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In this episode...

Leadership, Meaning, and Making Space for Questions

https://faithfulontheclock.captivate.fm/episode/leadership-meaning-and-making-space-for-questions

Ever feel scared to ask a question? Episode 131 of Faithful on the Clock welcomes Catherine Cowell to help you see the freedom and power of reclaiming inquiry.

Timestamps:

[00:04] - Intro

[00:47] - Catherine’s welcome and bio

[01:50] - How Catherine came to work in communication and leadership

[05:54] - Catherine’s involvement with initial question groups

[14:23] - The need for guidelines in groups designed for question facilitation

[18:31] - Types of questions people brought to Catherine’s groups

[20:23] - Confronting the idea that questions mean weak faith or that you’re just starting your Christian journey

[29:28] - The importance of learning to consider your core passions and of asking other people about theirs

[35:50] - Catherine’s definition of leadership; the importance of holding space to help people find their gifts

[46:44] - Catherine’s two guiding philosophies

[49:47] - How to connect with Catherine

[50:38] - Outro/What’s coming up next

Key takeaways:

• In leadership and communication, how you listen is more key than how you get your message across.
• People can have all kinds of questions they’re afraid to ask. Modeling true vulnerability gives them permission to engage in full, authentic exploration — people are motivated to open up when they know we will sit in the space we create with them.
• As people begin to explore the questions they have, it can be helpful to establish guidelines around values. It reduces the mismatch of expectations — and subsequent uncomfortable situations — that can sometimes happen as people make inquiries.
• Questions can happen at any point of life, not just when you are just beginning your Christian journey. Having them doesn’t mean your faith is weak.
• People often hesitate to ask questions if they feel others will find them lacking for it. There’s a tendency to squash feelings down, believing we ought to be able to bring them under the authority of Scripture. This can leave us stunted, because we never really work through what’s in our hearts.
• God understands we are going to have questions on our faith journey. There’s nothing we could ask that could put us outside of His love.
• Asking questions helps us to become more settled as human beings because we stop hiding ourselves and don’t worry about our image so much.
• People often don’t stop to question what their core passion and calling is. Leaders also often fail to help them discover that God might have gifted them to do. To address this, it’s necessary for us to focus less on what the immediate, perceived needs of the organization are and more on what people could contribute. This allows the organization to see all the resources it truly has available and, as a result, potentially expand and develop beyond its original vision into something even better or greater.
• Helping people to ask questions helps them discover who they are. That enables them to go out and take action for God. People can take action in Christian environments or roles, but many can express themselves well outside of the traditional church. We don’t have to dismiss our gifts just because they aren’t normally associated with spirituality or faith (e.g., math).
• Because we are called to live by the Spirit rather than the law, we have a lot of freedom to be creative. Asking questions and really listening can be more than a tool for productivity — it can be an act of love.

• Loved Called Gifted

Get in touch with Catherine: [email protected] 

CTAs:

• Consider at least one area of your work, faith, or personal life where you’re confused or need more information. Pinpoint the core question you need to ask.
• Find a safe, trustworthy person to ask your core question. Set up an informal time to meet, text, or have a call about the question.

What’s coming up next:

Difficult conversations can be necessary despite how challenging they are. Episode 132 of Faithful on the Clock explores Scripture to form a playbook on how to navigate them well.

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