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

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Eric Geiger. Geiger is the senior pastor of Mariners Church and former co-host of 5LQ. He is also author of several books including Simple Church, Identity, and Designed to Lead. They discuss the following questions: Why is reading important for a leader?How has reading helped you lead in new spaces and new disciplines?How should a leader read a book?How does reading help influence your preaching and how do you take what you are reading and curate it into sermon?What are your top 5 books to read as a leader?When should you ask your staff to read a book with you? What are the best practices?How do you apply what you read and put it into practice? BEST QUOTES "You combine the humility of opening a book and the discipline of opening a book and that's a recipe for growth.""The more I read, the more I am able to articulate strategy, vision, and concise arguments.""Reading is important for leaders because t

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Steve Carter. Carter is pastor, speaker, author, podcast host and the former lead teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago. He hosts the Craft & Character podcast, a sports podcast called The Home Team, and his latest book, The Thing Beneath the Thing, is now available. They discuss how people respond when they are triggered by past pain and why sanctification really matters. BEST QUOTES "If I say something I shouldn't say or I do not follow through on a commitment, I can't say that just like Paul, 'I do not understand what I do.'""We are people who have been triggered and those triggers are deeply connected to pains, traumas, and wounds.""The healthiest people, when they get triggered, don't see it as permission to escape. They see it as an invitation to be courageously curious.""The desert was a real gift for me because it was character school. It helped me remember why I got into th

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Josh Patterson. Patterson is lead pastor at the Village Church. He co-authored Creature of the Word and leads Strategic Leadership Community with Kevin Peck. They discuss the following questions: What are the most common causes of conflict on a team?How have you seen the dynamics of conflict change over time?What does healthy and unhealthy conflict look like in a church?How does leading out through conflict set the tone for everyone else?How do you navigate conflict when it does arise on your team?How do you create a culture that handles conflict in a healthy way? BEST QUOTES "The theological underpinning to why we have conflict is that we have things going on inside of us.""If we want to resolve the conflict and do it well we have to get to those below the line realities.""Leaders have to set the pace for the organizational values.""When I think about healthy conflict, I am thinking about robust and

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Ben Mandrell are joined by J.D. Greear. Greear is the lead pastor of Summit Church and former president of the Southern Baptist Convention. They discuss the following questions: Why is it hard for pastors to pray?How has preaching and writing about prayer affected your prayer life?How do you practically pray?How do you engage people and get them all to work on their prayer lives?How can we pray with intensity and clarity?How does prayer feed vision? BEST QUOTES "Ultimately, our prayerlessness is a gospel problem. That is that the gospel hasn't trained our heart to both feel our powerlessness on things that matter and then also the promises that Jesus has for those who call to Him.""I've learned out loud and struggled in print.""The Lord's Prayer is supposed to be your outline to pray.""Pray out loud. When I am quiet that is when my mind begins to wander.""When you realize that prayerlessness is not a self-discipline problem, you r

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins is joined by Carey Nieuwhof. Nieuwhof is the host of the Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast and the author of At Your Best. They discuss doing your best work when you are at your best and determining ahead of time what your best work is so you can prioritize your commitments. BEST QUOTES "The stress spiral is overwhelmed, overworked, overcommitted. It happens when you don't let your time get focused, where you never leverage your energy, and your priorities continually get hijacked.""Your energy waxes and wanes over the course of the day, and it is almost the same every day.""Do what your best at when you are at your best.""How do you say no? One thing is to have a really clear sense of your lane, what are you best at?""Deciding ahead of time what you will and won't do can really help.""When you are in a rapid change environment, what would have been a 9 last year, may not be a 9 this year, so don't make your decisions too far in advance.

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Daniel Im. Im is the former co-host of 5LQ and the current lead pastor at Beulah Alliance Church in Edmonton, Alberta. They discuss the following questions: What does Beulah's staff structure currently look like?How should a small church learn from a large church perspective?When is the right time to make a position paid versus volunteer?When is the right time to restructure the staff? How often should that happen? Are there benefits to a siloed organization or a flat organization, or is it dependent on the circumstances? BEST QUOTES "There are structures and systems in absolutely everything. You are either intentional about it or you just let it happen.""Our role as kingdom workers is to see God's kingdom advance which requires scaling and church's multiplying and growing.""The structure has to be fluid around who you have on the bus.""When it comes to staff structure, you need to start with yourself

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Henry Kaestner. Kaestner is the co-founder of Bandwidth, managing principal at Sovereign's Capital, and co-author of Faith Driven Entrepreneur. They discuss the relationship between pastors and faith driven entrepreneurs and finding identity in Christ, not in entrepreneurship. BEST QUOTES "Casting and solving problems is a part of getting into this work that is done by God as His kingdom is advancing.""I think that faith-driven entrepreneurs are being used by God in the marketplace to really impact culture.""Now my biggest leadership challenge is how do I help to lead a movement that is not about me.""Your identity is as a beloved child of God. When God looks at you He doesn't see that Mark Zuckerberg type of character that you might want to be, He sees His son.""The balance that an entrepreneur has is: Am I faithful and obedient? Do I have a right understanding of my identity?""One of the marks of a fai

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Will Heath. Heath has been working on the topic of succession for decades. He is also author of the book Embracing Succession. They discuss the following questions: Why is succession something you should prepare for now, not when you are about to transition?What can you do from a practical standpoint to redistribute the weight of succession?How should pastor manage conversations about succession?What decisions lead to a poor succession transition?What resources would you share?How can the successor step into the transition and follow a long-tenured pastor well? BEST QUOTES "To not lead and behave in a way that recognizes the seasons we are in as human beings is poor stewardship.""Another important aspect of how we steward is discerning the seasons that we as leaders are in and that our organizations are in.""One of the reasons we see failures in succession planning is because leaders don't redistribut

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Ben Mandrell are joined by Choco De Jesús. Jesús was a pastor for 20 years at New Life Covenant in Chicago, a public servant, and a speaker. He is also on the executive leadership team of the Assemblies of God. They discuss supporting young people in the church and why it is important to have priorities. BEST QUOTES "Love is the currency of heaven, not Bible study, not prayers, not fasting.""During this cancel culture, we need to know that we are citizens of heaven.""God is a God of generations. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the God who speaks into generations and we have to follow that lead.""We have to be able to open the gates for the next generation to be able to find their purpose and what God has for them.""I try to tell leaders not to balance their lives. You aren't a juggler. You are a man or woman of God. You've got to be able to have priorities.""My leadership in my home was establishing some sort of str

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Ben Mandrell are joined by Tim Challies. Challies is a pastor, blogger, and book reviewer. He is also the author of Knowing and Enjoying God. They discuss learning how sorrow is a ministry and the decision to not pursue a large ministry. BEST QUOTES "God equips us for ministry in different ways and one of the ministries of the church is the ministry of sorrow.""If we can understand the hand of providence in it - whether God does things or whether God permits things - somehow God is involved in all the circumstances of our lives.""This is an assignment from God, I don't need to get hung up on the why it happened. I can just say this is what did happen and now I am going to take it as a gift of His grace, an assignment from His hand.""In the Christian world, there is intense pressure to grow.""I really want to be encouraging to people, to be able to continue to bring truth that will shore people up to face another day in a difficult wo

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Jonathan Evans. Evans is a pastor, speaker, mentor, and author. He serves on the pastoral staff at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas. His latest book is Your Time is Now. They discuss building time into your day to purposefully hear from God and the biblical importance of rest. BEST QUOTES "God will use your greatest misery for your greatest ministry.""A lot of people want to discount the journey for the goal, not realizing that the journey makes you ready for the goal when it comes.""Comparison is a killer of purpose.""I want people to be known, loved, valued, and spiritually developed so they can be commissioned.""We find value in our work, but we don't realize our power is in our rest.""If you are exhausted, then you will become an enemy of your own vision.""There is a place for eating and drinking the bread of life. For walking with God. For resting. For pulling back and being a great leade

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Dave Alpern. Alpern is the president of Joe Gibbs Racing and author of Taking the Lead. They discuss being a reluctant leader and investing in what matters most for your current season of life. BEST QUOTES "If you want job security, deliver more value than you're paid.""Most leadership books are written from the perspective of the alpha leader, I am not that. I am a reluctant leader.""One of my philosophies in meetings was to never talk first and to talk infrequently so that everyone listens.""When I am in a meeting, even if I think I have a lot to offer, I will save it because I really want to listen and I don't want to skew people.""It starts with spending time in the Word, spending time in prayer, and taking time of yourself.""It's really important for me to focus on that idea of investing in who matters the most - investing in my family, myself, making sure I am healthy there before I even think abou

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Brett Hagler. Hagler is the CEO and co-founder of New Story. They discuss being obsessive about learning and taking calculated risks for the Kingdom. BEST QUOTES "For myself and even my exec team and the directors I work closely with, I need to care, first and foremost, about who they are becoming from a character standpoint and a leadership standpoint than what they are achieving.""When you are at work, there needs to be a real desire to want to be stretched and to be obsessive about learning and growing.""If you are growing at a certain pace and taking on new challenges, you have to make sure the people under you are excited about that and want to do that and are willing to put in the effort to do so." "Learning these challenges actually creates our biggest opportunities for the innovations or what we want to bring to solve the challenges.""I got on my knees and said God, I have no clue why this is hap

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Horst Schulze. Horst is the former president and co-founder of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company and the author of Excellence Wins. They discuss the following questions: Do you have any stories of difficult experiences you led through?How do you maintain excellence in changing and shifting times?Where should someone learn about hospitality?What are two to three things you do daily to stay sharp in your leadership?How do you measure elements that are difficult to measure?Who or what was the greatest influence on your life?What advice would you give your 20-year-old self? BEST QUOTES "Whatever happens in the life of an organization, or for that matter in the life of an individual, the one thing you don't give up is your objectives.""You should question yourself, 'How do I make sure when I am through this setback the customers like me even more?'""Excellence is never an accident, it is always the result of

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Scott Harrison. Scott is the founder and CEO of the nonprofit charity: water and author of Thirst: A Story of Redemption, Compassion, and a Mission to Bring Clean Water to the World. They discuss finding clarity by stepping away and why integrity is so important. BEST QUOTES "I personally felt like I had let down 180,000 people because I hadn't figured out how to achieve the success of the previous year or grow.""When you are in the day-to-day, often, it is easy as leaders to be hard on ourselves.""The thing I am most interested in at the moment, hitting 15 years, is the idea of the long obedience in the same direction or showing up for a long time and allowing amazing things to happen.""I would like to personally oversee 100 million people getting clean water before I die, so that keeps me going.""We had a million dollars in the bank account that was going straight to build water projects, and we were a

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Chandler Vannoy is joined by Andy Wood. Andy is the lead pastor of Echo Church in the San Francisco Bay area and host of the Echo Leadership Podcast. They discuss why leadership means giving things up to grow as a leader and how self-care allows for greater ministry. BEST QUOTES "There is a lot of hostility toward the church in general, so if we were going to be able to reach people who were beyond the walls of the church we had to make serving a really big deal.""What I realize now at 40, it's a lot harder to run for 40-50 years in ministry and finish with your soul intact, your marriage intact, your family intact.""The area that has required the most time and energy is learning to develop leaders and how do you lead the organization when people don't grow with the organization.""Part of leadership is saying what are the things in this season that I need to give up in order to go up to that next level that God would have for me as a leader.""There

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Jimmy and Kristin Scroggins. Jimmy is lead pastor at Family Church in South Florida and Kristin is a gifted Bible teacher and speaker. They just released the book Full Circle Parenting. They discuss the following questions: Who or what has been the greatest influence in the way you parent and lead your family?What is the foundational piece of the theology of parenting?As pastors and leaders, how do we handle the times when our kids are rebellious?What is your favorite parenting failure story?What did those failures teach you moving forward?What are the three circles and what led you to start using them in your parenting?How did you help your kids handle the expectations and navigate the world as pastor's kids?How do you speak to a wife who sees a spiritual leader at church, but not at home?What advice would you tell your 20-year-old self about parenting? BEST QUOTES "If parents will develop a good the

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Michael Hyatt, blogger, speaker, former chairman and CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, and author of many books including Win at Work and Succeed at Life. They discuss the following questions: Explain why you wrote the book.Why would you say overworking is such a problem these days, and especially in the church?Why do we need to understand the balance between areas of our lives?Why do you think the cult of overwork is so prevalent?How can pastors create boundaries and restraints to be more healthy in this area?How do you continue to add boundaries as you move to a higher level of leadership?What habits or practices have you created in your life?What's the best piece of leadership advice you've ever been given?What do you mean by delegation as development?What do you want your leadership legacy to be? BEST QUOTES "I thought I had reached the pinnacle of success, but what I discovered was that it was a f

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Ben Mandrell are joined by Jon Acuff, public speaker and author of Soundtracks: The Surprising Solution to Overthinking. They discuss learning how to be a better virtual speaker through the pandemic and ways to plan instead of pine over your current situation. BEST QUOTES "I can either pine or I can plan.""Innovation is a classroom. A crisis is an invitation.""Most people think a thought is something you have, not something you hone.""The goal of a great thought is always a great action.""I think every live event from this point on will have a hybrid approach.""One of the simplest ways to break it from a typical zoom meeting is you stand up.""Authenticity, whether it is via camera or via live, is still better than in-authenticity.""As a leader if your whole identity becomes the thing you are leading, it is game over.""One of the most damaging things you can do to yourself right now is compare this current situation to your goals a ye

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Ben Mandrell are joined by Tim Keller, founder of Redeemer Presbyterian Church and author of Hope in Times of Fear. They discuss the following questions: What is happening in the church culture because of COVID?How have you encouraged pastors in this season?Are there any books that you went back to during this time?What is a story of a leadership failure in your life?Moving out of COVID and toward establishing a normal rhythm, what advice do you have? BEST QUOTES "COVID is probably accelerating the waning of the middle class.""The reality is there is going to be an economic inequality that is being accelerated, and that is going to have a big impact on the church.""The churches that are doing well need to give to the famine struck churches.""The extremes are very empowered, when you go online you get the impression there isn't anything in the middle.""The small churches will probably retain everybody, the big churches will be fine