Integrus Leadership Blog

Inside the Integrus360: Well-Being

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 22:42:33 GMT

The Leadership Factor You Can't Ignore

Most leaders don’t wake up thinking, “My internal well-being is going to shape my team today.”

But it does.

At Integrus, we believe leadership is revealed through consistent behaviors—not intentions. And one of the most overlooked drivers of those behaviors is something deeply internal: the stress and anxiety we carry.

That’s exactly what the Well-Being Dial in the Integrus360 measures.

Well-being is the dial that measures the amount of stress or anxiety we carry and how it's impacting our attitude, our behavior and ultimately, our team.

And here’s the kicker: You don’t get to choose whether your well-being affects your team. Only how.

The Four Responses to Stress and How They Show Up in Leadership

When well-being is ignored or unmanaged, it doesn’t just “sit quietly.” It shows up in patterns. There are four common responses to anxiety, and leaders will likely display one more prominently than the others. As you read these, see if you can identify which one resonates most with you:

Tigers - You accelerate. You do more. Faster. Constantly moving. Trying to work your way out of the anxiety, eventually leading to exhaustion and burnout. Tigers say things like:
“We don’t have time to slow down. Just keep moving.”
“I’ll figure it out on the fly.”
“If I push a little harder, we can get through this.”

Octopuses - You over-function. As if you had eight arms like an octopus, you don’t just do more...you do everything. You stop empowering others and start trying to control outcomes. Octopuses say things like:
“It’s just easier if I handle this myself.”
“I can’t drop the ball on this.”
“No one else is going to do it like I would.”

Ostriches - You stick your head in the sand. You lower the bar. You avoid hard conversations and settle for “good enough.” Ostriches say things like:
“Now’s probably not the right time to bring that up.”
“Let’s just see if this works itself out.”
“I don’t want to make things worse.”

Turtles - You withdraw. You disengage. You isolate. You become less present; even if you’re still physically there. Turtles say things like:
“I just need to keep my head down right now.”
“I don’t have the energy for this conversation.”
“It’s probably better if I stay out of it.”

These aren’t personality types. They’re pressure responses. And the more aware you are of your default, the more intentional you can become with your leadership.

Each of these responses are different, but they all have one thing in common: they do not provide clarity for your team, and a lack of clarity creates anxiety!

In the moment, these patterns feel like a solution, but they communicate something to your team—whether you intend it or not—and it's never good.

You Can’t Hide It (Even If You Think You Are)

Many leaders assume they can compartmentalize stress. They believe they can carry anxiety internally without it spilling over into their leadership. But in reality, the opposite is true.

People can tell. We think we’re holding it in so no one knows, but they know.

The attempt to shield our team from the anxiety we feel inside has the exact opposite affect. Instead of minimizing, it begins multiplying.

When your team senses something is off but doesn’t have clarity, they fill in the gaps. Often, inaccurately.

“Did I do something wrong?”
“Is something changing?”
“Should I be concerned?”

Holding anxiety in, or holding on to it, will hold us back!

The tiger tries to outrun stress, the octopus tries to control it. The ostrich pretends stress doesn't exist, and the turtle hides from it. But all four are being driven by it.

Being driven by stress and anxiety has never ended well for anyone. Addressing the cause of the stress head-on is the only productive solution; and the only one that produces healthy leaders and effective teams.

The Hidden Cost to Your Team

Here’s where it gets critical.

Your well-being doesn’t just affect you—it shapes the environment your team operates in.

I am a turtle. I tend to isolate during times of stress, and my team can tell every...single...time. Where I usually speak up in meetings, bring high energy to conversations, and lean in when someone is sharing about their life, I tend to stay quiet, calm, and let conversations end when the other person runs out of words.

But to my team, these changes in behavior communicate that I'm mad, that I disagree with what's being said, or that I am uninterested in what they have to say. These couldn't be further from the truth! But if I don't provide the clarity, I leave my team to fill in the gaps on their own.

Each of the four responses to stress affects your team:

When you accelerate → your team struggles to keep up
When you overfunction → your team disengages
When you avoid → your team lowers standards
When you withdraw → your team questions themselves

You might think you're keeping it all inside and no one can tell you're stressed or anxious, but your team experiences something different. And without clarity, they're left guessing

A Balanced Approach to Dealing with Anxiety

Depending on how you choose to deal with stress, you can experience unintended consequences in your own life. On the extreme ends of the spectrum, you can choose to ignore it or protect against it.

Choose to ignore stress and anxiety, and you will become mechanical. You will slowly erode from a human being into a human doing.

You stop caring for yourself.
You operate on autopilot.
You lose connection with yourself and others.

On the other hand, attempt to protect yourself from stress and anxiety and you will become complacent.

You avoid anything stressful.
You over-delegate.
You disengage from responsibility.

Healthy leadership lives in the tension; not the extremes. Strong well-being doesn’t mean a stress-free life. It means:

You process stress instead of carrying it.
You stay present even when pressure rises.
You lead from clarity instead of reactivity.

Healthy leaders are also intentional in the not-so-stressful seasons to implement strategies to minimize major contributors to stress. Things like: setting boundaries, scheduling self-care (and actually doing it!), putting a stop to taking work home, and empowering their team.

The result won't just be healthy or better leadership. It will mean a fuller life!

JoAnn Hummel

Executive Coach

Integrus Leadership

Download the Free Well-Being Assessment

Stress-free leadership doesn't exist because stress-free life doesn't exist. As long as we are alive, we will face challenges at home, at work, or in ministry. And if you somehow manage to avoid stress in all those areas, you will most assuredly encounter it on the highway!

But, it doesn't matter the source, carrying stress and anxiety will always show up in our leadership. Healthy leaders know how to acknowledge their anxieties, identify the causes, determine which actions to take, and rally their team through clarity.

Self-awareness shouldn’t rely on guesswork, so we created a free Well-Being Assessment to help you identify how much stress you may be carrying and where it's coming from.

Start here → Download the Free Tool

Ready to See the Full Picture?

You think you're handing stress well, but how is your anxiety level affecting your team?

Well-Being is one of 12 leadership behavior dials measured in the Integrus360. Each dial includes a score to indicate how you view your leadership, along with up to six anonymous describer scores, giving you unparalleled insight into how your leadership is experienced by others.

Complete your Integrus360 today, and then connect with a behavioral leadership expert to debrief your results and discover which behaviors strengthen your leadership, and more importantly, which behaviors are holding you back.

And if it's been more than 18 months since you last completed your 360, it's time to update your data. Because circumstances change and leaders grow, and your data evolves along with you.

Inside the Integrus360: Presence

Sat, 07 Mar 2026 03:14:51 GMT

Leadership effectiveness is often evaluated based on results, strategy, or intelligence. But long before those factors are fully understood, something else is already shaping your influence.

Your presence.

Before you speak in a meeting, before you present a plan, before you attempt to align a team around a goal, people are forming impressions. Research tells us first impressions can form in a matter of seconds; sometimes in less than one. That initial perception may not be perfectly accurate, but it is powerful in that it frames how others interpret everything that follows.

That is why the Presence Dial inside the Integrus360 matters so much.

Presence is not about charisma. It is not about personality type. And it is certainly not about performance. Presence is the combination of the energy and engagement you bring into a room, and the impact that energy has on others.

When calibrated well, presence strengthens your leadership. When misaligned, it can quietly undermine your credibility & influence.

When Presence Is Too Low

Many leaders assume that if they are competent and committed, their influence will naturally follow. But competence alone does not guarantee credibility in the eyes of others.

I have worked with highly intelligent, detail-oriented leaders who consistently scored lower on Presence. These were not weak leaders. They were disciplined. Focused. Task-driven. Their internal commitment was strong.

But externally, their energy did not translate.

To others, they sometimes appeared disengaged, reserved, or difficult to read. In some cases, team members interpreted their focus as indifference. In others, their lack of visible enthusiasm reduced confidence in their direction.

None of that was intentional, yet leadership effectiveness is not determined by intention. It is shaped by perception. Because how others perceive your leadership is their reality.

If your energy does not communicate belief, conviction, and engagement, people may hesitate to follow, even if your strategy is sound.

Too little presence can limit your influence, not because you lack ability, but because others struggle to experience it.

When Presence Is Too High

The other end of the dial presents a different risk.

Some leaders bring significant energy into a room. They are expressive, enthusiastic, and highly verbal. Their intent is often positive: to motivate, to inspire, to move things forward.

But unmanaged presence can become overwhelming.

High energy without awareness can dominate conversations. It can unintentionally crowd out quieter voices. It can create a dynamic where others feel talked over rather than invited in.

In some cases, excessive enthusiasm can even be perceived as performative rather than authentic.

When that happens, trust erodes.

Presence is not about taking up space. It is about creating the right kind of space; one where others feel both energized and included.

Too much presence can be just as limiting as too little.

Presence Under Pressure

Like every behavior measured in the Integrus360, your natural presence tendencies intensify under pressure.

When stress increases, we do not become different leaders; we become amplified versions of ourselves. And sometimes it's our worst version.

If your natural tendency is to withdraw, pressure may cause you to disengage further. Your focus may narrow to tasks and outcomes while relational signals diminish.

If your tendency is toward intensity, pressure may elevate that intensity into overdrive. You may speak more quickly, interrupt more often, or push harder than the situation requires.

It's not inherently wrong to have a higher or lower natural presence but when unmanaged, both can distort how others experience your leadership when it matters most.

Pressure does not create presence problems. It reveals them.

The Gap Between Intention and Experience

One of the most important insights from the Presence Dial is this: how you believe you show up is not what determines your effectiveness. How others experience you does.

You may believe you are passionate. Others may experience you as intense.
You may believe you are steady and calm. Others may experience you as disengaged.
You may believe you are motivating the team. Others may feel overshadowed.

The size of the gap between intention and perception determines whether leadership effectiveness is either strengthened or weakened.

Presence can make or break your ability to influence not because it defines who you are, but because it shapes how others respond to you.

A Practical Step Forward

The goal is not to change your personality. The goal is to align your behaviors so that your presence supports your leadership rather than limiting it.

To help you begin that reflection, we created a simple one-page tool called the Presence Self Assessment Tool . It is designed to help you evaluate:

The first impression you create
The energy you consistently bring into rooms
How you show up when the pressure increases
Whether your presence invites engagement or restricts it

Awareness is always the first step to any effective leadership growth.

If presence can either strengthen or weaken your effectiveness, it is worth taking an honest look at how you are showing up.

Download the Presence Self Awareness Tool , and evaluate how your presence is impacting your leadership today.

Terry

Ready to See the Full Picture?

You know how your leadership feels from where you're sitting, but how do others experience your leadership?

Start your Integrus360 and receive helpful, anonymous feedback about how your leadership behaviors are experienced by those you work with the most.

And if it's been more than 18 months since you last completed your 360, it's time to update your data. Because circumstances change and leaders grow, and your data evolves along with you.

Inside the Integrus360: Value of Time

Wed, 25 Feb 2026 20:46:58 GMT

What the Value of Time Dial Measures

Leaders don’t stall because they lack vision. They stall because they lack awareness.

After eight years of coaching with Integrus, I have seen this pattern play out again and again, especially around the Value of Time dial inside the Integrus 360 behavioral leadership profile.

The Value of Time dial measures your internal pace and answers questions like these:

How urgent are you?
How fast does your internal clock run?
Do you naturally push for outcomes, or do you move at a more relational, unhurried tempo?

But, Value of Time is about more than productivity. It’s about your behavioral urgency and intensity and how your pace affects your influence, credibility, and the people around you.

Some leaders run hot: pedal to the metal, always moving, always thinking about the next benchmark.

Others are calm, steady, relational. They create space, don’t rush conversations, and resist artificial pressure.

Neither wiring is wrong. Both bring tremendous strengths, but unmanaged, either one can become costly.

The question isn’t, “Am I high or low?”

The question is, “Is my wiring helping or hurting my team and/or the mission?”

When Value of Time Is Low

Low Value of Time leaders are often:

Relational
Creative
Calm under pressure
Present with people

In pastoral care settings, this wiring can be a gift. You don’t want someone flying through a hospital ward like they’re clearing an inbox. But when unmanaged, low Value of Time can create:

Vague expectations
Missed deadlines
Difficulty holding people accountable

I started working with a particular senior leader who was drowning. They were running from fire to fire, doing work they could do but shouldn’t be doing, and all the while believing they had a high Value of Time because they were solving problems and tackling important issues.

But, their Integrus360 data said otherwise.

We worked together to identify the behaviors contributing to his overwhelm, aligning them and their team to ensure everyone spent their time on their highest-impact work. And everything changed.

Months later, that leader texted:

“I’m living my best leadership life.”

Today, their team is thriving, benchmarks are being exceeded, and the mission is accelerating. Not because that leader's personality changed, but because they chose different behaviors.

When Value of Time Is High

On the other end of the spectrum, High Value of Time leaders:

See the win quickly
Push for outcomes
Expect urgency
Hate inefficiency

Without leaders wired this way, innovation would stall (Electricity might not exist!), and organizations would drift. But again, unmanaged strengths can become constraints, and Value of Time that's too high can create:

Chronic frustration
Unrealistic timelines
Team anxiety
High turnover

Another leader I had the privilege of working with had an urgency that was crushing their team. Turnover was high, expectations were unclear, and their team felt like nothing was ever enough.

The leader wasn’t malicious. They were just moving so fast they forgot to make sure their team was keeping up with them. They assumed everyone else was wired like them and saw what they saw.

They didn’t.

After hearing about the challenges they faced in their leadership, I asked for their permission to be a truth-teller.

"Of course!" they said.

I was kind but direct, and told this leader, “You’re the problem. But the good news is you’re also part of the solution.”

That was a turning point in their leadership.

It didn't happen overnight, in fact it took months to experience the full effect of his intentionality, but this leader adjusted their leadership behavior and saw a significant decrease in his team's frustration and anxiety. In fact, turnover dropped by 90%!

Same wiring, healthy leadership behaviors.

Pressure Reveals Your Default

Under pressure, we don’t become someone new; our leadership behaviors are exaggerated.

Leaders tend to revert to their default when the pressure is on, even if we have done the work to manage their constraints into healthy behaviors.

Low Value of Time leaders may slow down and get stuck when stress rises. Sometimes their default is to stay busy doing anything instead of making sure they're doing the most important things.

In contrast, when pressure rises around High Value of Time leaders, they may accelerate urgency and intensity, leaving their team behind, or worse, destroying their team in pursuit of accomplishing the mission.

An unhealthy Value of Time doesn’t just affect productivity.

It affects morale.
Retention.
Credibility.

And ultimately, the mission.

Most leaders don’t realize how their behavior shifts when stress rises. Even after reading this, many leaders might assume this doesn't apply to them because every leader has blind spots.

We assume we’re steady.
We assume we’re clear.
We assume we’re consistent.

But because pressure has a way of amplifying patterns we don’t always see, we created a simple one-page tool to help you uncover how stress may be shaping your urgency, clarity, communication, and expectations.

Download the free Pressure Pattern Map and discover your default pattern under stress.

It takes just a few minutes, and the insight could change how you lead the next high-pressure moment and save years of influence.

What’s the Cost of Ignoring This?

Choosing to ignore leadership constraints is definitely a choice you're free to make. But every decision has a cost/reward ratio, and the cost of ignoring an unhealthy Value of Time far exceeds the rewards.

It will cost you personally.
It will cost your relationally.
It will cost your organization.

And at the highest level, it will cost you your mission.

Because when you’re overwhelmed and burning out, the mission suffers. If your urgency is driving talent away, the mission suffers. And, if your lack of clarity creates confusion, the mission suffers.

Leaders don’t stall because they lack vision. They stall because they lack awareness.

If this message resonates with you, it may be time to see what your data says.

Complete your Integrus 360 and discover how your behaviors align with high-performing leaders in your field.

And if it's been more than 18 months since you have completed your 360, it's time to update your data.

Because circumstances change, leaders grow, and your data evolves with you.

What Gratitude Taught Me About Leadership in 2025

Thu, 13 Nov 2025 13:10:17 GMT

This year, I’ve watched more leaders wrestle with pressure, uncertainty, and burnout than ever before. It’s easy to think we’ll find peace once things finally calm down. But that’s not how peace works.

Peace doesn’t come when circumstances change. It comes when gratitude changes us.

I learned that lesson years ago when God used gratitude to break the grip of anxiety on my life. Since then, I’ve seen how gratitude transforms individuals and entire teams alike. Grateful leaders create grounded cultures, and spread calm instead of chaos; peace instead of pressure.

As 2025 wraps up, I’m revisiting that lesson and sharing it again. You can read the full story and download a free reflection tool to help you close out the year with gratitude and clarity.

Read the full post: Gratitude Makes Good Leaders Great

Download the free 2025 End of Year Reflection Guide for Leaders

Take a few minutes to slow down, look back, and thank God for the ways He’s shown up this year. Gratitude really does make good leaders great.

Why the Best Leaders Lead with Compassion

Wed, 17 Sep 2025 00:11:51 GMT

When you picture a "strong" leader, what comes to mind?

For many of us, when we think of a "strong" leader, we think of the person with the loudest voice in the room, the most dominant personality, or the one leading the bigger organization. Our culture tends to elevate leaders who command attention through force, charisma, or sheer bravado.

But the longer I'm in leadership, the more convinced I become that we're using the wrong evaluation system. We overvalue aggression in leadership and underplay the power of something far more transformative: faithfulness, empathy, and action-oriented love. I'm talking about compassion.

The truth is, being tough isn't enough to inspire people to follow you. It may inspire them to be your cheerleader for a minute, it also might intimidate them into compliance, but it rarely wins their loyalty or fuels their best work. If you want to lead people well—if you want to inspire them to move with passion and purpose—compassion is your most powerful tool.

Jesus: A Different Kind of Leader

When we survey the ministry of Jesus, we see a radically different approach to leadership than what our culture celebrates. His uncommon compassion drew people in, captivated them, and ultimately catalyzed them into leaders themselves.

Think about it. Most leadership books encourage us to find the “right people” to support our vision. But Jesus didn’t cherry-pick from the top talent pool. He engaged people society had overlooked or written off. Fishermen, tax collectors, sinners—the lonely, the least, and the lost—these were the ones he invested in.

Why? Because his leadership was fueled by empathy in action. He went out of his way to heal, restore, and elevate people others deemed unworthy of attention. And it worked. His influence didn’t just last a season—it launched a movement that's still transforming lives centuries later.

What Compassion Really Means

The best definition of compassion I’ve ever heard is this: your pain in my heart .

Compassion goes beyond feeling sorry for someone. It’s not just empathy— understanding what someone is going through. Compassion is empathy that rolls up its sleeves. It's taking on another person’s concerns as if they were your own and then doing something about them.

In the first century, the word compassion carried an even deeper meaning. It referred to the visceral yearning we feel in the core of our being when we deeply care for someone. It’s not just head knowledge; we feel it in our gut and it drives us to action. And that’s exactly how Jesus led. His compassion wasn’t weakness. It was strength in action.

Common Myths About Compassionate Leadership

If we’re honest, most leaders hesitate when they hear the call to compassion, especially in the workplace. It sounds good in theory, but in practice it raises questions. Let’s address a few of the most common ones:

Myth #1: “Won’t compassion lead to coddling under performers?”

The Truth: Not at all. Jesus showed us it’s possible to combine compassion with accountability. When a woman caught in adultery was brought before him, he rescued her from public shame and death—but he also called her to a higher standard: “Go and sin no more.” Compassion doesn’t lower the bar; it calls people to a higher bar in a way that protects their dignity.

Myth #2: “Won’t compassion dilute my credibility or passion?”

The Truth: Compassion didn’t weaken Jesus’ credibility—it strengthened it. And he didn’t sacrifice mission or zeal by caring for people. In fact, his uncommon compassion for the marginalized threatened religious leaders but convicted sinners. His mission wasn’t corrupted; it was catalyzed.

Myth #3: “Won’t compassion compromise the mission?”

The Truth: For some reason, many leaders think fulfilling the mission "by any means necessary" is the goal. They prioritize results over relationships, often ignoring the human cost. But Jesus modeled the opposite and proved that his methods amplify the message and carry the mission forward. Don't view tenderness as a distraction because it can be the thing that keeps you on course.

Myth #4: “Won’t compassion make me ineffective?”

The Truth: Some assume effective leadership requires toughness at the expense of kindness. But being a jerk isn’t strength—it’s weakness in disguise. And being kind doesn't mean "anything goes." Compassion doesn’t compete with competence. It insulates it. When you know the needs of your people and act on them, you don’t slow down the mission. You're strengthening your team which will keep the mission moving forward full steam ahead.

Why Compassion Still Works

The leaders we admire most, both historically and today, aren’t just tough or visionary—they’re deeply compassionate. They’re the ones who see people, not just positions. They’re the ones whose teams will go the extra mile, not because they’re afraid, but because they’re inspired.

Show me a leader with uncommon compassion, and I’ll show you a team eager to follow that leader into battle. That’s the power of compassion in action.

And here’s the good news: compassionate leadership isn’t reserved for a select few. It’s available to all of us. It’s not about personality type. It’s about posture. It's about choosing to see people the way Jesus did, and then reflecting his love and care.

The Easy to Follow Way

This is just a part of what I unpack in my new book, Easy to Follow . In it, I explore how the behaviors that Jesus modeled in his leadership can transform the way we lead today.

If you’ve ever felt the tension between driving results and caring for people, this book will show you how to do both without compromise. Compassion strengthens your influence and fuels your effectiveness.

When leaders choose compassion, they don’t just get followers. They build movements.

Become an Easy To Follow Leader

Some content taken from Easy to Follow: Trading Toxic Leadership for the Way of Jesus by Lyle Wells and Kat Armstrong . Copyright © 2025. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries.

Our Top 5 Picks for YouVersion Reading Plans

Mon, 15 Sep 2025 20:34:12 GMT

Our team loves the YouVersion Bible App. In addition to their Bibles and study materials, they have tons of devotions and reading plans to help you on your journey of discovering truth through God's Word.

But with so many options, it can feel overwhelming trying to figure out where to start. That’s why we’ve pulled together our top five favorite plans that focus on leadership. These plans offer clarity and direction to help you shape your leadership in a way that reflects the character of God and accelerates your mission.

1. Easy to Follow

Why we love this plan:

At the top of our list is Easy to Follow, and while we might be biased, we also truly believe that it is the number one reading plan on leadership development for all leaders. This plan is a preview of the Easy to Follow book, giving readers a taste of its practical clarity before they even crack the cover. Each day of this reading plan distills key leadership principles into bite-size devotionals that you can digest throughout the day. It's spiritually enriching, theologically sound, and most importantly, practical. It sets the tone for a leadership experience that’s both faith-rooted and easy to implement—just like the book promises.

2. Becoming an Extraordinary Leader (7 days)

Why we love this plan:

Inspired by the Great Commandment, this 7-day devotional invites us to lead from the fullness of our heart, soul, mind, and strength—fertile ground for transformational influence rooted in love. It reminds us that leadership isn’t about doing more—it’s about becoming more whole, more aligned with God’s design. For leaders eager to steward their influence that honors God, it brilliantly reframes leadership as worship in action.

3. Lead Like Jesus: 21 Days of Leadership

Why we love this plan:

Over three weeks, this journey reframes leadership with the heartbeats of Christ—practical, Bible-based, and deeply relational. Designed by Ken Blanchard and the Lead Like Jesus team, it nudges you daily toward leading with more humility, service, and spiritual insight. This plan keeps your leadership firmly Jesus-centered, reminding you that the greatest leaders serve from the heart.

4. Developing the Leader Within You 2.0 (7 days)

Why we love this plan:

A mini-version of John C. Maxwell’s revised classic, this 7-day devotional zero in on the fundamentals of leadership—character, influence, service, self-discipline, and vision. It’s a sharp, condensed burst of Maxwell’s wisdom, practical enough to put into practice each day yet rich enough to provoke meaningful growth. Perfect for leaders craving structure and depth in a compact format.

5. Relationship and Faith in Leadership (3 days)

Why we love this plan:

In just three inspired days, this devotional pulls back the curtain on authentic leadership, blending biblical truth with real-world stories from Nona Jones (Head of Faith-Based Partnerships at Facebook). It shows how faith and relationships intersect in leadership, reminding us that believing in people’s potential is just as important as guiding them. A short and powerful plan that connects theology with real-life leadership impact.

Leaders are Readers

These five plans are just a glimpse of the powerful tools available on YouVersion to strengthen your faith and leadership. By setting aside intentional time in God’s Word, you create space for transformation that impacts not only your own life, but also those you lead and influence. Start with one of these Bible reading plans and let it guide you toward deeper growth.

Become an Easy To Follow Leader

Managing vs. Mentoring: Why Not All Leadership is Created Equal

Wed, 10 Sep 2025 14:45:47 GMT

Great leaders don't manage. They mentor.

Leadership, in all its forms, can sometimes feel like an island. That’s why what we need most as leaders is not management—it's mentorship. Management has its place in any healthy organization, but if we want to thrive as Christian leaders—and help others do the same—we must prioritize mentorship.

Why? Because management focuses on performance, while mentorship develops people. Managers shape tasks; mentors shape leaders. And the difference is transformational.

Every leader, including you, needs a mentor— someone to process new ideas with, to teach you the ropes, to cheer you on and challenge you. Managers improve what you do. Mentors shape who you become. I know, because I wouldn’t be the leader I am today without mentors.

An Empty Tool Belt

When I entered my first year of teaching in suburban Denver, the various districts gathered me and several hundred new teachers together for training. We were bright-eyed and full of youthful, unwavering enthusiasm, or so we thought. I don't think I made it out of the training before I started to feel my enthusiasm waiver.

The trainers were former teachers, most of whom had been out of the classroom for many years. Their focus was on managing expectations and managing a classroom— managing students. We took a test that gave us a multitude of data points, but no one explained they meant. Hours of being talked at left me exhausted, and all I wanted was someone to talk with.

Thankfully, a lot has changed in the school systems since I was an educator, but on my first day as a teacher, I walked in blind and ill-equipped. I didn’t have a single tool in my teaching tool belt to help me do my job well, and I concluded that management training was not enough. I needed a mentor. That’s when God sent me Rick.

I Adopted A Mentor

Rick’s classroom was right next to mine, and it was alive with energy. His students were engaged, and that's what I wanted. So, I studied Rick. I watched carefully as he’d set up his lessons, combining different activities to reach his students. I paid attention to his teaching style and how he kept the students' attention. But what made Rick a great teacher was the way he built rapport with his students. He mastered the art of connecting with them, figuring out what motivated them, taking a vested interest in their lives outside of school, and showing them that he cared about them.

Rick taught me more than any training could have. He was my real-world, real- time example of a teacher making a difference in the lives of their students. Over time, I stopped observing and started asking questions. Rick became my go-to guy for all my teacher questions, and pretty soon, I unofficially adopted him as my mentor.

The Ideal Mentor

I must have asked Rick a million questions, and if he minded, he never showed it. Rick was the ideal mentor. He was patient, caring, funny, and best of all, he knew how to downplay my roughest days as a new teacher. Rick knew how to encourage me but also how to push me into growth, and I always knew his feedback was given in love. His goal was my success. I'm pretty sure I know how Rick's students felt with him as their teacher.

Rick's influence kept me from burning out. More importantly, he taught me how to invest in young leaders, a skill I carry to this day.

Mentoring by Modeling.

That same year, I began coaching at a high school. The head coach didn’t just assign me tasks; he took me to breakfast, listened to my goals, and then gave me mentors.

He invited me be a part of varsity practices and put me to work. I had opportunities to try, fail, learn, and grow under the guidance of experienced coaches. Mentoring wasn’t about theory. It was about modeling, practicing, and empowering.

And in this, Jesus is the ultimate example.

Jesus Mentored to Multiply

In chapter 10 of Matthew’s gospel, we see Jesus preparing his disciples for their first missionary journey. Then, a few chapters later, Jesus pulled his disciples aside and told them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” At first glance, these may not seem like clear mentoring moments, but in how He prepared His disciples as much as in what he communicated, Jesus shows us seven key approaches of a mentor.

Demonstrating the behaviors he wanted them to emulate . Before Jesus commissioned his disciples to do as he had done, he showed them how to do it. Ahead of the commissioning in Matthew 10, the author records several of Jesus' many miraculous healings and encounters with people who needed the gospel news. Only after he’d shown the disciples the way did he summon them and give them authority to heal and preach in his name.
Giving clear instructions and authority . Great mentors equip their followers with clear expectations and prepare them for the inevitable challenges they will face. Jesus’ directions to the disciples were clear: go to the lost sheep of Israel, proclaim the good news that the Kingdom of heaven has come near, cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons. Basically, Do everything you’ve seen me do on our journeys together. Jesus even prepared his disciples for how to survive persecution.
Offering opportunities to practice . This first missionary journey was a practice mission, giving the disciples opportunities to do something they’d never done before. Jesus is a wise leader. He knew the people following him and watching him needed to move beyond managing the responses of newly healed people and into facilitating ministry themselves. That new phase of ministry would require the mentorship of Jesus.
Setting the standard for a job well done . Christ didn’t kick up his feet and take a vacation after sending his team out to multiply his healing and gospel-proclaiming efforts. No—as Matthew 11:1 says, “Now when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and proclaim his message in their cities.” Jesus didn’t stop mentoring; he continued setting the standard for a job well done.
Explaining what to anticipate . Jesus’ words about taking up their cross must have terrified the men and women devoted to following him. But here’s what his approach teaches us about mentoring well: Jesus takes the time to explain what his leaders are going to experience in the future, rather than expecting them to think on their feet or to “pay their dues” when blindsided by challenges.
Offering an invitation to follow him . Next, Jesus invites his disciples to follow him to the cross, to lose their life for Christ’s sake. A tall order from a homeless, traveling rabbi.
Going first . Despite the high cost, many of those disciples accepted Jesus’s invitation to forfeit their life to enjoy eternal life with Christ. Why? Because Jesus went first.

Jesus understood that
mentorship multiplies impact.
He invested in twelve,
who multiplied into thousands,
and eventually,
millions upon millions.

If leadership is only about management, we’ll measure success in tasks completed. But if leadership is about mentorship, we’ll multiply leaders who influence generations.

Just like Jesus, we’re called to invest in others—not just for what they can do, but for who they will become. Mentorship doesn’t just make organizations better; it transforms lives.

If we want to thrive—and help others thrive—we must lead with a multiplication mindset. Managers may improve performance. But mentors? They multiply leaders.

Download the free tool: The Mentor Mindset Reference Guide and use it as a filter to know when you 're mentoring and when you're managing.

Become an Easy To Follow Leader

3 Reasons Why Every Leader Must Clarify Their Mission

Mon, 28 Jul 2025 19:00:40 GMT

When is the last time you revisited your mission statement?

You’ve seen it on your website. You might reference it in conversation or recite it at team meetings. But when was the last time you truly revisited your mission statement—prayed through it, evaluated it, and tested your decisions and leadership behaviors against it?

Does it drive your organization’s priorities?
Does it influence your team’s goals?
Do your daily decisions align with it?

Or has it become a familiar tagline—easy to quote but no longer guiding your leadership?

As leaders, we’re often fueled by strategy, execution, and outcomes. But without a clear and compelling mission, we risk becoming reactive and scattered. And scattered leadership isn’t effective—or sustainable.

Leadership without mission leads to burnout. Worse, it fails to transform. That’s especially critical in faith-forward organizations, where the stakes are high and the call is bigger than us.

Here are three reasons why every leader must revisit and clarify their mission.

1. Mission Drift Is Real

Sometimes teams lose momentum not because of external pressures, but because of internal confusion caused by mission drift. And here’s a hard truth:

Mission drift doesn’t start with the organization. It starts with the leader.

When a leader loses clarity about their why, the entire team feels it. If you’re asking, “What are we doing and why?” your team is asking the same question.

Clarity rarely disappears in a dramatic moment. It fades through a series of small, well-intentioned compromises. A dozen little “yeses” to things that sound good but aren’t aligned. Over time, the purpose that once gave you energy is replaced by noise, exhaustion, and disconnection.

Maybe that’s where you are now—on autopilot. Doing the work, but not really sure why. If that feels familiar, you’re not alone. And there’s a way forward.

2. People Don’t Follow Unclear Missions

Jesus said, “The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.” One sentence. Total clarity. That statement shaped everything—where He spent His time, who He invested in, and what He walked away from.

His clarity created movement. People didn’t just admire Him—they followed Him. Not because of charisma or force, but because He knew where He was going and why it mattered.

That kind of clarity still compels people. Foggy leadership, on the other hand, creates anxiety and hesitation. Teams can’t follow what they can’t see. And they won’t follow a mission that feels unclear, uninspiring, or irrelevant.

When your mission clearly answers “What are we doing?” and “Why are we doing it?”—you eliminate fear, align energy, and become easier to follow.

3. Mission Drives Behavior

Leadership isn’t just about casting vision. It’s about embodying it. Because people don’t follow what you say. They follow what you do.

A clear mission should show up in your calendar, your conversations, your hiring decisions, your conflict resolution, your team development, and yes, even your budget.

When a clear mission drives behavior:

Communication sharpens.
Decisions get simpler.
Alignment becomes obvious.

If I know anything about Integrus Leaders, it’s that you want to lead with clarity, not confusion. With focus, not causing fatigue. With direction, not distraction.

So…Is It Time?

Here’s how you know it’s time to revisit your mission statement:

You can’t remember the last time you looked at it.
You’re foggy about what you’re doing and why.
Your team feels off-course or disconnected.
You’re exhausted, disengaged, or burned out.
Your team can’t articulate the mission clearly.
Your activities feel detached from your purpose.

If any of that sounds familiar, it’s time.

Because a clear mission—communicated effectively and and lived out consistently—transforms teams, renews leaders, attracts the right people, and filters out distractions. And most importantly, it honors the calling that started this journey in the first place.

You don’t need a new job to renew your sense of purpose. You need fresh clarity in the one you already have.

A Framework For Clarifying Your Mission

5 Ingredients for Resilient Leadership

Mon, 21 Jul 2025 18:15:16 GMT

What Ashton Jeanty Taught Me About Leadership Grit

If you haven’t se en our recent post ab out Ashton Jeanty—the gritty Boise State running back who led the nation in rushing yards—you need to. What stood out wasn’t just his talent, but how most of his yardage came after contact.

For the non-sports folks: "yards after contact" measures how far an offensive player (the guy with the ball) gains after the defender (the one trying to tackle him) first touches him.

Time and again, Jeanty stayed upright, focused on the end zone, pushing forward through the hit. He didn’t avoid contact—he outlasted it.

That’s what resilient leadership looks like.

Not dodging conflict, criticism, or chaos—but advancing after adversity. Because if you lead, you will be hit. That’s part of the job—absorbing as much of the pressure as possible so your team can keep moving the ball down the field.

Resilience isn’t just a personality trait; it’s a learned skillset. And it’s more necessary now than ever. Below are five essential ingredients to resilient leadership—and a few resources to help you grow in each one.

1. Staying Calm Under Pressure

When tension rises, non-resilient leaders either shut down or lash out. Neither is helpful. But resilient leaders stay grounded, keep others focused, and bring clarity in the chaos. Their presence steadies the room—even when things feel uncertain.

Resource:

“How Resilience Works” – Harvard Business Review (Coutu, 2002)

2. Inspiring Hope While Facing Hard Truths

Resilient leaders don’t sugarcoat failure—but they don’t get stuck in it, either. They marry honesty with hope so their team doesn't lose heart. They analyze what went wrong (staying optimistic about solutions), they cast a hopeful vision, and help build a plan their team can execute.

Resources:

Good to Great by Jim Collins

Learned Optimism by Martin Seligman

3. Seeing Failure as Feedback

Failure is inevitable. But resilient leaders don’t waste it. Instead, they examine it, learn from it, and grow. Resilient leaders are open to feedback—even when it’s uncomfortable—and constantly adapt to changing circumstances.

Resources:

"Tips for Improving Your Learning Agility" - Center for Creative Leadership

Grit by Angela Duckworth

4. Knowing Your “Why”

At some point, every leader wonders, “Is this worth it?” Resilient leaders are grounded in a bigger “why”—something beyond personal gain. Purpose keeps you in the game when everything else says quit because without a strong why, leadership setbacks will feel like dead ends instead of detours.

Resources:

Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

“Purpose: Shifting from Why to How” – McKinsey & Company

5. Staying Anchored in God

It’s no secret I’m a follower of Jesus. What you may not know is that my relationship with Him is my greatest source of resilience. He anchors me, steadies me, and gives me hope. Through prayer and Scripture, I find clarity, courage, and purpose.

If your life and leadership aren’t grounded in a relationship with Jesus and you want that to change, talk to a trusted believer. Or email our team —we’d love to have that conversation because you are our “why.”

Resources:

The Emotionally Healthy Leader by Pete Scazzero

"7 Year Trends: Pastors Feel More Loneliness & Less Support" - Barna Group

Resilient Pastor by Glenn Packiam

While two of these resources focus on pastors, they contain helpful information for any kingdom-minded leader who desires for their leadership to be grounded in their faith in Jesus.

Resilient Leaders Don’t Go It Alone

Each of these traits can be developed, and we've given you some great resources to help you grow. But information alone won’t make you more resilient. A few years ago, I gave each member of our team a framed photo of a turtle on a fence post. Why? Because that turtle didn’t get there alone—and neither do resilient leaders.

If you’re feeling weary—if your grit is running low—don’t lead alone.

Find your executive coach now .

Download the Info Guide.

Or schedule a free session to talk to someone.

Resilient leaders don’t wait until crisis hits to ask for help. They surround themselves with truth-tellers and coaches who challenge, support, and sharpen them consistently.

Let us walk with you, fight for your growth, and help you take more ground—even after the hits.

Don't Just Tell. Teach Like Jesus

Tue, 24 Jun 2025 16:00:23 GMT

If telling worked, why do moms say, "I'm not going to tell you again!"?

If telling worked, then no mom on the planet would ever say, "I’m not going to tell you again!" If telling really worked, we wouldn’t have to do it so often. But the truth is that telling is one of the least effective behaviors a leader can engage in.

If we want to be better leaders, then we have to learn to teach. We must figure out how to communicate what our teams need to know in a way that inspires them to grow as leaders. When you're able to nail this, you'll start to see your organization grow and your team thrive.

Teaching vs Telling

The problem with telling is that it rarely leads to transformation, and great leadership requires transformation. Telling is about giving instructions, hoping to align a team.

Teaching, on the other hand, is a different kind of investment. When we teach, we’re not just giving instructions—we’re transferring a behavior we own and understand into the life of someone else. Whether it’s how to make a bed or how to lead a meeting, true teaching passes along not just knowledge, but a way of being. Teaching inspires people to action and rallies them behind a common vision.

That’s what Jesus did with his disciples. That’s what the disciples did with the early church. And it’s what effective leaders still do today.

Teachers vs Tellers

Visit any school campus, and one thing quickly becomes clear: some classrooms are buzzing with energy and excitement, while others remain quiet, resigned, and unengaged. The contrast raises an important question—what makes the difference?

A quick glance from the hallway reveals much about the teachers leading these rooms.

In some classrooms, teachers are actively teaching. These spaces are full of life, with students clearly engaged. These teachers connect, explain, model, and demonstrate genuine care for their students.

In contrast, other classrooms are led by teachers who are simply telling. These "sit and get" environments feel dull and lifeless, often marked by a monotonous tone from a disengaged leader. The catastrophic assumption these tellers make is that information alone will spark change—but that simply isn’t true.

Telling is self-centered. It’s about getting your point across.

Teaching is others-centered. It’s about making sure the other person actually gets it.

Principles of Teaching

Great teachers—and great leaders—focus on comprehension, not just presentation. And there are four key distinctions that make for an effective teacher leader.

Teachers make connections and communicate necessary information in relatable ways. If the content is new or complex, a teacher will present it in a way that makes sense.
Teachers explain why something matters , especially if the content is not exciting or inspiring on the surface. A great teacher will connect it with the bigger picture and help others understand why it's important to their life and the world.
Teachers model the outcome they want to see because our actions speak louder than words. When a teacher reinforces their message with their behavior, it establishes them as an expert to be trusted.
Teachers prioritize relationship over performance . Theodore Roosevelt is often quoted as saying "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." I think I agree with the President of the US.

Your team needs someone who will teach them how to lead, how to serve, how to make wise decisions, and how to grow.

If you want a team that outperforms expectations, don't just tell them what to do, teach them how do it. If you want your team to collaborate with joy, don't tell them everything is ok and avoid conflict. Teach them how to engage in healthy relationships and resolve conflict quickly. If you want to rally your team around a common mission, don’t just tell them where you want them to go, teach them how you'll get there and why it's important that you do. Let your leadership be the lesson they never forget.

That’s what Jesus did.

Become an Easy To Follow Leader

Great leaders C.A.R.E.

Tue, 24 Jun 2025 13:00:21 GMT

Build Stronger Relationships on Your Team with the CARE Tool

As an executive coach and pastor, I’ve learned that effective leadership isn’t just about strategy or results—it’s about genuinely caring for your team and helping them grow. Strong relationships are the foundation of healthy teams. They build trust, improve communication, and create the kind of safe environment where people thrive.

One of the most powerful tools I’ve used to develop those relationships is what I call the C.A.R.E. tool . It’s simple, actionable, and transformational.

What does C.A.R.E. stand for?

C.A.R.E. is an acronym for:

Connect
Appreciate
Respect
Empathize

Effective leadership requires inviting others into your leadership space and earning the right to enter theirs. These four actions—taken in order—help you build the relational equity to bridge that gap and lead more effectively.

C is for Connect

Connection is the starting point. It creates familiarity, which leads to trust. This requires intentional curiosity. Ask yourself:

“What’s one thing I have in common with this person?”

It could be as simple as a shared interest in a TV show, a favorite restaurant, or both having young kids. These small connections matter.

Take time in one-on-ones or casual encounters to build these bridges. A few intentional moments is sometimes all it takes to establish sincerity and lay the groundwork for meaningful relationships.

A is for Appreciate

Next, appreciate what they do. Appreciation says, “I see your effort, and it matters.” Ask:

“What do they bring to the table?”

Have they shown consistency? Met a goal? Helped a teammate? Celebrate their contributions—especially publicly. Recognition like this builds esteem and makes significant deposits in your relational bank account.

But appreciation only lands as genuine if you’ve already taken the time to connect. It deepens trust and strengthens the bridge between you.

R is for Respect

While appreciation focuses on what someone does, respect is about who they are. Ask yourself:

“What do I admire about them?”

Maybe it’s their discipline, character, or ability to stay organized. Maybe it’s the way they lead with integrity or how they keep meetings on track.

Respect communicates that someone is valued not just for their output, but for their identity. It affirms who they’re becoming and helps create a safe space for growth—even if you don’t see eye to eye on everything.

E is for Empathize

Finally, lead with empathy. Empathy is stepping into someone else’s story and seeing the world through their lens. Ask:

“What makes them tick?”

A great way to do this is to ask them to share their three-minute story. Listen for what shaped them—challenges, victories, losses, and lessons. Understanding someone’s background helps you relate on a deeper level and demonstrate authentic care.

Empathy invites vulnerability. When people feel understood, they’re more likely to open up, ask for feedback, and trust your leadership influence.

Why C.A.R.E. Matters

When you take time to Connect, Appreciate, Respect, and Empathize , you build trust—and with trust comes influence. People are more willing to listen, grow, and contribute when they feel seen and supported.

The C.A.R.E. tool also helps dismantle bias and judgment. It reminds us that every person has value worth uncovering. Even if it takes effort, it’s a leader’s job to find those points of connection and build the bridge.

Start Building Today

Leadership isn’t just about what you accomplish. It’s about who you help others become. When you lead with connection, appreciation, respect, and empathy, you create a culture where teams flourish and trust runs deep.

Are you ready to build stronger relationships and a healthier team?

Download the free CARE tool

Great leaders don’t just lead with authority. They lead with care—because great leaders C.A.R.E.

How the Integrus360 Changed One Couple's Life

Mon, 26 May 2025 14:35:07 GMT

This is Lauren's Testimony

At Integrus™ , we believe leadership growth isn't just about developing better habits—it's about discovering who God created you to be. That’s why I’m so passionate about the updated Integrus360™. It’s more than a leadership assessment—it’s a transformational experience.

Just ask Lauren.

Her husband recently completed the Integrus360 with his church leadership team. What happened next wasn’t just a win for his leadership—it became a turning point for their whole family.

“He came home so focused. He turned what was supposed to be a simple date night into a deep dive into his 360. He was floored by what he learned. And honestly, I was jealous—I wanted to know those things about him too!”

What started as an assessment exercise quickly became something far more powerful. Lauren described how her husband was energized by what he discovered about his strengths, wiring, and purpose. The Integrus360 gave him words for the way God made him and affirmed a calling he had once put on hold.

“He found this sense of ‘Godfidence,’” Lauren said . “He rediscovered who he was in Christ and it launched a deeper conversation for us as a couple. The clarity he had—it was contagious.”

After years of waiting, wondering, and setting dreams aside for more “practical” priorities, Lauren’s husband told her he felt called to return to counseling—a desire that had been in his heart since 2020. And as only God could orchestrate, that same week a door opened for him to apply to a clinical mental health master’s program. Within two weeks, he was accepted.

But the story doesn’t stop there.

Inspired by her husband’s growth, Lauren began her own journey.

"I had been chasing a certification I thought would define me. When it didn’t work out, I was devastated—until I realized maybe God was closing a door to open a better one.”

Through prayer, reflection, and a whole lot of courage, Lauren began to dream again—big, bold, Spirit-led dreams. She started asking questions she hadn’t dared to before. She even reached out to us to schedule a coaching call of her own.

“I’ve been proactive my whole life,” she said . “But now I sense God asking me to lead differently. To trust differently. To explore how I’m wired today, and what leadership might look like in this season.”

That’s the power of the updated Integrus360!

It’s not just about growing leaders—it’s about aligning their lives with purpose, reconnecting them with their calling, and unleashing God’s design in their homes, teams, and ministries. Lauren’s story reminds me why we do what we do. The new Integrus360 isn’t just a set of questions or data points. It’s a Spirit-guided mirror that reflects back how God uniquely formed you to lead.

And we’ve made it better than ever—with sharper insights, easier team onboarding, and action steps that move you from clarity to momentum.

So if you’re feeling stuck, burnt out, or unsure of what’s next—don’t stay there. The updated Integrus360 can help you move forward with clarity, confidence, and community.

God’s not done writing your story. Let’s rediscover the next chapter—together.

Ready to take the next step?

Schedule a Call with Bent to talk about how the updated Integrus360 can help you or your team
Start Your Integrus360 Today and begin your journey toward purpose-driven leadership

5 Things Great Leaders Say

Tue, 18 Mar 2025 20:41:41 GMT

5 Things Great Leaders Say

We speak hundreds of thousands of words every single day, but great leaders use five phrases more than any others . These phrases aren’t just about effective communication; they reflect Christ's heart to serve everyone around him with clarity and humility. If you use these phrases consistently, you'll build trust, strengthen your team, and create a culture where people are eager to work towards your organization's mission.

Here are five powerful phrases that every great leader should be saying every day:

1. Thank You.

A paycheck is not a thank-you note. People need to feel seen, valued, and appreciated for their contributions. When leaders take the time to say thank you—not just for big wins, but for everyday efforts—they reinforce a culture of gratitude.

Expressing appreciation doesn’t require a grand gesture. A simple, genuine “thank you” can go a long way in building morale, increasing engagement, and fostering loyalty.

The best leaders never assume people know they’re appreciated; they make sure they hear it.

2. Do You Have Capacity to Do This Right Now?

Before assigning a new task, great leaders ask, Do you have the capacity to take this on? or Is this a reasonable request? This question does two things:

It communicates empathy and respect for a team member’s workload and well-being.
It invites commitment, rather than compliance.

When someone responds with, Yes, I can take this on, they are setting their own deadline and taking ownership. Instead of just managing tasks, this approach allows leaders to mentor their teams, fostering both accountability and trust.

3. What Do You Need From Me Today?

Leadership is about service, and this question reminds your team that you’re there to support their success. Asking What do you need from me today? or Is there anything I’m doing that’s making your job harder? gives people the space to share real needs.

Sometimes, the answer might be removing a roadblock, offering clarification, or simply listening.

When leaders create this open dialogue, they empower their teams to be honest about challenges and more engaged in solutions.

4. How Could We Do This Better?

Great leaders cultivate a growth mindset by continuously asking, How can we improve? After a project, a meeting, or an event, they make it a habit to ask, What could we do better, faster, or more efficiently next time?

This question signals that progress is expected and that feedback is valued. It also helps teams move beyond a culture of just getting things done to a mindset of continuous improvement.

Leaders who ask this question create environments where innovation flourishes.

5. I’m Sorry, I Blew It.

The only leadership behavior Jesus never had to model was asking for forgiveness—because He was faultless. But for the rest of us, admitting when we’re wrong is essential to leading with integrity.

Saying "I’m sorry" is not a sign of weakness; it is a mark of strength and humility.

Owning a mistake with statements like, "I made the wrong call on that" or "That wasn’t my best decision, and I want to do better" fosters trust and respect.

However, "I’m sorry" is not enough on its own—there must be a genuine commitment to learning, growing, and doing things differently moving forward.

Speak with Humility

If you want to lead well, start by making these phrases a regular part of your conversations by downloading our free wallpaper with these five key phrases.

Let it be a daily prompt to lead with integrity, humility, and purpose.

Download Your Free Wallpaper Now

Let’s lead well—because leadership is not about us. It’s about the people we serve.

5 Ways Leaders Can Manage the Madness at Work

Mon, 24 Feb 2025 15:50:31 GMT

5 Ways Leaders Can Manage the Madness at Work

March Madness is here, and I couldn’t be more excited. I love the drama, the passion, the skill, and the surprises of this time of year. But as much as we enjoy those surprise outcomes on the basketball court, we know surprises in leadership are a whole different story.

When chaos strikes, how do we manage it? How do we lead our teams through their own madness and keep our focus on what matters most?

Workplace chaos is unavoidable. From unexpected reorganizations to overwhelming workloads, leaders often find themselves navigating storms of stress and uncertainty. The good news? You don’t have to succumb to the madness. Instead, you can implement practical strategies to remain grounded, focused, and effective.

Here are five ways to manage the madness at work, with a free downloadable guide to help you apply these concepts both personally and with your team.

1. Control the Controllables.

When chaos strikes, it’s tempting to try to fix everything. But here’s the truth: you can’t control everything. In fact, there are very few things you can control, so just focus on those.

Think about driving in a blizzard. You can’t stop the snow, the wind, or the icy roads, but you can control your speed, your grip on the wheel, and your focus. The same principle applies at work.

Focus on what’s within your power—your attitude, your effort, and the tasks directly under your responsibility.

Resist the urge to white-knuckle through every challenge, as over-control can lead to burnout. Instead, take a balanced approach: let go of what you can’t control while confidently managing what you can.

Action step: Reflect on one thing you’re currently over-managing and one thing you’re under-managing. What small adjustments can you make to control only the controllables?

2. Focus On Your Highest Value Activities

In chaotic times, it’s easy to confuse activity with accomplishment. When clarity is lacking, achievers often default to staying busy. But busyness isn’t always productive.

Identify your highest value activities—those tasks that align with your unique skills and bring the most significant results. Prioritize these over “low-value” tasks that might feel urgent but don’t contribute meaningfully to your goals. Ask yourself, “Am I working on what matters most, or just trying to stay busy?”

Action step : Make a list of your top three highest value activities. Block time on your calendar this week to focus exclusively on these priorities.

3. Protect Your Relational Capacity

Leadership is about relationships.

In the midst of workplace madness, it’s crucial to invest in and protect your relational capacity. Every interaction matters—whether with team members, peers, or stakeholders. Strong relationships provide support, foster collaboration, and create opportunities for future growth.

However, chaos can tempt leaders to cocoon themselves, withdrawing from meaningful connections. Resist this tendency. Instead, prioritize relational health by giving people your full attention, seeking to serve, and leaving every relationship better than you found it. Remember, relationships are assets that hold value both now and in the future.

Action step: Schedule a relational check-in with a team member, mentor, or peer. Ask how you can support them and actively listen.

4. Be Aware of Your Self-Talk

Your inner dialogue plays a massive role in how you handle chaos. Negative self-talk can amplify stress, while positive, truth-based self-talk can anchor you in confidence and clarity. Remember, the person you talk to most is yourself, so make sure those conversations are constructive.

Instead of defaulting to self-criticism (“I’m not good enough”) or blame (“This isn’t my fault”), focus on affirming truths: “I am a valuable contributor,” or, “I’m learning and growing through this experience.” By framing your narrative positively, you’ll build resilience and keep moving forward.

Action step: Identify one negative thought you’ve been repeating to yourself. Replace it with a grace-filled truth.

5. Resist Overreacting to Your Feelings

In chaotic situations, emotions like fear, frustration, or doubt can dominate your decision-making if left unchecked. To lead effectively, you must process your feelings thoughtfully, moving from feel to think to act.

Imagine your emotions are a car going through a car wash. They need to be prepped, washed, and dried before you take action. By pausing to reflect on your emotions instead of reacting impulsively, you can make more grounded and wise decisions.

Action step: The next time you feel overwhelmed, take a moment to journal. Write down what you’re feeling, what might be causing it, and one action step that aligns with your goals.

FREE INVENTORY DOWNLOAD

Navigating workplace madness is challenging, but you don’t have to do it alone. To help you and your team apply these five principles, we’ve created a free tool that will help you assess your current leadership approach, and gauge just how much madness you're managing. This resource also includes discussion questions to facilitate team conversations.

Download the free tool now and start turning chaos into clarity. Whether you use it for personal growth or group discussions, this tool will help you stay focused, grounded, and effective in every season.

4 Ways to Make Your Affirmations Matter

Thu, 06 Feb 2025 16:21:53 GMT

The Power of Encouragement:
Speaking Life Into Others

Each day, we speak anywhere between 10,000 and 20,000 words, yet how many of those words are used to encourage and uplift others?

Paul, in his letter to the Thessalonians, writes, "Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up, as you are already doing." Similarly, in Hebrews, we are reminded to "consider one another in order to provoke love and good works." These scriptures emphasize that our words have the power to uplift and inspire those around us. But are we truly using our words to build people up?

Paul, in Ephesians, states, "No foul language should come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear."

We often assume people know how much we appreciate them, but unspoken affirmations do little to nurture relationships. Words are powerful tools, and when used with intention, they can transform lives. Here's how to make your words count.

4 Ways to Make Your Affirmations Matter

If You Think It, Say It
Too often, we keep encouraging thoughts to ourselves. We see someone excelling, being kind, or making a difference, and we acknowledge it internally but never verbalize it. What good does that do? People need to hear affirmations, not just be the subjects of silent admiration. If you think someone is doing a great job, say it!
Say It to Them, Not Just About Them
Many of us have the habit of speaking highly about someone—but to others rather than to the person themselves. We might praise a friend’s generosity or a coworker’s diligence in conversations with others, yet fail to express those words directly. Why not change that habit? Direct encouragement strengthens relationships and validates the efforts of those we appreciate.
Be Specific in Your Praise
A generic "good job" is nice, but a specific affirmation is far more impactful. Instead of simply saying, "You're great," try, "I admire how you always make time to help others. Your selflessness is inspiring." Specific praise resonates deeply and reinforces the behavior that made an impact.
Focus on Character, Not Just Performance
While celebrating achievements is valuable, affirming character is even more important. A study involving first graders demonstrated that when children were praised for their intelligence alone, they hesitated to take on new challenges for fear of failure. However, when praised for persistence, effort, and teamwork, they embraced more difficult tasks. Likewise, affirming someone's integrity, kindness, or perseverance nurtures lasting confidence and growth.

The Value of Living Eulogies

As a pastor, I’ve attended many funerals where the best words about a person are spoken after they are gone. Family and friends share heartfelt stories of love, admiration, and respect. Yet, I often wonder—did they ever say those words to the person while they were alive?

Why wait until it’s too late? Imagine the impact of sharing those affirmations now. Let’s start giving "living eulogies"—expressing appreciation for the people in our lives today. Celebrate their uniqueness, their gifts, and their contributions.

Affirmation is more than just a feel-good practice; it is a biblical mandate to encourage and build up those around us. If we think something positive, we should say it. We should direct our words to the person who deserves to hear them. We should be specific, and we should focus on character as much as performance.

Remember This...

Words have power—use them to build, not tear down.
Affirmation should be direct, specific, and character-focused.
Don’t wait—offer encouragement today.

Let’s create a culture of affirmation, where encouragement is spoken freely and people feel valued every single day.

Reach Out and Encourage a Leader Today

In a world that can often feel chaotic and uncertain, it’s a privilege to be a part of a community that is consistently looking for ways to uplift and strengthen the work being done by Kingdom-minded leaders.

Whether you are working to make an impact in your local community or you are leading efforts on a global scale, we want to remind you today: Your work matters. Your leadership matters.

Today, we encourage you to reach out to one leader in your life—whether it’s someone in your church, your workplace, or a partner in ministry—and encourage them to keep going. A simple note, a text, or a call to let them know that their contributions to the Kingdom are seen and appreciated can have a lasting impact.

Download our Encouragement Guide and use this free tool to brainstorm all the most effective ways to encourage the leaders in your life that mean the most to you.

Leaders We Love: Leaders Living on Mission for Christ

Wed, 08 Jan 2025 16:49:18 GMT

Leaders We Love: Leaders Living on Mission for Christ

At Integrus Leadership, we are passionate about championing organizations whose leaders demonstrate a commitment to excellence and advancing the kingdom of God. That's why we're highlighting these incredible teams through our Leaders We Love series. Here are four organizations we are thrilled to feature this month.

RockPointe Church: Planting Churches that Spread the Gospel

RockPointe Church, located in Flower Mound, Texas, is on a mission to plant churches that spread the gospel and make a lasting impact in their communities. What sets RockPointe apart is their commitment to supporting these new churches even after they are launched. This year, they went above and beyond by funding executive coaching for pastors from churches they have already sent out, ensuring that these leaders have the resources and support they need to grow. Rock Point’s vision is inspiring as they are not just planting churches—they are investing in the leaders who will continue to carry the gospel forward. Their dedication to expanding God’s Kingdom and investing in leaders is a powerful example for all.

Morning Star Tours: Creating Pilgrimage Journeys that Deepen Connection to the Gospel

Morning Star Tours is a family-owned organization based in the Dallas area, dedicated to creating transformative pilgrimage experiences for travelers. Their mission is to help people deepen their connection to the gospel through life-changing journeys. Over the past year and a half, we've witnessed their executive team weather difficult challenges, such as unrest in the Middle East, yet their commitment to supporting one another and their mission has remained steadfast. Their leadership model, which balances excellence with compassion, sets a powerful example for anyone leading on mission. Morning Star, your passion for serving and creating memorable, impactful experiences inspires us daily.

Brazosport Cares: Fighting Hunger with Compassion and Purpose

Brazosport Cares is a nonprofit organization in Lake Jackson, Texas, working to ensure that no one in Brazoria County goes hungry. They provide affordable, nutritious food to thousands of individuals, from families facing sudden income loss to seniors living on fixed incomes. In 2023 alone, they served over 10,500 people. The heart of this organization is rooted in compassion, and their unwavering dedication to feeding those in need is a testament to what it means to lead with purpose. A special shoutout to Christy Fry, whose commitment to serving others inspires those around her. Brazosport Cares is a true example of leading with intentionality and heart.

Unbound Now: Fighting Human Trafficking with Compassion and Action

Unbound Now is a global nonprofit organization focused on preventing human trafficking and providing trauma-informed care to victims. Recently, their team worked alongside law enforcement during a victim recovery operation, resulting in the rescue of 10 individuals. In these challenging and often heartbreaking moments, Unbound Now’s advocates step in with compassion, offering critical support, including safe housing, medical care, and emotional assistance, to help victims begin to reclaim their lives. The team in Bryan and College Station, Texas, exemplifies what it means to lead with a sense of urgency, love, and care. We are honored to support and strengthen their work as they continue their vital mission.

Reach Out and Encourage a Leader Today

Whether you are working to make an impact in your local community or you are leading efforts on a global scale, we want to remind you today: Your work matters. Your leadership matters.

Download our Encouragement Guide and use this free tool to brainstorm all the most effective ways to encourage the leaders in your life that mean the most to you.

Rediscovering the Power of Prayer

kat@integrus.org (Kat Armstrong) — Mon, 02 Dec 2024 21:16:16 GMT

My prayer life as a leader has had its ups and downs. There are times when:

I've prayed timidly, which is surprising because I am not a timid person.
I've prayed feeling unworthy, even though I know in my heart that I am worthy to approach the throne of grace with boldness. Sometimes I wonder, "Who am I to ask for this?"
I've prayed burdened, feeling the weight of the world's troubles and wondering if my personal requests are even valid.

As we kick off a new year and launch our 30 Days of Prayer, I'm curious what your prayer life is like. Are you praying timidly, unworthily, or burdened? Or, are you praying with power, expectancy, and delight?

And the harder question: Are you praying for your leadership, at work, or even in the midst of your work?

Lately, I've realized that the most powerful leaders in Scripture were devoted to prayer. Hannah, from 1 Samuel 1 is a prime example.

Hannah knew:

The anguish of infertility.
The pain of a broken heart
The shame that comes with a body that does not cooperate with your deepest hopes.
The mistreatment of a family member.
The impact weak spiritual leadership could have in her country.
The isolation of suffering in a society driven by evil.
The feelings of worthless in a culture that didn’t value her.
The confusion of prayers seemingly going unanswered.

And yet, Hannah knew how to bring all her struggles to God in prayer.

Hannah's Prayer

“My horn is lifted up by the Lord. My mouth boasts over my enemies because I rejoice in your salvation.”

Hannah experienced God’s victory.

“There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no rock like our God.”

Hannah recognized God’s unparalleled holiness.

"Do not boast so proudly or let arrogant words come out of your mouth, for the Lord is a God of knowledge."

Hannah understood that God’s wisdom surpasses any human understanding.

“The bows of the warriors are broken, but the feeble are clothed with strength.”

Hannah experienced God’s protection.

“The Lord brings poverty and gives wealth; He humbles and He exalts.”

Hannah knew it is God who raises the poor and is not bound by economic forecasts or budgets.

“Those who oppose the Lord will be shattered. He will thunder in the heavens against them. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth and He will give power to His king.”

Hannah recognized it was at the top of the organizational chart of her life, ruling with kindness and love.

Hannah did not wait to have it all together before coming to God. She approached Him with her whole self, and in that, she found the power of prayer: experiencing God's character.

As we prioritize prayer in our leadership, I am reminded that:

Christ is available to us at all times. Unlike a licensed professional counselor with limited availability, God is accessible 24/7. Even after following Jesus for 30 years and dedicating my life to teaching the Bible, I still sometimes look around for someone to text or call when work gets hard—only to remember that Jesus is always available.
Christ is aware of our needs, even the ones we struggle to put into words. He is acquainted with our sufferings and does not merely pat us on the back. He comes to us in our pain and walks with us, having suffered on the cross Himself.
Christ is always approachable. While we are often told that moving up in leadership means becoming less approachable, Jesus, at the very top, remains welcoming to sinners like us.

At Integrus Leadership, where I serve as the Marketing Director, I see this lived out every day. It is a privilege to work with fellow Christians who place prayer at the forefront. We pray first, whether it’s at the beginning of a meeting or for our partners by name.

So, I challenge you today: Are you praying at work, for work, in your work? Because prayer isn’t just a personal practice—it’s a powerful foundation for every part of our lives.

We hope you join us for our 30 Days of Prayer with the free prayer guide and our videos on social media.

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Catch all the daily videos for 30 Days of Prayer

Great Leaders Are Consistent Readers

Mon, 02 Dec 2024 21:16:12 GMT

“Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.”

Harry S. Truman

Researchers have analyzed dozens of metrics, and time and time again, the results say the same thing: what separates the good leaders from the great leaders is their commitment to reading.

If you want to improve your leadership skills, develop a healthy team, or foster a growth-oriented culture in your organization, start reading leadership books that will help lead yourself, lead a team, or lead an organization.

Why Reading Makes Leaders Great

Reading expands your viewpoint.

In a way, reading books sits you down in front of the author, like a student before the teacher, as they tell you their story and impart their learned knowledge and wisdom.

Reading sharpens your problem-solving skills.

Julius Caesar is quoted as saying, “experience is the best teacher,” but we disagree; someone else’s experience is the best teacher! When we learn from the wins and losses of those who have gone before us, exposing the problems they have already solved (or not), it helps us analyze information more effectively.

Reading fuels creativity and innovation.

Books connect us with people who we might otherwise never have the opportunity to learn from, injecting fresh concepts and ideas into stale and stagnant thought patterns. Reading also equips leaders to adapt to change and embrace new strategies because “learning” sits at the core of reading. Reading triggers something inside us that says, “I’m open to new ideas,” readying ourselves for change.

Our Staff’s Top Picks

The Integrus team has put together a list of our top picks. We’re committed to providing you with insanely practical tools and resources to assist you on your leadership journey, and this list will help you get started on your reading journey to becoming a great leader.

We’ve divided the list into 3 categories. These books will help you:

lead yourself,
lead others, and
lead your organization.

These books would also make great gifts or stocking stuffers. So, if you’re not sure what to get the leaders in your life for Christmas, this list will give you some ideas. Each of the books on this list have helped our team grow into healthy leaders who make up an effective team, so I am confident they will help you, too.

Click the link below to view the 2025 Reading List our website. We’ve creating a page with all of these books linked directly to an online store. Our hope is that this makes it even easier for you to dip your toe in the pool of knowledge that awaits you.

Bonus Resources

End of Year Reflection Guide

2024 is quickly approaching its end, and it's important that we take a few minutes to pause, reflect on how God has been faithful in our lives this year, and give Him thanks. It’s also the perfect time to begin thinking about what you want out of the upcoming year. We’ve put together an End of Year Reflection Guide to help you through this thought process. Click here to download this free tool.

Recent Podcast Appearance

Lyle was a recent guest on the Q4 Impact podcast talking about mentoring and being mentored. As you’re thinking about next year, I encourage you to listen to this podcast, and think about whether or not this is the season for you to mentor someone or find a mentor for yourself, or both! Check out the podcast episode here.

What the NYC Marathon Taught Me About Leadership

Wed, 20 Nov 2024 19:47:12 GMT

Just days ago, I crossed the finish line of the New York City Marathon, and I’m still riding the high of that experience—medal and all! After eight years of running and five dedicated months of training for this race, I faced unexpected challenges, including a foot injury that nearly sidelined me. These obstacles gave me deeper insights into leadership, lessons I’m excited to share with you.

Patience and Persistence Matter
Leadership, much like marathon training, is not a sprint. It’s easy to look at leaders and assume that progress is quick and linear, but the reality is often far different. Progress can be slow, non-linear, and full of unexpected twists and turns. During my training, there were days when progress felt almost nonexistent. Yet, those were the moments that mattered most—when I had to push through fatigue, self-doubt, and setbacks. True leaders understand that lasting success comes from staying the course, even when the path forward is uncertain and demanding.
Setbacks Are Part of the Journey
In both marathons and leadership, setbacks are inevitable. For me, it was a foot injury that flared up weeks before race day. In leadership, it might be unforeseen complications, such as strained resources or processes that don’t go as planned. These challenges can feel discouraging, but great leaders learn to pivot, adapt, and find creative solutions. Setbacks build resilience, and this resilience becomes the fuel that propels you toward future triumphs. Each challenge I overcame during my training helped me build mental and physical endurance for race day—and the same is true for leadership.
Celebrate the Small Wins
Marathons are long, and reaching each mile marker brings its own sense of achievement. Passing the 5-mile mark, reaching the halfway point, and finally seeing the finish line were moments I celebrated, even if just with a mental cheer. The same principle applies to leadership: every milestone, no matter how small, deserves recognition. These moments of celebration keep your team motivated and energized. They remind everyone that progress is happening, and that acknowledgment helps sustain the team’s drive toward bigger goals. As a leader, it’s essential to create an environment where small wins are appreciated and celebrated.

While I know some of you, like my friend Kat, may joke that you'd only run if someone were chasing you, the lessons I took from the NYC Marathon extend far beyond running. I hope these insights inspire you to lead with patience, embrace resilience during challenges, and find joy in celebrating progress—whether you’re striving to complete a major organizational project or pursuing personal growth.

Leadership, like marathon training, is a journey that tests us in countless ways, but the lessons along the way make all the difference.

Keep pushing forward, celebrate the journey, and know that each step takes you closer to your finish line.

Gratitude Makes Good Leaders Great

Mon, 04 Nov 2024 14:49:35 GMT

Updated for 2025

As 2025 comes to a close, many leaders are feeling the weight of uncertainty from new technologies, constant change, and an increasingly anxious culture. Fear and pressure have become familiar companions in leadership, but God never meant for us to lead from a place of fear. He calls us to lead from peace.

Gratitude is one of the most powerful yet overlooked ways to do that. It’s not just a feel-good sentiment; it’s a biblical practice with real spiritual power that's backed up by science.

Fear and Anxiety Are Contagious

Do a quick search online, and you’ll find that nearly one in five adults in the U.S. struggles with an anxiety disorder. And while the statistics don’t separate believers from non-believers, we know this isn’t just “the world’s problem.” Fear and anxiety are running rampant in the church, too.

This isn’t new. Fear entered humanity’s story in the Garden of Eden. After tasting the fruit of the tree from which they had been instructed not to eat, Adam and Eve heard God walking in the garden and hid themselves out of fear. We've been hiding ever since. For many of us, fear and anxiety run deep through family history, shaping how we think, parent, and lead.

But there’s hope. And it’s not in positive thinking or self-help slogans. It’s found in a practical, biblical truth that has the power to renew your mind and transform your leadership: gratitude.

A Thousand Gifts to Overcome Anxiety

I’ve battled fear and anxiety most of my life: from sleepless nights as a child to full-blown panic attacks as an adult. At one point, I found myself in the emergency room with chest pains. When I learned it wasn’t a heart attack but a panic attack, I felt ashamed. I was a loving mother, a devoted wife, and more importantly, a faithful Christian. I thought to myself, "Shouldn’t I have more faith than this?"

But God met me there. Through His grace and a powerful book called One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp, I discovered that gratitude was not just a nicety; it was a weapon. Ann’s challenge to record three things each day I was grateful for began to retrain my heart and mind. Over time, anxiety loosened its grip, and peace took its place.

I can’t fully describe the shift that happened inside me, but I know this: gratitude changed everything. And it will do the same for you.

The Science of Gratitude and Anxiety

I love when science confirms what scripture has always said. Recent studies have continued to prove that gratitude changes your brain. The reason for this is because anxiety/fear and gratitude/thankfulness engage different, conflicting neural pathways and emotional states. Research suggests that while anxiety and fear trigger the "fight or flight" response, practicing gratitude can activate brain areas associated with positive emotions and a "rest and digest" state.

That truth echoes Philippians 4:6-7:

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Paul wasn’t offering a mere suggestion; he was revealing a divine design. When you choose gratitude, you activate peace. And the peace of God is active. It stands guard around your heart and mind, allowing your brain (and your heart) to shift out of fear.

Practicing a Life of Gratitude

Retraining your thoughts is possible. Otherwise God wouldn't have inspired the writers of the New Testament to pen instructions to "take every thought captive" and "be transformed by the renewing of your mind." It just requires intentionality. We have to make a plan and actively work to retrain our thoughts. Here are a few simple ways to make gratitude part of your daily rhythm:

1. Keep a Gratitude Journal

Write down three things you’re thankful for each day. Some days they’ll be big, other days they’ll be small, but over time this practice reshapes how you see the world. It also builds the reflex to take notice of things you're grateful for throughout the day, leading you to a continuing practice of gratitude and thankfulness.

2. Write Notes of Gratitude

Thank coworkers, friends, or family members in writing or face-to-face. Expressing appreciation out loud strengthens relationships because it infuses resilience into them. When someone knows you truly care about and appreciate them, they will fight to keep the relationship.

3. Start a Gratitude Jar

Drop one note of thankfulness in a jar each day. On New Year’s Eve, read them back and celebrate the evidence of God’s faithfulness throughout the year.

4. Take Gratitude Walks

Go for a walk and thank God for what you notice (creation, people, memories) and how they positively impact your life. Gratitude and movement together are powerful medicine for the soul...and the waist line.

5. Pray Prayers of Gratitude

This practice has had a monumental affect on my life. Rather than beginning your prayers with requests, start with thanks. Gratitude centers your heart on who God is and reminds you that He’s already at work. This one is a real faith booster! As we remember the ways God has shown Himself strong and faithful on our behalf, our current troubles seem to shrink in weight.

Free Tool: The End-of-Year Reflection Guide for Leaders

As you practice gratitude this season, take time to reflect intentionally. Our 2025 End-of-Year Reflection Guide will help you look back with thanksgiving and forward with faith. Use it to capture the moments, lessons, and blessings that defined your year, and then to set your intentions for how you’ll lead in 2026.

Download the free 2025 Reflection Guide here.

The Peace of God Will Guard Your Heart

When we practice gratitude, we invite God’s peace to guard our hearts and minds. We’re reminded that He is our provider, healer, comforter, and defender. Gratitude anchors us in His character, and that anchor holds no matter what storms come next.

Draw a line in the sand and say, “The madness stops with me.” Don’t let fear or anxiety pass to another generation or another team. Choose gratitude, and lead with peace.

What Baseball Taught Me About Leadership

Wed, 02 Oct 2024 19:14:07 GMT

As someone who played baseball for over 20 years, I learned a lot about leadership. Baseball is more than just a game—it’s a powerful teacher.

Here are my top 10 leadership lessons from the sport that has shaped how I lead today:

1️⃣ You have to be a little crazy if you want to be great.

To be exceptional, you’ve got to push boundaries. Just like the best baseball players, great leaders aren’t afraid to take risks and step outside their comfort zones. They embrace challenges with passion and tenacity, even when it seems a bit "crazy" to others.

2️⃣ Success doesn’t come often, so when it does, celebrate it.

Baseball is a game of failure—players fail more than they succeed, so when success comes, take the time to celebrate it. The same goes for leadership. Take time to acknowledge the wins, no matter how small they may seem. Celebrating success fuels motivation for the next challenge.

3️⃣ Failure is inevitable, but don’t settle for it—rise above your setbacks.

Just because failure happens doesn’t mean we have to accept it or settle for it. Baseball taught me that while failure is frequent, it's also an opportunity for growth. As leaders, we should learn from setbacks, rise above them, and never get comfortable with mediocrity.

4️⃣ Failure isn’t just a step on the path to success; it’s a foundational building block.

In baseball, failure is part of the process. The best players use their mistakes to improve. Similarly, failure is essential in leadership. It's not just a stepping stone—it’s the foundation that builds resilience, adaptability, and eventual success.

5️⃣ You have to hate losing way more than you love winning.

The drive to avoid failure can often be stronger than the desire to win. Great leaders, like great athletes, are deeply competitive. It’s not just about wanting to win—it’s about refusing to lose. This competitive spirit fuels growth and perseverance.

6️⃣ Not every at-bat needs to be a home run—sometimes, singles are exactly what you need.

In today’s culture, we often glorify the "home runs"—the big wins and flashy successes. But in baseball, as in leadership, consistency matters. Sometimes, small wins are just as important. You don’t need to hit it out of the park every time; a well-placed single is what gets the job done.

7️⃣ Isolation is not an option—you can’t play all the positions.

In baseball, teamwork is essential. No one can play all nine positions. The same is true in leadership. You need to trust your team and rely on their strengths. Isolation leads to burnout, while collaboration leads to success.

8️⃣ Playing with fear means playing with failure.

When you let fear control you, failure follows. On the field and in leadership, playing timidly often leads to errors. Leaders must act with confidence and courage, even in uncertain circumstances.

9️⃣ Sometimes you do everything right and still lose; sometimes you do everything wrong and still win.

Baseball, like life, is unpredictable. You can make all the right moves and still not get the result you want. Conversely, you might make mistakes and still come out on top. The key is to learn from every experience and keep improving, regardless of the outcome.

�� Numbers can be more distracting than helpful.

In baseball, players can get caught up in stats—batting averages, home runs, RBIs. But focusing too much on numbers can distract from the bigger picture. In leadership, metrics are important, but they don’t tell the whole story. Focus on progress and improvement, not just the numbers.

Keys to Successful Leadership

Awareness Brings Confidence and Clarity

One of the biggest lessons from baseball is the importance of awareness. Players who know where everyone is on the field and understand each person’s role play with confidence and freedom. The same applies to leadership. When you have clarity about your team’s roles and responsibilities, you create an environment where everyone can thrive.

Be Ready to Pivot

In baseball, you never know when you’ll be asked to play a different position. It’s important to be adaptable and ready to pivot when needed. As leaders, we should develop the ability to pivot quickly, adjusting our strategies when circumstances change.

Don’t Settle for Failure

Just because failure happens often in baseball doesn’t mean you have to like it. Many players use the sport's inherent difficulty as an excuse, but I believe we should hate losing. The competitive spirit should motivate us to work harder and be better every day.

Celebrate Success

Lastly, don’t forget to celebrate your wins. In ministry and leadership, we can get so caught up in what’s not working that we overlook the good things happening. Take time to acknowledge the positive outcomes, and let that fuel your drive to keep moving forward.

Final Thoughts

Leadership is like baseball—there’s always room to grow, always something to learn, and always a reason to keep striving. Whether you’re celebrating small wins or learning from failures, the key is to stay focused, stay humble, and keep pushing forward. Remember, success may not come often, but when it does, it’s worth celebrating.

Supporting Female Leaders

Thu, 19 Sep 2024 16:06:48 GMT

At Integrus, we’re committed to supporting female leaders. We recently hosted a free webinar with two of our behavioral leadership experts to answer the questions female leaders were asking. Our team has distilled that conversation to create the following content, complete with their greatest insights and coaching tips specifically for supporting female leaders.

The Crucial Role of Confidence

Many women experience a lower level of confidence compared to their male colleagues. One way this might show up in a female leader's life is hesitating to step forward until she feels completely ready. Sometimes, this is the thing that slows her progress, while the men around her excel because they're more likely to jump at opportunities whether or not they have it all figured out.

But here’s a thought that might change the way you approach leadership roles: "God doesn't call the equipped; rather, he equips the called." The Bible is full of stories of God fulfilling His purposes through men AND women who, looking at the outside, didn't have what it takes. But God looks at the heart. This powerful notion suggests that you don’t need to wait until you feel fully prepared to take on leadership challenges. Leadership skills can be honed over time, and starting before you feel ready can be part of the journey.

Ways female leaders can boost confidence, both internally and externally:

Internally, it’s about fostering a steadfast belief in the Lord's divine placement in your current role. Telling yourself, "I belong here because I am meant to be here," can be incredibly empowering. God's given you this assignment.
Externally, confidence can be projected through your body language and energy. Simple actions like smiling and making eye contact can communicate confidence within the first moments of interaction with your team, setting a positive tone for what follows.

The Power of Mentorship and Coaching

In most cases, the female leaders who experience the greatest breakthrough in their leadership are being mentored or coached. The author of Ecclesiastes admonishes us that two people are better off than one because they can help each other succeed, but finding the right mentor or coach shouldn't feel overwhelming.

Here’s how you can start:

Identify Growth Areas: Determine the top three skills or qualities you want to enhance. This focus will guide you in selecting a mentor who can truly help you progress.
Reach Out Proactively: No one is likely to offer mentorship without you initiating. Make phone calls or send messages to potential mentors, inviting them for coffee. Be clear that you’d like to meet specifically to discuss your development areas and get their advice.
Ask Specific Questions: When you meet, have specific questions prepared that will help you understand how this mentor can guide you in your identified areas of growth.
Look for Humility: Choose a mentor who values learning from you as much as you will from them. This two-way educational relationship, known as reverse mentoring, ensures both parties gain from the experience. (Remember, two can help each other succeed.)

Healing from Leadership Scars

Leadership roles often come with their share of challenges, such as feeling overlooked or undervalued, that can lead to emotional wounds and sometimes leave deep scars. If that's you, you're not alone. (Even the men struggle with this.) You can't help the behavior of others, but you can take ownership of your healing so that these scars don't keep you from moving forward. Here’s how you can begin the healing process:

Acknowledge the Hurt: Recognize and admit your feelings. Understanding that it's okay to feel hurt. Clearly defining the hurt is the first step towards healing. This awareness is crucial because it's the starting point for change. You can't fix what you can't identify.
Seek External Support: Look for support outside your current environment. This could be professional counseling, a coach outside your organization, or a trusted peer group. External perspectives can offer new insights because they have zero biases. Also, choose someone who will shoot you straight and tell you the truth, even if it means exposing a blind spot in your life.
Invest in Self-Care: Prioritize your well-being. This includes getting adequate sleep, engaging in recreational activities, eating well, and maintaining social connections. Good physical health supports emotional resilience. Remember that we are made up of spirit, soul and body, and we need to tend to all three to keep "the engine" running smoothly.
Monitor Your Self-Talk: Be mindful of your internal dialogue. Challenge and change any overly critical or negative thoughts. Treat yourself with the same kindness and understanding you would offer a friend. If you really struggle with this, consider writing in a journal when you catch yourself in a thought spiral. Seeing your thoughts in "black and white" can illuminate areas in which you're really struggling.
Ask God to Heal Your Heart Through Prayer: Healing only comes from Jesus. He is the mender of broken hearts. As you identify wounds and scars and begin to get a handle on the spiraling thoughts in your mind, take them to the Lord in prayer and ask Him to help you heal. Read scriptures, and write down all of God's promises you come across. Pray and speak those over yourself, and you will begin to experience His joy and peace growing to replace the hurt.
Stay Faithful and Patient: Continue to be diligent and faithful in your role. Trust that even if your efforts seem unrecognized now, the value you provide does not go unnoticed. In time, your contributions will be acknowledged, and opportunities will arise. There are times when you have to do as Colossians 3:23-24 says, "Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ."

Remember, healing from leadership scars involves patience and self-advocacy. You are not alone in these experiences, and taking these steps can empower you to emerge stronger and more resilient.

Find an executive coach.

We've assembled one of the most experienced and qualified group of executive coaches, and our female coaches know what it's like to walk a mile in your shoes. Each of them draws on their own real-life experience to bring you wise strategies and effective methods to grow your leadership and team.

5 Things to Focus on When Times Are Tough

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 12:35:08 GMT

One Leader's Story of Leading Through Their Hardest Year Yet

Leadership often comes with its fair share of challenges, but some years can be particularly tough, pushing you to the limits of your resilience, faith, and endurance. If you haven't experienced one of those years, just wait. We all have them, but there is hope!

One of the best ways we can prepare for these hard times is to learn from those who went before us. If you haven't watched the above video of Kat's interview with Johnathan, stop reading, and go watch it. Johnathan faced an incredibly difficult year, and in this video, he walks us through his experience and offers valuable insights into how to navigate these times.

Based on Johnathan's experience and lessons learned, here are five key things to focus on when you’re leading through your hardest year yet:

Lean on Your Core Values and Principles
When the ground beneath you starts to shake, your core values and leadership principles become your anchor. Johnathan found that every belief and leadership principle he had learned was put to the test during his challenging year. He had to draw on every bit of strength and rely on the values that had guided him throughout his life. In these moments, it’s crucial to remind yourself of the principles that have shaped your leadership journey and let them guide your decisions, especially when you’re stepping into unfamiliar or uncomfortable territories.
Recognize the Importance of Relational Capital
In leadership, the relationships you build are invaluable, especially during hard times. Johnathan had to spend a significant amount of relational capital to navigate his difficulties—relying on the trust and goodwill he had built with his team and community over the years. This serves as a reminder that relational capital is not something you can build in the midst of a crisis; it’s something you cultivate during the good times so that it’s there when you need it most.
Don’t Ignore the Physical and Emotional Signs
Leadership hardships don’t just test your faith; they take a toll on your entire being—physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Johnathan experienced panic attacks, trouble breathing, and insomnia—clear signs that his body was under extreme stress. It’s vital to pay attention to these signs and address them proactively. Leaders often overlook their own well-being, but self-care is not optional; it’s essential for sustaining your leadership over the long haul.
Seek Encouragement and Support
Even the strongest leaders need encouragement. Johnathan shared how he reached out to others when he was at his lowest, needing people to speak life into his situation. In your toughest moments, don’t hesitate to seek out encouragement from trusted friends, mentors, or even professional counselors. Surround yourself with people who can offer perspective, support, and hope when you’re struggling to see it for yourself.
Keep Moving Forward with Resilience
In the face of overwhelming challenges, it’s easy to feel paralyzed. Johnathan’s mantra during his hard year was to focus on the “next right decision.” He didn’t let the weight of the past or the uncertainty of the future stop him; instead, he committed to taking one step at a time, trusting that God had not forsaken him. This resilience—the determination to keep moving forward, no matter how small the steps—can make all the difference in getting through the hardest times.

As a leader, you will inevitably face tough years, but by focusing on these key areas:

Leaning on your core values and principles.
The critical importance of relational capital.
Recognizing and addressing physical and emotional signs of stress.
Seeking encouragement and support from trusted sources.
Moving forward with resilience, focusing on one step at a time.

You can navigate even the most challenging times with grace and strength. Remember, you don’t have to do it alone, and sometimes the most significant growth comes from the hardest experiences.

5 Lessons I Learned The Hard Way as an Executive Pastor

Tue, 20 Aug 2024 21:17:22 GMT

Adam Hatton

Stepping into, or leading through, the role of an Executive Pastor (XP) can be one of the most challenging yet rewarding positions in ministry leadership. If you're navigating this path, you’re likely familiar with the mix of excitement and apprehension that comes with leading at this level.

Reflecting on my journey, there are several lessons I wish I had known before taking on the role of an XP. Here are the five key insights that would have significantly impacted my time as an executive pastor.

1. Understand the Culture Before You Step In

One of the most significant challenges I faced when becoming an Executive Pastor was understanding the culture I was stepping into. Having served in ministry for 18 years prior, I thought I had a good grasp of church culture and dynamics. However, I quickly realized that every church has its unique DNA, shaped by history, legacy events, and unwritten rules that aren’t immediately apparent.

Before stepping into the role, I wish I had asked more specific questions during the interview process. Clarity is a leader's best friend, and understanding the unspoken norms and traditions of the church could have saved me from many initial missteps.

It’s crucial to gather as much information as possible about how things were done before, why they were done that way, and how the congregation and staff feel about those practices. This understanding allows you to navigate changes more effectively, knowing when to push forward and when to proceed with caution.

Reflection Questions:

How can I gain a deeper understanding of a church's culture and unspoken norms?
How can I effectively gather insights about the church's history and traditions?

2. Be Prepared for a Crash Course in Church Business

Most Executive Pastors come from a background rooted in ministry, with a strong focus on shepherding and spiritual leadership. While these are critical aspects of the role, the XP position also demands a robust understanding of the business side of the church—something I had to learn quickly.

Also, realize when stepping into a new church that each church does administration a little differently and you need to be knowledgable enough to adapt to a new system and understand it well enough to eventually make necessary changes.

If I had known the extent to which I would need to be well-versed in financial management, human resources, and organizational leadership, I would have spent more time preparing in these areas before stepping into the role. The church, after all, is not just a spiritual entity but also a complex organization that requires sound business acumen to thrive. Understanding budgets, strategic planning, and legal considerations are essential skills that can make or break your effectiveness as an XP.

Reflection Questions:

What aspects of church business (e.g., financial management, HR, legal considerations) do you feel least prepared for, and how can you develop these skills?
How do you balance spiritual leadership with the need for strong business acumen?

3. The Surprising Challenge of Time Management

One of the most surprising aspects of becoming an Executive Pastor was how much my time would be fought over by various staff members and ministry areas. I expected to have a full schedule, but I underestimated the extent to which my time would be split across multiple urgent and competing needs.

Initially, I had 14 direct reports, and managing them all while maintaining the same level of energy and intentionality was overwhelming. I wish I had recognized sooner the importance of creating a tiered leadership structure that allowed for fewer direct reports, enabling me to focus more deeply on high-priority areas. This would have also freed up time for strategic thinking and long-term planning, rather than being constantly consumed by the day-to-day demands.

Time management isn’t just about managing your calendar; it’s about discerning what truly deserves your attention. Learning to prioritize high-value activities over urgent but less impactful tasks is critical. It’s easy to confuse busyness with effectiveness, but as an XP, your goal should be to focus on what drives the mission of the church forward in the most significant way.

Reflection Questions:

What strategies can I implement to prioritize high-value activities over urgent but less impactful tasks?
How can I create a tiered leadership structure to reduce the number of direct reports and improve your focus on strategic planning?

4. You Can't Do It All—And You Shouldn't Try To

Early in my role, I fell into the trap of thinking I could handle everything. I thought I was capable of managing all my responsibilities and that having a large number of direct reports was a sign of my competence. That was a mistake.

Not only is it unsustainable to try to do everything yourself, but it also hinders the development of other leaders on your team. Delegating tasks isn’t just about lightening your load—it’s about empowering others to grow in their roles and take on more responsibility. I needed to discern not only what I could do but also what I should do.

Just because you’re capable of handling something doesn’t mean you’re the best person to do it. Your time and energy are finite resources, and they should be invested in the areas where you can have the most impact.

By spreading yourself too thin, you risk burnout —not just for yourself, but also for your most capable staff members, whom you might inadvertently overburden with tasks outside their primary roles. Transparently, this was a major blind spot for me until my best and brightest employees let me know they were starting to feel overwhelmed and were experiencing burnout.

Stay proactive with this skillset or you will learn the hard way like I did. Learning to let go and trust others to handle important responsibilities is a crucial step in becoming an effective XP.

Reflection Questions:

How do I decide what tasks to delegate, and how I you empower my team to take on more responsibility?
What are the risks of trying to do everything myself, and how can I avoid spreading myself too thin?

5. Serve Your Senior Pastor by Staying Ahead

One of the most important roles of an executive pastor is to support and serve the senior pastor. The senior pastor carries the weight of vision casting, sermon preparation, and leading the congregation spiritually. As an XP, your job is to ensure that they can focus on these critical tasks without being bogged down by operational concerns.

I quickly learned that the best way to serve my senior pastor was to stay ahead of the game. Anticipating questions and concerns before they arise, providing clear and concise updates on the progress of various ministries, and ensuring that the operational side of the church runs smoothly are all ways to reduce their stress and allow them to lead more effectively.

One indicator that you might not be doing this well is if your senior pastor starts asking random questions about various ministries at random times. This often means they’re feeling anxious about something that isn’t being communicated clearly. Proactively providing them with data and feedback about the effectiveness of your church’s ministries can help alleviate this anxiety and build trust.

Reflection Questions:

How can I anticipate the needs and concerns of my senior pastor?
What systems can I put in place to ensure clear and proactive communication with my senior pastor?

Executive Pastor Resources

My hope is that by sharing these lessons, I can help you avoid some of the pitfalls and set you on a path to success as an executive pastor. Additionally, I put together some free resources that will support executive pastors with actionable leadership tools:

Free Webinar: You're invited to join an exclusive, free webinar designed specifically for executive pastors on September 26th at Noon Central via Zoom. I'll be joined by Brent Monogue and two experienced Integrus coaches, who have all walked in your shoes as executive pastors. We'll share invaluable insights and practical strategies. Register now to reserve your spot.
Free Download: I've created a free download that any executive pastor can use to quickly identify who your highest capacity people are, and how you can take practical steps to open wide the lines of communication with your direct reports. Get it here .
Video: In preparation to write this blog, I sat down with Brent Monogue to have a conversation about this topic, and we recorded it for you!

6 Early Signs of Burnout

Fri, 26 Jul 2024 21:52:37 GMT

Brent Monogue

Director of Strategic Engagement

Family fishing trips always fill my tank.

I love watching my kids enjoying boat rides, catching fish as big as they are, and dreaming of what lies beneath the deep blue sea. Plus, I need time off to focus on the people I love most.

Are you taking time off of work soon?

Most leaders are anticipating a family vacation, shortened work weeks, summer office hours, or maybe even a sabbatical. I hope those necessary breaks from your routine are fun and restful. These breaks will serve you well, but they are not enough to resist burnout.

Vacations don't cure exhaustion.

You are mission-critical to your organization, that's why we're passionate about helping leaders practice sustainable work-life rhythms that support healthy relationships and leadership vitality. Here are 6 early signs of burnout.

6 Early Signs of Burnout

Joylessness- If you're going weeks or months without feeling joy, you may be on your way to burnout. Maybe you see the joy around you but you don't feel it, that's when you know your numbing out to the best parts of your life. Burnout isn't just about feeling down, it's about the absence of joy too.
Short Fuse- If you're snappy, irritable, snarky, extra sarcastic or catching yourself roll your eyes often, you may be struggling with early signs of burnout. Leaders, your patience quota reflects the vitality of your leadership. Burned-out leaders will unintentionally have short fuses and that impact a whole team.
Trouble Sleeping- Good, deep rest is harder to come by the older we get, but I'm talking about the persistent struggles you might have falling asleep even when your body and brain are exhausted. Or, the restlessness nights of sleep where all you seem to do is toss and turn, waking up multiple times to look at the clock. You might need more than just a nap. Your body may be reflecting something deeper going on, a bone-level exhaustion that leads to burnout.
A Lack of Self-Care- Think of Nascar— they have an entire team dedicated to ensuring the car and driver have a full tank. It would be nice if life offered us that same luxury, but we are responsible for our tanks getting filled. And if our tanks don't get filled, our leadership starts to run rough and clunky, headed for a blowout. If you lack self-care, you may be weighed down by feeling like you're always on the clock, having trouble remembering the last time you had fun, or beginning to ask: "Is this all that life has for me?"
Procrastination- A sure sign that I am approaching burnout is putting off tasks that overwhelm me or drain me. Sometimes the tasks I'm putting off will only take me 10 minutes to complete, and still I resist crossing it off my list because my tank is running dangerously empty.
Stop using my Workflow- Here at Integrus, we are big fans of our project management tool that paces our whole team on our to-do lists. A sure sign that one of our team members is nearing burnout is when she opts to keep handwritten lists spread across her desk rather than utilizing the workflow we have in place. Are you using the workflows your team has set for you? Or, are you taking matters into your own hands because you feel overwhelmed?

Leaders, we need to get honest about our energy levels and detect early warning signs of burnout long before we feel under the pile by using our free Resisting Burnout Assessment .

Burnout has a sneaky way of making us feel isolated from others, but you've got an army of leaders in your corner here at Integrus. Let us help you.

I've made time for you on my calendar this week. Schedule a free call, so we can assess what fills your tank and make a plan for you to get your tank filled.

Defining Your Non-Negotiables

Thu, 25 Apr 2024 22:37:43 GMT

Brent Monogue

Director of Strategic Engagement

"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Matthew 22:36-40 (ESV)

I find this familiar passage to be very powerful words for us as leaders. Not just because Jesus creates such great clarity for us as disciples, but because it illuminates a critical leadership principle. Jesus says that the entire Law hangs on these two simple truths — love the Lord and love others. If a disciple does these two things, then everything else falls into place. Think about it, if I truly love God and others, then being obedient to the remainder of the commandments (do not murder, do not lie, do not covet, etc.) becomes simple.

Jesus is saying these two behaviors are the non-negotiable behaviors for disciples.

Let me ask you, what are the non-negotiable behaviors in your organization? Have you defined them, and clarified them the way Jesus has?

Let me offer three potential non-negotiables your team could adopt:

Integrity. It sounds so simple, but if we live with integrity as a team and as a company then nothing else matters. We also realized that if we live without integrity as a team and as a company, then nothing else matters.

Service. At Integrus we intentionally identify everyone we serve as “partners”, not clients or customers. We aim to partner with everyone we serve, aligning ourselves to their mission, needs, and desires. Our goal is their success, not ours.

Stewardship. Like most organizations, we are detailed and disciplined in the way we steward our money. However, we also desire to be as intentional with the way we steward the time and talents of our people. Our desire is to see every team member functioning at their “highest and best” which means we aim to have the right people, doing the right things, at the right time, with the right resources, and with the right relationships.

I hope these examples are helpful to you as you start to explore the non-negotiables of your team and your mission.

Our heart is to see you thrive and to support you in every possible way. That's why we've created a free tool for you and your team to use when defining your non-negotiables. Download your free copy here .

I'd love to hear your feedback on this blog post. Email me , or even better, use the link in the sidebar to schedule a free coaching session.

The 4 Types of Organizations: Improving Workplace Communication

Wed, 03 Apr 2024 20:22:03 GMT

Lyle Wells

President

Miscommunication is one of the main reasons your team is not living up to its potential.

Leaders, if your team is not communicating effectively, your team is missing opportunities to align around your mission and accelerate the outcomes of your organization. I see this time and time again as I work with high-capacity leaders and effective teams.

After 18 years of serving leaders, I've identified four distinct types of organizations as they relate to communication.

Siloed
In siloed organizations, communication is nearly non-existent. Teams don't talk, and they certainly don't communicate effectively. Despite being able to achieve productivity in a siloed environment, working in such organizations is neither fun nor healthy. While tasks get done, the lack of communication can lead to a disconnected and uninspiring workplace.
Struggling
Struggling teams don't engage in open conversation but communicate through passive-aggressive actions. Late arrivals, early departures, eye rolls, or phone distractions during meetings define the subtle yet damaging communication within these organizations. Despite their attempts at conveying messages indirectly, the overall work atmosphere is one of struggle, with neither fun nor fruitful outcomes.
Stagnant
Stagnant organizations are characterized by constant chatter without meaningful communication. Often observed in a significant number of Christian organizations, there is an abundance of words, encouragement, and banter, creating a seemingly fun environment. However, this excessive talk fails to translate into meaningful progress. They can be fun but not fruitful. The organizations remain stagnant, unchanged over time, with a lack of substantive communication affecting their overall productivity.
Successful
The pinnacle of organizational communication is found in successful workplaces where teams both talk and communicate effectively. These organizations are not only sincere in their interactions but also successful in achieving their goals. Leaders want to be a part of successful teams, no one wants to be average! Successful teams foster a fun and fruitful workplace. The combination of meaningful dialogue and effective communication sets these organizations apart, creating an environment that fosters both personal and professional growth.

I want to challenge you to take a moment today to identify which type of organization you're a part of and improve your team's communication style.

And the last thing I'll say is this: don't settle.

I know we all get in the rhythm of sending lots of texts, emails, and Slack messages. There's no lack of notifications on your team. They are talking to each other. But is your team really communicating? Is everyone on the same page? Do you have a culture of honest feedback and clear expectations? Or, are you going through the motions and hoping for the best?

My prayer for you is that you would work to level up your communication so that your organization if fun and fruitful.

If you want a conversation partner to discuss your organization's communication style, reach out to Brent. I've asked him to make time on his calendar for you this week to make a game plan for your team.

Take Your Leadership to the Next Level

Schedule a Session with Brent

Take advantage of this free offer to schedule a coaching session with Brent, and discover how an executive coach can propel you towards reaching your goals and leading your team well.

Owning Your "Yes": A Call to Christian Leaders

Thu, 07 Mar 2024 14:40:26 GMT

Lyle Wells

President

Introduction

Leading well is not for the faint of heart.

Christian leaders, you didn't sign up for a work release program within your church or business; it's community service, yes. But here's the reality check – it's not mandated; you willingly said yes. Now, I’m going to challenge you to "own it."

When I was a college basketball coach, I would sit with our players, and I used a little Jedi mind trick. I would ask, “So, what are your goals?” And they all wanted to be all-conference and all-Americans, and they all wanted to play in the pros.

I’d tell them, “If you want that, are you saying yes to me coaching you hard? Because you'll never get there until I coach you hard. I won't embarrass you. I won’t humiliate you. Right? My goal is not to hurt you, but I'm going to coach you like you want to be an all-American. Are we good with that? Are you saying yes to that?”

And I'm telling you, if there were Instagram reels of me coaching basketball, you would have watched me say something like, “Don't pout, Benny. You said yes to this!”

If I got them on a call, I’d ask these kinds of questions:

Did you say yes to this?

Did you tell me you wanted to be great, or am I crazy?

They’d respond with, “No sir. I did.” Then, I’d remind them, “Alright, then back on the line. Here we go. You said yes to this."

Just like those athletes had to agree to be coached intensely, you, too, said yes to the challenges of leading well. It's not about embarrassment or shame about our leadership failures, our constraints––that’s the Enemy’s work. A willingness to be coached propels you towards greatness––your highest and best.

You need someone to call you out and up, to rise to meet this cultural moment and to do so for the glory of God. You need someone to remind you of your commitment to the sanctification process, to Jesus. You need someone to be in your corner when challenges arise so that you’ll remember your yes.

Here are two actions you can take today to make your yes matter:

Shift Your Perspective: God is going to accomplish his will in the world, and he's invited you to be a part of the miraculous! What you do is challenging, but God hasn't called you to do anything that he doesn't have every intention of helping you complete.

Focus on the privilege of being on the front row of incredible moments. You have the opportunity to share intimate moments with people, being present in their most vulnerable times. It's a privilege, not a burden. From being invited into intensive care hospital rooms, to baptizing children, to hiring new team members to join your mission, you're a pivotal figure in people's lives. Take a moment to acknowledge the incredible experiences that come with Christian leadership. Celebrate these privileges, and let them fuel your passion for the mission said yes to.
Celebrating God's Faithfulness: Godly leaders work in the natural realm, but we operate from the spiritual realm. Our work is made "good" because of the supernatural power of God Almighty. He alone is the activating force creating transformation in your organization. You’re getting things done, your team is probably incredible, but it is the Lord who’s catalyzing the work he’s designed for us to complete.

When’s the last time you took a minute to list out the role of the Holy Spirit in your leadership? How has God protected you, provided for you and guided you? When’s the last time you remember God intervening in a decision that could have cost you time, money, or heartache? Don’t go one more minute without pausing to celebrate God’s faithfulness.

Kingdom work is not just hard; it's extraordinary! As you navigate the challenges and joys of your calling, remember this – Jesus will never lead you anywhere that you don't need him. Because his strength is made perfect in your weakness, you will find him standing right in the middle of hard things; the things that make you feel most exposed. But this is why you said yes, isn't it? To encounter God in your own life while advancing his kingdom around you? Own it. Embrace coaching, shift your perspective, and celebrate God's faithfulness. journey filled with profound moments that will forever shape your life and the lives of those you lead.

You know as well as I do that everyone in your organization needs to shift their perspective and celebrate God’s faithfulness.

On Purpose,

Lyle Wells

President of Integrus Leadership

Take Your Leadership to the Next Level

Schedule a Session with Brent

Take advantage of this free offer to schedule a coaching session with Brent, and discover how an executive coach can propel you towards reaching your goals and leading your team well.

Navigating Leadership Transition: 9 Steps to a Successful Succession

Thu, 22 Feb 2024 20:44:38 GMT

Lyle Wells

President

Brent Monogue

Director of Strategic Engagement

Nick Gardner

Executive Coach

Leadership Development Strategist

Introduction

Change is inevitable, yet succession planning often comes with extra challenges and uncertainties. Sometimes it can feel like the ship is going down in a storm of chaos, but it doesn't have to be that way.

Successfully navigating a leadership succession requires strategy and intentionality. Unfortunately, most organizations are not prepared for such transitions because they are caught off guard, or they've never been taught how to transition successfully. Either way, you don't have to stumble your way through the dark.

Here are nine crucial steps to ensure smooth transitions in leadership:

Don't Rock the Boat: Embrace the Power of Listening
Transition is inherently unsettling, and the people you serve will likely fear change. Don't make radical changes in the first three months of succession. Instead, make active listening your top priority. Schedule one-on-ones with all your key leaders and invite their feedback. Genuinely hearing their concerns, gaps, and suggestions sets the tone for collaborative leadership. As Michael D. Abrashoff emphasizes in, It's Your Ship, "effective leaders prioritize understanding before implementing changes."
Address Clean Up: Make a Positive First Impression
First impressions matter, and as a new leader, prompt attention to areas left disorderly by previous leadership is crucial. Swiftly addressing and cleaning up these issues not only establishes your commitment to excellence but also earns trust with your team. Also, refrain from blaming or bashing the previous leadership, maintaining a focus on moving forward, appreciation, and honor.
Fresh Vision: Embrace the Call to Something New
God chose you for a reason, and that reason often involves bringing fresh vision. In months 3-5, cast new vision. Take intentional time away with your team to seek the Lord. Clarify where your organization is going, define its identity, and prioritize its goals.
Be Prepared for People to Get off the Bus: Normalizing Transition
Leadership changes inevitably lead to personnel changes. Expect and accept that some leaders may choose to leave within the first 3-5 months. This is a natural part of the transition process and should not be viewed as a reflection of your leadership capabilities. Normalize the idea that change is part of growth.
Pace Yourself: Set a Sustainable Leadership Rhythm
The first six months are a critical period, and the pace you set will define the new normal. Recognize that different teams may require different speeds. Prioritize playing the long game and avoid burnout. Rest, both for yourself and your team, is essential. As the leader, you have the power to set a sustainable pace for the whole team that fosters a healthy work environment and ensures everyone flourishes.
Lead in Your Flavor: Embrace Your Unique Leadership Style
God made only one of you. You are uniquely designed by God to lead in the season of transition; own it. And avoid trying to fit into a mold. Embrace and lead in your own flavor, even if it's different from previous leadership styles. Allow time for your team to adjust, understanding that diversity in leadership approaches can bring about positive change.
Have Fun: Inject Stability Through Enjoyment
Leadership transitions are inherently stressful, and stability is foundational to smooth succession. That's why you need to keep having fun as a team. The work ahead of your team is going to be challenging, but don't forget that fun, laughter, and a lighthearted approach won't undermine your authority; instead, it provides much-needed stability. Teams that have fun together weather storms together well too.
Embrace a New Identity: Navigate the Unfolding Transition
Many times in the Bible, God prepares a leader for a new identity with a name change. Think Abram to Abraham, Sarai to Sarah, Hadassah to Esther, and Saul to Paul. God might change your title, change your position, or re-organize your leadership structure during a succession, but remember, God is also changing you from the inside out. Embrace the change and the growth. Allow yourself to be shaped by the Holy Spirit. He's doing something new!
Seek Wise Counsel: Invite the Voices of Other Leaders
Change makes leaders focus inward on themselves and the organization but a crucial step in successful succession is seeking wise counsel. Find wise voices that will speak hard truths into your life and challenge you to see your decisions from a different point of view. Find a mentor outside of your organization or an executive coach. An experienced coach provides a safe space for leaders to share concerns, uncertainties, and aspirations.

How an Executive Coach Enhances Each Step:

Listening and Understanding:
You're going to do a lot of listening in the early stages of succession. But you also need someone to listen to you. Someone whose only goal is your success.
Positive First Impressions:
You need someone to hold up a mirror and help you put your best foot forward. Test out the language you want to use to communicate change with an executive coach who can give you honest feedback so that you can make the best first impression possible.
Fresh Vision Creation:
God-given vision is contagious. An executive coach can help you process what you believe is the future of the organization while also helping you create measurable, practical next steps to see these dreams come to fruition.
Managing Personnel Changes:
Turnover in leadership can cause headaches and heartaches. Because at the end of the day, you need to build unity in your team. An executive coach can help you strategize the best ways to amplify the incredible leaders on your team and make pathways for underdeveloped leaders too.
Setting Sustainable Leadership Rhythms:
You're going to be tempted to overschedule and overcommit during succession. An executive coach will help you set realistic expectations of your time and keep you accountable to sustainable rhythms of work and rest.
Embracing Unique Leadership Styles:
Executive coaches empower leaders to embrace their unique leadership styles. Through self-discovery and feedback, leaders can confidently lead in their own flavor while fostering team cohesion.

Take Your Leadership to the Next Level

Schedule a Session with Brent

If you're currently in the middle of a leadership succession, or you know one is on the horizon, consider the transformative impact of adding an executive coach to your transition plan. Schedule a FREE 30-minute coaching session with Brent to explore your options and find out how executive coaching can help ensure a smooth transition.

Setting Intentional Goals

Tue, 23 Jan 2024 19:02:55 GMT

Brent Monogue

Director of Strategic Engagement

At Integrus Leadership, we understand the importance of intentionality when setting goals.

Strategic and intentional goal-setting serves as the compass guiding organizations through the complexities of today's dynamic landscape. It's not merely about establishing objectives; it's a deliberate process that aligns vision with action. Without this strategic approach, teams risk getting caught up in the daily whirlwind, diverting attention to urgent but non-critical tasks. However, when goals are thoughtfully crafted and intentionally pursued, they become more than aspirations—they become the roadmap to success.

Let's explore the process of honing in on our priorities.

Vision Clarification: What is the overarching vision or ultimate objective you aim to achieve by the end of the year?
Zig Zigler once said, "If you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time." At Integrus Leadership, we have found this to be true. If you hope to take any kind of ground toward accomplishing your mission this year, you need to be very clear about what it is you're aiming for. Be specific in details so that you paint a very clear picture of where you're headed and what the outcome looks like.
Impact Evaluation: What potential positive impact can these goals have on your organization, team, customers, or stakeholders?
Think about getting to the end of the year and all the effects your impact will have on your team and the different people groups that are connected to your mission. List out each people group and take a few moments to dream of how their life will be different because of your intentional commitment to your goals.
Priority Assessment: Among various potential goals, which ones align most closely with your organization's long-term strategy and mission?
As with any good plan, there are a million and one things that can be done to accomplish goals. Take a few moments to list the possible goals to work towards this year. Then, as a team, narrow the focus to your top 3-5 goals that most closely align with your organization's long-term strategy and mission.
Resource Allocation: What resources (financial, human, technological) will be required to achieve these goals effectively?
This area, in particular, gets overlooked, but it's one of the most important to ensure success. In the book of Luke, chapter 14, Jesus admonishes his listeners to count the cost when building something. The danger is getting into the middle of a project and not being able to finish it, inciting mockery among peers. Jesus doesn't want that for your organization, and neither do we!

Here are some questions that will help you work through this:

What resources will this take?
Do we have the resources?
If not, how will we get them?
Do we have the right people in the right seats doing the right work in the right relationships?
If not, how do we need to adjust people/roles, and who do we need to hire?
Are there available tools that will help us be more efficient or better at our work?
Measurability: How will you measure progress or success towards these goals? What are the key performance indicators (KPIs)?
In every sports game that is played (at least before the "everyone gets a trophy" era), there is some form of scorekeeping so you know who is winning. KPIs serve as our scoreboard when reaching for a goal. Being able to clearly define how/when your team is winning will create energy, excitement, drive, and most importantly, clarity among your team.

Sometimes these are obvious. Do you have a fundraising goal? Your running donations and/or commitments total will let you know if you're on target or not. Do you want to reach more people on social media to increase brand awareness? Then track your social media metrics. do you have a product or service that you want to promote this year? Then track the qty sold along with your revenue.

Sometimes KPIs are not so obvious, especially when looking at individual teams working toward the overarching goals. Your marketing team might track the number of social media posts or emails sent, along with the engagement rates of each. Your admin or customer support teams might track the number of new conversations they are having with potential clients/customers. Your finance team might track the number of days between billing and payment.

Whatever you decide to measure as your organization and team KPIs, they should be easily trackable and connected to your goal.
Challenges and Risks: What are the potential obstacles or risks that could impede progress towards these goals, and how do you plan to mitigate them?
Another area of consideration that tends to be forgotten is assessing potential challenges and risks and how you plan to deal with them when they come up...because they will! Ask questions like:

What if this doesn't work?
What if this doesn't produce the results we were hoping for?
What's our back-up plan?
What will we do to make up the difference?

Taking time to think through these possibilities on the front end creates security for your team because when something goes wrong or doesn't happen, there is no panic. The plan has already been made. You just need to flip to that contingency page in the plan.
Alignment and Collaboration: How do these goals align with the objectives of different departments or teams within your organization? How can collaboration be enhanced to achieve these goals collectively?
Now it's time to think about how each team plays a role in working toward the organizations goal. Some of these will be easier to identify than others. Those teams who have a direct hand in the execution of a particular plan will be able to identify their part immediately. While administrative and "back room" teams may have to use a little bit of abstract thought. Usually these are thoughts that the frontline teams don't always have, but they are crucial in making sure they're not creating issues for the "back room" teams.

For instance, let's say that the marketing team wants to add a form onto the website to gain emails and connect with new contacts and potential customers. Some questions you might ask are: Will this incur a cost? Whose card will the charges go on? Will this require admin support to follow up with form responses? Who will create the form? How will we track responses? Who will be responsible for keeping up with responses? What will we do with the responses? How often do we need to report on responses.

PRO TIP: Lean into the skills of the critical thinkers on your team. This is their time to think through all the details and ask all the questions. For those on your team who are the "build it as we fly it" kind of people, this might feel like "too much" or overdoing it (and some of it will be), but they will also ask some very important and necessary questions that might otherwise get missed. Being surprised by these questions in the middle of a project can cause friction and may slow your progress.
Timeframe and Milestones: What are the specific milestones or checkpoints for tracking progress towards these goals throughout the year?
So, we have goals for the year, and we've established KPIs to know when we win, but we also need to set milestones or checkpoints along the way to know if we're advancing at the right pace or not. These could be weekly, monthly, or quarterly, but the point is to break the big goals down to smaller chunks so it's easier to know when you're falling behind or when you're leaving the competition in the dust.

Tracking your pace is just as important as tracking your overall goals. If your pace is too slow, it's an indication that you have either set a goal that's unreachable or that you've got an efficiency problem. Evaluating work performance and/or the systems you're using can help identify the wrench in the gears. If all systems are go and the right people are doing an excellent job, then consider whether or not the goal needs to be adjusted. If the goal can't be adjusted, then you need to evaluate your plan to see where you can increase the return on your efforts.
Adaptability and Agility: In a rapidly changing environment, how flexible are these goals? Are they adaptable to unforeseen circumstances or shifts in the market?
This is a great question that we see far too few organizations asking. I like to say that we write our plans in pencil, and we give God the eraser. Inevitably, life will happen along the way, and not all of our plans will pan out exactly as we'd hoped. So, giving time to think about how you'll adapt when life shows up will save time in the end, and it will help decrease anxiety in your team.

Let's say that you have a book, and you set a goal to sell X number of books this year. If your plan solely relies on Amazon for sales, what would happen if, God forbid, Amazon were to all of a sudden shut down and be unavailable? You would have to adapt! So, in the beginning, think about setting flexible goals. That could mean that you take the total number of book sales and divide them across 3 or 4 different ways of selling, and set smaller goals for each. There are probably an infinite number of ways you can build adaptability and agility into your goals, so get with your team and lean into their creative thought processes.
Commitment and Communication: How will you communicate these goals effectively to ensure alignment and commitment from your team or stakeholders?
The last piece of the puzzle is communication. If everyone isn't clear on what the goals are and the plan to reach them, you end up with "wanderers." Highly motivated people (especially those with strong leadership skills) will make their own way where there is no way. If you don't set them on a clear path, they will blaze their own trail. And while this is a valuable quality when harnessed properly, a lack of clarity in communicating goals can make it possible for members of your team to be working against the whole team. Hear me, this doesn't mean they are organizational terrorists bent on destroying your organization. They just need clear direction.

Before you take your place on the starting line, ready to leap at the sound of a gunshot, pause, and ask communication-centered questions like these: Who needs to know about the plan? What's the best way to tell them? (Email, messaging app, in-person, etc.) How often do they need to be reminded? How often do people need to check in with their own reporting so impact information makes its way back up to leaders? What communication rhythms do we already have in place where we can be strategic about reaffirming our goals, communicating changes, and celebrating wins? (Weekly huddles, team meetings, monthly newsletters, etc.)

Download the Free Tool

I've put together a worksheet for you and your team to help you process these questions and form your plan. This tool is a free download, and all you have to do is click the link below and enter your email, and we will send you a copy of What You Need To Address in 2024. You can print as many copies of this as you need for your team.

Click here to download the tool: Setting Intentional Goals.

Conclusion

At Integrus Leadership, our commitment is to support you in making this year extraordinary, ensuring that your efforts are aligned with your vision and purpose. Every training and tool we offer is excellent, and I pray that they have helped you along the way. In 2024, if you want to take your leadership, ministry, team, or organization to the next level, consider executive coaching. Executive coaching provides that life-on-life discipleship; something most leaders offer but don't receive themselves.

I am excited to announce that we're rolling out a more robust two-year executive coaching program. I'm eager to share this news with you because, as those who have experienced executive coaching know, when leaders are supported with the right tools, insights, guidance and feedback, they see a significant increase in their impact. And they make greater progress on their goals because they have the right support to help navigate the unknowns that life will inevitably throw at them.

Supporting more leaders through our new two-year executive coaching program is one of our priorities for this year. We're determined to help you and anyone at your organization overcome the obstacles that are keeping you stuck in maintenance mode, and that includes budget constraints. Take a moment to ask yourself "What could I accomplish if I had a coach by my side, helping me navigate the challenges this year holds and guiding me toward accomplishing my goals?"

Now, let's connect and talk about your personal needs, the needs of your team, and how we can work together to help you achieve the greatest impact of your life!

Unlocking the Secret to High-Performing Teams: The Power of Team Chemistry

Fri, 11 Aug 2023 18:34:34 GMT

Developing team chemistry by intentionally building relationships is crucial for success.

Team chemistry is the secret ingredient that sets high-performing teams apart from the rest. It's that intangible quality that creates a sense of unity, collaboration, and trust among team members. While team chemistry may seem elusive, it is actually something that can be intentionally cultivated by leaders who are committed to building meaningful relationships within their teams.

To start, it's important to reflect on how intentional you have been in cultivating relationships with each member of your team. If you find that everyone is going in different directions, it may be a sign that more effort needs to be put into building these connections. It is easy to get caught up in the day-to-day tasks and responsibilities, but dedicating time and effort to understanding and connecting with team members is vital for achieving long-term success. Remember, it's never too late to start over and make a renewed commitment to get to know your ministry partners on a deeper level.

Here are three effective ways to be intentional about building relationships within your team:

Prioritize One-on-One Time: With busy schedules and endless to-do lists, it is essential to make time for individual conversations with team members. Schedule regular check-ins or casual coffee breaks to foster open communication and create a space for team members to share their thoughts, concerns, and aspirations. These conversations provide insights into each individual's strengths, constraints, and motivations, ultimately enabling leaders to better understand and support their team members.
Foster a Culture of Appreciation: People thrive when they feel valued and appreciated. As a high-impact leader, make it a priority to acknowledge and recognize the contributions of your team members. Encourage a culture of appreciation by publicly recognizing individuals' achievements or efforts in team meetings, newsletters, or during ministry events. Small gestures of gratitude, such as sending personalized thank-you notes or providing small tokens of appreciation, can go a long way in strengthening relationships and fostering a positive team environment. Get to know each person you work with and how to best make them feel appreciated.
Encourage Team-Building Activities: Team-building activities provide opportunities for team members to connect outside of their regular work responsibilities, fostering bonds and building rapport. Organize regular team-building activities that are fun, engaging, and promote collaboration. These could include retreats, workshops, volunteer events, or even team lunches. By creating space for team members to relax, have fun, and engage in non-work-related conversations, you tear down the "work walls" and create opportunities for people to share their lives. This creates an environment where relationships can flourish.

To help you in your journey of intentional relationship building, I've included a free tool for you. It's a PDF download that provides practical tips and guidance to help you strengthen your relationships. This resource will serve as a valuable guide, providing you with actionable strategies and insights to accelerate the development of team chemistry, ultimately leading to a more successful and harmonious team. It even includes a simple tracker to ensure consistency!

Remember, being intentional about building relationships within your team is an ongoing commitment. It requires genuine care for the well-being of your team members, time, and effort, but the rewards are well worth it. Strong team chemistry leads to increased trust, improved communication, enhanced collaboration, and ultimately, higher levels of team performance.

Brent Monogue

Director of Strategic Engagement

Take your relationship-building skills to the next level.

If you want to take your relationship-building skills to the next level, get a copy of Lyle's book, The 5-Day Leader: an insanely practical guide to help you lead with confidence, accelerate your impact, grow your ministry, and transform your community. There is a whole section devoted to this subject!

30-Day Conversation Questions

Tue, 09 May 2023 17:22:28 GMT

Reduce risk, improve the health of your culture, and set your team up for success!

Imagine that your organization is growing, and you hire someone to join your team. You're excited! You feel like you found the exact person you've been searching for—a real gladiator, a champion—and you're alive with hope for the future.

Fast forward a few months; the bright future you imagined has been overshadowed by a dark cloud. Your champion isn't proving to be the conquering hero you thought they were. You're scheduled to have a 90-day review conversation next week, and you're not looking forward to addressing your concerns. More than that, you're afraid you may have to dismiss your gladiator if you can't figure out the problem.

I've put together a list of nine strategic questions (plus one bonus question!) that you can use to facilitate a productive conversation 30 days into a new recruit's employment. Having this conversation sooner rather than later will give you the information you need to correct behaviors before those clouds start rolling in to cast a shadow over your bright future—and theirs.

Nobody wants to be average

Do you remember those anti-drug PSAs from the 90s where kids share what they want to be when they grow up?

One in particular begins with the image of a guy running. A child's voice says, "I want to be a track star when I grow up." Just then, a policeman enters the frame to reveal that the guy is being chased by the police. Then the narrator gives this punchline:

"Nobody ever says, 'I want to be a junkie when I grow up.' Don't let drugs get in the way of your dreams."

Those commercials were short, but they delivered a powerful message.

In our worlds as leaders, a similar and equally profound truth exists. Nobody ever says, "I want to be average when I grow up." We were created in the image (physical form) and likeness (character) of God, and scripture clearly states that we are God's masterpiece and that He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. That doesn't sound average to me.

When team members underperform, it's usually because of one or more of these three issues:

They are stuck.
They are lacking some sort of skill or training.
They lack clarity or security, so they're scared and underperforming out of anxiety.

The good news is that there are solutions for all of these, but first, you must address them. Don't let a lack of communication keep you or your team from thriving.

Benefits of giving feedback early and often

Even if you're 100% comfortable with confrontation, having to let someone go and start the hiring process all over again feels like a waste of time and resources that no responsible leader wants. In most cases, this scenario is avoidable. The key is to give and receive feedback early and often.

It's common practice to facilitate a 90-day review with all new employees. Some even refer to those first 90 days as "probation," understanding that in that time, either party can choose to end the business relationship. No harm, no foul.

But wouldn't it be better stewardship of your team members, and the organization, to have that conversation sooner?

A lot can happen in 90 days, so we encourage leaders to have their first conversation at the 30-day mark. In this conversation, you should explore areas where they shine and validate their success so far. You should also explore areas where they aren't meeting expectations and work together to find solutions. But it's not always about what they are doing right or wrong.

Sometimes, hidden in our policies, procedures, and culture are blind spots that require the perspective of an outsider or newcomer to expose them. Where a 90-day review is about the employee being evaluated, this 30-day conversation focuses more on the employee evaluating you and your organization. Using the questions below, you will discover ways that you and your organization can better serve your team and set them up for success.

Sample questions with details

So, exactly how should that conversation go, and what questions should you ask?

Here are 9 questions to ask in your 30-day conversation:

What do you enjoy most about your new job?
It's crucial to begin this conversation on a positive note. Get them talking about what makes them excited. This will give you insight into where they believe they're excelling, and it's a great opportunity for you to affirm them.
What do you enjoy least about your job?
You might think there isn't much you can do with their answers to this question. After all, everyone has aspects of their role that aren't their favorite. We may even dislike them, but it's not just about what they enjoy least. Oftentimes, someone doesn't like an aspect of their job because they lack some skill, training, or resource to do it successfully. Listen to their answers, and explore ways you might be able to help them enjoy these parts more.
Are you frustrated with any aspects of your new role?
You're likely to get an initial answer somewhere along the lines of, "No, everything is fine." But you should press into this. You want them to use the same level of candor they might use in an exit interview when there's nothing to lose. You may have to narrow the focus and ask more direct questions to get them talking. (Have you been frustrated yet? Is there something you lack clarity about?)
Do you feel like you have adequate resources?
We have countless tools and resources available to help us succeed in our roles. (This blog and the PDF download at the end are both great examples!) As leaders, we depend on the members of our team to tell us which tools they need. Keep in mind, this could also highlight areas in which they need more training.

Another way to phrase this question is, "What's limiting you?" This could be things inside their circle of control or outside of it. Either way, you want to identify areas that, if improved, would foster an environment for your team to thrive. Are there any skills deficits or organizational constraints holding them back?
What do I do as your leader that makes your job harder?
This question is not for the faint of heart. A true leader asks for honest feedback and doesn't take it personally, recognizing that every leader has areas that need to grow all the time. Jump into the middle of this question with excitement! Remind your new recruit that you want them to use the same candor they would in an exit interview.
What can I do to make your job easier?
Hopefully, pressing into the previous question will make answering this one a little easier for them, but you may have to reaffirm your desire for honest and open feedback. As we say at Integrus, "Feedback is the breakfast of champions!"
When in the last 30 days have you felt led well?
Pay close attention to how they answer this question. They are telling you the best way to ensure they feel cared for. Their answers will shed light on what's important to them and what they value about the workplace culture.
Are there any relational dynamics that are challenging or compromising your work?
As long as we are working with other people, relational dynamics will always provide an opportunity for conflict. And that conflict may go unresolved for lots of reasons. So, with this question, you want to find out if they're struggling to get along with anyone and why. Then, you can use this as an opportunity to reaffirm how your team's culture dictates you deal with conflict and, if needed, provide support in facilitating healthy resolution.
What have you learned in the last 30 days that we should have shared with you during onboarding?
I love this question! As a leader who cares about the success and well-being of my team, I want to make sure that we've created an onboarding process that serves both the organization and new recruits. There will forever be ways we can improve, but if each person only goes through onboarding once, then it's imperative to get feedback from each person in their first 30 days while their experience is fresh.

CAUTION FOR LEADERS: Do not ask for feedback if you don't plan to do anything with it! Take great care to follow up with your team to let them know how you're working to address their concerns. There is no greater enemy to an organization's culture than a leader who asks for honest feedback and does nothing to make the necessary changes.

Bonus Question

I've given you my top nine questions to ask in a 30-day conversation, but there's one more that could prove to be a total game-changer for your leadership.

How is your spouse or significant other (and family) dealing with your transition?
When starting a new job, any changes to a new recruit's routines at home can cause tension while they work out a new normal. And they will carry that tension into their day. So, if there's anything you can do to make the transition easier, do it! Not only will you set your new recruit up for success, but you will also begin to build loyalty and relational capital by showing genuine concern for their family.

You may be questioning whether bringing personal matters into the workplace is productive, or even healthy. But the truth is that if they're having a problem at home, it will bleed into their work. So, if that monster is going to show up anyway, don't wait for it to be Godzilla-sized and start wreaking havoc on your "city." Be proactive by asking this question and helping where you can.

Download the PDF

Don't wait to begin implementing a 30-day conversation and asking these questions.

Even if you don't have new recruits onboarding any time soon, you can ask your team these questions at their next regularly scheduled review. Especially if you haven't made it a practice to ask these types of questions with your team. While we encourage leaders to give and receive feedback early and often, it's never too late to start!

Our team at Integrus put these questions into a PDF that you can download and use when facilitating your 30-day conversations. Download the PDF, take notes on it, and then use the information you gather to make improvements for your team. You will find that by tending to the needs of the individual, you will simultaneously extend the longevity of your team members and strengthen your organization's culture!

Downloading is easy.

Click the "Download" button.
Enter your name and email.
Check your email for your download.

How Leadership Coaching Can Change Everything About Your Church Organization

Thu, 20 Oct 2022 22:19:41 GMT

Have you ever preached an entire message with your fly-down? I have. It was worse than it sounded. We were about eight weeks into a new church launch and meeting in a movie theater. The stage was dark because we had zero budget for equipment, so our cost-effective solution was to shine the stark spotlights on me and my unzipped zipper. The metal teeth of the zipper were sparkling in the bright lights for 25 minutes before my message concluded. I was the last to know what everyone else had already noticed.

Even though my message was Christ-focused and well-delivered, only one thing mattered, the awareness of my issues. My zipper problem would have been easy to fix if I’d been aware. I share my embarrassing moment with you because I think it illustrates what you and I know to be true about leadership coaching. People around us can see our constraints before we do, and a great leadership coach is an effective way to grow in leadership–– they are empowered to bring attention to our constraints.

You and I are not doing ministry in a vacuum, your ministry has a culture. It might be unnoticed, but it's fully realized. Your ministry culture involves how you lead, how your teams interact with each other, how you handle conflict, and how everyone communicates with each other. Combine all those organizational elements and you have a culture in which you’re immersed. One you might not even notice.

After years of vocational ministry as a church planter and lead pastor, I’ve benefited from a leadership coach. So much so, I’m coaching ministry leaders myself because the tools I’ve learned catalyzed our church for greater impact.

Here are the top three reasons a leadership coach helped me as a pastor.

1. A great leadership coach can quickly identify your strengths and constraints.

Great leadership coach has read the books and had their teeth kicked in a time or two in ministry trenches. Their lived experience could be the reason you avoid the pitfalls they survived. Plus, a great leadership coach's outside perspective enables them to easily diagnose the problems and issues that need to be addressed in our ministries. When serving as a pastor, my focus was usually on preaching better. My time as a church leader would have been more effective if I’d spent less time in sermon prep and more time inviting wise counsel into my life to illuminate my real constraints.

2. A great leadership coach provides diagnostic tools to reveal your leadership limitations.

Whether we realize it or not, we all have limitations that hold us back from our full potential in leadership. One of the main reasons I struggled to identify my limitations is that I could only view things from my perspective. Our teams and churches are experiencing our leadership differently. For example, you may truly appreciate your team and feel humbled at the way they serve and lead others, but your team may not know you feel that way. A great leadership coach will have the tools and processes to easily assess your leadership while simultaneously showing how others are experiencing your leadership.

3. A great leadership coach creates insanely practical action items unique to you.

I love practicals, but I have found leadership development to be very vague and impractical. I have read hundreds of books on leadership, but I'm rarely clear on what to do next. How do I implement the information, or do my church team or I even need this information to be implemented? A great coach can give you actual steps, things to start doing and stop doing immediately that will change the trajectory of your leadership and your church, ways to think differently, and ways to behave differently. After all, leadership is our influence on others, and our behavior is the number one factor in how we influence others.

Let's Wrap This Up

A good executive coach has walked a mile in your shoes and can lift your arms when you need extra support.

The most effective leaders are devoted to relentless growth––a passionate commitment to consistently add knowledge, skills, and perspective. Leaders with this are unstoppable.

Relentless growth is not just about attending a seminar or listening to a podcast. Real, true growth happens through executive coaching. The best leaders are aggressively pursuing new strategies and then apply those strategies so that they can influence the people they care so deeply about.

Integrus executive coaching programs make all the difference because the skills that got you where you are now likely will not be enough to make you thrive in your next season of leadership. As you are entrusted with greater roles and responsibilities, you must continue to sharpen and develop your knowledge, skills, and perspective to be as effective as possible.

The reason someone is a high-level ministry leader is not because of a special calling but because of their uncommon commitment to growth.

If you would like to get started with executive leadership coaching, we're here to help.

Click here to contact our team today.

Become the Leader You Were Called To Be

Thu, 25 Aug 2022 17:14:10 GMT

Greatness demands intentionality.

Ministry has always been challenging, but these past few years have been the hardest for many of us. Becoming the leader God called you to be will require more intentionality because of the significant challenges ahead of you and your teams. Here at Integrus we engage daily with top-level ministry leaders who are experiencing:

Extreme fatigue
Burn out
Harsh criticism
Polarizing divisions
Lack of encouragement

We are trusted advisors and chief encouragers to some of the highest-caliber disciple-makers around the world. And we don’t take this honor lightly––serving ministry leaders, like you, is a privilege. When the pastor’s, non-profit leaders, and ministry executives we serve share with us their most significant needs we hear things like:

Wise counsel for delicate decisions
Problem-solving when you feel stuck
Encouragement when you feel weary
Guidance when the road feels lonely
Celebration when God answers prayers

If you can relate to any of those needs, it might be time for an executive ministry coach. But what exactly is a ministry coach and how do you find one that’s right for you?

An executive ministry coach unlocks a person’s potential to maximize their performance. Executive Coaching creates awareness, generates action, and facilitates learning and growth. According to Stanford Business , “it focuses on improving performance by helping individuals to develop and sustain new perspectives, attitudes, skills, and behaviors.”

A good executive coach has walked a mile in your shoes and can lift your arms when you need extra support.

Here are 3 things to look for in an executive ministry coach:

Hands-On Approach - You need a coach who doesn’t just follow a script or read from a handbook, you need someone to get in the trenches with you.

Holistic Solutions - A pep talk will only take you so far. You need solutions beyond a conversation. Make sure you find a coach using data-driven, behavioral solutions that can be implemented throughout your organization.

Heart-Felt Convictions - Find a coach who will focus on your unique leadership strengths and constraints while also maximizing your influence. You need a coach who will help you level up your leadership but with heart-felt convictions.

[Learn more about our leadership and executive coaching services by clicking here. ]

"When I started, I questioned whether I could really be the leader my area of ministry needs, but I don't question that anymore. Executive ministry coaching has given me the tools and practical how to's to lead my team well!" - Erin M

Investing in Executive Leadership Development will level up your leadership, expand your capacity, and inspire your team to do great things.

Integrus’ leadership coaching programs support, equip, and encourage leaders, like you, with proven insights, hands-on training, and practical resources. Our mission is to release the global Church into its kingdom calling.

Our leadership coaching can be a catalytic turning point for entire teams and organizations to grow in health and impact by providing insanely practical tools and strategies.

Picture a healthy, vibrant, influential ministry. People are growing. Commitment levels rise. The community is changing. Staff members and volunteers show up excited, and their efforts are strategic, practical, and effective. Attendance improves, and small group activity multiplies. That's what we want for all our partners, organizations, and leaders.

Overwhelmed and Underresourced

Tue, 09 Aug 2022 23:21:29 GMT

Have you ever felt overwhelmed and underresourced as a ministry leader?

You want to lead well, but you just don’t feel completely up to the task. Consider these statistics:  

Only one out of ten pastors will stay in vocational ministry until retirement. (1)  
Every month in the US alone, 1,700 people leave vocational ministry. (2)  
Within the next five years, 45 percent of nonprofit employees plan to find a job outside the nonprofit sector. (3)

The statistics themselves don’t tell the whole story. God calls many pastors and ministers out of vocational ministry to build his kingdom in other ways, myself included. But I’ve spent years working with churches and nonprofit organizations, and I’ve known many leaders on the verge of quitting because they were exhausted and lacked the resources, internal and external, they needed.

I know from experience that ministry leaders want to lead and love those they’re called to serve. They have a heart to protect them and provide for them. But the challenges of leadership keep coming—limited resources, increasing demands, and social changes that complicate ministry.

If that’s you, my heart aches for you. You don’t just need a leadership pep talk. I’ve given more than my share of pep talks, but motivational speeches wont’ be enough.

To stay in the game, ministry leaders need more than inspiring quotes—they need new skills and refined leadership strategies. 

Before I started coaching ministry leaders, I coached Palm Beach Atlantic University’s (PBAU) basketball team. Every other year, we took our college team on an international trip. This particular year, we’d gone to Bolivia, a landlocked country between Brazil and Chile. We’d been in the capital city of La Paz for a week, practicing and playing against Bolivian university teams. The trip was also a service opportunity, so we’d worked with Centro de Vida, a boy’s orphanage. We ate there, slept there, and whenever we weren’t playing basketball, served the boys of the orphanage by playing games, completing repairs at the facility, and going into the city at night to bring food, blankets, and socks to children living on the streets. In fact, we’d ministered in the city straight through our final night, ensuring we’d sleep through the nonstop, ten-hour flight back to Miami. 

All of us were fast asleep before the plane even left the ground when suddenly I was woken by a rough landing. I was confused, certain the flight had passed too quickly. Checking my watch, I saw that we’d only left La Paz a few hours before. Something was not right. When I opened the window shade and saw we were approaching an unfamiliar terminal, my heart started to race, and I wondered if we’d gotten on the wrong plane. As we pulled into a gate, I received some startling news—we were in Brazil, not Miami!  

I was nearly in panic mode as we exited the plane into a country that I knew very little about.

Hoping my four years of high school Spanish would be enough, I approached the gate agent. First, I tried English. No response. I tried Spanish next. No response. Then I remembered Brazil is a Portuguese-speaking nation, and I didn’t know a word of Portuguese.  

Stuck in a foreign country, unable to communicate, without proper visas for Brazil—and I was supposed to be in charge. I was as frightened as I’d ever been. My players were looking to me for answers, and I had none to give them. Looking back, I’ve come to realize I was over whelmed and under resourced! 

I didn’t lack motivation—my entire heart was to protect my team and to provide for their needs, immediate and long term—but I lacked the skills, tools, information, and resources I needed. I didn’t speak Portuguese.

I eventually found an airline agent who provided me with the clarity I needed—in English! Our plane had simply been diverted because of Hurricane Charley’s arrival in south Florida.

I share my story with you because I’m called, heart and soul, to serve leaders at all levels. Every godly leader wants to grow, but few have a tangible, practical plan. If you’re a ministry leader who wants to love and serve your people, to protect and provide for them, and to build the Kingdom of God together with your team, my book The 5-Day Leader, will be your insanely practical guide to new skills to sustain your leadership. Maybe you’ve been speaking Spanish in leadership when your team only understands Portuguese.

The 5-Day Leader is for any ministry leader who needs an insanely practical guide to lead others.

Julie Maxwell, “Why Pastors Leave the Ministry,” Shepherds Watchmen, August 11, 2019, https://shepherdswatchmen.com/browse-all-posts/why-pastors-leave-the-ministry/
Bo Lane, “Why Do So Many Pastors Leave the Ministry? The Facts Will Shock You,” ExPastors, January 27, 2014, http://www.expastors.com/why-do-so-many-pastors-leave-the-ministry-the-facts-will-shock-you/
Chris Strub, “45% of Nonprofit Employees to Seek New Jobs by 2025: Report.” Forbes, February 10, 2020, https://www.forbes.com/sites/chrisstrub/2020/02/10/nonprofithr/

8 Traits of A Healthy Leader

Tue, 19 Apr 2022 18:38:09 GMT

Leadership is a behavior that influences others and drives outcomes. A biblical example of someone who influenced those around him and drove outcomes is Nehemiah. He had a task in front of him in that the walls around Jerusalem were down. Nehemiah could have sulked about this, but he chose to influence those around him which yielded an outcome of the walls being rebuilt.

Our goal in this blog post is to examine the biblical leadership qualities of Nehemiah and discover eight traits that he embraced that can be embodied in the best church leaders today. We do not merely want to see what Nehemiah did in the past––we want to exam his actions and then see how today’s church leaders can embrace these biblical leadership qualities personally as well as on a church leadership team.

1. Healthy teams have a heart for the work

One sign of bad church leadership is if a team does not have a heart for the task ahead. Leadership in the church requires being able to influence others or drive outcomes. Nehemiah was effective as a leader because he had a heart for the monumental task before him. Nehemiah, who was a cupbearer for the king, was going about his daily business. He encountered a friend and inquired as to the wellbeing of the Jewish remnant in Jerusalem. His friend informed him that things were not well as the protective walls around Jerusalem were down and the remnant was in dire circumstances. Upon hearing these words, he sat down, wept, mourned, fasted, and prayed for a number of days (Neh. 1:3-4).

I have a couple of questions for us. When is the last time that we have gathered with our leadership teams and asked God to break our hearts for those we serve? When is the last time that we have asked God to help us see those we serve through His eyes. Nehemiah was effective because he was broken hearted over what Jerusalem was experiencing. We can be as effective, but we must have a heart for the tasks that lay ahead. If we do not have a heart for the tasks, we are more apt to convince ourselves that we can complete the tasks in our own efforts and not depended upon His sovereign leadership.

2. Healthy teams have a heart of deference

Nehemiah was in a significant position of influence as cupbearer to the king. He would test the king’s food prior to the king receiving it. Even in this position, he understood that he was not in charge. The king was of a higher rank and God was the ultimate authority. We see this when we study his prayer found in 1:11. He asked God to hear the prayer of his servant and guide his words as he spoke to the king about the situation.

A sign of poor leadership in the life of a church team is someone jockeying for status. One team member can become fixated on making sure others know his latest accomplishment. When accolades are being had, this person feels the need to be front and center. Nehemiah would have none of this. He knew that he was at the mercy of the king’s blessing before he could go to Jerusalem. He also knew that the sovereign Father was ultimately in charge and begged God’s blessing upon the conversation with the king.

3. Healthy teams clearly understand their priorities

Even the best church leaders and teams can feel overwhelmed by the task at hand. These feelings often result in a sleepless night as we toss and turn while contemplating all that is ahead of us. Don’t worry, we are in good company. Nehemiah experienced the same thing. We find in Chapter 2 Nehemiah arriving in Jerusalem. Upon arrival he sees the wall in ruins. After three days of being there, he arose at night, spoke to no one and began to personally assess the situation (2:11-16). This is healthy in that he did not allow the magnitude of the task to paralyze him with fear.

The best church leaders and church teams do not allow the scope of the task to hinder their progress. Yes, we may loose sleep. We may needlessly concern ourselves with all that must take place. But, we do not allow ourselves to freeze up. Instead, we personally inspect all that is going on so that a plan can be developed. If a team does not clearly understand what is needed, it becomes next to impossible to influence others and drive outcomes.

4. Healthy teams have clearly defined goals

Nehemiah was a great leader because he clearly defined the goals. Upon returning from assessing the situation, he gathered others and communicated what needed to take place. He told them, “You see the trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins and its gates have been burned. Come, let’s rebuild Jerusalem’s wall, so that we will no longer be a disgrace” (2:17).

It is hard to believe that anyone could have walked away from this conversation and speculated what Nehemiah was asking for and why he was asking. Nehemiah summed up the problem as well as the solution in one concise sentence. A healthy church team will model this by striving to clearly define goals and influencing others to accomplish these goals.

5. Healthy teams are cohesive and unified

Nehemiah 3 is one of the most pivotal chapters in the book. We find here a list of people who actively began to rebuild the wall together. This is pivotal in that we do not see any distinctions in class, socio-economic standing or status. Everyone knew the task that needed to be completed and why it needed to be completed. We do not find a committee being developed that would study the issue and then report back in six months. Instead, people getting to work together.

Pastor, do you want to grow your influence? Ask the worship pastor if there is anything you can do to help him prior to the upcoming night of worship. Youth pastor, do you want to grow your influence? Ask the children’s pastor how you can pray for those in the children’s ministry. Ministry is not supposed to be something done in isolation. Ministry is something that is done together and it takes a team to pull off a healthy and Christ honoring ministry.

6. Healthy teams can face critics

It did not take long for the boo birds to arrive. The wall was being completed in and the critics arrived. Sanballat, one of the critics, became furious, began to mock the Jews and presented a variety of questions to those who would listen which were intended to demoralize those working (4:1-3). We can all testify to feeling the barbs of our critics and how much we did not enjoy that experience.

But, the criticism did not stop Nehemiah and his faithful crew from accomplishing God’s assigned task. Instead, the team “rebuilt the wall until the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had the will to keep working” (4:6). That was a team more concerned about fulfilling the God sized calling as opposed to listening to a small group of naysayers who were doing nothing to further the ministry.

7. Healthy teams stay focused

Sanballat and his friends were not to be deterred either. As the wall was nearing completion, they began to request individual time with Nehemiah. The goal of the meeting was to try and harm Nehemiah (6:2). His response to their request was, “I am doing important work and cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?” (6:3).

That is focus and healthy church teams will have this kind of focus. How many of us are guilty of yielding precious time to things that are not going to further the call that the Lord has placed upon us. Instead, we need to focus upon the task and hand. We know that God has called us to the task and we have submitted to His calling. Let’s stay focused on Him and His calling and address secondary issues later.

8. Healthy teams are humble

“The wall was completed in fifty-two days . . . When all our enemies heard this, all the surrounding nations were intimidated and lost their confidence for they realized that this task had been accomplished by our God” (6:15-16). Did you notice who receive the credit? Nehemiah did not use his name here. He did not even use a personal pronoun. Instead, he gave complete credit to Almighty God.

The words humble and leader need to be synonyms. This is especially true for those involved in church leadership. If it was not for the grace of God, we would be in a mess. Jesus said, “Let your light shine before others in such a way that they will see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:16). Anything good that we accomplish is a direct result of God’s goodness and healthy teams are always quick to point others to God.

We have a list of eight biblical characteristics of a healthy team. Let’s all take a moment to evaluate ourselves and our teams against this list. The areas in which we believe we are doing well, let’s thank God and ask Him to use us. The areas in which we struggle, let’s confess this as a team and ask God to change us and use us for His glory. A healthy church team is biblical and doable. We know this to be true because we see it in the book of Nehemiah.

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