October 29, 2025 • 44 mins
Leadership isn’t about control - it’s about character. In this episode, Allen & Stacy Jo Thorne get real about what it means to steward teams with integrity and lead from a heart of humility. Whether you’re leading a family, a business, a ministry, or a boardroom, these principles will help you reflect Jesus in every decision.
What You’ll Hear:
- How pride erodes unity—and humility restores it
- “Slow down to go faster”: the counterintuitive key to team success
- Why great leaders celebrate people as the mission, not just the result
- The truth about integrity behind closed doors
- Practical ways to handle conflict with humility and grace
- Why Jesus washing Judas’ feet is the ultimate leadership model
Scripture References:
Philippians 2:1–4 • John 13:12–15 • James 4:10 • Hebrews 12:2
This Week’s Challenge:
Ask God to show you one way to serve your team, family, or coworkers—with no strings attached. Maybe it’s an apology, a note of encouragement, or a simple act of kindness.
Remember: small acts of service multiply toward unity.
Takeaways:
1️⃣ Leadership is not about position—it’s about service.
2️⃣ Teams thrive where humility and honor are practiced daily.
3️⃣ When leaders model unity, teams unite around the mission.
If this episode inspired you:
⭐️ Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
📲 Follow Faithfully Invested for more real talk on faith, marriage, and leadership.
📤 Share this episode with someone who leads with heart (or wants to).
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Are you ready to build a life,business and legacy that truly
lasts?
Welcome to Faithfully Investedwith Allen and Stacy Jo Thorne,
where Faith meets real talk.
Biblical wisdom meets everydaylife and leadership meets
laughter.
Together we will uncover God'sblueprint for leadership,
marriage, and mission, helpingfaith-driven leaders invest in
(00:21):
what matters most.
Each episode, we explorebiblical wisdom, have real
conversations, and of course,have some fun along the way
because let's be real.
Walking in faith is anadventure.
It sure is.
So pull up a seat, grab yourcoffee or your sweet tea, and
join us as we steward ourcallings with intention, because
(00:42):
when we invest in his kingdom,he brings the increase.
Hey, welcome back to FaithfullyInvested.
I am Allen.
And I'm Stacy Jo.
And we are your hosts NavigatingFaithful Leadership and
(01:02):
stewarding our God-givenmissions at home, at work, or
even in traffic.
When everyone cut you off andyou're trying really hard not to
lose your salvation, ah,traffic, lose your salvation.
Wait a minute here, let's pausejust for a minute here.
On the whole Lose your Salvationtime.
(01:23):
All right.
All right.
Uh, even at the South FloridaGolden Glades interchange at
6:30 on a Friday, it's notpossible to lose your salvation.
And I, I'm just gonna, I've beenlistening to Pastor Joby Martin
for, uh, mm-hmm.
At Church of 1122 Jacksonville,Florida.
Uh, I've been listening to himfor probably a little over a
year now, and I, I love whatJoby says about Lose your
(01:46):
salvation.
That's, and he writes about thisin, uh, his, um.
His, uh, grace Train, uh, runover by the Grace Train book.
Mm-hmm.
And he talk, I, I believe hetalks about it again in his new
book, uh, stand Firm and ActLike Men.
But it's, uh, he, he says, C,can you lose your salvation?
(02:06):
He is saying, you're asking thewrong question.
The question is that whetherhas, can you be lost by Jesus
and.
The answer's no.
Jesus, Jesus doesn't lose any ofus.
Most of us are, are, we knowthe, the, the, I hate to re say
(02:26):
it as a story, but he, he leavesthe 99 to go right and get the
one.
But what it, what it says herein John 18:9 is, uh, to fulfill
the word which he spoke, uh, ofthose whom you gave me.
I lost not one.
Yeah, he lost not one.
So, so, uh.
(02:49):
So you can't lose yoursalvation.
Definitely not losing oursalvation, uh, regardless of
what the religious authoritiesmight say.
Right.
Uh, there may concerningtraffic, bringing it back to
traffic.
There might be some need forrepentance.
But our Jesus, he sticks withus.
Yeah.
He's always with us.
Never leaves us, never forsakesus.
(03:10):
He's always right there.
Once we decide for him, uh,we're in it with him to the end
and.
Beyond.
Uh, so, so we got that going forus.
Well, I was being a littlesarcastic about that.
Obviously you're not going tolose your salvation, but Right.
But, you know, letting him,letting the Lord be the pilots
(03:30):
the best way to find freewayunity.
Would you not agree?
Freeway unit?
I like it.
Freeway unity.
I think South Florida needs alittle more freeway Unity.
I'm just gonna, I'm gonna get abig bumper sticker that says,
y'all need Jesus.
There you go.
Anyway, right.
But today we're talking aboutwhat it looks like to lead teams
(03:51):
with humility and integrity in away that unites people under
Christ's example.
Right?
So, I'm ready to light it up.
Are you ready to light it up?
Let's light it up.
And there's no better way tolight it up than, than
scripture.
And I think very true.
Our, our, uh.
Our reference scripture todayis, is from none other than
(04:13):
Paul's letter to the Philippians2:1-4.
Um, Paul says, do nothing out ofselfish ambition or vain
conceit.
Rather, in humility, valueothers over yourselves.
Not look into your own interest,but each of you to the interest
of others.
Now that sounds great.
(04:34):
In practice, but man cannot bechallenging when we're walking
through it.
And, uh, but based on myexperience, uh, somewhat
extensive experience, you know,overcoming, overcoming pride.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, and, and we'll, we'll get tothat.
And that's really what we'retalking about today.
Uh,'cause so consistent humilityis a sign of maturity.
(05:02):
Yeah, I'd agree.
Yeah.
Consistent humor, because I, Iknow who I was when I first came
to Christ, and, and as thespirit sanctifies us over time
for the rest of our lives.
Humility, uh, it comes and thenpride and it, I mean, if I, I, I
real, I'm really trying to stopsaying the phrase, if I'm
(05:23):
honest.
Right.
You know, because, because I amhonest, but Right, but if so, if
you, if you're constantlysaying, if, if I'm honest and
there it leaves, the, thenpeople are like the thought,
aren't you always?
When, when, aren't you honest?
But, uh, but I wasn't entirelyhum.
I wasn't, I wasn't walking inhumility early on at all.
(05:46):
And, and hey, if I'm honest, Ipride is a, is a challenge, uh,
these days as well, but it's,how about, how about we say if
I'm being transparent?
If I'm being transparent, maybethat's a better way.
That's, that's good.
That's a better way to put that.
Yeah.
That and.
And coming from a recoveryperspective, that's good.
Transparency is good, and uh,vulnerability is good.
(06:08):
But, and so what else is good ishumility, right?
Humility's definitely good.
Uh, a sign of maturity.
Um, but early on when we're,when we're, when walking, uh,
into our.
Into the, our faith Walk withChrist.
It, it's a, one of the, one, theverses I clung to some of the
(06:30):
scripture I clung to was, wasJames' Word saying that the, the
humble, uh, that we must humbleourselves before the Lord so
that he lifts us up.
Uh, humility's a big deal.
Yeah.
And we're talking aboutleadership today and in
leadership, humility's a bigdeal.
Are you leaders out there?
And, and if you're, if you'remom, your dad, uh.
(06:52):
You're a leader, man, you're,you're, that's, that's your most
important, uh, team right there,or your kids and your family.
So humility is a big deal, and Idon't wanna, I, I think I may
have gotten in the weeds alittle, but I I think it's good
still a little bit, just alittle, I don't want to get too
much deeper into the weeds, butthe antithesis for the opposite
(07:15):
of pro of, uh, humility is prideand, and pride.
If you look into it biblically,it doesn't get a great
accommodation in God's word,right?
Uh, something like, uh, pridecomes before the fall.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think, uh, I think Solomonsays pride comes before the
fall.
James has really accentuatedthat, uh, and it's all through,
(07:38):
uh, the scripture.
Uh, pride doesn't get, uh, agood word right.
In, in the good word.
So I'm gonna, I'm gonna, we'rewe always, as leaders, would do
our best to, to pass on prideand, and keep, uh, uh, humble
ourselves before the Lord sothat he will lift us up.
Yeah, that's so right.
But.
(07:58):
You know, one of the challengesis today, so often in
leadership, um, today's cultureis primarily focused on pride,
power, position, and, and perks.
You know, perks, right?
But.
If leadership is about thecontrol, then teams break down
(08:20):
and people stop trustingleadership because they feel
used instead of valued.
Yeah.
And people need to feel valued.
They need to feel seen.
They need to feel heard.
Yeah.
And when that happens, divisionwill creep in and it squashes
any unity that may have been.
Yeah.
If they're not seen, may, ifthey're not heard.
If they're not Right.
If they're not given a voice.
(08:41):
Yeah.
That's one.
Uh.
Uh, one of our, our As excellentleaders, our our amazing
leaders.
What, this is what Mark Turnersays, man, he's one of the, the
greatest construction leadersI've ever, uh, witnessed in my
life, if not the best.
And he's like, you gotta give'ema voice, man.
Yeah.
You gotta, everyone's got avoice and you gotta listen.
(09:03):
It's up to us as leaders tolisten to our team.
Right.
So, and that's hard sometimes.
It is challenging sometimes,especially when they don't know
how to, when, when they'rechallenged with, with, uh
mm-hmm.
Giving us their voice withextending their voice, uh, in a
professional manner.
So, but, uh, good point.
Anyway, I wanna climb out ofthe, I wanna get back on the,
(09:25):
uh, what's that?
Uh, anyway, gonna get back onthe highway, back on out the
ditch Humility train.
Yeah.
Back on the humility train andget back in.
Yeah.
So we've most likely seen it,uh, yeah.
Concern, uh, concerning poorleadership.
Uh, the boss who takes all thecredit.
Uh, for the team's work.
The church leader who doesn'tlisten, come on a church leader
(09:48):
who doesn't listen.
Right.
Huh.
That seems, it seems, uh,counterproductive.
Yeah, it does.
But, uh, and we relate to this'cause.
Yeah.
You know, believe it or not,while, while leading or, or
working on projects together,nuisance pride and frustration
creeps in on occasion.
Mm-hmm.
Um.
(10:09):
And you gotta, we gottarecognize that you gotta take
and when we gotta recognize whenit's creeping and, and again, it
comes with, uh, relationally,uh, and, and our first relation
is with, with God.
Right.
You know, we got our, our, ourrelationally when, when we, and
as we're in right relations withGod, we're gonna be in right
relations with each other, butrelationally as we mature, we
(10:33):
gotta be able to see that.
Yeah.
We gotta be able to see whenthat, when that pride, and when
that frustration's creeping in.
And uh, and they, they go handin hand.
And we gotta know best to justtake a few steps back and see
what the bigger picture istogether, you know, you know, I
can see a big picture over hereand you can see a big picture
over there, but we gotta seewhat the big picture is
(10:55):
together.
That's right.
And understand that.
We're not in control.
And hey, that's right.
You heard it.
What do you, and you, you, theyjust swerved in traffic.
They're like, what do you meanwe're not in control?
Uh, as from a Christianperspective, from a biblical
perspective, we're not incontrol.
That's right.
(11:15):
Uh, we gotta release thatcontrol.
We gotta relinquish that throneto the Lord, to the one, to the
one who, who, uh.
Who's fit to guide us, man.
Yeah.
And, uh, anyway, we'll, we'llcome back to that a little
later.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's a strong point to recallwhen the going gets a little
fast and blurry.
Right.
I mean, when we're moving fromone thing to the next, maybe we
(11:39):
tend to forget who got us heremm-hmm.
In the first place.
And Allen, you say something,uh, to the effect of slowing
down to go faster in life oreven just.
Simple, A simple task.
Slipping seems to be slippingpast our team.
Talk about that for a minute.
Slowing down to go faster.
(12:00):
Yeah.
Slowing down to go faster.
I I love that.
Um, that phrase that it, uh,the, I don't know if we could
call it a mantra, but it, it's,uh.
That's, that's key in leadershipslowing down to go faster.
But it, it doesn't sound like itmakes sense, but, but check this
out.
Slowing down to go faster meansthat our, our team results turn
out better when we're, whenwe're taking the time to engage
(12:24):
our team, to ensure that we'reall on the same page and we're
all going in the same direction.
If we're rushing through it, ifwe're push, push, push.
What's getting missed?
Mm-hmm.
You know, we gotta slow down sothat we can go faster, because
if we're missing something, wegotta come back and, and redo
it.
Right?
You know, if we're, uh, if youknow, so, so we gotta slow down
(12:45):
to go faster, make sureeveryone's on the same page.
Pace makes waste, taste, makeswaste.
And man, man, that was one of mymom's favorite ones.
Haste makes way a lane hastemakes ways.
Thanks for that.
Uh, so, but.
But when that happens, when weslow down to go faster, we, we
get the answers that we need thefirst time, the team, the whole
(13:08):
team's informed, and we, andwe're on the same page.
We're moving forward together.
And, and when we're, when we'regetting it right the first time,
we spend less time makingmistakes that could have been
avoided.
Uh uh, and when we like.
That we might have made.
Mm-hmm.
We can avoid the mistakes thatwe would've made, uh, from
(13:28):
prideful decision making, uh,instead of listening to our
team's input.
That's good.
Uh, we gotta engage our teams.
And when we engage our teams,and I've learned this the hard
way, I think the greatestlessons.
That I've learned in life, and Idon't think I know the greatest
lessons that I've learned inlife.
And I, you could probably speakto this as well, uh, as has been
(13:49):
the greatest less, uh, thegreatest lessons, greatest life
lessons, um, from the mistakesthat I've made.
Mm-hmm.
And I've learned to, I,'cause Iused to be that lousy leader
around, I used to be the, youknow, my way or the highway.
Uh, but when we engage our team,our team will engage us.
Yeah.
That's a big deal.
(14:09):
Write that one down.
Unless you're driving.
When we engage our team, ourteam will engage us.
We gotta listen to our team.
Mm-hmm.
And the, uh, when we're willingto listen.
The Holy Spirit will put us incheck and he lets us know, uh,
that authentic leadership meanscasting off pride to serve the
(14:29):
bigger mission with the team.
Remember, we gotta, it's notabout, uh, leading the team
means not always governing overthe team.
Not lording over the team, butworking with the team.
The team, yeah.
Right.
One of the biggest strugglesleaders face.
And one of the biggest strugglesthat I have faced too, as a
(14:51):
leader is celebrating peopleconsistency.
Yeah.
Consistently.
Um, you know, I can get sofocused on the end goal that I
have forgotten that peoplearen't just tools to get us
there.
Yeah.
And the fact of the matter ispeople are the mission.
Yeah.
And I have to remind myself ofthis consistently.
(15:13):
Jesus never overlooked theindividual in the crowd.
He saw them.
He valued them.
He called them by name.
By name.
Yeah.
Because, and I love what yousaid, their people are the
mission.
They are.
And we, and we can't treat'emlike tools because everybody's,
everybody's, everybody matters.
(15:33):
Mm-hmm.
Everybody matters.
And that's, uh, and Jesus knewthat.
And as we're, as we're calledto, you know, emulate his
example, uh, you know, we gotta,we gotta do that as well.
Yeah.
And, and.
Treating people like tools is,is not a, a way to do that.
Treating people like pawns, youknow?
(15:54):
Yeah.
We gotta treat people likepeople because everybody
deserves that.
Uh, they, they have that aswe're all created under, uh, in
his image.
Mm-hmm.
That, that, that deservesdignity, that deserves respect.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Uh, rega, I mean, even, eventhose crazies out there, you
know, uh.
(16:17):
Even those people, they werecreate, even if they don't
believe that they were createdin God's image.
Right.
They were created in God'simage.
Absolutely.
And, and they deserve, even asdisrespectful as they can be,
they deserve, uh, a certainamount of dignity and respect.
Yeah.
Because they just for the, justsimple fact that they were, they
(16:38):
are created, uh, they're,they're image bearers Yeah.
Of the one True and living God.
Well, going back to the aboutthe tools thing, I think, you
know, for me early on, being afemale woman and being a female
in leadership, female woman,female woman, female woman in
leadership, you know, I think alot of times that's good for me.
(17:02):
I think a lot of times we aswomen feel that we have to prove
ourselves.
Yeah.
We have to prove ourselves.
Yeah.
And maybe it's the same for mentoo, like in when you're fir,
when you first step intoleadership that you have to
prove yourself and you have tobe the boss.
Yeah.
And you have to tell people whatto do.
Right.
And you get focused.
You do get focused, like I said,on the mission.
(17:22):
But when you bring Christ intothe center of that, and when you
start recognizing that Jesus didnot do that.
Yeah.
Then everything shifts.
So, you know, I, I spent yearsreminding myself that, you know,
this is not, I don't have toprove myself in leadership.
(17:45):
Right?
I've been put here for a purposeand I haven't gotten myself
here.
He put me there, he put youthere, and it's, it's important.
And you recognize, and I've, andI've seen you do this, uh, uh,
you recognize that he's theleader, right?
And, and that.
That's something that we have torecognize as, as, as Christ
(18:05):
following leaders.
That, that he's the leader.
Yeah.
Uh, the term servant leader getsoverused sometimes.
It's, there's a, a, a good, uh,mm-hmm.
We'll, we'll get to that.
We're, we're gonna talk aboutservant leadership here Yeah.
A little later, but, uh, but Iwanna go back to, to, you know,
that he saw them.
Yeah.
He saw them, he valued them, andhe called.
(18:28):
People by name.
Yeah.
Yeah.
He, he did.
And because, you know, that'simportant and, and that's, and
that's, it's a big deal to knowpeople's names.
Mm-hmm.
You know, and that's somethingI, you gotta know your team's
names.
Yeah.
If you don't know your team'snames, that really says you
don't care.
Yeah, that's, yeah, that'ssomething I've worked on over
(18:50):
the years.
And it's something that, uh, asI was walking with, uh, my
direct report around, he's, hegoes one as we're walking away
from the jobs, Hey, he goes, youknow everyone's name.
Mm.
I'm like, it's, you gotta knowtheir names, man.
You know, because you know, yougotta know their names.
If you're gonna coach'em in themoment, you gotta know.
It helps that their names ontheir helmet sometimes.
(19:13):
Well,'cause you have a big team.
There's a large team, there's,there's about, there's, you have
a large team going from site tosite and there's a large influx
of Yeah.
Of new hires now.
Right.
And, uh, anyway, it's importantto know their names.
It's, and it's the, uh, and I,like I said, I've worked on that
over the year and it matters.
Yeah.
When you call someone by nameand, uh.
(19:34):
It matters to them.
Yeah.
Because, you know, I, I wantsomeone to treat, I want to, I
wanna treat people how I want tobe treated.
Mm-hmm.
I mean, I think that's probablythe golden rule.
Yeah.
You know, and, uh, but it's theknowing their name is, is the
authentic indicator of whether aleader cares about their team or
(19:55):
not.
Mm-hmm.
If you don't know their name, ifthey're just a number, if
they're just a position to you.
Not too cool.
No, I'm thinking if I don't knowmy team's name, because I have a
small, small team name.
You better know your team'sname.
If I don't know their names, I'min big trouble.
And two of'em are yourdaughters.
Exactly.
I'm in big trouble.
(20:16):
Oh no.
If that's the case.
So another challenging, anotherchallenge, uh, with, with team,
uh, or.
Or with anything is handlingconflict.
Mm-hmm.
Woo.
Conflict is inevitable.
Yeah.
Uh, and if, if in leadership,you better know how to deal with
it.
(20:36):
Uh, we're all humans and we wereall created with different
brains that form differentopinions.
Uh, we all have differentpersonalities and that's great.
That's how God created us.
Right.
But.
Some people let the world shiftthem over here and they're a
little different than the restof us.
And, and then they think we're alittle different than them.
(20:58):
But, uh.
Uh, and sometimes we just, we'rejust dealing with strong
preferences, right?
And it doesn't always go overwell with, with, uh, other
teammates.
Mm-hmm.
So we gotta, and that comes, uh,I'll take that back to maturity.
Mature leadership has got toknow they gotta be able to
(21:19):
navigate through that conflictpeacefully.
So you mean like when two strongpersonalities both think they're
right?
I mean, I may or may not have alittle experience with that.
I don't know what you're talkingabout anyway, but, but honestly,
I mean, we never clash.
(21:41):
Never, never, never.
But conflict has a way ofrevealing what's really inside
of us.
Some of us try to avoid italtogether.
Yeah, I happen to be one ofthose people that, you know, I
have spent years trying to avoidconflict, just smiling and
nodding and hoping that it'lldisappear if I ignore it long
enough.
(22:01):
Oh, no.
And.
And then there's others of uswho run straight towards it.
They're ready to prove a pointinstead of pursue peace.
And I've done that too.
I've been on both sides of thatcoin.
Mm-hmm.
But real leadership doesn't doeither one of those healthy
leaders learn to redeemconflict, not run from it or
dominate it.
(22:22):
And when we slow down longenough to listen, and I mean,
really, listen, you gottalisten.
To the heart behind someone'swords.
We often find that we're noteven on opposite sides, right?
We're just coming from differentperspectives, and that's where
grace centers the room, becauseif we can handle those moments
(22:42):
with humility, patience, andmaybe even a little bit of
humor, sometimes that helps alot.
Uh, that's where unity getsforged, and that's where trust
will deepen.
And that's where teams actuallystart to grow stronger instead
of falling apart.
Yeah, our challenge, youchallenge, I, I would agree.
I would agree.
(23:02):
And I like, uh, sometimes I tryto deal with, with conflict, uh,
through humor.
And it's, it's a little too,sometimes it's a little too
early for that.
Too soon, too soon.
But, uh, anyway, I digress.
But, uh, so our, our challengeis leaders.
I mean, we have many challenges,many challenges, many challenges
(23:24):
as leaders, but, uh.
Is whether we're gonna, how arewe gonna handle conflict?
Are we gonna, are we gonna bethat prideful, you know, guy,
you're not gonna get too farwith handling conflict with with
stubborn pride.
Uh, and there's different kindsof pride.
Uh, there's, uh, but when itleads toward arrogance and
narcissism and, you know, dothings my way or hit the
(23:47):
highway, uh, it's not gonna workout too well.
So, so we have decisions tomake.
We all have decisions to make.
How so?
But concerning leadership, arewe gonna lead, uh, with
humility?
Are we gonna lead with pride?
Do do we approach conflict witha my way or the highway
mentality, or do we decide toreflect?
(24:08):
Jesus Christ to, to lead usthrough that conflict for, for
the Holy Spirit of truth whocomes to bring us all the truth
and all the truth that he getsthat he's giving us comes from
Jesus who got it from theFather.
So there's unity from, from theFather to the, the son, to the
(24:29):
spirit, to us.
Mm-hmm.
We're, we're getting, we'regetting direct.
We're when we're willing tolisten.
On how to lead from a, from a,uh, a spot of humility, we're,
we're gonna be much better off.
Uh, so are we deciding to, tolead, um, with Christ, uh, the
(24:49):
way he would lead, uh, and seekreconciliation to seek
restoration?
Mm-hmm.
Or are we going to go the, thehard road?
Uh, and, uh, with the.
It's, it doesn't ever work outtoo well.
I I can, I, I, I can attest tothat and, uh, there's always a
(25:09):
better way in his name's Jesus.
Yeah.
And I, and I am preaching tomyself, well, you know,
integrity in leadership, youknow, I wanna touch on that
because that means being thesame person at the front of the
room as we are.
Behind closed doors.
Yeah.
(25:30):
And nothing unravels unityfaster than hypocrisy.
Yeah.
I mean, how many of you like,like to be told the, you know,
do as I do?
Not as I say.
Hmm.
Or do as I say, not as I do, Ithink is how my dad, that's the
one used to say it.
Yeah.
Do what I say, not as, not whatI do.
Yeah.
And.
(25:50):
I always thought, wow, that, Idon't understand that at all.
Yeah.
But you know, teams can smell afake, a mile away, and that
scent is never, is never apleasant smell.
It's never a pleasant.
Smells.
Smells like that rotisseriechicken that sat in the sun for
seven days.
Ooh, that's gross.
(26:11):
Where did you have a rotisseriechicken that sat in the sun for
seven days?
That's just, that's just what?
Just the smell you say.
That's what it smells like.
It's just not, it's just notgood.
The whole do, as I say, I'm gladI've never smelled that
hypocrisies.
Stinks.
It does, it stinks.
Mm.
And as leaders, we, we cannotlead like that.
(26:33):
'cause your teams will notfollow.
Right, right.
And, um, anyway, uh, so what isthe Christ-centered way forward?
And we, uh, we always like towrap up with some solutions.
Mm-hmm.
And.
And today our, uh, our first,uh, Christ-centered way forward
in leadership is authenticservant leadership.
(26:56):
Mm-hmm.
Authentic.
The real deal.
Real, the real deal Servantleadership.
It's so important to recall thatleadership isn't about position,
it's about service.
What We gotta serve our teams.
Yeah.
I, when, even, even when Irecall back in the day when I
(27:19):
was a lousy leader, I wouldn'task my teams to do anything that
I haven't already done or that Iwouldn't get beside'em and do
with them.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Um, other than that, I waspretty lousy at the time.
But, uh, I, I,'cause I, I didcome from the, uh, the do as I
say, uh, do as I say, not as Ido.
I did come from my way or thehighway.
(27:39):
Mm-hmm.
And that never panned out wellfor me.
Right.
Uh, but.
Well, we can't lead a teamunless we're with the team.
We can't lord, over a team andexpect them to follow.
Uh, they, we, we want them to.
We want to, we want them tofollow because they want to.
(28:02):
Yeah.
They, they want, they want.
I, I.
Somewhere along the line, I'veheard year over year that, you
know, a, a real leader will behated by his men.
That's a military thing, Iguess.
I don't know.
But, uh, I don't, I don't wantto be hated by my men.
Oh, I wanna, I want to be one.
(28:23):
I want to be appreciated.
And, and there's, there'sdifficult conversations.
There's conflict that needs tobe dealt with, but I don't wanna
be hated by my men I want, or,or women as, as the team.
Mm-hmm.
Right.
Um, but you got, I, that doesn'teven make sense to me.
Well, that doesn't even makesense to me because Jesus was
(28:44):
the greatest leader of all time.
Oh, I didn't say it was abiblical principle.
I understand.
But wherever that came from,that is really a skewed belief.
That is a, that is a worldlybelief.
I would call that a lie from theenemy.
I definitely would call that alie from the pet of hell.
But, uh, but yeah, but we can't,we can't lead a team unless
(29:07):
we're with the team.
We got, we gotta be with theteam and the team needs when
we're, when we as leaders decideto be with the team, the team
will be with us.
And that means that.
We're willing to lead byexample.
Uh, and we're not that personthat walks around in the shallow
end, uh, with the, like wementioned, do as I say.
Mm-hmm.
And, uh, not as I do.
(29:28):
Position leaders must be willingto dig in with their teams to do
what's necessary and to trainand mentor along the way the
best ever at this Jesus Jesus.
Jesus.
We're always going to point itback to Jesus.
Yeah.
And I, I remember I, when I was,uh.
(29:51):
So, uh, when I was firstlearning how to be a dad, and I
would, I would, Jesus Duke,every, I didn't even know what
Jesus Duke was.
And, and then si our, our, ourmiddle daughter, uh, Sybil,
sorry for the middle daughterthing.
So, but she was like, she'scivil in the middle.
He's, he, she's like, ah, he,Jesus, duked it again.
(30:12):
He did it again.
You know?
Right.
But, uh, but Jesus really, Imean, Jesus led by example.
Yeah.
Uh, through all of his life inministry mm-hmm.
He didn't do anything that, uh.
The father didn't tell her to dohis, his entire life and his
entire ministry.
Was he?
He did.
He followed the father's planand, and the father did.
(30:34):
You know that the father has aplan for each one of us?
That's right.
As we were created in his image,he has a plan as we were formed
in our mother's wound, as wewere fearfully and wonderfully
made.
We have been created on purposefor his purpose, and he has a
plan for each one of us, and webelieve in that.
Hundred percent.
A hundred percent.
(30:55):
Um, so, but, uh, following himmm-hmm.
Is, uh, I mean that's reallygotta re and, and if I'm honest,
in and out through all thebusyness, I gotta remind myself
of that daily.
Mm.
You know who brought me to thispoint, because I remember where
I was and who I was.
(31:15):
And, uh, and I'm not that guythese days.
Right.
You know, and, uh, we were, Ijust got back from a men's
conference and there's this,this country music artist
upcoming.
His name's, uh, drew Parker, andhe's got a, uh.
A song called Blame Jesus.
Mm.
You know, and in, in his shirtssay, blame Jesus, his hat.
(31:35):
Say, blame Jesus.
And, uh, I, I mean, the secularworld could take that out.
I'm gonna blame Jesus.
Fine.
He's like, no, no, no, no, no.
Blame Jesus.
'cause I can't be who I oncewas.
Amen.
'cause And, uh, the song'spretty good.
So if you're, if you're, ifyou're into country music, check
that out.
Drew Parker, blame Jesus.
(31:56):
Cue that one up.
Download it, check it out.
And, uh, if you're not countrymusic, check it out.
'cause I'm not really intocountry music, but it's a pretty
good song.
Uh, blame Jesus by Drew Parker.
Um,'cause I, I blame Jesus.
'cause I'm definitely not who Ionce was for sure.
And I still need, but I stillneed to follow because, uh,
it's, he's still working on me.
(32:17):
Well, he's working on all of us.
Yeah.
But let's get back to, gonnareel it back in.
I'm gonna reel it back in.
We're reeling it in so.
Our next one is celebrate whenthe team wins.
So take time to stop and honorthose small victories.
Yeah.
Um, regardless of what it is,regardless of how small it is,
maybe it's an email that yourteam member sent.
(32:40):
I did this the other day.
You know, I read the email, I, Ijust shot back to her.
It was an email that was copied.
I was copied on, and I sent backto her and I said, that was an
excellent email because it was ahard conversation to have.
Yeah.
So, you know, when a team feelsappreciated, they thrive.
And when you recognize someone'seffort, even in the little
things, you're reminding themthat they matter to the mission
(33:04):
and everyone wants to matter.
Yeah.
They wanna be valued, they wannabe seen, and they wanna know
that they matter.
Yeah.
And it's vital to reward actionsthat we want to see again.
Right.
Team morale will grow and willjust, yeah.
(33:24):
Grow.
Yeah.
It'll grow.
It'll grow.
And, and as, and as moralegrows, you know, the, the, uh,
appreciation for leadershipgrows and, and it's a circle.
Yeah.
It's a circle.
And as the team appreciates theleader, the leader appreciates
the team, the team grows.
And, and that builds trust.
And trust is, in anyrelationship, is, is huge.
(33:46):
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
But I wanted to, before we go onto our next point, I wanted to,
uh.
As far as, uh, humility goes,uh, and again, Jesus modeled it
the best.
And, and in the John's gospel,he, he washed his disciples
feet.
Mm.
(34:07):
And that's, uh, that's.
He said as, as I am the teacher,as I am the master, you know, I
wash your feet and so you shouldwash each other's feet.
Mm-hmm.
So, sir, as I serve you, youshould serve each other right?
And something, and there's a,there's, do you have a difficult
person on your team?
Yeah.
(34:27):
Is there someone that, that is alittle, a little at times.
Sometimes, you know, we got dealwith conflict, but Jesus had
Judas.
Mm.
Yeah.
Jesus had Judas and, uh, and,uh, I think we all know how that
story ended, but remember whatwe're, as far as humility goes
in leadership, remember thatJesus washed Judas feet as well.
(34:52):
Yeah.
And knowing, knowing full well,knowing full well, yeah.
That he was going to betray him.
Yeah.
And he, and he also, and hestill washed his feet.
He did.
He he was part of the team.
Mm-hmm.
And, and it.
Yeah.
If you know who, if, if we're,if we're coming to understand,
if our relationship's growingwith, in, in the word, if we're
(35:15):
in the word and we under andwe're coming to understand who
Jesus is and as the word, heactually is the word, uh, he is
the truth.
Uh, he knew who Jesus, he knewwho Judas was.
He knew what Judas was gonna dowhen he picked him.
Right.
He's just, you know, so anyway,and that's a great segue into
the third one.
Absolutely humility andconflict.
(35:37):
We gotta practice humility.
Mm-hmm.
And conflict.
Mm-hmm.
And you know, just what, what wejust mentioned there, that's hu
that's humility and conflict.
He washed just, just modelingthat.
Washing the disciples feet, butwashing Judas feet too.
Yeah.
As, uh, but uh, another exampleof that would, uh, is our
(35:59):
Philippians 2.
Uh, reference that we talkedabout earlier.
Uh, Paul tells us to, uh, look,look to the interest of others
over our own interest.
This means listening more thanwe're talking.
Yeah, and I love, uh, and I'll,I'll point this back to Dick
Smith every time, uh, when, uh,when he was mentoring me, uh,
(36:21):
back in the day, uh, and hesaid, Allen, he go, the Lord
gave you two ears and one mouthfor a reason, so you can, you
can listen twice as much as youspeak.
Yeah.
And, uh, so it's important to,to listen more than we're
talking.
It's important to apologizeimmediately when you're wrong
(36:41):
and you know you're wrong.
You know, be the first, be I Iknow when I'm wrong.
You know when you're wrong.
You know when you need toapologize.
Yeah.
And be the first you want a goodrelationship.
Apologize first.
Be the first to forgive.
Um, and sometimes, uh.
It's, it's, I would say mosttimes it's choosing, choose
(37:06):
unity over being right.
Yeah, something I think, uh, Idon't know.
I think it might have, I don'tknow.
Was it Dick?
It might, it was either Dick,uh, Steve or or Jonathan back in
the day said, Hey, do you, doyou wanna be married or do you
want to be right?
You know, humility, disarmshostility, truth, humility,
(37:29):
disarms hostility.
Truth.
I know Pride builds it.
Your pride is gasoline on thehostility.
Fire.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And humility puts it out.
Yeah.
And finally, what's next babe?
And finally, our last one isinvest in people.
You know, Jesus spent more timewith his disciples than he did
(37:52):
preaching to crowds.
He poured into them.
He corrected them.
He encouraged them, and then hereleased them to lead, and they
carried his name as he intendedthem to do.
And they changed the worldbecause they were mentored, or
in this case, discipled verywell.
Yeah, and as leaders, ourgreatest legacy.
(38:13):
Isn't the projects we finish,but the people that we raise up.
Yeah.
Great leaders build greatleaders.
Absolutely great leaders, begatgreat leaders.
That is so good.
And you can't build a greatleader if I'm just, uh, that's
stuck in my head now.
You can't build a great leaderif those you are leading who are
afraid of you or, or hate you oryou're not building anything,
(38:34):
dislike you or whatever what yousaid.
I'm if your, if your team's, ifyou, if.
If you're leading, uh, with fearYeah.
Over instead of faith.
Mm-hmm.
Instead of faithfully followingYeah.
Christ.
And, and following his lead.
If you're leading in, uh, ifyou're lording over him with
fear.
Yeah.
If your team fear is you, you'renot growing any leader and
(38:55):
that's not investing in yourpeople.
That's not, that's not, it'snot.
And you're not gonna go too faras a leader.
And I, and I will say I have anamazing, an amazing team of.
Freedom, support solutions and,and I can see the leadership
rise rising up.
Yeah.
And, and our daughters.
(39:17):
Yeah.
Um, I can see where they arebecoming great leaders.
Mm-hmm.
And I'm not saying it's justbecause of me, um, because it's
Jesus through me and Jesus inthem.
Yeah.
Um, that is.
Just they're growing in leapsand bounds.
My whole team is, is incredible.
(39:37):
Right.
And I'm grateful for that.
Right?
Because, uh, uh, I mean, you,you carry a couple of titles
there.
I mean your, your CEO, your momand that.
But, uh, I mean, regardless, atthe end of the day, people don't
remember a title, right?
They remember your heart.
Mm-hmm.
And boy, you got a great one.
(39:58):
Like we said that earlier.
Yeah.
Uh, they remember.
Whether you, whether you did oryou didn't lead with honor and
integrity.
Mm-hmm.
That's what people, uh, I mean,we've said this in other
podcasts, I think it's actuallya, uh, a Maya Angelou, uh, quote
that people, they won't rememberwhat you, what you did or what
(40:18):
you said, but they will rememberhow you made'em feel.
Right.
You know?
Yeah.
It's important.
Well, that's good because at theend of the day, you know, teams
don't remember your title likeyou said.
Yeah.
They remember your heart.
Right.
And, um, yeah.
And whether you led with honestyand integrity.
(40:38):
So, so wrap it up babe.
What do you, what's thetakeaways to today?
Our takeaways today?
Alright, so leadership is notabout position, it's about
service.
That's number one.
Seems simple.
Number two, I would say teamsthrive where humility and honor
are practiced daily.
Right.
(40:59):
And number three, when leadersmodel unity, teams grow and
unite around their mission.
Right on.
That's good.
That's good stuff.
Do I need to repeat'em or yougot'em?
No, it's good.
It's good.
Did you get'em though, folks?
Did you get'em?
Did you get all of thoseleadership's?
Not about our position.
It's about service.
Mm-hmm.
(41:19):
Teams thrive where humility andhonor our practice daily.
Good humility and honor.
And when leaders model unity,yeah.
Teams grow and unite around themission.
That's it.
Working with our teams, not overour teams.
Yeah.
So as we wrap up here, we alwayslike to leave you with an.
With an action item or achallenge of the week, challenge
(41:41):
a challenge of the week.
And your challenge this week isto find one way to serve your
team, uh, one way to serve yourfamily, uh, even your coworkers,
and expect you wanna serve themand expect nothing in return.
Yeah.
Big leadership principle.
Serve without expecting anythingin return because you'll,
(42:02):
you'll, without expectinganything in return, but when you
do that, you'll get.
Something in return.
Uh, so maybe it's, uh, maybeyou're writing a, a thank you
note.
Maybe you're admitting thatyou're wrong.
Maybe you're apologizing first.
Maybe you're f apologizing andforgiving.
They kind of go hand in hand.
Uh, maybe it's just, you know,buying, buying that cup of
(42:24):
coffee for, for someone youknow, who appreciates that or
Chipotle.
Or Chipotle.
Well, hey, uh, small acts ofservice multiply toward unity.
Yeah.
Small acts of service multiplytoward unity.
So take take time in your quiettime with the Lord this week and
(42:44):
ask him what he wants you to do.
Ask him how you can serve yourteam, uh, today and through the
week.
Uh, when you ask the Lord whathe wants, he's never gonna steer
you wrong.
Right.
And that's definitely the way togo for sure.
And remember, you know,stewarding a team with integrity
isn't about being the loudestvoice in the room.
(43:05):
It's about reflecting Jesus wholed with love, humility, and
with sacrifice.
So united, we lead becauseunited in Christ, we cannot be
divided.
Right.
United in Christ, we cannot bedivided.
That's right.
And he is the foundation.
He is the cornerstone.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, and the enemy will surelytry to divide us.
(43:26):
But when we focus, when we fixour eyes on Jesus, the pioneer
and perfecter of our faith, wecannot be divided.
That's right.
And the only way we could bedivided is if we allow the enemy
in to give him a foothold.
Mm-hmm.
So stay focused on Christ.
So we thank y'all for.
Uh, joining us on faithfullyinvested.
Until next time, uh, keepleading and serving with Christ
(43:50):
at the center of all things.
Yes.
And remember that when you livefaithfully invested, God brings
the increase He does.
So peace be with you all and Godbless you and your families.
Absolutely.
Have a great day.
Thanks for joining us onFaithfully Invested with Allen
and Stacy Jo, if today'sconversation encouraged you,
(44:13):
challenged you, or helped yousee your calling more clearly,
don't keep it to yourself.
That's right.
Share it with a friend.
Leave a five star review andkeep leaning into God's
blueprint for your life, yourleadership, and your legacy.
So until next time, remember,when you invest in his kingdom,
he brings the increase.
Are you ready to build a life,business and legacy that truly
lasts?
Welcome to Faithfully Investedwith Allen and Stacy Jo Thorne,
where Faith meets real talk.
Biblical wisdom meets everydaylife and leadership meets
laughter.
Together we will uncover God'sblueprint for leadership,
marriage, and mission, helpingfaith-driven leaders invest in
(00:21):
what matters most.
Each episode, we explorebiblical wisdom, have real
conversations, and of course,have some fun along the way
because let's be real.
Walking in faith is anadventure.
It sure is.
So pull up a seat, grab yourcoffee or your sweet tea, and
join us as we steward ourcallings with intention, because
(00:42):
when we invest in his kingdom,he brings the increase.
Hey, welcome back to FaithfullyInvested.
I am Allen.
And I'm Stacy Jo.
And we are your hosts NavigatingFaithful Leadership and
(01:02):
stewarding our God-givenmissions at home, at work, or
even in traffic.
When everyone cut you off andyou're trying really hard not to
lose your salvation, ah,traffic, lose your salvation.
Wait a minute here, let's pausejust for a minute here.
On the whole Lose your Salvationtime.
(01:23):
All right.
All right.
Uh, even at the South FloridaGolden Glades interchange at
6:30 on a Friday, it's notpossible to lose your salvation.
And I, I'm just gonna, I've beenlistening to Pastor Joby Martin
for, uh, mm-hmm.
At Church of 1122 Jacksonville,Florida.
Uh, I've been listening to himfor probably a little over a
year now, and I, I love whatJoby says about Lose your
(01:46):
salvation.
That's, and he writes about thisin, uh, his, um.
His, uh, grace Train, uh, runover by the Grace Train book.
Mm-hmm.
And he talk, I, I believe hetalks about it again in his new
book, uh, stand Firm and ActLike Men.
But it's, uh, he, he says, C,can you lose your salvation?
(02:06):
He is saying, you're asking thewrong question.
The question is that whetherhas, can you be lost by Jesus
and.
The answer's no.
Jesus, Jesus doesn't lose any ofus.
Most of us are, are, we knowthe, the, the, I hate to re say
(02:26):
it as a story, but he, he leavesthe 99 to go right and get the
one.
But what it, what it says herein John 18:9 is, uh, to fulfill
the word which he spoke, uh, ofthose whom you gave me.
I lost not one.
Yeah, he lost not one.
So, so, uh.
(02:49):
So you can't lose yoursalvation.
Definitely not losing oursalvation, uh, regardless of
what the religious authoritiesmight say.
Right.
Uh, there may concerningtraffic, bringing it back to
traffic.
There might be some need forrepentance.
But our Jesus, he sticks withus.
Yeah.
He's always with us.
Never leaves us, never forsakesus.
(03:10):
He's always right there.
Once we decide for him, uh,we're in it with him to the end
and.
Beyond.
Uh, so, so we got that going forus.
Well, I was being a littlesarcastic about that.
Obviously you're not going tolose your salvation, but Right.
But, you know, letting him,letting the Lord be the pilots
(03:30):
the best way to find freewayunity.
Would you not agree?
Freeway unit?
I like it.
Freeway unity.
I think South Florida needs alittle more freeway Unity.
I'm just gonna, I'm gonna get abig bumper sticker that says,
y'all need Jesus.
There you go.
Anyway, right.
But today we're talking aboutwhat it looks like to lead teams
(03:51):
with humility and integrity in away that unites people under
Christ's example.
Right?
So, I'm ready to light it up.
Are you ready to light it up?
Let's light it up.
And there's no better way tolight it up than, than
scripture.
And I think very true.
Our, our, uh.
Our reference scripture todayis, is from none other than
(04:13):
Paul's letter to the Philippians2:1-4.
Um, Paul says, do nothing out ofselfish ambition or vain
conceit.
Rather, in humility, valueothers over yourselves.
Not look into your own interest,but each of you to the interest
of others.
Now that sounds great.
(04:34):
In practice, but man cannot bechallenging when we're walking
through it.
And, uh, but based on myexperience, uh, somewhat
extensive experience, you know,overcoming, overcoming pride.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, and, and we'll, we'll get tothat.
And that's really what we'retalking about today.
Uh,'cause so consistent humilityis a sign of maturity.
(05:02):
Yeah, I'd agree.
Yeah.
Consistent humor, because I, Iknow who I was when I first came
to Christ, and, and as thespirit sanctifies us over time
for the rest of our lives.
Humility, uh, it comes and thenpride and it, I mean, if I, I, I
real, I'm really trying to stopsaying the phrase, if I'm
(05:23):
honest.
Right.
You know, because, because I amhonest, but Right, but if so, if
you, if you're constantlysaying, if, if I'm honest and
there it leaves, the, thenpeople are like the thought,
aren't you always?
When, when, aren't you honest?
But, uh, but I wasn't entirelyhum.
I wasn't, I wasn't walking inhumility early on at all.
(05:46):
And, and hey, if I'm honest, Ipride is a, is a challenge, uh,
these days as well, but it's,how about, how about we say if
I'm being transparent?
If I'm being transparent, maybethat's a better way.
That's, that's good.
That's a better way to put that.
Yeah.
That and.
And coming from a recoveryperspective, that's good.
Transparency is good, and uh,vulnerability is good.
(06:08):
But, and so what else is good ishumility, right?
Humility's definitely good.
Uh, a sign of maturity.
Um, but early on when we're,when we're, when walking, uh,
into our.
Into the, our faith Walk withChrist.
It, it's a, one of the, one, theverses I clung to some of the
(06:30):
scripture I clung to was, wasJames' Word saying that the, the
humble, uh, that we must humbleourselves before the Lord so
that he lifts us up.
Uh, humility's a big deal.
Yeah.
And we're talking aboutleadership today and in
leadership, humility's a bigdeal.
Are you leaders out there?
And, and if you're, if you'remom, your dad, uh.
(06:52):
You're a leader, man, you're,you're, that's, that's your most
important, uh, team right there,or your kids and your family.
So humility is a big deal, and Idon't wanna, I, I think I may
have gotten in the weeds alittle, but I I think it's good
still a little bit, just alittle, I don't want to get too
much deeper into the weeds, butthe antithesis for the opposite
(07:15):
of pro of, uh, humility is prideand, and pride.
If you look into it biblically,it doesn't get a great
accommodation in God's word,right?
Uh, something like, uh, pridecomes before the fall.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think, uh, I think Solomonsays pride comes before the
fall.
James has really accentuatedthat, uh, and it's all through,
(07:38):
uh, the scripture.
Uh, pride doesn't get, uh, agood word right.
In, in the good word.
So I'm gonna, I'm gonna, we'rewe always, as leaders, would do
our best to, to pass on prideand, and keep, uh, uh, humble
ourselves before the Lord sothat he will lift us up.
Yeah, that's so right.
But.
(07:58):
You know, one of the challengesis today, so often in
leadership, um, today's cultureis primarily focused on pride,
power, position, and, and perks.
You know, perks, right?
But.
If leadership is about thecontrol, then teams break down
(08:20):
and people stop trustingleadership because they feel
used instead of valued.
Yeah.
And people need to feel valued.
They need to feel seen.
They need to feel heard.
Yeah.
And when that happens, divisionwill creep in and it squashes
any unity that may have been.
Yeah.
If they're not seen, may, ifthey're not heard.
If they're not Right.
If they're not given a voice.
(08:41):
Yeah.
That's one.
Uh.
Uh, one of our, our As excellentleaders, our our amazing
leaders.
What, this is what Mark Turnersays, man, he's one of the, the
greatest construction leadersI've ever, uh, witnessed in my
life, if not the best.
And he's like, you gotta give'ema voice, man.
Yeah.
You gotta, everyone's got avoice and you gotta listen.
(09:03):
It's up to us as leaders tolisten to our team.
Right.
So, and that's hard sometimes.
It is challenging sometimes,especially when they don't know
how to, when, when they'rechallenged with, with, uh
mm-hmm.
Giving us their voice withextending their voice, uh, in a
professional manner.
So, but, uh, good point.
Anyway, I wanna climb out ofthe, I wanna get back on the,
(09:25):
uh, what's that?
Uh, anyway, gonna get back onthe highway, back on out the
ditch Humility train.
Yeah.
Back on the humility train andget back in.
Yeah.
So we've most likely seen it,uh, yeah.
Concern, uh, concerning poorleadership.
Uh, the boss who takes all thecredit.
Uh, for the team's work.
The church leader who doesn'tlisten, come on a church leader
(09:48):
who doesn't listen.
Right.
Huh.
That seems, it seems, uh,counterproductive.
Yeah, it does.
But, uh, and we relate to this'cause.
Yeah.
You know, believe it or not,while, while leading or, or
working on projects together,nuisance pride and frustration
creeps in on occasion.
Mm-hmm.
Um.
(10:09):
And you gotta, we gottarecognize that you gotta take
and when we gotta recognize whenit's creeping and, and again, it
comes with, uh, relationally,uh, and, and our first relation
is with, with God.
Right.
You know, we got our, our, ourrelationally when, when we, and
as we're in right relations withGod, we're gonna be in right
relations with each other, butrelationally as we mature, we
(10:33):
gotta be able to see that.
Yeah.
We gotta be able to see whenthat, when that pride, and when
that frustration's creeping in.
And uh, and they, they go handin hand.
And we gotta know best to justtake a few steps back and see
what the bigger picture istogether, you know, you know, I
can see a big picture over hereand you can see a big picture
over there, but we gotta seewhat the big picture is
(10:55):
together.
That's right.
And understand that.
We're not in control.
And hey, that's right.
You heard it.
What do you, and you, you, theyjust swerved in traffic.
They're like, what do you meanwe're not in control?
Uh, as from a Christianperspective, from a biblical
perspective, we're not incontrol.
That's right.
(11:15):
Uh, we gotta release thatcontrol.
We gotta relinquish that throneto the Lord, to the one, to the
one who, who, uh.
Who's fit to guide us, man.
Yeah.
And, uh, anyway, we'll, we'llcome back to that a little
later.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's a strong point to recallwhen the going gets a little
fast and blurry.
Right.
I mean, when we're moving fromone thing to the next, maybe we
(11:39):
tend to forget who got us heremm-hmm.
In the first place.
And Allen, you say something,uh, to the effect of slowing
down to go faster in life oreven just.
Simple, A simple task.
Slipping seems to be slippingpast our team.
Talk about that for a minute.
Slowing down to go faster.
(12:00):
Yeah.
Slowing down to go faster.
I I love that.
Um, that phrase that it, uh,the, I don't know if we could
call it a mantra, but it, it's,uh.
That's, that's key in leadershipslowing down to go faster.
But it, it doesn't sound like itmakes sense, but, but check this
out.
Slowing down to go faster meansthat our, our team results turn
out better when we're, whenwe're taking the time to engage
(12:24):
our team, to ensure that we'reall on the same page and we're
all going in the same direction.
If we're rushing through it, ifwe're push, push, push.
What's getting missed?
Mm-hmm.
You know, we gotta slow down sothat we can go faster, because
if we're missing something, wegotta come back and, and redo
it.
Right?
You know, if we're, uh, if youknow, so, so we gotta slow down
(12:45):
to go faster, make sureeveryone's on the same page.
Pace makes waste, taste, makeswaste.
And man, man, that was one of mymom's favorite ones.
Haste makes way a lane hastemakes ways.
Thanks for that.
Uh, so, but.
But when that happens, when weslow down to go faster, we, we
get the answers that we need thefirst time, the team, the whole
(13:08):
team's informed, and we, andwe're on the same page.
We're moving forward together.
And, and when we're, when we'regetting it right the first time,
we spend less time makingmistakes that could have been
avoided.
Uh uh, and when we like.
That we might have made.
Mm-hmm.
We can avoid the mistakes thatwe would've made, uh, from
(13:28):
prideful decision making, uh,instead of listening to our
team's input.
That's good.
Uh, we gotta engage our teams.
And when we engage our teams,and I've learned this the hard
way, I think the greatestlessons.
That I've learned in life, and Idon't think I know the greatest
lessons that I've learned inlife.
And I, you could probably speakto this as well, uh, as has been
(13:49):
the greatest less, uh, thegreatest lessons, greatest life
lessons, um, from the mistakesthat I've made.
Mm-hmm.
And I've learned to, I,'cause Iused to be that lousy leader
around, I used to be the, youknow, my way or the highway.
Uh, but when we engage our team,our team will engage us.
Yeah.
That's a big deal.
(14:09):
Write that one down.
Unless you're driving.
When we engage our team, ourteam will engage us.
We gotta listen to our team.
Mm-hmm.
And the, uh, when we're willingto listen.
The Holy Spirit will put us incheck and he lets us know, uh,
that authentic leadership meanscasting off pride to serve the
(14:29):
bigger mission with the team.
Remember, we gotta, it's notabout, uh, leading the team
means not always governing overthe team.
Not lording over the team, butworking with the team.
The team, yeah.
Right.
One of the biggest strugglesleaders face.
And one of the biggest strugglesthat I have faced too, as a
(14:51):
leader is celebrating peopleconsistency.
Yeah.
Consistently.
Um, you know, I can get sofocused on the end goal that I
have forgotten that peoplearen't just tools to get us
there.
Yeah.
And the fact of the matter ispeople are the mission.
Yeah.
And I have to remind myself ofthis consistently.
(15:13):
Jesus never overlooked theindividual in the crowd.
He saw them.
He valued them.
He called them by name.
By name.
Yeah.
Because, and I love what yousaid, their people are the
mission.
They are.
And we, and we can't treat'emlike tools because everybody's,
everybody's, everybody matters.
(15:33):
Mm-hmm.
Everybody matters.
And that's, uh, and Jesus knewthat.
And as we're, as we're calledto, you know, emulate his
example, uh, you know, we gotta,we gotta do that as well.
Yeah.
And, and.
Treating people like tools is,is not a, a way to do that.
Treating people like pawns, youknow?
(15:54):
Yeah.
We gotta treat people likepeople because everybody
deserves that.
Uh, they, they have that aswe're all created under, uh, in
his image.
Mm-hmm.
That, that, that deservesdignity, that deserves respect.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Uh, rega, I mean, even, eventhose crazies out there, you
know, uh.
(16:17):
Even those people, they werecreate, even if they don't
believe that they were createdin God's image.
Right.
They were created in God'simage.
Absolutely.
And, and they deserve, even asdisrespectful as they can be,
they deserve, uh, a certainamount of dignity and respect.
Yeah.
Because they just for the, justsimple fact that they were, they
(16:38):
are created, uh, they're,they're image bearers Yeah.
Of the one True and living God.
Well, going back to the aboutthe tools thing, I think, you
know, for me early on, being afemale woman and being a female
in leadership, female woman,female woman, female woman in
leadership, you know, I think alot of times that's good for me.
(17:02):
I think a lot of times we aswomen feel that we have to prove
ourselves.
Yeah.
We have to prove ourselves.
Yeah.
And maybe it's the same for mentoo, like in when you're fir,
when you first step intoleadership that you have to
prove yourself and you have tobe the boss.
Yeah.
And you have to tell people whatto do.
Right.
And you get focused.
You do get focused, like I said,on the mission.
(17:22):
But when you bring Christ intothe center of that, and when you
start recognizing that Jesus didnot do that.
Yeah.
Then everything shifts.
So, you know, I, I spent yearsreminding myself that, you know,
this is not, I don't have toprove myself in leadership.
(17:45):
Right?
I've been put here for a purposeand I haven't gotten myself
here.
He put me there, he put youthere, and it's, it's important.
And you recognize, and I've, andI've seen you do this, uh, uh,
you recognize that he's theleader, right?
And, and that.
That's something that we have torecognize as, as, as Christ
(18:05):
following leaders.
That, that he's the leader.
Yeah.
Uh, the term servant leader getsoverused sometimes.
It's, there's a, a, a good, uh,mm-hmm.
We'll, we'll get to that.
We're, we're gonna talk aboutservant leadership here Yeah.
A little later, but, uh, but Iwanna go back to, to, you know,
that he saw them.
Yeah.
He saw them, he valued them, andhe called.
(18:28):
People by name.
Yeah.
Yeah.
He, he did.
And because, you know, that'simportant and, and that's, and
that's, it's a big deal to knowpeople's names.
Mm-hmm.
You know, and that's somethingI, you gotta know your team's
names.
Yeah.
If you don't know your team'snames, that really says you
don't care.
Yeah, that's, yeah, that'ssomething I've worked on over
(18:50):
the years.
And it's something that, uh, asI was walking with, uh, my
direct report around, he's, hegoes one as we're walking away
from the jobs, Hey, he goes, youknow everyone's name.
Mm.
I'm like, it's, you gotta knowtheir names, man.
You know, because you know, yougotta know their names.
If you're gonna coach'em in themoment, you gotta know.
It helps that their names ontheir helmet sometimes.
(19:13):
Well,'cause you have a big team.
There's a large team, there's,there's about, there's, you have
a large team going from site tosite and there's a large influx
of Yeah.
Of new hires now.
Right.
And, uh, anyway, it's importantto know their names.
It's, and it's the, uh, and I,like I said, I've worked on that
over the year and it matters.
Yeah.
When you call someone by nameand, uh.
(19:34):
It matters to them.
Yeah.
Because, you know, I, I wantsomeone to treat, I want to, I
wanna treat people how I want tobe treated.
Mm-hmm.
I mean, I think that's probablythe golden rule.
Yeah.
You know, and, uh, but it's theknowing their name is, is the
authentic indicator of whether aleader cares about their team or
(19:55):
not.
Mm-hmm.
If you don't know their name, ifthey're just a number, if
they're just a position to you.
Not too cool.
No, I'm thinking if I don't knowmy team's name, because I have a
small, small team name.
You better know your team'sname.
If I don't know their names, I'min big trouble.
And two of'em are yourdaughters.
Exactly.
I'm in big trouble.
(20:16):
Oh no.
If that's the case.
So another challenging, anotherchallenge, uh, with, with team,
uh, or.
Or with anything is handlingconflict.
Mm-hmm.
Woo.
Conflict is inevitable.
Yeah.
Uh, and if, if in leadership,you better know how to deal with
it.
(20:36):
Uh, we're all humans and we wereall created with different
brains that form differentopinions.
Uh, we all have differentpersonalities and that's great.
That's how God created us.
Right.
But.
Some people let the world shiftthem over here and they're a
little different than the restof us.
And, and then they think we're alittle different than them.
(20:58):
But, uh.
Uh, and sometimes we just, we'rejust dealing with strong
preferences, right?
And it doesn't always go overwell with, with, uh, other
teammates.
Mm-hmm.
So we gotta, and that comes, uh,I'll take that back to maturity.
Mature leadership has got toknow they gotta be able to
(21:19):
navigate through that conflictpeacefully.
So you mean like when two strongpersonalities both think they're
right?
I mean, I may or may not have alittle experience with that.
I don't know what you're talkingabout anyway, but, but honestly,
I mean, we never clash.
(21:41):
Never, never, never.
But conflict has a way ofrevealing what's really inside
of us.
Some of us try to avoid italtogether.
Yeah, I happen to be one ofthose people that, you know, I
have spent years trying to avoidconflict, just smiling and
nodding and hoping that it'lldisappear if I ignore it long
enough.
(22:01):
Oh, no.
And.
And then there's others of uswho run straight towards it.
They're ready to prove a pointinstead of pursue peace.
And I've done that too.
I've been on both sides of thatcoin.
Mm-hmm.
But real leadership doesn't doeither one of those healthy
leaders learn to redeemconflict, not run from it or
dominate it.
(22:22):
And when we slow down longenough to listen, and I mean,
really, listen, you gottalisten.
To the heart behind someone'swords.
We often find that we're noteven on opposite sides, right?
We're just coming from differentperspectives, and that's where
grace centers the room, becauseif we can handle those moments
(22:42):
with humility, patience, andmaybe even a little bit of
humor, sometimes that helps alot.
Uh, that's where unity getsforged, and that's where trust
will deepen.
And that's where teams actuallystart to grow stronger instead
of falling apart.
Yeah, our challenge, youchallenge, I, I would agree.
I would agree.
(23:02):
And I like, uh, sometimes I tryto deal with, with conflict, uh,
through humor.
And it's, it's a little too,sometimes it's a little too
early for that.
Too soon, too soon.
But, uh, anyway, I digress.
But, uh, so our, our challengeis leaders.
I mean, we have many challenges,many challenges, many challenges
(23:24):
as leaders, but, uh.
Is whether we're gonna, how arewe gonna handle conflict?
Are we gonna, are we gonna bethat prideful, you know, guy,
you're not gonna get too farwith handling conflict with with
stubborn pride.
Uh, and there's different kindsof pride.
Uh, there's, uh, but when itleads toward arrogance and
narcissism and, you know, dothings my way or hit the
(23:47):
highway, uh, it's not gonna workout too well.
So, so we have decisions tomake.
We all have decisions to make.
How so?
But concerning leadership, arewe gonna lead, uh, with
humility?
Are we gonna lead with pride?
Do do we approach conflict witha my way or the highway
mentality, or do we decide toreflect?
(24:08):
Jesus Christ to, to lead usthrough that conflict for, for
the Holy Spirit of truth whocomes to bring us all the truth
and all the truth that he getsthat he's giving us comes from
Jesus who got it from theFather.
So there's unity from, from theFather to the, the son, to the
(24:29):
spirit, to us.
Mm-hmm.
We're, we're getting, we'regetting direct.
We're when we're willing tolisten.
On how to lead from a, from a,uh, a spot of humility, we're,
we're gonna be much better off.
Uh, so are we deciding to, tolead, um, with Christ, uh, the
(24:49):
way he would lead, uh, and seekreconciliation to seek
restoration?
Mm-hmm.
Or are we going to go the, thehard road?
Uh, and, uh, with the.
It's, it doesn't ever work outtoo well.
I I can, I, I, I can attest tothat and, uh, there's always a
(25:09):
better way in his name's Jesus.
Yeah.
And I, and I am preaching tomyself, well, you know,
integrity in leadership, youknow, I wanna touch on that
because that means being thesame person at the front of the
room as we are.
Behind closed doors.
Yeah.
(25:30):
And nothing unravels unityfaster than hypocrisy.
Yeah.
I mean, how many of you like,like to be told the, you know,
do as I do?
Not as I say.
Hmm.
Or do as I say, not as I do, Ithink is how my dad, that's the
one used to say it.
Yeah.
Do what I say, not as, not whatI do.
Yeah.
And.
(25:50):
I always thought, wow, that, Idon't understand that at all.
Yeah.
But you know, teams can smell afake, a mile away, and that
scent is never, is never apleasant smell.
It's never a pleasant.
Smells.
Smells like that rotisseriechicken that sat in the sun for
seven days.
Ooh, that's gross.
(26:11):
Where did you have a rotisseriechicken that sat in the sun for
seven days?
That's just, that's just what?
Just the smell you say.
That's what it smells like.
It's just not, it's just notgood.
The whole do, as I say, I'm gladI've never smelled that
hypocrisies.
Stinks.
It does, it stinks.
Mm.
And as leaders, we, we cannotlead like that.
(26:33):
'cause your teams will notfollow.
Right, right.
And, um, anyway, uh, so what isthe Christ-centered way forward?
And we, uh, we always like towrap up with some solutions.
Mm-hmm.
And.
And today our, uh, our first,uh, Christ-centered way forward
in leadership is authenticservant leadership.
(26:56):
Mm-hmm.
Authentic.
The real deal.
Real, the real deal Servantleadership.
It's so important to recall thatleadership isn't about position,
it's about service.
What We gotta serve our teams.
Yeah.
I, when, even, even when Irecall back in the day when I
(27:19):
was a lousy leader, I wouldn'task my teams to do anything that
I haven't already done or that Iwouldn't get beside'em and do
with them.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Um, other than that, I waspretty lousy at the time.
But, uh, I, I,'cause I, I didcome from the, uh, the do as I
say, uh, do as I say, not as Ido.
I did come from my way or thehighway.
(27:39):
Mm-hmm.
And that never panned out wellfor me.
Right.
Uh, but.
Well, we can't lead a teamunless we're with the team.
We can't lord, over a team andexpect them to follow.
Uh, they, we, we want them to.
We want to, we want them tofollow because they want to.
(28:02):
Yeah.
They, they want, they want.
I, I.
Somewhere along the line, I'veheard year over year that, you
know, a, a real leader will behated by his men.
That's a military thing, Iguess.
I don't know.
But, uh, I don't, I don't wantto be hated by my men.
Oh, I wanna, I want to be one.
(28:23):
I want to be appreciated.
And, and there's, there'sdifficult conversations.
There's conflict that needs tobe dealt with, but I don't wanna
be hated by my men I want, or,or women as, as the team.
Mm-hmm.
Right.
Um, but you got, I, that doesn'teven make sense to me.
Well, that doesn't even makesense to me because Jesus was
(28:44):
the greatest leader of all time.
Oh, I didn't say it was abiblical principle.
I understand.
But wherever that came from,that is really a skewed belief.
That is a, that is a worldlybelief.
I would call that a lie from theenemy.
I definitely would call that alie from the pet of hell.
But, uh, but yeah, but we can't,we can't lead a team unless
(29:07):
we're with the team.
We got, we gotta be with theteam and the team needs when
we're, when we as leaders decideto be with the team, the team
will be with us.
And that means that.
We're willing to lead byexample.
Uh, and we're not that personthat walks around in the shallow
end, uh, with the, like wementioned, do as I say.
Mm-hmm.
And, uh, not as I do.
(29:28):
Position leaders must be willingto dig in with their teams to do
what's necessary and to trainand mentor along the way the
best ever at this Jesus Jesus.
Jesus.
We're always going to point itback to Jesus.
Yeah.
And I, I remember I, when I was,uh.
(29:51):
So, uh, when I was firstlearning how to be a dad, and I
would, I would, Jesus Duke,every, I didn't even know what
Jesus Duke was.
And, and then si our, our, ourmiddle daughter, uh, Sybil,
sorry for the middle daughterthing.
So, but she was like, she'scivil in the middle.
He's, he, she's like, ah, he,Jesus, duked it again.
(30:12):
He did it again.
You know?
Right.
But, uh, but Jesus really, Imean, Jesus led by example.
Yeah.
Uh, through all of his life inministry mm-hmm.
He didn't do anything that, uh.
The father didn't tell her to dohis, his entire life and his
entire ministry.
Was he?
He did.
He followed the father's planand, and the father did.
(30:34):
You know that the father has aplan for each one of us?
That's right.
As we were created in his image,he has a plan as we were formed
in our mother's wound, as wewere fearfully and wonderfully
made.
We have been created on purposefor his purpose, and he has a
plan for each one of us, and webelieve in that.
Hundred percent.
A hundred percent.
(30:55):
Um, so, but, uh, following himmm-hmm.
Is, uh, I mean that's reallygotta re and, and if I'm honest,
in and out through all thebusyness, I gotta remind myself
of that daily.
Mm.
You know who brought me to thispoint, because I remember where
I was and who I was.
(31:15):
And, uh, and I'm not that guythese days.
Right.
You know, and, uh, we were, Ijust got back from a men's
conference and there's this,this country music artist
upcoming.
His name's, uh, drew Parker, andhe's got a, uh.
A song called Blame Jesus.
Mm.
You know, and in, in his shirtssay, blame Jesus, his hat.
(31:35):
Say, blame Jesus.
And, uh, I, I mean, the secularworld could take that out.
I'm gonna blame Jesus.
Fine.
He's like, no, no, no, no, no.
Blame Jesus.
'cause I can't be who I oncewas.
Amen.
'cause And, uh, the song'spretty good.
So if you're, if you're, ifyou're into country music, check
that out.
Drew Parker, blame Jesus.
(31:56):
Cue that one up.
Download it, check it out.
And, uh, if you're not countrymusic, check it out.
'cause I'm not really intocountry music, but it's a pretty
good song.
Uh, blame Jesus by Drew Parker.
Um,'cause I, I blame Jesus.
'cause I'm definitely not who Ionce was for sure.
And I still need, but I stillneed to follow because, uh,
it's, he's still working on me.
(32:17):
Well, he's working on all of us.
Yeah.
But let's get back to, gonnareel it back in.
I'm gonna reel it back in.
We're reeling it in so.
Our next one is celebrate whenthe team wins.
So take time to stop and honorthose small victories.
Yeah.
Um, regardless of what it is,regardless of how small it is,
maybe it's an email that yourteam member sent.
(32:40):
I did this the other day.
You know, I read the email, I, Ijust shot back to her.
It was an email that was copied.
I was copied on, and I sent backto her and I said, that was an
excellent email because it was ahard conversation to have.
Yeah.
So, you know, when a team feelsappreciated, they thrive.
And when you recognize someone'seffort, even in the little
things, you're reminding themthat they matter to the mission
(33:04):
and everyone wants to matter.
Yeah.
They wanna be valued, they wannabe seen, and they wanna know
that they matter.
Yeah.
And it's vital to reward actionsthat we want to see again.
Right.
Team morale will grow and willjust, yeah.
(33:24):
Grow.
Yeah.
It'll grow.
It'll grow.
And, and as, and as moralegrows, you know, the, the, uh,
appreciation for leadershipgrows and, and it's a circle.
Yeah.
It's a circle.
And as the team appreciates theleader, the leader appreciates
the team, the team grows.
And, and that builds trust.
And trust is, in anyrelationship, is, is huge.
(33:46):
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
But I wanted to, before we go onto our next point, I wanted to,
uh.
As far as, uh, humility goes,uh, and again, Jesus modeled it
the best.
And, and in the John's gospel,he, he washed his disciples
feet.
Mm.
(34:07):
And that's, uh, that's.
He said as, as I am the teacher,as I am the master, you know, I
wash your feet and so you shouldwash each other's feet.
Mm-hmm.
So, sir, as I serve you, youshould serve each other right?
And something, and there's a,there's, do you have a difficult
person on your team?
Yeah.
(34:27):
Is there someone that, that is alittle, a little at times.
Sometimes, you know, we got dealwith conflict, but Jesus had
Judas.
Mm.
Yeah.
Jesus had Judas and, uh, and,uh, I think we all know how that
story ended, but remember whatwe're, as far as humility goes
in leadership, remember thatJesus washed Judas feet as well.
(34:52):
Yeah.
And knowing, knowing full well,knowing full well, yeah.
That he was going to betray him.
Yeah.
And he, and he also, and hestill washed his feet.
He did.
He he was part of the team.
Mm-hmm.
And, and it.
Yeah.
If you know who, if, if we're,if we're coming to understand,
if our relationship's growingwith, in, in the word, if we're
(35:15):
in the word and we under andwe're coming to understand who
Jesus is and as the word, heactually is the word, uh, he is
the truth.
Uh, he knew who Jesus, he knewwho Judas was.
He knew what Judas was gonna dowhen he picked him.
Right.
He's just, you know, so anyway,and that's a great segue into
the third one.
Absolutely humility andconflict.
(35:37):
We gotta practice humility.
Mm-hmm.
And conflict.
Mm-hmm.
And you know, just what, what wejust mentioned there, that's hu
that's humility and conflict.
He washed just, just modelingthat.
Washing the disciples feet, butwashing Judas feet too.
Yeah.
As, uh, but uh, another exampleof that would, uh, is our
(35:59):
Philippians 2.
Uh, reference that we talkedabout earlier.
Uh, Paul tells us to, uh, look,look to the interest of others
over our own interest.
This means listening more thanwe're talking.
Yeah, and I love, uh, and I'll,I'll point this back to Dick
Smith every time, uh, when, uh,when he was mentoring me, uh,
(36:21):
back in the day, uh, and hesaid, Allen, he go, the Lord
gave you two ears and one mouthfor a reason, so you can, you
can listen twice as much as youspeak.
Yeah.
And, uh, so it's important to,to listen more than we're
talking.
It's important to apologizeimmediately when you're wrong
(36:41):
and you know you're wrong.
You know, be the first, be I Iknow when I'm wrong.
You know when you're wrong.
You know when you need toapologize.
Yeah.
And be the first you want a goodrelationship.
Apologize first.
Be the first to forgive.
Um, and sometimes, uh.
It's, it's, I would say mosttimes it's choosing, choose
(37:06):
unity over being right.
Yeah, something I think, uh, Idon't know.
I think it might have, I don'tknow.
Was it Dick?
It might, it was either Dick,uh, Steve or or Jonathan back in
the day said, Hey, do you, doyou wanna be married or do you
want to be right?
You know, humility, disarmshostility, truth, humility,
(37:29):
disarms hostility.
Truth.
I know Pride builds it.
Your pride is gasoline on thehostility.
Fire.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And humility puts it out.
Yeah.
And finally, what's next babe?
And finally, our last one isinvest in people.
You know, Jesus spent more timewith his disciples than he did
(37:52):
preaching to crowds.
He poured into them.
He corrected them.
He encouraged them, and then hereleased them to lead, and they
carried his name as he intendedthem to do.
And they changed the worldbecause they were mentored, or
in this case, discipled verywell.
Yeah, and as leaders, ourgreatest legacy.
(38:13):
Isn't the projects we finish,but the people that we raise up.
Yeah.
Great leaders build greatleaders.
Absolutely great leaders, begatgreat leaders.
That is so good.
And you can't build a greatleader if I'm just, uh, that's
stuck in my head now.
You can't build a great leaderif those you are leading who are
afraid of you or, or hate you oryou're not building anything,
(38:34):
dislike you or whatever what yousaid.
I'm if your, if your team's, ifyou, if.
If you're leading, uh, with fearYeah.
Over instead of faith.
Mm-hmm.
Instead of faithfully followingYeah.
Christ.
And, and following his lead.
If you're leading in, uh, ifyou're lording over him with
fear.
Yeah.
If your team fear is you, you'renot growing any leader and
(38:55):
that's not investing in yourpeople.
That's not, that's not, it'snot.
And you're not gonna go too faras a leader.
And I, and I will say I have anamazing, an amazing team of.
Freedom, support solutions and,and I can see the leadership
rise rising up.
Yeah.
And, and our daughters.
(39:17):
Yeah.
Um, I can see where they arebecoming great leaders.
Mm-hmm.
And I'm not saying it's justbecause of me, um, because it's
Jesus through me and Jesus inthem.
Yeah.
Um, that is.
Just they're growing in leapsand bounds.
My whole team is, is incredible.
(39:37):
Right.
And I'm grateful for that.
Right?
Because, uh, uh, I mean, you,you carry a couple of titles
there.
I mean your, your CEO, your momand that.
But, uh, I mean, regardless, atthe end of the day, people don't
remember a title, right?
They remember your heart.
Mm-hmm.
And boy, you got a great one.
(39:58):
Like we said that earlier.
Yeah.
Uh, they remember.
Whether you, whether you did oryou didn't lead with honor and
integrity.
Mm-hmm.
That's what people, uh, I mean,we've said this in other
podcasts, I think it's actuallya, uh, a Maya Angelou, uh, quote
that people, they won't rememberwhat you, what you did or what
(40:18):
you said, but they will rememberhow you made'em feel.
Right.
You know?
Yeah.
It's important.
Well, that's good because at theend of the day, you know, teams
don't remember your title likeyou said.
Yeah.
They remember your heart.
Right.
And, um, yeah.
And whether you led with honestyand integrity.
(40:38):
So, so wrap it up babe.
What do you, what's thetakeaways to today?
Our takeaways today?
Alright, so leadership is notabout position, it's about
service.
That's number one.
Seems simple.
Number two, I would say teamsthrive where humility and honor
are practiced daily.
Right.
(40:59):
And number three, when leadersmodel unity, teams grow and
unite around their mission.
Right on.
That's good.
That's good stuff.
Do I need to repeat'em or yougot'em?
No, it's good.
It's good.
Did you get'em though, folks?
Did you get'em?
Did you get all of thoseleadership's?
Not about our position.
It's about service.
Mm-hmm.
(41:19):
Teams thrive where humility andhonor our practice daily.
Good humility and honor.
And when leaders model unity,yeah.
Teams grow and unite around themission.
That's it.
Working with our teams, not overour teams.
Yeah.
So as we wrap up here, we alwayslike to leave you with an.
With an action item or achallenge of the week, challenge
(41:41):
a challenge of the week.
And your challenge this week isto find one way to serve your
team, uh, one way to serve yourfamily, uh, even your coworkers,
and expect you wanna serve themand expect nothing in return.
Yeah.
Big leadership principle.
Serve without expecting anythingin return because you'll,
(42:02):
you'll, without expectinganything in return, but when you
do that, you'll get.
Something in return.
Uh, so maybe it's, uh, maybeyou're writing a, a thank you
note.
Maybe you're admitting thatyou're wrong.
Maybe you're apologizing first.
Maybe you're f apologizing andforgiving.
They kind of go hand in hand.
Uh, maybe it's just, you know,buying, buying that cup of
(42:24):
coffee for, for someone youknow, who appreciates that or
Chipotle.
Or Chipotle.
Well, hey, uh, small acts ofservice multiply toward unity.
Yeah.
Small acts of service multiplytoward unity.
So take take time in your quiettime with the Lord this week and
(42:44):
ask him what he wants you to do.
Ask him how you can serve yourteam, uh, today and through the
week.
Uh, when you ask the Lord whathe wants, he's never gonna steer
you wrong.
Right.
And that's definitely the way togo for sure.
And remember, you know,stewarding a team with integrity
isn't about being the loudestvoice in the room.
(43:05):
It's about reflecting Jesus wholed with love, humility, and
with sacrifice.
So united, we lead becauseunited in Christ, we cannot be
divided.
Right.
United in Christ, we cannot bedivided.
That's right.
And he is the foundation.
He is the cornerstone.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, and the enemy will surelytry to divide us.
(43:26):
But when we focus, when we fixour eyes on Jesus, the pioneer
and perfecter of our faith, wecannot be divided.
That's right.
And the only way we could bedivided is if we allow the enemy
in to give him a foothold.
Mm-hmm.
So stay focused on Christ.
So we thank y'all for.
Uh, joining us on faithfullyinvested.
Until next time, uh, keepleading and serving with Christ
(43:50):
at the center of all things.
Yes.
And remember that when you livefaithfully invested, God brings
the increase He does.
So peace be with you all and Godbless you and your families.
Absolutely.
Have a great day.
Thanks for joining us onFaithfully Invested with Allen
and Stacy Jo, if today'sconversation encouraged you,
(44:13):
challenged you, or helped yousee your calling more clearly,
don't keep it to yourself.
That's right.
Share it with a friend.
Leave a five star review andkeep leaning into God's
blueprint for your life, yourleadership, and your legacy.
So until next time, remember,when you invest in his kingdom,
he brings the increase.
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