5 Leadership Questions Podcast on Church Leadership with Todd Adkins and Dan Iten

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im are joined by Brad Waggoner, Executive Vice President at LifeWay Christian Resources. During their conversation, they discuss reasons to make tough personnel decisions and looking back at family leadership.

BEST QUOTES

“There is a sea of information that flows by us at rapid pace.”

“Men and methods come and go, but the mission stays the same.”

“I almost like finding problems, because it means you get better.”

“I think one mistake that leaders make is misplaced compassion.”

“The more experience I’ve gained, the less I’m worried about the fallout.”

“I try to be intentional about who should I be initiating time with.”

“I try to read or listen to audiobooks daily.”

“I did not cultivate emotional intimacy in the home.”

“If I could go back to my 20-year-old self would I say, “lower your expectations of others?” Because I’ve been disappointed at well-known leaders who pick and choose the parts of the Bible they want to talk about.”

“I spent two days alone with God, fasting and praying. I needed to know, “God, what do you want from me?”

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Pipeline 2018 Conference

The Leadership Engine by Noel Tichy

Harvard Business Review

Wall Street Journal

A Seat at the Table by Mark Schwartz

Cornerstones by Brian Dembowczyk

No Silver Bullets by Daniel Im

The Shape of Faith to Come by Brad Waggoner

My Top 20 Leadership Books

Brad Waggoner

* Good to Great. Jim Collins

* The Speed of Trust. Stephen Covey, Jr.

* The Top 10 Mistakes Leaders Make. Hans Finzel

* Spiritual Leadership. J. Oswald Sanders

* Working with Emotional Intelligence. Daniel Goleman

* The Leadership Challenge. James Kouzes and Barry Posner (5thedition)

* Leading Change. John Kotter

*

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im are joined by Josh Patterson, Lead Pastor at The Village Church in Texas. During their conversation, they discuss the following questions:

* How do you lead high capacity leaders on your team?

* What do you look for when recruiting staff?

* How do you know what level of leadership you are best gifted for?

* You made a decision to transition your campuses to church plants. How is it going?

* You and Kevin Peck lead a strategic learning community, and have trained a lot of senior leaders. What have you found as you have trained them to be their greatest need?

BEST QUOTES

"It's different leading leaders than it is leading minions or yes people."

"High capacity leaders want to be recognized as such. They want to have room to lead."

"I don't think you can grow without healthy conflict."

"Every time you hire someone you are making a cultural decision."

"Membership is not the same thing as employment."

"There's a difference between someone who can stand in the pulpit for a season and someone who can carry a pulpit."

"It is like replanting five churches while you are flying with one church in five locations."

"Moving from intuitive leadership to intentional leadership is often an "aha" moment for these leaders."

"We can work with these leaders to move their churches from a model of intuition to a model of intentionality."

"We give them tools and exercises to get it into their hands and out of their hearts. It demystifies some of it in a lot of ways."

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Pipeline 2018 Conference

Rumsfeld's Rules by Donal Rumsfeld

On Leadership by John Gardner

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im are joined by Josh Patterson, Lead Pastor at The Village Church in Texas. During their conversation, they discuss the following questions:

* How do you lead high capacity leaders on your team?

* What do you look for when recruiting staff?

* How do you know what level of leadership you are best gifted for?

* You made a decision to transition your campuses to church plants. How is it going?

* You and Kevin Peck lead a strategic learning community, and have trained a lot of senior leaders. What have you found as you have trained them to be their greatest need?

BEST QUOTES

“It’s different leading leaders than it is leading minions or yes people.”

“High capacity leaders want to be recognized as such. They want to have room to lead.”

“I don’t think you can grow without healthy conflict.”

“Every time you hire someone you are making a cultural decision.”

“Membership is not the same thing as employment.”

“There’s a difference between someone who can stand in the pulpit for a season and someone who can carry a pulpit.”

“It is like replanting five churches while you are flying with one church in five locations.”

“Moving from intuitive leadership to intentional leadership is often an “aha” moment for these leaders.”

“We can work with these leaders to move their churches from a model of intuition to a model of intentionality.”

“We give them tools and exercises to get it into their hands and out of their hearts. It demystifies some of it in a lot of ways.”

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Pipeline 2018 Conference

Rumsfeld’s Rules by Donal Rumsfeld

On Leadership by John Gardner

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im are joined by Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. During their conversation, they discuss research on Vacation Bible School (VBS) and answer the following questions.

* What are some of the highlights from the VBS research?

* What are our personal experiences with VBS?

* Why does VBS work today?

* What are some tips for the next time someone hosts VBS?

BEST QUOTES

“Sometimes parents are twisting their kids' arms to get them to go to church on Sunday. It's usually not that way with VBS."

"Almost 7 out of 10 parents would let their child attend a VBS at someone else's church if invited."

"9 out of 10 adults say that attending VBS as a child influenced their spiritual growth positively."

"Because VBS is a short-term commitment, it fits with our culture today."

"As adults look back on their experience, 88% say that VBS helped them better understand the Bible."

"69% of parents whose kids have not attended VBS say that if their kids went to VBS they would understand the Bible better."

"VBS needs to be a real budget line. Don't rely on outside donations to pull it off."

"Don't miss the opportunity to meet the family. Relationship is what will draw them in."

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Pipeline 2018 Conference

Lifeway Research

5LQ Episode 265: Scott McConnell on Why People Leave Your Church 

5LQ Episode 219: Kailey Black on Navigating Maternity Leave

Text VBS to 888111 to receive a copy of the research

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im are joined by Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research. During their conversation, they discuss research on Vacation Bible School (VBS) and answer the following questions.

* What are some of the highlights from the VBS research?

* What are our personal experiences with VBS?

* Why does VBS work today?

* What are some tips for the next time someone hosts VBS?

BEST QUOTES

“Sometimes parents are twisting their kids’ arms to get them to go to church on Sunday. It’s usually not that way with VBS.”

“Almost 7 out of 10 parents would let their child attend a VBS at someone else’s church if invited.”

“9 out of 10 adults say that attending VBS as a child influenced their spiritual growth positively.”

“Because VBS is a short-term commitment, it fits with our culture today.”

“As adults look back on their experience, 88% say that VBS helped them better understand the Bible.”

“69% of parents whose kids have not attended VBS say that if their kids went to VBS they would understand the Bible better.”

“VBS needs to be a real budget line. Don’t rely on outside donations to pull it off.”

“Don’t miss the opportunity to meet the family. Relationship is what will draw them in.”

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Pipeline 2018 Conference

LifeWay Research

5LQ Episode 265: Scott McConnell on Why People Leave Your Church 

5LQ Episode 219: Kailey Black on Navigating Maternity Leave

Text VBS to 888111 to receive a copy of the research

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im breakdown the leadership book The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande. In their conversation they discuss the importance of creating checklists and how they can help you become more efficient and effective.

* What's the book and why does it matter?

* Overview of the book

* How applicable is the book to leadership in my church?

* What are things churches should ignore from the book?

* What can you do this week in light of the book?

BEST QUOTES

“This book will help you scale. It will help you delegate."

"The world is becoming increasingly complex. In order to get things done consistently, his premise is you have to use checklists."

"We don't like checklists. They can be painstaking. They're not much fun, but I don't think the issue here is mere laziness."

"Under conditions of complexity, not only are checklists a help, they are required for success."

"Checklists raise wide, unexpected possibilities."

"That's not my problem is probably the worst thing people can think."

"The book is going to help you in your church develop systems for recruitment and training."

"Checklists are your friend."

"You need to create some key checklists in your area."

"Think about one of the things you would love to hand off. Identify it, create a checklist for it, and train someone up."

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Pipeline 2018 Conference

The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande

New Churches podcast

Ministry Grid

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

Execution by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan

The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell 

Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner

Tell Me Something I Don't Know podcast

The Four by Scott Galloway

No Silver Bullets by Daniel Im

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im breakdown the leadership book The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande. In their conversation they discuss the importance of creating checklists and how they can help you become more efficient and effective.

* What’s the book and why does it matter?

* Overview of the book

* How applicable is the book to leadership in my church?

* What are things churches should ignore from the book?

* What can you do this week in light of the book?

BEST QUOTES

“This book will help you scale. It will help you delegate.”

“The world is becoming increasingly complex. In order to get things done consistently, his premise is you have to use checklists.”

“We don’t like checklists. They can be painstaking. They’re not much fun, but I don’t think the issue here is mere laziness.”

“Under conditions of complexity, not only are checklists a help, they are required for success.”

“Checklists raise wide, unexpected possibilities.”

“That’s not my problem is probably the worst thing people can think.”

“The book is going to help you in your church develop systems for recruitment and training.”

“Checklists are your friend.”

“You need to create some key checklists in your area.”

“Think about one of the things you would love to hand off. Identify it, create a checklist for it, and train someone up.”

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Pipeline 2018 Conference

The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande

New Churches podcast

Ministry Grid

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

Execution by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan

The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell 

Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner

Tell Me Something I Don’t Know podcast

The Four by Scott Galloway

No Silver Bullets by Daniel Im

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im are joined by Craig Groeschel, author of Hope in the Dark: Believing God is Good When Life is Not. During their conversation, they discuss helping leaders when they go through hard places.

* How do I believe God is good when life is not good?

* What do you do when you can’t seem to find God?

* What’s the connection between faith and hope, and how are they different?

* Share about how walking through darkness and hard times can bring glory to God.

* What would you like to say to leaders in their throes of leadership in light of those book?

BEST QUOTES

“The key to me, both as a leader and just as a person as a follower of Christ is in the name of Habbakuk. It means both to wrestle and to embrace.”

“It’s OK to have spiritual doubts, but at the same time hang on to God.”

“God is a sovereign God. If I am still in this role, it’s because He wants me to be in this role.”

“God does more spiritually in the valley than he does on the mountaintop.”

“The words I’d written to someone else ministered to me.”

“Instead of trying to create success or do something important, what I want to do is be faithful today.”

“Those times when things aren’t going well, I try to do as a leader what I know is right.”

“As we lead more complicated organizations, we have to be more sophisticated in our understanding that there are different teams, there are different stages.”

“The longer we lead organizations, the more we default to reacting, because there is so much to react to.”

“Our intimacy with God is not in what He gives us, or withholds from us, it’s just based on who He is.”

“God does bless us, and we do suffer.”

“I get better as a leader through the hard times, not the good times.”

“Doubts can be a real part of faith.”

“Leaders are always leading with a limp.”

“If you’re not hurting, you’re not leading.”

“We are always making decisions about things that people won’t understand.”

“Sometimes the difference between where you are and where God wants you to be is the pain that you are unwilling to step into.”

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Start Up Podcast

New Churches Podcast

Craig Groeschel Leadership Podcast

Streams in the Desert by L.B. Cowman

The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis 

Hope in the Dark by Craig Groeschel

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im are joined by Craig Groeschel, author of Hope in the Dark: Believing God is Good When Life is Not. During their conversation, they discuss helping leaders when they go through hard places.

* How do I believe God is good when life is not good?

* What do you do when you can’t seem to find God?

* What’s the connection between faith and hope, and how are they different?

* Share about how walking through darkness and hard times can bring glory to God.

* What would you like to say to leaders in their throes of leadership in light of those book?

BEST QUOTES

“The key to me, both as a leader and just as a person as a follower of Christ is in the name of Habbakuk. It means both to wrestle and to embrace.”

“It’s OK to have spiritual doubts, but at the same time hang on to God.”

“God is a sovereign God. If I am still in this role, it’s because He wants me to be in this role.”

“God does more spiritually in the valley than he does on the mountaintop.”

“The words I’d written to someone else ministered to me.”

“Instead of trying to create success or do something important, what I want to do is be faithful today.”

“Those times when things aren’t going well, I try to do as a leader what I know is right.”

“As we lead more complicated organizations, we have to be more sophisticated in our understanding that there are different teams, there are different stages.”

“The longer we lead organizations, the more we default to reacting, because there is so much to react to.”

“Our intimacy with God is not in what He gives us, or withholds from us, it’s just based on who He is.”

“God does bless us, and we do suffer.”

“I get better as a leader through the hard times, not the good times.”

“Doubts can be a real part of faith.”

“Leaders are always leading with a limp.”

“If you’re not hurting, you’re not leading.”

“We are always making decisions about things that people won’t understand.”

“Sometimes the difference between where you are and where God wants you to be is the pain that you are unwilling to step into.”

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Start Up Podcast

New Churches Podcast

Craig Groeschel Leadership Podcast

Streams in the Desert by L.B. Cowman

The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis 

Hope in the Dark by Craig Groeschel

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im discuss and share a talk from Bob Russell, author of After 50 Years of Ministry, from Pipeline 2017 in which Russell shares the lessons he learned from the mistakes he made in ministry.

BEST QUOTES

“I feel like I have done some things the way God would have me do them, but I’ve also made some serious mistakes along the way and I’ve learned some valuable lessons from those mistakes.”

“Sometimes we learn our best lessons from our worst mistakes.”

“The worst single mistake I ever made in ministry was I forgot a wedding.”

“I acknowledged that this was an area where I was weak and I need to surround myself with people who have strengths in administration and let them do it.”

“A lot of our problems we have in ministry and in leadership come from ego.”

“Delegate even if it hurts your ego.”

“The reason people burn out in ministry isn’t because they work too hard, the reason they burn out in ministry is they work too hard in areas they are not gifted.”

“I learned to give my family priority even when the church needs attention.”

“Long after the elders and deacons in your church forget your name, your wife is going to be there.”

“The best thing a preacher can do for his church is to model marriage in front of them.”

“I learned to be content in ministry regardless of statistics.”

“Why we are discontent in this ministry is because we compare all the time.”

“God does not value your worth in ministry by your statistics.”

“Seventy-five years from now when somebody looks at a picture of your church, what are they going to say about your influence?”

“Don’t grow weary in doing good in ministry, in due season you reap a harvest if you just don’t give up.”

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Pipeline 2018 Conference

When God Builds a Church by Bob Russell

The Purpose Driven Church by Rick Warren

Watch this video and all the talks from Pipeline 2017 at MinistryGrid.com