Legacy and Leadership Episode 21 | Dr. Charles Smith, Jr. - Part 1

In this episode of Legacy and Leadership, David McKeen sits down with Dr. Charles Smith, President of the University of Mobile, for a powerful conversation on calling, courage, and what it really means to lead.

Dr. Smith shares his journey from a middle-class upbringing in Montgomery, Alabama, to serving in key leadership roles in theological education and ultimately stepping into his current role as university president. Along the way, he opens up about a surprising truth. He did not always see himself as a leader.

Together, David and Dr. Smith explore how leadership is often developed later than we expect and why insecurity and humility can actually shape healthy leaders. They also discuss how fear is not something to avoid, but something to move through. Dr. Smith offers a compelling perspective that leadership is not reserved for a select few, but is a calling for everyone, expressed in different ways across family, community, and career.

This episode is a timely encouragement for anyone who feels hesitant to step into leadership. If you have ever doubted your ability to lead, this conversation will challenge and inspire you to take the next faithful step.

This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation. Be sure to tune in for Part 2 coming soon.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Legacy and Leadership with David McKean. In my 20 plus years in the business world, I have noticed a common theme amongst all my clients. They're phenomenal leaders who are concerned about leaving a legacy in three main areas: community, family, and financial. So join me as we talk to proven leaders in their fields about their best practices regarding legacy and leadership. Welcome to Legacy and Leadership with David McKean. I am honored to have Dr. Charles Smith here today. Dr. Smith was born in Montgomery, Alabama and came to faith in Christ at a young age through the influence of his parents, Charles and Dottie Smith. Though his early ambitions were aimed at business, law, and politics, God redirected his path during college, a time marked by theological study for him, spiritual growth, and a growing conviction that God was calling him into the ministry. I look forward to getting into that. Following that call, Dr. Smith earned his Masters of Divinity from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and later completed his PhD in organizational leadership at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2020. Definitely going to ask you about that. Over the years, he has served in a variety of leadership roles in theological education, most recently as senior VP of uh for institutional relations at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Spurgeon College. So a mouthful there. It is a mouthful. That's a lot. During his tenure at Midwestern, Dr. Smith provided oversight for a broad range of institutional functions from advancement to enrollment, student life, communications. He also served as an assistant professor of Christian leadership teaching at the undergraduate level. During his time at Midwestern, the seminary experienced significant growth in enrollment and charitable giving, emerging as one of the fastest growing schools in North America. Wow, that's fantastic. So, yeah, absolutely. So on March 21st, 2024, almost two years ago, Dr. Smith was unanimously elected as the sixth president of the University of Mobile. And as president, he brings a clear vision for the university's future, one rooted in commitment to Christ-centered education and a desire to multiply kingdom leaders for the glory of God and the good of the world. So uh personally, Dr. Smith for having to read this. Thank you. Absolutely. Uh personally, Dr. Smith is married to Ashley, uh his high school sweetheart, and together they have three children, or excuse me, three daughters. Yeah. Uh Ellie, Annie, and and Susie. So uh welcome, Dr. Smith. We're glad to have you. Absolutely. Yeah. So that's quite a resume. You've been busy. Apologies for reading, yeah. No, no, no. That's quite a quite a resume. So I I'd love for for our audience to to really just begin to understand who you are and and kind of where you came from and and you know uh the impact leadership has had on you professionally um uh growing up. But but what was your life like growing up in Montgomery, Alabama?

SPEAKER_01 3:16

Yeah, that's a great question. I I bet it was like a lot of people's uh childhood in Mobile, you know. I loved it. You know, this it's a lot of my friends, you know, it's vogue to want to want to move away. Uh-huh. Uh and I just I love Montgomery. I continue to love Montgomery. Uh stable home, you know, very, very much just squarely middle class. Uh grew up in the church and um, yeah, I've just had a normal play baseball. Okay. Uh loved school, but what kind of wasn't a nerd yet. And I'm just kind of a normal kid. And uh we loved it. And and I tell you the joy of getting to come back to Alabama. You know, I moved away when I was 18 to Boston, and then Louisville, Kentucky, and then Kansas City. Oh my goodness. Yeah, since I was 18. So to get back, it has been it has been deeply uh just meaningful to us. And yeah, we loved it. So only two years ago when you took your current role, did you move back to Alabama? KC. Okay. You know, you mentioned some of those stats. It was the fastest growing school in the country. And wow. Um, you know, just felt like hey, we did not want to disrupt that. And uh the opportunity to come down here was um something that was really exciting to us and prayed through that and and haven't looked back. I mean, we we love KC, it's a wonderful place to live. Yep. There's no place like home. Sure. So we've enjoyed being back.

SPEAKER_00 4:37

Absolutely, absolutely. I I'd I'd love to understand when was perhaps the first time, if if you can think uh back a little bit, uh, that you saw yourself as a leader growing up.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

You know, I would say it was actually it was pretty late. Uh I was pretty and in some ways remained kind of introverted. Uh sports was my world, and um, you know, I wasn't God's gift of baseball, but I wasn't, I was just kind of in the middle of the pack and found really my identity there. But you know, looking back on those seasons, I don't think anyone would have looked at me and said, that's the leader of the team. Uh a lot of that was because I was I was often you know younger on the team or those things, but um, I look back and think leadership now, now reflecting, you know, here in middle age, dad was a civic leader and watching that. He would bring me along to things super intentional. Uh I can remember even leadership development things. He would bring me as an eight or ten-year-old.

SPEAKER_00 5:34

Really?

SPEAKER_01 5:35

And just to kind of observe and watch. And and so I I think that put leadership on my radar and kind of in my palate early on. Uh, but I certainly didn't see myself that way and and probably was insecure about not being a leader in a lot of ways. Um, you know, I would say it was really grad school. I know that sounds crazy, but um most most of the time, even if I was in a leadership role, I I was doing so begrudgingly in a way. Um and it was really grad school where I had a lot of people in my life saying, Hey, you you have some gifts in this area.

SPEAKER_00 6:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 6:11

And uh you kind of wake up and you know, at some point you're leaving, leaving something small, and you know, that that grows. And um, but I don't know that I set out to do it. And people are often surprised because I have a PhD in leadership. But the truth is I have a PhD in leadership because I was insecure. I I remain insecure. And I I think healthy leaders are insecure about their leadership. Yeah, you know, fascinating. Not uh not um handicapped by that, but they have an appropriate sense of humility and and I grow in these areas. And so the PhD for me was hey, I want to figure this out or begin to figure out what it looks like to be a good steward of God's call in my life, um, which of course includes ownership. So yeah, I I've I've loved that opportunity to get to do that. And um, but yeah, it was yeah, I think a lot of people look at that maybe senior leaders at some point, and since they were in kindergarten, they wanted to uh that just wasn't my story.

SPEAKER_00 7:05

Yeah. Yeah. That's I I love that. That that the that the leadership path doesn't have to be linear. It doesn't, it doesn't have to, you know, start when you're young to your point, right? But but I also want to really emphasize what you said in that in that your leadership really, if I may say, was was birthed in its infancy by those encouraging you and seeing leadership qualities in you. 100%. Right. And and so I think that's so important for us as leaders to call that out into those around us, right? And even as parents. Right. That's right.

SPEAKER_01 7:42

Yeah. I mean, if we're thinking biblically, and then we're Christians, if we're thinking biblically, something about being made in the image of God is that we're called to create and be good stewards and cultivate, you know, all those things. And and I I would translate those things into leadership. I think one of the ways we talk about that. So I think even as a parent, if we're thinking in godly ways, now leadership, look, there's a spectrum there. Yeah, but at the very least, it's with our God-given gifts, taking initiative for the glory of God into the world. It could be leading a Bible study, it could be speaking up for others, you know, all sorts of things, but there's this universal call that God's called us to lead. And so, yeah, I do think my dad was looking back very intentional to to plant that in the um the minds and hearts of his children.

SPEAKER_00 8:27

So yeah, yeah. So, so when when these people called that leadership out in you, um, was it scary for you to take those steps because you hadn't really thought of yourself in that way? Or was it natural or easy?

SPEAKER_01 8:41

Yeah. No, a hundred percent. In fact, my dissertation, you know, me, me and my mother are the only people that have read my dissertation, but but um, it is called Fear, Faith, and the Fatherhood of God. And it's about leadership. And and I wrote that because of my own fear and leadership. And again, I'm not not not sitting in a closet, you know, not trying to get out, but when you I'm convinced meaningful acts of leadership, not nerf leadership where it looks like we're being risky, but meaningful acts of leadership necessitate courage. I mean, they're by definition courageous acts. And so if they they require courage, that means the presence of fear is there. So absolutely. I I would argue most people either don't lead or lead in dysfunctional ways because of fear and anxiety. And uh not to nerd out on that, but that I believe that because that began in my own you know what it's like to step out from the pack a little bit and experience kind of the voice cracking and the sweaty pall. Well, what's happening is you're you're stepping out of your comfort zone, you're leading, you're taking initiative. Yep. And so a hundred percent that was true for me. And there were things that maybe at looking back, I was more naturally gifted at that didn't feel as scary. But you know, things like standing up and speaking in front of people, maybe just you know, you know, it just came from uh something I spoke at, and I still get nervous. I a hundred percent get nervous, and I I think I think the wisdom comes in knowing you you should probably always be nervous. Yeah. You have a sense of the stewardship that God's placed. Like you ought to, you ought to take that seriously. Right. So it's not a bad thing, but it is a normal thing.

SPEAKER_00 10:19

Yeah. And and you alluded to this, but I but I really want to want to flesh this out even more. What would you say to to leaders that that are watching this this podcast or listening to this podcast? What would you say to them who have not stepped out because of that fear and anxiety?

SPEAKER_01 10:38

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think I I think I'd want to begin with um the presupposition or just the understanding that you were called to lead. And I think in some of that's taught, and I've taught leadership, I'm young, but I've taught it for a long time, for undergraduate to graduate to doctoral students, and all of them on that first day, what I ask is, hey, tell me what comes to your mind when you think about the word leadership. And I'll just tell you, after a decade of doing that, the most common answer is kind of not me. That's that's what the the um energetic, charismatic person, the person with the microphone. Right. But biblically, again, it's no, that's what people made in the image of God do. Now it looks differently. It may look like you're a stay-at-home mom who's faithful with your children. Like that that's leadership, that's cultivation. Uh may look like you're CEO of something, everything in between, but I think starting with, hey, this is you. Like I want to get your attention and go, this is this is your calling. Right. Now let's talk about what that looks like in your sphere of influence. So God has putting us all in a particular place at a particular time. And we, if we're thinking biblically, would go, hey, well, what does that mean for what God's calling me to lead? And I think it takes a lot of shape. So I I would begin with, you know, theology and the typical convictions, right? And work backwards to, okay, now that we're there, if you buy that you're called to this, right, what does it look like for you to take the first step? Not not be Tony Robbins, uh, but that first step. And I think that's where it's fun as somebody working with developing leaders to be patient and joyful as you invite people to just take that's like a parent with a child, like you take the first step. To you, that's a small little baby step. To them, it's a life-altering right acceptance of a calling. Right. That's really fun. That's that to me, that's where the fun of leadership development comes in.

SPEAKER_00 12:26

Yeah. You you can probably quote the the um chapter and verse and book, but but thy word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path, right? And and and um that's to me what you're talking about. I mean, it it's not it doesn't say cue beam, right? Like, like, like headlight where you can see 75 miles down the road, a lamp usually just gives off enough light. Correct. And and that's exactly what you're talking about, yeah, right there with leadership. And and so ju so your encouragement to them is just take the next step and keep taking the next step as they feel left. That's a hundred percent.

SPEAKER_01 13:02

Yeah, that's people who know you, who know your gifts, yeah, who will challenge you, be patient with you. Yeah, I think what it looks like for me to be a little more faithful in my spirit.

SPEAKER_00 13:11

Yeah, yeah, I think that's a big part. Absolutely. And and I I I think that's so encouraging to me, and and I hope our audience really, really takes that to heart because you know, one of the reasons I've I felt called to do this is uh is I think, and and I don't want to get into a political discussion, but I think that our world as a whole is starving for good leadership.

SPEAKER_01 13:33

Yes, somebody step up and bring clarity. Yeah, that's right. That's 100% right. In fact, we just did, you know, I just came out of preview day. And uh I'm always I'm always interested to know what the audience responds to things you're saying, and and and that's not the goal of the talk, but it gives you a feel of where the room is. And and one of the things you get just a lot of parents amening when their prospective students are on our campus, is hey, we we are calling your children up and into leadership. Uh they may be as a nurse, it may be as an anesthesiologist, it may be as a worship leader, whatever it is, a CPA, but we are gonna call them to more than a career. And that the career is important, God bless us that. That's why we're here. Right. There's really more than that. And um, yeah, there's a void. There's just the world, again, not a political segment. The world has um lost its way in a lot of ways. And we sense that. It's not a on both sides of the aisle, you're gonna look around and go, okay, who's gonna lead here? He's gonna bring vision and clarity. And uh, what an opportunity and what a time to be alive uh as a leader and as a Christian leader.

SPEAKER_00 14:39

Yeah. That'll do it for part one of this episode. Please join us in a couple of weeks as we drop the second part of this episode. I promise you won't want to miss it.