5 Leadership Questions Podcast on Church Leadership with Todd Adkins and Dan Iten

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Dan Iten are joined by Vance Pitman who serves as the President of Send Network, the largest church planting network in North America. Pitman reflects on his time as the Pastor of Hope Church in Las Vegas, discussing conflicts with church leadership that led to his departure and his subsequent pursuit of intimacy with Jesus Christ. He also discusses his current role as the head of the North American Mission Board's church planting efforts and emphasizes the importance of pursuing intimacy with Christ, prioritizing rest, and aligning oneself with God's mission. BEST QUOTES “The primary call on my life is not ministry, the primary call on my life is intimacy. Ministry is what He does out of the overflow of intimacy.” – Vance Pitman “Spiritual leadership is not what I do for God. Spiritual leadership is what God does through me out of the overflow of my intimate love relationship with Him.” – Vance Pitman “God has really taught me that I can be so consumed with what He’s called me to do that I forget about what He’s called me to be. We’re not human doings, we’re human beings.” – Vance Pitman “Every man that I know that had an affair in ministry first had an affair with a ministry that wooed him away from intimacy with Christ and opened him up to things he never thought he do.” – Vance Pitman “Jesus didn't bring us into a relationship with Himself just so we could do something for Him. He brought us to a relationship with Himself because He wants to be with us.” – Vance Pitman “The local New Testament Church is the tool that he gave us for the accomplishment of the mission. It's not the mission. The mission is the kingdom of God being expanded in cities and nations all over the world.” – Vance Pitman “Leadership is lonely, but it can't be done alone. Leadership implies there are other people involved in following your leadership and speaking to you as a leader.” – Vance Pitman “Leaders are learners and when you stop learning, you forfeit the right to lead.” – Vance Pitman “Somebody less experienced than us often we think about them as only people we can pour into, but often the people less experienced than us bring a perspective that we don't have because it's fresh.” – Vance Pitman “The relational environments that you set and create in your life set the environment from which decisions will be made.” – Vance Pitman “Joy is in the journey. If we only focus on achievements, destinations, goals, or milestones, we’ll miss so much along the way.” – Vance Pitman “For every one major achievement, there will be a thousand leadership moments along the way that are shaping the culture of your organization and the people within your organization.” – Vance Pitman RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Vance Pitman

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Dan Iten are joined by Danny Franks, the Connections Pastor at the Summit Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, as they discuss the book, "Unreasonable Hospitality" by Will Guidara. The book tells the story of Will Guidara, a New York restaurateur, and his experience running the number-one restaurant in the world. The podcast explores the book's main points, such as the importance of exceptional service and authentic connections, and how they apply to leadership and first impressions within the church. BEST QUOTES “They really focused on the service and what happened in the dining room versus what happened in the kitchen. As church leaders, we can really learn a lot about that as we learn to set up the table for guests as they enter our building.” – Danny Franks “It's important for us to understand that in the context of the church, we need to be aware of where the culture has shifted and to adjust accordingly. Not to water down what we do, if anything, to distill down what we do to serve better.” – Todd Adkins “No matter what industry you're in, service is ultimately important.” – Todd Adkins “When you do your job in color, it means that you make people feel great about the job that you're doing for them. You're doing it to make an authentic connection, which is hospitality.” – Danny Franks “There are certain fads that come and go with the church world, but taking care of humans, that's not ever going to go away. That’s something that we need to continue to think about as we try to make people feel welcome and ready to worship the Lord coming into a Sunday service.” – Danny Franks “Repetition is extremely important. Whether it's our vision and values, or any of those things, you can't assume that somebody understands why you’re doing it.” – Todd Adkins “A lot of leadership is shifting from being intuitive to intentional, and that's where you get the gains.” – Todd Adkins “Being in the local church, my primary role is built around creating a culture that takes outsiders and makes them insiders.” – Danny Franks “I think a lot of times, especially in the climate that we're in too many people have too few expectations for churches, and they just kind of show up expecting to be disappointed if they show up at all.” – Danny Franks Yes, it's a clear command from Scripture that we must show hospitality. But it's not supposed to point to itself. It's got a point beyond itself as a signpost straight to the Gospel. We can't get that wrong.” – Danny Franks “If we are continually failing, in the implicit or explicit promises that we made to people, and we're not even measuring up to their low expectations for us, we might not ever get a chance to point them to the gospel.” – Danny Franks RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect by Will Guidara All My Knotted-Up Life: A Memoir by Beth Moore Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business by Danny Meyer Inside the Magic Kingdom: Seven Keys to Disney's Success by Tom Connellan The Gospel Comes with a House Key: Practicing Radically Ordinary Hospitality in Our Post-Christian World by Rosaria Butterfield

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins is joined by Dr. Angie Ward, a leadership author and teacher with nearly 30 years of experience in church, parachurch, and Christian higher education ministry. She also serves as Director of the Doctor of Ministry program at Denver Seminary. They discuss the concept of adaptive leadership and its importance in today's rapidly changing culture and churches. Dr. Ward shares insights and practical tools for agile and adaptive leadership, including managing leadership anxiety and understanding the emotional aspects of change management. BEST QUOTES “Especially when it comes to change and leading an organization, you're going to have people that want to transfer their anxiety to you. It’s at that point that you must have a barrier up to be able to maintain a clean and clear point of view.” – Dr. Angie Ward “Anytime there's change, that introduces disequilibrium into the system, and then disequilibrium seeks stability.” – Dr. Angie Ward “When you have everybody bringing their own things into a change situation in the organization, then then it's not just what's going on in the organization, but what's going on in every individual person and in between every person in the system.” – Dr. Angie Ward “We need to do that deep change on our own before we try to lead a system, an institution, an organization, or a group through that deep change.” – Dr. Angie Ward Nobody's going to say, “Let me give you extra time. Let me protect your time.” You must do it. You must block out those things.” – Dr. Angie Ward “I wish I would’ve been aware of God saying, “This is who you are”, instead of all the external internal voices because that causes a lot of turmoil and doubt and trying to be somebody I'm not created to be.” – Dr. Angie Ward RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Uncharted Leadership: 20 Case Studies to Help Ministry Leaders Adapt to Uncertainty by Dr. Angie Ward At Your Best: How to Get Time, Energy, and Priorities Working in Your Favor by Carey Nieuwhof Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport Managing Leadership Anxiety: Yours and Theirs by Steve Cuss Leading Change by John P. Kotter The Change Monster: The Human Forces that Fuel or Foil Corporate Transformation and Change by Jeanie Daniel Duck The Heart of Change: Real-Life Stories of How People Change Their Organizations by John P. Kotter and Dan S. Cohen Dr. Angie Ward Website

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Dan Iten are joined by Mark Satterfield, the Lead Pastor at the Glade Church in Mount Juliet, Tennessee. They focus on the five steps to getting things done, which include reducing, prioritizing, planning, executing, and measuring tasks. Satterfield also highlights the importance of having a vision framework, utilizing task management and productivity apps, learning from CEOs, reducing clutter, saying no to non-priority tasks, and delegating effectively. The 5 steps to getting things done are: Reduce: This step involves evaluating tasks and prioritizing them based on importance and relevance. (3:07) Prioritize: After reducing tasks, it is important to prioritize the remaining tasks based on their significance and alignment with vision and values. (14:18) Plan: The planning step involves creating a schedule or a plan to allocate time and resources to the prioritized tasks. This includes using strategies like the Eisenhower matrix to determine what is important and urgent. (22:56) Execute: Once the plan is in place, executing and working towards accomplishing the tasks is important. This step focuses on acting and following through with the plan. (26:16) Measure: The final step is to measure the progress and effectiveness of the tasks. This includes evaluating whether the tasks were successfully completed and adjusting if needed. (38:08) You can follow Mark on Twitter @sattymark or at his website at marksatterfield.blog. BEST QUOTES "The reduction of insignificant tasks and clutter in physical and digital spaces also leads to greater efficiency in work." – Mark Satterfield "The evaluation and elimination of insignificant tasks should be a constant habit for leaders." – Mark Satterfield “One of the craziest things that can take place in the leader's life is working on things that you accomplish for the day only to walk out and not know that those things really aren't important for your own personal mission or the mission of the church.” – Mark Satterfield “There's work that we're doing that technically shouldn't be our work, you should be delegating it to others because it's actually their work.” – Mark Satterfield “If you're a leader of an organization and you're trying to think through your measures or evaluate what's getting done, that is only going to be as strong as the vision framework you have for your organization.” – Mark Satterfield “You do not rise to the level of your goals; you fall to the level of your systems.” – James Clear RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown Building a Second Brain: A Proven Method to Organize Your Digital Life and Unlock Your Creative Potential by Tiago Forte At Your Best: How to Get Time, Energy, and Priorities Working in Your Favor by Carey Nieuwhof Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear High-Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become That Way by Brendon Burchard The Compound Effect: Jumpstart Your Income, Your Life, Your Success by Darren Hardy

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Dan Iten are joined by Jared Musgrove, Co-Founder of the Community Leadership Collective and Executive Pastor of the Well Community Church. The episode focuses on the importance of small groups and communities in church ministry. Musgrove also discusses his new book, "A Short Guide to Groups: The Art of Leading Community," and highlights the transformative power of small groups in personal growth and leadership. The guys also talk about the significance of mid-sized communities as well as the role of prayer in leadership. BEST QUOTES “I want people who lead communities within churches to feel seen and to feel equipped and empowered to get in on what God's doing through those groups.” – Jared Musgrove “The guys that try to go it alone, whether it's planning a church or leading a company ends up burning out really quick.” – Jared Musgrove “Our entire mission is to equip and empower college men to live faithfully and lead courageously. I want these guys going into church planting and training. I want these guys to be elders in churches and to be leading companies with Christian conviction.” – Jared Musgrove “Honestly, I get more pastoral insight from fiction books than I do from pastoral books most of the time.” – Jared Musgrove “I think the greatest way I can lead my kids is just remembering what it was like to grow up.” – Jared Musgrove “There is no one size fits all way for designing transformational groups within the church. It is an art, not a science.” – Jared Musgrove RECOMMENDED RESOURCES A Short Guide to Groups: The Art of Leading Community by Jared Musgrove and Justin Elafros Dictionary of Biblical Imagery by Leland Ryken, James C. Wilhoit, and Tremper Longman III The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary by Robert Alter Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae by Steven Pressfield

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Dan Iten are joined by Daniel Im who is the Lead Pastor of Beulah Alliance Church in Edmonton, Alberta. During their conversation, they discuss the following questions: What is one thing you've read recently that you would want to pass along? What is one thing that you've listened to or watched recently? What is one tool or resource that you've started to use recently? Daniel, your church just celebrated 80 baptisms. Can you tell us how that came about and what you learned throughout that process? BEST QUOTES "Leadership is disruption. If you are not constantly leading the disruption, and then bringing about change, then someone else or something else is going to disrupt your organization, and you are going to be out of control of that." – Daniel Im “With customer service, we want people in our churches to be well-cared for as guest services are super important to us. But a lot of times we make it very transactional and make it about boxes being checked or processes being created rather than making it about the person.” – Todd Adkins “I don't want to let the pain, the criticism, and the hurt of ministry so affect me that my heart is hard.” – Daniel Im “I feel that we can so easily get caught up in the, “I want the biggest church, I want the biggest name, I want all these things” mindset in our ministries. But you know, when you encounter these people who only want to make Christ famous or when they want growth in their church and organizations for God’s glory and not their own, it’s a powerful example of where I’d like to me in my own life.” – Dan Iten RECOMMENDED RESOURCES You Are What You Do: And Six Other Lies about Work, Life, and Love by Daniel Im No Silver Bullets: Five Small Shifts that Will Transform Your Ministry by Daniel Im Planting Missional Churches: Your Guide to Starting Churches that Multiply by Ed Stetzer and Daniel Im Managing Corporate Lifecycles (Pb): How Organizations Grow, Age and Die by Ichak Adizes Don't Hold Back: Breaking Free from the American Gospel to Follow Jesus Fully by David Platt Discovering the Gospel in Every Book of the Bible with Tim Keller (YouTube Series) Words with God: Trading Boring, Empty Prayer for Real Connection by Addison Bevere Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect by Will Guidara

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins is joined by Addison Bevere, COO of Messenger International and author of "Words with God: Trading Boring, Empty Prayer for Real Connection". Their discussion covers diverse topics such as leadership, the importance of reading and learning from different sources, prayer, and the impact of the voice of the accuser in today's world. This episode emphasizes the significance of leadership grounded in faith and listening to God's voice. BEST QUOTES “So much of prayer invites us into a form of silence where we discover that the silence is actually a language of God’s. And it's not a form of rejection. It's an invitation to a fresh way of engaging with God's voice and understanding how God has worked with us.” – Addison Bevere “Something about silence drives us to better understand God and our world and ourselves and how it all comes together.” – Addison Bevere “I thought that peace was having all the answers. I didn't realize that peace was being in tune with the one who is the answer.” – Addison Bevere “God doesn't deliver us from a thing. If he knows that that thing will ultimately deliver us to Him.” – Addison Bevere “Joy is an important tenant of the kingdom of God. You are sacrificing your joy because you are trying to sustain something that is not yours to sustain.” – Addison Bevere “When we make prayer about us moving our mouths, we actually make prayer about us and not about God.” – Addison Bevere “Shalom does not mean peace. We use it as peace and peace is certainly a part of shalom. But what Shalom literally means is integration. It means the pieces coming together to make a whole. And because the pieces are coming together to make a whole, Shalom communicates peace, joy, and wellness. What is fractured and fragmented is coming together and becoming whole.” – Addison Bevere RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Words with God: Trading Boring, Empty Prayer for Real Connection by Addison Bevere How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading by Mortimer J. Adler & Charles Van Doren A. Lincoln: A Biography by Ronald C. White, Jr. Addison Bevere

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Dan Iten are joined by Mark Dance, Director of Pastoral Wellness at Guidestone Financial Resources, and author of "Start to Finish: The Pastor's Guide to Leading a Resilient Life and Ministry". Mark shares insights on building resilience in ministry, especially during the pandemic. They also talk about the importance of prioritizing relationships according to the Great Commandment, where loving God, family, and others should be at the forefront. They also aim to guide pastors and ministry leaders on how to lead a resilient life and ministry, grounded in a deep love for God and others. BEST QUOTES "This book is not about finances. It's about the comprehensive nature of the great commandment, heart, soul, mind, strength, as they are never meant to be separated and compartmentalized into separate things." – Mark Dance "It's not how we start but how we finish that matters." – Mark Dance “The hardest thing for a pastor to do is to ask somebody for help.” – Mark Dance “If you want to be a resilient, healthy pastor, you're going to have to be a Great Commandment Pastor. You got to love the Lord with your heart, soul, mind, and strength.” – Mark Dance “Our ministries will never be stronger than our marriages. So never feel guilty about investing time in your spouse.” – Mark Dance RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Start to Finish: The Pastor’s Guide to Leading a Resilient Life and Ministry by Mark Dance Guidestone Financial Resources

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Dan Iten are joined by Henry Costa, the CEO and co-founder of Glorify, a Christian daily worship app. Costa shares his background in finance, the military, and the technology industry, and how these experiences have led him to focus on technology for positive societal change. They also discuss the importance of learning from multiple sources, building a council of elders for advice, and the current focus of Glorify's leadership team on communication, remote work, and building culture. BEST QUOTES “I think the Christian world is crying out for better products to help them connect with God better.” – Henry Costa “The thing that makes people love that their job is really understanding what the vision is, what's the mission of how they're contributing directly into that, and then what's the output of that as they bring everything that we do back to the user.” – Henry Costa “Focus on where you're weak rather than thinking that you're great at everything.” – Henry Costa "I just want to hire the best people around me give them autonomy and let them build under the strategic direction that that I can provide.” – Henry Costa "I have had great bosses and I've had terrible bosses. I have learned probably as much from the terrible ones of how I don't want to lead and how I never want to lead with a culture of fear.” – Henry Costa RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Glorify | #1 Christian Daily Worship App Organizational Culture and Leadership by Edgar H. Schein

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Dan Iten are joined by Brian Dodd who serves as the Director of New Ministry Relationships for Injoy Stewardship Solutions where they help churches fully fund their mission and vision. During this conversation, Brian emphasizes the importance of continuous learning and curiosity in leadership, advising leaders to ask the second and third questions of everything to gain deeper insights and implications for application. They also touch on the topics of failure, personal growth, and self-leadership. BEST QUOTES “Everybody’s a leader. Because if nothing else, you got to practice self-leadership. So, everybody's a leader, and everybody can get better as a leader.” – Brian Dodd “Failure is a data point to learn from. That's the way you need to view failure. If the failure is not fatal, it's just a data point to learn from.” – Brian Dodd “If you're a leader and you're not reading books, I can’t help you. It is easily the best return on investment that a person can make.” – Brian Dodd “Work on leadership development, but also work equally hard on leader development so that when you become the person in public that God wants you to be, you have the character to sustain it.” – Brian Dodd “There will come countless times in your marriage that there will be a disagreement or an argument. Your job during those times is not to try to win the argument and not to try to prove your point. Your job is to take responsibility, the blame, and the responsibility so that your relationship with your bride can be restored.” – Brian Dodd “When you're creating content, whether it be a sermon, a Sunday school lesson, small group content, or anything of that nature; if you make it about the other person, God will honor that and make it more effective than anything you've done previously.” – Brian Dodd RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Hard Work: A Life On and Off the Court by Roy Williams and Tim Crothers Leadership as an Identity: The Four Traits of Those Who Wield Lasting Influence by Crawford Lorritts Mighty: 7 Skills You Need to Move from Pandemic to Progress by Brian Dodd 2021: The Year in Leadership: The Stories of Faith, Athletics, Business, and Life Which Inspired Us All by Brian Dodd Timeless: 10 Enduring Practices of Apex Leaders by Brian Dodd The 2-Minute Leader Coaching Course by Brian Dodd