Transitional leadership

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Defining Leadership War Mode

SPEAKER_00 0:12

War mode. I want to talk about war mode. No, not political war mode. Leadership war mode. Because that's what I'm leaning into. I have been in war mode. And honestly, the deeper I get into the scripture, the more uncomfortable leadership becomes for me. I'm in this transitional state. And man, it's driving me crazy. Because I'm realizing something. As I'm studying the scripture, I don't run a church. I'm not a pastor. I run businesses. I run restaurants, teams, pressure, payroll, customers, and chaos. And I'm not saying running a church isn't any of those things. I'm saying for me, I do it around secular people. And lately, I've been wrestling with one question over and over and over. How does Jesus actually want me to lead? Not theoretically, folks, practically. And this week, Acts, the book of Acts is really, it's punched me in the face. But I'm realizing something very quickly. The apostles, they were not soft men. Peter wasn't soft. John, not soft. These men were bold, convicted, direct, unshaken, under pressure. And lately, I've been struggling with this tension between worldly leadership and biblical stewardship. What's driving that? Standards. I mean, I'm coming out of my skin just thinking about how frustrated it is to drive excellence.

The Burden Of Excellence Standards

SPEAKER_00 2:17

And I'm speaking from the perspective of two restaurants. And if you haven't listened to last week's episode, you'll know what I'm talking about. Now, is it okay for a business to be just profitable, but not excellent? I don't know. It's not for me, but should it be? Biblically and otherwise. I don't know, folks. When you know what excellence looks like, when you have achieved a standard of excellence one time, it haunts you. Look at the Michelin star chefs. Look at all these artists that have created masterpieces. They go insane. Once you've built it, you expect it. Once you've built it, it's hard to accept anything less than excellence. Now, is that biblical? How do I achieve it in the world? How do I achieve it running a restaurant? Well, what I'm wrestling with lately is this sense of entitlement that creeps into organizations when I let standards shift and drift. Giving people chance over chance over chance, opportunities they're not yet ready for. How many of you out there lead and you see someone and you see something in them and you pour into them over and over? And they don't pick it up. Opportunities they were not ready for yet. Who's responsible for that? Who's responsible for the frustration that we as leaders are creating for ourselves? I make the argument that I am. You are. My wife and I, we've been doing this for years. Elevating people, helping somebody just a little bit, a little step to put into a position that could really financially reward their situation. Giving them platforms. You know what? It works sometimes. And man, when it does, it's beautiful. But honestly, most of the time we get burnt. As leaders, we get burnt more than we like to admit. And lately, I've started wondering: am I becoming cynical? Or am I becoming mature? Or are we finally realizing ourselves or giving ourselves permission to realize that we've done enough. And eventually you got to cut the cord. That's where my mind has been lately. Because we've opened doors, created opportunities, built platforms, created earning potentials,

When Opportunity Turns Into Entitlement

SPEAKER_00 6:07

changed lives. But eventually, people have to choose their own growth. And while I'm wrestling with this, I went on Acts chapter four. The apostles are being questioned by the Sanhedrin, threatened, pressed, told to stop speaking about Jesus. These are the same systems that crucified Christ. The same religious order, the same pressure. And after being harassed and threatened and imprisoned, what did Peter and John do? They go home and they pray. That wrecked me this week. Because they didn't hesitate. They didn't build a mob. They didn't scream. They didn't burn anything down. They didn't weaponize the outrage. They prayed. And scripture says the ground shook. I sit with that this week. Because that's not how I naturally lead when I'm pressed. Something explosive comes out of me. Pressure, intensity, force. If I'm being honest, F bombs. Passion. I can shake a room emotionally very quickly. And frankly, that leadership style worked me for decades. It built businesses. It built culture. It created urgency. But now, sitting here fifty-five years old, asking myself, why can I show up? Like the apostles did after the Sahedron jailed them. They're arrested. They're released. They go home. They get together and they pray. And they got noticed. And acts people notice this behavior. Is that still the highest form of leadership? What I did to get to where I am? Or is God trying to evolve me? Because when those apostles that we just talked about were pressed, they returned aligned, not emotional. That's different. And I started thinking about the oil oppress. Pressure crushes olives. And whatever is inside of it comes out. Well, when I get pressed,

Acts 4 Response Under Pressure

SPEAKER_00 9:07

sometimes dynamite comes out. Intensity comes out. And maybe that's the real leadership workout happening spiritually right now. Not how do I become softer? Never softer. But how do I become anchored? How do I stay convicted? How do we stay convicted without becoming emotionally destructive? How do we hold standards high without detonating the room? How do I lead biblically inside organizations where most people aren't even in the word? And I'm practicing it. No expert. I'm practicing it. And the people I'm leading, most of them aren't in it. That's the challenge. Because it's easy to talk about Jesus when it's working. When everything goes smooth. The real test is pressure. The real test is disrespect. Operational chaos. Entitlement. Tribalism. What comes out then, folks? What comes out shows our leadership. And maybe transactional leadership is exactly that. The painful transition from worldly force to biblical stewardship. Not lowering the standards. Not becoming passive, but not tolerating mediocrity. Learning how to lead from conviction instead of emotional volatility. Because Peter still confronted truth. The apostles still stood boldly. But they were spiritually anchored before they reacted outwardly. That's maturity. I think that's what I'm trying to become right now. What would the world look like if all us leaders led like the apostles and acts? A litter still demands excellence, still moves with passion, pushes towards greatness,

Conviction Without Emotional Chaos

SPEAKER_00 11:46

but no longer needs emotional chaos to create movement. That's a transition. That's the workout. That's the war. Be aware. Stay intentional. Whatever you do, don't take the bait.