Staying True to Your Purpose w/ Becca Spradlin

Becca Spradlin, founder of On Mission Advisors and author of "Lead On Mission" shares how her upbringing, shaped by faith and entrepreneurial role models, led her to a career helping organizations stay focused on their core mission. From leading microfinance initiatives around the world to launching her own consultancy, Becca reveals practical wisdom for leaders who want to avoid mission drift and create lasting impact. Tune in for heartfelt stories, leadership insights, and a powerful reminder that staying true to your calling can transform not just organizations, but entire communities.

Guest Links:

• Becca’s LinkedIn
• On Mission Advisors
• Lead On Mission: Advance faith at work. Avoid mission drift. Build a legacy of eternal impact.

Credits: 
Host: Lisa Nichols
Executive Producer: Jenny Heal
Marketing Support: Landon Burke and Joe Szynkowski
Podcast Engineer: Portside Media

Transcript

Lisa Nichols  00:02
Chromosomes, little strands of nucleic acids and proteins are the fundamental genetic instructions that tell us who we are. At birth, most people are born with 46 chromosomes, but each year in the United States, about 6000 people are born with an extra chromosome, making them a person with Down syndrome. If you've ever encountered someone with Down syndrome, you know that they are some of the kindest, most joyful people you will ever meet. They truly have something extra. 

My name is Lisa Nichols and for 30 years, I have been both the CEO of Technology Partners and the mother to Ally. Ally has something extra in every sense of the word. I have been blessed to be by her side as she impacts everyone she meets. Through these two important roles as CEO and mother to Ally, I have witnessed countless life lessons that have fundamentally changed the way I look at the world. While you may not have an extra chromosome, every leader has something extra that defines who you are. 

Join me as I explore the something extra in leaders from all walks of life and discover how that difference in each of them has made a difference in their companies, their families, their communities and in themselves. If you like this episode today, please go to Apple Podcast or wherever you listen and leave us a five-star rating. 

I'm excited to have Becca Spradlin on the show today. Becca is the founder of On Mission and the author of "Lead On Mission". Well, Becca, welcome to this Something Extra Podcast. I am so delighted to have you as my guest today. I can't wait to dig into all the wonderful things that you are doing to help organizations champion what matters most, in light of eternity, which is so beautiful. I always love to go back and tell our listeners how I meet people. But you and I first met several years ago. You came to a YPO Vision and Values conference and, and then we recently reconnected, because you were so sweet to send me a copy and a sweet note of the new book that just came out, and I can't wait to dig into that. It's called "Lead On Mission".

Becca Spradlin  02:09
Yes, well, it's great to reconnect with you. It was a joy meeting you and your husband, your daughter Ally so many years back. Just really, really enjoyed that.

Lisa Nichols  02:19
Yes, I forgot that Ally was with us for that. So, you did get to meet Ally. You got to meet the inspiration behind the Something Extra Podcast.

Becca Spradlin  02:27
Yes, and she's a delight.

Lisa Nichols  02:32
Yes, she is. She definitely has a lot of something extras. Well, I can't wait to dig into everything that you're doing today, dig into the book, but before we do, can I just ask you a little bit about your younger self?

Becca Spradlin  02:46
Sure. So, I was blessed to grow up in a Christian home. My mom was a big prayer. She still is a big prayer for me and for my brother, and I'm inspired by her because she got diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when I was really little, and so that's been part of our family story. But even though she's actually in a nursing home now, she's still praying, she's still leading Bible Studies in person on Zoom. So, she's, she's a big inspiration, I think, a big reason for God's work in my life and my brother's life too.

Lisa Nichols  03:21
Oh, that is so beautiful. What just reminds me so much of, you know, the never discount the power, right? Of a praying mom or praying dad or praying grandmother. I mean, I think back, Becca, to Billy Graham, you know, and his, his mom, she had this habit every day of going upstairs to her upstairs and kneeling down and praying for her children. And Billy Graham, I don't know how many people that he affected in his lifetime, but it was millions, millions.

Becca Spradlin  03:56
Right. And as a mom now, I that means even more to me. I have three girls, and so praying with them, praying for them. It's something I want to prioritize, like she did, because we see the fruit of it. It's amazing.

Lisa Nichols  04:12
Absolutely. I've got another book that I'll recommend to you later, that you'll probably really love. But what did you like doing as a little girl?

Becca Spradlin  04:21
Oh, my goodness, I enjoyed art, actually. So, I was into painting a lot. And so, my first like entrepreneurial venture was my uncle gave me some photographs, and he wanted me to paint poster size versions of them, to have original them as original artwork. So, that was actually one of my first like jobs as a kid was that I don't think I've sold anything since then, but that was fun to do when you know your, your younger years. 

Lisa Nichols  04:51
Thant's awesome. I was gonna ask you, if you were able to sell any that artwork. Did he buy them all? 

Becca Spradlin  04:55
He did. He did. He bought the ones that I made for him. And I think, he had them framed so it was sweet.

Lisa Nichols  05:05
Really sweet, just probably, you know, sparked a little confidence in you, maybe?

Becca Spradlin  05:13
It was a great opportunity. So, he was kind enough to do that. So, that was one of my earliest entrepreneurial ventures. 

Lisa Nichols  05:20
I love that. I love that. Well, let me ask you this, what experiences do you think you had as a young girl that really have influence, because you have a calling on your life today, you know. And did your younger years, do you feel like that that really shaped even your calling and your mission today? 

Becca Spradlin  05:39
Sure. I think the family you grow up in has a lot of influence. So, I didn't mention my dad, but he's another deep man of God. Saw him and mom both in the Word of God. He had a full-time job, but he also had a side business. And actually, if I think about my dad's side of the family, there were a lot of entrepreneurs in the family, so I think the exposure to that really makes it seem possible. Like, oh, I could, I could start a business. I know people who did start a business or have really entrepreneurial roles, so I think, I think that's part of it. And I think God, God equips us in a lot of different ways. And I think I took the Strength Finders test, I don't know how many years ago, and one of them results was responsibility. I scored really high in that, and I think that's why the work I do today around mission drift and helping Christian leaders avoid mission drift. I think it sparks from that, from God's actual wiring of how he made me to be and to respond to that issue in particular, and to want to be someone. Again, my mom was one of those people at like, there was no limit in a good way, like she would let my brother and I go on mission trips. She would pray for us, you know. So, that resilience and that ability to be like, let's create something where there isn't something that kind of pioneering spirit. I think that was part of what she fostered in our family, too.

Lisa Nichols  07:02
That's so beautiful. I love that. And the name is escaping me now, but there's a famous quote out there that says, You can't be what you can't see. You can't what you can't see. And I think it is so important, right? For young people to see. Hey, my dad was an entrepreneur. My dad had his own business and, you know, and in thinking about what you just said, I think that my uncle had his own business too. So really, I do think that kind of informs how you think about things. It's like, oh, well, you could go out there and create something new and, and run your own organization one day. So, I think that's really good. Well, you have an education in business management, economics, communications, and a master's in Applied Economics from John Hopkins. You know what really sparked your interest, Becca, in finance and economic development? 

Becca Spradlin  07:58
So, I kind of always knew I wanted to study business. I can't tell you when that started in college, I had internships in consulting, and I really liked consulting. I like getting to meet different clients. But during my undergrad, I got to go on a mission trip, and there's a trip I went to, to Haiti. Actually, led a team. I was 20 at the time. I led a team of teenagers to Haiti, we I was the adult. During the time the State Department warning increased, increased risk or threat of that area. But that experience truly shaped me and kind of put me on a different path just seeing both the material poverty but also the relational and personal poverty and broken relationships there. Because poverty is so complex and so coming back from that, I was a sophomore, I was like, I am going to shift all the business energies I have toward international economic development. After school, I was worked briefly at a foundation that focused on that before I discovered kind of a career in micro finance, so small loans to hard working entrepreneurs. Again, that entrepreneurial theme coming through, and I was doing ratings and research in this space. So, we go do these organizational assessments. And during that time, I learned about an organization called Hope International, and they doing incredible work around the world, pairing the gospel and the good news of Jesus with micro credit and savings services in under banked areas. And so, after several years doing ratings, I ended up joining the Hope International team, which is another, another step of faith.

Lisa Nichols  09:40
Okay, so I did not know that part. I'm sure I read that at some juncture, but I didn't make that connection. So, we are on the Board of Governors for Opportunity International. And so, I think it's probably the same concept, and it's amazing when you really think through. I mean, it can be as little as $150 business loan, Becca, that can change the trajectory of a person's life in a country like that. And there are story after story after stories of that happening. And then a whole village is transformed, because now that entrepreneur can go on and hire more people.

Becca Spradlin  10:24
Right. And they're creating jobs. And it certainly it changes their family. They're able to pay school fees, because a lot of these countries, you have to pay to go to school, or at least, there are fees related to even public school. You need uniforms. And when you're really poor and you have to make that decision between food and medicine and education. It's a really hard choice. And so, seeing that as continuous inspiration too. Of these, a lot of them women, leading their families and in their communities too, and partnering with their church. It's incredible. 

Lisa Nichols  10:55
I love that. I love that. Well, in 2020 I kind of want to move into what you're doing today, because I have lots of questions for you. In 2020 you formed or founded On Mission Advisors, you know, tell, tell our listeners a little bit what led you to launch that. Tell, tell us more about the mission and vision of On Mission Advisors.

Becca Spradlin  11:19
So, when I joined hope again, my background was in ratings and research. The CEO there, his name is Peter Greer. He just published, was about to publish a book called Mission Drift. And given my background, they asked if I could create an internal assessment to use across their country offices and their main office to know not if, but where they were drifting. That's Peter's words, because, because we're all prone to drift. And so, created this assessment internally. And Chris Crane, who I think you know, was on the board of Hope at the time, and the CEO of Edify. He was one of the co-founders, he said, Can you come do this for us? We don't want to drift off mission either. And so, that's they do great work globally with Christian education. So, great organization worked with them. 

Becca Spradlin  12:07
But they weren't the only ones. As Peter's book got a lot of traction, we ended up going and doing workshops and other things to help organizations. And it got to the point where I said, Peter, I think there's this is a felt need for a lot of people any mission driven organization has this temptation to drift. So, I think something, something should we could do something with this. And so, it's interesting to see how God took kind of that interest in consulting that started in college, and then the RE, the experience through micro finance sector and joining Hope just at that time. And then, after a couple of years On Mission was incorporated, I started doing it full time, and now I have others that helped me do it. So just slowly by slowly, God just kind of brought this together, and now we can provide practical help to organizations so that they can have the tools and ideas to help them avoid drift.

Lisa Nichols  13:04
Becca, that is so beautiful. I love Chris Crane, by the way, have you ever met somebody that is just as an amazing of a human being as him? He is just such a just an amazing, amazing person. I love him. But you know, you just were talking about something. Sometimes we just need to take one step of obedience at a time. And you would have never even probably considered you would have On Mission Advisors. But as you're taking each step, you see the need and the need the gap, you know, that emerges there. And that's, I think that's how a lot of organizations are formed, right? 

Becca Spradlin  13:48
You just, you work in it. You see, see the opportunity. Because I'm not the type of person to be motivated to like reinvent the wheel. There's no one really doing this. So, it's, it's a joy to be able to come in and work alongside CEOs in a range of industries, nonprofit for profit, and just help them define, protect and champion kind of what matters most in light of eternity.

Lisa Nichols  13:48
I love that. I love that tagline. Well, let me ask you this. You've worked now on five different continents. Are there leadership lessons that really kind of span, like a common thread through all of those continents and, like, what would lasting impression have those had on you? 

Becca Spradlin  14:30
What a great question. No one has ever asked me that. But I love that question. I think something a lot of what we do, and even what I did at Hope and others other places was, is training and workshops. And I have found, like, cross culturally, it's really difficult. You know, I'm coming in with my western view, and you just, you just are so sensitive, or I'm so sensitive and mindful of that. But I always found that whenever I could weave things back to Scripture, Scripture and God's word just transcends, transcends cultures and language barriers and all of that. And so, I think when you look at consider leadership, I think when you think about biblical leadership principles like humility, it might look different in different cultures, but I think that, that one, for example, certainly carries through. There's probably a lot, a lot of others we could talk about, but those that certainly fruits of the Spirit, just these things that connect so directly back to the Word of God.

Lisa Nichols  15:31
Serving others. I mean, there's right, you know, that'd be a really interesting little study to kind of because I think that there's more that unites us than divides us really. You talk a lot about building this legacy of eternal impact. What does that mean to you, Becca?

Becca Spradlin  15:55
So, On Mission Advisors, our company, exists to see God glorified globally. And we do that by investing in faith driven leaders and partnering with them to help them discern what that vision is. Typically, they already have that vision of what the Lord is calling them to do in and through their business. But given the reality of mission drift, the legacy piece is really hard. I think there are a lot of really intentional leaders out there who are able to create and build a great culture, but they're really just one transition, one business sale, away from losing all that. It happens so rapidly, as you know, in months you can undo decades of work and the culture that you've built up. So, the book "Lead On Mission" is really focused on, how do we take best practices from organizations who have maintained their mission or their higher purpose over decades, over transitions. What can we learn here, and what are kind of tools or resources for leaders to use to as they want to consider how to perpetuate that legacy, that higher purpose beyond their own tenure.

Lisa Nichols  17:08
We've seen it, right? We've seen those transitions. A new CEO comes in, and the culture shifts. You know tell me this about the North, you talk about North Star and guard rails. Can you explain how you use that?

Becca Spradlin  17:28
Absolutely! So, the model we use is define protect and champion, and most of our work is in this defining phase. How do we navigate these kind of like mission critical moments, whether it's refining your mission vision values or something like that, or but do so without avoiding drift. And over time, as we worked with organizations, this concept of having a North Star guidance and guardrails came up, because how do you take that core, that kind of pithy mission statement, and then map it out to your strategy, your daily operations? There really are guiding principles that kind of sit around the core, that core purpose that you have, and how do we create space to have that conversation, to discern guiding principles that may need to change in the future. But could outlast a leader, but could be instructive to boards, to future leaders in decision making in a future state that we can't imagine right now, because we can't, you know, we can't predict the future, but we can certainly plan for it. So, as I talk with leaders, having these conversations, these kind of guided, facilitated workshops on discerning, here's what our mission is, here's what our history has been. Here's kind of the behaviors that kind of show what we're all about, what we care about. What are the guiding principles that we want to gift to future leaders? Because if they have to navigate that, it will take months of meetings and take so much time.

Lisa Nichols  18:58
You just remind me, James Barnett was the CEO for Dayspring for many, many years. And I remember talking to him, and he said, you know, and I just this was so beautiful to me. I He just said it with such clarity. He said, You know, the mission has never changed. So, you know, like in context of what you just said, our guiding principles probably should not change. Those are the same. But what the way that James described it, he said, our mission really has stayed the same. Our methods have changed. And I just thought that was a really great way, because things do evolve. And like you said, you can't really say what the future is going to be and how the world's going to change, but you got to adapt to those changes. So, the methods may need to change.

Becca Spradlin  19:51
Absolutely. And it's funny, you say that because give a point, and every time we do a workshop, I'm like, I am opposed to mission drift. I'm not opposed to change. You will need to embrace change and innovation to remain relevant and to serve those that you exist to serve better in the future. You will quickly become irrelevant. It's, it's kind of like different means, same ends, the ends, the goal, the vision, is the same. The guiding principles help you get there and help you kind of know what's in and out of bounds, which gives you greater focus and hopefully speed as you're kind of moving toward that vision. But you need to create space. You don't want to over prescribe things, or over anticipate things in a way that really handcuffs the future generations of leaders or board members.

Lisa Nichols  20:41
That's so good. Becca. Well, it don't mean to put you on the spot, but I know that you've talked you in doing your research, even for your book. You know you, you met with David Green, iconic Hobby Lobby, right? Can you like, is there a, an organization or leader that you've worked with that you can remember a few other guiding principles? 

Becca Spradlin  21:04
That's a really good question. I'll say general, general themes we kind of go through. I think a lot of faith driven leaders almost focus first on their faith as part of the philanthropy and how they're giving out of their organization. And so, it could be as simple as, here's the types of organizations we really like to give to, here's ones that we're willing to give to. It's kind of neutral for us. And maybe here's ones that we prefer not to give to. I think that's an easy way, a lot of companies that have kind of that philanthropy arm have, have those kinds of guardrails in place. I think other things when you think about things that lead you off mission. So, we say leadership, ownership and governance. And I think one of the greatest examples I found was from Mike Amman. His case is in the book, but he again, a 10 to $15 million business, but he founded it, he grew it. He really wanted to be intentional with who he sold it to. So, he actually had maybe a dozen, one is just on one page, a dozen buy/sell conditions. And he committed that when I find the right buyer, it will be the right price. So, I'm kind of surrendering the price, because I think that's what happens, people go for the highest bid, and then, you know, a company comes in and chose to ring the value out of a company that usually distorts the culture. 

Becca Spradlin  22:30
But he had to wait. So, Mike's story, he got six great offers, including a very high, he said, astronomically high offer in her in his words. And his broker was like, That would be a great one, right? Because they're making the Commission on it. But he, he didn't have a peace about it. He's like, I prayed about it, I didn't have a peace, I didn't go with any of the first six offers. And then the seventh offer came in and the, the person who bought it brought the expertise, but also seemed to bring this willingness to learn, like he wanted to keep meeting with Mike and, you know, and so he felt like he had a piece about it. He believed in God, there was just some common things. And so, I think it takes patience, especially when you think about transition. So, that was another kind of sale related transition that they had in place. And I would say he, he planned ahead of the time, he was actually planning to sell, which is really important, because succession and ownership transitions. They haven't suddenly, and you haven't planned for it, your culture will most likely be lost in that shuffle.

Lisa Nichols  23:34
Yes, for sure. Wow, that's really, I love that. That he said, when the right buyer comes, the price will be right. So, really, not prioritizing the price over maintaining the culture and having the right company come in and take over, right? That's really that's awesome. You already, you already talked about humility. You mentioned that, like that across continents, and that leadership thread that is common no matter where you are. How have you seen you know, Becca, how have you seen humility really play out with the leaders that are really great leaders? And then have you seen it where humility, lack of humility really can cause a lot of, you know, a downward spiral too.

Becca Spradlin  24:28
I think the leaders we work with, certainly as clients. I would say, are all pretty, pretty exceptional in terms of humility because it's almost a prerequisite to investing in doing kind of preventative mission drift work. It starts with believing that we are all prone to drift, and we need that accountability and support. So, I think peer CEO groups, all those things are really great resources to help because we are all prone to drift. And so, I see that. I mean, I see it when I'm interacting with leaders who just clearly have that learning posture. I think that's so true of, of leaders, who, who are humble. I think, I think a lot of drift, when you think about cases of drift. I think it does happen unintentionally. I think pride can absolutely be a part of that, but it's not, it's not always pride. I think it's unintentional neglect, or just not, not realizing that what's in our heads is not commonly understood by everyone, including maybe your number two. So, we really try to help, like, bring to light what are those defining and core elements as guiding principles for a company, so that we can talk about them and know, and really build alignment. A lot of, of what kind of comes out of the work we're doing is building alignment. It starts with having the conversation.

Lisa Nichols  25:48
I want to talk to you more about that. I want to dig into to more about those tools, how you recognize when there's drift, that sort of thing. But we do need to take a quick break, and we'll be right back with Becca on the Something Extra Podcast.

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Lisa Nichols  26:31
Well, welcome back everyone to the Something Extra Podcast. So, Becca, we were just talking about mission drift. So, I'm this is going to get us into your book. So, your book is called "Lead On Mission: Advance Faith at Work. Avoid Mission Drift. Build a Legacy of Eternal Impact." You know, first of all, what inspired you to write the book?

Becca Spradlin  26:55
Yes, so, it was another God thing. I I'm always like, kind of a curious person, but God gave me the opportunity to do a research fellowship with Seattle Pacific University, and the core case that we were looking at was the Service Master company. And I read the book, The Service Master story, and when I read it, I was like, Wow, this is an incredible organization that had to honor God as one of its top objective four decades after going public, it maintained that, but it's not there today. What happened? What can we learn from this story? So, the research I ended up doing on the Service Master case became kind of one of the anchor cases for the book, and through the fellowship, it just kind of gave me the accountability and the rails to kind of run on in terms of getting the book writing process started. So, the, the first half of the book is really about these kind of cautionary tales and cases of faith driven businesses that sought to kind of pursue a higher purpose, like Service Master, Veggie Tales and, and why they don't have that today. What happened? What can we learn? And then the second half is really solution oriented, so it kind of goes through the define, protect and champion framework, thinking at what steps can we take for faith forward leadership practices we can take related to leadership, ownership and governance.

Lisa Nichols  28:22
Patricia Asp is a really dear friend of mine.  And Patricia was like the Chief Strategy Officer for Service Master. And I mean, what did you, what did you, can you, like, encapsulate that quickly, Becca? I mean, what was the mission drift or whatnot? And why aren't they around today? 

Becca Spradlin  28:41
Sure. I will use Pat's word, because we actually got to interview with her as part of the process. So, I got to meet her through the process. She's great. She worked for a number of the CEOs, including Bill Pollard, who is one of the, probably the most renowned CEO of them. He led the company through tremendous growth. He was involved in helping it go public and getting at certain acquisitions. And she's, I won't quote her as great as she does, but she said it really was a perfect storm for everything from, you know, leadership development, to really caring well, for the culture to preserve that. And I would add, there were certain external forces, like the .com boom and bust that were happening right around that time. And another factor, which we talked about, they had this great practice called shingles on the roof, in terms of how they did succession planning. So, they'd have someone kind of come into executive leadership with an eye toward the CEO position. When they became CEO, the CEO became the Chair, and they would really work together and that happened for four or five consecutive transitions. 

Becca Spradlin  29:46
Unfortunately, the fifth CEO had to step back because of health reasons, so that was another factor, kind of they left prematurely, and there wasn't. You know, the board discerned at that time, there wasn't an internal candidate. So, they did hire externally. And I would say there's always an external CEO disadvantage. They haven't experienced the culture the same way, right or wrong. You may need to do it sometimes, especially in a turnaround situation, but they are at a disadvantage. So, just board members kind of being aware and kind of going in with those eyes open. So, again, for them, it was a number of factors, which was great learning for me, and in the book, we could kind of tease out all of those things. Also, their growth strategy, a lot of growth for acquisitions and the new kind of outpaced the legacy that had the deepest kind of understanding of the core and the value. So, there, there were a lot of factors there,

Lisa Nichols  30:41
Wow. Because they did grow very quickly. Lots of acquisition. And that's just, that's another cautionary tale, right? You know, to make sure that you are as you're growing, that you're that you are also keeping an eye on that, and you're not growing too fast. Because I know, even at Technology Partners, there's been times where we've taken on too many initiatives, and I'm through the school of hard knocks, learned that that is not always the way to do it. So, you know what, you know, you talk a lot about this faith, forward, leadership, and you know, can you unpack that a little bit? And lots of different wonderful leaders like David Green, what are some of those components that you've seen in a really strong faith forward leader? 

Becca Spradlin  31:36
Yes, absolutely, great question. So, obviously, clarity on the core. What is core, what is not? What's that higher purpose we're going for. I think a lot of the unique kind of tools and ideas we try to give in the book also relate to the protect piece, which is, how do we ensure ownership? Because if ownership is ultimately directing the leadership, which is a core component of advancing any culture. How are we thinking through stability in terms of leadership? And I think when you think about Hobby Lobby or other organizations in the book, Barnhart Companies and others, they've actually tried to give away ownership of their company. Again, you can do a lot of you can also do, like form an ESOP, or something like that. I think there's a lot of different tools in the toolkit in terms of practices you can consider, certainly related to ownership, but a lot of other things. And then it becomes kind of a question of the board, or whoever's governing it, whether it's owned by the employees, whether it's owned by a charity. How is the board really being intentional about perpetuating itself, about the right level of, kind of guarding the mission, but also oversight of the CEO? How are they balancing that? And so, you need kind of all these pieces, leadership, ownership and governance, working together. 

Becca Spradlin  33:00
And then, the last piece we've defined, protect, champion. The champion piece is all about your culture, your people. How are you investing in that to generate and perpetuate the purpose beyond you? How are we doing leadership development? How are we doing succession planning? And, I'd say a neat thing, going back to the Service Master case, even since the book has come out, and I've gone. And you know, worked with different companies, I've met leaders who came out a Service Master, they're now CEOs somewhere else. And they have that DNA of that servant leadership model that was, you know, there from the very beginning. And I get, I mean, it's, it's wild to kind of see they were doing something right in terms of the leadership development just over the changes that kind of deteriorated, which happens over time. But I need to see that kind of seed spread elsewhere. Now, there are these kinds of amazing leaders leading other companies.

Lisa Nichols  33:54
Right. You know, they did. There are certain companies, Becca, that I always say that our leadership development companies in and of themselves. You know, one of my dear friends was the former CHRO for Enron before Enron imploded. And you know, all of them have now scattered, and many of them are leading companies. You were talking about leadership development. How you champion this within the organization, leadership development, succession planning. How about communication? What have you seen with those companies that do it really well? What kinds of communication protocols are they using? What's their cadence of communication? Is it perpetuated through the Leadership Development Program, or are there other ways that they're doing this?

Becca Spradlin  34:45
That is a great question. I think one of my favorite practices, because these companies that we work with, they all have, like, really strong values. So, you want to see those values reflected and reinforced in everything from your hiring and your job descriptions to how you're doing performance reviews. And then that kind of formal, slash, informal celebration of what is happening. So, whether it's in an all-team meeting or a division meeting, how are you celebrating the great examples that people are living out or doing that really exemplify the values that bring kind of color context to what the mission is all about. Another way that I encourage, especially, I love working with founders, because, you know, in theory, they're kind of like the source code, so to speak, for what the mission is and what it's all about. And they may evolve in their thinking over time. 

Becca Spradlin  35:39
But I encourage any time I'm working with a CEO that's a founder, especially if they're kind of looking toward the end of their tenure. I say, you know, can we get, you know, a video of you sharing about the mission, not just what it is, but the why behind it. And I think that is such an important piece to communicate, certainly on onboarding and reinforcing it at least annually and kind of informally, and team meetings and that kind of thing. Because people may not believe what you believe, but they really cannot argue with your story. The testimony of what God is doing through you, what he's done through you, how you've seen God at work in your company. They can't argue with that. And that kind of gives that, it just helps bring the why.

Lisa Nichols  36:27
No, that's really good. That's really good. You know, let me ask you this. So, the book, what I love about how you did the book, Becca, is at the end of every chapter there's reflection questions. And I always that's my favorite type of books. So how have you, have you seen the book? Or how would somebody, you know, if they wanted to go through the book, how could they use it in a team or group type setting that would be most effective?

Becca Spradlin  36:59
Absolutely! So, I'm a huge fan of reflection questions. There's no learning without reflection. So even in workshops and things, how are we stopping and pausing to reflect on this? We do have a companion workbook that goes with it that actually gives you space to kind of respond to those questions, along with some extra resources. So, we encourage you, you can use that certainly go through it with groups. I think that's where you can start to even test out. How do we define what mission drift is? For example, so many organizations have a clear, kind of great looking mission, but they haven't had the conversation about what mission drift is for our company. Because it's not one definition fits all. Each company is unique in that way. So, we have that. We also have a free self-assessment on our website. You can go to onmissionadvisors.com and so, that's a free faith, forward leadership self-assessment. We also offer a nonprofit version of that, because so many business leaders are also on boards of nonprofits, and mission drift is a huge problem for nonprofits as well. So, we offer those two versions, just freely available, and you can get your results, print those, discuss them with, with each other. I think that's a great way to get started, and that can kind of compliment going through and studying the book together.

Lisa Nichols  38:17
Oh, that's good. I hope, I hope some people that are listening will take us up on that and get the book. And this could be something you could go through with your team. I think it would be a really, a rich exercise. You do a lot of speaking. Becca, you do a lot of speaking, and you run these workshops. Are there trends that you're seeing right now? With CEOs and leadership teams? What are you seeing as you're working with different companies?

Becca Spradlin  38:46
Sure. So, the research we did for the book, I would say, is pretty consistent with even the results we get from those self-assessments that I mentioned, and that succession planning is a pretty consistent weakness across the board. And that's, you know, people joke with me, it's like no one wants to plan for their will or whatever in their personal life, no one wants to plan for succession too. And I think that's, it's hard. It's just one of those things you have to make time to do, even if it's a simple version, your emergency version and your long-term plan. But I think having that really good communication around that conversation, whether it's between the CEO and the owner, CEO and the board, or CEO and the leadership team of the CEOs also the owner saying, like, we need to plan for this, especially if you're not planning to transition. So, we just, we have to have a plan in place. 

Becca Spradlin  39:39
That is a best practice. You can cite me on that it is a best practice to have a minimum plan in place, and people who need to know should know where it is or what it is, and even who potential successors might be, but you've got to have that in place. And unfortunately, that was true when we were in the research phase, and true as we work with more organizations. I think leadership development is part of that, and developing a good pipeline of leaders. So, those things, I would say, especially for smaller organizations or nonprofits, it's hard to kind of justify that, but you need, you need something, even if it's like more boilerplate of a succession plan, it's a great conversation to have, you know, with your board or with other your kind of peer advisors, whoever they might be, because it gets you thinking about, what does the organization need in the next generation, you know. And how do we start thinking with that forward looking again, that faith forward looking, we want it to perpetuate the mission and vision beyond us. It's just good stewardship of the mission when you start to think that way. And it takes humility, for sure.

Lisa Nichols  40:47
Yes, absolutely, it does. And it takes just discipline to step away from the day to day to think about those things that are really, really important, as you said. So, I've got just a couple other questions for you, and then we're going to talk about something extra. But I have to ask you this one of my favorite people in the whole wide world wrote your forward, Dr. Richard Blackaby. Becca, is there something specifically that that you've learned from him, because you got to meet him, I think at Vision and Values.

Becca Spradlin  41:24
Yes, I did. So, we met at that event several years ago that you helped to organize. So, thank you for that. And my husband and I were, kind of were there, and we were big Blackaby fans. So, we bought the "Experiencing God" like workbook right around the time we got married. We bought 12 copies, gave them to all our friends. I mean, we were raving fans of, of what you know, what they were sharing, what their ministry is about. And so, we saw him at the event. We sat with them at a meal, him and his colleague, Rick, and we talked to them about joy, sparking joy in your family. So, it was, it was just a beautiful conversation about family and celebrating, you know, the good things God's doing your family and cultivating gratitude. I just look back at that moment, I'm like, what a beautiful conversation. 

Becca Spradlin  41:24
And when I started working on the book, I was thinking about, you know, who would be the right person to write this forward. And he, you know, Dr. Richard Blackaby was the only person I could think of. So, it's like, I really hope he says yes, because I can't think of anyone else. Because he brought such great wisdom from his mentoring and discipleship of CEOs through the CEO Forum and the work, he does there. But also, his, his own personal journey taking on an organization from his father, and now he's at the point where he's thinking about the next generation of leadership. So, he brought that personal connection, in addition to all the just wonderful things that he emphasizes in his ministry and that abiding which is such a core piece to all of this. And I have to say, I, you know, emailed him and asked when he said, the first draft of the forward, it opened with a scripture that I use in pretty much every training about mission drift in the Bible. And I was just like, this beautiful affirmation of like, he totally gets this. And he gave great guidance and insight on the book draft as well. It was, it was so helpful. So, I have such a deep respect for him. I was truly honored that he wrote that forward. 

Lisa Nichols  42:10
I know. I quote him all the time, Becca. And you talking about, talking about joy in your families, I'll never forget. And I mean, I use this all the time too, and it's, it's a question that I asked myself, you know, he said one time that, in his own family, it's like when he walks in the room, or does the joy meter go up, or does the joy meter go up when he walks out of the room?

Becca Spradlin  43:55
Oh, that's good. That's a powerful question. 

Lisa Nichols  43:57
It's so powerful. It's a great question to ask yourself, right? Because you hope that your presence in the room elevates the joy in the room, not diminishes it, you know, and I've never forgot that. But that scripture that you're talking about, which I love, too, "and the people serve the Lord, all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the Lord had done for Israel. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel." And that's Judges 2: 7 & 10. And to your point earlier, you know, we're sometimes one generation away, or one transition away, right, from things changing radically. And so, I love what you're talking about, the define, protect, champion. Define it, but we have to protect it with everything in us to and then obviously, the way we can do that is by championing it to the other people in our organization, right, and that upcoming leadership. So, that's a great reminder, though, that we're all susceptible to mission drift. So, this brings me to just a couple of other questions, and I want to talk about something extra. It's not just mission drift in our organizations, Becca, it can be mission drift in our family life. So, you know, what does faith at work look like in your home life, because you're you've got a husband, you've got three children, three daughters. What does that look like, and what have you seen with leaders in how you encourage them to make sure that they have mission with their families? 

Becca Spradlin  45:58
Absolutely! So, we are all prone to drift. It's why we need accountability. But one piece we haven't talked about yet, that's in the book, is the role of abiding and the importance of abiding. This is how leaders know how to define, protect and champion what matters most in light of eternity, we need to remain connected to our source. So, family wise, I'm grateful. I mean, my husband helps hold me accountable, for sure, that's really even my daughters are getting the age where they can hold me accountable too. You know, you said this with that. You know, they're, they're big into that. But I think those rhythms, for a number of years, I had a hard time having a daily discipline of being in the Word of God. But now I'm grateful that I'm able to do that, and have been able to do that and just going through scripture. I think having accountability group outside of marriage, friends that can help ask hard questions and ask how you're growing in the Lord certainly helps. 

Becca Spradlin  46:56
Aligned mentors too, because I think they're people, you know, there might be a good mentor in some ways, but who's kind of mentoring you that gets that eternal perspective that you're going for. And that higher purpose you're going for, because it's going to lead you to point in in your personal life and your work life, we're going to make choices that don't seem maybe wise from a worldly perspective. So, having those advisors around you and that accountability around you really, really helps. Other rhythms or practices I would say that could work for business or, or for your personal self, is solitude days and we try to have one solitude date a month. And if I'm being honest, it's usually turns into a half day, but I figure its better block the whole day. And if you can get a half day, or maybe you start with four hours, and you can get two in just, just have that time blocked on your calendar, and then it can do things quarterly and annually too. But I think that's a rhythm that I do with my husband. We both try to take the same, same time so that we can debrief at the end of the day, kind of what we sense the Lord speaking to us. So, we're all work in progress. We're all prone to drift. And I think it's those rhythms, organizationally and individually, that we need, because certainly the drift of a leader can cause a whole organization to drift.

Lisa Nichols  48:19
Yes, I cannot wait for you. You'd said that you before we even started the show today, you said, I just listened to your podcast you did with Matt and Maria Granados, and I cannot wait for you to connect to them, Becca, because they are, they are just very diligent with their rhythms. It's really beautiful, how they go about doing, you know, date nights. And, I mean, it's really, they've got rhythms, you know, that they that they abide by. So, I love that. Well, gosh, I've got so many more questions for you, but we're running out of time here. You'd mention your daughters and keeping you accountable. Is there, are there any leadership lessons that you have learned from your kids? 

Becca Spradlin  49:03
Oh, my goodness, you know? I think one of the I think I'm always in awe of when the Lord kind of speaks through them. So, I think maybe it's an encouragement for parents, like all the investment of like helping them learn to read so they can read the Word of God on their own, or helping them, you know, understand biblical concepts. And then, or encouraging scripture memory and then kind of saying it back to you just at that moment. It just reminds me that a, the Holy Spirit is, is active in our lives and in our children's lives too. So, I think that that humility, know that learning can come from any direction, whether it's a younger person in your organization or your child. We can all learn from each other for sure.

Lisa Nichols  49:55
We should do a whole other podcast on that. I have learned so much from my kids, and they will, they will hold you accountable. I mean, if you are trying to teach them a certain principle, and they see you not being congruent with that. I've had my grandson say, Yaya, I was wanting to do this. And you were out last night, you know, and we're able to, you know, really protecting your time. And so, I just love that we could probably do a whole podcast on that Becca, but I have to ask you, what do you believe is something extra that every leader needs?

Becca Spradlin  50:34
So, if we think of Jesus Christ as our core and our belief in God as core, I think the something extra that faith for leaders seem to have is what I call uncommon intentionality. So, so many of the leaders, you know, they're, I mean, they're all intentional to get to that level where they are, but it's, it's a different level of intentionality and forward looking that is, unfortunately uncommon. It's, it's not easy, and it's rare to find. And that's why I think drift happens so much so I think it's discerning with the Lord what and how, what are the ways that he would have you be kind of step into an uncommon intentionality to do something to think through. How do we continue this higher purpose beyond us. Certainly, humility is part of that as well. But how do we not just do what the people around us are doing, but really connect to the source and take those uncommon steps.

Lisa Nichols  51:31
That's really good. Don't just do what the crowd is doing. I mean, it may just be something totally new, right? I mean, you may download something totally different that you need to be doing. So, I love that nobody's ever said uncommon intentionality before. So, that's really beautiful. Well, Becca, thank you so much for being with me today. This has been so much fun, and I just know that your, our listeners are really going to benefit, and I hope they all go out and get your book "Lead On Mission".

Becca Spradlin  52:05
Thank you so much. Is it a joy to connect with you and talk with you today.

Lisa Nichols  52:09
Absolutely!

Announcer  52:10
Thank you for listening to today's show Something Extra with Lisa Nichols as a Technology Partners Production Copyright Technology Partners Inc. 2019. For show notes or to reach Lisa, visit tpi.co/podcast. Don't forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen.