5 Leadership Questions: A Leadership Podcast Featuring Interviews With Carey Nieuwhof, Craig Groeschel, Matt Chandler, Jen Wi

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im are joined by Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. During their conversation, they discuss the following questions: Have you ever left a church as an attender and why? What are the reasons church leaders think people leave their church? What does the research actually say? What’s the most surprising thing you discovered in the research? What do churchgoers want in their churches? BEST QUOTES “I assume people come or go from your church because of either preaching, worship, or kids." “In this economy, there are so many things that are subscription based. If I’m merely ‘subscribing’ to a church instead of becoming a part of the body, there are multiple opportunities for me to opt out.” “Only 57% of churchgoers would describe themselves as completely committed to continuing to attend their current church.” “By the time you find out someone is considering leaving your church, they are actively looki

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins is joined by Tyler Reagin, the President of Catalyst and author of The Life-Giving Leader. During their conversation, they discuss why self-awareness is important and knowing your own influence. BEST QUOTES "What's unique about us is we are not necessarily on the frontline serving kids in Haiti, but we are serving those who serve the kids in Haiti." "Learning myself, I realized that the one thing that he felt like was a void in my wiring and leadership capacity was actually what God wanted to use to move me into the position and now sitting in the seat I'm in." "As a boss, I want to make sure I am not putting people in a position where they are operating in learned behavior all the time, because they are going to be exhausted." "One of the biggest challenges in leadership is you have to find time to work on the business, not in it." "What are you doing with your influence?" "If we are followers of Jesus, people are watching. How we manage

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im are joined by Ed Stetzer, co-host of New Churches podcast. Ed holds the Billy Graham Chair of Church, Mission, and Evangelism at Wheaton College and serves as Executive Director of the Billy Graham Center. During their conversation, they discuss being a successful leader of a large team and aggressive time management. BEST QUOTES "The more I grow in the leadership roles that I'm doing, the more I need to learn from sources that think about leadership in our culture, and simultaneously the more I need to grow in my own spiritual formation." "The Bible is not a leadership handbook. There are leadership examples in the Bible. The Bible is the story of God's redemptive plan." "As I learn to be a better leader, I also need to learn to be a servant and one who loves Jesus more everyday and is growing in my knowledge of Him." "I've got to move from being an effective executive to now building an effective senior leadership team of ef

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im are joined by Bruce Ashford, provost at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and author of Letters to an American Christian. During their conversation, they discuss what it looks like to have discussions with people you disagree with from a Christian perspective. BEST QUOTES "What the people around me need me to do is to lead in a fully convictional manner with fear of the Lord guiding me, not fear of other people." "Fear of man is really just putting other people at the center instead of God." "If Christ is Lord, then how does his Lordship relate to areas of life that aren't so obviously religious, like art, science, politics, Washington, D.C., and New York?" "The disposition and demeanor of many Americans today is inherently demeaning and degrading, that there is not humane respect for the person with whom we argue." "Truth without grace makes you a political bully or a jerk; grace without truth makes you a political w

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Eric Geiger are joined by Louie Giglio, pastor of Passion City Church, founder of the Passion movement, and author of Goliath Must Fall. During their conversation, they discuss the following questions: Do you feel the depression you went through would have happened regardless of your circumstances or do you feel leaders are more susceptible to that? What is a warning signal for someone who’s need for control has moved from a healthy sense of responsibility to an unhealthy or sinful hold on control that isn’t trusting God? How do I know if this discontent is an unholy discontent and a holy discontent? BEST QUOTES “We do not like to major on our minors, we like to major on our majors.” “The number one thing you need to do for a person in a state of anxiety or depression is say, ‘It’s not a one size fits all. You are not crazy.’” “It’s not just the pressure and the weight of leadership, it’s the spiritual fight.” “I was more addict

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Eric Geiger are joined by Christine Caine, founder of Propel Women and A21 and author of Unexpected. During their conversation, they discuss the following questions: What are the most common things that cause leaders anxiety? Why is anxiety so detrimental to leadership? How do you know if you are leading in faith or crippled by anxiety and fear? What are practical ways to deal with anxiety in a proactive way? BEST QUOTES “A lack of clarity of vision can cause anxiety.” “When you get anxious and fearful and lose your clarity, then most of your decisions become fear-based rather than faith-based.” “You start to play safe, rather than go for enlargement and go for growth.” “Healthy things grow and growing things change.” “If you are making decisions based out of fear rather than faith, then you are not making wise decisions in the present that will allow growth and momentum in the future.” “A lot of us aren’t leading in faith,

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Eric Geiger are joined by Thom Rainer, president and CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources and author of Becoming a Welcoming Church. During their conversation, they discuss the following questions: How can churches use the book? What prompted you to write the book? What are some of the most common mistakes people make in welcoming or not welcoming people in their church? Is there a difference in what millennials want and other generations want when they are visiting churches? Do churches need to have different strategies for different generations? What message do you hope will resonate most with the readers? BEST QUOTES “This book is a bridge to gospel conversations, particularly to guests coming in to your church.” “A church of 150 is most likely going to have around 250 first-time guests a year.” “The website is viewed primarily by guests, not by church members.” “We miss greeting people in the worship center. They come in e

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Daniel Im is joined by Larry Osborne, teaching pastor at Northcoast church in California, and author of Lead Like a Shepherd. During their conversation, they discuss succession and looking for the fruit in raising kids instead of focusing on the watering schedule. BEST QUOTES “The more eclectic you can be, the more helpful you’re going to be because the people you minister to are going to be all over the map.” “I never know where associative learning will take me.” “All of our biggest problems in life are going to be solved by someone outside our paradigm.” “How do we spiritually and organizationally maintain a healthy pace?” “We believe that real church takes place in circles not in rows.” “Retention is the greatest measure of health in any organization.” “I don’t think a succession plan should be more than 18 months because it’s very hard to get a big L leader who will wait 3 to 5 years.” “You need to figure out who you are and what gives you lif

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Eric Geiger and Todd Adkins are joined by Dr. Tony Evans, author of Kingdom Disciples and Kingdom Man. During their conversation, they discuss why it is important for a leader to be a reader and how to lead your family around the table. BEST QUOTES “I try to read people who I think will grow me in the area of where I am ministering at the time.” “I read any and everything that I can get my hands on that is relevant to the audience to whom I am speaking because the Bible was not meant to just be an exegetical book to tell you what the author thought in Scripture, but from which you use what the author taught to the group that he was speaking to, to the relevant realities of the people whom you speak to.” “You begin with after you’ve read your Bible, you read your newspaper.” “We come from the Bible, to our people. But the people are coming from the world, to the Bible. We must respect their starting place as different than our starting place because tha

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im are joined by Art Rainer, author of The Marriage Challenge and Vice President for Institutional Advancement at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. During their conversation, they discuss using your position as a leader to become a better listener and the importance of patience. BEST QUOTES “Leadership requires courage.” “A leader needs to be able to step out and overcome the fear of failure.” “In order to accomplish something great it takes times and a lot of work.” “The idea of momentary success that we often attribute to companies and individuals is a complete farce. There are many grueling hours and days and weeks and years and hard work that eventually lead to success.” “When you are a leader and in a meeting, if you speak first, then you are going to shut down a lot of the good conversation and good ideas that could transpire. Those around the table are going to defer to your particular opinion, which may or may n

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Eric Geiger are joined by Jon Acuff, author of Finish. During their conversation, they discuss curating ideas to be a better leader and vulnerability. BEST QUOTES “Perfectionists would rather get a zero than a C. They are an all or nothing people.” “If I tell you my goal the wrong way, I’m less likely to do it.” “Social media gives you the high of accomplishing something you haven’t accomplished.” “Sometimes perfectionism is pretending you don’t have faults or admitting the safe ones.” “You should be fully vulnerable as a leader with a small group of people who can tell you the truth and say that’s not right.” “Surround yourself with people whose livelihood isn’t dependent on you, because they can only tell you a percent of the truth.” “I want my leadership impact to be that people would try things they didn’t think they could do.” “Your character impacts your skills and impacts your job.” “If you are a leader, you need to be an id

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Eric Geiger are joined by author and teacher Priscilla Shirer. During their conversation, they discuss celebrating weakness and what leadership in the home looks like. BEST QUOTES “I’m learning a lot about humility. That humility is the key for relationships in families, in working relationships, in ministry. Humility is what lays the framework for effective relationships.” “Kids can be the best teachers in helping you to see the world in a different light and see yourself more clearly. It’s like staring in a mirror and recognizing there’s some stuff that needs to be straightened out.” “It might not be perfect, but it’s going to be purposeful, and we are going to do the best we can.” “On the heels of that correction, there was a conversation about what my father saw could possibly be a gift that God has given me that needs to be molded by God’s Spirit for His purposes.” “Something else that was caught for me was not disciplining out of

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im complete the series on recruiting volunteers with a discussion on how to onboard new volunteers. During their conversation, they discuss the following questions: How important is it to onboard volunteers well? How important are clearly articulated vision and values to an onboarding process? How do you audit the elements your onboarding process? Where can I find some of these tools? What are some practical immediately applicable ways you can improve your onboarding this week? BEST QUOTES “You have either cast vision and inspired a person to be in a volunteer position or you have guilted them to be in a volunteer position. Either way you want to ‘wow’ them by being clean and clear.” “You can’t onboard a person through an email or an information sheet.” “It is very important to have people imbedded in each ministry area whose role is taking someone through the onboarding process.” “It’s always best to recruit to visio

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Eric Geiger, Todd Adkins, and Daniel Im continue the series on recruiting volunteers with a practical discussion on creating a culture of recruiting. During their conversation, they discuss the following questions: How important is culture to recruiting volunteers? What are some of the best levers leaders have at their disposal to create and embed culture? How do I assess my current culture? Is culture created by poetry or plumbing? What are some practical steps to actually start changing your culture? BEST QUOTES “Culture is important for any discipline or value you want proliferated across the church.” “Just having a recruiting culture isn’t enough.” “The argument on which comes first isn’t as important as deciding you need both culture and systems.” “If you want to create culture you tell stories that embody the values you want to see in the culture.” “You create culture by who and what is celebrated.” “You change the culture by tellin

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Eric Geiger, Todd Adkins, and Daniel Im continue the series on recruiting volunteers with a discussion on current methods of recruiting. During their conversation, they discuss the following questions: How do churches normally recruit volunteers? What are some of the most common ways you see churches recruit leaders? Do you feel these methods are effective? Where do these methods come up short? Let’s talk about some of the times we have been put into leadership before we were ready. Now, share a story about when you placed someone in a position that they were not ready for, and what could you have done differently? How do you give your volunteers the tools to succeed even when they may not be fully ready? BEST QUOTES “You are never going to get a better result than making a personal ask.” “If you are having a good experience in this ministry, you are our best bet at getting more people in.” “Recruiting is going to be effective if there is a

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Eric Geiger, Todd Adkins, and Daniel Im continue the series on recruiting volunteers with the focus on types of recruiting. During their conversation, they discuss the following questions: What are the different types of volunteer roles in the church? How do you recruit these different types of volunteers? What are the main reasons that people give for not volunteering in the church? How do you respond to a volunteer who doesn’t have the time? How do you ensure you honor the time and commitment of your volunteers? BEST QUOTES “Even within a volunteer level there are different types of roles. Some of those are weekly or biweekly, but some are really based on trust and level of responsibility.” “When you use your offering time as a way to cast vision for a ministry area, you can excite people about the ministry area without sounding desperate that you need more volunteers.” “If you leapfrog your own pipeline, you don’t get an opportunity to se

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Eric Geiger, Todd Adkins, and Daniel Im begin a series of discussions on recruiting volunteers. During their conversation, they discuss the following questions: Why do so many churches feel like they never have enough leaders? What do we mean by recruiting? Why is recruiting important to leadership development? What are some common mistakes to recruiting? Whose job is it to recruit volunteers? BEST QUOTES “How do you grab people who haven’t bought into the vision of the local church to the extent that they are going to volunteer and give time to this grand mission?” “Whatever your culture currently is, you are basically training your church to be that. If you are always looking for leaders, if you always have a dumpster fire every Saturday, it’s going to be really hard to break out of that until you can shift that mindset and that culture. Especially if you’ve chosen to buy leaders instead of build them.” “There is a theological issue, that

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im are joined by Matt Perman, author of How to Get Unstuck. During their conversation, they discuss how theology and practicality go together. BEST QUOTES “You don’t have to choose between being theological and being practical. They are intended to go together.” “I’m driven by questions about the text.” “Let’s be God-centered in how we lead, not just come up with our own ideas.” “There’s two main factors that determine how we spend our time. They are urgency and importance." “We often assume that because something is urgent, it must also be important.” “The urgent things are often times crowding out the important things.” “The noise of urgency creates the illusion of importance." “I’d rather do it, and do it mediocre, than not do it at all.” “If you try to excel in 20 things, you probably won’t excel in anything at all.” “You need to learn the skill of leading in your home. It’s not going to come automatically." “Don’t loo

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im are joined by Jason Allen, president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. During their conversation, they discuss the importance of being a learner and daily patterns for success. BEST QUOTES “To be a leader is to be a learner.” “The leader who is sitting on top of a totem pole wanting everyone to bow down to him, is detached and removed, and not only is it off-putting to those who you lead, it also is robbing you of the intellectual contributions those people you lead can make.” “Know your own self, Your own context. You are bumping into a youth minister or a pastor. Ask them based on their expertise: What are you reading? Where are you learning?” “Leadership is contextual. You have to know yourself, your life context, know the context in which God has called you to lead and serve. And you are having to adjust and to lead and to learn based upon that context and those contextual needs.” “I would rather have a really b

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im are joined by Paul Tripp, author of Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family and What Did You Expect? Redeeming the Realities of Marriage. During their conversation, they discuss the following questions: What is a conflict or a failure that has benefited you in leadership? Who or what in your life has been the greatest influence? What do you want your leadership legacy to be? What habits or practices do you focus on so you can continue to learn as a leader? What’s the best piece of leadership advice that you’ve ever been given? BEST QUOTES "God doesn’t always promise me a perfect instrument that is going to speak to me." "I want to be humble enough to say that even in this hurtful message there is something that I need to hear." "Every leader needs that older guy, whose been in the battle, who understands the issue. You can talk to the guy in shorthand and he gets it right away. He is tr