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As John C. Maxwell says, “Motivation gets you going, but discipline keeps you growing.” In this episode, John is sharing a lesson on the importance of consistency in leadership and being intentional with adding value to others every day! 

After his lesson, Mark Cole and Chris Robinson break down John's insights and give you practical application for your life and leadership.

Key takeaways: 

• Continue to intentionally add value to people every day. 

• The key to significance is consistency.  

• Today matters — make it count.  

Our BONUS resource for this episode is the Discipline Keeps You Growing Worksheet, which includes fill-in-the-blank notes from John’s teaching. You can download the worksheet by visiting MaxwellPodcast.com/Discipline and clicking “Download the Bonus Resource.” 

Take the next step in your growth journey and become a Maxwell Leadership Certified Team Member.

A pack of hyenas surrounded a lone lioness. When the cackling beasts attacked, the lioness fought back. Biting, clawing, growling, and roaring in a desperate attempt to ward off her enemies, she finally fell. As the clan engulfed her, another lioness came to the rescue with three helpers only seconds behind her. Though outnumbered, the big cats fought off the hyenas until they scattered. The lionesses stood together, scanning the horizon as if expecting another attack.

Believers in Jesus desperately need help from others too. The most powerful help we can offer is prayer. The apostle Paul wrote in a letter to the church in Rome, “I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me” (Romans 15:30). Paul asked them to pray that he would “be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea” and that the “Lord’s people” would receive him and his gifts “favorably” (v. 31). He acknowledged the rewards of being a part of their community (v. 32). He stood with them in prayer, too, ending his letter with a blessing: “The God of peace be with you all” (v. 33).

As we live for Jesus, we’ll face adversaries in the physical and spiritual realms. God promises to be with us and fight on our behalf, however, as we stand together . . . always ready to pray.

In this episode of the LeadCulture Podcast, Jenni Catron dives into the Define Phase of the LeadCulture Framework, where culture clarity becomes the driving force for thriving teams.

Jenni sits down with Angela Shirley, an executive leader overseeing 70+ early childhood educators and 300+ students across multiple campuses. Post-pandemic, Angela faced burnout, high turnover, and the quiet undercurrents of negativity that can sink even the best organizations.

Together, they explore how Angela:

• Discovered the hidden culture gaps affecting engagement, trust, and performance
• Collaboratively defined core values with her entire team, turning abstract ideals into daily behaviors
• Created alignment and ownership across 150 staff members, giving voice to every employee
• Used core values to guide tough conversations, reinforce positive behaviors, and strengthen morale
• Transformed culture into a competitive advantage, reducing turnover and building a thriving, people-focused workplace

Through Angela’s journey, leaders will see how intentionally defining values, beliefs, and behaviors isn’t just “nice to have”—it’s the key to turning hope into results, building alignment, and creating a culture your team chooses to stay for.

If you’ve ever wondered how to move from aspirational culture statements to real, measurable outcomes, this episode is packed with insights you can apply immediately.

Listen and learn: 

• How to define your culture
• Align your team
• Lead with clarity, confidence, and intentionality.

Check out Angela's full customer story here.

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So much of modern church culture encourages us to hide.

Hide our struggles. Hide our doubts. Hide the messy, complicated truth of being human.

But Jesus never invited us into a sanitized faith. He called us into something real.

In today’s episode, I explore the next mark of an Emotionally Healthy Culture: Creating a Church Where It’s Safe to Be Human.

We’ll unpack five countercultural practices that dismantle toxic judgment, challenge our compulsion to fix others, and build a community that mirrors the love of Jesus.

You’ll hear stories, examples, and frameworks that will help you…

• Build emotional safety into your leadership core.

• Develop a high level of differentiation as a spiritual leader.

• Create a church culture that invites people to come out of hiding and into the light.

This isn’t a side issue. It’s central to deep discipleship.

Let’s stop pretending—and start building churches where people experience the grace of God, not just hear about it.

Dan Heath, author of Made to Stick, The Power of Moments, and other seminal leadership books, talks about the six surprising traits of sticky sermons, how to design church experiences people never...

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Culture prompts us to value money over people; grade people by looks, awards, and bank balances; and place our value in what we wear, drive, own, or achieve. The mastermind behind these attacks? The devil. Satan has one primary aim—to entangle us in a web of unhealthy thoughts. He wants to corrupt, contaminate, and confuse our minds with a false system.

The classic example of the devil’s influence occurred in the garden of Eden. In 2 Corinthians 11:3 (ESV), Paul stated, “I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” There it is. Satan commandeered Eve’s mind by infecting her thoughts. He uses the same playbook today.

Read more Tame Your Thoughts: Three Tools to Renew Your Mind and Transform Your Life

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

In this episode of Journey to Thriving, Brian Taylor, CEO and Chief Investment Officer of Cornerstone Management, shares his journey of integrating faith and investment management for over 30 years. Serving nearly 90 faith-based organizations, Brian reflects on his upbringing in a Christian home, his passion for missions and business, and how God reshaped his view of leadership.

He opens up about moving from control-driven leadership toward a surrendered, compassionate model that mirrors the Father’s heart. Through meditating on Scripture, engaging vulnerably in small groups, and cultivating prayer, Brian has discovered a thriving leadership rooted not in striving for God but in working with Him. His wisdom offers encouragement for leaders navigating loss, celebration, and the call to align with God’s larger story.

Episode Highlights

• Brian Taylor’s background and call to integrate faith with investment management.

• Cornerstone Management’s work serving ~90 ministries, including Samaritan’s Purse, Compassion International, Taylor University, and Columbia International University.

• His spiritual turning point—moving from “a form of godliness” to surrendering control and embracing God’s leadership model.

• Transformative disciplines: Scripture meditation, small-group vulnerability, and prayer.

• The importance of grieving losses and celebrating with others in leadership.

• Defining thriving as being fully engaged with the Lord’s work through us, living out God’s desired impact in His larger story.

Summary In this episode of Journey to Thriving, Brian Taylor, CEO and Chief Investment Officer of Cornerstone Management, shares his journey of integrating faith and investment management for over 30 years. Serving nearly 90 faith-based organizations, Brian reflects on his upbringing in a Christian home, his passion for missions and business, and how God reshaped his view of leadership.

He opens up about moving from control-driven leadership toward a surrendered, compassionate model that mirrors the Father’s heart. Through meditating on Scripture, engaging vulnerably in small groups, and cultivating prayer, Brian has discovered a thriving leadership rooted not in striving for God but in working with Him. His wisdom offers encouragement for leaders navigating loss, celebration, and the call to align with God’s larger story.

Episode Highlights

Brian Taylor’s background and call to integrate faith with investment management.

Cornerstone Management’s work serving ~90 ministries, including Samaritan’s Purse, Compassion International, Taylor University, and Columbia International University.

His spiritual turning point—moving from “a form of godliness” to surrendering control and embracing God’s leadership model.

Transformative disciplines: Scripture meditation, small-group vulnerability, and prayer.

The importance of grieving losses and celebrating with others in leadership.

Defining thriving as being fully engaged with the Lord’s work through us, living out God’s desired impact in His larger story.

Morse was the son of a Protestant minister and a struggling painter of landscapes. In the 1820s, he made a meager living as a limner—“an itinerant painter” of colonial America. But his was a life God led in another direction. Morse also had an interest in science. He learned about electromagnets, conceiving an idea that would change the world. In 1832, Samuel F. B. Morse conceived the idea of an electric telegraph and later went on to make the first working telegraph.

Probably the most dramatic biblical account of “career change” was that of Saul, who was “breathing out murderous threats” against believers in Christ (Acts 9:1). Jesus appeared to him in a great light (v. 3) saying that Saul was persecuting Him. Essentially, Saul was told to stop because he was under new orders now (v. 6). Saul did a U-turn in his life and assumed a new identity in Christ as the apostle who would eventually spread the gospel wherever he went.

Sometimes what we think is our future really isn’t. God leads us in another direction. Perhaps He needs to call us out of our sin. Or maybe it’s a change of ministry or vocation. When God redirects our lives, we do well to stop what we’re doing and follow our new orders. And as our new path opens before us, we might just echo the joy of the first dot-and-dash message of Morse’s telegraph: “What hath God wrought!”