Nate Miersma - Business Leader, Culture Builder, Combat Veteran

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In this episode of the Biblical Leadership at Work podcast, host Jason Woodard interviews Nate Miersma, whose career spans both military and corporate leadership. Nate's journey includes 11 years in the U.S. Army, where he served as a company commander with combat deployments, and nearly 20 years at Stryker in strategic roles. Currently, Nate leads the orthopedics division at Conmed Corporation. A devoted Christian, he integrates his faith into his leadership style, emphasizing integrity, transparency, and team wellbeing. Nate discusses his educational path, career transitions, and the pivotal moments and struggles that shaped his leadership principles. He also shares how he honors Christ in his work and the importance of loving people as Christ does. Throughout the conversation, Nate provides valuable insights for aspiring leaders and highlights the role of faith in professional settings.

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Episode Transcript

Jason (00:00):
Welcome to the Biblical Leadership at Work podcast.

(00:03):
I am your host, Jason Woodard.
On this month's episode, we willmeet Nate Miersma, a leader
whose career spans both militaryand corporate leadership.
Nate served in the U.
S.
Army for 11 years, includingtime as a company commander with
combat deployments.
After his military service, hetransitioned into the corporate
world, spending nearly 20 yearsat Stryker in leadership roles

(00:26):
across strategic sales.
marketing and operations.
I had the privilege of workingalongside Nate for several years
at Stryker and I found him to bea strong, confident leader that
I highly respect.
Nate is a devoted Christian whointegrates his faith into his
leadership.
He values integrity,transparency, and a deep
commitment to his team'swellbeing, striving to be an

(00:48):
advocate for their personal andprofessional growth.
With a leadership style built onfaith, high standards, and a
passion for people, Nate is afantastic example of what it
means to lead with biblicalprinciples in the workplace, and
I'm excited for our conversationtoday.
Nate, welcome to the show,brother.

Nate (01:05):
Thank you, Jason.
That's a nice intro.
I'm excited to be here.

Jason (01:08):
Good.
Excited to have you.
Hey, as we always do, let'sstart off and tell us, so, you
know, the introduction hit alittle bit of your background,
but can you walk us through,kind of talk about from your
education, university education,on through your career history,
what God has done for you?
Through you and how he's takingyou to where you are right now

Nate (01:28):
Yeah.
Well, uh, God has taken me, uh,over, under, around and through,
uh, in my career.
So.
Uh, I guess I'll start with alittle story.
I, I'm not a hundred percentcertain why I want, wanted to be
an engineer at first, but Istarted my education at Purdue
and like many young college kidswho were moved out of the house
for the first time and raised ina conservative Christian home,

(01:50):
those first couple of yearswere, Um, wilder than necessary.
And, um, and I wasn't living inthe life that was honoring to
God.
And candidly, I just, I wasn'tenjoying my education and about
two years in to, uh, to my timethere.
I just woke up one day and said,you know what?
I'm not becoming the person thatI know that I'm meant to be.
I don't think I want to be anengineer.

(02:12):
Um, I didn't pray about it, nordid I call my parents, but I
called an army recruiter and,um, he came to my fraternity
house and, uh, you know, a weeklater I wound up being sworn in.
I enlisted in the army reserveactually.
And so halfway through college,um, Oh, by the way, but before I
get there, I, you know, then Icalled my parents and said, Hey,

(02:32):
guess

Jason (02:32):
let him know

Nate (02:33):
Um, you know, I don't want to be an engineer anymore.
I'm leaving Purdue and I joinedthe army and you could hear a
pin drop on the, on the call fora little while.
So, uh, thankfully they were,you know, they were supportive
after they realized they didn'treally have a choice.
And so I went away to basictraining and, um, and thankfully
I had the presence of mind atthe time.
To join the reserves because Iknew I wanted to finish college.

(02:55):
So I went away to, uh, to basictraining and military police
school after that.
And I moved back to Kalamazooafter that, my hometown.
And I was fresh out of the armywith, you know, bald head.
And I thought I wanted to kickdown doors and, you know, I
wanted to be an FBI agent orsomething like that.
So I transferred my credits toWestern Michigan university and
enrolled in their sociology andcriminal justice program.

(03:18):
And by the time I was a semesteraway from graduating from
Western, um, I already had a joboffer from Stryker because I had
gotten a temporary job there,uh, earlier in the year.
And, uh, so I don't know, maybe30 days in, they said, Hey, we
really like you.
We'd love you to stay.
And, uh, and so I, I sort of gotthis amazing job at this great
company in my hometown.

(03:38):
Um, really just by the grace ofGod and nothing else.
And so, um, in April of 2023, Igraduated from college.
I got hired into Stryker fulltime.
I got commissioned as an officerbecause during that time at
Western, I'd also enrolled intheir ROTC program after getting
a phone call.
Um, and I got married to mywife, Danielle.

(03:59):
And so it was, uh, it was a bigmonth.
And, uh, from, from there, uh,it was crazy.
So I wound up getting ordersalmost immediately because 9 11
had happened, uh, prior to that,to, uh, to Fort Leonard
Woodbury.
My wife and I moved down therefor a short period of time.
And then I got orders directlyfrom there to head to my first
deployment in Iraq.
And so Danielle came back toKalamazoo and.

(04:21):
Bought our first house withoutme ever seeing it.
And, you know, life startedtaking crazy turns.
And so in between a couple ofcombat deployments, I came back
to Stryker.
Um, we, uh, we had our firstbaby and, uh, I enrolled in a
master's program.
I had the presence of mind againto realize that I was probably
going to be traveling ordeployed quite a bit.
And so I enrolled in a, um, Ienrolled in a program that

(04:43):
allowed me to do it remotely.
And, uh, I wound up getting mymaster's a couple of years
later.
And, uh, and then I was atStryker for gosh, I think just
about exactly 20 years afterthat.
And so I guess from an educationleadership perspective, it was.
Purdue, then Western, thenColorado Technical University
for my master's.
Um, Stryker sent me to somegreat executive education

(05:04):
courses that I really, I wouldsay I probably learned more from
than I did during my master'sdegree.
And, uh, and I had some reallygreat leadership opportunities
along the way.

Jason (05:13):
Yeah.
Now you said when you firststarted you when you got married
that was 2003

Nate (05:18):
That was 2003.

Jason (05:19):
Okay.
Yeah.
Yep What what made you decidearmy was And when you're in
college, like what, why thearmy, why the military?

Nate (05:28):
Uh, I had no family in the military, uh, outside of one
uncle who served in the Navyduring Vietnam.
I just kind of grew up as anoutdoorsy kid that liked to hunt
and fish and camp.
And I just always wanted to jointhe army when I was growing up.
And, uh, I don't know, it seemedlike a good idea at the time.
I knew I didn't want to be on aboat.

Jason (05:46):
Yeah.

Nate (05:47):
um, I think the only thing that I knew about the military,
really.
Was that, um, the army and theMarine Corps trained generalists
in terms of leaders, um, and theair force and the Navy trained
specialists.
And so you come out of the army,you'll be a generalist.
You come out of one of thoseother service branches and
you'll be a specialist insomething.
And I just thought that's thedirection that I wanted to go.

Jason (06:10):
Yeah.
General leadership.
Now where you were, you in, uh,was your training in military
police when you were in, whenyou first went in?

Nate (06:18):
It was, yeah, so it's, I was enlisted, um, as a military
police officer and I reported toa reserve unit in, uh, actually
in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
First in Chicago and then inKalamazoo.
And I, I deployed with that unitoutta Kalamazoo, uh, for my
first, I don't know, a year andsome odd months deployment.
Um, and then I got commissionedas an officer and my branch as
an officer was also militarypolice.

(06:39):
But, uh, oddly enough, my seconddeployment, I was an infantry
company commander.
So it just shows you howdesperate the army was getting
at the time.

Jason (06:46):
For leaders.
I think when you and I met, Iwant to say you, I was at
Stryker in 2009.
I remember my first day atStryker was Obama's first day in
office, which I think was,

Nate (06:58):
Really.

Jason (06:59):
yeah, that's just sticks out in my head.
So I think that was 09, I thinkwhen he started and then you
were deployed at the time.
I didn't know you, didn't knowof you.
And then short within a year ortwo, You came back and you came
back to work and we were workingtogether.
Is that sound is that like 2010maybe?

Nate (07:17):
Yeah, so my deployments were 2004 into 2005 and then all
of 2008.
And so if you was started in2009, I would have been back
from my deployment.
Um,

Jason (07:27):
that's

Nate (07:28):
yeah,

Jason (07:29):
You know, did you come back in oh nine sometime?

Nate (07:32):
beginning of oh,

Jason (07:33):
Okay.
Yeah, so I guess it wasn't verylong after I started I just
remember I remember meeting youand I don't know why but I
remember it candidly or notcan't be clearly One of the
first times I ever really spoketo you.
We were walking across theparking lot between the 6200 and
4201 building.
I don't know what we were doing,but we were walking together.
It was the first time that Ireally got to talk to you and

(07:54):
you said you'd, you know, comeback from deployment and you'd
worked there before and youknow, came back and we were, I
was in operations then.
I don't remember if that's whatyou were doing then operations
or not.
I can't remember, but

Nate (08:07):
I, uh, let's see.
That's second deployment.
I, yeah, I went back tooperations and then I went to
marketing after that.
So

Jason (08:13):
that's where, yeah.
As I do remember like you goingover to marketing as I stayed in
operations and And yeah, yep.
So I remember, uh, I just, theconfidence that you brought and
your intensity.
I loved it.
We're both activators, which alot of people probably don't
know what that means, but unlessthey work around you, then
they're like, I don't know aboutthis guy, but he has no
patience.

Nate (08:33):
be good sometimes.

Jason (08:35):
has no patience and he's always causing chaos and yeah.
He, you know, makes decisionswith 50 percent of the
information and that's, that'swhat activators do.
So we connected on that, thatlevel.
So, Hey, tell us, tell us alittle bit about your family,
Nate.
What's the situation that yousaid married to Danielle

Nate (08:52):
Yeah.
So,

Jason (08:53):
Like what's that look like?

Nate (08:54):
um, I got to put my plug in for my amazing, beautiful
best friend and wife.
Danielle, I've been married for21 years.
It'll be 22 in April, I think ifI'm doing the math right.
Um, and, uh, and she has beenamazing.
Obviously I was deployed forhalf of the first five years we
were married.
And I left when our firstbornwas five weeks old, I think, and

(09:15):
came back when I, when she was15 months old.
And she's been through a lot,even in career moves and moving
to Arizona, uh, to move intosales and back to Michigan and,
uh, much more recently a move toanother company, uh, for a
leadership role.
And so she is, uh, she's been anamazing supporter and, uh, I
couldn't do any of it withouther.

Jason (09:33):
Yeah.

Nate (09:33):
have three kids.
So fast forward many years fromthat firstborn and, uh, we have
two daughters and a son, mydaughter, Madeline is 17.
She's getting ready to graduatehigh school.
My daughter McKenna is 14.
She'll be 15 next month.
And my son is a sixth grader.
He'll be 12 next month.

Jason (09:48):
Nice.

Nate (09:49):
Yeah,

Jason (09:50):
And you guys are located in still West Michigan,
Kalamazoo area.

Nate (09:55):
yeah.
We're in Vicksburg, Michigan.
We live on a little hobby farm.
So I married a girl who lovedhorses and I, I did not know
what I was getting into as a, asa guy who's an outdoors man, I
thought I can do this.
And uh, and so we looked for areally long time.
And when we moved back here fromArizona, we found a little hobby
farm in Vicksburg.
And, uh, it's on 60 acresactually.
And, um, my wife is the hardestworking.

(10:18):
woman.
I know she's typically up earlyin the morning and taking care
of horses and other animals.
And, you know, again in theevening and my kids have had the
privilege of learningresponsibility, chores and
things like that.
And it's been, uh, it's been anamazing experience and one that
I wouldn't change for anything.

Jason (10:35):
That's a great environment to raise kids in.
Yeah.
How many horses do you have?

Nate (10:39):
Uh, we own four.
I think I'm pretty sure we ownfour.

Jason (10:42):
It's unclear at this moment.

Nate (10:44):
yeah.
And, uh, and we board a few aswell.
So there's usually seven oreight at our house.

Jason (10:48):
Awesome.
That's wonderful.
Um, let's talk a little bitabout your faith.
How'd you come to know the Lord?
What's that look like?

Nate (10:54):
Okay.
So I grew up here in WestMichigan.
I think from the time I was bornuntil I was married, I went to
the same church, uh, wentthrough it moving to, you know,
to different buildings as it wasgrowing and things like that.
But I grew up in the church andreform church right here in West
Michigan called South Ridge.
Um, if the church was open, wewere typically there.

(11:15):
And then on top of that, my momfounded a nonprofit here in West
Michigan called Love forChildren.
And so she was kind of workingout of the church basement at
the time as well.
I'm sure the rent was free.
And so I spent a lot of time inthe church building and ran the
sound booth and, you know,during the services and things
like that.
But, um, you know, I would say.
I called myself a Christian, butreally I just had sort of

(11:36):
adopted the, you know, the labelthat I had from being raised
that way.
And, and it wasn't until wemoved to Arizona that, um, that
we kind of established our ownchurch family, our own, our
church and the church that wewent to Christ Church of the
Valley.
Um, in Arizona was justincredibly, um, powerful and

(11:57):
impactful on me.
And it really started tochallenge the way that I was
thinking about my own faith andrelationship with Jesus.
And, um, and it was then when Imade the decision to, to make
that faith my own and reallyclaim Jesus as my Lord and
savior.
And so, um,

Jason (12:12):
How old, how old were you?
How old were you then mate?
Bowen.

Nate (12:16):
oh gosh, I would have been, oh, that was, that was
just over 10 years ago.
So I was in my, I was probably33, 34, something like that.
I'm 44 now.
Yeah.
So Danielle and I got baptizedas adults there outside and, um,
fortuitously my brother and, uh,and his wife and kids had come
down to visit Arizona at thetime.
So they got to see it, um, youknow, just surreptitiously.

(12:37):
And I really, since then, um,have been on a new journey and
had a, a true relationship withJesus.

Jason (12:45):
Yeah.
Praise the Lord for that.
And I ask you your age because,you know, we, we as parents, and
I know there's other parentslistening are raising our
children in the fear andadmonition of the Lord to the
best of our ability.
And they, uh, sometimes don't.
mature in the faith at a ratethat we hope.
And sometimes they outrightrebel and walk away.

(13:05):
And, you know, I think it'simportant for us to, we have to
keep praying for them and lovingthem and discipling them as much
as they'll allow us to.
And, uh, you know, maybe theyare 34 years old and they're a
parent when they all of asudden, you know, the Holy
Spirit wakes them up and theychange.
So we can't give up.
So that's why, so that's good.

(13:26):
That's

Nate (13:26):
Very true.

Jason (13:27):
Uh, go a little bit back on the professional side.
What are you like?
What are you doing right now?
Talk a little bit about yourrole now.
I know you were a Stryker for avery long time.
You worked in a lot of differentroles there, but tell us about
what you're up to now.

Nate (13:39):
Yeah.
So, um, right about at my 20year market Stryker, I, um, I
got a text message from a friendof mine.
Um, another strong believersister in Christ that just said,
do you have a moment to chat?
And I knew she had left, uh, youknow, several years prior and
gone to another company and Justseemed odd, the text and the
wording.
And so I, I said, sure.

(14:00):
And, uh, and we wound uptalking, she asked if, if I was
interested in learning a littlebit more about an opportunity
with a company called combat outof Florida.
And, um, if I'm honest with you,I'm not sure that I was really
that interested, but I said, Ireally only have one question.
Um, you know, would I have torelocate?
And she said, let me get back toyou.
And so it was less than 24hours.

(14:20):
She came back and said, no, ourCEO knows who you are.
He knows that, you know, you'llbe where the, where the action
is, regardless of where that isaround the United States.
And, uh, and I just started tofeel this conviction that I
needed to learn more about it.
And, um, I'll bring up, uh, uh,somebody who's been a mentor to
me from a distance for the mostpart.
Um, but you know, Jim Heath and

Jason (14:42):
Absolutely.

Nate (14:44):
Jim had given somebody else advice and they had shared
that advice with me.
His name is Derrick Babbitt.
And, um, Derrick had asked Jim.
If he could go back to, youknow, give his 20 year old self
some advice, career advice, whatwould it be?
And one of the things that Jimhad shared with them is that,
you know, for decades, I got allthese calls from recruiters
asking if I was interested inlearning about another job.

(15:04):
And I always just politelydeclined and I never even heard
him out.
And he said, I would.
advise my younger self to, totake those calls.
And either, um, you're going tolearn that you're exactly where
God wants you to be.
And you're going to have moreconfidence that you're right
where you're supposed to be, oryou're going to learn about some
amazing new opportunity thatGod's calling you to either way.

(15:25):
Um, it's not disloyal to, um,phone calls and it can re
process.
And so I just st conviction andI remember I felt candidly, I
felt a even at the thought of lebeen there for so long.
B The company and the more thatI got to learn about, uh, the

(15:46):
man that I was going to reportto Pat, the more excited I got
about the opportunity.
And so, uh, I just startedpraying hard about it.
And all of a sudden it was likethe weight came off my
shoulders.
And I realized, well, you know,I can make a decision to leave
this company.
It'll be just fine without me, Ipromise.
And, um, and I think this is theright thing for.
My family at this time.
Um, and I feel God calling me todo it.

(16:07):
And so I now lead theorthopedics division, uh, at
comedy corporation, theiroffices in, uh, in Largo,
Florida down on St.
Pete.
I'll be there next week.
Um, but in reality, I, you know,I spend time wherever I need to
be around the country.

Jason (16:19):
Yeah.
That's awesome.
So orthopedics division forthose that don't work in or
haven't worked in the med techindustry.
Tell us a little bit about whatis that?
What's the scope of that looklike?

Nate (16:30):
Yeah.
Um, so ConvMed's orthopedicdivision is really focused on
sports medicine.
So we serve surgeons who dorotator cuff repair, fix your,
you know, your ACL in your kneeor your hip.
Um, we sell some capitalequipment like the, you know,
the, the stuff that helps asurgeon do arthroscopic surgery,
you know, the camera that goesinto your body so

Jason (16:48):
Okay.
Yep.
Yep.

Nate (16:50):
uh, in there.
Uh, and then we sell, um, powertools that help orthopedic
surgeons put total joints in,which I know you're familiar
with.

Jason (16:56):
Yeah.
You.
Yeah.
You and I had some time spendingtime making parts for those that
way and making them.
Yeah.
So that's a, uh, that's a prettybig job.
I was super excited to see youget that.
I mean, you, uh, since I firstmet you, I knew you had
tremendous amount of bandwidthin your leadership potential.
So congratulations on that andreally glad when you were going

(17:18):
through that decision process,Nate.
Um, what was, what wasDanielle's input?
Like, what was that conversationlike with her?
And then in the end, how didthat look?
Yeah, yeah, yeah,

Nate (17:31):
always been an encourager for me, you know, and so I
think, um, sometimes to a faultwhere I'm like, Oh, I'm not that
good, you know, I promise.
Um, but you know, she justencouraged me to learn a little
bit more about it.
And she was a sounding board forme when I, when I wanted to talk
about things that I wasconcerned about, but I'd say
most important, she's kind oflike my chief de risker because

(17:52):
she would just say, you knowwhat, if this whole thing
completely flopped.
You'll get another job, it'll befine, you know, and, uh, it made
me feel a little bit morecomfortable with stepping out in
faith and, uh, knowing that Ihad her support and doing it
mattered a lot because, youknow, starting a new job also
required really rolling mysleeves up and spending a decent

(18:12):
amount of time on the road

Jason (18:14):
yeah, yeah.

Nate (18:15):
new team.

Jason (18:16):
And that's so important.
And that's the reason I askedthat when I, so the, the, the
role I'm in now, when I tookthis job, I had at the time was
in, when was in kind of a badsituation, had a new leader come
into the organization.
The person that hired me was letgo.
So a new leader came in, was notlooking good, so I was, I was
starting to look and I hadactually two different, two

(18:37):
offers, which was wonderful, butthey were very, very different,
very different industries.
And I just remember a lot ofprayer, speaking to my wife and
then speaking of old mentorsfrom Stryker, Judd Hoth,

Nate (18:50):
So yeah,

Jason (18:50):
someone that I think very highly of.
I will still reach out to himand I did on this occasion.
So between, you know, someadvice he had and then my, my
wife and you know, some of it infact was going to be, there was
some decisions that would impactus as a family on, you know,
even in financial decisions, youknow, there was two different
roles and two different paylevels and the same thing.

(19:13):
My wife's always been like,whatever, I want you to be happy
and you'd be able to besuccessful in either role and
supportive.
So yeah, what a blessing to havea partner like that.
Yeah,

Nate (19:27):
God, I'm dumb.
Please smack me across the headwith a two by four, slam the
door in my face to what I'm notsupposed to do and open it wide
in the other direction becauseit's probably the only way I'm
going to recognize which way togo and then I, you know, leave
it up to him.
And so it all worked out.
It was, it was clear to me.

Jason (19:45):
That's awesome.
So hey, big job, a lot ofresponsibility, probably intense
workload.
What is your spiritualdisciplines look like Nate to
keep you close to the Lordthrough all that?

Nate (19:56):
Um, I don't know, you're probably not gonna like my
answer for the purpose of yourpodcast, but if I'm honest, I,
I've always felt, um, immaturein this area, sort of, so I, I
always sort of felt like I don'tmeasure up right to people that
I spend time with or that I talkto, um, from a faith perspective
when it comes to thisdepartment.

(20:16):
So.
Before I really became aChristian and own my own faith,
even then I did devotions hereand there.
I read the Bible every once in awhile and stuff.
And, um, in Arizona, uh, wejoined, uh, a neighborhood
group.
It was a big enough church and,you know, master plan
communities all around thechurch.
And so we joined a group, asmall group of people that live
right there in our neighborhood.
And, um, and I started to reallyunderstand spiritual disciplines

(20:40):
a little bit more than, and theimportance of community.

Jason (20:42):
Yeah.

Nate (20:43):
but, you know, The things that I want to do daily, you
know, it's almost like, uh, Paultalks about the Bible, you know,
I still struggle to do and thethings that I don't want to do,
I do.
And, uh, so I don't know, maybeI should be easier on myself,
uh, in this area, but it's notreally the way that I'm wired.
So I, I'd say I, I try to spendtime in, um, in the Bible every

(21:03):
morning and I feel miserablysometimes.
Spent a lot of time.
Sometimes I spent a little bitof time and sometimes I
completely miss it and forget.
Um, and the same thing withprayer, you know, sometimes I'm
praying in the car on the waysomewhere.
Sometimes I get some good quiettime in the morning, but I'd say
spending time in the word andprayer, uh, are both really,
really important to me.
And, and sometimes I forgetuntil some random time in the

(21:26):
middle of the day and I juststop what I'm doing and just
talk to God for a minute.

Jason (21:30):
Yeah.
Well, I appreciate yourtransparency, brother, cause
that's part of being on thispodcast and the listeners that I
have, I'm sure it's all over,right?
If we're honest with each other,there's people at different
places in their walk.
So no, I do appreciate thattransparency and it is a
struggle.
You know, I think I've been abeliever for, you know, a
serious believer for almost 30years and I can be honest with

(21:51):
you, probably only in the lastfive where I've felt like my,
that daily discipline, maybeeven the last four or five years
really gotten consistent andrich.
And you know, so you just keepstriving.
You just, like you said, you,you know, you, you feel that
conviction and you push yourselfto do better and um, yeah.

Nate (22:12):
Absolutely.
I was, I was, um, praying aboutthis probably, it's probably
been six time flies, six to 12months ago or something.
And I was just like, man, it'sjust, it just feels still like
discipline, right?
Like I'm, I'm, I'm forcingmyself to do it, but I really
want to delight in it, you know,not just feel like it's a
discipline every day.
Um, so I was praying to Godabout it, just saying, Hey God,

(22:34):
you know, I want to delight inthis.
I don't want to feel like it'swork.
Um, that I'm putting in everymorning in order to do it.
I don't want to feel like I'mrushing through it, you know,
just to say that I did iteither.
I

Jason (22:43):
check a box.
Yeah,

Nate (22:44):
and, um, and after I got done praying for whatever reason
I was on my phone, probablyshouldn't have been right.
Um, but I, I just Googled.
You know, I want to delight inmy devotional time or whatever.
And the first YouTube video thatpopped up was a pastor.
It was an old video, but he justhad this rule of three D's.
And he said, it starts withdiscipline.
You have to have discipline, um,first, and as you progress with

(23:08):
your discipline, it will turnfrom discipline into desire.
And you'll start to want to doit instead of having to do it.
And maybe a long time after youhave the desire, you'll go for
desire to delight and you won'tjust want to do it, but you'll
delight in it when you do it.
So, you know, I'd love to fastforward to being in the delight
phase.
And honestly, I mean, I do feelthe desire more routinely now to

(23:31):
do it than the disciplinefeeling, but I would love to get
to the point where I'm justdelighting in it.
And I'm, you know, prioritizingmy time accordingly.
Like I want more time for this.

Jason (23:39):
yeah,

Nate (23:40):
It's a work in progress.
I'm a work in progress.

Jason (23:42):
no, well we all are and yeah, I don't remember why or
what happened, but you know, forme that clicked.
Um, and like I said, probablyfive, maybe longer than that.
It was before COVID 20, I don'tknow, 19 maybe.
And just my morning time,especially the prayer time.
It just.
Yeah, it changed.
I can remember.

(24:02):
And now it's, I'll get uplooking forward to it.
So I pray the same for you.
And yeah.
What about your church family?
Was that look like for you andyour family and a local church
you guys are plugged into?

Nate (24:14):
Yeah.
When we moved back to WestMichigan from Arizona, um, we
had such a great experiencehaving kind of our own family's
church that we said, we're goingto look, uh, we never looked,
you know, in our life justbecause I grew up going to the
same church.
And so, We started praying aboutit right away.
And honestly, I think God led usto the church we were supposed
to go to first.
So, um, go to a church calledthe bridge and, uh, and at first

(24:38):
it was in Portage, Michigan,they just created a second
campus in our hometown inVicksburg.
But, you know, for a decade, uh,we went there after trying it
for the first time, our firstSunday back, we went there, felt
immediately welcomed.
Jeff Winkie was a brand newpastor at the time.
He welcomed us.
We got to know some, um, somepeople that were on staff and
some of the local communityright away.
And we just felt.

(24:59):
That was where God was callingus.
And so we've been there eversince, um, my wife and kids have
been in, you know, children'sministry volunteer roles and
things like that, uh, eversince.
And so we felt like, um, feltlike we were getting integrated
into the community and it's justan awesome church.
You know, they, they preach fromthe word.
And, um, you know, their sloganis be one, make one.

(25:20):
Then when you want to be, becomea disciple and disciple and then
make, make other disciples.
And, um, it's just been anotherchurch experience for me where I
felt personally challenged.

Jason (25:30):
Good.

Nate (25:31):
And, uh, and we still love it there.
So now we're, now we're in thestartup phase of a second campus
where we're unloading trailersin the morning, two hours before
services and doing the setup andtear down, um, in Vicksburg.
And that's been a greatexperience too.

Jason (25:43):
Yeah.
That's good.
That's a lot of work.
We've done that before years agoand it's tough, but a lot of
commitment.

Nate (25:48):
It is.

Jason (25:49):
Hey, I'm gonna talk a little bit about leadership.
Nate, when you, when you thinkabout leadership, your own
leadership, what are a couple ofkey principles for you that are
like foundational that youalways, always go back to for
yourself and then when you'rementoring other leaders?

Nate (26:04):
Oh man.
Um, I can probably ramble onthis a little bit, but I'm not
sure that, that I could list offlike a top 10 list for you.
I would say.
First and foremost, myleadership principles come from
my faith.
And if I'm honest, you know, Ibelieve that morality comes from
God to begin with, right?
And so my leadership principlescome from doing what's right and
doing what's right in the eyesof the Lord.

(26:25):
You know, he's, he's my God.
So I need to do, uh, what'sright in his sight first and
foremost.
And so, um, They're highlyaligned with my faith.
They, a lot of them come fromthe military as well.
You know, I learned some greatleadership in the military that
applies to life, not just themilitary.
Um, but I would, I guess I wouldsay a couple of things.
One, put people first.
They're your most important andyour most valuable resource,

(26:48):
asset, whatever it is, almost,you know, devalues that anyone,
even to put another word on it,but they matter the most.
And if you take care of yourpeople and engage your people
and have the right people onyour teams, then the results,
they happen.

Jason (27:01):
It just happens.

Nate (27:02):
Secondarily.
And, uh, so put people first,uh, integrity matters, you know,
do what's right.
No matter what I feel like, um,I've never worked for an
organization or been part of anorganization as a leader that
didn't drive that home reallyfirmly and, um, you know, I
haven't always been perfect,but, uh, but I'll tell you what
I've learned over time is thatit takes a long time to build

(27:25):
trust and it takes one baddecision.
One, you know, one easy wrong,instead of the hard, right.
Right.
to break someone's trust.
Um, and then it's a lot of workto build it back up again.
So just doing what's right thefirst time and doing what's
right all the way right thefirst time really matters.
And so I stress that with myteam as well.
Um,

Jason (27:44):
a story.

Nate (27:44):
yeah, please.

Jason (27:45):
I got to share a story about you that I have always
remembered.
And you probably, this wasprobably a random conversation
that you don't remember thattalks about your integrity.
And this, I've thought aboutthis many times.
When we were working together atStryker.
And in fact, I think someoneelse told me you said this.
So I don't even think, I thinkthis was secondhand.
So maybe, maybe, maybe a legendor a rumor, but I believed it.

(28:07):
And I still do.
It was annual review time,right?
Everybody's favorite time.
And you, and the way it workedat Stryker was the manager would
write the review for theiremployee, but that manager's
manager would have to sign offon it.
But first and say, okay, yeah, Iagree with this or not.
And the, uh, what I was, what Iwas told was that you had done

(28:30):
that and you would give it toyour manager and your manager
was pretty critical and wantedyou to make some significant
changes.
And you said, It's my signaturegoing on the paper.
It's staying the way it is.
And that was it.
And I was like, man, that was alot of bravery.
Cause you know, this is yourmanager.
And, but that was Nate, when Ithink of you, and I think about

(28:52):
that probably every year atreview time, that memory pops up
in my head.
So I think about you at leastonce a year, but, but no, I
mean, that was for me that yourintegrity has always been
something I've seen shinethrough.
You were, this is where you are,this is what you believe, and
this is what we're going to do.
And, um, You weren't rude aboutit.
You always had that smile onyour face, you know, and say
this is this is it man Soanyways, I just wanted to share

(29:15):
that, uh that story that Ialways remembered about you

Nate (29:18):
thank you.
Um, I probably, hopefully saidit politely and didn't put my
finger in their face or anythinglike that.

Jason (29:24):
Yeah, yeah

Nate (29:26):
right.
You know, at times you got tostand up for what you believe in
and hopefully do it out of love.

Jason (29:31):
Yeah

Nate (29:31):
Doesn't prevent me or anybody else from giving
transparent feedback.
But I need to give my feedbackon somebody else.

Jason (29:39):
That's right.
You know, I read a book Lastyear it was called radical
candor.
I don't know if you've everheard of it

Nate (29:46):
I have.
Yeah,

Jason (29:47):
It's a really, really good book and it talks about
that whole idea of like you cangive someone difficult feedback
and care about them.
I mean, this is, this is reallythe biblical principle of
speaking the truth in love.

Nate (29:59):
that's right.

Jason (30:00):
you know, I, I care about my team members enough that when
they're failing, I need to letthem know and not in a demeaning
or disrespectful way.
I want them to know where theystand and not surprise them.
you know, by, with firing themor, or, you know, what, uh, some
other, um, some other actionthat they don't know why, why am

(30:22):
I being treated this way?
Why am I being demoted?
And so I think that's superimportant to speak the truth and
love.
And sometimes that truth isdifficulty.
And I've had, you know, I knowyou have had to do terminate
people.
I've had to let people go andyou still do it in a way that's
loving and caring.
And, you know, respectful ofthem.
I've all, every time I've had todo it, I pray about it before I

(30:42):
pray about it after I pray aboutthem cause I know it's a very,
very difficult situation, butno, it has to happen.
So yeah, that level of integrityI think is important and I think
it sets, I think it oftentimeswill set a Christian leader
apart in the workplace becauseof that just refusal to do the
wrong thing or to compromise onwhat's right.

(31:03):
So,

Nate (31:04):
We just had a, uh, CEO transition in my company.
So my, my boss, the guy whohired me, Pat buyer is now our
CEO.
And because this was his firstglobal sales meeting after
becoming the CEO, he was up onstage and kind of doing an
introduction and, you know, sortof probably setting the tone for
his leadership style goingforward.
And what one thing he saidreally resonated with me about

(31:25):
this topic.
And he's, and he said, I canlike you.
And hold you accountable.
I can make you and hold youaccountable.
You know, he's an approachable,likable person who loves to make
people smile and laughed.
Um, and at the same time hewants to see results and he's
not afraid to give you feedback.
And, you know, I aspire to alsobe able to do that.

Jason (31:44):
yeah, that's right.
No, that's important and we cando both.
We can do both.

Nate (31:48):
That's right.

Jason (31:49):
Hey Nate, when you think back early leadership journey,
what was something that youstruggled with and Have you
learned to overcome it?
How did you learn to manage itor do you still struggle with it
a little bit?
What was that?
What that look like?

Nate (32:06):
I'll, I'll start with the end, which is I still struggle
with it.
Um, and certainly haven'tconquered it.
I'll, uh, you, you gave me thisquestion in advance.
So I had a chance to think aboutit a little bit, and I really
think this is probably.
What I would choose to share,I'd say for the majority of my
life, I have struggled with, um,feeling like I just didn't
measure up.

(32:26):
If that makes sense, you know, Ididn't always fit in.
I was, you know, at least ayear, if not a year and a half
younger than most of the kidsthat were in my grade because I
got started a little bit early.
And, um, that affectedathletics.
It affected being accepted by myfriends because they were older
and kind of the phase that theywere moving into, whether it
was, you know, being able to goto the mall or get your driver's

(32:46):
license or, you know, orwhatever.
So I always wanted to fit in andbe accepted.
Um, and because that wasn'talways the case, I wound up
making choices, you know,throughout my life that, uh, and
for a long time, you know, thatkind of reflected that desire.
Um, and it took a lot of growingup and, uh, unfortunately for
me, some tough, you know, toughtimes that were a result of my

(33:09):
own decisions as well to get meto understand that I was way too
worried about that.
And, uh, and then I am goodenough the way that I am, and
then I'm accepted by God.
And, uh, and of course, as youget older and you have your own
family and things, you can startto get a little bit more
comfortable, you know, withyourself as well, but I do
struggle with it even, um, evennow, and as I was thinking about

(33:29):
this, Jason, uh, there were,there, there are really two life
experiences that I feel like,and among many, I could talk
about this forever, I'm suremost good.
Right.
But two, maybe stories thatstuck out in my head is.
You know, being shaving forcesand all this, um, maybe more so
than I want to admit, but, um, Iremember, so my dad was in

(33:50):
finance.
Um, he passed away during myfirst deployment when he was 48.
Uh, so, um, but he was always infinance, uh, worked at Bronson
hospital and then later at AlcarGeneral Hospital and, and, uh,
he would kind of a white collarjob, right?

Jason (34:04):
yeah,

Nate (34:05):
And he still worked really hard to provide for us.
And, uh, and growing up, we hada very tight extended family.
So my favorite people in life,um, were, and still are in many
cases, my, you know, my unclesand my, my first cousins.
And so we got together on everyholiday.
We camped together in thesummer.
We played in Gus Mackerbasketball tournaments.

(34:26):
We, you know, you name it, wewere together.
Um, and I just love that familyand, um, my uncles were
teachers, basketball coaches,police, undercover police
officers, you know, like that,man, I looked up to all of them,
uh, big time and I really wantedto be accepted by them.
And very similarly, right.
I was not as good at basketballas my other cousins that were my

(34:47):
age.
And, you know, and so like, Iwas always kind of the underdog
and all of those areas, but Ispecifically remember a time
when we were camping together.
Um, and a little Christiancampground called Cran Hill
ranch, uh, that we still go toand absolutely love.
And my kids love as well.
And I don't remember much of thecircumstances around it, but I
remember a time when my uncleswere making fun of my dad and

(35:10):
they were, you know, they werekind of calling him a nerd and a
dork and all, you know, and, andeveryone was kind of laughing at
him and he was laughing withthem, but probably.
You know, uncomfortably laughingwith them.
And then a couple of my cousinschimed in too, right?
Their dads were making fun of mydad.
So they kind of joined in and,uh, it hurt me, you know, to see

(35:30):
my dad getting made fun of thatway.
And I feel like something in mechanged a little bit, you know,
in that moment.
And I had already experiencedthat as a kid, right.
Being younger and kind of notbeing accepted.
I was watching it happen to mydad and something clicked in my
brain where I just said, I'm notgoing to let that happen to me.
And unfortunately, the way itplayed out in my life is, you

(35:53):
know, more negative thanpositive over the next decades,
right?
Um, because what it, what itprompted me to do is try to fit
in in ways that I shouldn'thave.
And so that's the first story.
I guess the second one that,that shaped me is, you know,
years later in high school, uh,another dad story, you know, but
my dad, uh, was an early riser,had great, disciplines.

(36:14):
And, um, so he would usually bereading his Bible at the kitchen
table, but he was almost alwaysgone before any of us woke up.
So I could, I knew that he wasthere.
There might be a note on thetable every once in a while, but
he was usually already gone.
And so I walked into the kitchenthat morning and he was, yeah,
just finished.
Uh, his, you know, reading theBible and praying and things
like that.
And, um, that morning he juststopped and he closes the Bible

(36:37):
and he looked at me and, and,uh, it was like a more serious
look than normal, you know?
And he just said, um, Nate,you're going to be a great
leader someday.
And for whatever reason, verysimilar to that moment where,
you know, I saw him being madefun of and something clicked in
my brain and I can think back toit as a memory that has stuck in

(36:57):
my brain.
You know, every day for the restof my life since then.
And I think, um, I could, Icould write a book on how those
two little experiences haveshaped me.
But, um, I've felt this in thisincredible pressure to live up
to his, you know, prophecy thatI was going to be a great leader

(37:18):
at the same time.
I've struggled intensely myentire life with.
Wanting to be liked and acceptedand, um, you know, it's played
out in just being a chameleoninstead of being authentic, uh,
to who I am or, um, spendingtime, uh, with the wrong people
or at the wrong places or, orwhatever.
So that's the, uh, that's theleadership struggle.

(37:40):
I think I, um, I've gotten way,way better with, uh, I catch
myself in the moment all thetime, you know, it's that
leadership versus likership

Jason (37:48):
yeah, yeah.
I mean you used to have thatsign on your office wall.
We need more leadership and lesslikership or something to that
effect.
I remember that.

Nate (37:57):
Yeah, there was a, there was a sign on the Kuwaiti
border, um, as you would,basically they would call it
going, uh, going hot, going redwith your weapons, but as you
would leave Kuwait into Iraq inthe combat zone, there was a
sign that said, uh, we needleadership, not likership.
And, uh, just a reminder tomilitary leaders that, you know,

(38:17):
all of your soldiers lives arein your hands.
Uh, it's not about being likedanymore.
It's about making the decisionsthat are, uh, right in the
moment.
And, uh, that stuck with me fora long time.

Jason (38:28):
Yeah.

Nate (38:29):
So I do have, Jason, I have one other, I would say, uh,
and this is a fast one, but myone other struggle candidly, is
that, uh, Like you, I'm anactivator and I'm a maximizer.
And, you know, so as a leader,the way that plays out, it plays
out at home and at work reallyfor me.
But, um, if I achieve something,I spend less than a millisecond

(38:50):
sort of relishing in thatachievement.
I immediately.
Yeah, I'm like, that's nice.
Now it's over.
Now what?
Right.
And so it's either on tothinking about the next thing
that I need to get done oraccomplish.
Um, or it's thinking about whatI could have done differently or
better to do that thing better,faster, stronger, whatever it
might have been.
And so at work as a leader, theway it plays out, um, is that I

(39:13):
really struggled to recognizeother people's accomplishments
as a leader.
And thankfully, as I've, as I'vegrown in my career, I've been
able to put people around me,And say, Hey guys, I struggle
with this.
So I need you to help me with,uh, identifying recognition
opportunities so that I can doit in the moment, or I can do it
in a town hall or whatever.

(39:34):
And that's worked out well, butunfortunately for my direct
reports, there's not somebodydoing that for them.
And so it's, I've always reallystruggled with.
Stopping to smell the roses fora second and saying, Hey, you
know what, Lisa, you did anamazing job on that marketing
campaign or your team is reallyengaged right now.
And I just want to, I want tothank you for all the work that
you've been putting into this.
And, um, so I work on that a lotand it plays out in a very

(39:56):
similar way at home, you know,you're a leader in the house as
well.
Right.
And so, I may walk into a housethat's, you know, I've been away
from for three days.
And, you know, I told you, mywife works really hard.
She's done chores a couple oftimes in the day and ferried
kids around.
And, uh, the house could bespotless and there could be
like, you know, dinner in theoven and I can smell it.
And for, for whatever reason inthe moment, I will say something

(40:19):
like, Hey, why are all the bootsnot lined up on the front porch,
right?
Instead of.

Jason (40:24):
Yeah.

Nate (40:25):
Wow.
You know, it looks amazing.
You must've worked really hardtoday.
And so that maximizer piece ofme is a, is a struggle too.

Jason (40:33):
That's terrible.
I, yeah, I can share so manystories.
It went, you know, when I becamethe Stryker, it was the first
time I ever had leaders aroundme that really, they pointed
that out how I just, it wasalways, why would I recognize
like, that's your job.
Let's go on to the next one.
The next one.
I mean, it was

Nate (40:49):
Graduations.
Your badge works.

Jason (40:50):
Yeah, exactly.
And it was rich, rich to ball,who was my first manager there
that really taught me aboutfootball.
layups, right?
I want weekly layups.
What does that even mean?
I want you guys to tell methings that I can recognize on
your team.
I still do them to this day.
I did them today in a town hallwith the production team, but I
asked my staff, Hey, what, whatgood, you know, can I recognize

(41:13):
from the last month on the teamthat I'm probably completely
oblivious to?
And so, yeah, it's, it's, it's aongoing battle and

Nate (41:22):
You just want it to come naturally.
I want it so badly, you know?

Jason (41:26):
Yep.
And I have really hurt sometimesmy family and I've gotten better
at it, but same thing where Iwalk in and I'm like, why is
this?
And they're like, did you notsee the other

Nate (41:34):
Yeah.
Hello.
Yeah.

Jason (41:36):
us for?
So yeah, that's been tough.

Nate (41:39):
Can be our own worst enemy at times.

Jason (41:41):
Yes, absolutely.
Hey, um, I want to ask Nate, howdo you, strive and even just
practically speaking, how do youhonor Christ in your work?
What are the things that you tryto do to honor the, you know,
you have a, do you have a job,you're a general manager, you're
responsible for a division andleading people and you know,
making numbers as you do that.
How do you try to honor the Lordthrough that?

Nate (42:03):
Um, you know, probably most simply, uh, is I just try
to love people the way that Iknow Christ loves them.
Um, one of my favorite countrysongs, you know, says always be
humble and kind.
And, you know, there's a millionsayings about it, but it starts
with just the way that you treatpeople.
And I'm not 100 percent certainthat anything really good has

(42:25):
come from a leadership situationwhere somebody felt disrespected
or you criticize someone inpublic instead of in private,
you know?
And so I, I really try to, um,love people the way that I know
that God loves them, uh, and,and that includes, um, When
they're making choices that Idon't necessarily agree with.

(42:46):
I mean, it's, it's not for me tojudge if it's not in the, in the
professional sense, right?
So, um, I try to honor them inthe little decisions that I
make.
Um, and I'm probably batting500, you know, in that I'm, I'm
far from perfect, but, uh, I domy best to just say a little
prayers throughout the day andjust remind myself, Hey, you
know, this is going to be tough.

(43:07):
Let's make sure that I'mhonoring God in this
conversation, or this could bean opportunity to share.
Just, you know, my faith withsomebody that I, that I barely
know if this conversation couldgo well.
So, you know, it's, it'sprobably cliche, but at the end
of the day, I kinda, I want, youknow, if, if I got hit by a bus
today and you were to go, youknow, to my office and start

(43:29):
asking people about me, I, youknow, my dream would be that if
you said, Hey, you know, tell meabout Nate or did Nate love
Jesus, they would say, Oh man,you know, absolutely.
Nate lived his faith in hiswork.
And, um, I don't know that Ialways do that, but I try really
hard.

Jason (43:43):
sure.
Yup.
Yup.
No, same thing.
Yeah.
I, especially being up.
fairly high strung activator.
You know, there's times whenthings aren't going well and

Nate (43:51):
Yeah.

Jason (43:52):
you know, say things you shouldn't and lose your cool.
And you're like, man, that's,that is not Christ honoring,

Nate (43:57):
Yeah.
I did want to get that messageacross.
I just didn't want to get itacross that way.
Right.
Um,

Jason (44:04):
Yep.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's it.
Well, and I think that's part ofit too.
Your team, you know, I've had toapologize to my team, which are
like, I ain't got to apologizefor that.
And I'm like, no, I want toapologize for that.
I shouldn't have said that or,you know, came off like that.
So I think that's, That's partof it.
That's a big part of it.
You know, knowing the peopleknowing that you, um, can ask

(44:24):
for forgiveness and you can'tapologize and that you see that,
you know, you see the fact that,you know, you make those
mistakes.
It's huge.

Nate (44:31):
Yeah.
Well said.

Jason (44:32):
Hey, um, so I think, I believe that, you know, as
leaders, we should always betrying to keep ourselves sharp
and whether that's reading,listening to other leaders, um,
any that you'd like to share.
I just try to get things out.
Names, you know, authors,podcasts.
Like what do you do to keepyourself sharp

Nate (44:48):
Well, I think you said you've been doing this podcast
for three years now, soprobably, probably no new names
at this point in time, but, um,like we were chatting before you
hit record here.
I love podcasts, um, as you do,and I'm on the move a lot.
So in, you know, from atraveling perspective, it's a
lot easier for me to click playon a podcast, knowing that it's
a half hour long or whatever.

Jason (45:09):
Yup.

Nate (45:10):
and just feel like I'm developing as a leader and as a
disciple, you know, that way Ilove, um, Craig Rochelle.
I love Stanley.
I love Patrick Lincioni, uh,Malcolm Gladwell, um, some
classic, you know, like ZigZiglar, you know, or whatever.
Um, I just finished a book.
Um, Oh, John Eldridge, maybe oneof my favorite authors of all

(45:30):
time.
Um, not really necessarilyleader, you know, more just man,
you know, but, uh, in terms ofthe subject matter, but just
finished a book calledpracticing the way by John Mark
Homer.
And, um, ironically, I was like,this book was so awesome.
I sent it to a couple of peoplein our church started a series
on it like two weeks

Jason (45:48):
Oh, nice.
All right.

Nate (45:50):
um, yeah, so I'd say those are the names of, um, just
really strong faith based.
Leaders, uh, that I love booksfrom podcasts from, podcasts
that I like to dive into alittle bit.
Um, and then maybe one non faithbased book that I just, you

(46:10):
know, it's been with me for myentire career and you might've
read it as well, but I think inthe first 30 days that I
started, um, at Stryker.
The vice president of HR, hisname is Jeff, um, handed me a
book called first break all therules by Marcus Buckingham.
And I forget the other guy, butjust a little thin book, but
just some really powerfulleadership principles in there
that kind of changed the waythat I thought about leadership

(46:33):
really early on in my career.
And, um, and I.
Kind of applied a lot of thoselessons, you know, still today,

Jason (46:39):
Yeah.
I think that must've beenmandatory reading at

Nate (46:42):
I think so.

Jason (46:42):
that

Nate (46:43):
We had to, we had to buy 30, 000 books a year or
something.

Jason (46:47):
taking the strengths finder.
That was

Nate (46:50):
That's right.

Jason (46:51):
That was the big one.
And I still recommend that.
I do that with my team.
Uh, the disc or the strengthsfinder is something I always
encourage people to do to learnabout their own personalities
and

Nate (47:00):
Yeah, absolutely.

Jason (47:01):
Hey, if you had someone sit down with you, uh, Nate,
let's say they're, you know,whatever an individual
contributor role and they gettheir first role managing people
and they say, Nate, I know youhave experience doing this.
I'll buy you a coffee.
Let's sit down and give me yourbest advice.
What, what kind of advice wouldyou give someone moving into
their first leadership role?

Nate (47:21):
Yeah.
Um, at least for me, I've alwaysjust kind of prescribed by the,
just do really good at the jobyou're in now.
Uh, you know, mindset.
I just, I feel like there are alot of people and it's like my
mind went here.
Even when you said, Hey, youknow, young leader wants to have
coffee so many times.
It's like they're.
They're asking all thesequestions like they're ready for

(47:42):
the next job and they want to dothe next thing as fast as
possible.
And, um, at least for mepersonally, I never, I know in
my whole career.
I never applied for a job.
Not one.
Um, because I was just focusedon doing the right thing in my
current job.
And then somebody came up atsome point in time and said,
Hey, would you, you know, wouldyou consider this job?

(48:04):
And, um, and so I think that'simportant.
Just do a good job of the thingthat you're asked to do and be a
good leader with the people thatyou're trusted to lead.

Jason (48:12):
Yeah.

Nate (48:13):
Somebody is going to notice and then, um, and then
you're going to get the nextopportunity.
But in terms of like, um,stylistic or, you know,
character type things.
I just say, don't try to beperfect.
Um, you know, it's a waste oftime and, um, and try to be
authentic.
You know, so being true toyourself and sort of, you know,
on the scale of one to 10, whereone is like, I'm, I'm my

(48:36):
authentic person, no matterwhere I'm at, at work and at
home and at school and, youknow, with my friends and with
the board and anybody else and10 being a chameleon and I just
adapt to whatever environmentthat I'm in, you know, do you
have to, Adjust, you know, or,or, uh, read the room a little
bit if it's a formal situation.
Yes.
But I think in general, you wantto be, you want to be on the,

(48:57):
the authentic side of the scale.
And I think that's somethingthat's important, um, more now
than ever, right.
And, um, and leadership today.
So, and, and I guess the lastthing is.
You know, everyone gets betterwhen the leader gets better.
I hear Craig Rochelle and AndyStanley say that a lot on
leaders, uh, podcast, um, don'tbe afraid to work on yourself or

(49:18):
to take, you know, take thathalf hour, that one hour time
block, you know, a week or everyother week to go, I'm going to
work on me because I want tobecome a better leader.
My team's going to become abetter team and we're going to
produce better results.
So you gotta work on you aswell.

Jason (49:32):
Good.
I like it.
I, I can't, uh, even recently Ihad this conversation and I've
had many, many of them in mycareer where I'll have somebody
come and ask about that nextpromotion and that next thing.
and I've had to say too manytimes, you're not performing in
your current role very well.
So let's focus on that.

(49:54):
I just had this conversationwith someone recently and they,
and they took it very well andwe saw some positive response
from them and it was thatmentality.
And actually they said thewords, which I responded maybe
more bluntly than I should have,but they said basically once I
get, the promotion, then I'llstart doing that other stuff
you're looking for.
And I'm like, you will never,never get the promotion if

(50:15):
you're on my team with thatmindset.

Nate (50:17):
going to work pretty well.

Jason (50:18):
yeah, I think, you know, that's, that's super key is go
just perform with excellence.
And you know, it goes back tovery, you know, much of biblical
principle that, you know, who's,who's faithful and little will
be faithful and much.

Nate (50:30):
Yeah.

Jason (50:30):
And you know,

Nate (50:32):
One of the things that I don't do well all the time, but
that I feel, um, when you thinkabout your approach to
leadership and those kinds oftough conversations and stuff, I
reflect back and go, why didthat one go well?
And this other one that I'mthinking of not go well, it's
usually because I ask goodquestions.
You know, and so instead of meand I am ultra transparent to a
fault, right.
Instead of me just offering myopinion right from the start

(50:54):
saying, you know, how do youthink that went?
Or, you know, um, have youlooked at your objectives
lately?
You know, how do you thinkyou're doing to them or
whatever?
And just letting them reflect ontheir own performance, their
own, you know, potential and allthat kind of stuff.
Um, eventually it comes backaround where they want to know,
well, how do you think, youknow, and you have an
opportunity, but I feel likewhen I do that, well.

(51:16):
From a leadership perspective,um, the conversations go better.

Jason (51:20):
yeah.

Nate (51:21):
I still get, I still get my chance to say what I want.
So maybe that's another littlenugget there.

Jason (51:26):
No, that's a good nugget and that's something that I
don't do well because that'sprobably that activator in me.
I just, I just got to say it andget it out there.
And so I think that's somethingI could probably do a better job
is ask.
Because I, I, when I have, I,you know, many times that person
is either at where I'm at,they'll admit, you know, maybe
we're aligned or at leastthey're close to it.

(51:46):
And so allowing them to walkthrough that and probably then
your delivery doesn't feel maybeas much like blunt force trauma
when they, when they.

Nate (51:54):
Hey, um, I'm, I'm, uh, all over the place, right?
I'm hearing squirrels and shinythings and all that kind of
stuff.
But you, the one other thingthat, um, that just crossed my
mind.
So I was, um, I was an aid tocamp in between my two Iraq
deployments for a.
Uh, special forces generalofficer.
And so I traveled all over theplace with him.
I got to, you know, got to wherewe were going before him and

(52:15):
left after him.
And, uh, it was a hugelydevelopmental experience.
Um, but it was the first timethat I sort of recognized this
concept that it gets lonely atthe top, you know?
And so this guy who's a brigadecommander in charge of thousands
of troops, you know, in harm'sway.
Um, man, it's really lonely.
Uh, you know, you don't get tospend a lot of time with too

(52:36):
many people.
And the reality is it's almostlike when HR walks into the
room, people like, Oh, HR ishere, you know, and they all
kind of go away.
Um, when you're a leader, you,you've got to, you gotta have
community.
Right.
And so I'm not applying thatjust as somebody at the general
level, right.
Um, that's, that's any leader,but I feel like you really have
to work hard and make sure thatyou're connecting with people
who can be accountabilitypartners for you and challenge

(52:59):
you in the way you're thinking.
And, um, that's been reallyimportant.
Uh, in my life and probablysomething I didn't do well
early.
So if it was a younger leader, Iwould say, you know, Hey, get
yourself a, a few other leadersthat you, um, you know, like and
get along with and also see aretalented and going somewhere and
talk to each other once a weekand hold each other accountable.

(53:21):
It's almost like those 20 groupsor those max groups, you know,
uh, push each other to bebetter.

Jason (53:26):
And someone you can be pretty vulnerable with and have
the conversations that yousometimes can't with your team.
You know, the person you'releading.

Nate (53:33):
Yeah, totally.

Jason (53:34):
That's good.
Um, any ideas on who else you'dlike to see come on the podcast?
You thought about that?

Nate (53:40):
Um, I can run through a whole bunch of, uh, names, but
guess what?
I told you a story about myuncles and cousins and like my,
my thought immediately goes backto uncles and cousins.
And so, um, I have an unclenamed, uh, Jerry Brower who, uh,
who built, um, what I thinkmaybe.

(54:01):
One of the largest Mastercraftboat dealerships in the country,
if not the world.
Um, and, uh, he's an amazingChristian leader who's really
built a strong, successfulbusiness, but also just found a
way to incorporate faith intoall of it.
You know, um, he's just a reallycool guy to talk to and we do a
hundred times better than me ona podcast like this.

(54:22):
So, I mean, he's one, um, and mycousin, Dan has been an
accountability partner for mefor, I think we're probably
going on three years now, um,works in, in the insurance
industry.
He's a leader.
And, uh, and we talk everyMonday morning, um, and you
know, we focus on being moreencouraging husbands, um, and

(54:42):
sort of like, uh, softening ourhearts at home and that's what
we started with.
But then we talk about work andleading and then, you know, all
the other things going on in ourlives.
He's an amazing guy too.
You'd love to have him, um,yeah, on your podcast and I'm
sure I

Jason (54:55):
I've, I've, I'd be honored if you would maybe make
an email connection or somethingonce you find out if they're
open to it, that'd be great.
I appreciate it.

Nate (55:03):
Yeah, it'd be up to,

Jason (55:04):
Hey, you talked a little bit about this already, mate,
but like when you're, you know,you and I are both a ways away
from retirement.
I hope we got some, Maybe adecade or two ahead of us, but

Nate (55:13):
so.

Jason (55:13):
you're, when you're, when you're done, when, uh, that
time's over or even just, youknow, if you move to a different
role, how do you, how do youhope people will remember you
and like, what's that legacythat you hope to leave behind?

Nate (55:24):
You know, it's weird.
Um, I listened to your mostrecent podcast and I've already
forgotten the gentleman's name,um, the line within podcast.
And he made a comment on that,um, that the reality is that
your legacy is almost like, likeit's a, it's, we believe our
legacy lasts way longer than itreally does.
Right.

Jason (55:44):
right.
Yep.
No, it was good.

Nate (55:45):
Yeah.
And, uh, that really hit me, youknow, so my dad passed away when
he was 48.
My son is 11, never had a chanceto meet my dad.
My dad's legacy is gone when,when my kids who never knew him,
you know what I mean?
Are growing up and gettingolder.
I mean, that generation, hislegacy is already gone.
Now

Jason (56:04):
Yeah, you'll be the last person to, you'll be the last
generation to remember him.

Nate (56:08):
um, And all of a sudden it put into perspective, wait a
minute.
Okay.
So I've read, you know, um, thelegacy journey, you know, and,
and some books that talk about afinancial legacy that maybe you
could, you know, you could sendyour grandchildren to college or
something and help them startoff on a better foot than maybe
you did.
And, uh, and so I think aboutthat every once in a while, but
yesterday's, uh, time here inthat really hit me.

(56:31):
And I think, you know what, atthe end of the day, One of the
things I think about constantlyis this juxtaposition of
achievement and feeling like I'mcalled to be a leader with also
what the Bible says, which is tolive a humble life and please
the Lord.
And basically if you're lovingyour neighbor, living a humble
life, then people who get toknow you and they see your good

(56:52):
works will go, what is it aboutthat person?
Um, that, that makes them happyand fulfilled and not anxious
and things like that.
And that is probably will, uh,what will make them want to
understand why you are the wayyou are and give you an
opportunity to share your faith.
And maybe, you know, they'llcome to know Jesus also as a

(57:12):
result of it.
So when I think about like whenmy time as a leader is done, I'm
like, well, maybe then is whenI'm supposed to live a humble
and quiet life.
I don't know, but I hope thatthe way that I've impacted
people is just that I've, um,Um, loved my neighbor, you know,
um, love to people the way thatJesus loves them.
And hopefully when the, when theopportunity comes throughout my

(57:36):
day to day interactions withthem, I find ways to sprinkle in
my faith.
You know, maybe they get alittle bit interested, but, you
know, I think Billy Graham said,um, you know, he's had the
privilege or had the privilegeright of, of getting so many
people from, you know, if the 99yard line over into the end zone
to become believers.

(57:56):
But the reality is that all ofus.
May never know how we impactedsomebody because you may have
just worked an interest orgotten them from the one yard
line to the two yard line, butthat was God's plan.
And so I hope that I impacted awhole bunch of people, even if
they, you know, didn't get intothe end zone.
I hope they thought, you know,they thought something or became
more interested in learningabout Jesus.
And maybe somebody else tookthem the rest of the way.

Jason (58:18):
Yeah.
I think, uh, I think, I thinkPaul wrote in one of the, one of
his letters that it talks aboutthat some of us plant and some
of us water, but you know, it'sthe, it's the Lord who takes the
harvest.
So if we're being faithful inthat, that's all we can do is be
faithful in what the Holy Spiritdoes with that is that's up to
him.

Nate (58:35):
Yeah.

Jason (58:36):
So, hey brother, before we wrap up, if somebody wants to
connect with you, what's a goodway to do that?

Nate (58:42):
I'm on LinkedIn.
Uh, just under my name, NateMiersma.
Um, and I'm happy to give my,maybe that's the way to do it.
Reach out through LinkedIn andI'm happy to give my, uh, my
personal email.
I would love to connect withother, other Christian leaders.
Um, you know, who want to talkmore about this?

Jason (59:00):
Yeah.
And spell your last name.

Nate (59:03):
It is, uh, M I E R S M A.

Jason (59:06):
Yeah, so they can find you on LinkedIn.
I always can't remember if it'sEI or ie.
So that's good.
That's good.
Hey man, thank you for your timeand uh, you have been an
inspiration to me over the yearsand I mean that.
I mean, I've really respectedyou as a leader and um, I also
want to thank you for yourservice and I don't just say
that as a platitude.
I thank you and Danielle for thesacrifice that you guys have

(59:29):
made for our country.
Really, I mean, you know, Ithink about how I was working
through my career and doing mystuff and you were overseas
fighting for our nation.
So thank you brother.
I appreciate it.

Nate (59:39):
Thank you.
I appreciate it.
Thanks for having me on.
This was a great experience.

Jason (59:44):
Alright, man.
Take care.
And thank each of you for tuningin again this month.
Please take a moment tosubscribe to the show, and if
you have any comments orsuggestions, I love hearing
those as well.
I hope you will be back nextmonth as we meet another leader
striving to honor Christ intheir work.