The Lead Comes After

Do you know yourself? Not your title, your resume, or the version of yourself you present in a meeting or from a platform. Your real motivations. Your genuine blind spots. The patterns you fall into when the pressure’s on. The way you actually come across to the people around you — not the way you think you do.

Here’s what the research tells us: 95% of leaders believe they are self-aware. Only 10 to 15% actually are. And the higher you climb in an organization, the larger that gap tends to get — because the more authority you carry, the fewer people are willing to tell you the truth.

That gap is one of the most dangerous spaces a leader can operate in. And one of the most ignored.

In Episode 5 of The Lead Comes After, we unpack the leadership quality that a landmark study called the single strongest predictor of overall success — stronger than IQ, stronger than experience, stronger than drive. And we trace it back to King David who understood something most modern leaders never figure out: you cannot lead from the inside out if you don’t know what’s on the inside.

In this episode:

• Three marks of a truly self-aware leader, grounded in Scripture and backed by research
• How Satya Nadella transformed Microsoft from a “know-it-all” culture to a “learn-it-all” one — and watched the company grow from $300B to over $3 trillion
• The Nathan model from 2 Samuel — and why every leader needs someone with permission to say the hard thing
• Three questions to carry with you this week

Key Scripture: Psalm 139:23-24 · Proverbs 4:23 · 2 Samuel 12:7 · Jeremiah 17:9-10

The Lead Comes After is a leadership podcast from Red Letters Leadership, a part of Red Letters Ministries. Every episode, one quality — one thing that has to happen in you before it can happen through you.

The podcast that unpacks what has to happen in you before it can happen through you.

www.RedLettersMinistries.org

Every leader asks these questions — whether they're six months into their first leadership role or twenty years into running the show. In this episode, I go through the questions I hear most often from leaders at every stage, back each one with real research and data, and answer it from Scripture and my own experience leading teams, a church ministry, and a business.

Questions covered in this episode:

1.     How do I earn credibility with people who used to be my peers?

2.     Why do so many new leaders fail — and how do I make sure I'm not one of them?

3.     How do I give hard feedback without damaging the relationship?

4.     How do I delegate without losing control or just dumping work on people?

5.     Am I actually good enough for this? (Imposter syndrome)

6.     How do I keep growing instead of coasting on what used to work?

7.     How do I keep my team motivated and engaged?

8.     I am a follower of Christ, but work with a team that isn't and even a leadership team that isn't. I even feel my faith gets used against me. How should I handle this?

If you're leading a team, a ministry, a business, or a family and you've ever asked yourself one of these — this episode is for you.

👉 Subscribe for more conversations on leadership, faith, and building something that lasts.

👉 Follow Red Letters Leadership: https://www.youtube.com/@RedLettersLeadership

👉 Learn more about Red Letters Ministries: redlettersministries.org

The Lead Comes After: Serving

Jesus didn't model corner-office leadership. He modeled a towel and a basin.

On the night He was betrayed — while His own disciples were arguing about which of them was the greatest — Jesus got up from the table and washed their feet. In this episode, Shane Davis unpacks why the leaders people follow the farthest are the ones who stooped the lowest, and why serving isn't the opposite of leading — it's leadership, aimed downward instead of upward.

You'll hear what a 2014 Academy of Management Journal study reveal about servant leadership and measurable business outcomes, plus the story of Herb Kelleher — the Southwest Airlines co-founder who built one of the most profitable airlines in history by loading bags on Thanksgiving and putting employees first.

Key Scripture: "Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant... For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." — Mark 10:43-45

In this episode:

• Why the world's model of greatness (climb until you're served) is the opposite of what Jesus modeled
• What the research says about servant leadership and organizational performance
• Three marks of a servant leader — taking the towel, serving people who can't repay you, and stewarding what you've been given
• The real-world story of Herb Kelleher and Southwest Airlines' "employees first" culture
• Three questions to sit with this week

Before you lead — serve. The lead comes after.

The Lead Comes After is a podcast from Red Letters Leadership, a part of Red Letters Ministries, unpacking what has to happen in you before it can happen through you.

Visit www.redlettersministries.org to hear the podcast, take Disc/Emotional Intelligence/Spiritual Gifts assessments and much more!

The hardest thing a leader does isn't deciding — it's letting go of control.

In this episode of The Lead Comes After, host Shane Davis unpacks the difference between management and surrender, and why the best leaders learn to hold the reins loosely. Grounded in Proverbs 3:5-6, we look at what Scripture and research both say about letting go: Moses releasing the seat of judgment in Exodus 18, Gideon surrendering the credit for victory in Judges 7, and Jesus surrendering the outcome itself in the garden of Gethsemane.

Along the way, we look at the data on delegation — a Gallup study found CEOs with strong delegation skills grew revenue 33% faster than those who held on tightly — and tell the story of Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-A, who built a decision into his company on day one that reportedly costs it over $1 billion a year, on purpose.

If you lead a team, a business, a ministry, or a family, this episode will challenge you to ask what you're still gripping that was never fully yours to control.

Key Scripture: Proverbs 3:5-6

New episodes of The Lead Comes After release [cadence]. Subscribe so you don't miss what's next, and share this episode with a leader who needs to hear it.

Red Letters Leadership is part of Red Letters Ministries. www.redlettersministries.org

Before you can lead anyone else, something has to happen in you first. In Episode 1 of The Lead Comes After, we start where every leader should — at the bottom.

What separates the leaders people follow for years from the ones they endure? It's not a title. It's not a corner office. It's what's underneath — and it starts with humility.

In this episode of The Lead Comes After, Shane Davis unpacks why humility isn't weakness — it's the foundation everything else in leadership is built on. Drawing from Philippians 2, the leadership example of Jesus, real-world research from a landmark 2024 study of 610 leaders across 18 industries, and the remarkable story of Abraham Lincoln, this episode will challenge how you think about influence, credit, and what it means to lead well.