5 Leadership Questions Podcast on Church Leadership with Todd Adkins and Dan Iten

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im are joined by Paul Sohn, a leadership consultant, author of Quarter-Life Calling, founder of QARA, and former change management consultant at Boeing. During their conversation, they discuss finding your true identity in Christ and preparing for marriage. BEST QUOTES “If your identity is not set in Christ, you are going to struggle and be stagnant." "What do I need to do in order to earn his approval? To earn his love?" "As God is helping me become more confident and secure in who I am, I realize that I have bought into some of these lies myself." "God's been challenging me to commit my entire day starting with prayer." "God's been really preparing me to learn what does it mean to be a leader of a family." "I think one of the best things you can do to prepare yourself for marriage is to work on your character." "I was succeeding in the wrong things and, as a result, I was not being fulfilled." "This generation is not really reading the Word of God and, as a result, truth has been distorted." "As much as you love self-development, the more time you spend in the Word of God is going to really be the foundation." "A big part of any change is knowing people are resistant to change." "Change always has to start with a compelling vision." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Lifeway Leadership Podcast Network Quarter-Life Calling by Paul Sohn QARA Hello, My Name Is by Matthew West Victory over the Darkness by Neil T. Anderson Free at Last by Tony Evans Walking From East to West by Ravi Zacharias The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John Maxwell The Culture Map by Erin Meyer Love & Respect by Emerson Eggerichs You and Me Forever by Francis Chan and Lisa Chan Blueprint Coaching Text "blueprint" to 888111 for more information on Blueprint Coaching Making Disciples Podcast

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins is joined by Brad Lomenick, past leader of Catalyst and author of H3 Leadership. During their conversation, they discuss the following questions: * What is one thing you've read recently that has had an impact? * What are you listening to? * What is one tool or resource you've started using recently? * Who is one person who has influenced you recently? * What is one lesson you've learned recently? BEST QUOTES “The reality is everyone of us would say there are 20somethings on our teams who would be the opposite of what the research shows." "He inspires me to think, what can I do with what influence I have?" "Fifteen minute conversations twenty years removed always remind you of who you are and where you came from." "We have no idea the influence we have on somebody's life that we will never even meet through somebody that we pour into and develop." "Living a life of gratitude is both helpful for that person to encourage them but also makes you more grateful." "Should you be doing this at all? And how much more powerful will it be if you are intentional in how you approach it?" "If you don't change the environment, the system, the habits, the natural rhythms you have, you will never hit your goals." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Lifeway Leadership Podcast Network H3 Leadership by Brad Lomenick 5LQ Episode 4: Brad Lomenick 5LQ Episode 291: Brad Lomenick Deep Work by Cal Newport The Soul of a Team by Tony Dungy Simon Sinek The Millenial Question video Growing Leaders with Tim Elmore The Culture Translator from Axis A Beautiful Constraint by Adam Morgan and Mark Barden Change Masters by Rosabeth Moss Kanter "Illusion of Control: Why the World if Full of Buttons That Don't Work" Essentialism by Greg McKeown TrendWatching The End of the Beginning Follow You Anywhere by Passion

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im breakdown the leadership book The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Achieving Your Wildly Important Goals by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling. In their conversation they discuss the following questions: * What's the book and why does it matter? * Overview of the book * How applicable is the book to leadership in my church? * What are things churches should ignore from the book? * What can you do this week in light of the book? BEST QUOTES “If you practice these four disciplines of execution, you will reach your goals." "If you want results you need strategy and execution." "We are not only selling the vision, now we are breaking it down into parts so we can actually accomplish the goal." "If you want to get out of the whirlwind, then you need to develop a pipeline." "Lag measures are the results that you get. Lead measures are the inputs that you do." "For a lot of churches what stands between them and getting stuff done is a stack of post it notes." "When you are modeling, you have the right to coach at a higher level." "The process is for the people, the people are not for my process." "Don't read this book by yourself. Read it with someone else." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Lifeway Leadership Podcast Network The 4 Disciplines of Execution by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling Blueprint Coaching Events Text "blueprint" to 888111 for information about Blueprint Coaching Events Good to Great by Jim Collins Built to Last by Jim Collins Execution by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan Death By Meeting by Patrick Lencioni 5LQ Episode 292: Death By Meeting Book Breakdown No Silver Bullets by Daniel Im Ask Me Anything with J.D. Greear

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im are joined by Jeff Iorg, president of Gateway Seminary and author of Leading Major Change in Your Ministry. During their conversation, they discuss the following questions: * Is change more difficult today than it has been in the past? * How do you identify specifically what needs to be changed in your church? * How do you prepare yourself before you lead a major change effort? * How do you know when to start the change process? * When do you start another change effort after you feel like the current one is finished? BEST QUOTES “Change seems to be happening much more rapidly and there seems to be so much more change coming at us." "People are experiencing so much change in other places, that they typically have their change quotient exhausted in those locations. They want church to be a place of stability." "Is the change I am considering essential to the mission of the church?" "Reorganization is the default of board executives." "Sometimes all this change creates the illusion of progress but does not contribute to accomplishing the core mission." "No one likes change. What we do like is things changing the way we want them to be changed." "Before you introduce major change publicly, you have to be absolutely certain privately that it is God's leading to accomplish God's mission through the organization's mission." "Be sure you allocate physical, emotional, and spiritual energy for the duration of the completion of the real change, not just the visible part other people might see." "Through pastoral care and discipleship opportunities, help them grow through the experience." "Leaders see things long before their followers, that's why they are the leaders." "Leading change is hard, but not leading change is worse." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Lifeway Leadership Podcast Network Gateway Seminary 5LQ Episode 231: Jeff Iorg Leading Major Change in Your Ministry by Jeff Iorg Blueprint Coaching Text "blueprint" to 888111 for more information about the event New Churches Q&A Podcast

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im are joined by Albert Tate, Lead Pastor of Fellowship Monrovia and host of The Albert Tate Podcast. During their conversation, they discuss how leaders need community and starting a family devotion time. BEST QUOTES “I'm built to speak at a certain height, and it's really a challenge to my leadership because I have a hard time breaking vision down into bite-sized pieces." "I've learned as a leader I have to guard my heart, my mouth, my presence, how I interact with people because I am their shepherd." "I get to bring a better version of myself to conversations with my wife because I've had a space to process that in community." "Where do shepherds go to bleed? Go find another shepherd!" "So many pastors are struggling in isolation and they don't have good godly community." "I got freedom for it to not be perfect, to not expect theological nuggets to drop out of my children's mouths." "I would tell myself to dream big and you can believe that God will do big things in your life." "Allow the humility of your heart to always be massaged by the Holy Spirit." "When it was time for me to actually plant my church I was so insecure about the numbers." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Lifeway Leadership Podcast Network Fellowship Monrovia The Albert Tate Podcast Gay Girl, Good God by Jackie Hill Perry Insider Outsider by Bryan Loritts New Churches Q&A Podcast

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins is joined by Kevin Peck, Lead Pastor of The Austin Stone Church and co-author of Designed to Lead. During their conversation, they discuss examining how culture has changed since the church opened and practical advice for leading the family. BEST QUOTES “We are learning that we have to actually listen to people who may have more cultural knowledge but not more ministry knowledge and we have to solve the problem together." "How do we maintain clarity and accountability to one another in our team in a context of such high innovation?" "I've found that if I am doing well in one of my self-discipline habits, I am doing well in them all. And if I fail in one, over time I start failing in them all." "I've told my accountability folks that you can ask about any of these things and if I answer, "No," to one of them, you need to ask me about all of them." "A lot of things that feel like curses are actually blessings from the Lord." "Saturday Feedback is one of my favorite and least favorite simultaneously. This is when I take one of my daughters out for breakfast and ask for feedback as a sister in Christ." "God breathes through normal practices and if everything is miraculous that is just not how relationships work." "It's response to the ordinary that proves the authenticity to others." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Lifeway Leadership Podcast Network Designed to Lead by Eric Geiger and Kevin Peck Strategic Leadership Community Team of Teams by General Stanley McChrystal

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im are joined by Rosaria Butterfield, author of The Gospel Comes With a House Key. During their conversation, they discuss the following questions: * Overview of The Gospel Comes With a House Key * How did you experience hospitality that led to your conversion? * To what extent is it a post-hospitable world? * Discuss the concept that there isn't a lot of commonality between gay men and lesbian women. * How can church leaders who have been hurt begin to open their hearts to being hospitable again? BEST QUOTES “The one place you are called to seek out strangers, make by God's grace those strangers into neighbors, and watch by God's grace those neighbors become part of the family of God is your home." "We are missing the opportunity to put the hand of the stranger into the hand of the Savior. We really do love our neighbors, but we don't love them enough." "If Jesus is the answer, what is the question? Do you care what my questions are?" "Jesus clearly was who He said He is, and that changed everything." "I am not going to love you more if you become a Christian, I am just going to love you longer." "Leaders are always responsible not only to see and think about where you are going, but to look behind you and see what is going on back there." "We live in a social media infatuated madness world where people have bought the delusion that counterfeit hospitality is the real thing." "Hospitality means getting close enough to people to get hurt, but praying that you are close enough to people so that you can put their hand into the hand of Jesus." "The early church feared false teaching more than it feared persecution and because of that the early church was willing to do anything to see their neighbors converted." "The gospel doesn't front load with a moral argument, it front loads with what it means to be an image bearer of the Holy God." "Your boundaries and my boundaries need to be marked by the blood of Jesus." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Lifeway Leadership Podcast Network The Gospel Comes With a House Key by Rosaria Butterfield Holy Sexuality and the Gospel by Christopher Yuan RosariaButterfield.com

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im are joined by J.D. Greear, pastor of The Summit Church, the 62nd president of the Southern Baptist Convention, and cohost of the Ask Me Anything Podcast. During their conversation, they discuss the following questions: * Why did you start the Ask Me Anything podcast? * What's been your favorite episode so far? * How do you decide what to talk about? * In hosting your own podcast, what have you learned about yourself through the process? * What's the main point of emphasis with your team at The Summit? * What are some books you've read recently that you would recommend? BEST QUOTES  “One well answered question can do as much as a sermon does because you are applying the gospel and biblical truth to a place that people need it." "At the end of the day I'm called to pastor regular people." "You have to learn to be sober about your own gifts and wiring." "I love being able to delve into people's questions and I love being able to teach God's Word." "We want to see 500 professions of faith this year." "I find the Spirit of God works best in my life through other brothers and sisters when we get in a room and talk about what God is doing in our lives." "My first ministry responsibility is to my church that God has given me." "One of my life goals is to do meaningful work with awesome people." "The bigger my audience my got the more complex my life became." "Realize that your quality of life is going to be determined by those people that you are around." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Lifeway Leadership Podcast Network Ask Me Anything Podcast Summit Life Podcast The Summit Church 5LQ Episode 306:Ken Coleman Southern Baptist Convention Leadership in Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss Irresistible by Andy Stanley God and Money by John Cortines and Gregory Baumer Them by Ben Sasse Ready to Launch by J.D. and Veronica Greear Rainer on Leadership Podcast

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im are joined by Andy Crouch, author of The Tech-Wise Family: Everyday Steps for Putting Technology in Its Proper Place and partner for culture and theology at Praxis. During their conversation, they discuss cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence and having technology boundaries in the home. BEST QUOTES “It's not about screens, it's not about limits, and it's not about the kids." "One hour a day, one day a week, and one week a year, everything with an off switch gets turned off." "One of the things about being a public person is lots of people know you and no one knows you." "What we are thinking about is how you have growth without sacrificing depth." "I start a lot of books, but I don't finish many." "If it's an author really worth listening to, wherever they take me is in the long run going to be helpful to me." "We are going to be tempted to turnover to these machine-based learning systems decision making power and it's not going to do it in a way that honors human beings." "I breathe, and look up and around, and it has been so revolutionary in my life." "Leadership for me is proactively making healthy choices on behalf of our family about when we use these devices and when we don't." "What my kids need is for me to find a way to invite them into the life they are meant for rather than dictate that life." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Lifeway Leadership Podcast Network The Tech-Wise Family: Everyday Steps for Putting Technology in Its Proper Place by Andy Crouch Strong and Weak by Andy Crouch Praxis The Great Transformation by Karl Polanyi Leighton Ford Ministries Persons: The Difference Between Someone and Something by Robert Spaemann Blueprint Coaching Text "blueprint" to 888111 for more information on Blueprint Coaching Rainer on Leadership Podcast

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Daniel Im is joined by Ken Coleman, host of The Ken Coleman Show and EntreLeadership Podcast. During their conversation, they discuss daily tasks that can be done for continued growth and parenting kids to give great effort and attitude. BEST QUOTES “I am not as focused on how big the audience is right now, I need to keep my head focused on is the audience themselves growing?" "I need to keep my head down and work on what I can do and let God take care of the rest of it." "Consistent progress over time is going to get me to the same place the rocket ship will get me." "I set my life up in a way that I am naturally and habitually doing these three things on a daily basis." "If you aren't in your ultimate role yet, but you are paying your dues, there are still elements of that ultimate role everyday that you can find to do." "What am I learning today, what am I doing today, and how am I connecting today?" "What I require for our kids is great effort and great attitude across the board." "If I raise kids to be adults who give great effort and have a great attitude they are already ahead of 90 percent of the population." "Patience is the difference maker." "I was really good and disciplined about putting myself around the right people and in the right places." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Lifeway Leadership Podcast Network Blueprint Coaching Text "blueprint" to 888111 for more information on Blueprint Coaching The Ken Coleman Show EntreLeadership Podcast One Question by Ken Coleman Proximity Principle by Ken Coleman Dave Ramsey The Leadership Challenge by James M. Kouzes and Barry Posner Whisper by Mark Batterson Hamilton by Ron Chernow Tiger Woods by Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian Gallup StrengthsFinder The One Thing Podcast

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im are joined by Scott McConnell, Executive Director of Lifeway Research. During their conversation, they discuss the following questions: * What is the state of theology in America? * Why is this important? * What surprised you about this research? * What trends did you see? * What should churches do with this research? BEST QUOTES  “7 out of 10 Americans believe in the trinity." "Almost 7 out of 10 Americans believe God is a perfect being and cannot make a mistake." "Less than a quarter of Americans agree that even the smallest sin deserves eternal damnation." "Our definition of good is completely different than God's." "6 out of 10 Americans believe that religion is a matter of personal opinion, it's not about rejecting truth." "Almost 6 out of 10 Americans agree that worshiping alone or with your family is a valid replacement for regularly attending church." "Among those with evangelical beliefs, 52% agree that everyone sins a little, but most people are good by nature." "Of those with evangelical beliefs, half agree that God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, Islam." "57% of those with evangelical beliefs are denying the personal nature of the Holy Spirit." "Imagine if in your congregation you could help people catch a glimpse of who God really is and the relationship He really wants with us." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Lifeway Leadership Podcast Network Lifeway Research State of Theology Study Report 5LQ Episode 294: Scott McConnell on Bible Research 5LQ Episode 278: Scott McConnell on VBS Research 5LQ Episode 299: Research on the Unchurched Text "research" to 888111 to receive a copy of the research from this podcast The Lost Tools of Learning by Dorothy Sayers The One Thing Podcast

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im breakdown the leadership book The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter by Michael D. Watkins. In their conversation they discuss the following questions: * What's the book and why does it matter? * Overview of the book * How applicable is the book to leadership in my church? * What are things churches should ignore from the book? * What can you do this week in light of the book? BEST QUOTES “Whatever you are living in is a direct result of whatever you were working on 90 days ago." "This book is about helping you assess what the situation is and apply the right strategy to that situation." "You have to figure out how this place works before you work on this place." "Imagine if the next 90 days were your first 90 days." "The first 90 days matter because it will help you get to the break even point." "Your job is to find clarity and understanding and then bring that to the surface." "You need to read it over and over again every time you have a transition." "When you transition into a new role, you are consuming not producing." "We need to stop approaching leadership from a scarcity mindset." "You aren't going to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff unless you use the lens of Scripture." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Lifeway Leadership Podcast Network The First 90 Days by Michael D. Watkins Blueprint Coaching Events Text "blueprint" to 888111 for information about Blueprint Coaching Events Leading Change by John Kotter The Heart of Change by John Kotter and Dan Cohen Group Answers Podcast

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im are joined by Robby Gallaty and Chris Swain, co-hosts of the Making Disciples podcast. During their conversation, they discuss how to make disciples of the people in your church and the need for planning in all aspects of life. BEST QUOTES “The day you stop learning is the day you stop leading, so we have to be self-motivated in this." "The Church went from being a movement of people to being a monument you go to." "The pastor leader has to repent for not making disciples for years." "Most churches think they can grow and grow their people by just offering another option to the already programized church they already pastor." "Disciples don't grow by menus, they grow by maps." "How many people are you investing in who have now reproduced their life into the life of another person?" "The discipleship process is never complete until the mentee becomes a mentor or until the player becomes a coach." "The gospel came to you because it was heading to someone else." "You have to have an outlet for recovery." "The reason people don't stick with long term discipling relationships is because there is no accountability and there is no intentionality." "Nothing you do in ministry is wasted." "God uses our suffering as a platform to preach the gospel." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Lifeway Leadership Podcast Network Making Disciples Podcast Long Hollow Replicate Books by Robby Gallaty The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt The Patient Ferment of the Early Church by Alan Kreider Disappearing Church by Mark Sayers Letters to the Church by Francis Chan That Sounds Fun Podcast Episode 82: Christine Caine EST.church podcast This Episode's Sponsor: What happens when the Bible and humanity collide? Not what you’d expect. Living & Effective, a podcast collaboration between Christianity Today and the Christian Standard Bible, journeys through history, current events, theology, and the human condition to uncover surprising ways the Bible accomplishes God’s plan in the world."

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im are joined by Mark Clark, the pastor of Village Church in Vancouver and author of The Problem of God. During their conversation, they discuss over and above hospitality in the church and how his leadership role in the church has developed over the years. BEST QUOTES  “I would quit ministry before I let it crush my family." "On one hand we need to develop people, on the other hand you can't teach speed. You either have it or you don't." "As the culture keeper of the organization, I need to be aware of the things that are happening around the margins and the things that are happening in the center." "Who I interact with evolved over time, now it's really 4 or 5 people at the exec level and they develop pastors and keep me in the loop about what's going on." "I do my best to schedule meetings with people in the church so that I can keep my finger on the pulse of what the people in the church are experiencing." "There is a distinction between Christianity and ministry." "Your spouse doesn't need a great existential argument for you to listen to them." "Working on your home life is an ecosystem that is going to affect the success of your ministry." "There tends to be today a move in the church to downplay the importance of Christian education. Do not listen to that." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Lifeway Leadership Podcast Network Blueprint Coaching Text "blueprint" to 888111 for more information on Blueprint Coaching The Problem of God by Mark Clark 5LQ Episode 89: Larry Osborne 5LQ Episode 258: Larry Osborne The New Gold Standard by Joseph Michelli Creating Magic by Lee Cockerell The Art of Better Preaching Making Disciples Podcast This Episode's Sponsor: What happens when the Bible and humanity collide? Not what you’d expect. Living & Effective, a podcast collaboration between Christianity Today and the Christian Standard Bible, journeys through history, current events, theology, and the human condition to uncover surprising ways the Bible accomplishes God’s plan in the world."

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im are joined by Rich Clark, the host of the Living & Effective Podcast. During their conversation, they discuss collaboration with others led by God's grace and the importance of casting a vision for your family. BEST QUOTES  “We talk all the time about how hard it is to hear something from someone close to you." "Interviewing is one of the things I love doing most because it is fun to me to explore the ideas of another person from their perspective." "We don't have to be the center of the story that God is writing." "I'm really interested in figuring out who is good at what and what are some ways we can appreciate one another's gifts." "Collaborating with people and actively receiving their gift helps me to work more effectively." "God shows us grace when our gifts are used haphazardly." "The people we work with are human people with human traits and flaws and characteristics." "It takes a lot of intentionality and work to keep your marriage healthy." "The hardest thing for me has been to learn to trust God with flawed work." "Sometimes the way God works is a mystery and sometimes He gives us glimpses of what He is doing." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Lifeway Leadership Podcast Network Blueprint Coaching Text "blueprint" to 888111 for more information on Blueprint Coaching Living & Effective: A Church Divided Lasting: Marriage Health App Making Disciples Podcast This Episode's Sponsor: What happens when the Bible and humanity collide? Not what you’d expect. Living & Effective, a podcast collaboration between Christianity Today and the Christian Standard Bible, journeys through history, current events, theology, and the human condition to uncover surprising ways the Bible accomplishes God’s plan in the world."