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 Trevin Wax, Bible and Reference Publisher at Lifeway Christian Resources, general editor of The Gospel Project, and a teaching pastor in Middle Tennessee. During their conversation, they talk about the trends in Christianity for the upcoming year and discuss the following questions.

* What’s the bad news?

* What’s the good news?

* What is broken?

* What’s working?

* What is coming in 2018?

BEST QUOTES

“A lot of the bad news that has been out the last couple of years has been the decline of percentage of people in the US who identify as Christian.”

“The number of Christians in America is the highest it has ever been, but that is because the population of America continues to grow.”

“America is still a deeply religious country overall.”

“The vast majority of Americans don’t read the Bible, even those that are Christian.”

“The good news is that Americans still have a high regard for the Bible.”

“More than half of Americans believe the Bible is the inspired, inerrant word of God.”

“As a pastor, the Bible is the best thing you’ve got going for you.”

“Our culture is engulfed by nostalgia, the idea of a golden era of the past.”

“Nostalgia is an idealized view of the past that keeps us from really being faithful in the present.”

“It is so easy for us as people to move into maintenance mode instead of mission mode.”

“When we look at church history, we need to look at it as a treasure box, not a map.”

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Ministry Grid

Trevin’s Blog

Word Matters

This is Our Time by Trevin Wax

Story of Christianity by Justo L. Gonzalez

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im are joined by Trevin Wax, Bible and Reference Publisher at LifeWay Christian Resources, general editor of The Gospel Project, and a teaching pastor in Middle Tennessee. During their conversation, they talk about the trends in Christianity for the upcoming year and discuss the following questions.

* What’s the bad news?

* What’s the good news?

* What is broken?

* What’s working?

* What is coming in 2018?

BEST QUOTES

“A lot of the bad news that has been out the last couple of years has been the decline of percentage of people in the US who identify as Christian.”

“The number of Christians in America is the highest it has ever been, but that is because the population of America continues to grow.”

“America is still a deeply religious country overall.”

“The vast majority of Americans don’t read the Bible, even those that are Christian.”

“The good news is that Americans still have a high regard for the Bible.”

“More than half of Americans believe the Bible is the inspired, inerrant word of God.”

“As a pastor, the Bible is the best thing you’ve got going for you.”

“Our culture is engulfed by nostalgia, the idea of a golden era of the past.”

“Nostalgia is an idealized view of the past that keeps us from really being faithful in the present.”

“It is so easy for us as people to move into maintenance mode instead of mission mode.”

“When we look at church history, we need to look at it as a treasure box, not a map.”

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Ministry Grid

Trevin’s Blog

Word Matters

This is Our Time by Trevin Wax

Story of Christianity by Justo L. Gonzalez

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im are joined by Trevin Wax, Bible and Reference Publisher at LifeWay Christian Resources, general editor of The Gospel Project, and a teaching pastor in Middle Tennessee. During their conversation, they talk about the trends in Christianity for the upcoming year and discuss the following questions.

* What’s the bad news?

* What’s the good news?

* What is broken?

* What’s working?

* What is coming in 2018?

BEST QUOTES

“A lot of the bad news that has been out the last couple of years has been the decline of percentage of people in the US who identify as Christian.”

“The number of Christians in America is the highest it has ever been, but that is because the population of America continues to grow.”

“America is still a deeply religious country overall.”

“The vast majority of Americans don’t read the Bible, even those that are Christian.”

“The good news is that Americans still have a high regard for the Bible.”

“More than half of Americans believe the Bible is the inspired, inerrant word of God.”

“As a pastor, the Bible is the best thing you’ve got going for you.”

“Our culture is engulfed by nostalgia, the idea of a golden era of the past.”

“Nostalgia is an idealized view of the past that keeps us from really being faithful in the present.”

“It is so easy for us as people to move into maintenance mode instead of mission mode.”

“When we look at church history, we need to look at it as a treasure box, not a map.”

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Ministry Grid

Trevin’s Blog

Word Matters

This is Our Time by Trevin Wax

Story of Christianity by Justo L. Gonzalez

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im are joined by Trevin Wax, Bible and Reference Publisher at LifeWay Christian Resources, general editor of The Gospel Project, and a teaching pastor in Middle Tennessee. During their conversation, they talk about the trends in Christianity for the upcoming year and discuss the following questions.

* What’s the bad news?

* What’s the good news?

* What is broken?

* What’s working?

* What is coming in 2018?

BEST QUOTES

“A lot of the bad news that has been out the last couple of years has been the decline of percentage of people in the US who identify as Christian.”

“The number of Christians in America is the highest it has ever been, but that is because the population of America continues to grow.”

“America is still a deeply religious country overall.”

“The vast majority of Americans don’t read the Bible, even those that are Christian.”

“The good news is that Americans still have a high regard for the Bible.”

“More than half of Americans believe the Bible is the inspired, inerrant word of God.”

“As a pastor, the Bible is the best thing you’ve got going for you.”

“Our culture is engulfed by nostalgia, the idea of a golden era of the past.”

“Nostalgia is an idealized view of the past that keeps us from really being faithful in the present.”

“It is so easy for us as people to move into maintenance mode instead of mission mode.”

“When we look at church history, we need to look at it as a treasure box, not a map.”

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Ministry Grid

Trevin’s Blog

Word Matters

This is Our Time by Trevin Wax

Story of Christianity by Justo L. Gonzalez

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins, Eric Geiger, and Daniel Im discuss the growing trend of remote teams and how to lead them well. During their conversation, they discuss the following questions.

* What are some reasons for the new trends of teams working remotely?

* What are some benefits and some pitfalls?

* Can anyone on your team work from home?

* How do you lead a team meeting remotely?

* What are some best practices when working remotely?

BEST QUOTES

“You save a lot of time working remote. You can actually give back more to your church, ministry, or organization by working remotely.”

“One thing you do miss out on when working remotely is the hallway conversations.”

“It takes discipline to be able to work remotely.”

“It’s product management versus people management. One can be managed remotely, the other is a relationship.”

“If you are going to lead a meeting remotely, you have got to use video.”

“Try to send documents ahead of time, so that everyone can have them on their screen.”

“Remote meetings can tend to be shorter because there isn’t the hangout time beforehand.”

“When I work remotely, I don’t dress up.”

“If you are on a remote meeting, learn to mute your mic.”

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Zoom

Shout out to Sheboygan, Wisconsin

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins, Eric Geiger, and Daniel Im discuss the growing trend of remote teams and how to lead them well. During their conversation, they discuss the following questions.

* What are some reasons for the new trends of teams working remotely?

* What are some benefits and some pitfalls?

* Can anyone on your team work from home?

* How do you lead a team meeting remotely?

* What are some best practices when working remotely?

BEST QUOTES

“You save a lot of time working remote. You can actually give back more to your church, ministry, or organization by working remotely.”

“One thing you do miss out on when working remotely is the hallway conversations.”

“It takes discipline to be able to work remotely.”

“It’s product management versus people management. One can be managed remotely, the other is a relationship.”

“If you are going to lead a meeting remotely, you have got to use video.”

“Try to send documents ahead of time, so that everyone can have them on their screen.”

“Remote meetings can tend to be shorter because there isn’t the hangout time beforehand.”

“When I work remotely, I don’t dress up.”

“If you are on a remote meeting, learn to mute your mic.”

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Zoom

Shout out to Sheboygan, Wisconsin

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins, Eric Geiger, and Daniel Im discuss the growing trend of remote teams and how to lead them well. During their conversation, they discuss the following questions.

* What are some reasons for the new trends of teams working remotely?

* What are some benefits and some pitfalls?

* Can anyone on your team work from home?

* How do you lead a team meeting remotely?

* What are some best practices when working remotely?

BEST QUOTES

“You save a lot of time working remote. You can actually give back more to your church, ministry, or organization by working remotely.”

“One thing you do miss out on when working remotely is the hallway conversations.”

“It takes discipline to be able to work remotely.”

“It’s product management versus people management. One can be managed remotely, the other is a relationship.”

“If you are going to lead a meeting remotely, you have got to use video.”

“Try to send documents ahead of time, so that everyone can have them on their screen.”

“Remote meetings can tend to be shorter because there isn’t the hangout time beforehand.”

“When I work remotely, I don’t dress up.”

“If you are on a remote meeting, learn to mute your mic.”

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Zoom

Shout out to Sheboygan, Wisconsin

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im are joined by Lane Grimes, the Event Specialist for Lifeway Leadership and previously an Administrative Assistant at Lifeway and many other organizations. In this episode, they discuss how to hire an administrative assistant and answer the following questions.

* How do you know it's time to hire an admin?

* What qualities and skills should you look for?

* What interview questions should you ask?

* What are the biggest mistakes churches make when hiring an admin?

* What are the keys to on-boarding an admin well?

BEST QUOTES

“The point of leadership pipeline is becoming who God has called you to be and multiplying yourself there.”

“No position in any church or organization should be a cul-de-sac position, meaning there is no where to go or progress.”

“From a pastor stand point, you need to be doing what only you as a pastor can do, and if you are spending your time in the weeds of administration, it is time to get yourself some help so you can focus on teaching, preaching, and developing leaders.”

“The fact is everyone needs to about the details. You may not want 100% of your job to be about that, but you still need to be about details.”

“If you are the person hiring an administrator, you are still the person responsible for getting the work done. You aren’t delegating ownership.”

“I think one of the things pastors and church leaders tend to do is under communicate things they are not happy about. But you administrative assistant wants to know what needs to change to make their life easier.”

“You should always want to develop the people under your care, or you are not a leader.”

“One of the biggest mistakes you can make is hiring too fast.”

“The biggest mistake I see in hiring is that people don’t check references.”

“Transformation happens when you have knowledge, experience, and coaching.”

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Belay

Ministry Grid

Pipeline West: Developing Leaders at Every Level 

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im are joined by Lane Grimes, the Event Specialist for LifeWay Leadership and previously an Administrative Assistant at LifeWay and many other organizations. In this episode, they discuss how to hire an administrative assistant and answer the following questions.

* How do you know it’s time to hire an admin?

* What qualities and skills should you look for?

* What interview questions should you ask?

* What are the biggest mistakes churches make when hiring an admin?

* What are the keys to on-boarding an admin well?

BEST QUOTES

“The point of leadership pipeline is becoming who God has called you to be and multiplying yourself there.”

“No position in any church or organization should be a cul-de-sac position, meaning there is no where to go or progress.”

“From a pastor stand point, you need to be doing what only you as a pastor can do, and if you are spending your time in the weeds of administration, it is time to get yourself some help so you can focus on teaching, preaching, and developing leaders.”

“The fact is everyone needs to about the details. You may not want 100% of your job to be about that, but you still need to be about details.”

“If you are the person hiring an administrator, you are still the person responsible for getting the work done. You aren’t delegating ownership.”

“I think one of the things pastors and church leaders tend to do is under communicate things they are not happy about. But you administrative assistant wants to know what needs to change to make their life easier.”

“You should always want to develop the people under your care, or you are not a leader.”

“One of the biggest mistakes you can make is hiring too fast.”

“The biggest mistake I see in hiring is that people don’t check references.”

“Transformation happens when you have knowledge, experience, and coaching.”

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Belay

Ministry Grid

Pipeline West: Developing Leaders at Every Level 

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins, Eric Geiger, and Daniel Im discuss what it means to lead up. During their conversation, they answer the following questions.

* What is leading up?

* Does leading up look different for different bosses?

* When should you shut up and not lead up?

* How do you lead up and your boss doesn’t know it?

* What are some best practices for leading up?

BEST QUOTES

“The first rule of leading up is you should never waste your boss’s time.”

“Leading up is communicating to your boss your priorities for the area that you lead and the direction that you are taking.”

“You may thrive under one type of boss, and then become frustrated working for a different type.”

“If I am going to lead effectively, I’m going to submit to my leader by learning how I can best serve them.”

“There are definitely times where you should shut up and not speak up. The key is learning your leader really well.”

“Don’t speak up when you don’t have anything to say but just feel like you have to say something.”

“Leading up is never supposed to be in a way that the boss doesn’t know what you are doing. It is not manipulation.”

“It takes more effort and time to be concise.”

“If you can help your boss succeed, it is all going to take care of itself.”

“Instead of asking what do I need to do to succeed, a leader should be asking what do we need to do to succeed.”

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Managing the Boss by John Kotter

5LQ Episode 195: Lateral Leadership

Pipeline West: Developing Leaders at Every Level