Mark Vincent is a leader who loves leaders that love leaders. His 4-year peer-based program, Maestro-level leaders, is all about supporting leaders in the "Third Turn," where they begin to craft their organization's long-term vision, legacy, and future value. After all, no leader can do it by themselves. We all need to learn from others, and the earlier we begin this process in our career, the better we become as leaders. This is the heart of Maestro-level leaders: community! 

Mark's people-centered posture is rooted in a daily habit of prayer and reading and a weekly worship routine. These spiritual practices allow him the opportunity to inhale and exhale from the chaos of the week and reset his mind on the things above. Plus, Mark talks with us about his new book Listening, Helping and Learning: The Core Competencies of Process Consulting.

Guests: Mark Vincent

Ministry/ Workplace: Maestro-level leaders

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Flipping around the microphones today, Tami Heim and Scott Brown of Christian Leadership Alliance interview your very own Jim and Martha Brangenberg of iWork4Him Ministries. In this special show, Jim and Martha share about leadership strategies and creating a culture of belonging at iWork4Him. 

The Brangenbergs have had a front-row seat to over 3,000 leaders through their podcast interviews on iWork4Him, iRetire4Him, and sheWorks4Him. This ministry has allowed them to highlight the stories of others, see God work mightily in the everyday, and make connections in the Kingdom that have an eternal impact. Learning from others, along with Scripture and prayer, are their keys to growing as leaders.

This interview reminds us of the importance of the Tapestry Project – to create and freely offer a database that will increase collaboration between ministries. Take a few minutes to learn more about the Tapestry Project.

Guests: Jim and Martha Brangenberg

Ministry/ Workplace: iWork4Him

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We consistently find that great leaders have spiritual disciplines to help them grow. Al Lopus, Co-Founder and CEO of Best Christian Workplaces Institute, is no different. He has daily prayer and devotional time, weekly Sabbath, quarterly spiritual days, and annual 3-day retreats to keep him grounded and growing in his faith. Al also implements personal disciplines to stay emotionally and physically fit. His drive for consistency and excellence is mirrored in the mission of Best Christian Workplaces Institute. Through their intentional connections with leadership and one-on-ones with supervisors, they're able to invest in every level of the organization.  

In today’s show, Al reminds us that you can’t give what you don’t have and that we shouldn’t ask others to do what we wouldn’t do ourselves. He makes it a point to talk last at meetings, so others’ voices are heard first. Plus, as a lifelong learner, Al is a reader and author, and his new book Road to Flourishing was voted Christian Leadership Alliance book of the Year 2022.    

Al is offering the first chapter of his new book, Road to Flourishing: Eight Keys to Boost Employee Engagement and Well-Being, for FREE at roadtoflourishing.com. He also has a free video course and free workplace diagnostic!

Guests: Al Lopus

Ministry/ Workplace: Best Christian Workplaces Institute

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The title “Chief People and Culture Officer” perfectly describes the work that Tom Beck does at Compassion International. With a global workforce in 26 countries, every day Tom tackles the challenge of creating an organizational culture of belonging for staff who live across the world. So, how does he do it? According to Tom, it starts with cultivating the spiritual habit of prayer and listening to the Holy Spirit. As an extremely early morning person, Tom begins his most productive part of the day in prayer and Bible reading. From this place he is able to focus on the people and workplace culture he stewards – one that is in line with Compassion’s brand promise “to be known, loved, and connected.”

Our last words of wisdom from Tom are based on his line, “teach what we know – replicate what we are.” These are just a few ways that Tom leads a culture of belonging at Compassion International!

Guests: Tom Beck

Ministry/ Workplace: Compassion International

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Margaret Fitzwater, the Executive Director of Training, Development, and Care for the Navigators, attributes her strong faith and Christ-centered leadership to having good life rhythms. Particularly daily time in the Word – journal and pen in hand – and observing a weekly Sabbath where she focuses on life-giving activities. This dedication to allowing the Word of God to be a part of her life (not just overlaying it) is Margaret’s key to leadership!

At Navigators, Margaret leads five teams that train over 2,700 staff. This means that creating a sense of belonging is mission-critical! Being virtual is a challenge for building that culture, but her teams have learned to invest the time and effort to make sure that every staff member feels seen and heard. Margaret shares so much wisdom with us in today’s show, but the bottom line is that following Jesus is a different way of life than the world’s way.

Guests: Margaret Fitzwater

Ministry/ Workplace: The Navigators

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Get ready to be drawn in by the gentle leadership of Beth Guckenberger! Right off the bat, Beth shares with us her keys to Christ-centered leadership: fellowship and accountability. And what do these two things have in common? They are a part of being in community... part of belonging. Beth and her husband have spent years traveling and learning about other cultures, but the Bible’s principles for belonging always apply no matter where they are.

Plus, we talk about Beth’s new book, Throw the First Punch, where she applies some great principles from 1 Peter 5 and Ephesians 6 on the issues of spiritual warfare. After all, why should we wait for Satan to attack?  We know he’s prowling around looking for something to devour, so be aggressive and put on the Full Armor of God and throw the first punch! Imagine the kind of impact that we could have in each of our areas of influence if we took this approach.

There are so many great nuggets in this episode - you might need to listen to it more than once!

Guests: Beth Guckenberger

Ministry/ Workplace:  Back2Back Ministries

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Nona Jones wears many leadership hats – from church to business to family – so she knows that thriving leadership requires personal growth. Being a college science major, she’s able to give some spot-on examples from nature about what’s needed for growth and what signs show healthy growth vs. withering away.

A leader’s health is oftentimes directly reflected in their team’s health. So, if there’s one thing that Nona has been learning lately, it’s the importance of pouring into the lives of her team members.

As a biblical example in the same plant-related realm, Nona notes the necessity that leaders have of both being pruned for continual growth and carefully pruning others to encourage them to thrive, too. That being said, with the last years of added stress and challenge, God has been pointing her towards compassion and sincere care for truly effective leadership. Since Nona has been an executive at Meta (formerly Facebook), this is something she wants to encourage ministries to focus on as they use social media – not just producing content but connecting with people where they are.

Two pieces of leadership advice to take away from this interview:

1 – The right answer matters more than being right. We must be humble to be good leaders!

2 – Strive for an “additive” leader mindset. As leaders, we should be adding to those on our team, not using them to get ahead.

Guests: Nona Jones

Ministry/ Workplace:  NonaJones.com

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Let’s celebrate a few milestones today! In the past nine years, we have produced 2,200 podcasts and interviewed over 3,500 people. In addition, we have written a weekly blog for over 470 weeks, written three books, created and produced a 1-minute weekday PowerThought for podcast and radio, traveled thousands of miles, and met so many incredible people - BUT it’s time for a break. 

Throughout Scripture, God gives us great examples of REST, including at the very beginning of creation, and we know that we’ve failed to practice and obey them. In today’s show, we share honestly about what God is telling us and how we need to get serious rest so that we can walk in obedience in all He is asking of us.

So, we want to invite you to embark with us in this new season of restoration and relationship. Won’t you commit to incorporating the iWork4Him Nation pledge into our summer? Get to know our neighbors at home and work – spend some time grilling out, hosting potlucks, and relationship building. I know we will!

See you this fall!

Guests: Jim and Martha Brangenberg

Ministry/ Workplace: iWork4Him

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Sometimes the path to our calling takes many turns. Dr. Eli Jones shares his story in his new book Run Toward your Goliaths. Despite being a first-generation college student, Eli’s childhood was full of first-rate learning experiences! His parents were entrepreneurial, and his dad’s work truck was often a classroom for Eli. After graduating college, Eli took several unexpected career turns. Still eventually, he ended up back in school to get his Ph.D., where Eli indeed found his calling as a teacher and writer!

Eli’s unchanging life mission has been to transform lives, and through teaching principles that come from the Bible – he is able to do just that. Higher education is fertile soil for connecting faith to learning. At Texas A&M, there are so many ways to visibly carry that out through the Christian Faculty Network and Breakaway ministry happening on campus, where Eli is deeply involved.

For the chance to win a copy of Eli’s book, Run Toward Your Goliaths, call the listener line at 866-713-9675 (WORK)!

Guests: Dr. Eli Jones

Ministry/ Workplace: Texas A&M University; EliJones.com

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James Barnett had a childhood of road trips to treasure.  Most of us would reminisce about the memories happily and leave it at that. Not James! He has allowed God to take those road trip lessons to shape his leadership at home and at work, in his role as President of DaySpring. 

His many life lessons include learning who is in control, Why God vs What God, and helping others see what they can’t see in themselves.  Even now, James’ parents haven’t lost their sense of adventure and hit the road again for a family adventure to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary. In this episode, we learn from James’ example to constantly learn from every experience God gives us.

So many great nuggets in this interview with James Barnett and his new book, Blue Skies: How to Live in Extraordinary Expectation of What’s Around the Corner.  

For the chance to win a signed copy of James’ book, call the listener line at 866-713-9675!

Guest: James Barnett

Ministry/Workplace: DaySpring

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