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The Leader's Journey

Hi all!

In this issue of the newsletter, we'll be sharing excerpts from eight of our most popular podcast episodes from this past year, but before we jump into that, I want to share a handful of updates and reminders since the last issue.

New Podcast Episodes:

​Ep. 90: An Introduction to Better Together​

In this episode, we discuss our belief that it is God’s design for men and women to collaborate as equals in the missional life and that living according to God’s design is a matter of justice and a matter of missional effectiveness.

The mental models I had been given about this kind of work [were] either to find a man to support his vision or to show up as a competitor with men and [we’re] trying to set both of those mental models aside and find a third way. – Trisha Taylor

​Ep. 91: Learning to Surface and Test the Mental Models​

In this episode with Michael DeRuyter, we discuss how learning to surface and test the mental models (yours and those of your team) that guide your decision-making is an essential leadership skill when you are leading off map.

 Yeah, I think the first time that I was exposed to the specific language of mental models was around some congregational leadership work that I was engaging in. And that language immediately became really useful in a lot of areas of life for me. I was recognizing places in leadership and recognizing places in my marriage that I was just sort of routinely getting stuck and so it became useful for me to think beyond trying harder or working faster or trying to be smarter than people in the room that maybe there was a mental model that was contributing or helping me to get stuck. – Michael DeRuyter

​Ep. 92: Emerging Mental Models Shifts for Church Leaders​

In this episode Mac McCarthy, we name what we believe to be the dominant mental model and then compare and contrast it to what we see emerging.

I think that that should give those of us who are listening who may be a little bit frustrated with resistance, some grace for those people because we're partly responsible for creating a discipleship mental model based on consumption. And so there should be some grace as you change the name of the game to know that man, this is a radical turn for a lot of people. – Mac McCarthy

Online Resources and Classes

  • Last month we watch our online workshop series, Better Together: A Conversation about Men and Women Working Together in Ministry​
  • We will be announcing enrollment very soon for our online class about the five paths leaders need to take to lead change and shape congregational culture.
  • ​Aundrea Baker is preparing to launch an online workshop about emotions—what they are, developing more helpful language around our emotions, and how to manage our emotions in ways that help us change.

That's it for our updates today. I hope you enjoy the excerpts and look back at some of our most popular podcast episodes from 2022.

– Tim

PS: Thank you for reading this newsletter throughout the year! Your clicks, encouragement, shares, and feedback have meant a lot to us. We are truly grateful.

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Excerpts from Eight of Our Most Popular Podcast Episodes from 2022

​Power Dynamics and Conflict: A conversation for trustworthy and transformative leaders​

In this episode from our series on power dynamics, we explore how trustworthy and transformative leaders understand how power dynamics are always present in conflict and how they can be navigated wisely, creating the results we want.

If they could listen to one another and incorporate what the other sees, then they come up with a larger kind of a sense of what's real, which is going to lead to much better decision-making. Patrick Lencioni is the genius around that when he talked... about how conflict is so essential, but conflict can't happen if trust isn't at the heart of the relationships.
– Jim Herrington

​How Family Patterns Impact Leadership with
Dr. Robert Creech​

In this episode from our series with Dr. Robert Creech on our book The Leader's Journey, we consider what our family of origin or our nuclear family have to do with how we lead and discuss the third section of our book entitled Family Patterns.

It doesn't matter if your family's accessible or not. There are ways to get at this, but if your family's still around, if your parents are still around, that's the richest resource available to a person. 
– Dr. Robert Creech

​Leading Up & Out Part 2: Leading from the Second Chair with Mike Bonem​

Leadership is not just about being in charge. The best leaders know how to use influence and relationships to lead up, down and sideways in order to shape the things they care about.

What is a second chair leader? “a person in a subordinate role whose influence with others adds value throughout the organization.”

The ditch on the one side of the road is you start walking around telling everybody sort of like Joseph with his dream, if I were in charge... right? And that goes quickly into insubordination... right? Now you're starting to undermine, your senior pastor, your first chair leader. But, the other side of the ditch is to say, well, I'm not in charge so what does it matter? What does it matter what I think? What does it matter about what my good idea is? What does it matter about how I think I can contribute and make the organization better?

– Mike Bonem

​The Leader As Coach: Developing People​

In this episode from the Leader as Coach series, Jim and Trisha discuss how leaders who learn to lead through coaching and who develop a culture of coaching in their organization will effectively raise up people who can consistently be the healthiest, most effective version of themselves and do their best work.

I think that the mental model [of leadership] has changed. We don't have to change the mental model. It has changed. We just have to be able to get on board with how things have changed. – Trisha Taylor

​

​The Leader As Coach: Five essential skills
for coaching​

In this episode from the Leader as Coach series, Jim and Trisha share five skills that leaders can start to work on today to become more effective leaders through coaching are deep listening, inquiry, giving clear feedback, guiding focus, and doing your own work.

[Jim Herrington wrote on Facebook,] "Being profoundly heard by another person is a transformative experience." I think that's really true that when somebody takes the time to deeply listen to us, it changes us. 
– Trisha Taylor

​Burning Out and Hanging on: Leadership, Stress and Survival​

Burning out is not an inevitable part of leadership but it is a common one; leaders can care for themselves and each other as they avoid burnout where possible, heal from burnout where necessary and use burnout to learn new ways of life.

Most of us don't know how to rest, and not rest as a reward for success... I think you've put your finger on something very important. – Trisha Taylor

​

​

​Leading Living Systems with Dr. Robert Creech​

In this episode from our series with Dr. Robert Creech on our book The Leader's Journey, we consider what our family of origin or our nuclear family have to do with how we lead and discuss the third section of our book entitled Family Patterns.

To think systems, we have to give up cause-effect thinking. When something goes wrong or something isn't working the way we want it to our tendency is to want to blame somebody or take blame. 
But in a system, we need to understand there's more going on there than meets the eye.
– Dr. Robert Creech

​Orienting ourselves in the deconstruction process with Ben Sternke and Matt Tebbe​

In this episode, we talk with Ben Sternke and Matt Tebbe authors of “Having the Mind of Christ: Eight Axioms to Cultivate a Robust Faith”. During the conversation, we explore deconstruction, how our response to it impacts those we lead, and much more!

When people that we are responsible for, or who are in our churches, people that we are leading are deconstructing... I think one of the most important aspects of it is to simply affirm the process for them...just listen and accompany people on that journey. I think it's is a huge first step. – Ben Sternke

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Thanks for reading and listening! If any of the quotes or audiogram excerpts resonated with you, we'd love it you would share them wherever you share stuff.

We hope you have a great holiday season! We wish you a merry Christmas and happy New Year!

The Leader's Journey

As a team of lifelong learners, we frequently share resources with each other. This newsletter is a space for us to share some of what we are learning, thinking about, and being encouraged by with you.

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