November 13, 2025 • 30 mins
We wrap up our seven-part mini-series on Creating Alignment with Your People by exploring the third dimension of alignment — Contribution.
In this episode of Building a Clear Authentic Brand, I share the lessons I’ve learned about contribution through two major seasons of my life and why people leave companies even when culture and capacity are aligned.
Episode Highlights
- What contribution really is and why it matters
- The four components of contribution: growth, appreciation, purpose, and impact
- How different seasons reveal different sides of contribution
- Why people sometimes leave even when everything is good
- How God uses work to shape character, calling, and purpose
- What it means when someone “hits a ceiling” and discerning internal versus external shifts
- Why the goal isn’t tenure — it’s meaningful impact
- How to honor a season when it ends and trust God for what comes next
Resources & Links
Learn more at ClearAuthenticBrands.com
If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a leader who needs it, and leave a review to help more people find meaningful, aligned work.
Related Episodes:
- Episode 12: Creating Alignment With Your People
- Episode 13: Why Defining What You Believe Is Key to Team Alignment
- Episode 14: Why Work Style Alignment Impacts Employee Engagement and Performance
- Episode 15: Why Traits Alignment Determines Who Thrives in Your Business
- Episode 16: How Defining What You Won’t Tolerate Protects What You Value
- Episode 17: Why Capacity Alignment Determines Excellence and Growth
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Amy Dardis (00:09):
Welcome back to the Building A Clear Authentic Brand
podcast.
I'm your host, Amy Dardis.
And today we're wrapping up ourseven-part series on creating
alignment with your people.
So far, we've talked about whatalignment looks like with
culture and finding the rightperson who's going to thrive in
our organization.
We've talked about creatingalignment within capacity, which
(00:34):
is finding the right person whowill thrive in their specific
role.
And in this episode, we'retalking about this third
dimension, which iscontribution.
And contribution can only existwhen first you have alignment
with culture and capacity.
But this third element ofcontribution, this episode, is
(00:57):
going to be a little bit morestorytelling and revelation than
it really is like a frameworkor specific teaching.
This is really just lessonsthat I've learned about
contribution along the way.
And really, we're looking atthere's four parts that I have
(01:20):
found within this contributiondimension.
And that is growth anddevelopment.
So as I'm I've been in rolesthat I have truly been a fit for
and truly had the capacity for,I have grown and developed as
an individual, as a person.
I've grown my skill sets and mygifting.
(01:40):
But then I've also gotten tocontribute to growth of an
organization, to growth of mycompany.
Also looking at likeappreciation and recognition,
feeling valued, feeling seen,feeling appreciated.
And not only by the people thatyou get to work with or for,
(02:02):
but just truly feelingappreciative, feeling this
gratitude of getting to havethis opportunity, getting to be
in this season of life, knowingthat I appreciate the
opportunities and the experienceto grow, to contribute, to
develop, to have an impact.
And then this third element ofcontribution being like purpose
(02:27):
and passion and knowing that thework that I'm doing matters and
I'm excited about it, knowingthat I'm doing something that is
meaningful and that is largerthan myself.
I'm not just accomplishingtasks, I'm truly doing something
that matters and it aligns withthe things that I deeply care
(02:51):
about and that I think areincredibly important.
And then this fourth element ofcontribution being value and
impact, which is really theeffect of all of these other
three things, is is the work I'mdoing, is the excitement I
bring, is is my unique abilitiesand in how I'm growing in those
(03:13):
areas, are those things addingvalue to people, to business, to
community, to my life.
So it's not just about what Ibring to the table, but it's
also about the impact that ithas on me.
And I kind of want to talkabout how I came to kind of
(03:36):
discover these four elementsthrough two different seasons,
going from a season of being anentrepreneur to a season of
being an employee, and thengoing from a season of being an
employee back to a season ofbeing an entrepreneur.
And really the question isokay, if we have, if we have
(04:00):
alignment with culture, if wehave alignment with capacity,
and all these good things arehappening within contribution,
why do people leave?
Why do people not stay in thisrole?
And I think it it really doescome down to this contribution
element and how that shifts andevolves within our life.
(04:26):
And that's not a bad thing atall.
If anything, it's part of God'splan, it's part of his purpose.
And so when I had gone intobusiness for myself the first
time, from having all of thesevery, very misaligned jobs,
having jobs that were I wasn'tfulfilled, I was not a good
(04:50):
culture fit if because thereprobably wasn't even a culture,
I was in the wrong role, youknow, all of these things that I
recognized I don't want for mylife.
And then I jumped into being anentrepreneur, and this first
season was one of the hardestseasons of my life and learning
all of these things aboutbusiness and faith and myself
(05:14):
and my marriage.
And it was a it was an intenseseason of growth.
But through that season, aperiod of I think a good five
years, I was growingsignificantly.
I was I was growingemotionally, I was growing
spiritually, I was growingrelationally, I was growing in
(05:35):
my skill sets and in myunderstanding of business.
I was learning a lot.
And I loved the challenge ofthat.
I loved the thrill of knowing Iwas working towards something
and becoming better and seeingchange in my life.
That was incredibly fulfilling.
(05:55):
And then through that season,this appreciation and
recognition, I got to see thatwhen I worked in my gifting and
I was able to help my clientswith their projects, they were,
they were really appreciative ofmy skill sets and of the
conversations that we had.
And my husband, as my businesspartner, was appreciative of my
(06:20):
natural abilities that weredeveloping and me learning how
to step into these new roles.
And I was super appreciative ofthe opportunity to work with
these clients and to try andhelp them tell their story and
to help them communicate clear,clearly, and how to take this
message of their business andput it into a website and be
(06:45):
able to lay it out and make itmake sense and help them
generate leads.
Like I really appreciated justeven being in that season and
and having those opportunities.
And then this purpose andimpact season was knowing that
one, I was I was super excitedabout the work I was doing.
(07:07):
I I was I was I had neverworked harder in my life because
I I was learning all thesethings about my work style and
about my personality traits andthe things that I valued and how
what I believed shaped how weran our business and how we
treated our clients and ourmessaging.
And I was so like passionateabout this idea of being the
(07:34):
best version of myself I couldbe, and figuring out how to
balance work and life and faith,and learning how to be a parent
through it and raise ourchildren through it and manage
money through it.
And through that, this workthat I was doing, this I was
(07:56):
like incredibly like drawn tothis idea of entrepreneurship
and business and what it meantand what it meant for the lives
of people and how communicationand people working in their
skill sets really had an impact.
And then this value and impactthing, like I was like my life
(08:19):
was changing through thisprocess.
Our business was changingthrough this process, my
marriage was changing throughthis process, and we were
delivering impact like to ourclients through the actual work
that we were doing.
And so it was filled with allkinds of obstacles and
challenges and learning curves.
(08:41):
It was it was incrediblydifficult, but at the same time,
there was all this fruit thatwas coming out of it, and and
God was shaping me through it,he was shaping us through it,
and within that season, he waslike honing in on this purpose
(09:08):
and this calling that he had onour life, which at the time, and
and still to this day, I wouldsay that we don't know what the
exact plan is that God has forus.
Like we don't know what hecalls us to.
Oftentimes, you know, God has aplan and a purpose for our
life, and he gives us specificgifting and skill sets, and he
(09:32):
puts us in relationship withpeople who complement that and
bring out the best in us andhelp us strengthen those things
and build up endurance, and hetakes us through seasons that
shape us into who he's asking usto be.
And he has a plan and a purposefor our life.
So even though we go throughhard things, even though we go
(09:53):
through difficult things, God isusing it for our good and he is
using it for his good and forhis glory.
And at the time, he's notshowing us the whole plan.
And sometimes he'll give us avision of what a dream that we
(10:13):
are working towards.
Oftentimes I think we have adream that we're working
towards, and there's phases tothis dream, but he doesn't give
us every step along the way.
He doesn't reveal to us all ofthe challenges and the obstacles
and the adversity and theexperiences that we're going to
go through in order to becomethe person who needs to step
(10:35):
into that dream.
And so I had gone through thisseason of entrepreneurship, was
loving being an entrepreneur.
It had its challenges for sure.
But what I was in this season,so all this good was happening,
all this growth was happening.
But then eventually I startedto hit a ceiling.
(10:58):
And I started to realize thatokay, I've I've grown so much in
these areas.
Like I feel like I'm very goodat what I'm doing.
And it's not quite thechallenge that it once was, and
it's not quite the rewarding,fulfilling experience that it
once was, because now God hasbeen kind of revealing this,
(11:21):
this a deeper direction.
So we're still within the samevein of this purpose and meaning
and work and understandinguniqueness and strengths and
what makes a business who it isand what makes people who they
are.
And feeling like that, I hadkind of figured that out to a
(11:45):
fair extent in my own life.
But now wanting to take thatfurther, now like being more and
more passionate about howbusinesses operated as a whole
and how all of these piecesworked together, and that if
everybody was working in theirown strength, and if a business
(12:10):
had a clear understanding ofwhat they believed and their
work style and their mission,and like creating unity and
creating traction.
And I think this was about thetime that I was introduced to
the book Traction and wasapplying it in our own business,
reading books like Start withWhy and The Advantage, and then
(12:33):
getting really excited aboutthese topics and these concepts.
And through that time period, Iwas kind of getting just like
doing a website wasn't enough.
You know, it was it was good,but it was like I could, it was
almost like I was going throughthe motions then doing it, doing
it well, but knowing it thatwas just surface level now.
(12:55):
And I I wanted it to go deeper,and I didn't know how to make
that happen within my business.
I didn't know how to take thatnext step.
And God, in his faithfulnessand goodness and sovereignty and
being exactly who he is, openeda door, and he opened and
(13:18):
created this opportunity for meto go and pursue this next
calling, this deeper journeyinto uniqueness and story and
gifting and authenticity andorganizational health and
purposeful work.
(13:38):
And I had no idea what I wasreally getting myself into at
the time or the journey thatwould unfold after that.
But then I entered into thisnext season and it it shifted.
And it didn't shift because Ichose it to shift, it shifted
because God was the oneorchestrating the story.
(14:01):
He was the one defining me andcreating me and molding me and
disciplining me and building upmy character to be ready for
this next season.
And so then I go into this nextseason.
And for five years, I was inthis next season of being an
(14:22):
employee and focusing onorganizational health and
putting people in the rightseats and understanding gifting
and getting more and moreexcited and passionate about
this idea of meaningful work,not just healthy organizations,
(14:45):
but people not wasting theirlives at work and people being
in roles that are aligned withtheir unique gifting and a
business understanding what theybelieved and letting that guide
how they operated.
And so for four or five years,I got to experience these
(15:06):
elements again, this growth anddevelopment.
And I was growing justsignificantly as a person, as a
leader, as a mom, as a wife.
I it was a new season, but itwas challenging in all these
different ways.
And we went through COVID andleading a business through COVID
(15:26):
and launching e-commerce anddoing a culture transformation.
There were an understanding howdo we implement change and how
do we implement new processes sothat they stick.
And this was just incrediblyrewarding.
And I just felt like everyquarter I was looking back and
being like, wow, I I don't evenfeel like the same person
(15:48):
anymore because I feel like Ihave learned so much.
And and through that, this likeappreciation and recognition,
like I had a boss who who was,you know, great and and verbally
appreciated me, recognized mepublicly, privately through just
compliments, throughperformance reviews, through
(16:11):
bonuses.
I mean, it was I I felt I feltvery seen.
I felt valued.
And I absolutely valued andappreciated the every
opportunity I had to learn, togrow, to attend conferences, to
build relationships, to build anetwork, to meet people.
It was, it was incrediblyrewarding.
(16:33):
I just I so appreciated justthe time and the opportunities
that that came along.
And then this purpose andpassion, you know, just being so
passionate about the work I wasdoing and knowing that there
was a purpose in it, because itwasn't just about marketing or
e-commerce.
It was about people not wastingtheir lives, it was about
(16:55):
people understanding what theywere good at.
It was about making sure peoplefelt seen and heard and valued
and appreciated, that they werebeing challenged and we were
aligning in culture, we werealigning in capacity, we were
aligning in contribution.
And these things just fueled aflame.
(17:15):
I mean, they it just it fanneda flame, it just made it bigger
and bigger and bigger.
And then experiencing thisfourth element of value and
impact and knowing that I wasnot the same person that I was
when I walked through thosedoors the very first time.
And I don't believe that thebusiness was the same either,
(17:39):
that that we were different,that I was different, that they
were different, and and I'm I'mso thankful for that.
And knowing that there wasthere was growth on both ends,
there was changing on both ends.
But then again, it's like,okay, if all those good things
happened, why aren't you stillthere?
(18:01):
What happened?
Well, again, it goes back toGod having a bigger plan for all
of us and him seeing the bigpicture and him orchestrating
all of these things, and Godusing the experiences in our
life and the people that we getto interact with to shape us and
(18:26):
mold us and refine us andprepare us to what he calls us
into next.
And so for me, I was goingthrough all of these things in
this one organization and itfueled this flame, this desire
(18:47):
to have it affect as manyorganizations and as many people
as possible.
So no longer I was like, okay,there I I feel pretty good that
80 people are in the right role,they enjoy coming to work every
day, good things are happening,and it's it's functioning on
its own.
(19:07):
Like I am, I am no longer likeintricately involved.
It's like the processes arethere, the clarity is there, the
framework is there, and that'sawesome.
And I'm there, there is change,there is transformation.
But now there's so many morebusinesses, and there are so
many more people.
And I want to talk about thisand I want to teach this, and I
(19:32):
want to share about all of thesethings that I have learned
along the way.
And to be honest, when Godstarted to stir this in me
again, I was not looking toleave because I was I was
comfortable, I was doing well, Iwas I was taken care of, I was
(19:54):
succeeding, I hadpredictability, I had
predictable income, I hadpredictable benefits, I had
predictable schedule, Iunderstood my role, and I wanted
to stay where I was.
And God started to just stirthese things up in me, and it
(20:15):
wasn't fast.
It honestly the stirringstarted almost a year and a half
before I left, just smallthings at a time, you know, of
this like this calling, thisconviction of God saying, I'm
(20:35):
calling you into something more.
I'm asking you to once againmake a change, step out of the
boat, leave what you know, andfollow me and be obedient to me,
even though there's noguarantee of success, even
though there is no clear planexcept to trust me, except to
(21:01):
obey, to except to surrenderyour will to mine.
And and that's ultimately whatit comes down to is choosing to
live a life that is completelysurrendered to him.
And when it comes to work andgifting and everything in our
(21:25):
lives, it's given from him, tohim, for him, for his honor, for
his glory.
And my time here on earth is itshould be in worship to him,
you know, and and he I want himto be Lord and Savior over my
life.
(21:45):
And so when he says it's timefor something different, it's
because this whole time he'sbeen orchestrating these things,
he has been shifting andmolding and creating and
building because he knows what'snext and he has greater plans
and a greater purpose.
And it's not just me, it's notjust my story.
(22:08):
It's it's everybody's story.
It's the story of the business,it's the story of the leader,
it's the story of theindividual.
And we get these intersectionsin our life where our paths
cross with organizations, withpeople, with church, with
ministry, with neighbors,whoever it is.
(22:29):
And the question is was ourlife made better by that?
Did we make the most of thattime?
Did we make the most of thatintersection while we had it?
Were we wasting our time?
Were we wasting our gifting?
Or were we growing?
Were we developing?
(22:49):
Were we aligning?
Were we pursuing?
Were we living by what webelieved?
Were we being made new andshaped through that process, or
were we being stagnant?
Were we being comfortable?
Or were we in constant frictionand misalignment with who God
created us to be, with who hedesigned us to be?
(23:12):
And so we come to these seasonsin our life where we hit
ceilings because we've we've westarted at one level, we grew
and we grew and we grew to thisnext level within this certain
situation, within this certainrole.
And now we're experiencingtension, now we're experiencing
(23:34):
friction, now we're experiencinga shifting, a restlessness.
And sometimes we can we canevolve and grow by staying in
that same situation.
Sometimes it's an internalshift, like a new role or a new
focus with within a within ourorganization.
(23:57):
And that's something that wework through together as a team
because we recognize thiscontribution element has been
maxed within the currentsituation.
But sometimes, and sometimesoftentimes, it's time for an
(24:18):
external shift.
It's time for a new opportunitywith new people, new places,
new challenges.
And again, this is somethingthat we don't dictate.
We don't choose this, we don'tdetermine this.
This is in God's timing.
This is in his provision.
(24:39):
This is a part of his plan andhis calling.
And it requires surrender, itrequires obedience, it requires
a willingness to seek him first,to seek what he wants and to
trust him through the processand to trust him through the
story.
And I've had times in my lifewhere I have tried to leave in
(25:07):
my own timing, or tried to stayin my own timing.
And in each way, there was notpeace.
There was there was wrestling.
Like when he called me toleave, and I wrestled with him
to want to stay.
And I did everything in mypower to stay, and there was no
(25:27):
peace with it.
And there were, I mean, his hiswill be done, you know, like it
like and and I think ultimatelythat ends up being the prayer
is your will be done.
Like even when I'm in the way,like even when I resist, please
(25:48):
just help me to not resist.
Please help me to surrender itand to trust you.
But when we're looking at rolesin in business and the time
that we get with employees andthe time that we get with people
and our team, the goal isn'ttenure.
I mean, it's not about thelength.
(26:09):
I mean, obviously, we wantthat.
We we want to be able to get tobe a part of someone's lives
for as long as possible.
And I and I hope that that isthe case.
And I truly believe that whenwe have culture alignment and
when we have capacity alignment,that that is the formula to get
(26:29):
as long of a time ofcontribution as possible.
But when God says it's time forsomething new, we also have to
honor that and we have to beobedient to that.
And it's not about how long wehad that season with someone
(26:50):
for.
The question is, was theircontribution?
Like was their impact, wasthere value?
Were we blessed by that?
Or was our business blessed bythat?
Were the people that we got tobe in relationship, was that was
that blessed?
Did fruit come out of this?
(27:11):
Did we make the most of thetime that we had?
Did we surrender it all and andallow the Holy Spirit to work
in and through us the way thatGod wants us to live our lives,
the way we need to be leadingand growing and and living our
lives regardless of our title,regardless of our occupation,
(27:32):
regardless of our status.
So the ultimate goal is makingsure that we're we're giving
everything that we've got whilewe're there and we're making
sure there's that alignment,we're making sure we're aligned
in culture, we're making surewe're aligned in capacity, and
(27:57):
we're making the most ofcontribution, knowing that it's
okay that it ends.
So the question isn't why dopeople leave?
The question is, are we blessedby the intersection?
Or was the time and the impactwe spent valuable and
meaningful?
Did we make the most of it?
(28:17):
Did did your organizationthrive because of the people you
had on your team?
Did they thrive because theygot to be a part of your team?
And if the answer is yes, thatis all we can ask for, and we
can just be thankful and trustthat God's ways are higher than
our ways and his plans are arebetter than our plans, and it's
(28:42):
it's that's that's the ultimategoal of when we're running our
business.
And then when it's time forthat shift, when it's time for
that person to leave, we'rewe're sad to see them leave, but
we also have the tools, we havethe capacity, we have the
clarity, we have the processesand the framework to make sure
that the next person who joins,the next person who comes into
(29:06):
our team, is going to add value,is going to make an impact, is
going to thrive, and ourbusiness is going to be better
by it, and their life is goingto be better by it.
So by saying goodbye to onething, it opens up room for us
to say hello to something newand uniquely different and
(29:28):
uniquely impactful, and trustthat there's a plan in that as
well, that God intends for thatvalue add, that that that's part
of his purpose.
That is part of his plan.
And that is all we can do inour business.
That trusting God to leadinstead of trusting our own
(29:51):
plans to lead.
So that wraps up our series aswell as this episode.
You can learn more atClearAuthentic Brands.com.
That's all for this episode.
See you next time!
Welcome back to the Building A Clear Authentic Brand
podcast.
I'm your host, Amy Dardis.
And today we're wrapping up ourseven-part series on creating
alignment with your people.
So far, we've talked about whatalignment looks like with
culture and finding the rightperson who's going to thrive in
our organization.
We've talked about creatingalignment within capacity, which
(00:34):
is finding the right person whowill thrive in their specific
role.
And in this episode, we'retalking about this third
dimension, which iscontribution.
And contribution can only existwhen first you have alignment
with culture and capacity.
But this third element ofcontribution, this episode, is
(00:57):
going to be a little bit morestorytelling and revelation than
it really is like a frameworkor specific teaching.
This is really just lessonsthat I've learned about
contribution along the way.
And really, we're looking atthere's four parts that I have
(01:20):
found within this contributiondimension.
And that is growth anddevelopment.
So as I'm I've been in rolesthat I have truly been a fit for
and truly had the capacity for,I have grown and developed as
an individual, as a person.
I've grown my skill sets and mygifting.
(01:40):
But then I've also gotten tocontribute to growth of an
organization, to growth of mycompany.
Also looking at likeappreciation and recognition,
feeling valued, feeling seen,feeling appreciated.
And not only by the people thatyou get to work with or for,
(02:02):
but just truly feelingappreciative, feeling this
gratitude of getting to havethis opportunity, getting to be
in this season of life, knowingthat I appreciate the
opportunities and the experienceto grow, to contribute, to
develop, to have an impact.
And then this third element ofcontribution being like purpose
(02:27):
and passion and knowing that thework that I'm doing matters and
I'm excited about it, knowingthat I'm doing something that is
meaningful and that is largerthan myself.
I'm not just accomplishingtasks, I'm truly doing something
that matters and it aligns withthe things that I deeply care
(02:51):
about and that I think areincredibly important.
And then this fourth element ofcontribution being value and
impact, which is really theeffect of all of these other
three things, is is the work I'mdoing, is the excitement I
bring, is is my unique abilitiesand in how I'm growing in those
(03:13):
areas, are those things addingvalue to people, to business, to
community, to my life.
So it's not just about what Ibring to the table, but it's
also about the impact that ithas on me.
And I kind of want to talkabout how I came to kind of
(03:36):
discover these four elementsthrough two different seasons,
going from a season of being anentrepreneur to a season of
being an employee, and thengoing from a season of being an
employee back to a season ofbeing an entrepreneur.
And really the question isokay, if we have, if we have
(04:00):
alignment with culture, if wehave alignment with capacity,
and all these good things arehappening within contribution,
why do people leave?
Why do people not stay in thisrole?
And I think it it really doescome down to this contribution
element and how that shifts andevolves within our life.
(04:26):
And that's not a bad thing atall.
If anything, it's part of God'splan, it's part of his purpose.
And so when I had gone intobusiness for myself the first
time, from having all of thesevery, very misaligned jobs,
having jobs that were I wasn'tfulfilled, I was not a good
(04:50):
culture fit if because thereprobably wasn't even a culture,
I was in the wrong role, youknow, all of these things that I
recognized I don't want for mylife.
And then I jumped into being anentrepreneur, and this first
season was one of the hardestseasons of my life and learning
all of these things aboutbusiness and faith and myself
(05:14):
and my marriage.
And it was a it was an intenseseason of growth.
But through that season, aperiod of I think a good five
years, I was growingsignificantly.
I was I was growingemotionally, I was growing
spiritually, I was growingrelationally, I was growing in
(05:35):
my skill sets and in myunderstanding of business.
I was learning a lot.
And I loved the challenge ofthat.
I loved the thrill of knowing Iwas working towards something
and becoming better and seeingchange in my life.
That was incredibly fulfilling.
(05:55):
And then through that season,this appreciation and
recognition, I got to see thatwhen I worked in my gifting and
I was able to help my clientswith their projects, they were,
they were really appreciative ofmy skill sets and of the
conversations that we had.
And my husband, as my businesspartner, was appreciative of my
(06:20):
natural abilities that weredeveloping and me learning how
to step into these new roles.
And I was super appreciative ofthe opportunity to work with
these clients and to try andhelp them tell their story and
to help them communicate clear,clearly, and how to take this
message of their business andput it into a website and be
(06:45):
able to lay it out and make itmake sense and help them
generate leads.
Like I really appreciated justeven being in that season and
and having those opportunities.
And then this purpose andimpact season was knowing that
one, I was I was super excitedabout the work I was doing.
(07:07):
I I was I was I had neverworked harder in my life because
I I was learning all thesethings about my work style and
about my personality traits andthe things that I valued and how
what I believed shaped how weran our business and how we
treated our clients and ourmessaging.
And I was so like passionateabout this idea of being the
(07:34):
best version of myself I couldbe, and figuring out how to
balance work and life and faith,and learning how to be a parent
through it and raise ourchildren through it and manage
money through it.
And through that, this workthat I was doing, this I was
(07:56):
like incredibly like drawn tothis idea of entrepreneurship
and business and what it meantand what it meant for the lives
of people and how communicationand people working in their
skill sets really had an impact.
And then this value and impactthing, like I was like my life
(08:19):
was changing through thisprocess.
Our business was changingthrough this process, my
marriage was changing throughthis process, and we were
delivering impact like to ourclients through the actual work
that we were doing.
And so it was filled with allkinds of obstacles and
challenges and learning curves.
(08:41):
It was it was incrediblydifficult, but at the same time,
there was all this fruit thatwas coming out of it, and and
God was shaping me through it,he was shaping us through it,
and within that season, he waslike honing in on this purpose
(09:08):
and this calling that he had onour life, which at the time, and
and still to this day, I wouldsay that we don't know what the
exact plan is that God has forus.
Like we don't know what hecalls us to.
Oftentimes, you know, God has aplan and a purpose for our
life, and he gives us specificgifting and skill sets, and he
(09:32):
puts us in relationship withpeople who complement that and
bring out the best in us andhelp us strengthen those things
and build up endurance, and hetakes us through seasons that
shape us into who he's asking usto be.
And he has a plan and a purposefor our life.
So even though we go throughhard things, even though we go
(09:53):
through difficult things, God isusing it for our good and he is
using it for his good and forhis glory.
And at the time, he's notshowing us the whole plan.
And sometimes he'll give us avision of what a dream that we
(10:13):
are working towards.
Oftentimes I think we have adream that we're working
towards, and there's phases tothis dream, but he doesn't give
us every step along the way.
He doesn't reveal to us all ofthe challenges and the obstacles
and the adversity and theexperiences that we're going to
go through in order to becomethe person who needs to step
(10:35):
into that dream.
And so I had gone through thisseason of entrepreneurship, was
loving being an entrepreneur.
It had its challenges for sure.
But what I was in this season,so all this good was happening,
all this growth was happening.
But then eventually I startedto hit a ceiling.
(10:58):
And I started to realize thatokay, I've I've grown so much in
these areas.
Like I feel like I'm very goodat what I'm doing.
And it's not quite thechallenge that it once was, and
it's not quite the rewarding,fulfilling experience that it
once was, because now God hasbeen kind of revealing this,
(11:21):
this a deeper direction.
So we're still within the samevein of this purpose and meaning
and work and understandinguniqueness and strengths and
what makes a business who it isand what makes people who they
are.
And feeling like that, I hadkind of figured that out to a
(11:45):
fair extent in my own life.
But now wanting to take thatfurther, now like being more and
more passionate about howbusinesses operated as a whole
and how all of these piecesworked together, and that if
everybody was working in theirown strength, and if a business
(12:10):
had a clear understanding ofwhat they believed and their
work style and their mission,and like creating unity and
creating traction.
And I think this was about thetime that I was introduced to
the book Traction and wasapplying it in our own business,
reading books like Start withWhy and The Advantage, and then
(12:33):
getting really excited aboutthese topics and these concepts.
And through that time period, Iwas kind of getting just like
doing a website wasn't enough.
You know, it was it was good,but it was like I could, it was
almost like I was going throughthe motions then doing it, doing
it well, but knowing it thatwas just surface level now.
(12:55):
And I I wanted it to go deeper,and I didn't know how to make
that happen within my business.
I didn't know how to take thatnext step.
And God, in his faithfulnessand goodness and sovereignty and
being exactly who he is, openeda door, and he opened and
(13:18):
created this opportunity for meto go and pursue this next
calling, this deeper journeyinto uniqueness and story and
gifting and authenticity andorganizational health and
purposeful work.
(13:38):
And I had no idea what I wasreally getting myself into at
the time or the journey thatwould unfold after that.
But then I entered into thisnext season and it it shifted.
And it didn't shift because Ichose it to shift, it shifted
because God was the oneorchestrating the story.
(14:01):
He was the one defining me andcreating me and molding me and
disciplining me and building upmy character to be ready for
this next season.
And so then I go into this nextseason.
And for five years, I was inthis next season of being an
(14:22):
employee and focusing onorganizational health and
putting people in the rightseats and understanding gifting
and getting more and moreexcited and passionate about
this idea of meaningful work,not just healthy organizations,
(14:45):
but people not wasting theirlives at work and people being
in roles that are aligned withtheir unique gifting and a
business understanding what theybelieved and letting that guide
how they operated.
And so for four or five years,I got to experience these
(15:06):
elements again, this growth anddevelopment.
And I was growing justsignificantly as a person, as a
leader, as a mom, as a wife.
I it was a new season, but itwas challenging in all these
different ways.
And we went through COVID andleading a business through COVID
(15:26):
and launching e-commerce anddoing a culture transformation.
There were an understanding howdo we implement change and how
do we implement new processes sothat they stick.
And this was just incrediblyrewarding.
And I just felt like everyquarter I was looking back and
being like, wow, I I don't evenfeel like the same person
(15:48):
anymore because I feel like Ihave learned so much.
And and through that, this likeappreciation and recognition,
like I had a boss who who was,you know, great and and verbally
appreciated me, recognized mepublicly, privately through just
compliments, throughperformance reviews, through
(16:11):
bonuses.
I mean, it was I I felt I feltvery seen.
I felt valued.
And I absolutely valued andappreciated the every
opportunity I had to learn, togrow, to attend conferences, to
build relationships, to build anetwork, to meet people.
It was, it was incrediblyrewarding.
(16:33):
I just I so appreciated justthe time and the opportunities
that that came along.
And then this purpose andpassion, you know, just being so
passionate about the work I wasdoing and knowing that there
was a purpose in it, because itwasn't just about marketing or
e-commerce.
It was about people not wastingtheir lives, it was about
(16:55):
people understanding what theywere good at.
It was about making sure peoplefelt seen and heard and valued
and appreciated, that they werebeing challenged and we were
aligning in culture, we werealigning in capacity, we were
aligning in contribution.
And these things just fueled aflame.
(17:15):
I mean, they it just it fanneda flame, it just made it bigger
and bigger and bigger.
And then experiencing thisfourth element of value and
impact and knowing that I wasnot the same person that I was
when I walked through thosedoors the very first time.
And I don't believe that thebusiness was the same either,
(17:39):
that that we were different,that I was different, that they
were different, and and I'm I'mso thankful for that.
And knowing that there wasthere was growth on both ends,
there was changing on both ends.
But then again, it's like,okay, if all those good things
happened, why aren't you stillthere?
(18:01):
What happened?
Well, again, it goes back toGod having a bigger plan for all
of us and him seeing the bigpicture and him orchestrating
all of these things, and Godusing the experiences in our
life and the people that we getto interact with to shape us and
(18:26):
mold us and refine us andprepare us to what he calls us
into next.
And so for me, I was goingthrough all of these things in
this one organization and itfueled this flame, this desire
(18:47):
to have it affect as manyorganizations and as many people
as possible.
So no longer I was like, okay,there I I feel pretty good that
80 people are in the right role,they enjoy coming to work every
day, good things are happening,and it's it's functioning on
its own.
(19:07):
Like I am, I am no longer likeintricately involved.
It's like the processes arethere, the clarity is there, the
framework is there, and that'sawesome.
And I'm there, there is change,there is transformation.
But now there's so many morebusinesses, and there are so
many more people.
And I want to talk about thisand I want to teach this, and I
(19:32):
want to share about all of thesethings that I have learned
along the way.
And to be honest, when Godstarted to stir this in me
again, I was not looking toleave because I was I was
comfortable, I was doing well, Iwas I was taken care of, I was
(19:54):
succeeding, I hadpredictability, I had
predictable income, I hadpredictable benefits, I had
predictable schedule, Iunderstood my role, and I wanted
to stay where I was.
And God started to just stirthese things up in me, and it
(20:15):
wasn't fast.
It honestly the stirringstarted almost a year and a half
before I left, just smallthings at a time, you know, of
this like this calling, thisconviction of God saying, I'm
(20:35):
calling you into something more.
I'm asking you to once againmake a change, step out of the
boat, leave what you know, andfollow me and be obedient to me,
even though there's noguarantee of success, even
though there is no clear planexcept to trust me, except to
(21:01):
obey, to except to surrenderyour will to mine.
And and that's ultimately whatit comes down to is choosing to
live a life that is completelysurrendered to him.
And when it comes to work andgifting and everything in our
(21:25):
lives, it's given from him, tohim, for him, for his honor, for
his glory.
And my time here on earth is itshould be in worship to him,
you know, and and he I want himto be Lord and Savior over my
life.
(21:45):
And so when he says it's timefor something different, it's
because this whole time he'sbeen orchestrating these things,
he has been shifting andmolding and creating and
building because he knows what'snext and he has greater plans
and a greater purpose.
And it's not just me, it's notjust my story.
(22:08):
It's it's everybody's story.
It's the story of the business,it's the story of the leader,
it's the story of theindividual.
And we get these intersectionsin our life where our paths
cross with organizations, withpeople, with church, with
ministry, with neighbors,whoever it is.
(22:29):
And the question is was ourlife made better by that?
Did we make the most of thattime?
Did we make the most of thatintersection while we had it?
Were we wasting our time?
Were we wasting our gifting?
Or were we growing?
Were we developing?
(22:49):
Were we aligning?
Were we pursuing?
Were we living by what webelieved?
Were we being made new andshaped through that process, or
were we being stagnant?
Were we being comfortable?
Or were we in constant frictionand misalignment with who God
created us to be, with who hedesigned us to be?
(23:12):
And so we come to these seasonsin our life where we hit
ceilings because we've we've westarted at one level, we grew
and we grew and we grew to thisnext level within this certain
situation, within this certainrole.
And now we're experiencingtension, now we're experiencing
(23:34):
friction, now we're experiencinga shifting, a restlessness.
And sometimes we can we canevolve and grow by staying in
that same situation.
Sometimes it's an internalshift, like a new role or a new
focus with within a within ourorganization.
(23:57):
And that's something that wework through together as a team
because we recognize thiscontribution element has been
maxed within the currentsituation.
But sometimes, and sometimesoftentimes, it's time for an
(24:18):
external shift.
It's time for a new opportunitywith new people, new places,
new challenges.
And again, this is somethingthat we don't dictate.
We don't choose this, we don'tdetermine this.
This is in God's timing.
This is in his provision.
(24:39):
This is a part of his plan andhis calling.
And it requires surrender, itrequires obedience, it requires
a willingness to seek him first,to seek what he wants and to
trust him through the processand to trust him through the
story.
And I've had times in my lifewhere I have tried to leave in
(25:07):
my own timing, or tried to stayin my own timing.
And in each way, there was notpeace.
There was there was wrestling.
Like when he called me toleave, and I wrestled with him
to want to stay.
And I did everything in mypower to stay, and there was no
(25:27):
peace with it.
And there were, I mean, his hiswill be done, you know, like it
like and and I think ultimatelythat ends up being the prayer
is your will be done.
Like even when I'm in the way,like even when I resist, please
(25:48):
just help me to not resist.
Please help me to surrender itand to trust you.
But when we're looking at rolesin in business and the time
that we get with employees andthe time that we get with people
and our team, the goal isn'ttenure.
I mean, it's not about thelength.
(26:09):
I mean, obviously, we wantthat.
We we want to be able to get tobe a part of someone's lives
for as long as possible.
And I and I hope that that isthe case.
And I truly believe that whenwe have culture alignment and
when we have capacity alignment,that that is the formula to get
(26:29):
as long of a time ofcontribution as possible.
But when God says it's time forsomething new, we also have to
honor that and we have to beobedient to that.
And it's not about how long wehad that season with someone
(26:50):
for.
The question is, was theircontribution?
Like was their impact, wasthere value?
Were we blessed by that?
Or was our business blessed bythat?
Were the people that we got tobe in relationship, was that was
that blessed?
Did fruit come out of this?
(27:11):
Did we make the most of thetime that we had?
Did we surrender it all and andallow the Holy Spirit to work
in and through us the way thatGod wants us to live our lives,
the way we need to be leadingand growing and and living our
lives regardless of our title,regardless of our occupation,
(27:32):
regardless of our status.
So the ultimate goal is makingsure that we're we're giving
everything that we've got whilewe're there and we're making
sure there's that alignment,we're making sure we're aligned
in culture, we're making surewe're aligned in capacity, and
(27:57):
we're making the most ofcontribution, knowing that it's
okay that it ends.
So the question isn't why dopeople leave?
The question is, are we blessedby the intersection?
Or was the time and the impactwe spent valuable and
meaningful?
Did we make the most of it?
(28:17):
Did did your organizationthrive because of the people you
had on your team?
Did they thrive because theygot to be a part of your team?
And if the answer is yes, thatis all we can ask for, and we
can just be thankful and trustthat God's ways are higher than
our ways and his plans are arebetter than our plans, and it's
(28:42):
it's that's that's the ultimategoal of when we're running our
business.
And then when it's time forthat shift, when it's time for
that person to leave, we'rewe're sad to see them leave, but
we also have the tools, we havethe capacity, we have the
clarity, we have the processesand the framework to make sure
that the next person who joins,the next person who comes into
(29:06):
our team, is going to add value,is going to make an impact, is
going to thrive, and ourbusiness is going to be better
by it, and their life is goingto be better by it.
So by saying goodbye to onething, it opens up room for us
to say hello to something newand uniquely different and
(29:28):
uniquely impactful, and trustthat there's a plan in that as
well, that God intends for thatvalue add, that that that's part
of his purpose.
That is part of his plan.
And that is all we can do inour business.
That trusting God to leadinstead of trusting our own
(29:51):
plans to lead.
So that wraps up our series aswell as this episode.
You can learn more atClearAuthentic Brands.com.
That's all for this episode.
See you next time!
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