Welcome Back to Episode 10 of The LeadingSmart Podcast! 

Struggling to figure out when your church needs an executive pastor? You're not alone. In this episode of Leading Smart, hosts Holly Tate and Tim Stevens tackle one of the most common questions church leaders ask: when is it time to hire an XP, and what should that role actually look like?

Here's the challenge most churches face—the executive pastor role can mean wildly different things depending on your context. Some churches need a big E, little p (executive/pastor) who excels at operations, systems, and administration. Others need a little e, big P (executive/PASTOR) who brings strong ministry leadership, preaches regularly, and shepherds the team. And larger churches might need both through separate roles like Executive Pastor of Operations and Executive Pastor of Ministries.

In this practical conversation, Holly and Tim break down the key factors that determine when you need an XP. Spoiler alert: it's probably sooner than you think, but it also depends heavily on the wiring of your lead pastor and existing team. They explore how churches are creatively solving operational challenges through outsourcing in areas like finance, HR, IT, and legal support—freeing up staff to focus on high-impact ministry rather than getting bogged down in administrative tasks.

You'll also discover a free self-assessment tool from Leading Smart that helps you identify whether you need someone who leans more executive or more pastoral. Whether you're a church of 150 or 1,500, this episode will help you think strategically about your staffing structure and avoid the trap of hiring someone just because "that's what churches do."

Key topics covered in this episode:

• When to hire an executive pastor (hint: probably sooner than you think)
• The difference between an "Executive" pastor and an "executive Pastor"
• How to use the free self-assessment tool to identify what kind of XP you need
• Smart outsourcing strategies for finance, HR, IT, and legal support
• The 25-50-100 dollar exercise for auditing your workload and prioritizing high-impact activities
• Return on energy versus cost savings when making staffing decisions
• How fractional services can free up your team to focus on ministry

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Welcome back to episode 9! Are you drowning in administrative tasks? Struggling to focus on what only you can do as a church leader? You might need the right support role—but do you need an Administrative Assistant, Executive Assistant, or Chief of Staff?

In this episode of the LeadingSmart Podcast, Tim Stevens and Holly Tate break down the critical differences between these three essential support roles and help you determine which one (or combination) is right for your church or organization.

Understanding the Three Roles:

Administrative assistants are reactive—they handle the day-to-day tasks like booking hotels, managing receipts, and scheduling meetings. 

Executive assistants are proactive—they represent you to your staff, discern what truly needs your attention, and keep everything else off your plate. 

The Chief of Staff role is rising in popularity, especially in large and complex church organizations, serving as an integrator of people development, strategic initiatives, and organizational health.

Tim shares insights from 30+ years of leadership, including his early inspiration from Leo McGarry on The West Wing, while Holly breaks down her hot take on how AI and automation will reshape these roles in the coming decade. They discuss why the right executive assistant takes 2-4 years to develop that perfect working relationship and how complementary Working Genius profiles (like Holly's DG pairing with Anna's ET) create powerful partnerships that energize rather than drain.

When Do You Need Each Role?

You don't need a mega church budget to benefit from these positions. Tim and Holly explain how churches with just 8-20 staff members can implement these roles part-time or as "hats" worn by existing team members. They share real examples of churches using volunteers in executive assistant capacities and creating new positions like "Director of Strategic Initiatives and Growth" to increase everyone's capacity.

This episode is perfect for senior pastors and lead pastors feeling overwhelmed, executive pastors building support structures, church leaders in multi-site or complex organizations, and anyone wondering if they need an executive assistant or evaluating their organizational structure.

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What if the way we start this year could reshape how we lead, relate, and respond to the people around us?

In the first episode of 2026, Holly Tate sits down with Tim to unpack one simple—but deeply challenging—leadership principle: believe the best. In a season marked by polarization, cynicism, and quick assumptions, they explore why choosing curiosity over judgment isn’t just a personal virtue, but a cultural necessity for healthy teams and organizations.

Drawing from real leadership moments, personal failures, and organizational experience, Tim explains why “believing the best” was the single lesson he would keep from his 40 Lessons in 40 Years—and why it continues to shape how he leads today. Together, they wrestle with the tension leaders feel between extending trust and protecting their organizations, discuss how assumptions quietly erode culture, and offer practical ways to interrupt cynicism before it takes root.

You’ll hear:

• Why most leaders naturally assume the worst (and how it shows up in everyday decisions)
• How curiosity can defuse conflict and build trust
• What it looks like to “trust but verify” without becoming cynical
• Practical ways to create a culture that believes the best—without being naive
• How to recover when believing the best actually does lead to disappointment

Whether you’re leading a team, an organization, or simply trying to lead yourself better in the new year, this conversation sets the tone for Season 3 and invites you to lead with clarity, compassion, and intention.

Let’s start 2026 by choosing to believe the best—and leading smarter because of it.

Join us on a trip to Israel https://www.leadingsmart.com/israel

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As we close out the year, we’re reflecting on the five biggest leadership lessons we learned in 2025—lessons shaped by real conversations with church leaders, boards, and executive teams across the country.

In this season finale of LeadingSmart, Tim and Holly unpack what 2025 revealed about:

• Why many churches outgrow their board structure without realizing it
• How men and women can lead together in healthy, effective ways
• Why poor meeting discipline quietly damages staff culture
• What senior pastors need to clarify before and after leadership transitions
• And why consistency is harder—and more important—than most leaders expect

This is an honest, practical conversation about what’s working, what’s not, and what church leaders should pay attention to as they head into 2026.

Whether you’re a senior pastor, executive pastor, board member, or ministry leader, this episode will help you reflect on the past year and move forward with greater clarity and intention. 

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Welcome Back to The LeadingSmart Podcast! In this episode, Tim and Holly take you inside a real-time strategic planning process with one of their client churches. They break down what a strategic plan actually is, what it isn’t, and why so many organizations get stuck by overcomplicating the process.

Drawing from decades of experience, they explain why long-term three- to five-year plans are becoming less effective, how to build a roadmap your team can align around, and why collaboration and early “weigh-in” create lasting buy-in.

You’ll hear how they gathered input from staff, key leaders, and the congregation, how they filtered ideas down to what deserves disproportionate focus, and the exact steps they use to help churches form a plan that reflects who they are and where God is leading them next.

Whether your team feels overwhelmed by too many initiatives, unclear about direction, or stuck after finishing a major milestone, this episode offers a practical and honest framework for building a strategic plan that actually works.

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2026 LeadingSmart Gatherings Are OPEN! https://www.leadingsmart.com/gatherings

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Episode 5: Executive Team Meetings That Actually Work | Leading Smart Podcast

Welcome back to Season 3 of the LeadingSmart podcast—leading in real time, where ideas spark mid-week, inspiration hits on Zoom calls, and yes… sometimes Tim is literally recording from a hotel room overlooking LAX.

In this episode, Holly and Tim dive deep into one of the most misunderstood, overcomplicated, and under-disciplined parts of church leadership: executive team meetings.

Turns out, even the big churches feel unsure about cadence, structure, and how to stop talking in circles. So we break it all down—tactically, honestly, and with plenty of laughs.

Inside this episode, you’ll learn:
• The ideal cadence for an executive meeting (and why weekly works best)
• How long these meetings should really be
• Agenda frameworks that reduce confusion and clarify who decides what
• How to use goals, dashboards, and priorities without overengineering them
• The collaborative tools every team should be using
• The “end-of-meeting discipline” that prevents miscommunication
• Why offsites are an investment, not an indulgence
• And a “Hot Takes on the Holidays” segment you didn’t know you needed

If you’ve ever sat in a meeting wondering, “Didn’t we already decide this?” or “Why are we talking about this again?” — this episode is for you.

Helpful Links

Have a question or episode topic? Email us at [email protected]

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Tim and Holly dive into one of their favorite tools for helping leadership teams work better together: the Working Genius assessment from Patrick Lencioni and The Table Group.

Here's the thing most leaders miss: your team isn't lacking intelligence, resources, or talent. The problem is you're not working together well. That's where Working Genius comes in. Unlike personality assessments like Myers-Briggs or Enneagram that help you understand yourself, Working Genius shows you how to actually get work done as a team.

In this episode, Tim and Holly break down the six stages every project goes through - Wonder, Invention, Discernment, Galvanizing, Enablement, and Tenacity (W-I-D-G-E-T). They explain why some people love brainstorming sessions while others want to scream "just make a decision already," and how understanding these differences keeps your meetings from dragging on forever with the wrong people in the room.

You'll learn about the critical "decision line" that most executive teams blow right past (causing confusion for everyone else), why sitting in endless discernment loops kills momentum, and how to stop wasting time in meetings that drain your energy instead of filling your tank.

This episode is for executive pastors, lead pastors, and leadership teams who are tired of butting heads, frustrated by inefficient meetings, or wondering why great ideas never seem to make it across the finish line. If you've ever thought "we have plenty of smart people - why can't we get this done?" this conversation will help you figure out what's actually holding your team back.

Find out what your working genius is here:

https://www.workinggenius.com/about/assessment

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Church giving not growing like it used to? You're not alone. In the 3rd episode of the LeadingSmart podcast, hosts Holly Tate and Tim Stevens sit down with generosity consultant David Whiting to unpack a 6 steps revolutionary framework for understanding and growing church generosity.

David, a dear friend of Tim's for over 50 years and consultant with Generosity OS, reveals his six-level framework for church giving that's helping churches across the country break through plateaus and build sustainable cultures of generosity.

What You'll Learn:

The 6 Levels of Church Giving:

• Level 1: Duty-Based Giving
• Level 2: Worship-Based Giving
• Level 3: Needs-Based Giving
• Level 4: Mission-Based Giving
• Level 5: Disciple-Based Giving
• Level 6: Legacy/Kingdom-Based Giving

Plus: 

-  How to diagnose where your church is strong (and weak) in generosity 

-  Why most churches struggle with the 2-minute offering moment (and how to fix it) 

-  How to create a 52-week giving calendar that keeps your messaging fresh 

-  The difference between transactional and transformational generosity 

-  Why younger generations give differently than older generations 

- How one church increased giving by 27% in one year 

- The biggest mistakes pastors make during offering talks

Perfect For:

• Lead Pastors seeking to grow church giving
• Executive Pastors managing church finances
• Stewardship committee members
• Church leaders planning capital campaigns
• Anyone interested in biblical generosity and discipleship

David Whiting is a church consultant specializing in generosity with Generosity OS and Leading Smart. With decades of experience as a lead pastor and consultant, David has helped hundreds of churches transform their culture of giving from transactional duty to transformational discipleship.

Connect with David Whiting: [email protected] | [email protected] 

Learn more about Generosity OS: generosityos.com

#ChurchLeadership #ChurchGiving #Generosity #PastoralMinistry #ChurchGrowth #Stewardship #LeadingSmart

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Gen Z Church Attendance & Young Adult Ministry: The Great Return to Church | Leading Smart Podcast S3E2

Discover why Gen Z and millennials are now the most regular churchgoers, outpacing older generations for the first time in decades. In this episode of the Leading Smart podcast, hosts Tim Stevens and Holly Tate explore groundbreaking Barna research on church attendance trends, young adult ministry, and Generation Z spiritual formation.

Read more in this article: https://www.barna.com/research/young-adults-lead-resurgence-in-church-attendance/

Topics Covered:

• Gen Z church attendance statistics and millennial churchgoers data (2025 Barna research)
• Church growth strategies for reaching young adults and Gen Z
• Discipleship pathways for younger generations
• Church giving trends and generosity challenges with new attendees
• Post-COVID church attendance patterns and why older generations haven't returned
• Young adult ministry best practices and spiritual formation strategies
• Church leadership challenges in ministering to Gen Z and millennials
• Rethinking Sunday service planning when attendees come 1.9 times per month
• Building community and relational connections with younger churchgoers
• Generation Distinct interview: young leaders responding to spiritual curiosity

This episode is perfect for, church leaders, pastors, ministry leaders, church staff, worship leaders, executive pastors, and anyone interested in church growth, Gen Z ministry, young adult outreach, discipleship strategies, and contemporary church leadership trends.

Learn practical strategies for spiritual formation, volunteer engagement, and creating meaningful touchpoints with the next generation of churchgoers. 

Generation Distinct: https://www.generationdistinct.com/

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Welcome to Season 3 of The LeadingSmart Podcast!

Join co-hosts Holly Tate and Tim Stevens as they tackle the real, unfiltered challenges facing church leaders today in real-time. With decades of combined experience consulting with churches across the country, Holly and Tim bring honest conversations about what's actually happening in ministry leadership right now.

Season 3 dives into the hot-button issues you're thinking about but might not be discussing openly—starting with women in leadership, team dynamics, and the evolving landscape of church culture. Whether you lead in a complementarian or egalitarian context, you'll find practical wisdom, research-backed insights, and actionable strategies to help your church thrive.

This isn't about changing your theology—it's about improving your leadership. Each episode features:

• Real-world examples from churches making it work
• Research and data on current ministry trends
• Practical takeaways you can implement immediately
• Honest discussions about the challenges (and solutions) no one else is talking about

Holly and Tim don't shy away from complexity. They lean into it, offering nuanced perspectives that respect diverse theological positions while pushing every leader to do better for their teams and congregations.

Perfect for: Lead pastors, executive pastors, ministry leaders, and anyone invested in building healthier church teams.

New episodes release weekly. 

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2026 LeadingSmart Gatherings Are OPEN! https://www.leadingsmart.com/gatherings

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🎧 Listen to the full 40 Lessons In 40 Years series
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Download The Simply Strategic Show

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