Ep. 105 | Lead Better Under Pressure

Leadership today feels overwhelming, but what if the real issue is deeper than busyness? In this episode, we step back and explore five critical themes shaping Christian leadership right now and what they mean for how you lead every day.

You will uncover why there is a growing resilience crisis and how true leaders are not just surviving pressure but being transformed by it. The conversation dives into the dangerous gap between potential and readiness, challenging the idea that gifting alone qualifies someone to lead. You will also hear a powerful perspective on stewarding time in a distracted world and why managing attention may be one of the greatest leadership challenges of our generation.

We also explore how to develop the next generation in a comparison driven culture, helping them find identity and purpose in who God created them to be. Finally, this episode emphasizes why real leadership growth happens through experience, not just information, and how applying what you learn leads to lasting transformation.

If you are serious about growing as a leader and developing others with intention and impact, this episode will give you practical insights you can apply immediately. Tune in to gain clarity, conviction, and a renewed vision for your leadership journey.

Transcript

Why Leadership Feels Overwhelming

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Keeping up with all of the leadership conversations and topics going on any given week or month can be overwhelming. And so on today's episode of the History Makers Leadership Podcast, we'd like to try something a little different and hit on a couple of the key topics or themes that leading Christian thinkers are kind of reflecting on and addressing. And some opportunities for you and for me to reflect, uh, think of some personal application, uh, but really produce some of the practices that are going to change the way we lead and ultimately allow us to better fulfill the purpose, vision, and uh, and calling that God has given us. Uh, the first kind of theme uh that I want to pull from is actually from a wonderful resource, Untools. They've got a uh a ton of uh uh elements and things to help Christian leaders, particularly pastoral leaders, but this is the the concept that they were addressing. It's simply this there's a resilience crisis going on in the church today. The modern leader is currently being trained to merely survive pressure, but the gospel demands a leadership that is actually improved by it. All I can think of is the scripture in James where we're reminded that in the midst of our sorrow or suffering, God is producing something in us, that steadfastness, that maturity of faith. And so as Christian leaders, we need to reflect on the fact that uh suffering isn't something we uh rejoice in and celebrate in an unhealthy way, but it is something that we recognize that God is working in the midst of. And because of that, we can take heart that his plans are better than ours, his ways are higher than ours, and we can take uh refuge in the midst of that. Most resilience advice is actually framed as endurance advice, but true leadership requires um really a concept where leaders get stronger when things go wrong rather than when everything goes right. Here's what I need you to hear: uh the best way for you to grow as a leader is to get in the reps. Uh, those wounds and those um worries along the way, God uses to form and shape you into the better leader that you need to be so that you can uh connect with, serve, love, give grace to the people that you lead along the way. Listen, uh being in the leader doesn't mean that things are always rainbows and shunshine, but instead, you and I want to be tested and found to be uh faithful in the midst of it. So recognize around us there's a crisis of resilience. The people we lead might feel that pressure to constantly seem like everything is just fine, but we're not shooting for survival. We're actually looking to see people grow into resilient, abiding, steadfast leaders in the midst of it. That's where you want to make sure that you are right now, today, in your own life in leadership. Uh, those good, faithful uh spiritual disciplines will be a powerful tool for you in the midst of that. Uh, second topic uh in a uh there's a real gap between uh potential leaders and ready leaders. And identifying what the difference is between those is a critical need for Christian leaders today, both in organizations, in ministries, in the marketplace. Uh, we see so many individuals who have incredible potential. Man, I love seeing a young leader who's got uh uh a vibrance, uh a charisma, a potential to be transformational for the kingdom, uh, but they lack some of the readiness that's necessary. This is what uh uh Malcolm Weber from over at Leadersource, he kind of said this we're wasting the kingdom's resources investing in the wrong leaders because we confuse raw gifting with tested character. Listen, I think there is nothing more important today than a local leader with Christ-like character in every community on the planet. Don't miss this. Gifting is not necessarily connected to character. God gives gifts and they're beautiful and abundant, but we don't want to connect that in a way that begins to believe because their gifts are great, that they have the uh um necessary character formation and development. That was one of the issues with the Pharisees, right? They were whitewashed tombs, pure white on the outside, but inside dead and missing. We don't need that in our leaders. Uh, this is what uh Malcolm highlighted. He said, uh, a zealot is a leader who loses themselves in a program or a project as a frantic compensation for personal qualities that they lack, character, elements, things like that. We don't want to miss uh uh the connection point between those two. Uh he also said this uh potential is not performance. A leader's calling must be birthed in Christ, purified in community, and built upon fire-tested character. We've got to distinguish between someone uh with a calling and someone who's actually willing to embrace the cost. Christian leader, we don't want to uh uh uh begin to replace or exchange charisma for character. Uh we need Christ-like character first, and then to develop that charisma, to develop that that uh love and passion and zeal and connection with the people that we're leading and serving. So don't miss uh just because somebody has a potential doesn't mean they're yet ready. You need to be about the process of multiplying leaders. Uh here we teach at ILI that one of the most effective values in a Christian leader is the multiplication of leaders. Don't miss this. You aren't the end leader for the thing that you're leading. God wants it to live and be effective and fruitful for many generations. So you've got to invest in the lives of others. Help them to move from potential to readiness. Investing in their character is the first place to start that process. Topic number three here for us, the theology of the time. Topic number three for us, the theology of time, stewardship in a distracted age. Listen, even now, during this time, you've probably been distracted by two or three other things going on around you. I know it's true in my life. If I didn't have a do not disturb button, I'd probably be done. But Jordan Rayner and Mike Sherrow uh over from the C12 group, beautiful group, especially for you marketplace leaders, they talked about how 40% of the world uh remains unreached with the gospel, but it's it's uh drowning in this series of daily distractions that the church has been consumed by that can that that misses the connection to all those who so desperately need the gospel. Time's not a resource to be spent, but it is a trust that needs to be redeemed. What on earth is that noise?

SPEAKER_01 6:59

He's lowering altitude, he's going to lower, he's going quick and low. Sorry, guys. All right, let me start that topic again because I didn't like whatever was going with that.

Align Your Calendar With Calling

Identity And The Next Generation

The Wilderness Builds Real Leaders

Practical Applications You Can Try

Your Mission As A Local Leader

SPEAKER_00 7:15

All right, you ready? So topic number three four is stewardship of time in an unbelievably distracted age. Here's the line from Jordan Rayner, Mike Sherrow over at C12. Uh, the greatest threat to a leader's calling today is not a lack of opportunity, but the inability to manage the tension of a distracted world. Listen, this is true for all Christian leaders. C12, a great group for you, marketplace leaders. Uh, time is a resource not to be spent, but rather to be redeemed. Okay. Uh we number our days because we remember God has given us a limited amount of time here on earth and we want to invest it. We want to redeem it for his purpose, for his good, for his uh for our good, for his glory. Leaders must move from being busy to being stewards who align their calendars with an eternal calling. Listen, there are some incredible resources out there that can help you understand the importance of practicing faithful stewardship of time. We just talked recently in an episode about the importance of Sabbath in the midst of an AI kind of overwhelmed, decision fatigue, distracted age. So I want to encourage you, don't miss uh the importance of redeeming those times and remembering uh those important lessons. Topic number four for us the design of the next generation. Here's the quote from Eric Geiger we are losing the next generation to the comparison game because we have failed to ground their identity in the complexity of their creator. A car's got 30,000 parts, but the human leader is composed of 30 trillion cells. Uh, let's not miss the importance of our intentional designer creating us in his image. Listen, a next generation has been uh uh pressed and overwhelmed by this pressure to be a certain way and to perform a certain way and to live up to an unrealistic expectation or standard. But here's the beauty: they are created in the image of an all-powerful, perfect creator God who uh uh gives us uh his creative insight and ability, who pours out on us that reflection of himself that allows us to make a difference in the world and to be his messengers and carriers of good news to those who need it. The next generation needs to be reminded they have a high purpose, they have a deep and abiding calling, and they are called to create and to join in his good work around the world. Don't let the next generation leaders around you get stuck in that comparison game where they are missing out that God has called them to something great and to join in something great. It's not them versus the world, it's them with the body of Christ and the Spirit of God reaching the world to make the change that God wants to see in the world around us. Number five, our final one for today, the power of outside in development. Brent Hoover from Leadersource says this the classroom is the tomb of leadership, the wilderness is its birthplace. Uh man, around the world, there are so many pressures to learn and to grow, but if we divorce that from practical application as Christian leaders, we leave ourselves in a position where we aren't growing in something that actually has meaning. We're just going about the process of learning as if listening alone is going to create change. Let me tell you this: we've got so many believers, uh, and I know this has been true in my own life, where I can come in and sit and hear a sermon, go into a lecture and grow in my intellectual understanding, but it fails to move from my head to my heart or my hands in a way that causes genuine transformation. I think one of the biggest barriers to an intimate relationship with God is an intellectual barrier. Okay. I think that God calls us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. But we don't need to be in love with information over intimacy. Instead, we need to be walking and abiding in an intimate relationship with Him. Remember, He is our best friend. He is that good and gracious Father. He's like our intimate partner and uh companion. In the midst of that, our own leadership needs to be tried and tested. The lessons we learn should be put to the test so that we can see what is good, what is true, what is right, what is uh effective in leading in the world in which we live today. Listen, that wilderness context, it isn't just a context of uh a wild, uh untamed. It just means in the real world. We don't want just a new head knowledge, but we actually want some practical insights that we can apply in our daily life. So across these five topics, here's what I want to say to you. Uh, number one, practical lesson here. Don't build people in a place that is purely for their comfort. If you want to develop leaders and others in your life, you've got to put them in context where failure is a real possibility. Otherwise, they will stay comfortable and they'll never actually grow as a leader. If you want resilience and leadership, they've got to have the ability to uh live, learn, fail, and recover. Recognize that failing along the way, it's a part of that growing process. Give your team, give the people you lead the opportunity to practice failure. In that process, they can learn, they can grow, and give them the coverage they need so that they can do that without uh uh uh just embarrassment or kind of internal collapse. It's gonna be an important part of it. Another lesson for us today, listen, we need to see the people who have potential, but then ensure that we're developing their character in Christ along the way. If we're not intentionally discipling them, walking them through a framework for developing their character, they're going to fall short. Listen, it's not just about teaching about goal setting and overcoming obstacles. Those are important, but it's also about teaching integrity, faithful stewardship, Christ-like character, passion for the harvest, intimacy with God. Listen, at ILI, we teach eight core values that I think are the foundation and fundamental of the most effective, faithful Christian leaders. You can check out more ILITeam.org. But no matter where you look, don't just see the gifting. See the man or woman behind the gifting and help them to grow in their walk with Christ. Remember, we are called to make disciples, not just effective leaders. It's disciples who are effective leaders because they're disciples. So let's walk that journey with them together. Another practical for you and me today. Let's not live in that distracted age. Practice an analog Sabbath. Don't stay connected to your devices all day. Listen, I do the same thing. It can be so easy, and I'm far more productive with my phone than I am without it. But don't miss the importance of those distraction-free moments. Remember, Jesus spent time away for prayer. You need it too. I need it too. Remove those distractions so that you can actually be more rested, rejuvenated, and effective for the mission. For those you lead, give them those opportunities. Give them the creative space. Make sure that you don't fill their calendar with other things. Allow them to have some time in their calendar for learning, growing, and developing as a leader themselves. Don't miss the importance of intentionally investing in this next generation. Listen to their pain, listen to their hurts. Understand that they live in a comparison-driven age. Don't miss the opportunity to speak into that and to help develop in them, through them, and out of them the beautiful gifts, talents, and abilities that God has placed in them. Don't uh uh kind of succumb to the belief that the next generation has all the wrong things, all the wrong solutions. There is no one generation leader. Uh we all, as effective leaders, have to lead across generations. Don't leave that younger generation behind. Come alongside them, get two or three under you, with you, alongside you, that you can hear from to understand their hurts, pains, and problems, and then point them to the biblical practices, solutions, and pathways that you found to be successful as you have led across the years. Finally, a practical lesson here. Outside in development, you've got to be the kind of leader who's putting into practice the concepts, ideas, and lessons that you learn. Listen, come with come up with your own hypothesis, test or theory, put it to the test, see how it works. Um, talk with other trusted leaders, use resources like this to help you grow in your own life in leadership so that uh uh as you test them, you're able to share what you've learned with others. Uh, I think the testing uh of our leadership is able to produce something. So don't leave it all in your head. Uh move it from your head to your heart to your hands so that you're able to actually put into practice the things that you've learned. Listen, we don't want just on a head knowledge, but we want to practically uh uh work it out in our life so that God is glorified and we're better able to advance the vision that God's given us. At the International Leadership Institute, we exist to equip and serve Christian leaders. I believe the best way to advance the kingdom of God and the gospel that gives good news to all those who are hurting and helpless is a local leader. They carry the truth of the gospel. You are that local leader. You are closer to people in your own home, in your own neighborhood, in your own church, in your own community and nation than I am right now. So I believe you are able and called, equipped and equipable by God to advance that great commission. I want to see God's vision for your life in the marketplace, in ministry, or anywhere in between. I want to see you successful in that process. And I think that the eight core values of faithful Christian leaders will help you to do that. At the International Leadership Institute, that's what we're about. You can find more about us at ILITeam.org. Figure out how you can get those resources for yourself to grow in your own life and leadership, and to find the purpose, vision, and calling that God has for you. Thanks for joining us today.