By Carey Nieuwhof: Rick Warren opens up about the personal tragedy he’s experienced with the loss of his son, Matthew, the loss our culture has experienced and what he predicts will be a coming tsunami of grief as a result of everything people have been through.

Rick also explains how and why 2020 and 2021 have been the biggest and best years Saddleback has ever had and the opportunity the current moment presents to the church.

Note: Some of the details in this episode surrounding the death of Rick Warren’s son are deeply personal and listener discretion is advised with young audiences.

Welcome to Episode 409 of the podcast. Listen and access the show notes below or search for the Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and listen for free.

Plus, in this episode’s What I’m Thinking About segment, Carey talks about how you know when it’s time to leave.

Guest Links

Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Website

Episode Links

Pro Media Fire

Are you looking to grow your online campus?

You have two choices in 2021 when it comes to digital:

You or a team member can work day and night to keep up with social media strategy that constantly changes.
You can hire Pro Media Fire, and get an entire team of experts that keep up with the trends to help you grow online.

The choice is yours—bury yourself in social media work, or hire an entire team to help your online campus thrive.

With Pro Media Fire, you save time and grow online, while your digital team does all the work.

Complete social media management and digital growth is just a few clicks away.

As a listener of our podcast, you receive 10% off at promediafire.com/carey.

Barna Cities – with Barna Group and Gloo

I know many church leaders, like you, are navigating massive shifts in culture and technology. It’s exhausting, but there’s hope.

Our friends at Barna and Gloo have been working hard to support pastors and church leaders like you.

Last year, Barna and Gloo launched an effort to equip the Church through the “State of the Church” research and toolkits. Over 25,000 churches benefited.

This year, Barna and Gloo are launching Barna Cities. It’s a year-long journey, and it’s uniquely local. With Barna Cities, you will have access to new local research from Barna, monthly forums and the City Toolkit which includes a full membership to Barna Access Plus with on-demand reports, insights and tools.

And, you’ll get GlooConnect—cooperative, always on ads that run across your city and make it easier for more people to discover your church and programs.

Barna and Gloo want you to know and move every person you serve—to connect people with your church and program that provides help and transformation.

Learn more at BarnaCities.com.

Conversation Links

Books by Rick Warren

The ChurchPulse Weekly Podcast

A Grief Observed by C. S. Lewis

Choose Joy by Kay Warren

Pastors.com

7 Signs It’s Time to Leave by Carey Nieuwhof

Carey’s Daily Email

*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Insights From Rick

1. In America, Christians no longer get their primary identity from either Jesus or the church but, rather, through politics

The politicization of American Christians is a terrible problem. Rick points out, “If you know anything about church history, you know that every time the church has gotten in bed with government, it got pregnant. And it was a bad situation.”

Rick cautions pastors and churches against taking a partisan stance as a church. Just don’t do it.

2. If you’re afraid to talk about race in your church, start building trust with your congregation first

So many pastors have avoided the conversation about racism in America out of fear of the backlash that they will receive from the members of their church. It’s understandable, but Rick recommends you start by building trust with your people. Everything in leadership is built on trust, and if you have enough trust with those people, they will follow you into difficult spaces, even where they might initially disagree.

Once you build that trust, Rick recommends you start asking minorities to regularly share their stories of racism with your people.

3. Grief will be a huge door to evangelism over the next few years

Rick is convinced that we’re going to go through a tsunami of grief over the next couple of years.

Many people have lost many things—loved ones, the prom, their graduation, the birth of their first grandchild and many even missed important funerals. There’s so many things that people have lost that, when it finally catches up and they realize what they’ve lost, there will be a lot of grief.

This grief is going to be a front door for evangelism in the next few years, because so many people are dealing with this. As a pastor, you need to find a way to prepare your church to reach the grieving people around them.

Quotes from Episode 409

There is no success without growth. There is no growth without change. There is no change without loss. And there is no loss without pain. @RickWarrenClick To Tweet

Every time the church has gotten in bed with government, it got pregnant. And it was a bad situation. @RickWarrenClick To Tweet

Racism is a discipleship issue. Financial overspending is a discipleship issue. Political stereotyping bias is a discipleship issue. @RickWarrenClick To Tweet

In God’s garden of grace, even broken trees bear fruit. @RickWarrenClick To Tweet

Sometimes getting up and putting one foot in front of the other is a successful day for a pastor. @RickWarrenClick To Tweet

Ministry is received not achieved. @RickWarrenClick To Tweet

Before you can give people the truth, you’ve got to show them that you love them. @RickWarrenClick To Tweet

All leadership is built on trust. If people don’t trust you, they’re not going to follow you. @RickWarrenClick To Tweet

You don’t change people by laws. There’s no law that’s going to turn a bigot, a racist into a lover. @RickWarrenClick To Tweet

Many Christians started putting their faith in government to change society rather than the church. @RickWarrenClick To Tweet

You refill your cup by connecting with people you love. @RickWarrenClick To Tweet

You need to start treating yourself the way God does. @RickWarrenClick To Tweet

Routine develops resilience, and predictability creates stability. @RickWarrenClick To Tweet

The church has survived every dictator, every war, every pandemic. @RickWarrenClick To Tweet

We have to really remember that God has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that we are to be peacemakers. @RickWarrenClick To Tweet

A passionless leader is an ineffective leader.Click To Tweet

Read or Download the Transcript for Episode 409

Looking for a key quote? More of a reader?

Read or download a free PDF transcript of this episode here.

Watch Back Episodes of The Podcast on YouTube

Select episodes of this podcast are now on YouTube. Our YouTube Channel gives you a chance to watch some episodes, not just listen.

DIDN’T SEE IT COMING WILL HELP YOU SOLVE THE PROBLEMS MOST LEADERS MISS

If you want practical help overcoming some of the biggest challenges leaders face, my book Didn’t See It Coming: Overcoming the 7 Greatest Challenges That Nobody Expects and Everyone Experiences tackles the seven core issues that take people out: cynicism, compromise, disconnectedness, irrelevance, pride, burnout, and the emptiness of success and provides strategies on how to combat each.

I wrote the book because no 18 year old sets out to be cynical, jaded and disconnected by age 35. Yet it happens all the time.

The good news is, it doesn’t have to be that way.

Here’s what top leaders are saying about Didn’t See It Coming:

“Seriously, this may be the most important book you read this year.” Jud Wilhite, Lead Pastor, Central Church

“Powerful, personal, and highly readable. ” Brian Houston, Global Senior Pastor, Hillsong

“Whatever challenge you’re facing, whatever obstacle you’re hoping to overcome, whatever future you dream or imagine, there is something powerful for you here.” Andy Stanley, Founder, North Point Ministries

“Uncommonly perceptive and generous…You have to read this book.” Ann Voskamp, NYT bestselling author

“Masterful.” Reggie Joiner, CEO Orange

“Deep biblical insight, straightforward truth, and practical wisdom to help you grow.” Craig Groeschel, Pastor and NYT bestselling author

“This book is sure to help you.” Daniel H. Pink, NYT bestselling author

Over the years, one of the things I’ve enjoyed most about being a public speaker is having opportunities to hang out with Carey…It’s not a matter of if you’ll run into these challenges; it’s a matter of when. Be prepared by spending a little time with a leader who has already been there.” Jon Acuff, NYT best-selling author

“Nieuwhof’s book provides expert guidance…with an accuracy that pierces the heart.” Nancy Duarte, CEO Duarte Inc.

“A refreshingly transparent guide for all leaders in a wide variety of industries.” Bryan Miles, Co-Founder and CEO, BELAY

You can learn more and get your copy of Didn’t See It Coming here.

SUBSCRIBED YET?

Subscribe for free and never miss out on wisdom from world-class leaders like Brian Houston, Andy Stanley, Craig Groeschel, Nancy Duarte, Henry Cloud, Patrick Lencioni, Francis Chan, Ann Voskamp, Erwin McManus and many others.

Subscribe using your favorite podcast app via

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Google Play

Stitcher

TuneIn

Spread the Word. Leave a Rating and Review

Hopefully, this episode has helped you lead like never before. That’s my goal. If you appreciated it, could you share the love?

The best way to do that is to rate the podcast on Apple Podcasts and leave us a brief review! You can do the same on Stitcher and on TuneIn as well.

Your ratings and reviews help us place the podcast in front of new leaders and listeners. Your feedback also lets me know how I can better serve you.

Thank you for being so awesome.

Next Episode: John Ramstead

John Ramstead shares leadership skills drawn from flight school and from the cockpit of F-14A Tomcat fighter jet and shares principles that apply to all crisis leadership. After suffering three life-altering injuries, John also talks about how to be resilient in the face of suffering and setbacks.

Subscribe for free now so you won’t miss Episode 410.

The post CNLP 409: Rick Warren Opens Up About the Coming Tsunami of Grief, Handling Personal Tragedy, and How Saddleback Grew During the Pandemic appeared first on CareyNieuwhof.com.

Source: CNLP 409: Rick Warren Opens Up About the Coming Tsunami of Grief, Handling Personal Tragedy, and How Saddleback Grew During the Pandemic

The post CNLP 409: Rick Warren Opens Up About the Coming Tsunami of Grief, Handling Personal Tragedy, and How Saddleback Grew During the Pandemic appeared first on Passion for Planting.

By Carey Nieuwhof: Harris III traveled the world as a teenage illusionist, making a million dollars by age 21 and losing it all at age 22. His growing cynicism almost took him down, but around age 30, he learned to recapture wonder.

He explains how wonder can not only recapture your personal hope (and faith), but how it’s an essential ingredient to leadership and crafting a story that rallies people.

Welcome to Episode 387 of the podcast. Listen and access the show notes below or search for the Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and listen for free.

Plus, in this episode’s What I’m Thinking About segment, Carey talks about how you can cultivate creativity.

Guest Links

 Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Website

Episode Links

Dwell App

Dwell is an audio Bible app with a simple mission: To help you get in the Word and stay in the Word! They have loads of inspiring voices, Bible translations, and original background music.

Some of Dwell App’s features include:

Listening Plans — Start a daily habit of engaging with God through one of Dwell’s many Bible listening plans.
Playlists — Dwell has tons of Scripture playlists, like ones based on mood.
Dwell Mode — Use Dwell mode to meditate, memorize and pray while listening to Scripture.
And, brand new, a sleep timer — You and your family can fall asleep to your favorite books and stories of the Bible without losing your spot or draining your battery!

Dwell App makes a great gift, so skip the wrapping and bless someone with the gift of Dwell this holiday season.

Get Dwell today by going to dwellapp.io/carey and get 20% off an annual or lifetime subscription.

Ministry Boost

My friends at Ministry Boost know you want your staff to be effective leaders, especially in leading their volunteers. The problem is, so much has changed, which makes staff feel stuck and discouraged.

Ministry Boost believes that church leaders should rethink our approach to leading volunteers in light of new opportunities online, volunteers who aren’t ready to serve, and the different needs for what ministry looks like currently.

They know what it’s like because they lead in local church ministry just like you, which is why they’re giving you free access to their brand new course, Volunteer Reboot. Volunteer Reboot includes 6 sessions on how to reboot your approach to volunteers so your ministry can thrive now.

Volunteer Reboot is free for listeners of this podcast, and you can get access at ministryboost.org/carey.

CONVERSATION LINKS

The Wonder Switch by Harris III

Story Gatherings

Istoria

Didn’t See It Coming by Carey Nieuwhof

5 Simple Changes That Can Make You a Better Thinker in the Next 7 Days by Carey Nieuwhof

Win Carey’s Leadership Bundle Giveaway!

Text CAREY to 33777 to join more than 78,000 subscribers to our leadership content

*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

INSIGHTS FROM HARRIS

1. The rules of persuasion and illusion are universal

So, what actually is magic and illusion? And, what makes it work? According to Harris, there are a set of tactics and strategies that magicians use to persuade their audiences into amazement. Those same tactics can also be used by speakers, salespeople, marketers and pastors.

2. The more you know, the more you see, the more cynical you become

Many illusionists (and leaders in general) can become cynical because they “see how the magic is made,” and lose the ability to wonder or imagine for themselves. Knowledge and cynicism usually come hand-in-hand, and as a leader you need to protect yourself from it.

3. When telling stories, focus on connection not conversion

So many leaders (especially pastors) are looking to communicate a point, or get a conversion, when they tell a story to an audience. Harris has learned that a story is much more effective when you aim for connection with a story rather than conversion.

Quotes from Episode 387

A story’s greatest power is not in its ability to convert, it’s in its ability to connect. @HarrisIII

Click to Tweet

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Leadership is simply inviting someone into a story. @HarrisIII

Click to Tweet

END .ss-ctt-wrapper

We came into the world with the wonder switch turned on, so wonder is our natural state of being. @HarrisIII

Click to Tweet

END .ss-ctt-wrapper

Science links creativity and innovation to curiosity. @HarrisIII

Click to Tweet

END .ss-ctt-wrapper

Worry and anxiety is a misuse of imagination. @HarrisIII

Click to Tweet

END .ss-ctt-wrapper

Wonder is connected to innovation because wonder gives you permission to believe in that new story. @HarrisIII

Click to Tweet

END .ss-ctt-wrapper

Those of us who are in leadership are in the power of persuasion. @cnieuwhof

Click to Tweet

END .ss-ctt-wrapper

Magic tricks work so easily because human beings think that the truth is equal to what our senses perceive. @HarrisIII

Click to Tweet

END .ss-ctt-wrapper

Facts that are absent of vulnerability, absent of illustration, absent of empathy, lessen the impact of all those facts. @HarrisIII

Click to Tweet

END .ss-ctt-wrapper

The secret to being a great magician is the same thing that makes you a great communicator on stage; your ability to tell a story. @HarrisIII

Click to Tweet

END .ss-ctt-wrapper

Smart phones have psychologically reconditioned an entire generation now to feel really uncomfortable with mystery, to the point where wonder feels disruptive. @HarrisIII

Click to Tweet

END .ss-ctt-wrapper

To stimulate creativity, limit meetings and email. @cnieuwhof

Click to Tweet

END .ss-ctt-wrapper

To stimulate creativity, schedule thinking and creative time. @cnieuwhof

Click to Tweet

END .ss-ctt-wrapper

Better thinking leads to better leadership. @cnieuwhof

Click to Tweet

END .ss-ctt-wrapper

Read or Download the Transcript for Episode 387

Looking for a key quote? More of a reader?

Read or download a free PDF transcript of this episode here.

Watch Back Episodes of The Podcast on YouTube

Select episodes of this podcast are now on YouTube. Our YouTube Channel gives you a chance to watch some episodes, not just listen.

Want To Get Ahead In 2021? 5 Skills You’ll Need.

What if 2021 could be a year of unprecedented growth for you and your church?

I know, that sounds crazy, but like most things, it’s crazy until it’s not.

2021 can be a great year for you and your team, and I’d love to help you make it happen.

That’s why I created the 2021 Church Leader Toolkit.

Inside, I cover:

How To Produce Content That Actually Gets Read & Watched
5 Keys To Better Digital Preaching
How To Keep You And Your Team Out Of Burnout
7 Strategies To Deepen Digital Engagement
3 Key Pivots For Every Organization In 2021

I’ll be releasing 5 parts of the toolkit throughout December. And it’s free.

You can get access and share these skills with your team here!

SUBSCRIBED YET?

Subscribe for free and never miss out on wisdom from world-class leaders like Brian Houston, Andy Stanley, Craig Groeschel, Nancy Duarte, Henry Cloud, Patrick Lencioni, Francis Chan, Ann Voskamp, Erwin McManus and many others.

Subscribe using your favorite podcast app via

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Google Play

Stitcher

TuneIn

Spread the Word. Leave a Rating and Review

Hopefully, this episode has helped you lead like never before. That’s my goal. If you appreciated it, could you share the love?

The best way to do that is to rate the podcast on Apple Podcasts and leave us a brief review! You can do the same on Stitcher and on TuneIn as well.

Your ratings and reviews help us place the podcast in front of new leaders and listeners. Your feedback also lets me know how I can better serve you.

Thank you for being so awesome.

Next Episode: Alli Worthington

Alli Worthington coached business leaders and ministry leaders through the crisis of 2020. She shares the mindset and actions the leaders who made progress in 2020 adopted and the mindset and action those who floundered embraced. She also talks about why you can have too many cheerleaders around you, and how to overcome negative thinking.

Subscribe for free now so you won’t miss Episode 388.

The post CNLP 387: Harris III on How to Recover from Cynicism, Recapturing Wonder as a Leader and the Power of Story appeared first on CareyNieuwhof.com.

Source: CNLP 387: Harris III on How to Recover from Cynicism, Recapturing Wonder as a Leader and the Power of Story

The post CNLP 387: Harris III on How to Recover from Cynicism, Recapturing Wonder as a Leader and the Power of Story appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Carey Nieuwhof:

“You have one body, and your leadership lives in it.” Jo Saxton had a lot to overcome from her childhood, and it caused her to become a driven leader in her thirties. Eventually, her drivenness led her into a burnout so deep she ended up in the hospital.

Jo not only recovered but figured out how to accomplish more by doing less. She explains how that happened and how to reduce the level of fear and anxiety your team experiences.

Welcome to Episode 354 of the podcast. Listen and access the show notes below or search for the Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and listen for free.

Plus, in this episode’s What I’m Thinking About segment, Carey talks about the importance of sleep, why he prioritizes it, and offers some hacks on how to sleep better.

Guest Links

Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Website

Episode Links

Gloo

As we all know, COVID-19 disrupted how people relate with one another, and in many ways accelerated the Church’s need to engage with people online. But as we all know, that complicates things. Many leaders have lost visibility into who’s engaging with their church and how they can serve them.

Insights+, from our friends at Gloo, removes the confusion, to bridge the digital gap and restore connection between you and your people. You’ll be able to see who’s viewing your website, know if they’re members or visitors, see where they are locally or nationwide, and then re-engage them with next steps. Gain clarity on your online audiences so you can take action and reach the right people with the right message, online or in-person.

Learn more about Insights+ at glooinsights.com/carey

The Unstuck Group

Are you feeling overwhelmed by the rapid changes and decisions that need to be made right now as a ministry leader? My team at Connexus just wrapped up another strategic planning session with Tony Morgan at The Unstuck Group to clarify where we’re going in this season and how we’ll get there. I can’t recommend their coaching enough. We’ve used them again and again because their practical, proven approach actually works.

If you want to get a taste, The Unstuck Group is hosting an exclusive 1-Day Masterclass on July 30th on key shifts churches need to make because of the Coronavirus. It’s $99, and you’ll walk away with action steps and clarity around what needs to change to thrive in the post-pandemic world. My listeners get free access to Lesson One from the Masterclass Guidebook.

Download your copy and learn more at theunstuckgroup.com/carey

CONVERSATION LINKS

More Than Enchanting by Jo Saxton

The Dream of You by Jo Saxton

Ready to Rise by Jo Saxton

Sleep by Nick Littlehales

AutoSleep app

Text CAREY 33777 to join more than 70,000 subscribers to our leadership content

6 Current Productivity Experiments That are Paying Off (+ 1 Fail) by Carey Nieuwhof

3 INSIGHTS FROM JO

1. Who were you before anyone told you who you were supposed to be

When Jo was growing up, she was told that since she was a Nigerian girl in 1970’s London, she would have to work twice as hard as everyone else just to be equal. She had been dehumanized by society away from her potential. This didn’t go away as she got older.

People told her that she “should” be quieter, or that she “should” go find a good man and do ministry that way, or that she “should” just let other people handle certain areas of ministry. Jo has learned that you can’t let what other people think you “should” be determine who you become. Stay true to how God has gifted you, no matter what other people think.

2. You have one body, and your leadership lives in it

Your body doesn’t lie. Jo and Carey have both learned this the hard way as they each went through their own seasons of burnout. When Jo was burning out, she saw how badly the people in her church needed her, so she kept working more hours. Eventually through insomnia and anxiety attacks, her body began telling her to stop, and eventually, it forced her to stop by putting her in urgent care.

Carey has a similar story with burnout when he didn’t listen to his body’s warnings. Have you? As a leader, the demand on your time and energy is immense. Add on being a great parent and spouse, friend or sibling, and it would be easy to sacrifice sleep, eating healthy, or exercise for the sake of work. Don’t. If you don’t put serious effort into taking care of your body, it will quit taking care of you.

3. It takes a village to make a leader

When you look deep into the stories of the greatest leaders in history, whether it’s Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, or other highly-influential leaders, you see that there was a movement of people surrounding them, making them who they were. Jo has also seen this in her own life.

Jo comes from a very communal culture that is different from the modern West. This communal mindset has taught her that not only does it take a village to raise a child, but it takes a village to raise a leader. You have probably seen this in your own life and leadership. So today, find a leader whose corner you can step into, and do it.

Quotes from Episode 354

You have one body, and your leadership lives in it. @josaxtonClick To Tweet

Who were you before anyone told you who you were supposed to be? @josaxtonClick To Tweet

There is a healing even in leading in the way you’re wired. @josaxtonClick To Tweet

I had built my entire life on being twice as good to be equal. @josaxtonClick To Tweet

I was fighting to be equal. Now I know I’m equal, and I don’t have to. @josaxtonClick To Tweet

When you’re dehumanized, you get detached from your potential. @josaxtonClick To Tweet

Leaders, it’s time to know you’re enough. You’re already good enough. And if you know that knowing that truth would change you in some way, then it’s time to let it change you. @josaxtonClick To Tweet

We don’t burn out because we want to. We burn out because of the other things that are driving us. @josaxtonClick To Tweet

You may have great ideas and be a wonderful businessman or a woman, a wonderful innovator, a great creative, but if your body’s out, you’re out. @josaxtonClick To Tweet

I decided where my intensity would go, and rather than my intensity going into endless activity, it would go towards my well-being. @josaxtonClick To Tweet

One of the big challenges in times when everything’s shaken is, ‘What in our expectations can stay the same and what has to change?’ @josaxtonClick To Tweet

A leader without cultural competency is a leader with an interesting deadline. @josaxtonClick To Tweet

It’s just really vital that as leaders, we are culturally cognizant, because not everybody experiences the world in the same way that we do. @josaxtonClick To Tweet

We need people who help us get roots and people who give us wings. @josaxtonClick To Tweet

I would ask every leader to consider, ‘Who’s your village?’ @josaxtonClick To Tweet

The better you sleep, the higher your productivity. @cnieuwhofClick To Tweet

A rested you is a better, kinder and more productive you. @cnieuwhofClick To Tweet

Read or Download the Transcript for Episode 354

Looking for a key quote? More of a reader?

Read or download a free PDF transcript of this episode here.

Watch Back Episodes of The Podcast on YouTube

Select episodes of this podcast are now on YouTube. Our new YouTube Channel gives you a chance to watch some episodes, not just listen. We’ll add select episodes to YouTube as time goes on.

DIDN’T SEE IT COMING WILL HELP YOU SOLVE THE PROBLEMS MOST LEADERS MISS

If you want practical help overcoming some of the biggest challenges leaders face, my book Didn’t See It Coming: Overcoming the 7 Greatest Challenges That Nobody Expects and Everyone Experiences tackles the seven core issues that take people out: cynicism, compromise, disconnectedness, irrelevance, pride, burnout, and the emptiness of success and provides strategies on how to combat each.

I wrote the book because no 18 year old sets out to be cynical, jaded and disconnected by age 35. Yet it happens all the time.

The good news is, it doesn’t have to be that way.

Here’s what top leaders are saying about Didn’t See It Coming:

“Seriously, this may be the most important book you read this year.” Jud Wilhite, Lead Pastor, Central Church

“Powerful, personal, and highly readable. ” Brian Houston, Global Senior Pastor, Hillsong

“Whatever challenge you’re facing, whatever obstacle you’re hoping to overcome, whatever future you dream or imagine, there is something powerful for you here.” Andy Stanley, Founder, North Point Ministries

“Uncommonly perceptive and generous…You have to read this book.” Ann Voskamp, NYT bestselling author

“Masterful.” Reggie Joiner, CEO Orange

“Deep biblical insight, straightforward truth, and practical wisdom to help you grow.” Craig Groeschel, Pastor and NYT bestselling author

“This book is sure to help you.” Daniel H. Pink, NYT bestselling author

Over the years, one of the things I’ve enjoyed most about being a public speaker is having opportunities to hang out with Carey…It’s not a matter of if you’ll run into these challenges; it’s a matter of when. Be prepared by spending a little time with a leader who has already been there.” Jon Acuff, NYT best-selling author

“Nieuwhof’s book provides expert guidance…with an accuracy that pierces the heart.” Nancy Duarte, CEO Duarte Inc.

“A refreshingly transparent guide for all leaders in a wide variety of industries.” Bryan Miles, Co-Founder and CEO, BELAY

You can learn more and get your copy of Didn’t See It Coming here.

Subscribed Yet? 

Subscribe for free and never miss out on wisdom from world-class leaders like Brian Houston, Andy Stanley, Craig Groeschel, Nancy Duarte, Henry Cloud, Patrick Lencioni, Francis Chan, Ann Voskamp, Erwin McManus and many others.

Subscribe using your favorite podcast app via

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Google Play

Stitcher

TuneIn

Spread the Word. Leave a Rating and Review

Hopefully, this episode has helped you lead like never before. That’s my goal. If you appreciated it, could you share the love?

The best way to do that is to rate the podcast on Apple Podcasts and leave us a brief review! You can do the same on Stitcher and on TuneIn as well.

Your ratings and reviews help us place the podcast in front of new leaders and listeners. Your feedback also lets me know how I can better serve you.

Thank you for being so awesome.

Next Episode: John Eldredge

When John Eldredge’s Wild at Heart came out 20 years ago, it struck a chord that continues to reverberate decades later about the message men and women most need to hear. John talks about his own unsustainable pace, what the internet is doing to our souls, and how to live your life at a pace your soul can sustain.

Subscribe for free now so you won’t miss Episode 355.

The post CNLP 354: Jo Saxton on How Leaders Fall Into Burnout, How to Come Back from It and on How to Reduce Anxiety and Stress on Your Team appeared first on CareyNieuwhof.com.

Source: CNLP 354: Jo Saxton on How Leaders Fall Into Burnout, How to Come Back from It and on How to Reduce Anxiety and Stress on Your Team

The post CNLP 354: Jo Saxton on How Leaders Fall Into Burnout, How to Come Back from It and on How to Reduce Anxiety and Stress on Your Team appeared first on Passion for Planting.

By: Carey Nieuwhof

Let me guess. You feel like you really need to de-stress.

2020 has been unreal, and almost unbelievably trying—far different than any year you’ve led through before.

Every leader I talk to is tired. Well, more than just tired. Stressed. Deeply stressed.

And kind of exhausted.

There’s a fatigue that comes with crisis that’s a little hard to describe.

The adrenaline that got you through the first month gave way to the sustained drone of decision after decision, assault after assault, and disappointment after disappointment.

So you’ve lived for your summer break. I get it.

Everybody has.

There’s a fatigue that comes with crisis that’s a little hard to describe.Click To Tweet

Now the bad news. And as tough as it is to hear, your time off this summer probably won’t be enough to refuel you or even fully destress you.

Yeah, I know.

In fact, if you look back on your leadership, you probably already know that you rarely if ever completely destress on your time off. If you’re not sure about that, just ask your spouse or kids. They’ll tell you what it’s like to vacation with you.

And even if you get a few fleeting glimpses of peace at some point in your weeks off, they usually evaporate the moment you head back to work. It’s like two weeks of progress get erased within minutes of heading back to work.

So two questions:

First, “why?”

And second, “what should you do?”

Let’s tackle each in turn.

Why Doesn’t Time Off ‘Work’?

1. Time Off Won’t Heal You When Your Problem Is How You Spend Your Time On

The problem with most leaders is not how we spend our time off. It’s how we spend our time on.

I learned the lesson of time off that doesn’t refuel you the hard way. The worst summer of my life happened back in 2006.

Personally, after 11 years in leadership, I was burning out. I suspected burnout but I thought I could stop it with a vacation, because, you know, I’m strong like that and only weak people burn out. (Yes I know, but tell that to young me who didn’t listen well.)

I took three weeks off that July. I was convinced I would heal and everything would be back to normal by August 1st.

What scared me to death that year is that instead of getting better during my vacation, I got worse.

I moved into a deep slide and cratered out in August…a burnout deep enough that it took me months to get out of and then a few years to finally shake.

You know what I learned in that season (along with about 1 million other lessons)?

How I spent my time off wasn’t the solution, because how I spend my time off wasn’t my problem.

Your time off can’t save you if the problem is how you spend your time on.

Your time off can’t save you if the problem is how you spend your time on.Click To Tweet

The problem for most exhausted and depleted leaders isn’t how you spend your time off, it’s how you spend your time on.

Back in 2006, my crisis was personal. I was living at an unstainable pace. As the church I led grew, my formula was more people equals more hours. And that’s fundamentally unsustainable.

Today, the crisis is global and we’re all going through it. If the formula is more crisis equals more hours, we’re all doomed as leaders.  Sure, the initial stages of a crisis require long hours and hard decisions. But when you head into a prolonged crisis, well, you need a new strategy.

Which takes us back to this summer: when you’re exhausted, how you spend your time off isn’t the solution. How you spend your time on is.

The initial stages of a crisis require long hours and hard decisions. But when you head into a prolonged crisis, well, you need a new strategy.Click To Tweet

2. This is Why Sabbaticals and Leaves Generally Don’t Solve Burnout

You might be thinking, Exactly, Carey—which is why I need a sabbatical or leave of some kind. 

Well, maybe. But probably not.

For years I’ve puzzled over why so many sabbaticals and other forms of leave generally don’t solve burnout.

I can’t tell you the number of leaders I’ve known on the verge of burnout who have taken a sabbatical to deal with their stress or fatigue, get better, and then come back only to feel as bad or worse within months of their return. And then often, they leave—for good.

Although I’ve never taken a Sabbatical or extended leave, I think they can be great when they have a defined purpose and you’re not running into them or back out of them into a frantically unsustainable life.

A Sabbatical isn’t the solution for an unsustainable pace. A sustainable pace is the solution for an unsustainable pace.

When the way you’re living and leading is broken, all the time in the world off won’t fix it.

When the way you’re living and leading is broken, all the time in the world off won’t fix it. Click To Tweet

So…What Will Help?

If the problem is how you spend your time on, here are a few things that can help.

First, when you’re off, take some time to take stock of what happened.

You have been through so much and my guess is you’ve hardly stopped to process it.

I found myself unusually tired a few weeks ago. There was nothing ‘wrong’ with my schedule. I’d taken a full weekend off,  and my day wasn’t jammed full with meetings.

I actually had writing time scheduled in my calendar, which is something I love, and it was designed to help me finish writing a new course on leading a better team we’re launching in a few months.

But I was struggling to get motivated. I was far more tired than I should be.

When I wondered what was going on, I realized that although I love writing and producing online courses for leaders, I was writing my fourth course in four months, something I’d never done before.

That, on top of all the crisis leadership all of us have been through left me feeling, well, not myself.

In the end, the course production and filming went really well, but the lesson wasn’t lost.

What’s the best thing to do about that? Well, name it, surrender it and make a note to file for the future you that writing and producing four courses in four months is super taxing.

Until you understand why you’re tired, it’s hard to figure out how not to get that tired.

So what’s making you tired?

If your answer is everything, take a little more time to break it down. You’ll likely discover some things weigh more heavily than others.

Until you understand why you’re tired, it’s hard to figure out how not to get that tired.Click To Tweet

Finally, grieve your losses. A mentor once told me that ministry is a series of ungrieved losses. Oh man, is he right.

When he shared that with me I realized how many losses I’d experienced that I never grieved (as small as someone leaving your church, which isn’t that small).

Ministry is a series of ungrieved losses. So is life.

Do you know how much loss you’ve experienced since March?

Take some time to pray through them, grieve through them, and maybe even sit down with a good friend or therapist to process it all.

You’ll be glad you did.

Ministry is a series of ungrieved losses. So is life. Click To Tweet

With all that processed during the relative quiet of summer, how do you avoid being eaten alive heading back into leadership?

While I have a deep and robust strategy that’s helped me deal with everything life and leadership have thrown at me for years now, here are three things that can help right now.

1. Make Some Categorical Decisions

Categorical decision making is a superpower for leaders who have too much to do, which these days is most leaders.

By default, you make decisions one by one in leadership…as they come at you or need to be made.

One of the best ways to simplify decision making is to think in categories.

For example, when the COVID crisis hit, I had a lot of internal decisions to make as a leader (things my organization needed to do to survive), and soon I was faced with a bunch of requests for podcast interviews, webinar appearances, online events and even to join staff meetings virtually.

At first, my team and I looked at each request individually, but as they piled up (often a half dozen requests a day), we moved to categorical decision making. I decided to politely decline all podcast interviews, virtual events, webinars, online events of staff meetings.

Done, decision made.

We made a couple of exceptions, but not many.

The result? My team had clarity. I had clarity. And people understood.

Plus, I had time to work on some big projects I needed to get done.

Heading back into leadership, what things can you categorically eliminate?

This will take you a while to think through, but over the years I’ve done things like categorically eliminate doing weddings and funerals, pastoral visitation,  breakfast meetings (I’m most productive in the morning), lunch meetings or even meetings over an hour (and much more).

This will also force you to create systems for these important things that are not dependent on you and far more deeply empower your team.

I always get asked Do you make exceptions? And yes, I do.

I’ve done a few weddings, some visitations, a few funerals and even the odd breakfast meeting. But the exceptions are so much easier to manage than the deluge of yesses that probably should have been nos. And if I participate in your wedding, it’s probably because you’re on my staff or are family, a pretty easy exception to explain.

And ideally, your elimination of one category should free up time to focus on something more important or strategic. Another way to think about it is to reach more people, I need to eliminate X. 

If you’re skittish or worry about FOMO, try this: make it time-limited. In other words, for three months I’ll do no breakfast meetings. Or until the end of the year, I won’t do outside projects or requests.

Categorical decision-making saves mental energy and a tremendous amount of time because you already made the decision. Case closed. Move on.

Categorical decision-making saves mental energy and a tremendous amount of time because you already made the decision. Case closed. Move on.Click To Tweet

2. Simplify, Simplify, Simplify

This one’s easy to understand and very difficult to do.

At the best of times, complexity is your enemy. And many leaders have a strategy that’s overly complex.

Complexity doesn’t scale, and at a certain level, it’s also exhausting.

Complexity doesn’t scale, and at a certain level, it’s also exhausting. Click To Tweet

Simple is not simplistic.

As Woody Guthrie is quoted as saying, “Any fool can make something complicated. It takes a genius to make it simple.”

Great leaders stick with a problem or idea long enough and engage it deeply enough to clear away the fog and reduce the concept to its simplest forms so anyone can understand it and implement it.

Ask yourself, what things can you stop doing so you can start doing more important things?

A simple, leaner model will likely help you thrive in complicated times.

One easy cut from most churches or organizations is anything you have to ‘manufacture’ energy for (I explain that here).

The more complex the world becomes, the simpler your approach to it needs to be.

The more complex the world becomes, the simpler your approach to it needs to be.Click To Tweet

3. Ditch The Endless WorkDay/WorkWeek

If you haven’t worked from home as much in the past as you are presently, the boundaries between work and home and likely as blurry as they’ve ever been.

I’ve been working from home part of the time for much of the last 25 years and full-time for the last five. It took me years to figure out how to do it well, but I’m more convinced than ever that you need a strategy to make sure your work doesn’t envelop your life.

Technology has not made this simpler.

You’re watching Disney+ with your daughter after dinner and a co-worker texts you about your expense report.

You used to go to the office, but thanks to technology, now the office goes to you. And it’s fully capable of interrupting you any time, anywhere, even on vacation.

Because I love what I get to do, I’ve had to force myself to make hard stops, putting my laptop away, turning off all notifications on my device, moving my phone out of my bedroom at night, and deciding that some things can wait.

Want a good little hack to help you break your work/technology addiction? Get a hobby.

You’ll get so engrossed in it that you’ll lose the desire to even check your phone.

You used to go to the office, but thanks to technology, now the office goes to you. And it’s fully capable of interrupting you any time, anywhere, even on vacation.Click To Tweet

Something To Focus On

Since I burned out, my mantra has been to try to figure out a way to live in a way today that will help you thrive tomorrow.

I think that’s a good principle. I don’t always get it right, but when I do, things are so much better.

If you’re not thriving—and many leaders aren’t, even in the best of times—adjust today to improve tomorrow.

Living in a way today that will help you thrive tomorrow will help you win the marathon ahead.

Simplify the Changes You’re Going To Make…

How are you going to make the change you need to make without exhausting yourself or your team?

As complex as things are, having a simple framework to navigate the change will make the task ahead much easier.

If you want to position yourself for the future, my brand new online training, the 30-Day Pivot, will show you how to develop your agility as a leader and as an organization to position yourself for growth.

The 30-Day Pivot is a simple 3-step process you and your team can utilize every as often as every 30 days to respond to the change around you and capitalize on it.

In the 30-Day Pivot, you’ll learn:

A simple 3-step process your team can use to arrive at your next pivot in 90 minutes or less.
An approach that fosters team-generated innovation.
An implementation and evaluation framework that will help your team move quickly and accurately.

I’ve led teams through multiple pivots, and in the 30 Day Pivot, I show you the strategy and framework you need to make quick, accurate and responsive moves that can position your organization for growth, even in the midst of deep uncertainty and change.

Some organizations and churches will thrive in the new normal.

Others won’t.

While the future is uncertain, yours doesn’t have to be.

What Helps You?

What helps you figure out the relationship between time off and time on?

How do you refuel in every season?

Scroll down and leave a comment!

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Source: Why Your Time Off Will Never Be Enough to Truly DeStress You

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by Carey Nieuwhof: John Ortberg has a brand new podcast, What Were You Thinking? Today, we flip the mic, and John interviews Carey Nieuwhof about workaholism, how to be appropriately vulnerable about your story, and finding God when things get tough in life and leadership.

Welcome to Episode 307 of the podcast. Listen and access the show notes below or search for the Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and listen for free.

Guest Links

Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | What Were You Thinking?

Episode Links

What if, in 40 days, you could grow your small groups in your church by 40%? Based on Pastor Zach Zehnder’s book, The Red Letter Challenge is a 40-day turnkey church campaign that centers around making more effective disciples of Jesus. Go to RedLetterChallenge.com/Carey to find church packages ready to go for you.

The High Impact Workplace

10 Million Podcast Downloads Giveaway

Managing Leadership Anxiety by Steve Cuss

Didn’t See It Coming by Carey Nieuwhof

The Genesee Diary by Henry Nouwen

3 Insights from John and Carey

1. Burnout is a factor for all driven people

Most leaders eventually hit a wall, whether it’s clinical burnout, their marriage falling apart, their relationship with their kids deteriorating, or realizing they simply need to delegate. Every driven leader gets there. When they hit this wall, they realize that a change needs to be made, but most have no clue what that change is.

Although it’s not the same for everyone, it is almost always tied to a lie that a leader believes. Carey has learned that he, as a leader, was believing that his performance defined his worth. This led to him trying to perform more and more until he hit his wall. Ever since, he has been intentional about living in a way today that will help him thrive tomorrow.

2. The senior leader sets the culture

Over many years of thinking and inspecting his own leadership, Carey has learned that unhealthy leaders create unhealthy cultures. He knows this because he used to be that unhealthy leader. Now, he has spent years changing how he views the purpose of work in his and his team’s lives.

He used to think that he uses people to get work done, and that led to an unhealthy culture. Now, he has realized that he is trying to use work to grow the people that work there. In a healthy culture, people are the goal, not the work.

3. The appropriate level of vulnerability to have from the stage is…

Carey has learned that the voice and position we communicate from makes a massive impact on whether the message is helpful or not. Many leaders naturally take a position where they are up on top of a mountain, and if you want access to them, you have to come sit at their feet. Carey has learned that this position doesn’t work. People admire your strengths but they resonate with your weaknesses.

So what voice does Carey use? He uses a voice that is “ in the field” with the reader. This voice is saying, “I know this is hard, I struggle too, but maybe making this change will help us.” When Carey uses this voice, he is much more engaged with his audience.

Quotes from Episode 307

Spiritual health is often a casualty of ministry and leadership. @cnieuwhofClick To Tweet

When you’re winning at church and losing at home, you’re losing. @cnieuwhofClick To Tweet

How do I live in a way today that will help me thrive tomorrow? @cnieuwhofClick To Tweet

The office is something we used to go to, and now the office goes to us. @cnieuwhofClick To Tweet

By the time this race is over, I want the people closest to me to be the people who are most grateful for me. @cnieuwhofClick To Tweet

People are most tempted to quit moments before their critical breakthrough. @cnieuwhofClick To Tweet

The health of the organization is directly linked to the health of the senior leader. @cnieuwhofClick To Tweet

Unhealthy leaders create unhealthy cultures. @cnieuwhofClick To Tweet

Sometimes burnout is God’s will for your life because he wants to do a redirection. @johnortbergClick To Tweet

If God wants to go deep. It’s because he wants to take you far. @cnieuwhofClick To Tweet

You cannot over communicate. @cnieuwhofClick To Tweet

Read or Download the Transcript for Episode 307

Looking for a key quote? More of a reader?

Read or download a free PDF transcript of this episode here.

Watch Back Episodes of The Podcast on YouTube

Select episodes of this podcast are now on YouTube. Our new YouTube Channel gives you a chance to watch some episodes, not just listen. We’ll add select episodes to YouTube as time goes on.

INTRODUCING THE HIGH IMPACT WORKPLACE
(AND MY FREE COACHING GUIDE)

There’s a talent war going on for the best leaders, a generational divide at work, and, according to Gallup, 70% of all workers are disengaged at work (meaning that they show up and only do the bare minimum.)

Introducing The High Impact Workplace, a new online, on-demand course where I show you what’s changing in the workplace and how to respond. As a founder and senior leader myself, I’ll share a strategy that will help you engage even the best and most gifted young leaders at work.

In the course, I’ll give you the exact strategies you need to:

Attract and keep high capacity leaders who would otherwise start their own businesses.
Identify and leverage the currency that motivates young leaders.
Navigate flexible work arrangements that result in deeper productivity.
Master the 5 questions every great manager asks their team for deeper engagement.
Discover how to create workplace environments that multiple generations can thrive in.
Learn how to keep your company or organization relevant to the next generation of leaders.

The High Impact Workplace will give you the edge you need to create the best team you can moving forward in an age where 8-4 doesn’t work anymore (just ask any young leader about that).

Enrollment to the course is only open for a few days and only available now at this low price. So hurry!

To learn more or get access today to the High Impact Workplace, click here.

Subscribed Yet? 

Subscribe for free and never miss out on wisdom from world-class leaders like Brian Houston, Andy Stanley, Craig Groeschel, Nancy Duarte, Henry Cloud, Patrick Lencioni, Francis Chan, Ann Voskamp, Erwin McManus and many others.

Subscribe using your favorite podcast app via

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Google Play

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TuneIn

Spread the Word. Leave a Rating and Review

Hopefully, this episode has helped you lead like never before. That’s my goal. If you appreciated it, could you share the love?

The best way to do that is to rate the podcast on Apple Podcasts and leave us a brief review! You can do the same on Stitcher and on TuneIn as well.

Your ratings and reviews help us place the podcast in front of new leaders and listeners. Your feedback also lets me know how I can better serve you.

Thank you for being so awesome.

Next Episode: Larry Osborne

Larry Osborne shares 4 decades of wisdom with leaders on everything from how to connect high capacity leaders, to what to do if you wanted to make a million dollars, to questions you should ask other leaders, to meeting dynamics on how to handle him. Carey spends almost the entire episode pitching some of his favorite Larry Osborne quotes back to Larry and having Larry expound on them. The results are fascinating.

Subscribe for free now and you won’t miss Episode 308.

The post CNLP 307: John Ortberg and Carey Nieuwhof on Workaholism, How to Be Appropriately Vulnerable, and Finding God When Things are Bad in Leadership appeared first on CareyNieuwhof.com.

Source: CNLP 307: John Ortberg and Carey Nieuwhof on Workaholism, How to Be Appropriately Vulnerable, and Finding God When Things are Bad in Leadership

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by Carey Nieuwhof: New York Times bestselling author, Max Lucado, talks about how he knew he didn’t have another ten years of senior leadership in him, why his passion has shifted, what causes happiness, and how to be happier.

Plus, Max shares some thoughts on the best and worst decisions he’s made over his decades in leadership.

Welcome to Episode 290 of the podcast. Listen and access the show notes below or search for the Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and listen for free.

Guest Links

Max Lucado |  Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | How Happiness Happens

Episode Links

Need help with your church’s website and digital outreach? Check out Pro WebFire, and get a FREE custom website build for the plan you choose by using the discount code Carey2019. Act now before the offer expires at the end of this month.

Carey will be speaking at the Future Forward Conference this October 1st and 2nd. If you’re a church leader or member who is committed fully to engaging the next generation in a rapidly changing world, join us by signing up here today.

CNLP 221: Max Lucado On How He’s Written Over 120 Books, Why He Never Uses Ghostwriters, How to Stay Fresh in Leadership, And His Favorite Book

Vanderbloemen Resource Center

Ten Signs of a Leadership Crash by Stephen Mansfield

Research on the pursuit of happiness

Unshakable Hope by Max Lucado

3 Insights from Max

1.Your interests and callings might come only for a season

Many leaders hold onto their leadership positions for too long. Max and Carey both have come to the place where they needed to pass on their lead pastor role to the next generation of leaders. How did they know it was time to move on? Max described it as “when he dipped his ladle into his leadership bucket, all he heard was a scraping sound.” He just didn’t have anything left for it.

Max would also want to encourage you that just because you are called to something in one season, doesn’t mean you are called to that thing in all seasons of your life. How much of a tragedy would it be if you received all of your callings and giftings on the day of your conversion? It would make the rest of your life pretty boring. Your calling is for life but your assignment might change.

2. Advantages of staying in the same ministry for 31 years 

Max has been in a place of leadership at his church for 31 years, and he has been able to see a few advantages to staying in the same place for a long time. One of the biggest advantages is that preaching to the same people for so long has caused him to preach on many of the passages and topics that pastors never preach on. This has added value to him and his congregation.

Max also loves the fact that he has a very long-standing and well-respected legacy within his community that is not only paying off for him but is paying off for his wife and kids now, too. His church has invited two of his three daughters to speak, and the community of people in their church are quick to support him and his family.

3. Happiness happens in unexpected ways

The world seems to be getting less and less happy. While researching his next book, Max learned that only one in three people today report that they are happy. So where has our happiness gone? And more importantly, how do we get it back?

One thing Max realized while researching for his book was that we become happy, ourselves, when we are making other people happy. So, when we give away something that brings joy to someone else, we too are becoming more joyful. Another unexpected way that we can become more happy is by listening. If we look at the life of Jesus, we see that he was very intentional about listening to those who were hurting.

Quotes from Episode 290

I knew it was time to pass on my role when what used to energize me about our church started to drain me. @cnieuwhofClick To Tweet

It might actually be disobedient or wrong to hang on in a position to which you’re not called anymore. @cnieuwhofClick To Tweet

Happiness happens when we give it away. @MaxLucadoClick To Tweet

Everywhere I look, somebody’s trying to make me unhappy so that I’ll buy their product. @MaxLucadoClick To Tweet

Saying no to speaking or to travel is really a good yes to my wife. @MaxLucadoClick To Tweet

Read or Download the Transcript for Episode 290

Looking for a key quote? More of a reader?

Read or download a free PDF transcript of this episode here.

Watch Back Episodes of The Podcast on YouTube

Select episodes of this podcast are now on YouTube. Our new YouTube Channel gives you a chance to watch some episodes, not just listen. We’ll add select episodes to YouTube as time goes on.

Help Your Church Grow Without Compromising Biblical Integrity

Ready to start preaching better sermons and reach the unchurched without selling out? Then it’s time to start using the right tips, lessons, and strategies to communicating better.

The Art of Better Preaching Course is a 12 session video training with a comprehensive, interactive workbook that will help you create, write, and deliver better sermons. The course contains the lessons Mark Clark (lead pastor of  Village Church, a growing mega-church in post-Christian Vancouver) and I have learned, taught, and used over decades of being professional communicators.

This is the complete course you need to start preaching better sermons, including:

7 preaching myths it’s time to bust forever
The 5 keys to preaching sermons to unchurched people (that will keep them coming back)
How to discover the power in the text (and use it to drive your sermon)
The specific characteristics of sermons that reach people in today’s world
Why you need to ditch your sermon notes (and how to do it far more easily than you think.)
How to keep your heart and mind fresh over the long run

And far more! Plus you get an interactive workbook and some bonus resources that will help you write amazing messages week after week.

In the Art of Better Preaching, Mark and I share everything we’ve learned about communicating in a way that will help your church grow without compromising biblical integrity. We cover detailed training on everything from interacting with the biblical text to delivering a talk without using notes, to writing killer bottom lines that people will remember for years.

Check it out today and gain instant access.

Subscribed Yet? 

Subscribe for free and never miss out on wisdom from world-class leaders like Brian Houston, Andy Stanley, Craig Groeschel, Nancy Duarte, Henry Cloud, Patrick Lencioni, Francis Chan, Ann Voskamp, Erwin McManus and many others.

Subscribe using your favorite podcast app via

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Google Play

Stitcher

TuneIn

Spread the Word. Leave a Rating and Review

Hopefully, this episode has helped you lead like never before. That’s my goal. If you appreciated it, could you share the love?

The best way to do that is to rate the podcast on Apple Podcasts and leave us a brief review! You can do the same on Stitcher and on TuneIn as well.

Your ratings and reviews help us place the podcast in front of new leaders and listeners. Your feedback also lets me know how I can better serve you.

Thank you for being so awesome.

Next Episode: David Platt

There are so many deconversion stories away from Christianity these days. David Platt has seen some of the greatest suffering on earth and has again, recently, asked some of the toughest questions: In a universe governed by a good God, is hell really a place? Will so many people born into an earthly hell really end up in eternal hell? David shares how seeing profound suffering and asking those questions hasn’t led him away from faith but deeper into his faith. And, he shares what needs to change in Christianity is really going to impact the world.

Subscribe for free now and you won’t miss Episode 291.

The post CNLP 290: Max Lucado on What Causes Happiness, How to Be Happier, and How to Know When It’s Time to Leave Leadership appeared first on CareyNieuwhof.com.

Source: CNLP 290: Max Lucado on What Causes Happiness, How to Be Happier, and How to Know When It’s Time to Leave Leadership

The post CNLP 290: Max Lucado on What Causes Happiness, How to Be Happier, and How to Know When It’s Time to Leave Leadership appeared first on Passion for Planting.

Source: When You’re Completely Spent and Have Nothing to Show For it All

The post When You’re Completely Spent and Have Nothing to Show For it All appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Carey Nieuwhof: Leadership is hard. I totally get that, because I’ve been in it for over two decades.

But to be perfectly honest, leadership never gets easy. The reason it’s never easy is because what’s hard keeps changing. You solve one problem, and now a new, likely larger on appears. That’s true when things are declining when they’re stagnant. And surprisingly, it’s even more trying when things are growing.

And in all scenarios, your next task as a leader is to tackle what’s ahead, which, of course, you’ve often never done before. Which is why it stays hard.

Naturally, that can get tiring. As a result, it’s remarkably easy for a once inspiring leader to descend into to stop leading, to stop leading into new vistas, and as a result, to stop inspiring their team.

Your team will put up with that for a while, but inevitably, they’ll lose motivation too. Keep it up, and any leader with options, especially the best ones, will leave. If you won’t lead your team with passion and purpose, your best leaders will leave. They’ll simply find someone who will.

I’ve had seasons where I know my leadership hasn’t been as inspirational as it should be, and over the years I’ve made it a point to start recognizing the signs that it’s happening. If I know the signs, it’s easier to snap back and begin leading and inspiring again.

If you won’t lead your team with passion and purpose, your best leaders will leave. They’ll simply find someone who will.Click To Tweet

1. You Don’t Feel Inspired

So let’s start with an obvious one. It’s hard to inspire others when you’re not inspired.

I’ll the first to admit that passion waxes and wanes in season. Sometimes you’re tired or you’ve been running hard, but if you’re the leader, you’re supposed to be inspired by the mission you’re on.

One of the key principles of leadership is this: the passion of your team will rarely exceed your passion as a leader.

Do whatever you need to do to stay inspired. Revisit the mission, daily. Spend time alone, pray and meditate about why you’re not inspired. Talk to a friend, or a counselor.

Sometimes (not always, but sometimes), the reason you’re not inspired is that your vision is too small. If your mission doesn’t inspire you, get a bigger or better mission. Personally, I think it’s great to be fueled by somethign that’s bigger than you are, and that seems almost impossible to pull off.

When you have something that big, it’s also impossible for you to take the credit if it happens.

It’s hard to inspire others when you’re not inspired. The passion of your team will rarely exceed your passion as a leader. Click To Tweet

2. You’re Showing Very Little Gratitude

When you’re no longer inspiring your team, check your gratitude. Gratitude is usually one of the first things to go when you’re not in a good season, and it’s one of the most devastating things for team members to lose.

Lose gratitude, and you’ll soon discover it gets replaced by its nemesis: expectation.

Not only are you not grateful, you begin to tell yourself things like:

I pay these people for more than that.

Sure, she’s volunteering, but her effort doesn’t even come close to the pressure I’m facing.

What do you mean you want to go home? There’s work to do.

The more tired you are, the more likely you expect things from people rather than be grateful for them.

And that’s a great way to lose good people.

The more tired you are, the more likely you expect things from people rather than be grateful for them. And that’s a great way to lose good people. Click To Tweet

3. Your Vision is Fuzzy

It’s hard to rally people around a fuzzy vision for the future.

When casting vision, clarity is your friend.

It’s hard to rally people around a fuzzy vision for the future. Click To Tweet

If your vision is clear, you’ll have a compelling answer to questions like these:

What hill are you taking next?

Why are you taking it?

What happens after that?

Who are you helping?

What difference is it making?

Why is your mission so critical?

If you can’t answer those questions, don’t expect your team to rally or throw their whole heart behind the mission.

Clarity is your best friend when it comes to vision.

If you don’t have it and feel things might be slipping away, you might start to want to control people.

Poor leaders substitute control for clarity.

Here’s why. If you don’t know with absolute clarity what your organization is, where it’s going and how it’s going to get there (in other words, if you’re fuzzy about your mission, vision and strategy), you can never truly align a team.

And as a result, you will always want to control it.

Clarity around the vision is a far better alternative.

Poor leaders substitute control for clarity.Click To Tweet

4. You’re managing, not leading

Management is a good thing in the right measure. I agree with some of the voices of late who say we’ve overfocused on leadership and underfocused on management. Good point.

Leadership without good management usually results in chaos instead of progress.

But no matter how well managed an organization is, every organizaiton still needs leadership.

Management oversees what what needs to be done today. Leadership moves people into tomorrow.

Because leadership takes energy, passion and clarity, a lot of leaders default to managing. The bold new idea is to make next year incrementally better than this year. To tweak, not to reboot. To improve, but not to challenge or rethink.

Leadership inspires in a way management doesn’t.

Management oversees what what needs to be done today. Leadership moves people into tomorrow. Leadership inspires in a way management doesn’t.Click To Tweet

5. You’re out of new ideas

One sure what to inspire a team is to have new ideas for the future. The longer you’ve been in leadership, the harder this can feel.

We live in an exceptional disruptive age. How we communicated two decades ago is not how we communicate today.

The same is true of

Shopping
Transporation
Accommodation
Music
Journalism
Entertainment
Photography

I’m not saying you have to come up with disruptive ideas, but I am saying that unless you have some new ideas, about how to accomplish your mission, it’s difficult to keep mobilizing people.

I’ve seen so many leaders who run out of vision cling to old methods—doing the same thing over and over again hoping for better results.

If there’s no plan for the future, there’s usually no future.

If there’s no plan for the future, there’s usually no future. Click To Tweet

3 Tips For Regaining Your Inspiration

It’s great to point out the problem, but how do you move toward a solution.

Well, in some cases, it might be that you’re burned out (here are some signs of that), or that you need some counselling, or perhaps that it’s time to move on (here are 7 signs it’s time to leave.)

But if it’s just a season, what do you do to get inspired?

Here are a few things that have helped me.

Revisit the mission. Reminding yourself why you do what you do can go a long way to keeping your passion strong.
Study industry leaders. Who do you know that’s crushing it? Go hang out with them and take your notebook.
Get out of your echo chamber. Chances are you need some fresh influences, so go learn from some leaders and people who are different than you are.

I wrote some more on how to renew your leadership here (something that I think has to happen every 5-7 years regardless of how you feel).

Stoke Your Passion Over the Long Haul

How do you stay inspired year after year?

It’s more possible than you think. And it starts with how you lead yourself and others each day.

My High Impact Leader course, is my online, on-demand course designed to help you get time, energy and priorities working in your favour.

It’s perfect for leaders who feel like they never have enough time in the day to get it all done.

Many leaders who have taken it are recovering 3 productive hours a day.  That’s about 1000 hours of found time each year. That’s a lot of time for what matters most.

Here are what some alumni are saying about The High Impact Leader Course”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you for providing the course again. It has absolutely made an impact in my life and family already that I can’t even describe.” – Joel Rowland, Clayton County, North Carolina

“Just wow.  Thank you, thank you.” Dave Campbell,  Sioux Falls South Dakota

“A game-changer.” Pam Perkins,  Colorado Springs, Colorado

Curious? Want to beat overwhelm and have the time to reflect, rest and reinvent yourself?

Click here to learn more or get instant access.

What Are Some Other Signs?

Any other signs you see that maybe you’re no longer inspiring your team?

Scroll down and leave a comment!

The post 5 Signs You’re No Longer Inspiring Your Team appeared first on CareyNieuwhof.com.

Source: 5 Signs You’re No Longer Inspiring Your Team

The post 5 Signs You’re No Longer Inspiring Your Team appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Carey Nieuwhof: Ian Morgan Cron interviews Carey for this episode of his top rated Typology podcast, but in the middle of the interview, Carey turned the tables got Ian to apply his Enneagram insights to Carey’s latest book, Didn’t See It Coming. What results is Ian doing a fascinating analysis on which Enneagram types might be more prone to cynicism, burnout, pride, moral compromise and more.

Welcome to Episode 278 of the podcast. Listen and access the show notes below or search for the Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and listen for free.

Guest Links

Ian Morgan Cron | Typology | The Road Back to You

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

Episode Links

Communicate with your team in a way that really connects. Try HuddleUp free for 14 days at servehq.church.

Empower and equip your leaders with church management software from Church Community Builder. Podcast listeners receive 20% off now.

Typology: Seven Core Challenges of Leadership (Part 1)

Typology: Seven Core Challenges of Leadership (Part 2)

CNLP 241: Ian Morgan Cron on Using Your Enneagram Number to Boost Self-Awareness, Spiritual Growth and Reduce Conflict at Work and at Home

The School of Life

Self-Knowledge

Daniel Goleman

Good to Great by Jim Collins

Myth & Reality: General Stanley McChrystal – The Jordan B Peterson Podcast

10% Happier by Dan Harris

Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport

iEQ9 Enneagram Test

The High Impact Leader

3 Insights from Ian

1. One of the greatest predictors of success is emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence and self-awareness are a must-have skill for any leader to have significant long-term success. One of the greatest strengths of the Enneagram for leaders is that it helps you become more self-aware about your internal motives and weaknesses.

In Carey’s book, Didn’t See It Coming, Carey outlines 7 major challenges that no leader expects, but every leader experiences. The Enneagram can help you determine which of those major challenges are more likely to impact your life, and what the different warning signs and causes could be. It also gives you insight into what you are like when your personality is on autopilot, and you don’t necessarily see your failures coming. If you know your weaknesses, you can see your obstacles coming before it’s too late.

2.  Knowing your Enneagram can help you avoid moral compromise

Moral compromise can come at any of us. We all feel the pull to give up our integrity and character for something. Our Enneagram type can help us determine what that “something” is. Moral compromise is not just the big headline affairs that ruin people’s careers. It is more often a slow process where you daily give up a little bit of yourself.

For example, 3’s are tempted to give into moral compromise so that they can put up a better public facade. 3’s live for putting up the best image of themselves possible at any cost. Often, they will be tempted to cut corners to become that person people are impressed with. When they begin to cut corners in their life, they begin to compromise in places that they should not be compromising. 3’s can easily compartmentalize their public lives and their private lives as 2 separate things. When they do this, they have a perfect public persona and cut a lot of corners in their personal lives.

3. Smartphones are building a generation of anxious people

Technology has done a fantastic job of connecting the world together in a way that has never been seen before in history. For the first time ever, if there is a major tragedy in London, students and teachers in the US and China are learning about it at the same time. There is a lot of good that has come out of this change, but it’s not all positive.

For the first time in history, the UK has hired on a “Minister Of Loneliness.” People are reporting symptoms of loneliness and anxiety at record rates, and it is directly related to the exposure we have with technology. The generations that are being hit by this the most are the Gen Z and Millennial generations. The earlier they were exposed to smartphones, the higher levels of loneliness and anxiety were reported.

Quotes from Episode 278

You have no business leading others if you don’t know how to lead yourself first. @ianmorgancronClick To Tweet

It’s always the emotionally intelligent leaders that seem to do the best. @cnieuwhofClick To Tweet

The more I respect and understand my limits, the more I’m actually capable of. @cnieuwhofClick To Tweet

I think we have way more information than God ever created us to deal with. @cnieuwhofClick To Tweet

Read or Download the Transcript for Episode 278

Looking for a key quote? More of a reader?

Read or download a free PDF transcript of this episode here.

Watch the Podcast on YouTube

Select episodes of this podcast are now on YouTube. Our new YouTube Channel gives you a chance to watch some episodes, not just listen. We’ll add select episodes to YouTube as time goes on.

Didn’t See It Coming Will Help You Solve the Problems Most Leaders Miss

If you want practical help overcoming some of the biggest challenges leaders face, my new book Didn’t See It Coming: Overcoming the 7 Greatest Challenges That Nobody Expects and Everyone Experiences tackles the seven core issues that take people out: cynicism, compromise, disconnectedness, irrelevance, pride, burnout, and the emptiness of success and provides strategies on how to combat each.

I wrote the book because no 18 year old sets out to be cynical, jaded and disconnected by age 35. Yet it happens all the time.

The good news is, it doesn’t have to be that way.

Here’s what top leaders are saying about Didn’t See It Coming:

“Seriously, this may be the most important book you read this year.” Jud Wilhite, Lead Pastor, Central Church

“Powerful, personal, and highly readable. ”Brian Houston, Global Senior Pastor, Hillsong

“Whatever challenge you’re facing, whatever obstacle you’re hoping to overcome, whatever future you dream or imagine, there is something powerful for you here.” Andy Stanley, Founder, North Point Ministries

“Uncommonly perceptive and generous…You have to read this book.” Ann Voskamp,NYT bestselling author

“Masterful.”Reggie Joiner,CEO Orange

“Deep biblical insight, straightforward truth, and practical wisdom to help you grow.” Craig Groeschel, Pastor and NYT bestselling author

“This book is sure to help you.” Daniel H. Pink, NYT bestselling author

Over the years, one of the things I’ve enjoyed most about being a public speaker is having opportunities to hang out with Carey…It’s not a matter of if you’ll run into these challenges; it’s a matter of when. Be prepared by spending a little time with a leader who has already been there.” Jon Acuff, NYT best-selling author

“Nieuwhof’s book provides expert guidance…with an accuracy that pierces the heart.” Nancy Duarte, CEO Duarte Inc.

“A refreshingly transparent guide for all leaders in a wide variety of industries.” Bryan Miles, Co-Founder and CEO, BELAY

You can learn more and get your copy of Didn’t See It Coming here.

Subscribed Yet? 

Subscribe for free and never miss out on wisdom from world-class leaders like Brian Houston, Andy Stanley, Craig Groeschel, Nancy Duarte, Henry Cloud, Patrick Lencioni, Francis Chan, Ann Voskamp, Erwin McManus and many others.

Subscribe using your favorite podcast app via

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Spread the Word. Leave a Rating and Review

Hopefully, this episode has helped you lead like never before. That’s my goal. If you appreciated it, could you share the love?

The best way to do that is to rate the podcast on Apple Podcasts and leave us a brief review! You can do the same on Stitcher and on TuneIn as well.

Your ratings and reviews help us place the podcast in front of new leaders and listeners. Your feedback also lets me know how I can better serve you.

Thank you for being so awesome.

Next Episode: Brad Formsma

Brad Formsma ran a business for years, and then felt a calling to help other people become more generous. He founded I Like Giving which resulted in Brad connecting with hundreds of high net worth individuals, and his ability to offer the best and worst practices approaching high capacity givers. Brad shares how to get over the intimidation many leaders feel when dealing with wealthy people and offers some wonderful insights on how everyone can live a more generous life, some of which have nothing to do with money.

Subscribe for free now and you won’t miss Episode 279.

The post CNLP 278: Ian Morgan Cron on How Your Enneagram Profile Positions You for Burnout, Pride, Cynicism and Other Hidden Traps in Life and Leadership appeared first on CareyNieuwhof.com.

Source: CNLP 278: Ian Morgan Cron on How Your Enneagram Profile Positions You for Burnout, Pride, Cynicism and Other Hidden Traps in Life and Leadership

The post CNLP 278: Ian Morgan Cron on How Your Enneagram Profile Positions You for Burnout, Pride, Cynicism and Other Hidden Traps in Life and Leadership appeared first on Passion for Planting.

Digital Leadership Podcast: What’s Killing Your Leadership? Burnout!

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What is it that’s drowning us, as leaders? What is it that’s taking leaders out of the picture when we desperately need good leaders? Last time I talked about identity and how the most dangerous destructive force on earth is a man who doesn’t know who he is.

Another HUGE issue facing leaders is burnout – the condition in which we find ourselves when we’re just out of energy and we’re still trying to lead on empty.

Burnout is underestimated in terms of what it can do to wreck the trajectory of a good leadership pathway. I want to get into some solutions, but I want to talk about the problem first.

When I was the editor at pastors.com, we would sometimes publish articles about how to recover from emotional burnout. And those were always the most popular articles. They got the most clicks, they had the most people reading them, they had the most people sharing them, and they had the most comments. They had the most people opening up in discussion on Facebook and elsewhere about, this is me, I needed this, I’m going through this right now.

I believe burnout is epidemic. And I want you to understand it’s an issue I’ve walked through personally. When I go back close to a decade ago in my own life and leadership, I go back to a time when I was taking on too many things, too many projects – partly because I didn’t know who I was.

I don’t think that taking on projects is the problem. In fact, I think that can actually be a good thing if you know who you are and why you’re doing it, if you understand the why. But I was in a phase of life where I was no longer certain of who I was.

I was no longer comfortable in my own skin.

I had gotten discouraged. I had let the approval of others become a driving force in my life. I was very concerned about keeping everybody happy and getting everything done right.

I was treating my own life with a legalistic mentality. It was a big checklist, and I was failing. And because of that, my attention was all over the place trying to fill that void, trying to measure up.

Meanwhile, as a result of all of that, I was hurting in some relationships. I was distanced from friends. I was distanced from my wife, emotionally speaking. I began to isolate and to burn out. It was a downward spiral.

One of the things that changed was, we moved to California and got into a healthy church and healthy community and into a good small group and into lots of situations that really helped me to recover. To get back on track. To regain focus and clarity, and just to cultivate a new passion for the things that mattered the most in life.

Out of that came a big emphasis in our church that we’ve been planting for seven years, Grace Hills Church, on reaching out to people who are broken, who are hurting, who are walking through problems and issues like that and need help.

I love pastors. I love leaders. I love people who are in leadership and are suffering and going through a hard time. And I just want to give you some practical wisdom as well as some personal encouragement today.

Does “Balance” Lead to Burnout?

First, let me just dive in and talk about what I think are some of the misconceptions about burnout. Some of the reasons why we get burned out to begin with are because we misunderstand certain things about life. Certain things are culturally popular. We read books about them and so we assume that that must be the problem.

For example, I think there’s a false emphasis today on balance. We talk a lot about the word balance and how you need a balanced life. Don’t be a workaholic, be more balanced.

And the problem with balance is that sometimes we misunderstand what healthy balance looks like. Healthy balance, I think, is when you look at your life as who you are. You are physical, so you have a body. You are mental, you have a mind. You are emotional, you have a heart. You are volitional, you have a will, you have relationships.

So if you want to grow in a balanced way, that’s fantastic. I want to grow personally, I want to grow spiritually, I want to grow relationally, I want to be healthy physically, etc. That is a good kind of balance to seek after.

But what we do with balance a lot of times is to look at all the different areas of our lives decide that we need to give adequate amounts of time and attention to each area of life equally.

In a given week, I might work 40 or 50 hours because I need to do well for my boss. I need to do good on this job. I’ve got to do good in my business.

And then I’ve also got a marriage to maintain, so I got to give plenty of energy there.

I need to give some time and some energy to managing my finances well. So let me focus on that for a bit.

I’ve got kids, so I need to give some time and some energy to my kids.

I’ve got the school or the nonprofit or the charity that I volunteer with. Maybe the board I serve on, so I give them some time and some energy. And what we wind up doing is treating life like a pizza. We try to give a slice to everything that’s grabbing for attention.

We try to give a slice to all of the different areas. And the reason why that leads to burnout is,  there’s not really an emphasis on how much I have to give. There’s just a constant demand and pressure to give more to everything and everybody. And I’ve only got so much energy to give.

Rhythm – A Better Way

So what do you do with that then? How do you give to all those things in a way that’s healthy, that makes sense, but doesn’t keep you burning out?

I believe we need to shift our emphasis from balance to rhythm. In fact, I did a whole 45 minute teaching session on this in The Digital Leadership Lab.

Basically, instead of dividing my life out into pieces and giving a piece to all these different things, I need to respect the rhythm of life.

I need to know that there are going to be weeks and moments when I’m really busy with my kids’ stuff. My kids might have a couple of programs this week at school, some sports things, some different things going on and therefore I’m not going to be able to give as much to my job, or to maybe managing my house or my finances that week.

In my rhythm that there are moments to take breaks.

Pastor Rick Warren always says we need to divert daily, withdraw weekly, and abandon annually. That is, take some time every day, take a day off every week, take a week out of your year or two weeks out of your year and go on vacation.

That’s all part of the rhythm of life.

Working hard is part of the rhythm of life. Being really close to my family and friends is part of my rhythm in life. Instead of trying to divide myself between all these different areas, I need to find the rhythm.

How Many Priorities?

Another misconception that leads to burnout is a misunderstanding of the word priority.

In our modern culture, we take priority and we divide it into multiple priorities and we come up with a list. Our list might be ordered as: God, family, church, and work. So those are my number one, number two, number three, number four priorities in life. And so God comes first in priority, and I understand that, there’s some sense in that.

The problem is, the word priority is not a plural word. It’s a singular word. The ancient concept of priority means a single thing. It’s one thing.

So life isn’t about having your 10 or 12 priorities in life ordered correctly. It’s about living for one priority.

In other words, what is my purpose? And out of my one purpose, everything else flows. Everything else fits.

For me, as Christian, I derive my big priority from Matthew 6:33 where Jesus said, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and when you do that, everything else will fall into place.” (my paraphrase)

So if I spend my life living for God’s kingdom purposes – if that’s my priority – then I’m going to have a healthier family, a healthier personal life, a healthier relationship with my coworkers, and so on.

Are We as Busy as We Say We Are?

I also think another problem that leads to burnout is an overemphasis on busyness and overwhelm.

We might be addicted to busyness, but I think we’re also addicted to talking about busyness.

How was your week? And most of us go, oh, it was busy. It was crazy.

How’s life lately? It’s busy. It’s crazy.

The funny thing is, when I listen to high influence, high impact leaders – maybe CEO’s of corporations that do really well and they have great family life, or people that have written lots of books and have a big ministry to millions – I don’t often hear them talk about how busy they are. There’s not a lot of talk among really successful people about being stressed out and maxed out all the time.

Instead, there’s more of a confidence about life.

I’m not saying that we should ignore busyness. You don’t need to be too busy. But I do think it’s possible to do multiple things in life, to have multiple projects and multiple things going on and still not be overly busy and overwhelmed.

We tend to take moments when we’re overloaded with things and we start telling ourselves, I’m just overwhelmed, I’ve just got too much going on.

And the story that we’re telling and repeating and rehearsing is, I can’t handle life right now. And I think we begin to allow the busyness to override the strength we have in us to handle it.

Three Real Causes of Burnout

1. We lose touch with people.

I was speaking just a couple of days ago with a dear friend of mine. He’s a mentor, a coach, a friend from a distance that I’ve looked up to for a long time now. And we were talking candidly about discouragement. And he was saying that when he’s discouraged, he has a tendency to retreat and to go be alone and just try to process it all, or try to work through it all, try to fix it all, or just avoid it all.

I start to think that if I can get away from people and have more time to fix all this stuff, then the burnout will go away. And it really just makes it worse because relationships are life-giving. So when you’re hurting, you need to go be with people. And when you know someone who’s hurting, you got to be a people for them.

When I isolate, it becomes a downward spiral of isolation. And I get lonelier and lonelier until I’m all alone trying to deal with burnout. So what really leads to burnout is we lose touch with people.

2. We lose touch with ourselves.

In other words, we lose our sense of identity. I forget who I am. I forget what I’ve defined myself to be and I start trying to find that identity and the affirmation of others. And there are always people to give us affirmation.

3. We lose touch with our Creator.

I can tell you that getting in touch with God, having a daily time with the One who created me, who wants me in a relationship with himself, is absolutely vital to me staying fresh, spiritually, personally, and emotionally in my life. I need to be in touch with the one who is bigger and smarter and more powerful than I am, who manages my life better than I ever could.

How to Recover from Burnout

And I want to talk about how to get out of that because, again, I believe the world needs you.

1. Take some time alone.

First off, take some time alone. It may be that you take time away from your projects and away from your work and even away from people to take time alone.

I personally get up early in the morning. It’s part of my alone time. I try to get up before everybody else while it’s still dark outside, drink a bottle of water real quick and get a cup of coffee, sit down, and I’m awake and I’m alert and I pray. I might journal, or write, or whatever, but it’s time alone to think and to process.

Jesus exemplified this. The Bible always says multiple times that he drew himself apart for prayer. He spent time with God to recharge and to refocus.

So you need time alone, but be careful that you don’t miss out on the second big step.

2. Spend time with people.

Don’t use alone time as an excuse to stay away from people. I’ve never known anyone to receive long term healing in isolation. It’s just not the way God designed us.

You need relationships deeply. So you need to be texting people, hanging out with people, talking to people, sharing with people, spending time with people. It doesn’t have to be all about you. It’s not that you’re going to people and going, hey, I just want to talk about my burnout again. That that may or may not be appropriate all the time. I do think you need to talk to somebody about it, but I’m just talking about doing life with people and encouraging other people.

In fact, the more time you spend encouraging other people, the more life it gives to you. There’s a great book on influence called, Never Eat Alone, and it’s all about connecting with people. And it basically says, don’t waste your mealtime eating a meal in the car by yourself – always try to set up a lunch with somebody. I’m not challenging you to do that, necessarily. But do try to find opportunities to get together with people. You need people in your life.

Our church staff has a weekly meeting and it’s one of the most life-giving times of my week, not so much because we get a lot of planning done, but because of the time and proximity with each other, hanging out, and laughing together. We laugh a lot with one another. We laugh a lot at one another.

Spend time with people, have a date night with your spouse, get away from the business, the overwhelm and just spend some time with people.

3. Realign with Your Purpose

I’m a Christian. I have a relationship with God, and one of the best books ever written is The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren.

It really has been a driving force in my life because I believe strongly that I’m planned for God’s pleasure. So I have this purpose of worshiping. I gather with a church family once a week and I worship with them and I pray daily and that’s part of my worship.

I also believe I was made for relationships with other people. That’s one of God’s purposes for my life. So I’m in a small group and I get together with people and I try to encourage people.

One of my purposes is to serve other people. I do that in a lot of different ways – by preaching, by blogging, sometimes by counseling, or advising.

I believe it’s healthy to sit down sometimes and just write a sentence that sums up what you are most passionate about doing with your life.

I recently did this. I sat down and I wrote out a sentence about my life and it was really, really short.

I want to spend my life helping people find freedom.

Out of that came a renewed emphasis within my church on preaching a series about healing and helping some ministries get off the ground that are designed to help people find freedom.

Out of that came my podcast and another website that I’m developing with a friend called The Unstrapped Life. It’s going to be all about financial freedom and work freedom and life freedom.

As you realign with your purpose, you’re going to have to refocus and weed some things out. There’s a lot of power in saying no, and one of the factors that leads to burnout is that we don’t like to say no to people. So we say yes to everything.

Our unwillingness to say no ultimately comes out of trying to find our identity in the affirmation of people. If I say yes to them, they’ll affirm me, they’ll like me, they’ll appreciate me. I need to serve people out of my purpose, but not feel obligated to commit to serving people in ways that don’t align with my purpose.

If you’re in leadership, delegation is key. And I don’t even like the word delegation – I like the word empowering.

I wrote book about how the Church can use social media. So that’s a big area for me. Letting go of our church’s social media was a huge challenge for me. But I did. I entrusted Martha Brown, who now serves as our Communications Director. She does a phenomenal job with social media – better than I would have done, better than I would be doing.

She manages it consistently and gives our church a great voice on social media. I was afraid to let it go because if I don’t control it, but the fact is, by giving it away, I got to empower someone else who now gets a lot of fulfillment from it and does a great job with it.

Write out a sentence that describes what your life is all about. What are you gifted to do? What are you called to do? What is your shape? What is your identity? What are you here to do?

Mine is to help people find freedom. What is yours?

How has God wired you to serve other people, to impact the world? What do you do with all of that?

So, that’s how you recover from burnout. And that’s also how you prevent burnout.

I don’t think it’s about balance. I don’t think it’s about priorities. I don’t even think it’s about time management, specifically. It is about making sure that your day, your relationships, your activities are aligned with God’s purpose for your life.

Remember, you are needed. God loves you. You can do this. You have in you what it takes to make an impact on the world.

Discuss: By the way, if you can state your life purpose in a sentence or two, leave it in the comments below!

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Source: Digital Leadership Podcast: What’s Killing Your Leadership? Burnout!

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