A Call To Leadership

EP298: Leaders Form Precious Diamonds with Dr. Wayne Wilson

• Dr. Nate Salah

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Leadership without purpose feels like a ship without a rudder. In this episode, Dr. Wayne Wilson shares how pressure can either crush or refine us, and why clarity of vision and calling transform challenges into growth. Discover how to anchor your leadership with vision, stillness, and lasting impact that goes far beyond the numbers.


 Key Takeaways To Listen For

  • The “diamond makers” metaphor for leaders under pressure
  • A practical breakdown of PIVOT: Pause, Internalize, Vision, Operationalize, Track
  • How to ask “Why more money?” and get a people-centered answer
  • Translating 1 Corinthians 13 into a leadership operating system
  • The difference between losing your mission in the weeds vs. leading from calling

About Dr. Wayne Wilson
Dr. Wayne Wilson is the founder of PIVOT Coaching & Consulting, LLC, and a Vistage Chair who helps executives move from pressure to purpose. With 30+ years of leadership experience, he builds people-first cultures that drive results. Outside of coaching, Wayne enjoys hiking, scuba diving, and playing guitar with family and friends.

Connect with Dr. Wayne


 
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[00:00:00] Dr. Nate Salah
No matter where you are, whatever job you have or career you serve, the call is where you hear God saying, this is who you are and how I formed you to magnify me in the giftings and the genius I have created you in. Hello my friend, and welcome to this episode of A Call to Leadership. I'm Dr. Nate Salah, your host. So glad you are here in leadership. Sometimes the pressure can be so. Oh, great. We forget the purpose. We forget that we are diamond makers in and through the work we do for the people we serve. And so I've invited Dr. Wayne Wilson. He's got a great method called a pivot method. He is an executive coach and former pastor, massive amounts of wisdom. We're gonna break it down and illuminate the reasons why. We create pressure and the blessings within it. Dr. Wayne, so good to see you, man. Thanks for being here. And you and you, sir. Very good. We spend a lot of time with leaders and they face challenges in their day every day like the rest of us do. When you're encountering leaders in your world. What are some of the things that they are struggling with more than any other, when it comes to their spiritual journey in their business world? Yeah. 

[00:01:39] Dr. Wayne Wilson
Well, let me clarify the question just a little bit because I had a conversation with an executive coach two weeks ago. Been, a, a national champion basketball coach and an executive coach, and he asked me a similar question and there was a. There was a separation to that question. Is this an executive, is this a mid-level management, mid-level organizational, small business owner, or is this a frontline? 'Cause the answer to that question is different. 

[00:02:17] Dr. Nate Salah
Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:02:17] Dr. Wayne Wilson
Absolutely. Different. 

[00:02:18] Dr. Nate Salah
Yeah. It's it, it differs by. The nuances of how you handle that, what kind of authority you have to deal with that, what kind of responsibilities that you have in your organization and ultimately, how you, best serve all the other stakeholders Yes. In your company. 

[00:02:37] Dr. Wayne Wilson
Yes. And expectations, right? That's right. Right. And because if you're a frontline leader, the expectation is that you're getting things done and that you are interacting with customers in meaningful ways. If you're a mid-level management, it means that you, you are out of the weeds and you are supposed to be in understanding your customers and understanding their needs and developing consistently adjusting strategy, and systems to meet those needs. If you are the executive, you, you are overseeing that entire organization. The ship is yours, you are at the helm. The responsibility is yours. And that brings on a whole nother level of weight and pressure and demands. And, but also vision and, and also purpose, which is a big part of my passion and what I do, it's vision and purpose.

[00:03:40] Dr. Nate Salah
Well, let's go there because many of our, our, someone listening today, our, our, our listener is. It's likely at that stage where they're, they're working out purpose and meaning and value, and how that translates to honoring their, their commitment to the organization, honoring their commitment to the mission, the vision, honoring the commitment to their faith, their family, their community, their relationship with God. You're gonna get me to preaching. You're, you're gonna, we should say that you have been behind the pulpit. You're gonna send me down that road here a minute. I see it coming. 

[00:04:21] Dr. Wayne Wilson
Yeah. Yeah. Well, so my new book, the pivot process that I've got coming out is subtitled from Pressure to Purpose, and I'll tell you a quick story that goes with this. I led churches for the first portion of my career on staff and in pulpit and in leadership. And then I moved to running Christian counseling centers for Wake Forest Baptist Health here in North Carolina for 18 years. I ended up running four of them. They all had nonprofit boards. I ran four nonprofit boards simultaneously. And then I moved into corporate. I ran, I, I did the leadership. And all of the professional development for a half a billion dollar company with 11 location, 11 states and 11 states and some 70 some locations. We're talking a lot of leaders and what I noticed is pressure becomes crushing unless you do it within a sense of purpose. And if it's just trying to get the job done, just trying to get the work done, or just trying to hit your numbers. Wow. It runs outta steam really fast. That's right. But if you do that with a sense of mission, and this is what I've noticed, that somewhere along the line, either an executive leader doesn't have, or they lost sight of it, I lost sight of it after 18 years of doing it, I lost sight of it.

[00:05:56]
 The most clear mission you can imagine when I started running Christian counseling centers and over an 18 year period of time, it got lost in the p and l, it got lost in the hospital's criteria of success. It got lost in trying to make sure that all the counselors could feed their families, and the mission of transforming people's lives would get lost in all of that pressure. If you don't have a clear way to keep the, the mission, the purpose in focus, then it all gets really, really heavy.

[00:06:32] Dr. Nate Salah
It gets heavy. Man, I'm glad you brought that up, because without pressure, without purpose, to me is like a ship without a rudder, right? It's gonna get tossed in the waves and eventually it's gonna crash against the rock. Because it, it has no real direction. And you know, that's what we're talking about, purpose. It's, it's directive. It, it's, and, and when you say mission, I tend to think of mission as the justification for our existence. Mm-hmm. Without mission, we have no justification to exist. Mm-hmm. And without a clear sense of what that is, our existence becomes almost futile. Yeah. Because pressure's coming. 

[00:07:18] Dr. Wayne Wilson
Pressure's here. It's gonna be there. Well, at different levels and different ways, as I described a few minutes ago. But it's there. It's just there. 

[00:07:25] Dr. Nate Salah
Yeah. And Jesus talked at length about purpose, right? And in fact, it's about every conversation he had directed the pressure back to purpose. That's right. That's right. Yeah. And I don't wanna, I'm not, I'm not trying to, to pro you today, rather, lemme offer, there's gonna be a sermon in there somewhere. However, lemme offer 

[00:07:44] Dr. Wayne Wilson
One slight. Sort of 20-plus-year observation of that though. And I work with leaders on this all the time, and I helped write vision and mission and purpose statements and clarify values for the company. I just told you about. Snyder, fleet Solutions that have billing log company, in the transportation industry. And I helped the, the owner and the executive team to do that. And here's what I noticed. In practical application on a day-to-day life in a, in day-to-day life mission was more about what you're trying to accomplish. What you just described is right down the line of vision, Proverbs 29 18. In the message. In the message, and the message says, where there is no clear sense of direction, people wander about anglis. That's right. They got no direction. They got no purpose. So you can do a mission statement and describe what you do and what you're trying to accomplish. But here's the point. The vision is the why. That's right. And you gotta have a why. Right. Simon Sinek put it in a real clarity for the whole world and is, Ted talk. You gotta know. You gotta know your why, or you're gonna, you're just gonna drift. You're just gonna drift. The boat's gonna drift. Yeah. There's no rider. 

[00:09:09] Dr. Nate Salah
That's exactly right. And so for an organizational leader, like a founder, I tend to look at this idea of vision and mission. I'm glad, I'm glad we're talking about it. We don't talk about a whole lot on the, on the program and of course, how, how it lays into our values. You know, I love, I love Proverbs 29:18. It, it's, it's such a, it's such a clear directive, if you will. Mm-hmm. And what's gonna happen, of course. I think maybe the NIV I'm not sure which version. Of course. It, it gets really, it gets really dicey, right? Without vision, what happens to people, they, they perish. Right? It's, it's, it's a big deal. It's, it's, it's the big, it's, it's the big deal. And the, as you had said, you know, it's, it's, it's the where, where are we going? Why does it matter? Right? The, the, the, why does it matter? How often do we ask that? Like, I'm not talking about the one and done, I'm talking about daily. Because the daily reminder of why it matters is what keeps us alive. 

[00:10:11] Dr. Wayne Wilson
You ask a business owner why they wanna make more money. Mm-hmm. I do it all the time. Yeah. Like, we're trying to expand our business to X number times 10. Well, why? What, what for? Yeah. What, what kind of answers do you get? Well, first of all, what's really interesting, Nate. The most common response I get is, is, I won't do it on your podcast 'cause it's really uncomfortable, but a really long pause. And, and the, and the in, in the sort of innate statement in that is, oh, not all we're supposed to do. isn't that, isn't that the goal? Isn't that the oh and worse? Isn't that the purpose? Mm, no. What, what, you know, what's the w Why does your organization and business need more revenue? More customers? Why? And then it becomes a really challenging question because then it, there's a fork in the road, and this is where I've planned a flag in my executive coaching business. Really focused on helping business leaders create a people first culture. I, I'm a culture crafter. I, I have built my business around helping executive leaders design the culture that's the foundation to all their strategy.

[00:11:46]
 Mm-hmm. It's a foundation of the house and what I love to help them do is build people first cultures, because when they pause and they think about it. There's a fork in the road, and the next response to that question is it either goes in the direction of me as the owner and why I want more money, or me and the stakeholders, and why the stakeholders, private sharing, private equity, whoever the owners are, want or need more money, or it goes in the direction of the impact it has on their people. I was in a. Organization. three weeks ago they had a tele, they had TV up on the wall. They give equity, they do equity to their employees. They give equity to their employees. They were running stories of what their employees had done with the money and how it impacted their lives. Whoa, whoa. There's a why.

[00:12:48]
 Mm-hmm. There, there's a purpose. Is that they were growing as an organization in order to impact their own employees' lives in, in incredibly meaningful ways. And the stories were amazing. Investment in their children's education, paid off their homes, invested in and built legacy for their children is amazing. But it was a clear sense of purpose. It was on the wall, it was painted on the wall, it was on the TV screen. The executives was, first thing they talked about is our executives matter. It matters to our executives because at, at x, Y, Z 

[00:13:28] Dr. Nate Salah
It was clear. It's absolutely clear. It's, it's, I'm so glad you brought that up. And you, you talk about the different aspects of how we describe. Vision and mission, and you and I have been in this, this space a long, long time. I, I can't probably have lost track of all the scholars and researchers that have attempted to, to define these constructs and whether it's a lofty future goal, whether it's a tangible future goal, whether it has some level of, of, of, of investment in, in, in our people or different aspects of it. The money piece. I think what you drill down to, and you force these, leaders to evaluate, one of the things is. They realize, oh, wait a minute. It's a tool. It's a resource. It's a resource that is utilized to help us achieve our purpose, our why. It's not in and of itself a why Now, some people might argue no. Oh yeah. It's a why They do. Absolutely. They do. 

[00:14:27] Dr. Wayne Wilson
Absolutely. They. 

[00:14:28] Dr. Nate Salah
However, you know, when you, when you ask enough why questions, as you know, right? You get to the root of the, the usage of that, the usage of that, that resource, like all resources in an organization, and of course money. I used to teach, years ago, I taught a business policy course, and, and they, I'd say the most 2, 2, 2 most important, words in the lifeblood of your, of your business on a day-to-day basis in terms of funding it or cash and flow. And if you don't have either of them right, you're outta business, right? so, so, so that naturally, of course, you know, most business owners and entrepreneurs and, and people. We'll go directly to the money question. And I'm glad you brought that up because that's, it's, it's essential, it's necessary and it's for even as, as, as leaders in faith, in faith environments too. And I've said this on the show before, and you know this very well. Money is not the root of evil. It's the love of money. It's of all kinds of evil. Right, right, right. 

[00:15:27] Dr. Wayne Wilson
Yeah. Yeah. My money is a, I missed, I missed that little phrase for long, long, long time. Is that right? I really, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it's distracting, right? Because money isn't evil. Money is simply a resource, and it's what you do with that resource. It goes back to your why. What, what, what is, what is its purpose and what are you doing with it? And then what does it say about you? So I, you know, as soon as we started this conversation, I thought of, of my mentors, I had two mentors at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. Wade Rowett, who is my immediate supervisor, and Dr. Wayne Oates and Dr. Wayne Oats was my mentor. He is written many books. He's got a lot of books out there. But I remember him sitting me in his office, his young 20-something-year-old ministry student in pastoral care, and he said, son, who you are is far more important than what you do. I've never forgot that. Hmm. 'cause who you are becomes the essence of why you do what you do, right? What, what, what is the burn that God put in your heart? What's, what's the draw? What's the call? 

[00:16:49] Dr. Nate Salah
That's the keyword. What's the call? You know, I've heard it said like this, you can have a job, a career, and a calling. And the job is just over broke. I've heard it say, I've been just over broke. A good clip of my life. My son was asking me that the other day. He said, dad, was it hard when you were a new business owner? It was not only new or midseason and even 20 years in it, it, it was hard. still there's hard days. That's not ever gonna go away. but I didn't, I I, I didn't look at it like it was a job. I had a job when I was young and it was just a basic job. And, and here's everything about jobs. Jobs can change. You can change jobs easy, right? You just move from one job to another. You've heard the term job hopper, right?

[00:17:33]
 There's a reason for that term. Then you have the next tier, the level career, and you think, okay, well career is a little more stable and static because it's a focus on a specific aspect of your skills and how to manifest and utilize those in the marketplace and the value proposition. And however, sometimes careers change too. Yet, then you got the third level, this third domain called a calling. Hmm. And the calling, no matter where you are, whatever job you have or career you serve, the call is where you hear God saying this. Is who you are and how I formed you to magnify me in the giftings and the genius I have created you in.

[00:18:26] Dr. Wayne Wilson
Yep. This is uniquely who you are and why you are here, right? I'm on calling. I'm on calling number three. I told somebody that two weeks ago, I'm on calling number three, first calling to was to help people transform their lives who are in pain and in difficulty calling. Number two was I shepherded an employee base of 1200 employees within a company calling number three as I'm walking alongside of executives helping them build organizations that impact the world calling number three.

[00:19:09] Dr. Nate Salah
Yeah. And, and within that calling. If you think about the, the journey for all, all of us, you think about what we're, what we are all called to do on a broader scale, right? Mm-hmm. We're all called to love God, to love people, right? The law and the prophet is simple, pretty simple, isn't it? Come on. Pretty simple, pretty simple. Not complicated. Not complicated, right? Four words. Yeah. I was asked that actually, about three weeks ago. And, I was on a road trip with, some, some guys, and we got on the subject to talking about purpose and, say what, what, what is your deepest purpose in life? And, and, and what do you, what is it that you hope to accomplish in life? I said, oh, that's easy. That's easy. It's four words, same words I just told you. Dr. Wayne. Love God, love people. And, and they were a little perplexed. 'cause then I said, what about you? Like, I don't know. And it's like when there's a clarity, this is where I'm going. When there's a clarity of that calling, and perhaps that's on the broader scale.

[00:20:21]
 And then the, the next question is, okay, Lord, how is this gonna be manifested in various areas of, of wherever you are calling me, for example, for you, you know, different areas of non-profit for-profit, marketplace. Leadership, right? It's different areas except I think at the very foundational level, the base level. Let's get that part right. Let's get that part ironed out because then when we can have conversations with perhaps business leaders who also ascribe to these faith components, if they have some trouble understanding what that money is going to fund. In this case, you've identified it very well. You've said, Hey, you know, it funds these lives so that we love people with this equity, that they can live lives that are fruitful and that have purpose and that benefit them and their families and their loved ones, and society as a whole. And I think that, to me is refreshing because sometimes Wayne, not everybody has a very clear idea of where they're called in the moment. 

[00:21:32] MidTro
 Hey friend, it's your friend, Dr. Nate Salah, and I wanna personally invite you to something that's been on my heart for a long time. On October 3rd in St. Louis, we're gathering a room full of faith-driven leaders, entrepreneurs, professionals, lifelong learners at our inaugural G3 Summit. It's not just another business event, it's a sacred space where we lay down the pressure, the performance, the pursuit of empty success. We step into a calling that's aligned with God's best for us. I believe you were created to lead with purpose, to give from overflow, go love radically in your home, your business, and your community. That's what G3 is all about. Grow purposefully, give generously. Go love radically. If you've been longing for. Deeper meaning in your leadership. If you're ready to consecrate your influence to something eternal, and this summit was designed just for you, you can visit us at my G3summit.com. Reserve your spot today and I cannot wait to see you there. 

[00:22:52] Dr. Wayne Wilson
And they may have started with one, but it gets lost along the line, right? I mean, you, you. Take what you said a few minutes ago about just owning small business on a day-to-day basis, and now take that and have thousands of people's lives, who you're responsible for, and huge amounts, of, assets and equity that you're responsible for. And put it all line every day in, in the decision that you make change and impact all of that. And if you're not clear. On who, who and why. Then it gets real empty at some point. Right. It's, it's the, the common word in the great commission is love. That's right. Right. And, and so it's all, if you lose the sense of connection of who you're in it for and what you're in it for. You know, the whole phrase, it's lonely at the top. You, you ain't seeing nothing if you lose that connection. Yeah. 

[00:24:03] Dr. Nate Salah
And that connection, the simplicity of it, I love going back. Speaking of love, I love going back to First Corinthians, of course 13, four through eight. Just about everybody I've met has, has, knows a little bit of that. That Yeah. Set of verses that and said, oh yeah, I heard at a wedding, or it was in my vows. I heard someone say that recently. And you know, the, the interesting thing about that, you know, you and I work with leaders and, and, and we are, we too ourselves, are leaders. The, the word love in one Corinthians 13, four through eight, you can actually, interchange it with the word leader. And, and really identify because people say, well, love, what is that? It's so ambiguous. You know? I'm not sure. Is it a feeling? is it, is it an action? And so if you do that, you think about love. Love is leadership. It's a game changer because if you think, okay, leadership is patient, leadership is kind, leadership doesn't envy it doesn't boast, it's not proud. It doesn't dishonor others. It's not self-seeking. It's not easily angered. It, it holds no record of wrongs. It doesn't delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects. It always trusts, it always hopes, it, always perseveres. Hey, who doesn't want a leader? And they're midst. Who not only speaks it, but actually lives that through their behavior and their organization's behavior.

[00:25:30] Dr. Wayne Wilson
Yeah. Yep. So one Corinthians 13 puts it really succinctly, patience, kindness, and replace the word long suffering with vision. Just replace it with vision, right? That you, that the leader is, is patient in kind, and has vision for the future. For all of us. That's a worthy leader, Dr. Wayne. John Maxwell traded leadership with one word. You remember what it was? One word. Influence. Influence. That's it. Right? One word. Influence. It's just influence. So it's the, it's the, the privilege, the power, and the calling to influence other people. 

[00:26:21] Dr. Nate Salah
And it is a privilege and I think the more we look at it as if it as though it's a privilege. The more we take it, it more we address it in a way that back to your conversation, especially around your book, the pressure, pressure and purpose. When we look at the privilege of it, that pressure then becomes an extension, if you will, of of a privilege. I'm privileged to experience this pressure that leads me to achieving our purpose. That's a good thing. And why is that a good thing? In some ways Because pressure refines. 

[00:27:01] Dr. Wayne Wilson
Mm-hmm. Indeed. Absolutely. Right? Absolutely. Yeah. Sharpens makes clearer focuses in, in the, in the context of cold to diamonds, it even transforms. 

[00:27:23] Dr. Nate Salah
That's right. Pressure transform. So that transformation only has meaning and value when that diamond has value. You see? Mm-hmm. That diamond has to have importance. Mm-hmm. That purpose of that, that, that, that pressure and that transformation. Why? Because. Now I have something of utmost value through that pressure. Mm-hmm. And I have to recognize how to use that value. And so this whole conversation around it is really like, okay, these diamonds that are being created through the pressure, what are we gonna use 'em for?

[00:28:06] Dr. Wayne Wilson
Well, and, and where's the value come from? Yeah. Course value come from people. What is the value of a diamond? What is the true value of a diamond? 

[00:28:22] Dr. Nate Salah
Nothing in and of itself, nothing. It's, 

[00:28:24] Dr. Wayne Wilson
It's really hard rock. 

[00:28:25] Dr. Nate Salah
It's a rock. 

[00:28:27] Dr. Wayne Wilson
Where's the value come from? People give it value. 

[00:28:30] Dr. Nate Salah
That's right. Yeah. It's a clear rock. Doesn't really actually, if you think about it, it's not necessarily a pretty rock. It's just mostly, of course there's different shades if you're for the, for the diamond aficionados in the, in the community, but it's. There's not much to look at. It looks like a piece of glass. Yeah. 

[00:28:50] Dr. Wayne Wilson
Yeah. So would it be fair to say to your listeners that the value of your leadership is in those that you lead it? It's not, it's not in your balance sheet. Your balance sheet is there for purpose. It's a tool. It's, it's a, it's a health, it's a blood pressure monitor. It's a health monitor, but the true value comes from those that you serve. And that's customers, other stakeholders, other owners, and the people who make it happen every single day.

[00:29:26] Dr. Nate Salah
That's right. That's 

[00:29:27] Dr. Wayne Wilson
Right. 

[00:29:28] Dr. Nate Salah
That's a, that's, I'm glad we got to that place because that's, that's a critical junction in the conversation around how we assess our value as leaders by the lives 

[00:29:41] Dr. Wayne Wilson
Who are impacted by our decisions. Yeah. Every day. Yep. Yeah. How are the people in my organization enriched, empowered, and, and better, or based on the decisions that I make?

[00:30:02] Dr. Nate Salah
And that said, the practical application of that then is, let's get sober. Let's get lovingly sober. Mm-hmm. About the decisions. Upon us the weight of the decisions. It doesn't have to be a heavy burden simply, it simply must be something that we, we shepherd with, discernment. Mm-hmm. With care, and with a sense. Anticipation because really vision in and of itself, I believe we can agree to this has a connotation of a better future state. In other words. Mm-hmm. No one wants to go to a worst future state. Right. 

[00:30:47] Dr. Wayne Wilson
Right. 

[00:30:49] Dr. Nate Salah
That's, that's part of the essence of desirability and attractiveness of vision, is that somehow, some way, through a collective effort that a shared purpose of the future looks better, than the current context. 

[00:31:05] Dr. Wayne Wilson
Yeah. So, so let me, let me bring this back to where we were a minute ago, right? So bring the sobering thought back to this. These three things remain beyond everything else. Love. We already talked about. The other two have to do with a vision of a better future. You first have hope in it, and then you chase it. Faith, right? Faith is hope with legs on it. So the love already exists. You're doing it for other people and yourself, and the benefit of all, and then you got a better future in sight, and then you're chasing it. It just doesn't get any better than that. That's worth waking up to every day folks. That makes the pressure, purpose, 

[00:32:02] Dr. Nate Salah
And it perfects the diamonds in and through our work.

[00:32:06] Dr. Wayne Wilson
It makes the diamonds. It does make the diamonds. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. What, what if we encourage your leaders to think of themselves as diamond makers? 

[00:32:18] Dr. Nate Salah
That might just be the title of this episode, brother. All right then. Alright, then. Alright 

[00:32:22] Dr. Wayne Wilson
then. Right. They're diamond makers. They, they're co-creators of diamonds in the Mm-hmm. Right? Then what Jesus did, took the woman at the well, took the Samaritan, gave them hope, and then pointed them, patted 'em on the behind and say, go, go, go. Do it. Go be it. Go, go, go. Make that happen.

[00:32:52] Dr. Nate Salah
There's something very precious. Not to keep on the diamond theme, but there's something very precious about the construction of this conversation. because as we're illuminating the story, it's really a story, right? This is a story of life, life story in the day of a life of folks in business. It's, it's a story that we participate in and sometimes, as you know, and oftentimes that story can seem arduous and sometimes fruitless, and sometimes, as you had mentioned earlier, cloudy without a clear, understanding of meaning, of value, of purpose, and what our conversation today brings to light. Is that it doesn't have to be that way. 

[00:33:48] Dr. Nate Salah
It does not have to be that way. 

[00:33:51] Dr. Wayne Wilson
It does not have to be that way. That theme is running, that theme runs deep. I'm telling the story in the book of after a distinct call to what I was called to do and had it for 18 years and had built it. At 50, I burned completely out. 'cause I lost the call, lost the purpose in it. It was all about the what was on the day-to-day weeds, the survival of it in the day-to-day weeds. And it loses all its flavor. It loses all of its essence. Saltiness. Yeah. 

[00:34:20] Dr. Wayne Wilson
It loses all its saltiness when it happens, right? And then I had to find another calling. I had to find calling number two. 

[00:34:31] Dr. Nate Salah
And as long as you have the foundation, the foundation of God's call. Okay, Lord, how is the next chapter, the next season of this wonderful story you're writing in and through me to glorify you and your grander story? I've been heard, I've, I've heard us called a supporting, supporting cast members in God's grand story. Yeah. Yeah. How, how does it manifest my love for you and my man? Manifest my love for people? How does that happen wherever I am? Someone listening may be in a transitional phase of life.

[00:35:09] Dr. Wayne Wilson
Hey, I just saw, oh, I guarantee it. Absolutely guarantee it. Absolutely guarantee it. Well, let me, let me take you back to, to a, a, a dual purpose. Okay. My business is called Pivot Coaching and Consulting. Pivot came in my pivot. Pivot was my pivot at 50 from being called to pastoral care and counseling to a call to executive leadership coaching and and professional development within organizations. That call carried with a process. Pivot is also a process. Pause in the present. Take stock of the present. I internalize how does this fit with your values? How does this fit with who I called you to be? How does this fit with what's most important to you? Do you like what's going on around you? Don't like what's going on around you? Why the, what's your vision for the future? We've spent this podcast talking about that. Oh, now operationalize it. Put it into a strategy. Put it into a plan. Put, create a roadmap to make that future become a reality. Manifest it step by step. Track it, put a timeline and track it, make it, a rhythm, a cadence of behaviors, right? So pivot is also a process that I work folks through.

[00:36:28]
 The thing that people wanna skip over that, especially executive leaders, wanna skip over 'cause it's not in the NBA course, I guarantee you, is they don't wanna stop and take stock. They wanna pause. But I found calling number two alone, isolated in my cave, under my tree. When God spoke to me as clear as he spoke to Elijah and said, I'm not done with you yet. This is your next, go here. Do this for this purpose. Remember when God said that to Elijah? I'm not done with you. Yeah, look out there. There's a, you're not this, I don't need you. I got this. Your next is this. And you can only find that internally when you're listening. You, you can't find it in a state of panic. You can't find it in driving and pushing. You can't, you can't find it. You gotta hear God in still quiet moments within in yourself, and everybody wants to skip that. It's not productive. 

[00:37:45] Dr. Nate Salah
Time of all things. Time with God, be still. 

[00:37:53] Dr. Wayne Wilson
Be still and no that I am Lord, but that if someone's in a transition, it's not. It's not gonna whack you upside the head. You're gonna find it inside, remembering what, what made you tick, what, what, where God has brought you from and to, and why, and what passions God put inside of you for home and for what purpose. And all that's gonna come from some really soul-searching reflection within that leader.

[00:38:27] Dr. Nate Salah
Yeah. Soul searching. Reflection is something that we miss so often because we don't think it is productive or conducive. It is the elixir. It's, it's the, it's the breath of water that it gives us new life when we simply just allow God to speak in and through his word. Quiet moments as, as, as so many of us don't allow in our lives because lives are so busy, there's so many distractions and some, so many things competing for our attention. And to intentionally say this time, this moment, the space is held to consecrate, not to condemn for God's healing. To begin to manifest in me. That is a precious time that we all need. 

[00:39:26] Dr. Wayne Wilson
So let me, let me challenge your listeners. Can I challenge your listeners as a coach? Yes. All right. So friends, if you were the enemy and you knew that the creator of the universe had created human beings in their likeness, and it is in the still quiet moments of being still. In which human beings find their deepest connection with the creator of the universe. What would be your number one objective if you were the enemy? Facebook, LinkedIn, tv. CNN. Sp, ESPN. We're gonna distract the living daylights out of them so they can't hear from the greater universe anymore. Does that just not make sense? So clear, man. So get off by yourself and listen. Yes, pray, meditate, listen, ask for the next vision. Ask God I, we brought this company here. What do you wanna do with the next? Who do you wanna impact next? We've achieved this level of success. That's been great. I've got some financial gain from that. My people got some financial gain from that. What's next? And listen. 

[00:40:57] Dr. Nate Salah
Amen. Brother. I told you I was gonna preach.

[00:40:59] Dr. Wayne Wilson
I I couldn't help you. 

[00:41:00] Dr. Nate Salah
You couldn't help it. Hey, and that's all right. 'cause it was perfect timing. As we, as we round out our time together, there's there's one que one, one final question I have for you. Dr. Wayne, as we wrap up, and I want you to think about the end of the journey on this side of heaven for you, if you will, that, that great summit and you're at the top and you, and you see all of all of these diamonds have been transformed through God's use of you and your colleagues. It's one thing that you would like those diamonds to have said about. Wayne Wilson. They say it all the time. 

[00:41:45] Dr. Nate Salah
Let's hear it. 

[00:41:46] Dr. Wayne Wilson
I'm, I'm blessed and honored to hear it on a regular basis. The, the week that I Life, Schneider Fleet Solutions. I counted them 57 text messages. They all said the same thing. You gonna make me cry, Dr. Nap? You gonna make me cry? They all said the same thing. Thank you. Thank you. That's it. That's influence. It's, it's all about impact and influence, and you meet him on the other side of the curtain and it's just a love fest. It's just Amen, brother. Right? It's this deep sense of connection and appreciation and gratitude, which is the definition of love, by the way. Well, the evidence is there that you've. 

[00:42:42] Dr. Nate Salah
Clearly been on your way. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Wine. Thank you for being here, 

[00:42:47] Dr. Wayne Wilson
And thank you for sharing. Thanks. Yeah, thanks for this podcast. I appreciate you. So one of my missions in life is to dissolve. The border between secular and sacred, and you're doing that. And so thank you for doing, dissolving the border between Sacred and Secular. I appreciate that. 

[00:43:04] Dr. Nate Salah
A, Matt, we did it. Again, thank you so much for being a part of our program. We thank you and we couldn't do it without you. If you've been blessed by this show, we would just ask that you give us an unfiltered. Review and share with the world how God is speaking to you through A Call to Leadership. You can do it on Apple or any of the podcast platforms, A Call to Leadership, and we thank you again. God bless you.

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Dr. Nate Salah

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