
In this very special episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Chandler Vannoy and Dan Iten for the first time (or the second) in the history of this podcast will ask Todd Adkins the 5 leadership questions. They discuss how God is influencing Todd’s leadership today and some of the biggest lessons he has learned over the last 500 episodes of this podcast.




BEST QUOTES



“Instead of looking at our lives and saying, ‘are we getting better and better day by day as a Christian?’ That is what I am called to do. I'm not called to win. I can't win it compared to Christ. Yes, I am a loser. But I'm not playing that game. I'm an eternal being. I'm playing an infinite game and if anybody should understand that it should be Christians that we should look at each day getting better and better.” – Todd Adkins



“As pastors, even as Christians, our fruit does grow on other people's trees. And that's not us taking credit for what other people do. It is to say, the fruit of a Christian is another Christian, the fruit of volunteers and other volunteer, and the fruit of a leader is another leader.” – Todd Adkins



“If I am not learning daily, I am not leading daily.” – Todd Adkins



“If we're intentional with anybody, it should be with our family.” – Todd Adkins



“You can overestimate what can get done in one year and underestimate what can get done in five.” – Todd Adkins



“Your role is to do the best that you can do wherever God has placed you and keep the room clean so that when others look at your ministry, your business, or at your role, they go, ‘man, he's doing a great job, she's doing a great job.’” – Todd Adkins




RECOMMENDED RESOURCES



Ministry Grid



Todd Adkins

5LQ Episode 500 with Todd Adkins

Todd Adkins and Dan Iten ask five leadership questions to different guests, on a specific topic, or on a particular book.

Business

Investing

Careers

Management & Marketing

Business News

Shopping

Religion & Spirituality

Other

Spirituality

Christianity

Buddhism

Hinduism

Judaism

Islam


In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Dan Iten are joined by Vance Pitman who serves as the President of Send Network, the largest church planting network in North America. Pitman reflects on his time as the Pastor of Hope Church in Las Vegas, discussing conflicts with church leadership that led to his departure and his subsequent pursuit of intimacy with Jesus Christ. He also discusses his current role as the head of the North American Mission Board's church planting efforts and emphasizes the importance of pursuing intimacy with Christ, prioritizing rest, and aligning oneself with God's mission.




BEST QUOTES



“The primary call on my life is not ministry, the primary call on my life is intimacy. Ministry is what He does out of the overflow of intimacy.” – Vance Pitman



“Spiritual leadership is not what I do for God. Spiritual leadership is what God does through me out of the overflow of my intimate love relationship with Him.” – Vance Pitman



“God has really taught me that I can be so consumed with what He’s called me to do that I forget about what He’s called me to be. We’re not human doings, we’re human beings.” – Vance Pitman



“Every man that I know that had an affair in ministry first had an affair with a ministry that wooed him away from intimacy with Christ and opened him up to things he never thought he do.” – Vance Pitman



“Jesus didn't bring us into a relationship with Himself just so we could do something for Him. He brought us to a relationship with Himself because He wants to be with us.” – Vance Pitman



“The local New Testament Church is the tool that he gave us for the accomplishment of the mission. It's not the mission. The mission is the kingdom of God being expanded in cities and nations all over the world.” – Vance Pitman



“Leadership is lonely, but it can't be done alone. Leadership implies there are other people involved in following your leadership and speaking to you as a leader.” – Vance Pitman



“Leaders are learners and when you stop learning, you forfeit the right to lead.” – Vance Pitman



“Somebody less experienced than us often we think about them as only people we can pour into, but often the people less experienced than us bring a perspective that we don't have because it's fresh.” – Vance Pitman



“The relational environments that you set and create in your life set the environment from which decisions will be made.” – Vance Pitman



“Joy is in the journey. If we only focus on achievements, destinations, goals, or milestones, we’ll miss so much along the way.” – Vance Pitman



“For every one major achievement, there will be a thousand leadership moments along the way that are shaping the culture of your organization and the people within your organization.” – Vance Pitman




RECOMMENDED RESOURCES



Vance Pitman

5LQ Episode 519: Vance Pitman on Prioritizing Intimacy with Jesus


In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Dan Iten are joined by Danny Franks, the Connections Pastor at the Summit Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, as they discuss the book, "Unreasonable Hospitality" by Will Guidara. The book tells the story of Will Guidara, a New York restaurateur, and his experience running the number-one restaurant in the world. The podcast explores the book's main points, such as the importance of exceptional service and authentic connections, and how they apply to leadership and first impressions within the church.




BEST QUOTES



“They really focused on the service and what happened in the dining room versus what happened in the kitchen. As church leaders, we can really learn a lot about that as we learn to set up the table for guests as they enter our building.” – Danny Franks



“It's important for us to understand that in the context of the church, we need to be aware of where the culture has shifted and to adjust accordingly. Not to water down what we do, if anything, to distill down what we do to serve better.” – Todd Adkins



“No matter what industry you're in, service is ultimately important.” – Todd Adkins



“When you do your job in color, it means that you make people feel great about the job that you're doing for them. You're doing it to make an authentic connection, which is hospitality.” – Danny Franks



“There are certain fads that come and go with the church world, but taking care of humans, that's not ever going to go away. That’s something that we need to continue to think about as we try to make people feel welcome and ready to worship the Lord coming into a Sunday service.” – Danny Franks



“Repetition is extremely important. Whether it's our vision and values, or any of those things, you can't assume that somebody understands why you’re doing it.” – Todd Adkins



“A lot of leadership is shifting from being intuitive to intentional, and that's where you get the gains.” – Todd Adkins



“Being in the local church, my primary role is built around creating a culture that takes outsiders and makes them insiders.” – Danny Franks



“I think a lot of times, especially in the climate that we're in too many people have too few expectations for churches, and they just kind of show up expecting to be disappointed if they show up at all.” – Danny Franks



Yes, it's a clear command from Scripture that we must show hospitality. But it's not supposed to point to itself. It's got a point beyond itself as a signpost straight to the Gospel. We can't get that wrong.” – Danny Franks



“If we are continually failing, in the implicit or explicit promises that we made to people, and we're not even measuring up to their low expectations for us, we might not ever get a chance to point them to the gospel.” – Danny Franks



RECOMMENDED RESOURCES




Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect by Will Guidara



All My Knotted-Up Life: A Memoir by Beth Moore



<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Setting-Table-Transforming-Hospitality-Business/dp/0060742763/ref...

5LQ Episode 518: Danny Franks – A Book Breakdown of Will Guidara’s “Unreasonable Hospitality”


In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins is joined by Dr. Angie Ward, a leadership author and teacher with nearly 30 years of experience in church, parachurch, and Christian higher education ministry. She also serves as Director of the Doctor of Ministry program at Denver Seminary. They discuss the concept of adaptive leadership and its importance in today's rapidly changing culture and churches. Dr. Ward shares insights and practical tools for agile and adaptive leadership, including managing leadership anxiety and understanding the emotional aspects of change management.





BEST QUOTES



“Especially when it comes to change and leading an organization, you're going to have people that want to transfer their anxiety to you. It’s at that point that you must have a barrier up to be able to maintain a clean and clear point of view.” – Dr. Angie Ward



“Anytime there's change, that introduces disequilibrium into the system, and then disequilibrium seeks stability.” – Dr. Angie Ward



“When you have everybody bringing their own things into a change situation in the organization, then then it's not just what's going on in the organization, but what's going on in every individual person and in between every person in the system.” – Dr. Angie Ward



“We need to do that deep change on our own before we try to lead a system, an institution, an organization, or a group through that deep change.” – Dr. Angie Ward



Nobody's going to say, “Let me give you extra time. Let me protect your time.” You must do it. You must block out those things.” – Dr. Angie Ward



“I wish I would’ve been aware of God saying, “This is who you are”, instead of all the external internal voices because that causes a lot of turmoil and doubt and trying to be somebody I'm not created to be.” – Dr. Angie Ward





RECOMMENDED RESOURCES



Uncharted Leadership: 20 Case Studies to Help Ministry Leaders Adapt to Uncertainty by Dr. Angie Ward



At Your Best: How to Get Time, Energy, and Priorities Working in Your Favor by Carey Nieuwhof



Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport



Managing Leadership Anxiety: Yours and Theirs by Steve Cuss



Leading Change by John P. Kotter



The Change Monster: The Human Forces that Fuel or Foil Corporate Transformation and Change by Jeanie Daniel Duck



The Heart of Change: Real-Life Stories of How People Chan...

5LQ Episode 517 with Dr. Angie Ward


In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Dan Iten are joined by Mark Satterfield, the Lead Pastor at the Glade Church in Mount Juliet, Tennessee. They focus on the five steps to getting things done, which include reducing, prioritizing, planning, executing, and measuring tasks. Satterfield also highlights the importance of having a vision framework, utilizing task management and productivity apps, learning from CEOs, reducing clutter, saying no to non-priority tasks, and delegating effectively.



The 5 steps to getting things done are:




* Reduce: This step involves evaluating tasks and prioritizing them based on importance and relevance. (3:07)



* Prioritize: After reducing tasks, it is important to prioritize the remaining tasks based on their significance and alignment with vision and values. (14:18)



* Plan: The planning step involves creating a schedule or a plan to allocate time and resources to the prioritized tasks. This includes using strategies like the Eisenhower matrix to determine what is important and urgent. (22:56)



* Execute: Once the plan is in place, executing and working towards accomplishing the tasks is important. This step focuses on acting and following through with the plan. (26:16)



* Measure: The final step is to measure the progress and effectiveness of the tasks. This includes evaluating whether the tasks were successfully completed and adjusting if needed. (38:08)




You can follow Mark on Twitter @sattymark or at his website at marksatterfield.blog.




BEST QUOTES



"The reduction of insignificant tasks and clutter in physical and digital spaces also leads to greater efficiency in work." – Mark Satterfield



"The evaluation and elimination of insignificant tasks should be a constant habit for leaders." – Mark Satterfield



“One of the craziest things that can take place in the leader's life is working on things that you accomplish for the day only to walk out and not know that those things really aren't important for your own personal mission or the mission of the church.” – Mark Satterfield



“There's work that we're doing that technically shouldn't be our work, you should be delegating it to others because it's actually their work.” – Mark Satterfield



“If you're a leader of an organization and you're trying to think through your measures or evaluate what's getting done, that is only going to be as strong as the vision framework you have for your organization.” – Mark Satterfield



“You do not rise to the level of your goals; you fall to the level of your systems.” – James Clear




RECOMMENDED RESOURCES



Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown



Building a Second Brain: A Proven Method to Organize Your Digital Life and Unlock Your Creative Potential by Tiago Forte



At Your Best: How to Get Time, Energy, and Priorities Working in Your Favor by Carey Nieuwhof



5LQ Episode 516: Mark Satterfield on 5 Steps To Getting Things Done


In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Dan Iten are joined by Jared Musgrove, Co-Founder of the Community Leadership Collective and Executive Pastor of the Well Community Church. The episode focuses on the importance of small groups and communities in church ministry. Musgrove also discusses his new book, "A Short Guide to Groups: The Art of Leading Community," and highlights the transformative power of small groups in personal growth and leadership. The guys also talk about the significance of mid-sized communities as well as the role of prayer in leadership.




BEST QUOTES



“I want people who lead communities within churches to feel seen and to feel equipped and empowered to get in on what God's doing through those groups.” – Jared Musgrove



“The guys that try to go it alone, whether it's planning a church or leading a company ends up burning out really quick.” – Jared Musgrove



“Our entire mission is to equip and empower college men to live faithfully and lead courageously. I want these guys going into church planting and training. I want these guys to be elders in churches and to be leading companies with Christian conviction.” – Jared Musgrove



“Honestly, I get more pastoral insight from fiction books than I do from pastoral books most of the time.” – Jared Musgrove



“I think the greatest way I can lead my kids is just remembering what it was like to grow up.” – Jared Musgrove



“There is no one size fits all way for designing transformational groups within the church. It is an art, not a science.” – Jared Musgrove




RECOMMENDED RESOURCES



A Short Guide to Groups: The Art of Leading Community by Jared Musgrove and Justin Elafros



Dictionary of Biblical Imagery by Leland Ryken, James C. Wilhoit, and Tremper Longman III



The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary by Robert Alter



Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae by Steven Pressfield

5LQ Episode 500 with Todd Adkins

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