastors get in the way of people stepping up to serve just because they try to do it all?” Because they get lost in the micro at the expense of the macro? They favor the tactical at the expense of the strategic? Today’s podcast will provide three practical hacks to getting out of your staff’s or team’s way. You’ll learn how to spend more time working “on” your ministry than “in” your ministry. How to increase the amount time you spend being strategic and reduce the amount of time you spend being tactical. Getting out of your team’s way will help you lead longer, lead better, and enjoy it more.

Have you ever wondered how your calling in life can at times be so hard? You heard the voice of God calling you to do something special, exciting—and yes, maybe even risky—and you jumped in with both feet. You’ve felt fulfilled in that calling, watched God help people through your calling, and even pinched yourself thinking: “I can’t believe I get to do this for a living!” And then comes the inevitable tough stretches. Tough stretches stretch us. They’re uncomfortable. Challenging. Sometimes they’re mystifying. And these seasons of difficulty can leave you asking: “Why?” “God, if I’m called to do this, why is it so stinking hard right now?” Today’s podcast will explore how to handle those stretches when fulfilling your calling seems hard and even confusing.

How often do we think: “I’ll be happy when the church I pastor grows to 400 people” or “when the business I lead reaches $10 million in revenue” or “when I get my Master’s degree” etc.? Leaders tend to wait to be joyful until they arrive at a certain destination, and discover when they get there, they often find themselves disappointed because they imagined they’d feel happier. Jim Branch writes: “Lord help us not live for the distant day when the in-between will be no more, but help us to have the courage to step into that sacred space of the in-between—knowing that this is the place where life is transformed.” Today, Episode 2 of Leading from Alignment Podcast. [insert link] The journey is the place where God lays the foundational blocks that will support the weight of what lies ahead in our next destination. Today’s podcast [insert link] will explore three practical ways we can embrace the journey and learn everything God wants to teach us on the way to our destination.

Questions to ask yourself when your mission feels drifting.