The Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast: Recent Episodes
Joshua Gagnon
Welcome to the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast. Pastor Josh is the founding and lead pastor of Next Level Church, a unique move of God with multiple locations. You can learn more about him at www.joshuagagnon.com or about NLC at www.nextlevel.church. He is passionate about helping other leaders and pastors communicate the love of Jesus more effectively and grow in their leadership.
Today’s episode is a special one for The Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast. Pastor Josh has decided it’s time for The JGLP to temporarily “timeout.”
Curious what exactly that means? Tune in for this month’s episode of The Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast.
If you enjoy listening to this podcast, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Connect with Pastor Joshua Gagnon:
Website: https://joshuagagnon.com
Twitter: @joshgagnon
Facebook: @Pastor Josh Gagnon
Instagram: @joshgagnon
Welcome to the 250th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
Do you ever find yourself in the endless scroll of social media wondering how you just wasted four hours?
How are we supposed to connect with what’s most important in a hyper connected social world?
Social media has the power to do a lot of good, but it can also get in the way of authenticity and create a sense of disillusionment.
Join Pastor Roman Archer as he sits down with Pastor Rob Singleton to talk about his new book “Overliked: Finding Direction, Courage, and Meaningful Relationships in a Society Crippled by Social Media”
Connect with Pastor Rob Singleton:
Website/Get the Book: robsingleton.com
Twitter: @Rob_Singleton
Facebook: Pastor Rob Singleton
Instagram: @Rob_Singleton
Connect with Pastor Joshua Gagnon:
Website: https://joshuagagnon.com
Twitter: @joshgagnon
Facebook: @Pastor Josh Gagnon
Instagram: @joshgagnon
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Welcome to the 249th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
This is a leadership podcast, but have you ever asked yourself the question “what is leadership really?” Is a leader’s goal to be popular? To be known? To be respected? Or should a leader’s goal be simply, a person who is worth following?
Tune in for the answers to these questions and more as Pastor Roman Archer and Pastor Shane Becton sit down to have a real conversation about leadership and what it means to be a leader who is worth following.
Connect with Pastor Joshua Gagnon:
Website: https://joshuagagnon.com
Twitter: @joshgagnon
Facebook: @Pastor Josh Gagnon
Instagram: @joshgagnon
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Welcome to the 248th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
On this month’s episode of The Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podast, join us for a conversation on the difference between Finishing and Completing.
Pastor Shane Becton, Executive Pastor of Family Ministries at Next Level Church and host of the Parenting On Purpose Podcast, sits down with NLC’s Creative Pastor, Graham Siemon for a conversation on leadership.
Connect with Shane Becton:
Podcast: Parenting On Purpose
Facebook: @Shane Becton
Connect with Pastor Joshua Gagnon:
Website: https://joshuagagnon.com
Twitter: @joshgagnon
Facebook: @Pastor Josh Gagnon
Instagram: @joshgagnon
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Welcome to the 247th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
On this month’s episode of The Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podast, join Roman as he sits down with Trauma-Informed Therapist, Author, and Heartlifter, Janell Rardon as she talks about her brand new book called “Stronger Every Day.”
If you feel like you are stuck, not growing, or feel as though you should be farther along, then this episode is for you.
Connect with Janell Rardon:
Website: https://www.janellrardon.com
Buy the Book: Stronger Every Day
Instagram: @janellrardon
Twitter: @janellrardon
Facebook: @janellrardonauthor
Connect with Pastor Joshua Gagnon:
Website: https://joshuagagnon.com
Twitter: @joshgagnon
Facebook: @Pastor Josh Gagnon
Instagram: @joshgagnon
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Welcome to the 246th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
In today’s culture, true rest is often hard to come by. But what is resting really? Can it be achieved in an ever changing culture that values being “On” at every waking moment? Tune in as Roman sits down with Next Level Church’s Creative Pastor, Graham Siemon, for a conversation on what it might take to uncover the lost rhythm of rest.
Books Mentioned in today’s podcast:
Subversive Sabbath
The Deeply Formed Life
The Sabbath
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Connect with Graham Siemon
Instagram: @grahamsiemon
Facebook: Graham Siemon
Connect with Roman Archer:
Instagram: @archerra
Twitter: @archerra
Facebook: @romanarcher
Connect with Joshua Gagnon:
Website: https://joshuagagnon.com
Twitter: @joshgagnon
Facebook: @Pastor Josh Gagnon
Instagram: @joshgagnon
Welcome to the 245th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
Has disappointment made you consider quitting that job, relationship, or activity that you once loved? Disappointment is normal, but you can’t let it define you or lead you to quit. Join Pastor Josh and Pastor Roman as they talk about what you and your family can learn from disappointments in everyday life.
Connect with Pastor Joshua Gagnon:
Website: https://joshuagagnon.com
Twitter: @joshgagnon
Facebook: @Pastor Josh Gagnon
Instagram: @joshgagnon
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Welcome to the 244th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
Toxic thoughts, depression, anxiety are all part of our mental mess, and it is becoming increasingly more difficult to sustain a clean mental mind in this day and age. Is this just our new way of living? Should we be content with our mental mess, or is there a way to clean it up?
Join Pastor Josh as he sits down with Dr. Caroline Leaf, in this special two-part episode, as they talk about her new book, “Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess” and how there is in fact hope and help available for us as we pursue a clean mind.
Connect with Dr. Caroline Leaf:
Website: https://drleaf.com
Twitter: @DrCarolineLeaf
Facebook: @DrCarolineLeaf
Instagram: @DrCarolineLeaf
Book: www.cleaningupyourmentalmess.com
Connect with Pastor Joshua Gagnon:
Website: https://joshuagagnon.com
Twitter: @joshgagnon
Facebook: @Pastor Josh Gagnon
Instagram: @joshgagnon
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Welcome to the 243rd episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
Toxic thoughts, depression, anxiety are all part of our mental mess, and it is becoming increasingly more difficult to sustain a clean mental mind in this day and age. Is this just our new way of living? Should we be content with our mental mess, or is there a way to clean it up?
Join Pastor Josh as he sits down with Dr. Caroline Leaf, in this special two-part episode, as they talk about her new book, “Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess” and how there is in fact hope and help available for us as we pursue a clean mind.
Connect with Dr. Caroline Leaf:
Website: https://drleaf.com
Twitter: @DrCarolineLeaf
Facebook: @DrCarolineLeaf
Instagram: @DrCarolineLeaf
Book: www.cleaningupyourmentalmess.com
Connect with Pastor Joshua Gagnon:
Website: https://joshuagagnon.com
Twitter: @joshgagnon
Facebook: @Pastor Josh Gagnon
Instagram: @joshgagnon
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Welcome to the 242nd episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
Have you stepped into a position of leadership where the thing you are leading is something you didn’t start? Leadership over anything is difficult in any and every situation, but it’s entirely different to lead something you didn’t start.
Join Pastor Roman Archer as he sits down to have a conversation with extraordinary leader, Tyler Reagin, as they talk about how to lead things you didn’t start to a place of health and where you want them to go. The principles for this discussion are based on Tyler’s brand new book, Leading Things You Didn’t Start.
Previous Episode Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast featuring Tyler: Being a Life-Giving Leader with Tyler Reagin
Connect with Tyler Reagin:
Tyler’s Website: https://www.tylerreagin.com
Tyler on Instagram: @tylerreagin
Tyler on Twitter: @tylerreagin
Tyler on Facebook: Tyler Reagin
Connect with Pastor Josh:
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/joshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
In this SPECIAL EDITION of The Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast, Pastor Josh sits down with the Governor of New Hampshire, Chris Sununu.
Tune in for an inside look into his life: What it means to be a Governor amidst a crazy political season, but even more what it means to be a human, husband, and father navigating the ups and downs of life on this earth.
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Connect with Governor Sununu:
Website: https://www.governor.nh.gov
Twitter: @chrissununu
Facebook: @chrissununuforgovernor
Instagram: @chrissununu
Connect with Joshua Gagnon:
Website: https://joshuagagnon.com
Twitter: @joshgagnon
Facebook: @Pastor Josh Gagnon
Instagram: @joshgagnon
Welcome to the 240th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Connect with Pastor Josh:
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/joshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
Why do people continue to leave the Church? Here’s a HINT: It’s not because it’s not cool or hip enough. Yet that’s one of the many approaches to Church gatherings that may or may not work anymore.
If we want to stop the constant exodus from the Church and faith by many generations, we as Church leaders must learn to respond and change even to meet people where they are.
Join Pastor Roman Archer and Author, Pastor, and Life Strategist: Benjamin Windle, as they talk about Ben’s newfound research on how to lead and love the generations to come.
Connect with Benjamin Windle:
Website: https://www.benjaminwindle.com
Twitter: @benwindle
Facebook: @benjaminwindlepage
Instagram: @benjaminwindle
Book: Eight Innovations to Leading Millennials
Welcome to the 239th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Connect with Pastor Josh:
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/joshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
Calling all couples! In this episode of Outspoken, Pastor Roman sits down with Toni Nieuwhof to talk about the idea that it is possible to leave your unhappiness but not your spouse. Far too often in our marital relationship, we see the exit as the only way out. Listen in to discover some key principles to a happy and fulfilled marriage as Toni shares insight from her new book, “Before You Split.”
Connect with Toni Nieuwhof:
Website: https://toninieuwhof.com/
Twitter: @ToniNieuwhof
Facebook: @Toni Karsikas Nieuwhof
Instagram: @toninieuwhof
Podcast: https://smartfamilypodcast.com/
Welcome to the 238th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Connect with Pastor Josh:
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/joshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
Join special guest host, Graham Siemon for an intriguing, thought provoking, and exciting in-depth interview with musical artist, John Mark McMillan. Listen in as they talk about the songwriting process, why shark bites aren’t all that common, and how exactly the great theological debate of a sloppy wet kiss came to be. All that and more in this special episode of Outspoken.
Connect with John Mark McMillan:
Instagram: @johnmarkmcmillan
Twitter: @johnmarkmc
Facebook: John Mark McMillan
Website: www.johnmarkmcmillan.com
Connect with Graham Siemon:
Instagram: @grahamsiemon
Facebook: Graham Siemon
Welcome to the 237th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Connect with Pastor Josh:
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/joshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
In today’s episode, Pastor Roman sits down to have a conversation with special guests Jay Stewart and Derrick Hawkins on their new book, Welded: Forming Racial Bonds That Last. Tune in to hear an inspiring story on two Pastors merging their churches and uniting a community amidst racial tension.
Connect with Jay Stewart:
Instagram: @PsJayStewart
Facebook: @PsJayStewart
Twitter: @PsJayStewart
Connect with Derrick Hawkins:
Instagram: @derrickhwkn
Facebook: Derrick Hawkins
Twitter: @derrickhwkn
Additional Links:
The Refuge Church
Get a free excerpt of Welded
Amazon link to purchase Welded
Welded YouVersion Reading Plan
Welcome to the 236th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Connect with Pastor Josh:
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/joshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
In today’s episode, Pastor Josh and Pastor Roman have a conversation about leading in 2020. If you are a leader, then you know how hard it is to lead when the path is uncharted. And since March of 2020, every leader on the planet has had to lead into the unknown. Let’s tune in and take a pause as Pastor Josh shares one thing that he wishes he would’ve done differently and the importance of clear direction in seasons of uncertainty.
Welcome to the 235th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Connect with Pastor Josh:
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/joshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
In today’s episode, Pastor Roman welcomes a special guest, Ken Costa, speaker and author of “God at Work”, “Know your Why” “Strange Kingdom” and “Joseph of Arimathea.” Listen as Ken and Pastor Roman unpack the importance of keeping your life centered around Christ even when everything around you seems to be falling apart.
Additional Links:
Website: https://www.godatwork.org.uk
Books: https://www.godatwork.org.uk/books
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kenjcosta
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kenjcosta/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kenjcosta?lang=en
Also, don’t forget to subscribe to Pastor Josh’s newest podcast, “Outspoken with Joshua Gagnon.” You can listen to the promo by clicking this link, https://apple.co/3dsBf9t!
Welcome to the 234th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Connect with Pastor Josh:
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/joshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
In today’s episode, Pastor Josh welcomes a special guest, Dr. Gary Chapman, best selling author of “The 5 Love Languages.” Listen as Dr. Gary Chapman, and Pastor Josh unpacks the 5 Love Languages and shares wisdom for all. This is one you don’t want to miss! To hear the entire conversation, head over to the “Outspoken with Joshua Gagnon” podcast.
Additional Links:
Website: https://www.5lovelanguages.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/5lovelanguages
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/5lovelanguages/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/drgarychapman
Also, don’t forget to subscribe to Pastor Josh’s newest podcast, “Outspoken with Joshua Gagnon.” You can listen to the promo by clicking this link, https://apple.co/3dsBf9t!
Welcome to the 233rd episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Connect with Pastor Josh:
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/joshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
In today’s episode, Pastor Josh welcomes his good friend, Adam Weber, a pastor, speaker and author. Listen in as Adam shares his incredible story and brand new book, Love Has a Name, which released on August 25th, 2020!
Additional Links:
Website: https://adamweber.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adamaweber
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adamaweber
Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamweber
Also, don’t forget to subscribe to Pastor Josh’s newest podcast, “Outspoken with Joshua Gagnon.” You can listen to the promo by clicking this link, https://apple.co/3dsBf9t!
Welcome to the 232nd episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Connect with Pastor Josh:
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/joshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
In today’s episode, Pastor Josh welcomes his good friend, Sam Collier, a pastor, speaker, author, and host of the A Greater Story with Sam Collier TV show and radio podcast. Listen in as he shares his incredible story and new book, A Greater Story: My Rescue, Your Purpose and Our Place in God’s Plan, which was released on August 4th, 2020!
Additional Links:
Website: https://agreaterstory.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SamCollierTV
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samcollier
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamCollier
Also, don’t forget to subscribe to Pastor Josh’s newest podcast, “Outspoken with Joshua Gagnon.” You can listen to the promo by clicking this link, https://apple.co/3dsBf9t!
Welcome to a bonus episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Connect with Pastor Josh:
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/joshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
Join Pastor Josh as he shares a bonus episode of his new podcast, “Outspoken with Joshua Gagnon,” which launches TODAY! This week he welcomes Zachary Fowler, the winner of season three and current record holder for the longest stay in the history of the show “Alone.” Listen in as they discuss the dynamics of the show and what made this unusual homesteader tick.
If you enjoyed this episode and what to hear more unqualified, unfiltered, and (sometimes) even unwanted takes on current events, faith, and culture - be sure to subscribe now, so you don’t miss the next drop! You can listen to the promo by clicking this link, https://apple.co/3dsBf9t!
Welcome to the 231st episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Connect with Pastor Josh:
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/joshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
Join Pastor Roman as he welcomes Deborah Pegues, CPA/MBA, and bestselling author of “30 Days to Taming Your Tongue,” which sold over one million sold worldwide. Listen in as they have a candid and inspiring conversation on finding her path in leadership. Deborah also discusses her newest book that is releasing in August 2020, “Lead Like a Woman: Gain Confidence, Navigate Obstacles, Empower Others” - based on embracing inherent traits that God has given a woman that will make her successful.
Additional Links:
Website: https://www.confrontingissues.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DeborahSmithPegues/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deborahsmithpegues/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/deborahpegues
Also, don’t forget to subscribe to Pastor Josh’s newest podcast, “Outspoken with Joshua Gagnon.” You can listen to the promo by clicking this link, https://apple.co/3dsBf9t!
Welcome to the 230th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Connect with Pastor Josh:
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/joshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
WE HAVE SOME BIG NEWS!!! We’re excited to share that this Thursday, June 25th, Next Level Church will be regathering in our Somersworth location - where Pastor Josh will preach! Secondly, Pastor Josh is getting ready to start a brand new podcast called “Outspoken with Joshua Gagnon,” and you are going to love it. It’s going to be a podcast of authentic, raw, and real conversions that we face daily in our culture. Go to wherever you stream your podcasts to listen to the promo! And subscribe!
You can listen to the promo by clicking this link, https://apple.co/3dsBf9t
Welcome to the 229th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Connect with Pastor Josh:
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/joshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
In this episode, Pastor Daniel King interviews Pastor Walt Robbins in a conversation on how he fell into the role of an Executive Assistant and an Armor-Bearer for Lead Pastor Josh. Listen as Pastor Walt explains his role and shares advice for someone who might be entering into the role.
Welcome to the 228th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Connect with Pastor Josh:
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/joshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
Today’s episode is a little different, given everything going on in our country. Listen as Pastor Roman and Pastor Josh have a compelling discussion on how Next Level Church is staying relevant and addressing what culture is facing today while bringing God’s word into the conversation. It’s an episode you definitely don’t want to miss.
Welcome to the 227th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Connect with Pastor Josh:
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/joshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
In this episode, Pastor Roman welcomes guests, Devin Craig, Production Director, and Graham Siemon, Creative Pastor at Next Level Church in a conversation on how the creative team has adapted during COVID-19. Listen as they share the different platforms and streaming services they’ve used, challenges they’ve faced, and their plans after COVID-19.
To contact the creative team, email graham.siemon@nextlevel.church or devin.craig@nextlevel.church. Thanks for listening!
Welcome to the 226th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Connect with Pastor Josh:
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/joshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
In this episode, Pastor Daniel joins Pastor Josh in a conversation on reopening physical church buildings. Listen as they share their thoughts on when they believe it's an appropriate time to reopen church buildings.
Click on joshuagagnon.com/reopen/ to receive your free copy of our exclusive "When Should The Church Reopen" resource today!
Welcome to the 225th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Connect with Pastor Josh:
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/joshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
In this episode, Pastor Josh and Pastor Roman explain the major differences between encouragement versus vision. Listen as they share their thoughts as to why it is so important for leaders to clearly communicate the vision and also give encouragement to their team.
Welcome to the 224th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Connect with Pastor Josh:
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
In this episode, Pastor Josh and Pastor Roman discuss the challenges they’ve faced during the shutdown of churches during the coronavirus pandemic. Listen as they share their thoughts on the phases of church reopening amid COVID-19.
Welcome to the 223rd episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Connect with Pastor Josh:
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
In this episode, Pastor Josh and Pastor Roman continue the conservation regarding three challenging questions to ask leaders. Listen in as they discuss the third question, “am I making much of Jesus or much of me?”
Welcome to the 222nd episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Connect with Pastor Josh:
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
In this episode, Pastor Josh and Pastor Roman continue the conservation regarding three challenging questions to ask leaders. Listen as they discuss the second question, “am I being careless or am I being cautious?”
Make sure you tune in next week as we continue with part 3 of this conversation!
Welcome to the 221st episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Connect with Pastor Josh:
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
In this episode, Pastor Josh and Pastor Roman start a new conservation regarding three challenging questions to ask leaders. Listen as they discuss the first question, “if you were hired to replace yourself today, what would you do differently in your job?”
Make sure you tune in next week as we continue with part 2 of this conversation!
Welcome to the 220th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Connect with Pastor Josh:
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
Takeaways for Leaders:
Questions to ask when identifying leaders
5) Can they create or cast vision? Leaders need to inspire others.
6) Do they show a willingness to take responsibility? Leaders need to be the quickest to take responsibility and shouldn’t be intimidated by failure.
7) Do they finish the job? Leaders need to have a tenacity to not give up.
8) Are they tough-minded? Leaders need to get through the criticism.
Hope these questions benefit you in your search for leadership in your organization!
Welcome to the 219th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Connect with Pastor Josh:
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
Takeaways for Leaders:
Questions to ask when identifying leaders
- Do they have a constructive spirit of discontentment? Leaders have ideas to do things better.
- Do they offer practical ideas? Leaders have practical solutions.
- Is anybody listening? Leaders have a tribe or a crowd.
- Does anyone respect them? Leaders are respected.
Make sure you tune in next week as we continue with part 2 of this conversation!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it in a future episode!
Connect with Pastor Josh:
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
Today’s episode is a conversation about the new normal of church during Coronavirus. Listen as Pastor Josh and Pastor Roman discuss leading through the crisis and how it has forced them to redefine the direction of Next Level Church.
For finance questions, email daniel.king@nextlevel.church
Welcome to the 217th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it in a future episode!
Connect with Pastor Josh:
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
In today’s episode, we hear from the First Lady of Next Level Church, Jennifer Gagnon. She discusses being married in ministry and how to balance them so that she can love the ministry and her husband, and also experience a full marriage.
Welcome to the 216th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it in a future episode!
Connect with Pastor Josh:
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
In today’s episode, we hear from Pastor Josh and Daniel King, the Operations Pastor at Next Level Church. They discuss the impact that COVID-19 is having on churches across the country, and the decisions they’ve made, and considerations for the future.
Welcome to the 215th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it in a future episode!
Connect with Pastor Josh:
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
Easter is one of the most attended weekend experiences of the year - but you already know that. How do you plan to handle the added guests you are likely to see on this important weekend? In today’s episode, we dive into that topic!
Previous podcasts related to this topic:
Episode 209: How to Develop Creative Content
Episode 107: Easter Mistakes
Welcome to the 214th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it in a future episode!
Connect with Pastor Josh:
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
In today’s episode, Pastor Josh interviews Jeff Jerina who is the host and founder of Men Unplugged! Jeff also recently released a new book, “Faith Without Fear.” See the links below for more details.
Men Unplugged website: https://MenUnplugged.net
Faith Without Fear book (with a discount + FREE shipping and FREE resources for your audience): https://MenUnplugged.net/FaithWithoutFear
To find out more / speaking / and group coaching: https://menunplugged.net/speaking/
Men Unplugged Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/menunplugged/
Welcome to the 213th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it in a future episode!
Connect with Pastor Josh:
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
In today’s episode, Pastor Josh reads a chapter of his newest book It’s Not Over, about chasing our God-given dreams. It’s Not Over released today! To purchase a copy, please visit www.itsnotoverbook.com!
Welcome to the 212th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Connect with Pastor Josh:
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
In today’s episode, Pastor Josh sits down to discuss his writing process on his newest book It’s Not Over, all about finding the courage and hope to dream again. It’s Not Over will release on Tuesday, February 25, but you can pre-order your copy by visiting www.itsnotoverbook.com!
Welcome to the 211th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Connect with Pastor Josh:
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
Pre-order your copy of Pastor Josh’s upcoming book, It’s Not Over by visiting www.itsnotoverbook.com! You can also sign up to receive a sneak peek of the book!
Takeaways for Leaders:
Three things that leaders should be working on:
- IQ - Intelligence Quotient. Always desire to grow and gain intelligence. The moment our competency ends, our lid is reached. The only way to know what you don’t know is to learn what you don’t know. Leaders should be connecting with people who are a step or two above us and learn from them and help us expand our competence.
- EQ - Emotional Quotient. Far more people will be held back as leaders because of their emotional maturity rather than their intelligence.
- AQ - Adaptability Quotient. If you’re not able to adapt or be willing to change, then you’re going to be left behind. We have to be people who are willing to adapt to the situations and circumstances that we are placed in. Leaders should be able to change with the culture, organization, and personal growth.
Welcome to the 210th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Connect with Pastor Josh:
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
Pre-order your copy of Pastor Josh’s upcoming book, It’s Not Over by visiting www.itsnotoverbook.com! You can also sign up to receive a sneak peak of the book!
Takeaways for Leaders:
“Usually things look different in the morning than they do in the moment, so it’s best to try and wait until the morning to address certain moments.” - Joshua Gagnon
Addressing issues in the moment typically involves impulsive emotion.
Pastor Josh admits that early on in ministry, he always thought he needed the answers in order to solidify his role. However, the older he gets, the more he recognizes that sometimes not giving an answer is actually what solidifies his role.
Nobody’s looking for a perfect leader, but they are looking for honest leaders. Honest leaders are people who are honestly imperfect. The best leaders recognize that they got it wrong but are willing to make it right.
There’s a major difference between reaction when it comes to a leader and action when it comes to a leader. Take action toward a situation, don’t react towards a person.
Welcome to the 209th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
Pre-order your copy of Pastor Josh’s upcoming book, It’s Not Over by visiting www.itsnotoverbook.com! You can also sign up to receive a sneak peak of the book!
Today’s episode is a conversation with Pastor Graham Siemon, who serves as NLC’s Creative Pastor. Listen in as he talks about creating content for the weekends.
Graham’s email: graham.siemon@nextlevel.church
Mentioned in this Episode:
Example of a message outline
Takeaways for Leaders:
How far out are we typically planned?
2-3 series ahead for the team. Personal message content is 1 week out.
Live in the creative pattern you work in.
Our culture as a creative team is a “start with ‘yes’” mentality.
Where does your idea for message series begin? Do you have any sort of annual flow you try and follow?
We try to be culturally and seasonally relevant, and reach the felt needs of the people of our church.
Ask: What in culture is already creating a series?
Whatever is on Pastor Josh’s heart.
Look in the past at which series was the most impactful.
How many weekends a year do you aim to teach and why that number?
30-35.
There’s a danger of only having one voice in the house.
Any tips on identifying and developing a teaching team?
Be okay with someone who is 70% as good as you are. Recognize that the church won’t crumble because you aren’t on stage. We stick to a similar structure no matter who is teaching, but don’t mimic the same teaching style and personality as another. Be yourself on stage. Don’t be afraid to reach out to teaching pastors at other churches and ask to use one of their messages, allowing you to have a week off.
Welcome to the 208th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
Pre-order your copy of Pastor Josh’s upcoming book, It’s Not Over by visiting www.itsnotoverbook.com! You can also sign up to receive a sneak peak of the book!
Today’s episode is a conversation with Pastor Shane Becton, who serves as the Next Level Church Somersworth location pastor. Listen in as he talks about how we have cultivated a culture of generosity at Next Level Church.
Shane's email: shane.becton@nextlevel.church
Takeaways for Leaders:
When talking about giving in church, we want people to see the blessing that comes along with financial obedience and remove any barriers people might be facing.
Allow and encourage people to simply start somewhere in their giving journey.
Make yourself available and create opportunities to talk to people about giving off the stage (in the lobby, on the phone, at coffee meetings, etc).
The units equal obedience. The dollar amount can be a skewed figure, so giving units is the number we focus on because it shows the discipleship growth and health.
Welcome to the 207th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
Pre-order your copy of Pastor Josh’s upcoming book, It’s Not Over by visiting www.itsnotoverbook.com! You can also sign up to receive a sneak peak of the book!
Takeaways for Leaders:
What is one habit that you gave up in 2019 that you’re glad you did?
Pastor Josh Gagnon: The desire for approval from people. I never let people speak into my life unless they sweat alongside of me. We need to determine who’s voice matters and turn the volume up.
Walt Robbins: Saying “yes” to everything.
Kenny Laughters: Caring what other people think about my leadership.
Michael Grayston: Looking at my phone when I’m talking to people.
Josue Higueros: Looking at my email at night.
Pablo Lopez: Not using my vacation.
Alan Morse: Being passive.
Bryan Levangie: Infrequent prayers.
Welcome to the 206th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
Pre-order your copy of Pastor Josh’s upcoming book, It’s Not Over by visiting www.itsnotoverbook.com! You can also sign up to receive a sneak peak of the book!
Takeaways for Leaders:
What is one habit that you started in 2019 that you’re glad you did?
Pastor Josh Gagnon: Becoming more of a father and less of a brother to those that I lead. There’s a difference between a spiritual father and a spiritual brother. The weight of the words of a father is different than the weight of the words of a brother.
Walt Robbins: Listening to more audiobooks and taking advantage of my time in my car.
Kenny Laughters: Lead more and do less.
Michael Grayston: Calling out good moments when I see them.
Josue Higueros: Using reminders app on my iPhone.
Pablo Lopez: Going to bed early.
Alan Morse: Writing things down.
Bryan Levangie: Working out.
Welcome to the 205th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
Pre-order your copy of Pastor Josh’s upcoming book, It’s Not Over by visiting www.itsnotoverbook.com! You can also sign up to receive a sneak peak of the book!
Takeaways for Leaders:
Not everyone will see things the same way as you. Your job as a leader is to understand different perspectives and play off of their strengths.
External thinkers vs internal thinkers. Learn how you process things and how those around you process things.
Welcome to the 204th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
Pre-order your copy of Pastor Josh’s upcoming book, It’s Not Over by visiting www.itsnotoverbook.com! You can also sign up to receive a sneak peak of the book!
This episode will look back at the best moments of the podcast from 2019. They are taken from the following episodes:
Ep 153: Great Leaders Make Great Coaches
Ep 173: How to Be a Leader Worth Following Pt 1
Ep 172: Two More Paths that Lead to Discontentment
Ep 181: Turning Opposition into Opportunity
Ep 178: Leadership Lessons from the Wilderness Pt 1
Ep 163: Temptations for Growing Organizations Pt 1
Thank you for your continued support of this podcast in 2019! We look forward to 2020!
Welcome to the 203rd episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
Pre-order your copy of Pastor Josh’s upcoming book, It’s Not Over by visiting www.itsnotoverbook.com! You can also sign up to receive a sneak peak of the book!
Takeaways for Leaders:
We’re going to work hardest at what is most fun for us.
The moments when we celebrate together will be the glue that holds us together when we’re in the fiery furnace.
When we face the difficult seasons, we can’t have our teams falling apart. The sticky aspect of our teams will be celebration, passion, and building each other up.
It’s all about building the character that will strengthen the culture to sustain the organization.
Start by building a foundation of culture, then deal with tasks.
Teams that are stuck together stick together.
Welcome to the 202nd episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
Pre-order your copy of Pastor Josh’s upcoming book, It’s Not Over by visiting www.itsnotoverbook.com! You can also sign up to receive a sneak peak of the book!
Takeaways for Leaders:
Keep doing the things that you actually enjoy.
Keep doing the things that you’re gifted at.
God is working more in you than through you.
Stop being so small-minded that you miss the reality that what you’re doing today may not be where you hoped or wished to be. However, what God is doing in you, for you today may be the very ingredients that’s needed to catapult you into greater success tomorrow.
Welcome to the 201st episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
Pre-order your copy of Pastor Josh’s upcoming book, It’s Not Over by visiting www.itsnotoverbook.com! You can also sign up to receive a sneak peak of the book!
Today’s episode is part 3 of a continued conversation of episodes 199 and 200. If you missed them, go back and take a listen!
Takeaways for Leaders:
Sometimes I need you to encourage me. Sometimes I need you to bring me good news.
It’s okay to be open with me about your struggles. Not everyone has this culture to be open, but it reflects the personality and leadership style of Pastor Josh in his authenticity. Being honest with where you’re struggling is not a sign of weakness; it’s an opportunity to build trust.
Own the vision as your own. Once the decision has been made, you should be on board. A healthy team looks like everyone recognizing everyone’s contribution and working towards the same goal. Don’t be a coward - don’t wait until things go wrong to speak up against it and complain about the results.
Just pray for me. All leaders feel the weight and burden of the calling God has for them. There’s power in prayer and knowing that you’re cared for.
Welcome to the 200th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
Pre-order your copy of Pastor Josh’s upcoming book, It’s Not Over by visiting www.itsnotoverbook.com! You can also sign up to receive a sneak peak of the book!
To celebrate our 200th episode, we’re giving away a $200 Amazon gift card! To enter, post your favorite JGLP episode on social media using #JGLP200. We’ll select a winner on Tuesday, December 3rd, 2019!
Today’s episode is a continued conversation of episode 199, with the first 3 things your leader wishes they could say to you. If you missed last week’s episode, go back and take a listen!
Takeaways for Leaders:
Understand which hat you’re wearing at which moment. Some relationships need to be defined and balanced. For example: your pastor is your boss, your co-worker is your friend, your boss is your friend, etc.
I need you to do whatever it takes. You should never hear anyone on the team say, “That was never in my job description.” There’s a big difference between “I will” and I’m willing”.
Ask me questions and bring me possible solutions, not just problems. Don’t just identify the problem, offer a solution to the problem. Sometimes you can just fix the problem without needing to bring it up.
Be on the lookout for part 3 of this conversation on the next episode!
Welcome to the 199th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
Pre-order your copy of Pastor Josh’s upcoming book, It’s Not Over by visiting www.itsnotoverbook.com! You can also sign up to receive a sneak peak of the book!
Takeaways for Leaders:
There are some things your senior leader might want you to know, but may not be comfortable sharing with you. Here are some things your leader wishes they could tell you:
When you tell me something is as important as what you tell me. Operate from a “no surprises” standpoint. How you lead up is so important. Recognize that it may be an opportune time for you to offload information to your leader, but may not be appropriate or necessary for them. Everybody’s rhythm is going to be different.
I want you to make decisions and get stuff done. Activity is better than productivity. At the end of the day, there should be results of what you’re getting done. Some things don’t need to wait for your leader’s approval, just take initiative and spearhead your ideas, as long as you’ve earned their trust. Be okay with failure and take responsibility for your mistakes.
Give me the grace to grow. It can be easy to offer grace to yourself but difficult to extend it to your leader. Having longevity in your relationship helps you to see how much your leader has grown. Perfection is not attainable this side of eternity; the goal is repentance and growing forward.
Be on the lookout for part 2 of this conversation on the 200th episode!
Welcome to the 198th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
Mentioned in this Episode:
Too Small to Ignore by Wess Stafford
Takeaways for Leaders:
The most powerful things you can say...
...as a leader: “I see potential in you.”
...as a parent: “I’m proud of you.”
...as a spouse: “Thank you.”
Welcome to the 197th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
Takeaways for Leaders:
Some principles that should be applied while married in ministry:
Pray together each night.
Invest time in your relationship alone.
Respect your spouse’s sermon.
Manage the tension of how much you share with your spouse about your ministry work.
Don’t separate your family life from ministry.
Welcome to the 196th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Senior leaders and lead pastors are invited to attend our Coaching Network! Visit www.leadbetter.church to learn more and to sign up.
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
Today's episode focuses on how we can maximize efficiency with smaller church buildings. If you have any questions, please email Operations Pastor Daniel King at daniel.king@nextlevel.church.
Takeaways for Leaders:
Rather than going for larger, more expensive facilities, NLC chooses to go for smaller, more affordable facilities that may hold less people but with maximized use (i.e. more worship services, weekly events, etc).
How can we use this space as wisely as possible?
By offering more services, we’re allowing more people to attend with more options.
Leverage the building to get used throughout the week, outside of the weekends. Partner with organizations to use it during the week to connect with the community and steward resources that come in to make the greatest impact we can.
Welcome to the 195th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Senior leaders and lead pastors are invited to join us for our Fall Coaching Network! Visit www.leadbetter.church to learn more and to sign up!
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
Takeaways for Leaders:
You have to say yes to the best things and no to the good things.
How can you determine which things are worth the cost?
Understand what the cost would mean to you.
Every sacrifice will look different to different people. Just make sure the sacrifice is adding value to the accounts that matter most.
Welcome to the 194th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Senior leaders and lead pastors are invited to join us for our Fall Coaching Network! Visit www.leadbetter.church to learn more and to sign up!
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
Today’s episode is the final part of a 3-part conversation on church growth.
Listen to Part 1 here.
Listen to Part 2 here.
Takeaways for Leaders:
The third question to ask yourself when it comes to your church’s growth:
Are guests staying?
Sticking is the terminology we would use if a guest considers our church to be the church they attend.
Staying is anywhere between the 12 and 18-month mark, when the “newness” wears off. What does the engagement look like at the 18-month mark?
Sticking is short term; staying is long term.
What will make someone stay is the enduring and inspiring nature of our vision.
Your vision should be so inspiring that people want to move beyond a participatory level.
Most people don’t just stop believing in the vision; they just feel disengaged from it.
What’s going to help people stay is the depth of your discipleship groups and serving opportunities.
People come for the culture but stay for the care.
Welcome to the 193rd episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Senior leaders and lead pastors are invited to join us this October for our Fall Coaching Network! Visit www.leadbetter.church to learn more and to sign up!
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
Today’s episode is a continued conversation from last week’s episode. You can listen to it here.
Mentioned in This Episode:
ARDA: To research church-specific data
NLC’s Assimilation Process
Takeaways for Leaders:
The second question to ask yourself when it comes to your church’s growth:
Are guests sticking?
If the primary issue is that the guests don’t stick, then we have to step back and look at the hospitality atmosphere people are walking into.
Sticking is the terminology we would use if a guest considers our church to be the church they attend.
Just because your church’s experience is good isn’t enough to make someone want to stick around. The follow-up process is the important factor to make someone feel noticed and wanted. Content is good, but there needs to be a community piece to it.
It takes constant evaluation. Evaluate everything so that it represents a welcoming community.
Choose an engaging method that will speak to your church’s demographic.
Welcome to the 192nd episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Senior leaders and lead pastors are invited to join us this October for our Fall Coaching Network! Visit www.leadbetter.church to learn more and to sign up!
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
Mentioned in This Episode:
Quotes from Rethink Leadership 2016
Takeaways for Leaders:
The first question to ask yourself when it comes to your church’s growth:
Are guests showing?
So many of our growth obstacles come from knowing if guests are showing up. About 10% attrition is normal for a church, so statistically, you need 120 new guests showing up to maintain attendance at 400 a week.
The quality of your worship experience matters when it comes to getting guests to stick around. Create an environment where guests want to invite others to your church.
Have your leadership and staff lead the way in creating an invite culture. Focus on strengthening your family ministries that add value to the lives of the kids. Be authentic and speak a language that the culture understands.
Welcome to the 191st episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Senior leaders and lead pastors are invited to join us this October for our Fall Coaching Network! Visit www.leadbetter.church to learn more and to sign up!
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
Takeaways for Leaders:
Your ministry was meant to keep the new car smell and keep current.
Relevance means connectivity.
As ministry leaders, it’s our job to make sure that our ministry does not become outdated.
What has God entrusted you with and what are you doing with it to keep it current?
You don’t have to start something new to be relevant and current. You just have to care for what the Lord has given you and move toward making it current.
Welcome to the 190th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Senior leaders and lead pastors are invited to join us this October for our Fall Coaching Network! Visit www.leadbetter.church to learn more and to sign up!
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
Today’s episode is a conversation with Pastor Shane Becton, who serves on Next Level Church’s executive team. Listen in as he gives some solid advice to anyone involved in the hiring process.
Shane's email: shane.becton@nextlevel.church
Takeaways for Leaders:
Advice for making hires:
If you need help, define the role to help answer the question of whether you need to make a hire or to find a volunteer. Document processes and standardize the role you are looking for.
Be clear with expectations. Do what you say you’re going to do.
Take it slow. Families are involved, it can get messy. It takes a toll on the team to go through the hiring process.
Advice for those looking to be hired:
Be sold out on the vision because the role could change.
Don’t be afraid to ask the hard questions.
Look for patterns to see if they do what they say.
Take it slow.
Advice for someone starting in a new role:
Recognize that you are stepping into a season of transition.
Ask questions when you don’t understand.
Welcome to the 189th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Senior leaders and lead pastors are invited to join us this October for our Fall Coaching Network! Visit www.leadbetter.church to learn more and to sign up!
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
Takeaways for Leaders:
Predictable Leadership by Les McKeown
Levels of running an organization:
- You run everything. Ask yourself, “Does everything revolve around me? If something happened to me, would the team still be able to function?”
- People can run everything. Those around you can manage your organization.
- People can grow things. The team can grow the organization outside of you spearheading every movement of growth. Y
Your team should be asking, “How can we grow without our leader’s voice? Where are we the problem?”
You should be asking, “How can I promote growth without my voice? Where am I the problem?”
Welcome to the 188th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Senior leaders and lead pastors are invited to join us this October for our Fall Coaching Network! Visit www.leadbetter.church to learn more and to sign up!
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
Takeaways for Leaders:
Text from Pastor Josh to Pastor Roman:
“Parenting is a series of races we can only run halfway with our kids. We don’t get to cross the finish line with them. We let them finish on their own after we get them started and direct their course. They have to finish with God and we have to wait at the finish line to help direct them and start their next race.”
Some of us stay in the boat far too long and don’t allow our leaders to drive.
We don’t stand at the shoreline and monitor the boat, we go into the house and trust that they can drive the boat themselves.
As leaders, we’re trying to run someone else’s race.
Welcome to the 187th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Senior leaders and lead pastors are invited to join us this October for our Fall Coaching Network! Visit www.leadbetter.church to learn more and to sign up!
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send your leadership questions to info@joshuagagnon.com
Takeaways for Leaders:
High achievement always takes place within the framework of high expectations.
Expectations need to be CIA:
Clear. They need to be communicated, and they need to be communicated well.
Inspected. You must inspect what you expect. There needs to be follow-up.
Attainable. Nobody wants unfair expectations put on them. Great leaders align expectations with the gifts on their team.
Welcome to the 186th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Senior leaders and lead pastors are invited to join us this October for our Fall Coaching Network! Visit www.leadbetter.church to learn more and to sign up!
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Pastor Josh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshgagnon
Send in your leadership questions at info@joshuagagnon.com
This episode is part 2 of a conversation about what happens after you’ve achieved your dream. To listen to part 1, visit www.joshuagagnon.com/blog/185
Takeaways for Leaders:
When we find ourselves in the pit with our lion, we must learn:
...what it looks like to have seasons.
...how to recharge.
...how to find your identity inside of your dream.
...self-discipline in your spiritual life.
Welcome to the 185th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Senior leaders and lead pastors are invited to join us this October for our Fall Coaching Network! Visit www.leadbetter.church to learn more and to sign up!
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Email for coaching network: info@joshuagagnon.com
Takeaways for Leaders
We often glamorize chasing dreams, but what happens when you get ahold of them?
A lot of people are living within a dream that is now holding you hostage.
When we find ourselves in the pit with our lion, we must learn:
...the power to stay
...the ability to innovate
Welcome to the 184th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Senior leaders and lead pastors are invited to join us this October for our Fall Coaching Network! Visit www.leadbetter.church to learn more and to sign up!
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Email for coaching network: info@joshuagagnon.com
Takeaways for Leaders:
The most joy you’ll find in leadership is to delegate.
What keeps us from delegating?
- We enjoy doing the tasks ourselves
- We do tasks that make us feel accomplished
- We do not want to burden someone else and feel guilty asking someone to do less enjoyable tasks
- We might have control issues and trust issues
- We feel like we don’t have time to teach someone to do these tasks
How do we delegate?
- Name the task and name who is going to do that task
- Define the responsibilities
- Create a timeline of transition
- Make the ask
- Execute the timeline
- Create a follow-up plan and use it
- Train them to delegate
Welcome to the 183rd episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Senior leaders and lead pastors are invited to join us this October for our Fall Coaching Network! Visit www.leadbetter.church to learn more and to sign up!
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Email for coaching network: info@joshuagagnon.com
Takeaways for Leaders:
There’s nothing wrong with making a mistake, just don’t waste a mistake. - Gordon MacDonald
Most of our work is underground work.
When the root system is healthy, you will see the fruit.
It’s the leader’s job to step back and assess whether the tree is producing healthy fruit and which branches may need to be pruned.
We don’t hire hands and doers, we look for brains and leaders.
We don’t hire for today, we hire for tomorrow.
We focus more on character and chemistry than we do competency.
Welcome to the 182nd episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Senior leaders and lead pastors are invited to join us this October for our Fall Coaching Network! Visit www.leadbetter.church to learn more and to sign up!
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Email for coaching network: info@joshuagagnon.com
Takeaways for Leaders:
Cows run from storms, while buffalo run toward them to get through the storm faster.
The longer you run away from a storm, the longer you’re in it.
Leaders that choose to run from storms have to face the anxiety of the storm prior to living in it.
One of the dangers of being a buffalo is that sometimes you run into storms too soon.
Not everyone in the storm is a buffalo, so you have to remember that you may have some cows running the opposite direction away from the storm. Recognize that you might miss each other in the chaos of the storm.
Cows that run from the storm are reactive, while buffalo that run toward the storm are more proactive.
It’s not just about getting to the blue sky; it’s about getting to the blue sky healthy.
Welcome to the 181th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Email for coaching network: info@joshuagagnon.com
JGLP Ep 178: http://www.joshuagagnon.com/blog/178
JGLP Ep 179: http://www.joshuagagnon.com/blog/179
JGLP Ep 180: http://www.joshuagagnon.com/blog/180
Run For The One 5K: www.runfortheone.com
Takeaways for Leaders:
Often opposition is the greatest highway towards innovation that ultimately causes you to achieve greater things than you ever could have outside of the initial opposition.
Opposition causes us to reflect on the vision.
Use opposition as an opportunity to re-examine your positioning.
Opposition allows us to restructure, re-examine our hearts, and push forwar
Welcome to the 180th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Email for coaching network: info@joshuagagnon.com
JGLP Ep 178: Leadership Lessons from the Wilderness Pt 1: http://www.joshuagagnon.com/blog/178
JGLP Ep 179: Leadership Lessons from the Wilderness Pt 2: http://www.joshuagagnon.com/blog/179
Takeaways for Leaders:
- Momentum covers a multitude of sins
- Overprepare
- Encourage everyone and critique those that are on our team
Welcome to the 179th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Email for coaching network: info@joshuagagnon.com
JGLP Ep 178: Leadership Lessons from the Wilderness: http://www.joshuagagnon.com/blog/178
Takeaways for Leaders:
- It’s important to do life with your team.
- Sometimes you have to go backwards in order to surge forward.
Welcome to the 178th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Email for coaching network: info@joshuagagnon.com
Takeaways for Leaders:
Sometimes backtracking is the best course of action.
Welcome to the 177th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Podcast email: info@joshuagagnon.com
Today's conversation is about Pastor Josh's book writing journey for his book, It's Not Over, which will be releasing early next year.
Welcome to the 176th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Email for coaching network: info@joshuagagnon.com
Takeaways for Leaders:
Proverbs 4:23:
Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.
What does guarding your heart in leadership look like?
We must guard our hearts against external & internal enemies:
- Thoughts
- Feelings
- Idols
Quotes from this episode:
"The hardest part of leadership has always been my heart." - @joshgagnon
"Surround yourself with people who also want to guard your heart." - @joshgagnon
"If everything in leadership flows from the heart, we have to lead with a heart that is pure." - @joshgagnon
"We have to be living with a guarded heart so that we can continue to make guided decisions." - @joshgagnon
Welcome to the 175th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Pastor Josh on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pastorjoshgagnon
Email for coaching network: info@joshuagagnon.com
JGLP Ep 023: Healthy Trends of Growing Churches - An Interview with Warren Bird: http://www.joshuagagnon.com/blog/023
Welcome to the 174th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
This episode is the second part in a two-part conversation. To listen to part one, click here.
Takeaways for Leaders:
What makes a leader worth following?
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They are ready to grab a shovel and dig with everyone else.
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They have optimism in the face of challenges.
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They are not a perfect leader, but a repentant one.
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They are systematic about seeking feedback.
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They have integrity.
Welcome to the 173rd episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Takeaways for Leaders:
What makes a leader worth following?
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They are generous and readily accessible.
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They are passionate about developing and promoting people.
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They are curious about people as people.
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They are excited about the work that everyone is doing.
Be on the look out for next week's episode as we continue this conversation!
Welcome to the 172nd episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media.
Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
This episode is a continued conversation from episode 171. If you haven't listened to the previous episode, make sure you do that before listening to episode 172.
Takeaways for Leaders:
2 more things that cause discontentment in a leader's life:
- Hunger pains
- Entitlement
Welcome to the 171st episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Find Pastor Josh on Twitter: https://twitter.com/joshgagnon Find Pastor Josh on Instagram: https://twitter.com/pastorjoshgagnon Takeaways for Leaders: Discontentment is something leaders will always struggle with. The three paths that lead to discontentment are: 1. Comparison 2. Insecurity 3. Pride Be on the lookout for next week's episode as we continue our conversation on discontentment.
Welcome to the 170th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Takeaways for Leaders: Leadership is about problem-solving, not problem-finding. David was a problem-solver, when the other warriors were just problem-finders. He took action.
Welcome to the 169th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Today's episode features an interview with Danielle Hazlett, the Kids Director of Next Level Church. You can reach out to Danielle directly at danielle.hazlett@nextlevel.church. Takeaways for Leaders: The top 3 characteristics of a great kids ministry volunteer: 1. They have passion. They should be passionate about raising up the next generation, and this passion should be apparent in the way they interact with kids and parents. 2. They are relational, both with the kids and the parents. They care about investing into kids even outside of the weekend. 3. They have urgency. They care about small details in order to create an excellent environment for kids and parents. Many times you only have one chance to make a lasting impression on kids and families, and great volunteers know that every minute they have with them counts.
Welcome to the 168th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Takeaways for Leaders: Creative leaders need systems and processes in place to effectively communicate the vision of the church. Even small creative teams can function at a high level if they stay organized and loyal to the vision. Resources mentioned in this episode: Monday - https://monday.com/ Wufoo - https://www.wufoo.com/ Graphics - https://nlctv.wufoo.com/forms/m8yuqsv1ae2e6c/ Video Request Form: https://nlctv.wufoo.com/forms/m1nwcst80z3dk6p/ Slack - https://slack.com/
Welcome to the 167th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Takeaways for Leaders: Leaders have two constant companions: 1. Pain. Focus on purpose over pain. 2. Loneliness. Focus on relationships over loneliness.
Welcome to the 166th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Takeaways for Leaders: "the joy of the Lord is your strength" - Nehemiah 8:10 The secret to unlocking strength is the art of gratitude. Gratitude sustains joy. Joy unlocks strength.
Welcome to the 165th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Takeaways for Leaders: Great leaders are most inspirational when things are least inspiring. How do you stay inspired as a leader, and inspire others, when you're not feeling very inspirational? 1. Be passionate about what you do and allow that passion to seep through the organization. 2. Sacrifice inspires, so remind your team of the sacrifices that were made to bring you to where you are. 3. Communicate clear direction. Show your team the direction you're headed in by reminding them of the past and how far they've gone.
Welcome to the 164th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! This episode is a continuation of episode 163. If you haven't listened to that episode first, go back and take a listen! Takeaways for Leaders: 3. It’s easier to employ people looking for a career versus empower people who are called. Passion can't be taught, but competence can come if the passion is there. Hire people who are passionate about their calling, not just looking for a career move. 4. The bigger we get, the more we rely on experience versus rely on God. Don't let your past experiences influence your future dreams. Believe that God can do the impossible and let your prayers and dreams be as big and bold as your God.
Welcome to the 163rd episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! You and your team are invited to join us in Spring 2019 for our new Joshua Gagnon Leadership Coaching Network! Visit www.leadbetter.church to learn more and to sign up! Takeaways for Leaders: As organizations grow, they tend to face various temptations: 1. Instructing doers rather than inspiring dreamers. The bigger the organization, the more likely you have people who perform tasks under you, when you really want to keep people inspired. It's easier to cast vision and get people excited about the future when you're small. To combat this, give your team members ownership and the freedom to dream alongside of you. 2. Rallying behind what we don’t have rather than relying on what we do have. Think back to when your organization was young and didn't have much. Most likely, you had to rely on what you had because there was no other option. Now that the organization is larger, it can be easy to desire the things that you don't have, when the reality is that you were able to accomplish just as much, if not more, with what you had. Be on the lookout for part two coming next week!
Welcome to the 162nd episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! You and your team are invited to join us in Spring 2019 for our new Joshua Gagnon Leadership Coaching Network! Visit www.leadbetter.church to learn more and to sign up!
Welcome to the 161st episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! You and your team are invited to join us in Spring 2019 for our new Joshua Gagnon Leadership Coaching Network! Visit www.leadbetter.church to learn more and to sign up! Takeaway for Leaders: Be a forward thinking leader, not a forced to think leader.
Welcome to the 159th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! You and your team are invited to join us in Spring 2019 for our new Joshua Gagnon Leadership Coaching Network! Visit www.leadbetter.church to learn more and to sign up! Takeaways for Leaders: Organizations that grow larger have a tendency to also grow slower. Why do organizations get slow and sluggish? 1. Lack of character. Leaders must be accountable to their own character. Many leaders may have the flexibility and freedom in the pace they work at, but if they want to stay fast, they have to have the character to work diligently even when no one is looking. 2. Lack of confidence. Don't be afraid of mistakes. Just don't make the same mistake and don't be afraid to celebrate mistakes and learn from them. Listen to part two next week!
Welcome to the 158th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! You and your team are invited to join us in Spring 2019 for our new Joshua Gagnon Leadership Coaching Network! Visit www.leadbetter.church to learn more and to sign up! Today's episode features an interview with Mark Clark, the lead pastor of Village Church, a multi-site church in Canada. You can learn more about Mark and his church at https://thisisvillagechurch.com.
Welcome to a BONUS episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast featuring NFL player Rex Burkhead! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! You and your team are invited to join us in Spring 2019 for our new Joshua Gagnon Leadership Coaching Network! Visit www.leadbetter.church to learn more and to sign up! Today's episode is an interview with Patriots running back, Rex Burkhead. We hope it blesses you and your ministry.
Welcome to the 157th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. You and your team are invited to join us in Spring 2019 for our new Joshua Gagnon Leadership Coaching Network! Visit www.leadbetter.church to learn more and to sign up! Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Today's episode is a re-release of a previous episode that we believe will bless you and your team as you head into 2019. Takeaways for leaders... It’s not perfection that God adores, it’s a repentant heart. When you get discouraged with your vision, remember that the Spirit of the living God is working in you and moving hearts. Even when you feel like nothing is changing, there is a spiritual realm happening that you cannot see. “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” -2 Corinthians 4:18 Ask yourself: have I grown in humility, or am I just more successful and therefore less insecure? Success is being faithful in the lane that God has called you to--personally, publicly, and spiritually. If you are constantly looking at everyone else’s lane, eventually you will crash.
Welcome to the 156th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. You and your team are invited to join us in Spring 2019 for our new Joshua Gagnon Leadership Coaching Network! Visit www.leadbetter.church to learn more and to sign up! Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Today's episode is a re-release of a previous episode that we believe will bless you and your team as you head into 2019. Principles for Gratitude: 1) Gratitude promotes joy. Gratitude can change the atmosphere of an entire room or team. Our goal is to make NLC the most fun team to work on in the country. 2) Gratitude promotes optimism. Work hard at finding things to be thankful for. 3) Gratitude promotes unity. Divisiveness comes from a place of bitterness and lack of contentment. 4) Gratitude promotes humility. God can not lift a head that isn’t bowed. 5) Gratitude promotes peace. 6) Gratitude promotes praise. Referenced in this episode: Slack is NLC’s primary communication tool - www.slack.com Quotes from this episode: “Gratitude promotes joy.” - Pastor Josh Gagnon “Rarely will you be thanking God or thanking others and have a pessimistic attitude at the same time.” - Pastor Josh Gagnon “You can shoot for the moon, but that doesn’t mean you don’t appreciate the stars you pass along the way.” - Pastor Josh Gagnon “Taking a timeout to appreciate what we are thankful for creates a sense of unity.” - Roman Archer “The moment you start feeling entitled, your gratitude is going down the drain.” - Roman Archer “The more thankful we are, the more humble we become.” - Pastor Josh Gagnon
Welcome to the 154th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. You and your team are invited to join us in Spring 2019 for our new Joshua Gagnon Leadership Coaching Network! Visit www.leadbetter.church to learn more and to sign up! Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Today's episode is a re-release of a previous episode that we believe will bless you and your team as you head into 2019. Stay faithful with what you have been given. Leaders always want the next leadership high. When we get focused on what’s next, we find ourselves being unfaithful with where we are at. You can download the YouVersion app and learn more by visiting www.bible.com anytime. 1 SAMUEL 17:20 So David left the sheep with another shepherd and set out early the next morning with the gifts, as Jesse had directed him. He arrived at the camp just as the Israelite army was leaving for the battlefield with shouts and battle cries. David was faithful with the responsibility he had before he moved on to greater responsibility. Every leader must be constantly striving to replace themselves. A leader doesn’t advance out of a season of neglect. Be faithful with what God has given you now. David went on to defeat Goliath but not because he neglected his previous responsibilities. If we remain faithful, God will remain faithful. A church that grows in the summer, will explode in the fall. Are you being or are you staying? God’s calling isn’t abusive. If you’re wounding people to get to where you feel called to go, you may want to rethink your motives. Godly leadership fits into a godly timeline. My job is to tend to my responsibilities and rest in God’s timing. We are not going to miss out on what’s best by doing what’s best for where we are at. God’s purpose is bigger than our plans.
Welcome to the 154th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. You and your team are invited to join us in Spring 2019 for our new Joshua Gagnon Leadership Coaching Network! Visit www.leadbetter.church to learn more and to sign up! Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Today's episode is a re-release of a previous episode that we believe will bless you and your team as you head into 2019. Today we will be talking about the difficulties of marriage in ministry and leadership, and how you can protect and grow your marriage while being in a leadership role. Takeaways for leaders… Ask yourself, “Where do you want to end up?” Map a desire in your hearts of what you want your marriage to look like. Make the vision today so that you can begin to plant seeds for the harvest in the future. How do you create values for your marriage? Look at marriages you hope to someday have and observe what those couples are doing. Use your failures as leverage to strengthen your bond. Put up safeguards to protect your integrity and guard your hearts. Observe your own heart and baggage and recognize how that affects your marriage. Principles of marriage in ministry: Be the same at home as you are in public. Create an atmosphere of honesty in your home. Become openly broken to your spouse. Make prayer a priority. Prayer develops intimacy. Quotes from this episode... “Where do you want to end up? Nobody ends up anywhere on accident.” “If you want to end up somewhere others are, you’re stupid not to ask questions of how they got there.” “Never separate church and family.” “Create an atmosphere of honesty in your home.” “It’s tough to go to bed mad at your spouse when you make nightly prayer regular.” “When you think something good, say it.” “Ask yourself: are you rebuking and critiquing more, or affirming more?” “You will not get where you want to go in your marriage through a life of critiquing.”
Welcome to the 153rd episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. You and your team are invited to join us in Spring 2019 for our new Joshua Gagnon Leadership Coaching Network! Visit www.leadbetter.church to learn more and to sign up! Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Today's episode is a re-release of a previous episode that we believe will bless you and your team as you head into 2019. Welcome to Episode 45 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! Today’s episode focuses on how being a great leader means being a great coach. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it and leave a review of the podcast on iTunes or Stitcher. 3 Takeaways for Leaders: Be a coach for your organization. Give others ownership. Be involved in people’s lives. Quotes From This Episode: “Not only should great leaders not do anything, but often times they can’t.” - Roman Archer “A coach isn’t a coach because they’re the best at all things. A coach is a coach because they can take out the best in all people that they’re coaching.” - Joshua Gagnon “The days I succeed most now are the days when those underneath me succeed most now.” - Joshua Gagnon “We’re not just asking people to do tasks, we’re empowering people to fulfill dreams.” - Joshua Gagnon “There’s nothing stronger than the organization echoing the same sound.” - Joshua Gagnon “The great coaches aren’t just involved in that person as a position, but in that person as a person.” - Roman Archer “Great coaches aren’t in the game to be successful, they’re in the game to make other successful. But when others are successful, great coaches succeed.” - Joshua Gagnon
Welcome to the 152nd episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Thoughts from this episode: Pablo Lopez, NLC Greater Concord Location Pastor pablo.lopez@nextlevel.church Don’t view your job as simply tasks to check off instead of moments you’re looking to pastor people in. You can be focused on your mission and vision in order to still care and love the person with a pastor’s heart. When you become too leadership-focused, you create a culture where people feel like you are using them as a means to an end. Try to find opportunities to pastor the team you lead in the hopes that they will in turn pastor the people underneath them. We have to be shepherds first and foremost. In 1 Peter 5, Peter commands us to “Feed, tend, feed.” We tend to have the mindset of “Tend, feed, tend.” Focus more on spiritual health rather than leadership principles. Bless your leaders by gifting them things or reaching out to them personally.
Welcome to the 151st episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Thoughts from this episode: Questions to ask yourself as a leader: What did I do today to show someone that I care? Did I take time to focus on getting better? What would it be like to work for me? Unresolved blind spots always result in a collision. Do I believe in everybody that works for me? What did I do today to expect change? What have you done to correct your problem? How is my heart?
Welcome to the 150th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! What does every leader want to say to their team? 1. Your urgency determines my confidence. 2. Urgency is seeing a problem and doing something about it. 3. Don’t make me follow up with you, follow up with me. 4. Have a proactive sense of communication. 5. Ask questions. 6. Just because I’m in charge, doesn’t mean I have all the answers. 7. The more correction you can take, the further you can go.
Welcome to the 149th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! What does every team member want to say to their leader? 1. Please don’t tell me what to do; teach me how to think. Development is an ongoing process. Intentionality is the most important thing. Lead through asking questions. Development isn’t that efficient; it’s messy. Explain your decision-making to show them how you arrived at that conclusion. Ask them, “What would you do?” 2. Don’t assume that your priorities are my priorities. Don’t assume that just because a priority makes sense to you that it makes sense to your team member as well. Communicate what needs to be prioritized to your team members. If you’re ever unsure, just ask. 3. Be present when I’m with you. As a leader, sometimes we can hold ourselves above the standard that we have for our team members. Be present with your team members to communicate that you value their time rather than multitasking or getting distracted. Be available to your teams. 4. One “Good job” can carry me a long way. Positive reinforcement means the world to your team members. Words of affirmation and hand-written notes go a long way. 5. I want to be cared for as a person more than an employee. Invest into your team members personally. People who feel cared for will stick around longer and be happy to show up for work. View them as people, not machines. Be on the lookout for next week’s episode, where we will be exploring what every leader wants to say to their team member!
Welcome to the 148th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! A parental figure elevates. You could tell the greatness of a man not by what he accomplishes, but by what those that he leads accomplish. You know you are succeeding not when YOU are succeeding, but when everyone around you is succeeding. The hardest part about giving away ownership is the chance that they don’t succeed, and the chance that as a leader that you have to now spend time building back into them the belief that they can be what they hoped to be.
Welcome to the 146th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Thoughts from this episode: If there is power, there will be an experience at NLC. Safety is the most important thing. If a team leader doesn’t think it is safe for them to come to church in a blizzard, that is okay. Setting up an environment for a life to be changed does not have to include haze and flashy lights. It can contain a group of people that are there for one purpose: to love Jesus.
Welcome to the 146th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Thoughts from this episode: Has the person you are considering built something in the past? Do they have the skills to develop? Do you have time to get someone where they need to be in order for them to succeed in that position? Do people follow them? Are they able to build connections? Are they sticky? Hire someone that is deeply connected to people where they are at. What makes that person unique? Is that person flexible? Is that person good at getting along with others?
Welcome to the 145th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Thoughts from this episode: You only know the pain of your worst tragedy. Problems occur when you hit a lid. Problems challenge the height of your lid. Resistance is what is needed in order for us to fly higher. Think through the lens of “not everything is a big deal.”
Welcome to the 144th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! On this week's episode we had the honor of showing you some insight of the leaders we hosted at All in One Conference on 9/26/2018. We hope that you enjoy!
Welcome to the 143rd episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Thoughts from this episode: Discouragement focuses on ME. Holy discontent focuses on HIM. Discouragement says, “I don’t think I can make it.” Holy discontent says, “you can do all things.” Discouragement shows what I’m not, holy discontent shows who He is and what He can accomplish. Discouragement says, “I don’t know if I’m called.” Holy discontent says, “God will clarify your calling.” What causes discouragement? FRUSTRATION Wrong FOCUS FAILURE FATIGUE What do we do about it? Renew your mind (Romans 12:2) Refocus our heart (Revelation 2:4) Reschedule our life (Ephesians 5:15-16) Rejoice (James 1:2-4) Don’t be entitled to ministry, be amazed by it. Quotes: “The fastest way to fall out of your calling is to chase someone else's.” “Discouragement is the enemy. Holy Discontent is the blessing.”
Welcome to the 142nd episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Thoughts from this episode: Discouragement is universal. The attack of the enemy is this: “If I can keep you discouraged long enough, I can convince you to quit.” A discouraged leader brings down their team. The leader is the thermostat. Differences between discouragement and holy discontent: Discouragement: stagnant Holy discontent: active Discouragement: hangs its head Holy discontent: raises its eyebrows Discouragement: blames Holy discontent: unites Discouragement: focuses on limitations Holy discontent: focuses on possibilities Discouragement: brings down a team Holy discontent: inspires a team “Discouragement isn’t the enemy. Staying discouraged and causing it to eliminate you is the enemy.”
Welcome to the 141st episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Thoughts from this episode: Use V I P for your team huddle: Vision, Information, Prayer. Start with explaining the why and casting vision. It always starts with the vision. Equip your team members with information about what is going on at your church. Check in with what is going on in your team members’ lives and pray with them.
Welcome to the 140th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Thoughts from this episode: If you align people towards a certain goal, you are going to get community as a result of that. Be present. Create a space where growth can happen. Be personal. Are you preparing the people in your group to do what you are doing? Group is not a meeting on a calendar. It’s doing life together. Big Change, Small Groups by Heather Zempel https://www.amazon.com/Big-Change-Small-Groups-Ideas/dp/163570071X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1538506051&sr=8-1&keywords=heather+zempel
Welcome to the 139th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Thoughts from this episode: Healthy systems and leaders are going to be able to sustain growth for a lot longer than an unhealthy system or leader. If you are ever only focused on the task at hand, you are not going to be focusing on making something better. Margin is a discipline. When you start thinking in the margin, you start advancing things further than you ever could. A life that is lived out in the moment typically does not expand, it maintains.
Welcome to the 138th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Thoughts from this episode: If you are expecting something to change, what are you doing to make that change to happen? Emotion shows you what you care about most. It is easy to drift to the URGENT rather than the IMPORTANT. What questions are you asking as a leader? Questions have a way of bringing things to the surface that are important enough on to make a dialogue of. What are some of the things you are working on? What are things that you are wishing to get better in your area? What could your team do to get better? What questions do you need to be asking to your leaders? A great leader asks great questions.
Welcome to the 137th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Thoughts from this episode: “You build people who build the church that Jesus is building.” - Judah Smith “Is life being brought into the rooms, the organizations, or the people that you’ve been entrusted to?” - Tyler Reagin “Is grace and life flowing from your stage, or is it being required for our stage?” - Tyler Reagin “How you lead affects people’s faith.” - Tyler Reagin Tyler Reagin: Twitter: @tylerreagin Website: https://www.tylerreagin.com/ The Life-Giving Leader: https://www.tylerreagin.com/lifegivingleader/
Welcome to the 136th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Thoughts from this episode: A lack of leadership is a lack of unity/honor. If your organization lacks honor and unity, it is easy to see. How do you honor your teams? Protect the vision and ensure your team is a unified front. A Tale of Three Kings by Gene Edwards: https://www.amazon.com/Tale-three-Kings-Study-Brokenness/dp/0842369082/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1535400710&sr=8-1&keywords=a+tale+of+three+kings A lack of leadership is a lack of passion. It takes an 11 to build an 8. If you are not passionate about your role, then get out of the way so that someone that is passionate can be in that role. Interview with Wess Stafford: https://soundcloud.com/joshuagagnon/ep-115-interview-with-wess-stafford-from-compassion-international A lack of leadership is a lack of focus. What is the goal in each thing that you do? A lack of leadership is a lack of godliness. At the end of the day, if you are out of touch in your spiritual life, you are leading from an empty cup.
Welcome to the 135th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Thoughts from this episode: A lack of leadership is a lack of protection. Be willing to confront someone on your team if they are not keeping culture. Protect the vision of the church from preferences of a team member. If someone on your team is not willing to protect the vision, that is a lack of leadership. A lack of leadership is a lack of excellence. Excellence is not something that you just say, it is something that you do. Those that sweat in preparation do not bleed in battle. Excellence is doing the best you can with what you have been given. A lack of leadership is a lack of innovation. Always be thinking of new ways to do things. What can you do to make your organization better? What can you change? Don’t be afraid to ask yourself, “If someone were to take my position, what would they change?” in order to gain perspective and inspiration for innovation.
Welcome to the 134th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Thoughts from this episode: Creating environments for your staff to communicate to one another is a large part of keeping culture. Make intentional meetings and times for your full staff to get together. Set up events for your staff to be able to do life together.
Welcome to the 133rd episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Thoughts from this episode: Some say that leaders can either read the room they are in, or adjust the room they are in. We are called not only to be a thermometer, but to be a thermostat, an agent of change. You need both. A thermometer doesn’t do anything about the situation, it just understands the situation. A thermostat regulates the culture back to what it should be. Thermometer’s are loose, thermostats are connected It’s a lot easier to be a thermostat, and it’s a lot more intentional to be a thermostat.
Welcome to the 132nd episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Thoughts from this episode: Success and failure within a ministry can be somewhat subjective. We want to give people permission to fail. If you aren’t failing, you're not trying. If problems and failures bothered me I wouldn’t be making any of our decisions. New problems are just new opportunities to go to new ground.
Welcome to the 131st episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Thoughts from this episode: Obligation gives a position, but ownership gives a purpose. Let people know that they have ownership over the tasks you are giving them. Be a permission giver. Leave room for people to grow. Lead from the heart. Ask questions about methods that your leader is implementing instead of correcting. Give as much information as possible about the role that you are asking your leader to own. Make sure your leaders are equipped.
Welcome to the 130th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Thoughts from this episode: WHEN you ask matters: WHEN in the life of the person, and WHEN in the life of the organization. The purpose behind your ask must be clear to your potential leader, or they will just being filling a slot. Define the why, share the need, and make a big ask of yourself. Leaders will lead if they feel their time is not wasted. Be specific and give options. What you do after you ask matters.
Welcome to the 129th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Thoughts from this episode: Interview with Pastor Mark Batterson: https://soundcloud.com/joshuagagnon/ep-041-long-obedience-in-the-same-direction-an-interview-with-mark-batterson “If you can’t identify a leader, you will A: choose the wrong people and waste a lot of time and energy trying to develop the wrong people, and B: you may be missing people who have phenomenal potential.” “The hardest thing about leadership is finding the right people.” “Your organization has a personality” “You can teach competency, you can teach skills.” “I would rather have the right person and figure out how they fit and where they fit, rather than [hire for] the specific role” “Permission seekers are usually great leaders.”
Welcome to the 128th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Leadership: Everyone else's lawn looks green from a distance, but there is no organization that doesn't have patchy spots. Pick up a hose, put down your binoculars that cause you to lust after everyone's lawn. People change their life so quickly these days: college majors, careers. But there is power in staying. "Stories that change the world are influenced and driven by men and women who believe in staying power." "Advancement is always born out of staying power, but culture says to advance by moving" "There's no such thing as fully green grass. There are such things as leaders who stay and choose to water the lawn, even when there are other lawns that look greener."
Welcome to the 127th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Thoughts from this episode: Families don't typically attend on a weekly basis. Create an environment where kids are being discipled. Encourage families to make church a habit. NLC Kids Director: Danielle Hazlett danielle.hazlett@nlc.tv
Welcome to the 126th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Thoughts from this episode: Growth comes from being teachable. Teachability is not submission. Teachability is listening to your leader, learning from them, and applying what you have learned to your life. Find someone you are willing to submit under, even when you don’t agree. Find someone that you believe has wisdom beyond your own. You should not be under a leader that you cannot learn from and submit to. Teachability is not a face of submission, it’s a heart of moldability. It’ll be hard for people to be taught by you unless you are teachable to others.
Welcome to the 125th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Thoughts from this episode: A faithful reading of scripture leads not to the question, “How much should I give?”, rather, it leads to the question, “How much do I need to keep?”. If God brings more, it’s not to increase our standard of living, but rather increase our standard of giving. Tell stories of radical generosity. Generosity that soothes the soul and heals the body is generosity that is integrated into one’s lifestyle, material to the giver, and joyfully done from an attitude of abundance. If you can’t trust the church with your money, why are you comfortable trusting them with your salvation? John Cortines: Generousgiving.org God & Money: https://www.amazon.com/God-Money-Discovered-Business-Paperback/dp/1628624736/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1527982986&sr=8-1&keywords=god+and+money+by+john+cortines+and+gregory+baumer As church leaders, we can all agree that we need financial support in order to keep our ministries running. But what if we’re missing the bigger picture when it comes to generosity? What if it’s not about money at all? Listen in as we discuss how the giving conversation is all about being Kingdom-minded and how to communicate that to the people at your church today on the JGLP.
Welcome to the 124th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Thoughts from this episode: The archer is responsible for momentum. The arrow is never going to move at a pace that the archer is not responsible for. You’re only able to coast in downhill momentum if you’re willing to fight the uphill battle. The archer has to be willing to help the arrow fight to go uphill. The archer has to be willing to release the arrow in seasons of momentum. As the leader of your team, you need to set the momentum and know the condition of your team. Tension is always necessary for an arrow to gain momentum. Manage and embrace tension. The archer is responsible for checking the accuracy of the arrow. It’s not just your responsibility to release an arrow, it’s your responsibility to follow after the arrow to make sure that they’re hitting the mark. The archer has to release the arrow for it to accomplish its purpose. An arrow is created to accomplish a certain purpose.
Welcome to the 123rd episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Thoughts from this episode: The archer is responsible for the health of their arrow. If the fletching is ripped off your arrow, that arrow is not going to go the direction you want it to go. Make sure your leaders are healthy. Check in with your leaders relationally. The heart of the archer has to know the ability of the arrow. Ask the question: “What can I do to better resource you?” The archer’s vision is essential to the arrow’s destination. If the archer can’t clearly see the destination, there’s no way that the arrow’s going to hit its desired destination. As a leader, look ahead for obstructions. The archer’s reach is increased by the arrow. As leaders, we can only get so far, but it’s those that we are letting go that can get further than we could ever get. It is those that are under your leadership that allow your reach to accomplish more than it ever could have without them. Leadership is all about leading people to accomplish goals that you could never accomplish with out them, and they could never accomplish without you. It takes an archer to release an arrow, but it takes an arrow to reach the bullseye.
Welcome to the 122nd episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Thoughts from this episode: Make your community aware that you are in the area as a church. Make your name known in the community. You don’t need a large amount of resources if you think creatively and you are passionate. Find different events in your community. Do things for the community that are unexpected. Build a culture within your volunteers to have them invite people. Create an environment where you are expecting guests to come in and feel welcome. Advertise in a way that shows who you are as a church.
Welcome to the 121st episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Thoughts from this episode: Every level of conditioning brings you to another level of championship stature. Every single time that you increase your conditioning, even though the pain doesn’t change, your ability and influence for God’s kingdom does. Leaders embrace the pain so that… -We can grow in our conditioning -We can win greater championships -We can see greater things.
Welcome to the 120th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Thoughts from this episode: Start with explaining the why. The why establishes urgency, reason, purpose, passion, and a feeling of resilience. Great leaders are thinking about the decisions they’re making not because they want to grow an organization, but because they want to grow people. WHO: Who is your leadership going to affect? Who is responsible for making sure your decisions as a leader are being followed through? WHAT: What is a win? WHEN: Set a deadline. A leader that doesn’t give their teams deadlines is a leader that is running around with all loose ends. HOW MUCH: Define how much money, time, who is in charge of following up, and set a deadline.
Welcome to the 119th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Thoughts from this episode: What we focus on magnifies. If you choose to focus on what God is doing and recognize the things that need work, then you can have an aroma of faith with action. What magnifies within your focus will magnify within your team. We have to live like we are overcomers in Christ. Work on staying true to the vision God has called you to. What is it that you have been focused on? What are you magnifying? We can choose to lead through the eyes of the winds and the waves, or we can choose to lead through the eyes of Jesus.
Welcome to the 118th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Thoughts from this episode: Things are not as bad as you think. - Carey Nieuwhof The solution is easier than you think. - Carey Nieuwhof You need to be more vigilant than you think. - Carey Nieuwhof The call of God is less of a road map and more of a match. It’s not something to go find, it’s something to feel within you. - Josh Gagnon Put leaders in the right seat and you’ll see fruit. - Josh Gagnon When you hear the music, it may sound crazy to others, but if you’re convinced it’s God, His faithfulness doesn’t run dry. - Josh Gagnon The things that will get in your way are fear and scarcity mindset. - Carey Nieuwhof Find Carey: Website: careynieuwhof.com Podcast: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/carey…id912753163?mt=2 Twitter: @cnieuwhof
Welcome to the 117th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Thoughts from this episode: Things to think about when you are looking into facilities: COST: Owning a building ends up being cheaper than leasing, however when you go to buy a building, you are needing more money up front. In terms of spending money, leasing makes more sense when it comes to a more temporary location. Look into the market of the area you are going to be in. LOCATION: Is the building close to where the people of the church live? Is the building easy to get to? Is the building somewhere that is known? Ensuring that there is familiarity in the area of the location. Is the building visible? SIZE OF BUILDING: You need a lot less space than you think you need. BUILDING USE/TOWN REQUIREMENTS: Connect with the city you plan on planting in. Call the town planner, and call the zoning office of the town. WORK PUT IN/TIMELINE OF PROJECT: How much work is required to get it up to the brand? Daniel King, Operations Pastor: Daniel.King@nlc.tv Building Plan: visit joshuagagnon.com to access
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Thoughts from this episode: What are you reading? What are you learning? Invest in the “4s” “5s” and “6s” within your organization. We can choose to thrive wherever we are. You can thrive if your focus is on God.
Welcome to the 115th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! On this episode we get the opportunity to talk with Dr. Wess Stafford, Founder and CEO of Compassion International. More about Wesley: https://www.compassion.com/executives/wess-stafford-executive-bio.htm Compassion International: https://www.compassion.com Too Small to Ignore: https://www.amazon.com/Too-Small-Ignore-Least-Matters/dp/1400073928 Just a Minute: https://www.amazon.com/Just-Minute-Heart-Moment-Forever/dp/1613750439
Welcome to the 114th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Thoughts from this episode: Sometimes the most loving thing you can do is release someone from your staff so they can go elsewhere and succeed. Recognize your organizational expectations, personal expectations, and ministry/job/career expectations and identify what that looks like in your specific expectations. The level of expectation you hold those under you to should be the level of influence you’re leading at. Lead people to exceed your expectations. When someone is falling short of your expectations, ask yourself how you are leading them. When deciding when to release someone, ask if there is still space for them to grow.
Welcome to the 113th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Thoughts from this episode: Don’t lead people how you have been led, lead people how they need you to lead. Great leaders lead based on the situation and the person. One voice doesn’t speak to all, one style doesn’t communicate to everyone. Leadership is getting people from where they are from where they want to go. It’s not always leading a person differently, it’s most often leading a situation differently. Holding people accountable doesn’t mean we no longer show grace. Showing grace, however, doesn’t mean we no longer hold people accountable. A leader has to be well-rounded. You can’t be a great coach unless you love your players. When you lead out of insecurity you lead for yourself. When you leave out of security you lead for others. Quotes from this episode: “If the only tool you have is a hammer, you treat everything like a nail.” “It is easy to handle every situation the same if you only have one tool.”
Welcome to the 112th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Thoughts from this episode: Being a “silo” means to work on your own project and not pull the team towards a common goal. The question is not: “are we making good content?” The question is: “are we fulfilling the vision?” Warning signs of a silo: Redundancy Lack of collaboration Misaligned priorities Don’t forget why your project impacts the big picture. Everything plays into one big picture. Ask yourself: how does my project fit into the vision as a whole? Create moments to collaboration in between departments. MISSION: Make Ideas Stay Synced Inside of One Narrative. Quotes from this episode: Always communicate the “why” before the “what.” The more you can say no to something, the more it opens you up to say yes to do the things that really matter. Always think big picture first.
Welcome to the 111th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! On this episode we discuss the difference between a “flu shot leader” and an “IV leader.” Thoughts from this episode: A leader over teams cannot be an IV to everyone under them. A leader who is a flu shot is able to step into conversations, sustain culture, give wisdom, and then move on their way. In the beginning, you have to be more of an IV leader. In certain seasons you need to ask leaders under you to cross-lead their peers. People who are being led under a flu shot feel more authority and take better ownership. Give people space to lead. Your sense of purpose in an organization comes from having ownership. Tips for giving away ownership: -Identify your insecurities (why do I feel like I need to be an IV) -Work on strengthening your weakness -Every time we lean into what’s easy (doing it for them), choose to lean back, pull away, and decide that you’re not going to do their job for them. Quotes from this episode: “Leaders need to be more like a flu shot than an IV.” “Those that you lead will never lead differently until you lead them differently.” *To view the image referenced in this episode, visit http://www.joshuagagnon.com/blog/2018/3/13/ep-111-being-a-flu-shot-leader
Welcome to the 110th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! On this episode we discuss about volunteers and team building. Relational connections are the best way to recruit volunteers. If we are only good at the announcement part, we won’t see the outcome we want. Be specific with your communication when recruiting team members. People respond to visions and need. Make training easy and accessible to your teams. Don’t just recruit volunteers--identify leaders. Communicate standards and expectations to your team upfront. Make sure your volunteers know that they have a purpose and not just a function.
Welcome to the 109th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! On this episode we discuss Disney and what we can learn from its powerful impact on children, families, and homes. “The experience of disney is not going to the park, the experience is bringing what you’ve experienced in the park back into your home.” Influence exists at its greatest when we are able to influence the home, and out of that overflow people can come and experience it in real life. Church should an overflow of responding to what’s entered your home. How can we disciple families to value the message of the gospel? Be intentional in reflecting on your church’s influence. We need to get the gospel on people’s minds throughout the week.
Welcome to the 108th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! On this episode you get a peek into the back door of one of our weekly All Staff Huddles. Quotes: When you focus on what you have God will give you what you need. Be obedient with what you have. The answer to everything you need is right before you. If you’re faithful with what's before you God will give you what you need, and what’s before you will increase. We often look at what we have, don’t think it’s enough, and look to what others have. God would rather fill our jars with faithfulness than fill our jars with someone else’s oil. Digging a ditch to get more doesn't mean you neglect what God has given you. Nothing happens with what you wished you had until you’re faithful with what you actually have. Be faithful with the oil in your flask. Thoughts: In ministry, we oftentimes look through the lens of what is incorrect in our prospective. Living life looking at what you don’t have will never lead to living life with what you hope to one day have. We can always look at life through the eyes lack, or we can look at life through the eyes of “I have enough.”
Welcome to the 107th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Quotes: “No matter how great you make church, some people aren’t going to come back after their first time…. so continue to rebuild energy.” “Everyday is our superbowl.” “Show them who you are as a church, what the love of Jesus looks like, and how you present that message on a week to week basis.” Thoughts: Don’t allow the craziness of Easter distract from the culture and excellence you have established. Don’t bait and switch just because it is Easter, stay in your lane! You need to connect people to the reality of church attendance and the gospel message. Check out Ep. 52: The Helicopter Egg Drop & Easter at NLC to learn more about our huge Helicopter Egg Drop and Easter at Next Level Church.
Welcome to a BONUS episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast featuring NFL player Rex Burkhead! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode!
Welcome to the 106th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! “To get to a healthy place, leadership is key.” “You may not be able to do everything you hope and dream of, but you can concentrate your effort on doing the right thing well.” “The most valuable feedback, is from the conversations in the lobby.” Thoughts: If you are going to spend most of your resources, put it into the thing most people are going to see. There is a difference between efficiency and effectiveness. Trust and lean into your leadership. Don’t be afraid to ask what hit, what didn’t, and why.
Welcome to the 105th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Quotes: “Staying consistently committed, is easier when you are not alone.” “We often don’t want true accountability in life.” “The hopes and dreams you desire to see, will come through much more hard work then you thought it would take.” Thoughts: Do we always set bars lower when we live outside of accountability? Hard work does not always show immediate results. Everyone’s last mile is their hardest mile.
Welcome to the 104th episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Notes from today's episode: Every workout will give you several opportunities to quit. There will be moments you want to quit, but the list of reasons you should continue will be bigger than why you should quit. There will always be people who are working their hardest just to get where you are and there will always be people who are farther along then you are. Running on a treadmill is harder than running outdoors.
Welcome to the 103rd episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! On today’s episode we will be continuing the conversation of upcoming trends in the year of 2018 with some of our staff. Listen to discover how you can embrace these trends in your ministry!
Welcome to the 102nd episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! On today’s episode we will be discussing upcoming trends in the year of 2018 with some of our staff. Listen to discover how you can embrace these trends in your ministry!
Welcome to the 101st episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! On today’s episode we are highlighting the best moments of 2017. Notes from today's episode... Focus on the ultimate, not the immediate. Focusing on what’s next will sometimes hold back your celebration. You can shoot for the moon, but appreciate the stars you pass along the way. When you resent your current positioning, you find that you remove yourself from the blessings to simply take it in. Teams that celebrate together win more together. Change allows you to take risks. A mutual delegation of trust is essential on a staff. There is never an abundance of negativity when there is an abundance of trust. For every negative situation, we aren’t just going to talk about it, we are going to find a solution for it. Create a culture that encourages feedback. If you are part of a team you are either a culture keeper or a culture sucker.
Welcome to the 100th EPISODE of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! On today’s episode we are highlighting our very FIRST episode of the podcast from January of 2015, where Pastor Josh explains the 5 key ways to identify the leaders in your organization, and gives some tips and advice on how to engage and develop those leaders. “The most gifted leaders rarely make the best coaches.” 5 questions to ask to help identify leaders: 1. Are they passionate about the vision? 2. Do they bring problems or do they bring solutions? 3. Is anybody listening to them? 4. Are they tough-minded? 5. Are they willing to take responsibility and finish the work that they've started? A huge thank you to our listeners for 100 Episodes of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! The best is yet to come!
Welcome to Episode 99 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! On today’s episode we will be talking about relationship and ministry in marriage. Takeaways from this episode: Even though a Pastor’s Wife may not be on staff, that does not mean she is not a part of the team. If you, as a family, can’t do ministry together than you should not do it at all. Quotes from this episode… “My sermon is different than Jenn’s but not more important.” “Ministry is not the enemy.” Book Mentioned: Mother and Son the Respect Effect by Emerson Eggeriches
Welcome to Episode 98 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! On today’s episode we will be talking about the hiring process and knowing who to add to your team. Takeaways from this episode: In the beginning, hiring people you know is going to add strength to you as a leader. When heart, soul, mind, and strength collide; that’s where you find the strongest leaders. Quotes from this episode… “When it comes to hiring, you hire where you are weakest, not necessarily where the organization may be feeling the greatest need.” “Some people come for a reason, a season, or life.” Are you hiring shepherd leaders or leader shepherds?
Welcome to Episode 97 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! On today’s episode we will be talking about Armor Bearers and their characteristics. Takeaways from this episode: An Armor Bearer has a Servant’s Heart. As an Armor Bearer, your job is to make your leader’s job easier. Leaders and Armor Bearer’s should serve each other. Quotes from this episode… “One of the Armor Bearer’s main responsibilities is to protect your leader” “Keeping doing things that keep you humble.”
Welcome to Episode 96 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! On today’s episode we will be talking about the process of preparing a message. Takeaways from this episode: When you look at who you are and what you’re designed to do, look at what breaks you heart. Don’t just do something because it’s what the influential churches are doing. Preach from your life. Don’t feel like you have to plan sermons way in advance, and don’t feel like you need to be spontaneous. Find your own rhythm as a preacher.
Welcome to Episode 95 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! On today’s episode we will be talking about how “looking good” as a church does not, on its own, sustain growth. Takeaways from this episode: Looking good from the outside does not sustain growth. “Coolness” can attract people to the party, but it won’t make people stick. Who we are is not defined by how we look as a church. Attracting a crowd does not keep a crowd. -If the engines are not polished underneath the hood, then we are not going to be sustaining growth. -What structures and systems do you have in your organization that are really good, but you’re not doing them? Stop focusing on problems you have, and start focusing on what’s creating those problems. You need an engine to drive you where you want to go. Live within the systems and structures you create. Don't just have the parts, make sure they work well together. Quotes from this episode: “You don’t have to talk bad about what has been to stand firm in who you are.” -Joshua Gagnon “Sometimes we think things matter that don’t matter.” -Joshua Gagnon “Maybe ‘coolness’ does not grow God’s church.” -Joshua Gagnon “It’s not enough to have structures and systems, you have to do it well.” -Joshua Gagnon “It’s not enough to have good atmospheres, you have to have good structures and systems.” -Joshua Gagnon “Every organization has the possibility and the opportunity to develop systems and structures in a healthy culture that will produce healthy outcomes.” -Joshua Gagnon “Every part of an engine has to work cohesively together for the car to run smoothly.” -Joshua Gagnon
Welcome to Episode 94 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! On today’s episode we will be talking about how we plan and promote Christmas at Next Level Church within all of our departments. Takeaways from this episode: We’re not trying to do anything different, trick people, or bait and switch people around Christmas time. We want it to be the same when they come back the following week. Christmas is special because of the holiday, but not for the format our experiences. We put the same amount of effort and planning into Christmas as we would any other weekend at NLC. What we consider when picking experience times for Christmas Eve: morning vs. evening, portable vs. permanent, and the day of the week it falls on. We have two ways of advertising Christmas at NLC: internal and external. The approaches are both different. If you are using a series around Christmas time, make sure that the message makes sense on their own for new guests coming in. If you are a multisite church decorating for Christmas, create a scheme (colors, decor ideas, etc.) for your locations to use as a guideline to keep it cohesive. You can do something this Christmas to market your church. You don’t need a huge budget or endless resources, just start small and be creative! Play off the cultural relevance of Christmas with your marketing to grab people’s attention. Quotes from this episode: “Christmas is one of the few times of the year where church is on people’s minds.” -Daniel King “We always have to think of our target audience when planning our marketing methods for Christmas.” -Daniel King “Put as much energy and effort into the few weeks after Christmas to get people to come back.” -Daniel King “What you can do the next three or four weeks after Christmas is equally as important as Christmas itself.” -Daniel King
Welcome to Episode 93 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! On today’s episode we will be talking about our values at Next Level Church from the start and what got us where we are. Takeaways from this episode: If you don't have hooks in the water you'll never catch fish. Just because you've grown to be able to afford more, doesn't mean you should lose the original grit of what got you started when you had nothing. Sometimes resources stop urgency. Good things done in an unhealthy way are unhealthy. So don't stop doing those things, just do them in a healthy way. Quotes from this episode: "What got you where you are will get you where you need to go." -Joshua Gagnon "Growth comes from understanding what you're not." -Joshua Gagnon
Welcome to Episode 92 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! On today’s episode we will be talking about secret sin, its effects on your life and ministry, and safeguards you can put in place to Takeaways from this episode: Accountability is essential in protecting your heart. When you begin to see signs of sin in your life, protect your heart by telling someone immediately. Church leaders: create an atmosphere where your leaders can come clean. Don’t allow sin to overtake you by shutting it down immediately through accountability and transparency. If you are facing secret sin, come clean. It will eventually drown you. Quotes from this episode: “Every quiet sin eventually becomes public.” -Joshua Gagnon
Welcome to Episode 91 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! On today’s episode we will be talking with Pastor Dan Reiland, Executive Pastor at 12Stone Church in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Takeaways from this episode… Young leaders bring cultural insight into the next generation. Help young leaders to have a “long view” and sink in deep roots. As a young leader, be sure to put your priorities in order. When developing leaders, establish the difference between equipping and developing. Equipping: Training someone for a specific ministry task. (Transactional) Developing: Pouring into someone as a person. (A gift) On marriage: lean into your different wiring and learn to let things go. Quotes from this episode: “Lean into what you have been chosen for.” -Dan Reiland “Speed and pressure reveal leadership like nothing else.” -Dan Reiland “Your main job is not to grow a specific ministry in your church, or even the church overall--it is to grow people.” -Dan Reiland “We want more FOR people than FROM them.” -Dan Reiland “We tend to overcomplicate coaching.” -Dan Reiland “Great development is based on simplicity and consistency.” -Dan Reiland “How to develop leaders: get a group, pick a book, and ask two questions.” -Dan Reiland “We are not looking for information, we are looking for transformation.” -Dan Reiland “There is a certain rhythm you have to have for your life to make sense and to go the distance.” -Dan Reiland “Don’t try to copy the rhythm of another leader.” -Roman Archer 5 Levels of Leadership by John Maxwell (mentioned) https://www.amazon.com/Levels-Leadership-Proven-Maximize-Potential/dp/1599953633/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1508174568&sr=8-1&keywords=5+levels+of+leadership+john+maxwell Find Pastor Dan: Twitter-@DanReiland Website-http://danreiland.com Amplified Leadership (Book): https://www.amazon.com/Amplified-Leadership-practices-establish-influence/dp/1616384727/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325874885&sr=8-1
Welcome to Episode 90 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! On today’s episode we will be talking about David’s heart; how it relates to leadership, and how we can take apply its qualities into our own leadership. David had a heart of... -Patience within preparation. If the dream you have in your heart can be completed tomorrow, it’s probably not a God-sized dream. -Repentance God is not looking for perfect leaders. He is looking for people who repent deeply. “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” -Psalm 51:10 -Loyalty -Faith Don’t lower your dream based on what you’ve seen. Quotes from this episode... “If God chose David because of his heart, I want that heart as a leader.” -Josh Gagnon “Just because you can see the dream doesn’t mean it can be accomplished tomorrow.” -Josh Gagnon “In order for us to get over what God has put under us, we need to get under what God has put over us.” -Roman Archer “The enemy of faith is yesterday.” -Josh Gagnon “What God didn't do yesterday always tries to defeat what he will do tomorrow.” -Josh Gagnon Learn more about All in One Conference: https://www.allinone.church
Welcome to Episode 89 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! On today’s episode we will be speaking with four of our Location Pastors at NLC. Takeaways from this episode… “You’re handing away leadership and when you hand that away, you are essentially handing over control. You’re handing over culture.” - Nick Smith “If vision leaks then culture drifts.” - Roman Archer “We’re location led and centrally supported.” - Pablo Lopez “Push good ideas up.” - Bobby Brown “If you’re not receiving, check your posture.” - Roman Archer “Being a location pastor means being in lives of those that are new to the church, those that are making next steps, and following up with those who attend each location.” - Nick Smith We are centrally driven as a church. You have to have a heart of submission and understand that God has placed you in leadership. Advance the mission forward. We are always under someone’s authority. “We, as leaders, should only do what we MUST do.” - Dave Martin Better over bigger. It’s really easy to be a submitted leader when you see the kingdom advancing. If you are sitting submitted, and you are seeing Jesus’ name made famous, that should be plenty for you. Keep in mind the core values of your church. Contact Information: Pastor Nick Smith nick.smith@nlc.tv Pastor Bobby Brown bobby.brown@nlc.tv Pastor Pablo Lopez Pablo.lopez@nlc.tv Pastor Dave Martin dave.martin@nlc.tv Pastor Roman Archer roman.archer@nlc.tv
Welcome to Episode 88 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! On today’s episode we will be talking about developing a culture of failure in our teams. Takeaways from this episode… Recognize that failure is a possibility in taking ANY risk. Perfectionism builds a culture of fear in your team. Don’t be afraid of things that are difficult and to assign difficult tasks. Celebrate your wins and learn from your failures. Give yourself and your teams permission to make mistakes. Reward people for taking risks and the growth that happens through failure. Incompetent failure: passive, not trying hard enough, inactive Honorable failure: having the right heartbeat, taking risks Not all failure is good failure. “What’s rewarded is going to be repeated.” -Roman Archer “So many great things are created in a mistaken attempt to create something totally different.” -Daniel King “Failure is not final, and failure is not fatal.” -Josh Gagnon
Welcome to Episode 87 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! On today’s special episode we will be talking with Pastor Chris Hodges, Lead Pastor of Church of the Highlands in Alabama and co-founder of ARC. Takeaways from this episode… Every pastor should consider what their reach is for their calling. You never see people how they are, you have to train yourself to see people as they could be. We do not need to state how people are. Speak to people as people’s potential. Your character must sustain your skill set. There are 3 levels of relationships: those that speak into you, those who you speak into, and those that are beside you. More about Pastor Chris: Twitter: @Chris_Hodges ARC: https://www.arcchurches.com Church of the Highlands: https://www.churchofthehighlands.com/about/pastor
If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! On today’s special episode we will be highlighting some of the best moments from our speakers at Activate 2016. Quotes from this episode… “When God tells you to go, just go.” -Levi Lusko “If you take away the misery, you take away the ministry.” -Levi Lusko “Your calling involves suffering.” -Levi Lusko “Pastor a church you want to go to.” Larry Osborne “Fulfill your calling, not your potential.” -Larry Osborne “Our calling is what Jesus has asked us to do, our potential is what we are gifted to do.” -Larry Osborne “Don’t bow your knee to the goddess of potential.” -Larry Osborne “If you want to get near to the heart of God, get near to what is near and dear to the heart of God.” -Mark Batterson Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.” Joshua 3:5 “Our job isn’t to do something amazing. Our job is to consecrate ourselves. If we do our job, God is going to do His job.” -Mark Batterson “God does not overpromise and underdeliver.” -Mark Batterson We can’t wait for Activate 2017 next week as we welcome Leonce Crump, Jenni Catron, and Chris Hodges to the stage to hear from their hearts. Remember, it’s not too late to sign up--simply visit activateleaders.com to register today. We will see you there!
Welcome to Episode 85 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Today we have a conversation with Pastor Léonce Crump, author, international speaker, Lead Pastor of Renovation Church, and one of our speakers at Activate Conference this year. Takeaways from this episode… You can’t go forward looking backwards. You can’t go in a certain direction just by looking at where NOT to go. Most people want their leaders to be better versions of what they want to be. Transculturalism the realization of the hope of the gospel. God always has a people covenanted to Him and to one another. The gospel is supposed to be a message that transverses cultural differences and idiosyncrasies. We are able to form something much more beautiful together than we are apart. The sum of the whole is more beautiful than the individual parts. You need to have a clear vision, strategy, and set of values of where you are going in any leadership position. Knowing who you are is a discipline. Lean into the way that you are made. It’s not always that we don’t have time, it’s that we don’t always manage our time appropriately. Urgent is not the same as important. Find Pastor Léonce: Twitter: @LeonceCrump Website: http://leoncecrump.com Book (Renovate: Changing Who you are by Loving Where you Are)-https://www.amazon.com/Renovate-Changing-Who-Loving-Where/dp/1633896099 Renovation Church-http://www.renovationchurch.com
Welcome to Episode 84 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Today we will be talking with Jenni Catron, one of our friends and a speaker at this year’s Activate Conference! Takeaways from this episode... “Leadership shapes human lives, and for that it is sacred work.” -Jenni Catron The heart for all of us in ministry is to say “I want to understand what it means to lead well.” Leadership begins with influence. Influence: the power to change or affect someone. Leadership isn’t just power: it is an opportunity to have influence in people’s lives. Leadership is about the people you are serving. A leader needs to be open to hear from other leaders, and then discern what that looks like for them. “Your staff is your most critical resource.” -Jenni Catron Your staff is going to reach far more people than you are going to individually. When you invest in your staff, you develop your entire church. -Be intentional about your staff time. Your team needs to be able to hear from you on a regular basis. -Spiritually invest in them. -Have a system of personal development for your staff. “Be simple, and be consistent.” -Jenni Catron Engagement is more important than creating crowds. Every person that is on your team is contributing to your organization's culture. Investing in someone is a lifelong endeavor. If a leader is not healthy, their team will not be healthy. “Be attentive to your health as a leader.” -Jenni Catron Find leaders who have a regular influence in your life to mentor you. If we are not well as leaders, we have nothing to pour into people. Find Jenni: The 4Sight Group-get4sight.com jenni@4sight.com
Welcome to Episode 83 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Today we will be digging deeper into this thought: God will give me far more than I could ever chase down on my own. Takeaways from this episode… Ministry can often feel like a chase. God is going to give us opportunities far bigger than we could ever manipulate on my own. “John replied, ‘No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven.’” -John 3:27 Where can ambition go wrong? When we forget when we are called by God. If God has called us, we should be confident in our calling. There is a difference between people who are driven and people who are called. Driven people are gratified by accomplishments. Driven people pursue expansion. Driven people are rarely satisfied. Driven people have limited regard for integrity. Shortcuts become normal. They are abnormally busy. They are quick to anger. They are anxious and have heavy hearts. Called people find their satisfaction in the reality that if God has called them, He will use them. They are not stuck in a heart of dissatisfaction. What you accomplish does not equal your value. God is not a means to an end. One of the greatest questions a leader can ask themselves is, “why do I feel this way?” Quotes from this episode: “God will give me far more than I could ever chase down on my own.” -Joshua Gagnon “I don’t need to take every opportunity to try to be known or know people who are known.” -Joshua Gagnon “Your talent can take you further than your character can sustain you.” -Joshua Gagnon “When you are called by God, God will pave the way for your calling.” -Joshua Gagnon “I don’t need to force my hand, but I can trust in His.” -Joshua Gagnon “You’re going to learn very little from someone 40 steps ahead of you.” -Joshua Gagnon “When God gives it to you, you’re not afraid to lose it.” -Joshua Gagnon
Welcome to Episode 82 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Today we will be talking with Tony Morgan, founder and lead strategist of The Unstuck Group, as well as consultant, leadership coach and writer who helps churches get unstuck and have a bigger impact. Takeaways from this episode… “Most churches start, grow, thrive, decline, and eventually end.” -Tony Morgan Many churches get stuck in the strategic growth season. When you get to this phase, you need to make intentional changes for sustained growth. -The leader of 10’s: typically leading by example and doing everything (typical in early ministry launch) -Leader of 50’s: begins to lead others by delegation -“Leading others” leader: moving from delegating tasks to empowering people on their team (growth snags happen frequently in this phase) Relational leadership needs to be accompanied at some point by someone missionally/task oriented. Our ministry will be most healthy when we realize that many parts make up one body. Mission, vision, and strategy = 3 components of ministry Vision is simply clarifying where we believe God is calling us next. Strategy is clarifying not only where we are going, but how we are going to get there. If a church doesn’t periodically assess their “why,” they will easily lose sight of it and focus more on the “how.” Quotes from this episode: “Most churches start, grow, thrive, decline, and eventually end.” -Tony Morgan “Our natural tendency is to do what we have always done.” -Tony Morgan “What’s most urgent may not be what’s most important.” -Tony Morgan “Multi-site is not a growth strategy; it’s an evangelism strategy.” -Tony Morgan “Everything that the church is doing needs to be focused on reaching people outside the faith.” -Tony Morgan More about Tony: Website-https://tonymorganlive.com Twitter-@tonymorganlive The Unstuck Church (book)-http://amzn.to/2uM8QFM
Welcome to Episode 81 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Today we will be talking about creative experience planning with a few of the Creative Staff at NLC. Takeaways from this episode… Creatives tend to put their identity in what they create, instead of living with open hands and remembering that we're creating for the Creator. Starting with yes is crucial when you're trying to cultivate creativity, and it's honoring to the leadership and your peers. Seek criticism and not praise. If you're through learning, you're through. Always be looking for new ways and ideas to improve your creative process. Questions? Reach out to the team! Walt Robbins, Creative Pastor walt.robbins@nlc.tv Twitter: @w_allenrobbins Clint Ledford, Creative Director clint.ledford@nlc.tv Twitter: @clintledford Lindsey Archer, Social Media Director lindsey.archer@nlc.tv
Welcome to Episode 80 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Today we will be talking about the environments we strive to create for our experiences. Takeaways from this episode… How do you know what great looks like when the target is always moving? -Great is relative; it depends on your vision. 3 words guide how we define a great experience environment at NLC: Intentional, relatable, and relational. Intentional: everything you do is done on purpose. Define your destination. Relatable: Jesus is relatable and relational. The cross is relatable and relational. You don’t need to work hard to make the gospel relevant, because it already is. Don’t confuse relevance with style. Relational: What you value from stage will become what is valued in your organization. Be you. Quotes from this episode: “Teams work best under intentions.” -Joshua Gagnon “The more planned out you are, the more intentional you can be.” -Joshua Gagnon “There is a way that you can be appealing to unchurched people, new Christians, and mature Christians.” “What you communicate from stage will be the vibration of what your organization communicated throughout.” -Joshua Gagnon “God made you unique because there is a unique group of people he wants you to reach.” -Joshua Gagnon
Welcome to Episode 79 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Today we will be talking with Brett Hagler, CEO and Co-Founder of New Story - an innovative nonprofit that transforms slums into sustainable communities around the world. Takeaways for leaders… What are things you wish you knew before starting New Story? Building your credibility in the beginning of an organization will take you a long way. Never see youth as a downfall. Youth is a tremendous advantage in starting an organization when you have plenty of advisors. A youthful mindset + strategic help and advice = a powerful combination. What are some of the practices you have put in place as a leader to run fast, stay organized, and lead well? -Be both mentally and physically fit. -Make time for daily disciplines of wellness. -ALWAYS be learning. -Put your faith first. Strive for humility. People respect authenticity in leadership. Authenticity is extremely important in how you communicate your faith--especially in leadership. How do you measure success at New Story? Continuous improvement. The most important thing is that what we are doing is effective and is proving to be better than what’s existing. Always ask yourself how your organization can be getting better. Quotes from this episode: “Staying organized is about being both mentally and physically fit.” -Brett Hagler “It doesn’t matter how much impact you make if you don’t have intimacy with Christ first.” -Brett Hagler “You can’t let hurriness be an excuse to let your time with Christ be diluted because you’re too busy doing good.” -Brett Hagler “Good deeds can’t come at the expense of growing your relationship with the Father.” -Brett Hagler “To be the best, I actually have to be the least.” -Brett Hagler Because of 4am (LinkedIn article mentioned) https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/because-4am-brett-hagler Find Brett: Email-brett@newstorycharity.org Twitter-@bretthagler Blog: bretthagler.com/blog New Story Charity: https://www.newstorycharity.org
Welcome to Episode 78 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Today we will be talking Pastor Roman Archer, Executive Pastor of Next Level Church, about his journey in ministry. Takeaways for leaders… Leadership is not something that you do in just one arena. If you’re going to be a leader, you’re going to lead at home, at work, in easy times, in stressful situations--a leader is a leader. The amount of pressure you can handle as a leader is often based on your mental perspective. “Pain is a leader’s constant companion.” -Craig Groeschel Develop the person, not the position. You have to hand away trust in order to ever see something great. Leaders must be secure and confident in their calling in order to lead well.
Welcome to Episode 77 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Takeaways for leaders... It’s not perfection that God adores, it’s a repentant heart. When you get discouraged with your vision, remember that the Spirit of the living God is working in you and moving hearts. Even when you feel like nothing is changing, there is a spiritual realm happening that you cannot see. “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” -2 Corinthians 4:18 Ask yourself: have I grown in humility, or am I just more successful and therefore less insecure? Success is being faithful in the lane that God has called you to--personally, publicly, and spiritually. If you are constantly looking at everyone else’s lane, eventually you will crash.
Welcome to Episode 76 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Today we will be talking about family, marriage, and ministry with Pastor Jonathan Del Turco, Lead Pastor of International Family Church in North Redding, MA. Takeaways for leaders… On marriage: Learn to open the door to let your spouse help you in the anointed way they were called to. Celebrate with your spouse over the small things. When you stop pointing the finger at each other in your marriage and start pointing it at yourself, your marriage will improve immensely. On ministry: Stay the course in ministry. Learn the lesson of longevity. Check the motives of your ambition. If your “why” is filtered through love, your ambition will be pure. If you are not willing to adjust with culture as a church, your church body will become one-generational. When you understand your “why,” the “how” and the “what” are negotiable. Listen to the people who have bought into the mission of your church. Integrity gives you the ability to lead at a higher capacity. Time + integrity = trust. Live in a glass house and don’t be concerned with who is watching. If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear. Find Pastor Jonathan: Twitter-@JMDelTurco Intlfamilychurch.com
Welcome to Episode 75 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Today we will be discussing discipleship methods in your church with Pastor Roman Archer and Pastor Daniel King, Executive Pastor and Operations Pastor of Next Level Church. Takeaways for leaders... Ask yourself: How can we create simple next steps for people to take? Salvation is not the end point, it’s the starting point. It is the beginning of our responsibility as a church to propel them people a lifelong relationship in Christ. Any church that is growing is going to have people that are in different places in their spiritual walk. Understand that growth is a careful, long, complex process that is different for everyone. NLC’s model for growth is what we call the Growth Track (check it out at http://nlc.tv/connect/growth-track/) -The vision for our growth process is to move people into a deeper understanding of their faith. -NLC tries to create something an unchurched person or a mature follower of Christ can step into in our growth track. -Ask yourself who you the central audience of your church is. -How simple can you make your discipleship process? Make sure your growth track method is in alignment with the vision of your church as a whole. Have we done everything we can to empower people to take their next step? “Our legacy will never be determined by the number of seats we fill, but how the gospel permeates the person’s life.” -Roman Archer
Welcome to Episode 74 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Today we will be talking about seasons in ministry; the field and the forest, the highs and lows, the difference between your organization being a speedboat vs. the Titanic. Takeaways for leaders… After you have established your organization, it moves from running through a field to running through a forest. Being a leader in ministry, or any organization, gets more complex as you progress. The field: running at a fast pace with high urgency and few obstacles and little to lose: frequently the early stages of an organization. The forest: running at a slower pace with high urgency and more complex and calculated decisions. How to manage tension between the field and the forest: Let your organization be a speedboat rather than becoming the titanic. In any season, be quick and agile, not fat and sluggish. Use caution and time in your decision making. When you make the wrong decision with dozens of staff, it’s a lot harder to regain momentum. Balance urgency and caution in your decision making. It is better to take longer in making a decision and make the right one, then make a hasty decision and lose momentum. Understand that there are highs and lows in ministry. Quotes from this episode... “Live in the reality of faithfulness.” -Joshua Gagnon “Faithful people live in an even keel of understanding that everything surrounds faithfulness.” -Joshua Gagnon “As you mature as a leader, you start mature and learn how to pace yourself for longevity.” -Joshua Gagnon “Working hard does not always bring you somewhere.” -Joshua Gagnon “Just because you’re working hard doesn’t mean you’re working towards something.” -Joshua Gagnon “Leadership is about stewarding energy and maximizing potential.” -Joshua Gagnon
Welcome to Episode 73 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Today we will be talking with Donnie Griggs, Lead Pastor of One Harbor Church. Donnie is passionate about bringing the gospel to rural areas of America by planting small-town churches. Takeaways for leaders… From beginning to end, church should be intentional. Community must be the focal point of rural areas. Research the community you are looking to plant a church in. Be a student of the culture, read books and articles, find information. Psalm 127:1 “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who built it labor in vain.” We serve a God who made everything from nothing. Don’t buy into the lie that something big needs to be going on for something bigger to happen with your church plant. Work hard to develop the people that God has given you in your ministry. Romans 8:11 “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.” Quotes from this episode... “The smaller the town, the more contextualization matters.” -Donnie Griggs “We aren’t called to put churches in cool places, we’re called to put churches everywhere.” -Donnie Griggs “The location matters because God created it and said it was good.” -Donnie King “There are unique and different communities about every community you go to to plant a church.” -Daniel King “Excellence isn’t being the best in the world, it’s doing the best with what you’ve been given.” -Joshua Gagnon “You’ll never grow by thinking about what you don’t have.” -Donnie Griggs “Dream like God’s in charge.” -Donnie Griggs “Small towns are one of the largest mission fields in our country right now.” -Daniel King Find Donnie: -Twitter: @TheCarolinaDon -Contact Donnie: http://www.smalltownjesus.com/connect/ -Purchase “Small Town Jesus:” https://www.amazon.com/Small-Town-Jesus-seriously-unimportant-ebook/dp/B01HC3MOP6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1497386774&sr=8-1&keywords=small+town+jesus “Rural America is the new Inner City” article https://www.wsj.com/articles/rural-america-is-the-new-inner-city-1495817008
Welcome to Episode 72 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Today we will be talking about the difficulties of marriage in ministry and leadership, and how you can protect and grow your marriage while being in a leadership role. Takeaways for leaders… Ask yourself, “Where do you want to end up?” Map a desire in your hearts of what you want your marriage to look like. Make the vision today so that you can begin to plant seeds for the harvest in the future. How do you create values for your marriage? Look at marriages you hope to someday have and observe what those couples are doing. Use your failures as leverage to strengthen your bond. Put up safeguards to protect your integrity and guard your hearts. Observe your own heart and baggage and recognize how that affects your marriage. Principles of marriage in ministry: Be the same at home as you are in public. Create an atmosphere of honesty in your home. Become openly broken to your spouse. Make prayer a priority. Prayer develops intimacy. Quotes from this episode... “Where do you want to end up? Nobody ends up anywhere on accident.” “If you want to end up somewhere others are, you’re stupid not to ask questions of how they got there.” “Never separate church and family.” “Create an atmosphere of honesty in your home.” “It’s tough to go to bed mad at your spouse when you make nightly prayer regular.” “When you think something good, say it.” “Ask yourself: are you rebuking and critiquing more, or affirming more?” “You will not get where you want to go in your marriage through a life of critiquing.”
Welcome to Episode 71 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Today we will be talking with Pastor Roman Archer, Executive Pastor of Next Level Church, and Pastor Daniel King, Operations Pastor of Next Level Church, about how to balance grace and accountability on your staff. Takeaways for leaders… In ministry, the way we measure success is different. It doesn’t come through in a numerical figure, and it is not entirely performance-based. Trust is essential. We want to be able to raise up other leaders who will be able to own the vision of what we are trying to accomplish. Lead your staff into your expectation of them. Quotes from this episode… “We don’t just delegate tasks. We give responsibility and ownership.” -Roman Archer “Invest in the people, not just the positions.” -Roman Archer “Create a standard, communicate the standard, and protect the standard.” -Roman Archer A few ways to reach Pastor Daniel and Pastor Roman... Pastor Roman: Twitter-@archerra Email- roman.archer@nlc.tv Pastor Daniel: Twitter- @danielkinglive Email- daniel.king@nlc.tv
Welcome to Episode 70 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Today we will be discussing leadership and ministry questions with Pastor Anthony Milas, Lead Pastor of Granite United Church. Takeaways for leaders... There is a big difference between wanting to cast a vision and wanting to echo a vision. Staff should echo the heart of the vision. Do our potentials hires and church planters have a preacher's heart, or do they want to share, care for, and echo a vision? We are not called to see people make professions of faith, we are called to make disciples. Constantly challenge people to take the next step, and make it it so that if they want to take the next step, it is there for them to take. When you’re inviting people into an environment where you see kingdom potential in them and you’re inspiring, honoring, celebrating, and empowering them, people get pumped up for the kingdom of God. We are supposed to be creating a thirst in others to want to know God and do more for God. Investigate: make sure you’re carving out other time to investigate other ministries and ministers. Interrogate: reach out to church leaders. Don’t isolate yourself. Find a community that you can be a part of. How do you run the race well and live a life of integrity in ministry? Extend grace. Keep pursuing your spouse. Make your family part of your ministry. Stay close to the Lord. Have great ministry friends. Quotes from this episode... “Make a friend have a friend forever, burn a bridge and you’re never coming back.” -Anthony Milas “People are attracted to following a leader who doesn’t put on a front.” -Joshua Gagnon “Don’t pastor a church in a community; be in a community with that church.” -Joshua Gagnon “We’re not called to be the largest church in New England, we are called to church New England.” -Anthony Milas “We need more churches, not more campuses.” -Anthony Milas “Ministry is who we are, not what we do.” -Anthony Milas “As we are making disciples, we are called to pull out of people what God has put into people.” -AM “Healthy churches are reproducing churches.” -AM Ways to find Anthony Milas: Granite United Church: www.graniteunited.com Blog: anthonymilas.net Twitter: @pastormilas
Welcome to Episode 69 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Today we will be hearing from Pastor Roman Archer, Executive Pastor at Next Level Church, about mental models. A mental model is a metaphor that equips you to persevere through potentially unforeseen obstacles. Takeaways for leaders... It takes maturity to get rid of an unhealthy model. In order to act right, we must think right. It is harder to unlearn than it is to learn. Our perspective determines a lot about how we react to circumstances. Give those under your leadership a mental picture, or “model,” of what their job is going to look like to set the proper expectations and give them a better understanding of what they’re trying to accomplish. Be a leader with a pastor's heart. 2 Timothy chapter 2 gives us several mental models to illustrate being a leader. In this chapter it is referring specifically to ministry, but these principles can apply to many areas of life (marriage, parenting, etc.). The Apostle Paul, in 2 Timothy chapter 2, teaches us that ministry means being… -A teacher A teacher needs a student/apprentice. Always ask yourself, “who am I teaching, and what are they receiving?” A teacher’s success is defined by the growth of their students. -A soldier “Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” -2 Timothy 2:3 Ask yourself, “am I thinking like a civilian or like a solider?” -A victor Ask yourself, “what does a winner look like, and what does my training look like?” A victor exercises discipline. Show up to work with the mentality of an athlete. Do everything with the purpose of glorifying God and finishing, with excellence, the race that is set before you. Winning hurts. It takes hard work and discipline. As an athlete, sometimes you have to play through an injury because you recognize that during the playoffs that you opportunities are coming to an end. Be prepared for the demanding seasons of ministry where you have to push through the metaphorical injuries that may arise. -A farmer A farmer understands that what he doesn't plant, he doesn't reap. A farmer understands that there are seasons. Seasons of planting, seasons of nurturing, seasons of harvesting. He understands that some things are out of our control. What we are willing to put into the ground, we will reap. Ask yourself, “am I expecting an overnight success?” “The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” -Alan Kay Creativity, Inc.: https://www.amazon.com/Creativity-Inc-Overcoming-Unseen-Inspiration/dp/0812993012 Pastor Roman’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/archerra Pastor Daniel’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/danielkinglive
Welcome to a special episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! In today's episode Pastor Joshua and Jennifer Gagnon will be talking about parenting, family, marriage, and intentionality. Takeways from this episode... Show your kids what honor looks like. What you want your children to become tomorrow, you have to instill in them today. You'll never be friends with someone when all you think about is what you don't like about them. Your marriage will never be what you're not personally. Get where you're going on purpose. Lead your family with intentionality, because outside of intentionality your life has no way of getting where you want it to be. No one ends up anywhere on accident. We hope you enjoyed this special episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
Welcome to Episode 68 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on iTunes or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. On today’s episode Pastor Josh Gagnon will be answering leadership questions with Carey Nieuwhof, founding pastor of Connexus Community Church and author of “Leading Change Without Losing It” and “Lasting Impact.” Some of the questions we answer in this episode include... What are 3 big trends you’re seeing in the church today? How do you get everything done? Where do your ideas and content come from? Takeaways for leaders: Rather than driving attendance in our church, we should be driving engagement. What drives the numbers is more important than how big the numbers are. Because when your benchmark is more, you’re never satisfied. When we chase the more, we lose the reality of the one. As a leader you must protect your time. Do what you can when you’re at your best. You can’t say yes to everything, so save yourself for the things you feel God has called you to. Always look for inspiration from life experiences for message content. Ordinary, everyday life is full of potential illustrations! Have a good capture system (evernote, etc.) to log your ideas and stories. And remember, your bad ideas give birth to your good ideas. Learn more about Carey: Website-careynieuwhof.com Blog-careynieuwhof.com/blog Podcast-careynieuwhof.com/mypodcast Twitter-@cnieuwhof The High Impact Leader Course: careynieuwhof.com/high-impact-leader “Leading Change Without Losing It” https://www.amazon.com/Leading-Change-Without-Losing-Revolutionize/dp/0985411651/ “Lasting Impact” https://www.amazon.com/Lasting-Impact-Powerful-Conversations-Church/dp/1941259464 Quotes from this episode: “When we come together as a unit, people will come to see the babbling brooks coming together to form Niagara Falls.” -Joshua Gagnon “Attendance should be a byproduct of deepening devotion.” -Carey Nieuwhof “Your bad ideas give birth to your good ideas.” -Carey Nieuwhof “Great friendships never come from impure motives.” -Joshua Gagnon
Welcome to Episode 67 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on iTunes or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. On today’s episode we will be continuing our discussion from last week, picking up with the idea of transitions. Transitions are everything. Transitions make or break communication. The trouble is getting out of one thought and into the next. Encourage the convinced and convince the critic. There are two types of people in an audience, those who agree with you and those who don’t. Find a way to speak to both at the same time. Speak with your mouth and listen through the listener’s ears. Quotes “We are bad communicators when we ever think that there is only one type of person in any setting.” –Joshua Gagnon
Welcome to Episode 66 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on iTunes or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Today’s episode is all about communication. We all need to grow in our communication skills. Here at NLC we strive to have authentic communication between staff members and from the stage. Takeaway for Leaders: Speak from the center, not the shell. In other words, be honest and speak about the heart of the matter. Vision isn’t hype. Too often we are so focused on keeping the vision intact and polished that we often times miss how effective it is broken. Be Dr. Phil, not Ryan Seacrest. Dr. Phil talks to people from a heart level, not a host level. Ask yourself, how can the two worlds blend together? How can I speak truth and create excitement by speaking to people’s hearts? Quotes “Vision does not have to be polished, exciting, or perfect.”- Joshua Gagnon
Welcome to Episode 65 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on iTunes or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! On today’s episode we have special guest Todd Adkins! He is the Director of Leadership at Lifeway Christian Resources! Todd grew up in Kentucky and attended small Baptist churches for most of his childhood. Growing up as a pastor’s kid, Todd did not plan to become a pastor himself, but quickly found out that God had other plans for him. Takeaways for Leaders As a leader, instead of being a do-er you can do a lot more as a developer. Focusing on developing your staff is critical with the culture of your organization for success. Take them on that journey to help them become who they are created to be. As leaders we have one job. Our one job is to make disciples for the work of the ministry, and if we do that, it is measured in the fullness of Christ Jesus. Leadership development is the vision that inspires, but it is also the plumbing that delivers on the dream. You have to do the hard work of laying out the blueprints and the plan to get there instead of just saying XYZ. Some key things to look for in potential leaders are a good attitude and work ethic. You can teach skills all day long but when it comes down to it, character is what makes a leader great. Competency based learning vs. knowledge transfer. Todd Adkins social media Twitter = @ToddAdkins Instagram= @Toddadkins Books mentioned in this podcast Simple Church by Thom S. Rainer https://www.amazon.com/Simple-Church-Returning-Process-Disciples/dp/0805447997 Leadership Pipline by Charan, Drotter, Noel https://www.amazon.com/Simple-Church-Returning-Process-Disciples/dp/0805447997 Leadership Engine by Noel Tichy https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Engine-Building-Rapid-Read-Handbook/dp/0944002250/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1492552126&sr=1-1&keywords=leadership+engine http://myleadershippipeline.com Todd’s Podcast 5 Leadership Questions https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/5-leadership-questions/id1016454336?mt=2 New Churches Podcast https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/new-churches-q-a-podcast/id1045851546?mt=2 Quotes “We really need to take people on a journey with specific destinations and ports of call along the way” - Todd Adkins “All people have a unique calling from God.” - Todd Adkins “You can never stop cultivating your character.” - Todd Adkins “You have to have a transfer of knowledge, but you also have to have experience and you also have to have coaching.” - Todd Adkins “Leadership development is poetry and plumbing.” - Todd Adkins “I was here to build an army not an audience.” - Todd Adkins “Programs don’t develop people, but processes sure do.’’ - Todd Adkins
Welcome to Episode 64 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on iTunes or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! On today’s episode we are talking about the enemies of a healthy culture part 2. On our last episode we touched base on the more positive aspects of culture, but on today’s podcast we are going over the more negative side. Take aways for leaders: One huge enemy of culture we believe to be is negativity. When it comes to leadership, you will always run into expectation gaps. You can choose to fill the gap with suspicion or you can choose to fill them with trust. We should always choose to fill the gap with trust because where there is trust, there is less negativity. Remember that with every problem you face you do not bring negativity, instead you bring solutions. We’re always going to write stories in our heads, but with having an open door policy, it allows stories to end a lot sooner than they may have. An enemy of a good culture is a fast growing organization. The faster the organization grows, the faster the teams grow. The bigger the team, the more responsibility it is to maintain a healthy culture. Realize that it is harder to get back a healthy culture than it is to keep it. We want to make sure that what we are reproducing is something that we want to be a part of. We need to choose culture over preference. One huge enemy of culture would be celebrations. If your teams do not celebrate it may be because of a lack of thankfulness and gratitude on what God is doing. Quotes “I think culture is more important than anything but Jesus in the church world, or in the organizational world.” - Joshua Gagnon “A broken culture will never lead to a healthy organization.” - Joshua Gagnon “We don’t want to be a people of excuses.” - Joshua Gagnon “We’ve all written books that will never be published. We didn't write them with our hands; we wrote them with our minds.” - Joshua Gagnon “Where there is trust, there is less negativity.” - Joshua Gagnon “The more we’re thankful for what God’s doing, the more we are going to celebrate.”- Joshua Gagnon
Welcome to Episode 63 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on iTunes or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! On today’s episode we are talking about enemies of a healthy culture. Here at NLC we value culture second to Jesus. We believe that culture is the engine that drives everything that is not Jesus. The culture that we invite people into really matters when it comes to even the presence of God. Take aways for leaders Ask yourself: How do we make sure that we have a good culture? Then ask yourself: What comes against it? What is the enemy of culture? If we know the enemy, we can know how we can fight against it. Your environment is what you make of it. Even if you’re not being negative, but you’re not being positive, you’re not applying yourself to your group the way that needs to be if you want a culture that's going to be the greatest place to work. The way you communicate to your organization will either add to the culture or subtract from it. Having great communication is key for a successful culture. Keep everyone moving in the same direction, the same goal. We want communication from the bottom up. Sometimes you need that information to come up, because they are the ones who are the closest to the front line. Most of us are competing within our own team, not because we want to, but because it is within our own culture. You have to be okay with who you are, you cannot be constantly comparing yourself to everyone else. You be who you are called to be. Once we start comparing ourselves to one another we start competing. Once we start competing with one another, we start defeating the very people we are supposed to be winning along side with. Quotes “Culture is never ever stagnant.” - Roman Archer “It takes 10 people leading in the right culture to create something powerful, but it takes 1 person leading in the wrong way to ruin it all.”-Joshua Gagnon “The desire for power always competes for the desire for a great culture.” - Joshua Gagnon “We don't want to compete, but we want to complete with other churches.”- Joshua Gagnon
Welcome to Episode 62 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on iTunes or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! On today’s episode we have guest Chris Goeppner! Originally as a youth pastor in FL, he felt lead to pastor the least churched state in the US, Vermont, New Hampshire. Only 3% of the population in Vermont, NH are church goers; Chris talks about what challenges he had faced and how he overcame them. Takeaways for Leaders One of the best ways to find encouragement when you are feeling down is to go out. You need to find a community and ask for advice. As a leader it is important to have those people around you to help you get out of those dark times when you are feeling discouraged. Get healthy. Maintain a healthy growth and get stable. Putting together a foundation and continuing to build that foundation strong is not something that will be easy or fun, but remember it is always necessary. It is always best to focus on who you have rather than how many you have. We have to be very intentional with how we develop our leaders within. Build that culture now of what you want it to be in the future, work on your foundation. Don’t forget the reason why you started to plant your church. Remember the reason and let it drive you to finish strong. Stay in faith, and keep going. Mentioned in this Episode: Chris Goeppner’s Instagram: @ChrisGoeppner Practical Church Podcast https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/practical-church-podcast/id1211404225?mt=2 Quotes “Building a foundation a skyscraper can stand on is different than building a foundation that a ranch could stand on.”-Joshua Gagnon “Recognize that God has a call for us to be influential in our region.”-Chris Goeppner “Leaders can either be found or they can be developed.” Joshua Gagnon “The same thing that stirred in your heart to go start the work, let that drive you.”-Chris Goeppner “Without faith, it is impossible to please God.” -Chris Goeppner “Be authentic and be practical.” -Chris Goeppner “Excellence is doing the best with what you’ve been given, not the best with what someone else has been given.” -Joshua Gagnon
Welcome to Episode 61 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on iTunes or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! On today’s episode we have special guest Adam Weber! He is a pastor at Embrace Church at 6 different locations in the Midwestern area. Growing up he never thought he would be called to ministry, but God had other plans in store for him. Takeaways for Leaders: Listen to God, listen to His words and learn who you are in Christ. He is always trying to reach out to you and to guide you. When God gives you something, instead of saying “what’s next?”, take that moment to worship Him, thank Him for what He has blessed you with. Don’t forget the Fruits of the Spirit. Everything you have you owe to God and what He has given you. Stay humble and willing to change yourself, there is always room to improve. Learn to have perspective on not sweating the small things. Be open to advice from others and be someone who is constantly wanting to learn new things. It takes time to get to where you are, and even more time to get to where you are now, to where God wants to take you. Everything is in God’s timing and not on your timing. Mentioned in this Episode: www.AdamWeber.com “Talking with God: What to Say When You Don't Know How to Pray.” https://www.amazon.com/Talking-God-What-When-Dont/dp/1601429444 The Conversation with Adam Weber: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-conversation-with-adam-weber/id1119318768?mt=2 Quotes “What if everything takes time, and we just have to be okay in the time.” -Joshua Gagnon “The awesome God moments take time, even years to do.” -Adam Weber “You can either grow unhealthy or grow healthy, you’re never going to grow healthy doing what you’ve always done.” - Joshua Gagnon “We’re actually better at praying than we even think we are, we just need to direct it towards God.”-Adam Weber “He’s not looking for sacrifice, He’s looking for hearts.”-Adam Weber
Welcome to Episode 60 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on iTunes or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! On this episode we are talking again about assimilations, which is a huge part of every ministry department in a church. Our hope for you as leaders is to not be afraid of change. If you find that you’re making something better, embrace it. Here are some key points on today’s episode: We’ve made some changes!: If you’re too over/under emphasized in any particular area, there will be no balance and it can stop the growth of your church. It does not matter how many first, second, third time guests you have, if you cannot disciple them. We’ve transitioned into a church management system called “Rock” online. “Rock” is a program that works for our church but does not necessarily work for every church. All of our information on our members are stored in that database, so for follow ups everything we need for contact information is already there. Follow up!: For a first time guest, we make sure to welcome them and have them fill out our welcome card. We do not spend a lot of time on first time guest in our announcements, but we do want to make sure they feel comfortable. We want first time guests know we are not going to use their information on the card for anything other than reaching out, and making them feel welcome. First time guests and decisions for Christ are very important things that Location Pastors need to learn to invest their time in. We try to decentralize some of those steps and focus on putting tools and skills into our Location Pastors, while trusting them to be great decision makers. We found that out of the e-mail, text, hand written note, and phone call that is placed onto the connect card, that they are not always filled out on each line and can sometimes be filled out incorrectly. When we have four different type of contact, it makes connecting after their first time experience easier on helping them continue their journey with God. In our Kid’s department for first time guests, we have them check in and enter their families information into our database system. Whoever is at the check-in station at that time, will then follow up with our first time guests with a handwritten letter. They let them know to have the child bring back the card to be able to pick out a prize that following weekend. We do this as a small incentive to bring families back. One type of follow up that we offer is for those who choose to become a follower of Christ. Once they dedicate their lives to God, we send them a video from our Pastor Josh explaining what it looks like to make that decision to follow Christ. Mighty Call Script “_____, thanks for being at Next Level Church today - we're glad you came & pray God moved in your life! We'll call you soon to see how we can serve you.” Link to our new church management system “Rock” https://www.rockrms.com Quotes “If you’re making something better, embrace it.” -Roman Archer “Our legacy as a church, the fruit that we show isn't going to be in the number of seats that we fill but at the end of the day how many people are truly impacted.” -Roman Archer We value families, we value kids, and so we want to show that by follow up. Show that they were noticed.’’- Roman Archer “We want to give where we know that’s fruitful and fertile ground. We want to be good stewards of what God has given us.”-Roman Archer “Think through the contents and the lens through which God’s called you to do ministry.”-Daniel King
Welcome to Episode 59 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on iTunes or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! On this episode we are hearing from author and pastor Barnabas Piper as our special guest. Initially known for being John Piper’s son, Barabas has now written three books, “The Pastor’s Kid”, “Help My Unbelief” and “The Curious Christian”; and he is also featured in two podcasts, “The 5 Leadership Questions” and “The Happy Rant”. Here are some of the main ideas from this episode. “The Curious Christian” As leaders we need to stay curious. Curiosity is the pursuit of truth in all things; truth is the reality as God intends it to be. Once you become curious, you see how life can be deeper than it appears. Pursuit of truth in relationships, work, ministry, and in our own spiritual lives start to peel away by the layers. God is infinite, and we have been created as image bearers. How can we, as finite people, reflect an infinite God? We as leaders should be constantly curious, constantly searching and digging deeper for a better understanding of God’s character and promises. Spiritual Discipline Spiritual discipline should not be seen as a boring list of tasks that you need to do daily. They are an exploration of an infinite God; a doorway into infinite goodness. When we pray it gives us the ability to speak from our hearts and to hear from God. We should not be worrying about the tasks, but we should be focusing on the why behind it. “So what?” Starting with “why”. What does this say about God? How is this going to help people? Is it profitable? Is it the right timing? The “so what” should be the purpose behind our work as a leader. “How to stay curious.” We as leaders need to continue to learn, find wonder and excitement in our everyday lives. If a pastor does not stay curious they will become disconnected. If you want to be the best leader you need to be curious about non-leadership things. You need to be developing people as opposed to developing ideas. The more you are invested in people the better leader you will become. Be a sponge and always stay be humble to new knowledge. Learn more about Barnabas: http://www.barnabaspiper.com "The Pastor’s Kid" : http://a.co/3hq57NE "Help My Unbelief" : http://a.co/fi0bdXx ''The Curious Christian" : http://a.co/dpuyig7 Barnabas Piper’s Instagram: @bpiper31 Barnabas Piper’s Twitter: @BarnabasPiper Quotes from this episode: “The starting with “why” it is both the unpacking of particular projects but also the purpose behind our work.” - Barnabas Piper “The thing that keeps us vibrant and fresh as leaders is curiosity.” - Barnabas Piper “How do individual people need to be led?” - Barnabas Piper “If you want to be the best leader you need to be curious about non-leadership stuff.” - Barnabas Piper “ Building a relationship, being curious about them as people, creates a better, more efficient working environment.” - Barnabas Piper “If your teaching is not developing people, as opposed to developing ideas, it’s probably misdirected.” - Barnabas Piper “I can lead people better when I know their life.”- Barnabas Piper “The moment you’re an expert, you're obsolete.” - Barnabas Piper “You are a student of culture.” - Barnabas Piper “God created a beautiful world and He created us to create.” - Barnabas Piper
Welcome to Episode 58 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on iTunes or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! This episode is part 3 of a 3-part series where Pastor Josh shares Next Level Church’s staff values. These 11 values are the key ingredients in shaping the staff culture of NLC. As they are shared, the hope is not that you would copy them but that they would inspire you to see the importance of creating a unified, intentional staff in whatever organization or team you lead. Click here for Part 1: http://www.joshuagagnon.com/blog/056 Click here for Part 2: http://www.joshuagagnon.com/blog/057 The values covered in this episode are: It starts with me - We are problem-solvers, not excuse-makers. Urgency is the only option. We don’t wait for answers and instructions, we find solutions and execute plans. We will lead more and do less so that we are catalysts for continuous improvement. Have open hands - We will sacrifice our time, talents, and treasure for God’s church and never ask anyone else to do something we are not willing to do ourselves. We give up what we love for what we love even more in order to reach as many people as possible. It’s okay to not be okay - Our first priority is following Jesus. We will never become a full-time minister but a part-time follower of Christ. We expect authenticity and openness within our team just as we welcome it in our church. We will do ministry out of a true passion for the gospel. Celebration as worship - Celebration is how we thank God for what He is doing in and through us. We celebrate numbers at every opportunity because each one represents a soul changed by the presence of God. We choose to focus on what God is doing over what we we’ve yet to see. Quotes From This Episode: “Some of our best ideas, our best solutions have come directly from those places of need; from some of those moments of weakness. - Daniel King “Innovation is always driven out of greatest need.” - Joshua Gagnon “Open your hands, never hold onto an idea so tightly that you’re not willing to give it up. Never hold onto your position so tightly that you’re not willing to step to another one. Just open your hands and understand that everything you have you’ve been given to manage, not to own. ” - Joshua Gagnon “If you always teach from your weakness you’ll always have an audience.” - Joshua Gagnon “ When we celebrate we’re bringing worship before God.” - Joshua Gagnon “Live in an attitude of gratitude because gratitude sustains joy.” - Joshua Gagnon “If gratitude is the focus, then joy will be the outcome; and if joy is the outcome, worship will be present.” -Joshua Gagnon “We don't want to get to the end of this race and be so focused on what we have yet to see that we did not focus at all on what we have been seeing.” - Joshua Gagnon “ We can all choose to focus on what God is doing rather than what we’ve yet to see.” Daniel King “Celebrate before the win and you’ll be able to celebrate during the win.” - Joshua Gagnon
Welcome to Episode 57 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on iTunes or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! This episode is part 2 of a 3-part series where Pastor Josh shares Next Level Church’s staff values. These 11 values are the key ingredients in shaping the staff culture of NLC. As they are shared, the hope is not that you would copy them but that they would inspire you to see the importance of creating a unified, intentional staff in whatever organization or team you lead. Click here for part 1: http://www.joshuagagnon.com/blog/056 The values covered in this episode are: Better not bigger - We believe that better always leads to bigger, therefore we will focus less on the numbers themselves and more on constantly getting better. Great just isn’t good enough. When we get better consistently, getting bigger will always follow naturally. Complete don’t compete - We will complete other Bible-believing churches, not compete with them. We believe that any church that preaches the gospel is on our team and will do everything we can to encourage and equip them to reach more people for Jesus. The only thing constant is change - Fast is better than slow. We will constantly challenge the status quo and happily adjust to accommodate any change that will make us more effective in reaching people for Jesus. “We’ve always done it that way” will never be part of our vocabulary. For the one - Every experience is someone’s opportunity to meet Jesus. We will work hard every week, we will not take our foot off the gas, and we will make sure every environment is the one we would want created if we had invited someone to church with us that day. Quotes From This Episode: “Bigger, bigger, bigger was an idol that consumed us.” - Joshua Gagnon “Comparing ourselves with everybody else became an idol to which we could never measure up.” - Joshua Gagnon “Anyone who is telling people about Jesus is on our team.” - Daniel King “Values are only valuable if when it is not easy you still honor them.” - Joshua Gagnon “We will always challenge the status quo. We will never be okay staying just because staying is comfortable.” - Joshua Gagnon “We do not change just for the sake of change because change comes with a cost.” - Joshua Gagnon “If you don’t value change, you won’t value being better.” - Joshua Gagnon “If you’re avoiding a necessary change, you’re really just accepting that you will be dying a slow death.” - Joshua Gagnon “If I invited ____ to church this weekend, I would hope and pray that my church had given it all that weekend.” - Daniel King “We do nothing different on Easter or Christmas than we do every other weekend.” - Joshua Gagnon
Welcome to Episode 55 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on iTunes or Stitcher or take the time to share it on social media. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! On this episode, Pastor Josh answers the questions, submitted by you the listeners, on a wide range of topics. Questions we answer in this episode include: What are some qualities you see in top leaders in their 20s? What does it look like to “work hard and play hard”? How do you balance the two? How do you stay healthy and not burn out? Why do you use the term “location” rather than “campus” for multisite churches? When do you move on from an organization? How do you balance grace and accountability on a church staff? Quotes From This Episode: “When we look to hire someone, the first thing we look for is culture.” - Joshua Gagnon “Culture within your organization will define what it becomes.” - Joshua Gagnon “In other professions if you mentioned ‘burned out’ they wouldn’t even know what you are talking about.” - Joshua Gagnon “Give the leader above you what you would want those under you to give you.” - Joshua Gagnon “Accountability isn’t just telling someone twelve times to do something. Accountability is having consequences.” - Roman Archer “Conversations are development. Accountability is the consequences that hold someone to those conversations.” - Roman Archer
Welcome to Episode 54 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on iTunes or Stitcher. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! On this special bonus episode, we share an interview with Pro Bowler and Super Bowl Champion, Matthew Slater, from the New England Patriots. This episode was originally recorded for Next Level Church at a weekend experience, and in it, Matthew Slater shares about his faith and its role in his life as an NFL player.
Welcome to Episode 53 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on iTunes or Stitcher. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! On this episode we are talking about one of the most common questions we get and also one of the newest, but quickest growing sources of church growth and revitalizations: acquisitions and mergers. Acquisitions occur when one church (typically one that is slowing down) and another church (typically one that is larger and rapidly growing) decide to join together in order to breathe new life into the smaller church. This takes many forms in a variety of churches, but in the short history of Next Level Church this has already happened 4 times. We share those experiences, answer some of the common misconceptions, and give advice to churches in both the “larger” and “smaller” positioning from our experience. Mentioned In This Episode: Reach Joshua Gagnon, Lead Pastor, at info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon Reach Roman Archer, Executive Pastor, at roman.archer@nlc.tv or @archerra Reach Daniel King, Operations Pastor, at daniel.king@nlc.tv or @danielkinglive 10 Takeaways For Leaders: Many churches have living organs that need to be connected to growing bodies The greatest source of growth that we will see in North America will be church mergers If you are in the position of the “lead” church, always lead with open hands and honor Vision alignment is first and foremost in making an acquisition successful for the kingdom Most of the time the best answer will be “no” Acquisitions will only serve to multiply to the problems you face organizationally, not to cure them Three things to explore: 1) bylaws, 2) finances, 3) legal investigation Go into the conversation trying to talk them out of it - be overly honest! Honor the people who have invested in the past Celebrate what God has in store for the future Quotes From This Episode: “There is something magical about this idea of acquisitions.” - Joshua Gagnon “When we came together, the momentum, the fire, and the passion of two things coming together was beautiful and there was so much purity in it.” - Joshua Gagnon “You always handle what you feel you’ve been given differently than what you feel like you’ve taken over.” - Joshua Gagnon “Long before the opportunity of an acquisition ever came up, our desire was to complete other churches.” - Roman Archer “The question we should be asking is: how can we reach the most people for Jesus? ... Sometimes the answer to that is: by doing this together.” - Daniel King “An acquisition needs to be prayed over and handled even more delicately than a new church launch.” - Joshua Gagnon “Culture match doesn’t mean they are ‘where you are’ but that where you are is where they are heading.” - Roman Archer “When it’s done for the right reasons, this can be one of the most dynamic, momentum stirring situation that any church could experience.” - Joshua Gagnon
Welcome to Episode 52 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on iTunes or Stitcher. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Easter is coming up soon (April 16) and planning ahead and thinking intentionally in advance are the keys to maximizing Easter. In this episode, we share tips we’ve learned to maximize the effectiveness of Easter at Next Level Church. We hope you learn from hearing some of what we do before, during, and after Easter to make it successful at NLC, including the incredible Helicopter Egg Drop that we hold across all of our location every year. Guests On This Episode: Reach Roman Archer, Executive Pastor, at roman.archer@nlc.tv or @archerra Reach Daniel King, Operations Pastor, at daniel.king@nlc.tv or @danielkinglive Reach Sarah Bolduc, Kids Pastor, at sarah.bolduc@nlc.tv Reach Clint Ledford, Worship Pastor, at clint.ledford@nlc.tv Mentioned In This Episode: See last year’s Helicopter Egg Drop website at: http://www.2016eggdrop.com Helicopter Egg Drop Planning & Marketing Documents: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/vek2bye73a3c6wk/AAA14WXv7ekbtMZiUrfA8CdIa?dl=0 See some videos we use to promote and celebrate Easter and/or Egg Drops: Promo #1 https://vimeo.com/158909766 Promo #2 https://vimeo.com/158909765 Promo #3 https://vimeo.com/160606452 Easter Celebration 2016 https://vimeo.com/162538487 GoPro footage from inside one of the helicopters: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/fgsuso7kf45sepr/AAAsRqSj9eH-adtU9iLkpQ_Aa?dl=0 “Family Info” Card Files: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/mukbk2f9ep4ow75/AADR7aE61OLI32FKOKdO_NqTa?dl=0 “New Kids Treasure Box” Postcard Files: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/0f3ul83mljo7e6x/AAAGYGS_fvHSaOe4mzrSl_CYa?dl=0 Here is a “$5 Starbucks gift card” slide you can use at your church if you want to try the idea that is shared in this episode: https://www.dropbox.com/s/fhegal59tmsuf1t/Starbucks_Giftcard.jpg?dl=0 5 Takeaways For Leaders: Make it big beforehand. Make it as good as advertised. Follow up well. Make the next episode just as good. Quotes From This Episode: “If you make it a big deal, then people will think it is a big deal.” - Daniel King “We want to be an example of who Next Level Church is on Easter.” - Clint Ledford “Do you, whatever that looks like for your church. Don’t try to be somebody else.” - Roman Archer “We don’t want to get something from people, but to do something for them.” - Clint Ledford “Every weekend is Super Bowl Weekend.” - Clint Ledford “It is our job as leaders to cast the vision that we don’t do this for the crowds and we don’t let them dictate the anticipation we go into a weekend with.” - Roman Archer
Welcome to Episode 51 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy listening to this podcast and it has helped you and your team in any way, please leave us a review on iTunes or Stitcher. Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions to info@joshuagagnon.com or @joshgagnon on Twitter and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Change is inevitable, but in this episode we are talking about how to be out in front of the change as a leader and provide the opportunity for change before the team or organization even asks for it. Mentioned In This Episode: “Leading Change Without Losing It” by Carey Nieuwhof - https://www.amazon.com/Leading-Change-Without-Losing-Revolutionize/dp/0985411651 5 Takeaways For Leaders: Change is uncomfortable. Change to make things better, not just for the sake of change. Communicate. Communicate. Communicate. Approach change sometimes as an experiment. Include people in the change. Quotes From This Episode: “Change harms for you for a lifetime if you’re unwilling to change what you know you need to change.” - Josh Gagnon “You can pay the price for change now or you can pay the price forever.” - Josh Gagnon “Every change should be approached with the question - how does this advance the vision?” - Roman Archer “The only thing harder than change, is when change comes from a leader who does not know how to communicate change well.” - Josh Gagnon “Many people are not unwilling change, but are afraid of what the change might entail. Don’t allow fear of the unknown to hold you back from something that you know you need to do.” - Josh Gagnon “People wonder how much change will affect them, so our job is to teach them that it will impact them in a positive way.” - Josh Gagnon “Plenty of great leaders dread change - they just dread not do something great even more.” - Josh Gagnon
Show Notes - An Attitude of Gratitude Welcome to Episode number 50, the first episode of 2017! We are excited to announce that in 2017, we will be releasing a new episode every Wednesday. Subscribe and share on your favorite podcasting app. Enjoy today's episode. Principles for Gratitude: 1) Gratitude promotes joy. Gratitude can change the atmosphere of an entire room or team. Our goal is to make NLC the most fun team to work on in the country. 2) Gratitude promotes optimism. Work hard at finding things to be thankful for. 3) Gratitude promotes unity. Divisiveness comes from a place of bitterness and lack of contentment. 4) Gratitude promotes humility. God can not lift a head that isn’t bowed. 5) Gratitude promotes peace. 6) Gratitude promotes praise. Referenced in this episode: Slack is NLC’s primary communication tool - www.slack.com Click this link to see NLC’s “Gratitude” canvas for 2017 - a gift from Pastor Josh to each member of the NLC staff: https://www.dropbox.com/s/cjz2nl0bgn0j58s/Gratitude.pdf?dl=0 Quotes from this episode: “Gratitude promotes joy.” - Pastor Josh Gagnon “Rarely will you be thanking God or thanking others and have a pessimistic attitude at the same time.” - Pastor Josh Gagnon “You can shoot for the moon, but that doesn’t mean you don’t appreciate the stars you pass along the way.” - Pastor Josh Gagnon “Taking a timeout to appreciate what we are thankful for creates a sense of unity.” - Roman Archer “The moment you start feeling entitled, your gratitude is going down the drain.” - Roman Archer “The more thankful we are, the more humble we become.” - Pastor Josh Gagnon
Episode 49: The best leadership lessons of 2016 Welcome to the final episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast for 2016. It has been an incredible year on the podcast and we wanted to thank you so much for being part of it. There has been so much feedback, so many listeners, and so many stories of God using incredible people like you to grow His kingdom this year. So thank you. What we wanted to do for this final episode of the year is to take you on a journey back through some of the most popular and powerful moments of 2016... Episode 30: http://www.joshuagagnon.com/blog/030 Do you have competent people in the position to resolve the problems your organization faces? Are you allowing the same problems to recur again and again and again? Competency runs from the top down - make sure you have people empowered in the right roles who are competent to serve the people and make the decisions your organization needs made. Episode 26: http://www.joshuagagnon.com/blog/026 Is every person you have empowered is the right person or the available person? Episode 41: http://www.joshuagagnon.com/blog/041 It is our prayer that you have been encouraged by pastor Mark today to continue being obedient in the place and direction that God has called you and to see how you can continue to prepare the way for the next generation of leaders in your church or organization. As we wrap up 2016 on the podcast, we are going to end with this clip from an episode called “The 7 E’s that eliminate leaders”... Episode 35: http://www.joshuagagnon.com/blog/035 “We are going to fail at this thing called leadership if we are not filled with the Spirit of God and seeking Him more.” - Pastor Joshua Gagnon
Welcome to Episode 48 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! This is part two of a two-part episode series where Pastor Josh Gagnon lists the next 3 out of the 6 things he wishes he knew when he started Next Level Church 8 years ago. If you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to leave a review on iTunes! I wish I knew... 4. You have nothing to prove. From birth, we want to be wanted by our Creator. You must learn to grow in the confidence of who God made you to be rather than who you’re not. Allow your uniqueness to shine and continue to be faithful to where God has called you to. 5. Ministry is full of peaks and valleys. We don’t need to get too high or low, we just need to stay faithful. It can be too easy to live in the week-to-week of ministry rather than looking at the bigger picture of how far your ministry has come over the course of a long period of time. 6. Leading your heart is the greatest challenge that you have had. The most difficult thing about leadership for Pastor Josh is figuring out how to stay pure in his motives and leading himself well enough to lead anyone else well. Quotes From This Episode: “Every desire we have can be traced back to a God-given desire.” - Josh Gagnon “If you want to prove anything to anyone, prove that you’ll be faithful to your God.” - Josh Gagnon “Wanting to impress your Heavenly Father is probably a spiritual thing that’s healthy, but the way we handle it is what gets us off track.” - Josh Gagnon “It’s wise to protect ourselves against the immediate when we know we’ve been called to this for the ultimate.” - Josh Gagnon
Welcome to Episode 47 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! This is part one of a two-part episode series where Pastor Josh Gagnon lists 3 out of the 6 things he wishes he knew when he started Next Level Church 8 years ago. Make sure you look out for part two coming out soon! Starting out in ministry, I wish I knew... 1. Starting is easy but sustaining health is hard. Don’t get into the mindset of “we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.” Find solutions now and put out fires right away. Find the right people for the right position. Start with the finish line in mind. 2. A big vision is in danger when it’s given to someone who either does nothing with it or moves too fast with it. Failure is a good reminder of moving too quickly. Try to be aware of when your pace is the problem, and then fix the problem. Surround yourself with a team with a slightly slower pace. 3. Say “no” for others, but be more comfortable asking them to step into radical sacrifice. Start with “yes”, and never assume people will say “no”. Make big asks of people and give them the opportunity to say “yes” or “no”. “Start something when you have the ‘who’, not when you see the ‘what’”. - Josh Gagnon “God has a timing, you’ve got to try to live within that timing.” - Josh Gagnon “Don’t expect so much in the immediate that you forfeit the ultimate by moving too quickly.” - Josh Gagnon “When we have a culture that screams, ‘Our sacrifice is unto God!’, people will say yes.” - Josh Gagnon “You asking no asks will cause you to be a very lonely leader doing very little Kingdom of God.” - Josh Gagnon Listen to part two of this episode, to be released soon!
Welcome to Episode 46 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! Today’s episode is a continuation of the conversation from the last episode, which goes through the qualities of high-level leaders. This episode focuses on how being a great leader means knowing how to inspire others. If you enjoyed this this episode or others like it, please leave a review on iTunes or Stitcher! 3 Takeaways For Leaders: 1. Inspiration is not a personality type. No matter what your personality is, you can inspire others. One of the greatest things that divert us from being great leaders is great excuses. 2. Celebrate what it is you can celebrate. In every loss, you can find some wins. 3. Great leaders have the ability to manage tension. Ask yourself, is the pain they’re feeling driving them with more urgency for the future? “Great coaches don’t only make bad calls, they own the bad calls they make.” - Josh Gagnon “A team that lives in discouragement for too long just begins to perform out of discouragement.” - Josh Gagnon “When things are least encouraging, become most inspirational.” - Josh Gagnon “In every loss, you can find some wins.” - Josh Gagnon “One of the greatest things that divert us from being great leaders is great excuses.” - Josh Gagnon “The leader that’s inspiring no one is the leader that’s leading no one to victory.” - Josh Gagnon “One person who will not be inspired on a team of 10 will always corrupt the team.” - Josh Gagnon
Welcome to Episode 45 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! Today’s episode focuses on how being a great leader means being a great coach. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it and leave a review of the podcast on iTunes or Stitcher. 3 Takeaways for Leaders: Be a coach for your organization. Give others ownership. Be involved in people’s lives. Quotes From This Episode: “Not only should great leaders not do anything, but often times they can’t.” - Roman Archer “A coach isn’t a coach because they’re the best at all things. A coach is a coach because they can take out the best in all people that they’re coaching.” - Joshua Gagnon “The days I succeed most now are the days when those underneath me succeed most now.” - Joshua Gagnon “We’re not just asking people to do tasks, we’re empowering people to fulfill dreams.” - Joshua Gagnon “There’s nothing stronger than the organization echoing the same sound.” - Joshua Gagnon “The great coaches aren’t just involved in that person as a position, but in that person as a person.” - Roman Archer “Great coaches aren’t in the game to be successful, they’re in the game to make other successful. But when others are successful, great coaches succeed.” - Joshua Gagnon
Welcome to Episode 44 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! Today’s guest is Pastor Daniel King, the Operations Pastor at Next Level Church. In this episode, Pastor Daniel presents a quick overview of the many tools and programs we use at Next Level Church to keep our organization running as efficiently as possible. If you would like more information on this topic, email info@joshuagagnon.com. Mentioned In This Episode: Kin HR (for human resources and onboarding) - https://kinhr.com/ Gusto (for human resources) - https://gusto.com/ ChurchTeams (for discipleship and groups) - https://www.churchteams.com/ct/ Trained Up (for training staff and volunteers) - https://trainedup.org/ PEX (for expenses) - http://pexcard.com/ Slack (for internal communications) - https://slack.com/ Planning Center Online (for planning weekends and scheduling) - https://planningcenteronline.com/ SecureGive (for church giving) - http://www.securegive.com/ G Suite (formerly Google Apps for Work, for email, documents, spreadsheets, and calendars) - https://gsuite.google.com/ Church Metrics (data tracking tool) - https://churchmetrics.com/ Hootsuite (for scheduling social media posts) - https://hootsuite.com/ MailChimp (for sending mass emails) - http://mailchimp.com/ Dropbox (for organizing files) - https://www.dropbox.com/ If you found this episode valuable to you and your church, please leave a review on iTunes!
Welcome to Episode 43 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! Activate 2016 was hosted at Next Level Church in Somersworth, NH on Wednesday, September 21, and included powerful worship, educational breakout sessions, and inspiring words from Mark Batterson, Levi Lusko, and Larry Osborne. Over 400 church leaders were in attendance with over 100 churches represented from 8 different states. Thank you to everyone who joined us for this awesome leadership conference! Early Bird tickets are now on sale for Activate 2017. Visit www.activateleaders.com for more information and to sign your team up. This episode focuses on several trends which Pastor Josh Gagnon predicts we will see in American churches. If you are interested in this topic or would like more information, email info@joshuagagnon.com 3 Takeaways For Leaders: 1. If you want to reach more people at your church, you have to create more options for families to fit their schedule. Cultural trends are constantly changing, and because of this churches need to be adaptable. We cannot expect families to fit within our schedules if we are not willing to fit within theirs first. 2. The next trend for the American church will be mid-week worship services. Pastor Josh shares that he noticed how little time families have together, and we as church leaders have to understand that most families would rather not spend the time they do have together in church on the weekends. Holding a church service on a weeknight has proven effective for NLC because they recognized this. 3. Find ways to relate to your church as much as possible. The location pastors of NLC are required to work a full work week at another business or workplace once a year. Doing this accomplishes two things: 1) experiencing what their church members experience on a day-to-day basis and understanding their needs a little better, and 2) gaining a new appreciation for the work they have the privilege of doing to advance God’s Kingdom. Quotes From This Episode: “What can we do to meet them where they’re at rather than having them come meet us where we’re at?” - Josh Gagnon “We don’t think church should get in the way of family, we think church should build family.” - Josh Gagnon “Whatever you do is going to cost you something, just make sure what you’re doing is paying off in the way that is valuable to take away the cost.” - Josh Gagnon “How do we keep it from being a career and keep it being a calling?” - Roman Archer “Different jobs come with different difficulties.” - Josh Gagnon “When you lead through the ‘why’ and not the ‘what’, people will respond.” - Josh Gagnon
Welcome to Episode 42 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! Today’s guest on the podcast is Mike Foster, founder and Chief Chance Officer of People of the Second Chance, which is a non-profit organization guided by one lofty ordeal: that every person on earth deserves a second chance. Mike is also the creator of several workshops and online courses which train people how to effectively counsel friends, family, and those you influence. His work has been featured on Good Morning America, Fox New, and the New York Times. Mike, his wife, Jennifer, and their 2 teenage children live in San Diego, California. Learn More About Mike: www.mikefoster.tv “People of the Second Chance: A Guide to Bringing Life-Saving Love to the World.” - http://amzn.to/2cBPTg6 www.secondchance.org Mike’s Twitter: @MikeFoster Mike’s Instagram: @MikeFoster2000 3 Takeaways for Leaders: 1. So many pastors find their identity in what they do, which results in a sense of guilt and shame. To combat this, we must learn to get honest with what we believe about ourselves, God, and grace, as well as learn self-care. 2. You are ridiculously in charge of your own life. As leaders, it is easy to feel controlled and trapped, but we must realize that we have more control over our lives than we think. We can intentionally choose to take a break from our work or remove some of the burden from ourselves by delegating. 3. Be a church who loves people well and create an environment where they feel like they belong. Once they feel like they belong, then they will want to follow Jesus. Quotes From This Episode: “The church has this incredible opportunity to come in and say, ‘There’s another way’.” - Mike Foster “We are not defined by our worst moment, we are not defined by our failures. We are defined by God’s radical love.” - Mike Foster “Shame is this overwhelming feeling that we are unworthy.” - Mike Foster “I see shame as a virus that infects every aspect of who we are.” - Mike Foster “Slow down and be with your heart...Are there places in your heart where you feel like you’re not enough?” - Mike Foster “One of the greatest acts to break shame in our life is self-care.” - Mike Foster “You are ridiculously in charge of your own life.” - Mike Foster
Welcome to Episode 41 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you’re a leader in the New England area, you’re invited to Activate 2016, a one-day leadership event designed to encourage and equip leaders to continue advancing God’s Kingdom in this region. We will be hearing from Pastors Mark Batterson, Larry Osborne, Levi Lusko, and Josh Gagnon, and we will also be offering new break out sessions which are designed to educate and develop leaders within their specialized areas of ministry. Come join us on Wednesday, September 21 at Next Level Church in Somersworth, NH as we worship, learn, and grow as leaders together at Activate 2016. Sign up today! Go to www.activateleaders.com for more information. Today’s guest is one of our speakers for Activate 2016, Mark Batterson, who serves as the lead pastor of National Community Church in Washington, DC. NCC is one church with eight locations and is focused on reaching emerging generations and meets in theaters throughout the DC metro area. NCC also owns and operates the largest coffeehouse on Capitol Hill. Pastor Mark holds a Doctorate of Ministry degree from Regent University and is the New York Times bestselling author of 11 books, including The Circle Maker, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, Wild Goose Chase, and the two most recent, Jack Staples and the Ring of Time and Chase the Lion. Pastor Mark and his wife, Lora, life on Capitol Hill with their three children: Parker, Summer, and Josiah. Learn More About Mark: Mark’s Twitter: @markbatterson Mark’s Instagram: @markbatterson www.markbatterson.com www.theaterchurch.com Mentioned In This Episode: Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth: http://amzn.to/2cbFfPx Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck: http://amzn.to/2cbH3bc Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight: http://amzn.to/28QmIVw Chase the Lion: If Your Dream Doesn’t Scare You, It’s Too Small by Mark Batterson: http://amzn.to/2crcLz1 In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day: How to Survive and Thrive When Opportunity Roars by Mark Batterson: http://amzn.to/2crdaS5 Mountains Move sermon series at NCC: https://theaterchurch.com/media/mountains-move 3 Takeaways for Leaders: 1. Be in it for the long haul. Practice long obedience in the same direction. 2. Churches are going to have to get more creative and do missions as business and business as missions. 3. Be a lifelong learner. Pastor Mark shared that he had read 3,000 books before writing his first. Quotes From This Episode: “Enjoy the journey. Don’t focus on church growth, focus on personal growth.” “Long obedience in the same direction.” “There’s a fine line between building altars to God and building monuments to yourself.” “We think ‘right here, right now’, God thinks nations and generations...We’re thinking too small and too short.” “At the end of the day, the Kingdom of God is eternal and it’s unstoppable.” “Stay humble and stay hungry, and there’s nothing God can’t do in you and through you.” “If you want to preach more interesting sermons, live a more interesting life.” “Wise men come bearing gifts.”
Welcome to Episode 40 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you’re a leader in the New England area, you’re invited to Activate 2016, a one-day leadership event designed to encourage and equip leaders to continue advancing God’s Kingdom in this region. We will be hearing from Pastors Mark Batterson, Larry Osborne, Levi Lusko, and Josh Gagnon, and we will also be offering new break out sessions which are designed to educate and develop leaders within their specialized areas of ministry. Come join us on Wednesday, September 21 at Next Level Church in Somersworth, NH as we worship, learn, and grow as leaders together at Activate 2016. Sign up today! Go to www.activateleaders.com for more information. Today’s guest is Larry Osborne, who will be one of the keynote speakers at Activate 2016. Larry has served as a Senior Pastor at North Coast Church in Vista, California since 1980. The church has grown from 128 to over 11,000 in weekend attendance, and has been honored as one of the ten most influential churches in America for its pioneering efforts in the multi-site movement, sermon-based small groups, and its creative approach to shared leadership. Larry’s books include Thriving in Babylon, Accidental Pharisees, Innovation’s Dirty Little Secret, Sticky Teams, Sticky Church, Ten Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe, Spirituality For The Rest Of Us, Mission Creep, and The Unity Factor. Learn More About Larry: Larry’s Twitter: @LarryOsborne Larry’s Instagram: @LarryOsborne North Coast Church: http://www.northcoastchurch.com/ Mentioned In This Episode: Sticky Church by Larry Osborne: http://amzn.to/2bdgB2Y Sticky Teams by Larry Osborne: http://amzn.to/2bA6dSa Sticky Leaders by Larry Osborne: http://amzn.to/2bg2Vyc LCBC (Lives Changed By Christ): http://www.lcbcchurch.com/ 3 Takeaways For Leaders: 1. Understand the world you live in. Pastor Larry explained that he regularly reads news articles from various news sources and reads topics that he might not even have much interest in. He does this to be well-versed in the society he lives in so that he can better understand the culture he is trying to reach. 2. Use plain language from the stage. If you’re trying to reach those who are “not yet Christians”, as Pastor Larry puts it, they will be receptive to anything you preach from the Bible as long as you speak using words they will understand. Pastor Larry mentioned that they just wrapped a teaching series at North Coast about the book of Exodus, which was received well by his church because he spoke in a way they could understand and learn how it applies to their lives. 3. Culture is going in the direction of having everything “on demand”, and the church will soon follow that trend. Entertainment is catered to when and where people want it, from listening to a personalized music playlist to being able to reruns of TV shows at your convenience. Holding mid-week church services gives people that same level of convenience and will perhaps be the norm among modern churches. Quotes From This Episode: “One of our goals was to be a brick in the building God was building somewhere else.” - Larry Osborne “Part of the problem sometimes with youth is that your insecurity shows up because you try to act more in control and wiser than you are.” - Larry Osborne “We all overestimate what we can do in one year and underestimate what God can do in five.” - Larry Osborne “Some of the greatest solutions to our toughest problems come from people who are outside of our own little world.” - Larry Osborne “Live in the world that the people you’re trying to serve live in.” - Roman Archer “What has already happened that nobody noticed?” - Larry Osborne “You can have a lot of great ideas, but if you try to chase them all, you’ll get in trouble.” - Larry Osborne “God’s will often has a ‘what to do’, but it also has a ‘when to do it’.” - Larry Osborne
Welcome to Episode 39 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you’re a leader in the New England area, you’re invited to Activate 2016, a one-day leadership event designed to encourage and equip leaders to continue advancing God’s Kingdom in this region. We will be hearing from Pastors Mark Batterson, Larry Osborne, Levi Lusko, and Josh Gagnon, and we will also be offering new break out sessions which are designed to educate and develop leaders within their specialized areas of ministry. Come join us on Wednesday, September 21 at Next Level Church in Somersworth, NH as we worship, learn, and grow as leaders together at Activate 2016. Sign up today! Go to www.activateleaders.com for more information. Mentioned In This Episode: http://bettertogether.church/ JGLP Ep 029: The Value in Building Your Leaders: http://apple.co/28OPXX5 NLC’s Leadership Development Plan: http://www.nlc.tv/basecamp Submit your questions about multi-site to info@joshuagagnon.com The 4 Tires that Drive Multisite: 1. Focus. Have a clear idea of who you’re going to be, what you’re going to be, where you’re going, and where you’re not going. Decide what systems, strategies, and models you will set in place, and find your own focus that will work within your culture, context, and location. 2. Faculty. A multi-site approach will only work if you invest time in developing your leaders for multiple locations. Raise a team of leaders who will carry your church culture with them to other locations. 3. Facilities. Unless you can find spaces to meet in, you’re not going to be able to start new locations. Establish non-negotiables that fit the vision you have for your church. 4. Finances. Make sure you have the finances and resources you need before even considering going multi-site. Once your finances are stabilized and secure in one location, it may have the means to support other locations. Quotes From This Episode: “Multi-site isn’t for everyone and we have to be okay with that.” - Josh Gagnon “We’ve got to make sure who we are is obedient to who God calls us to be.” - Josh Gagnon “A good idea isn’t always a God idea.” - Josh Gagnon “We get so polluted in the church world when we try to pretend that everybody is called to what we’re called to.” - Josh Gagnon “We can’t get caught up in what’s better, we have to be caught up in who we are.” - Josh Gagnon “Multi-site doesn’t fix the problems in leadership you have, multi-site multiplies the problems you have in leadership.” - Josh Gagnon “I would rather wait to launch the right location in the right facility than too quickly launch the right location in the wrong facility.” - Josh Gagnon
Welcome to Episode 38 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you’re a leader in the New England area, you’re invited to Activate 2016, a one-day leadership event designed to encourage and equip leaders to continue advancing God’s Kingdom in this region. We will be hearing from Pastors Mark Batterson, Larry Osborne, Levi Lusko, and Josh Gagnon, and we will also be offering new break out sessions which are designed to educate and develop leaders within their specialized areas of ministry. Come join us on Wednesday, September 21 at Next Level Church in Somersworth, NH as we worship, learn, and grow as leaders together at Activate 2016. Sign up today to take advantage of our Early Bird pricing! Go to www.activateleaders.com for more information. Today’s conversation is with author, speaker, and leadership expert, Jenni Catron. Jenni has served on the executive leadership teams of Menlo Church in Menlo Park, CA and Cross Point Church in Nashville, TN. Prior to ministry leadership, she worked as Artist Development Director in the Christian music industry. Jenni speaks at conferences and churches nationwide, seeking to help others develop their leadership gifts and lead confidently in the different spheres of influence God has granted them. Additionally, she consults with individuals and teams on leadership and organizational health. Jenni has written several books including Clout: Discover and Unleash Your God-Given Influence and The 4 Dimensions of Extraordinary Leadership. Learn More About Jenni: Jenni’s Twitter: @jennicatron Jenni’s Instagram: @jennicatron Jenni’s Snapchat: @jennicatron Mentioned In This Episode: "The 4 Dimensions of Extraordinary Leadership" - http://amzn.to/2a5mBW9 www.jennicatron.com www.get4sight.com 3 Takeaways For Leaders: 1. Be open to God’s prompting, whether you’re asking something big of someone or you’re the one being asked. In Jenni’s case, she was the one being asked to do something she never would have considered, but because of current circumstances in her life she was able to say “Yes”. As a leader, you may need to make a big ask of someone who might say “No”, but you don’t know that for sure. So ask anyway. 2. Relational leadership is integral for successful leadership. When Jenni transitioned from corporate leadership to church leadership, she learned an important lesson: See the people you are leading as people, not as a means to your end. 3. If you want to find better ways to engage your church, you have to be willing to listen to your church. There is no “one size fits all” approach to church. Each body of believers is different, which is highly influenced by the culture they find themselves in. You’ll never know how to meet the needs of your church until you know what those needs are, and in order to attain this knowledge, you need to listen. Quotes From This Episode: “Our job is to be faithful to the prompting God might put on our heart. God’s responsible for outcomes.” - Jenni Catron “Don’t say ‘No’ for them.” - Jenni Catron “It’s remarkable how God is at work when we’re just faithful and obedient.” - Jenni Catron “A lot of times we will try to manufacture things that feel successful as leaders.” - Jenni Catron “Our job isn’t to make people happy, it’s to help people become better.” - Jenni Catron “Sometimes we exchange that person being happy for us in this moment for actually what’s best for that person and their growth and their development.” - Jenni Catron
Welcome to Episode 37 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! Activate 2016 is happening Wednesday, September 21 at Next Level Church in Somersworth, NH! Make sure you sign your team up to attend one of the largest church leadership conferences in New England! This year we will be featuring Mark Batterson, Larry Osborne, Levi Lusko, and Joshua Gagnon. Additionally, this year we are adding breakout sessions that will help you grow in your area of ministry. Sign up before July 31 for Special Early Bird pricing! Learn more and sign up here! Today’s guest on the podcast is Sarah Bolduc, Next Level Church’s NLC Kids’ Director. In this episode, you’ll hear about how Sarah came to NLC, the differences she’s learned between being in education and kids’ ministry, the resources she uses in NLC Kids, and much more. Learn More About Sarah: Sarah’s Email: sarah.bolduc@nlc.tv Sarah’s Twitter: @SarahLaFrance14 Sarah’s Instagram: #SarahBolduc2014 Mentioned In This Episode: Orange: http://www.whatisorange.org/ NLC Kids Blog: http://www.nlc.tv/nlc-kids-blog “Think Orange” by Reggie Joiner: http://amzn.to/29OnqEf “It” by Craig Groeschel: http://amzn.to/29uFmpk Planning Center Online: https://planningcenteronline.com/ 3 Takeaways For Leaders: 1. When it comes to your volunteers, make sure they are placed in an area where they are passionate and that they’re not just filling a need. Just because you are short in one area doesn’t mean anyone can fill it. Make sure your volunteers are serving in places that feed into their strengths and passions. 2. Meet parents where they’re at and partner with them to grow their kids in their relationship with God. Parents are the biggest influencers in a child’s life, so work together towards a common goal of moving their children to life in Christ. In order to do this, you must communicate with them as much as possible to ensure their child is understanding their lessons and applying them to their lives. 3. Change is inevitable, so understanding the “why” behind the change is crucial to accepting that change. Cast vision to your team so they can see the reason for the change and get behind it. Lead the way in being adaptable as long as the change aligns with your cause. Quotes From This Episode: “The quickest way for the devil to chew you up and spit you out on the other side of ministry is to never communicate and never reach out for help.” - Josh Gagnon “The church is always one generation short of extinction.” - Warren Wiersbe “The only thing constant is change.” - Roman Archer
Welcome to Episode 36 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! Activate 2016 is less than three months away! If you are a church leader in the New England region looking for a place to be encouraged, challenged, and get connected with other leaders in the area, join us for Activate on Wednesday, September 21, 2016! We’ll be featuring renowned pastors Mark Batterson, Larry Osborne, Levi Lusko, and Joshua Gagnon. Additionally, this year we are adding breakout sessions that will help you grow in your area of ministry. Sign up before July 31 for Special Early Bird pricing! Learn more and sign up here: http://bit.ly/28KYtGI Today’s guest on the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast is Gary Moritz, the lead pastor of Twin City Baptist Church, located in Lunenburg, MA. Called to pastor a church that was in desperate need of “rebuilding”, Gary and his family left their home and church in Virginia to fulfill a need he saw in the least-churched region of the country. Because of his faithfulness to God’s challenging calling, Twin City is now a thriving and growing church reaching wider demographics. Pastor Gary is a “down-to-earth communicator," talented leader, and visionary. He is married to his best friend, Jana, and they have two daughters. Learn More About Gary: Gary’s Blog: http://mytwincity.org/category/blog/ Garry’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/RITZCracker Mentioned In This Episode: “The Key to Everything” by Matt Keller: https://www.amazon.com/Key-Everything-Unlocking-Secret-Succeed/dp/1400204984 “Next: Pastoral Succession That Works” by Warren Bird:https://www.amazon.com/Next-Pastoral-Succession-That-Works/dp/080100571X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1467170249&sr=1-1&keywords=next+warren+bird www.leadership.net “Who Stole My Church: What to Do When the Church You Love Tries to Enter the 21st Century” by Gordon MacDonald: https://www.amazon.com/Who-Stole-My-Church-Century/dp/0785230491/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1467170271&sr=1-1&keywords=who+stole+my+church 3 Takeaways for Leaders: 1. Don’t take Jesus’ job of building His church. When Gary stepped into his role of pastoring Twin City, he learned that there is a high failure rate for reviving dying churches. But Gary came to the conclusion that, although there may be a failure rate, Jesus does not fail. As long as we allow God to direct us in building up His church, we will be met with success. 2. The decisions we make today will affect our destiny tomorrow. As leaders, we must constantly be looking forward and see what is up ahead at what God wants us to do. Stop being comfortable, get out, and allow God to do great things in you and through you. 3. Succession can’t just be reserved for retirement scenarios, it has to be about emergency planning. Have a system in place where you are raising up leaders who can step in if you are unable to. Come up with a plan for leadership succession and write down a standard procedure for all systems. Quotes From This Episode: “Jesus didn’t call us to be comfortable, he called us to be conformable.” - Gary Moritz “We can’t allow finances dictate our faith.” - Gary Moritz “Honor up, honor down, honor all around.” - Gary Moritz “Every pastor has a pain file.” - Gary Moritz “If the pastor is healthy, the church is healthy.” - Gary Moritz “We have to realize that we have a short life and we have to have maximum impact.” - Gary Moritz
Welcome to Episode 35 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! This is the second part of a leadership lesson called “The 7 E’s that Eliminate Leaders”. Listen to part one here: http://apple.co/22yPw9H 7 E’s That Eliminated Leaders (continued): 4. Excuses. From the beginning of humanity, we have always made excuses. Excuses eliminate us from responsibility and accountability. We make excuses for three reasons: 1) To blame others rather than ourselves, 2) It helps poor outcomes seem better in comparison, and 3) We want to lower the expectation for the future. 5. Emotions. As a leader, you set the tone and temperature of your team. Learn to lead your emotions so that you are always contributing to the health of the team. 6. Exclusion. Isolation is a dangerous place to be in leadership. We need to find people who can hold us accountable, who are heavily involved in our lives. 7. Emptiness. In ministry, you can only go so far with the passion you started with. At some point you have to fill yourself with the Spirit of God so that you’re not leading on empty. Emptiness is the source of so many other things that eliminate leaders. Quotes From This Episode: “Excuses make us the victims of our problems and keep us stuck within them.” - Josh Gagnon “A team that fears failure is going to be prone to making excuses.” - Josh Gagnon “I want to out-dream every dreamer.” - Josh Gagnon “You need emotion to lead, but emotion not led can eliminate leaders.” - Josh Gagnon “There is no such thing as a neutral attitude. You are either giving towards it or taking away from it.” - Roman Archer “At the end of the day, you can’t hide behind your personality and refuse to grow.” - Roman Archer “It’s not about fruitfulness, it’s about faithfulness.” - Josh Gagnon “People can control your fruitfulness, but no one can take away your faithfulness.” - Josh Gagnon “You’re only as accountable as you want to be.” - Roman Archer “Those that run alone run fast, but those that run together run far.” - Roman Archer “We are going to fail at this thing called leadership if we are not filled with the Spirit of God, seeking Him more.” - Josh Gagnon “The more like Jesus you are, the better leader you are.” - Josh Gagnon “The more desperate we are for Jesus, the greater His Kingdom on earth will be.” - Josh Gagnon
Welcome to Episode 34 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! On this episode of the podcast, we will be hearing from Pastor Josh as he describes 3 of the 7 E’s that can eliminate leaders. Part two of this episode will be released for episode 35, which will feature the next 4 E’s. If you can correctly guess the next 4 E’s that eliminate leaders, we will send you a $100 gift card! Send your guesses to info@joshuagagnon.com along with your name and contact info. Good luck! 7 E’s That Eliminate Leaders: 1. Envy. King Saul was envious of David. It can be easy to become envious to those who seem more successful than you. Social media has the capacity to fuel envy. Whenever you become envious of others, you forget how blessed you are. 2. Ego. It was through pride that Lucifer became Satan. Ego delights in admiration, but has a hard time taking direction and correction. Ego sees teachability as a weakness, correction as rebuke, and someone else’s success as its demise. Learn to “bow your head” so that God can be the only one to lift it. 3. Entitlement. Martha felt entitled to Mary helping her. When you feel entitled to something, the less likely you’ll work for it. Entitlement forces you to resent whatever is keeping you from the thing you feel entitled to have. The moment we stop being thankful for what God has given us, the more we will feel entitled to those things. Quotes From This Episode: “The more I focus on what other people want me to be, the less I focus on what God wants me to be.” - Josh Gagnon “Any church can grow big on the talents of many, but no church can sustain growth outside of Jesus being its foundation.” - Josh Gagnon “Your talent can only take you as far as your character can sustain you.” - Josh Gagnon “Envy never gets us what we want, envy always blinds us to what it is we have.” - Josh Gagnon “Ego delights in admiration and it resents correction.” - Josh Gagnon “Ego sees teachability as weakness.” - Josh Gagnon “God can’t lift a head that isn’t bowed.” - Josh Gagnon “A physical response to a spiritual matter brings meaning to the moment.” - Josh Gagnon “If you find your identity in what you do, you will be prideful around it.” - Josh Gagnon “Entitlement changes your focus from ‘I’ll work for it’ to ‘I deserve it.’” - Josh Gagnon “Gratitude ends where entitlement begins.” - Josh Gagnon “It’s hard to find contentment in moving targets.” - Josh Gagnon Look out for part two of the 7 E’s That Eliminate Leaders!
Welcome to Episode 33 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! Today’s guest on the podcast is Marian Noronha, the founder, chairman, and president of TURBOCAM International, a global turbomachinery development and manufacturing company that specializes in 5-axis machining of flow path components. Born and raised in Bombay, India, Marian has been a visionary and dreamer from a young age. Today he oversees over 750 employees with locations in 8 countries worldwide. TURBOCAM has been named one of the nation’s fastest growing private companies, and at the very center of the company is Marian’s desire to serve God and people through charitable giving and supporting humanitarian efforts across the world. Learn More About Marian: http://www.turbocam.com/ 3 Takeaways for Leaders: Be willing to take risks with what God has blessed you with. Marian shares how he started TURBOCAM through the generosity of some people he went to church with, even though they were left with little after they gave much to him. Be generous with what you have and be willing to support anyone who is doing something you believe in. Don’t get caught into thinking that God will only use you and you alone to carry out His work. This is dangerous thinking for leaders. It can be easy to believe that because you started a business or church or head up a ministry that you are the only one who is capable of doing so. Don’t fall into the trap of self-entitlement, but be open to the idea that God may choose someone else to finish what you started, and then empower the people below you to do just that. How open should you be about being a Christian business? TURBOCAM “exists as a business for the purpose of honoring God, creating wealth for its employees, and supporting Christian service to God and people.” Marian explains that it is important to be honest about your Christian business to have accountability. If you claim to have Christian values, then your customers should be able to hold you to those values and promises. Quotes From This Episode: “It’s a critical part of thinking to daydream.” - Marian Noronha “We call that sovereign beginnings: the stuff that God puts into you even before you know that God is there.” - Marian Noronha “If you want to see wealth created in a church, you’re going to have to take some risks.” - Marian Noronha “Are you willing to sacrifice on the front end in order to get to where you believe God wants to bring you?” - Josh Gagnon “Serving God is redemptive.” - Marian Noronha “Trust is the measure of what you are willing to lose.” - Marian Noronha
Welcome to Episode 32 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! In today’s episode, Pastor Josh sits down with David Ashcraft, the senior pastor of LCBC (Lives Changed By Christ), a multi-site church in Pennsylvania with 8 locations and over 15,000 people in attendance each weekend. David is a graduate of Texas Tech University with a degree in Business Administration, holds a Master’s Degree in Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, as well as a Doctoral degree in Ministry from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, in Chicago, Illinois. Because of its work around the world, in 2008 David and LCBC received “The Courageous Leadership” award from the Willow Creek Association and World Vision. David and his wife Ruth live in Lititz, Pennsylvania and have two grown children, Justin, a graduate of Lancaster Bible College living in Pittsburgh with his wife Laura, and Ashleigh, who currently attends Lancaster Bible College. Learn more about David: LCBC Church - http://www.lcbcchurch.com/ LCBC on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/lcbcchurch LCBC on Twitter - https://twitter.com/lcbcchurch Email LCBC - mailto:info@lcbcchurch.com 3 Takeaways for Leaders: 1. Be intentional and timely with your new hires. Don’t necessarily hire people because you need to fill a need, hire people who can help the church to grow and move forward. Additionally, take the appropriate amount of time to ensure the hire is a good fit instead of rushing through the hiring process. 2. The multi-site approach to ministry is great, but it’s not for everyone. Look at your model and decide whether or not it’s worth replicating across multiple locations. 3. Instead of focusing on growth, focus on doing the basics well. If you have systems in place that lets your guests know that they are cared for and valued, growth will happen naturally. Quotes From This Episode: “Get to the point where you’re not hiring generalists, you’re hiring experts.” - David Ashcraft “Hiring experts brings growth, but hiring generalists relieves pain.” - David Ashcraft “It’s about doing the basics well, then the growth will come.” - David Ashcraft “Find the ‘why’ behind the ‘what’.” - Josh Gagnon “Make sure early on you find some very strong structures, systems, and vision that’s worth of believing in 25 years later.” - Josh Gagnon “Be true to who you are.” - David Ashcraft
Welcome to Episode 30 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you’re a leader in the New England area, be sure to sign up for Leadercast Live, a simulcasted leadership conference hosted by Next Level Church! You’ll hear from some of the most recognized leaders in the world, such as Andy Stanley, Dr. Henry Cloud, Steve Wozniak, and more, and have the opportunity to connect with other local leaders. Space is limited so sign up at http://www.activateleaders.com/leadercast.html today! Today’s guest on the podcast is Matt Keller, the lead pastor and founder of Next Level Church located in Southwest Florida. In just 13 years, Next Level Church has grown from 30 people to over 3,400 in attendance each weekend. Matt leads NextLevelCoaching.tv, an organization for pastors and church leaders, and AdvanceLeadership.tv, a coaching organization that adds value to business leaders. His fast-paced, witty, humorous communication style will pull you in, inspire and challenge you to make the changes necessary to live up to your full potential. Learn More About Matt: Next Level Church in Florida’s Website: www.nextlevelchurch.com Matt Keller’s Website: https://mattkelleronline.com/ Matt Keller’s Podcast: https://mattkelleronline.com/category/podcast/ Up The Middle Church book: http://amzn.to/1Sj3DK7 The Key to Everything book: http://amzn.to/1VAlxye 3 Takeaways From Leaders: 1. How long are you willing to wait for your harvest? Matt explains that so many church planters and ministry workers hate the words expectation and delay. Next Level got to where it is with patience and expectation for God to do great things through it. As a pastor or a church leader, are you living with great expectations from God? Are you willing to wait for God’s timing? 2. Problems never go away, they just change. When Next Level started, Matt dreamed of the day when his attendance would reach a certain number. But once he reached his goal, he found that the problems he faced previously didn’t dissolve, they just got swapped for new ones. Don’t fall under the illusion that once your attendance, giving, etc reaches a certain point, you will be better off, because you’ll probably just find yourself faced with another set of problems. 3. Teachability is the key to everything. Matt defines teachability as “the desire to learn multiplied by our willingness to change.” Matt boldly claims that teachability is the key to everything (read his book, The Key to Everything, for more http://amzn.to/1VAlxye). If you are teachable, meaning you have a high desire to learn and a high level of willingness to change, you are capable of almost anything. Quotes From This Episode: “How long are you willing to wait for your harvest?” - Matt Keller “Don’t overvalue the immediate and undervalue what God can do in a lifetime of faithfulness.” - Josh Gagnon “The goal line is an ever-moving target.” - Matt Keller “Problems never go away, they just change.” - Matt Keller “Teachability is the key to everything.” - Matt Keller “Teachability is being willing to re-learn that which you think you already know.” - Matt Keller “Teachability is the desire to learn multiplied by our willingness to change.” - Matt Keller “I have nothing to prove and no one to prove it to.” - Matt Keller “You can have the dream you want and that you see in your heart, you just have to be willing to pay a big enough price for it.” - Matt Keller “Don’t believe the hype of the overnight success.” - Matt Keller “Refuse to get bitter because in ministry and in leadership, you’re going to have every opportunity to.” - Matt Keller
Welcome to Episode 30 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! Today’s episode is a recording of a talk Pastor Josh gave the location pastors of NLC about his recent experience at an organization and the multiple problems he noticed beyond just the surface. It’s Not A Leaky Roof Problem, It’s A Problem In: 1. Competency. In order to solve a problem in competency, make sure your leaders understand the “why” behind the “what”. Leaders under you will become more competent if you are demonstrating competency at the top. Make sure your leaders at all levels feel equipped and empowered enough to answer questions and solve problems within your organization. 2. Consideration. In leadership, you have to think about others. Allowing the leaky roof to get to that point demonstrates a lack of caring and consideration for the organization’s members. Think about your staff and volunteer teams and make sure you understand their needs, and listen to them. 3. Communication. Where communication fails, problems will be abundant. Communication must flow between all levels of leadership. Additionally, anyone who brings up issues or problems they see to your volunteers or staff should be confident that the message will be sent to those who can resolve it. 4. Culture. Having an excellent culture begins in private places and overflows into public places. Even when no one is looking, leaders should ensure that excellence is being demonstrated. Having a sense of urgency and ownership within your culture is also necessary when dealing with internal problems. Quotes From This Episode: “The leaky roof is the symptom of problems within this organization that are much larger than the leaky roof.” - Josh Gagnon “A lack of competency runs from the top down and usually pushes the bottom out.” - Josh Gagnon “As leaders, we have to care about the damage our leaky roofs are causing others.” - Josh Gagnon “When people show up, do they know that we care?” - Josh Gagnon “Communication isn’t always what you say. Communication has to be what you hear.” - Josh Gagnon “Great leaders listen.” - Josh Gagnon “Excellence begins where no one sees.” - Josh Gagnon “Excellence begins in the most intimate areas and overflows into the most public areas.” - Josh Gagnon “Excellence is not doing the best you can with what others have; excellence is doing the best with what you have.” - Josh Gagnon “A mission is something we’re on target to hit.” - Josh Gagnon
Welcome to Episode 29 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you’re a business or church leader in the New England area, make sure you register for Leadercast 2016: Architects of Tomorrow--a leadership conference that will be held at Next Level Church. Influential leaders such as Steve Wozniak, Dr. Henry Cloud, and Andy Stanley will be speaking for this one-day event on Friday, May 6. Register your team at www.activatealeaders.com. Make sure you check out Pastor Josh’s blog posts and videocasts on www.joshuagagnon.com for more leadership advice and wisdom. Tune in every Monday for a new videocast. Activate 2016 will be happening on September 21! The speaker keynotes include Mark Batterson, Levi Lusko, Larry Osborne, and Pastor Josh Gagnon. Register your team today for super early-bird pricing at www.activateleaders.com. 6 Things In Leadership That Matter Most: 1. Person over position. 2. Influence over authority. 3. Listening over communicating. 4. Wisdom over intelligence. 5. Culture over comfort. 6. Handing off over holding on. Quotes From This Episode: “So often we see problems but we don’t understand there’s a root to that problem.” - Josh Gagnon “Before you can lead others, you have to be a person worthy of leading.” - Josh Gagnon “As a leader you want to influence others before you want them to listen to your commands.” - Josh Gagnon “Vision can only keep people for so long, but influence can keep people forever.” - Josh Gagnon “I think in ministry the biggest thing that comes against our influence is we see people as hands rather than people as hearts.” - Josh Gagnon “Communicating is equally about listening as it is speaking.” - Josh Gagnon “You’ll never be able to lead an organization that you don’t understand the pulse of.” - Josh Gagnon “If you want people to listen to you, you need to listen to them.” - Josh Gagnon “We don’t want to be church leaders that become so smart that we don’t hear God.” - Josh Gagnon “Often when God speaks wisdom, it contradicts what I think logically makes sense.” - Josh Gagnon ‘Wise leaders get insight from God; smart leaders get insight from books.” - Josh Gagnon “As leaders, we’re wanting to protect the culture but we’re not wanting to put people down because it’s a different style.” - Josh Gagnon “Ultimately, your culture needs to be set by what’s effective.” - Roman Archer “The definition of delegation is: I have the authority, I’ve trained you to do it, now go do it how I want you to do it. Empowering is: I trust you, now go and do it.” - Josh Gagnon “The definition of trust is the measure of what you’re willing to lose.” - Josh Gagnon
Welcome to Episode 28 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoyed this podcast, please leave a review on iTunes and help this podcast get into the hands of more church and ministry leaders. Make sure you check out Pastor Josh’s new videocasts, available at www.joshuagagnon.com, where you’ll hear even more leadership advice and lessons from Pastor Josh. Today’s episode will feature the members of NLC’s Creative Team, as they discuss what it’s like to be a creative in ministry, as well as some of their creative processes and planning. Make sure you pass this episode along to any creatives you may know! Mentioned In This Episode: Clint Ledford - NLC Worship Director Clint’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/clintledford Clint’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/clintledford/ Email Clint - clint.ledford@nlc.tv Bruce Burger - NLC Production Director Bruce’s Email - bruce.burger@nlc.tv Allen Robbins - NLC Creative Pastor Allen’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/w_allenrobbins Allen’s Email - allen.robbins@nlc.tv Josh Duffy - NLC Video Producer Duffy’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/joshduffyt/ Duffy’s Email- josh.duffy@nlc.tv NLC’s Church Management Software - Planning Center Creativity, Inc by Ed Catmull - http://amzn.to/1UcX2oe 3 Takeaways For Leaders: 1. In every decision you make, honor your lead pastor. The Creative Team explained how they always honor Pastor Josh and his vision in everything they produce. Along with this idea, make sure you know and understand your pastor’s strengths and weaknesses and create your structures around them. 2. Start with “yes” and work backwards. Rather than resist an idea because of the amount of work it will take, think optimistically and say “yes”, then figure it out from there. Think of creativity as problem-solving and think through how you can accomplish your end product. 3. Don’t get caught up in thinking that excellence has a price tag. Often times, it’s easy to have the mindset that more resources equals excellence, but excellence is doing the best with what you have. Utilize what has been given to you in the most efficient way possible. Quotes From This Episode: “If I can’t support the vision of Pastor Josh and lift him up, then I’m hindering him.” - Josh Duffy “You can’t honor your pastor unless you know him, and you know his giftings and his strengths.” - Roman Archer “Start with yes and work backwards.” - Clint Ledford “I’m okay with making a mistake once. If it happens again, there’s something I need to address in myself or my team.” - Josh Duffy “Excellence is doing the best you can with what you have.” - Allen Robbins “Don’t get caught up in thinking that excellence has a price tag.” - Allen Robbins “It’s not excellence for the sake of excellence, it’s excellence because God calls us to be excellent.” - Bruce Burger “You can learn from the things people succeed at, but you’re going to learn more from the things they did not succeed at.” - Clint Ledford “Your ideas are not your identity.” - Josh Duffy
Welcome to Episode 27 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! Send an email to info@joshuagagnon.com with your name and contact information, and the first three emails we receive will be sent a copy of Brad Lomenick’s book, H3 Leadership! In this episode, we will be hearing Pastor Josh answer some questions submitted by our listeners about leadership, ministry, relationships, how to avoid burnout, and much more. If you have questions you’d like to be answered by Pastor Josh, text it to (646) 801-6033 or email it to info@joshuagagnon.com and it might be answered on a future episode. Mentioned In This Episode: H3 Leadership by Brad Lomenick - http://amzn.to/1KIgWpD ReThink Leadership Conference - http://www.rethinkleadership.com/ NLC’s Livestreaming Service - http://livestream.com/ 3 Takeaways For Leaders: 1. If you’re not passionate about the ministry you’re a part of, maybe you should consider being a part of a different ministry. In many church cultures, it’s become sort of a taboo for leaders or pastors to leave the church they work at because they don’t agree with the leadership above them. Just because you find that God has called you to ministry, it doesn’t mean you are bound to a particular church or organization. If you don’t agree with the vision or direction the church is going in, then consider leaving and finding a ministry that you can get behind. 2. To keep things fresh in your marriage, be intentional with your relationship with your spouse. Choose to do things that are outside of routine, things that will add to a type of new relationship rather than continue to support the old type of relationship. Additionally, choose to look at what you are making priority in your life and reconsider whether it should take priority over other things. Ask yourself “If I were to lose it, where does it end on the hurt thermometer?” Succeed at what matters most and put the most attention in what matters most. 3. To avoid burnout, take up a hobby and set guidelines and limitations within your “job” of ministry. Pastor Josh says, “The only reason anything burns is because it hasn’t changed positions.” So between your job, your home life, and how you spend your free time, change up your routine. Learn something new. Go explore new terrain. And learn to set a hard stop on your work. Ministry is a job that is never finished. But you can choose to find a stopping point, and actually stop working and start focusing your attention on other things, such as family or a new hobby. Quotes From This Episode: “The church stinks at honoring people on their way out.” - Josh Gagnon “We don’t have to suffer through ministry because we don’t agree with those above us.” - Josh Gagnon “God’s called you to ministry. Now find a ministry you’re passionate to serve under.” - Josh Gagnon “Work hard at [marriage] and give yourself the ability to get better at [marriage].” - Josh Gagnon “If you want to succeed at what matters most, you’ll put the most attention, effort, newness at what matters most.” - Josh Gagnon “The only reason anything burns is because it hasn’t changed positions.” - Josh Gagnon “Small wins over a long period of time will equal growth.” - Josh Gagnon “Leadership is all about risk and reward.” - Josh Gagnon If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave a review of the podcast on iTunes or let us know by tweeting Pastor Josh on Twitter at @joshgagnon.
Welcome to Episode 26 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership, ministry, or any other topic we’ve covered on the podcast so far? Submit your questions by texting (646) 801-6033 and Pastor Josh might answer it on a future episode! Leadership development is necessary at every level of every organization. Pastor Josh had the opportunity to be a speaker for the Ministry Momentum Summit in January and he spoke on the topic of leadership development. In this episode, we will hear a more in-depth version of that talk as he shares why there is a need for leadership development plans in ministry as well as business organizations. Mentioned In This Episode: The Ministry Momentum Summit presented by Unseminary - http://www.ministrymomentumsummit.com/ NLC Music’s The Overcome EP - http://nlcmusic.tv/ Email Pastor Roman - roman.archer@nlc.tv Next Level Church’s Leadership Development Plans - http://www.nlc.tv/basecamp 3 Takeaways For Leaders: 1. A vision outside of leadership planned is only a dream. Many leaders fall into the trap of dreaming big things for their church, but they fail to take the next step in creating a plan that will make that dream into a reality. Too often, churches never bridge the gap between dreaming and doing. Dreaming is the fun part--making a plan isn’t necessarily fun. We can’t just simply see the vision and rally the crowds, we have to make a plan to accomplish that vision by raising up leaders who will help us in our pursuits. 2. Develop the people under you to be able to think for themselves. Pastor Josh recognized in the early stages of Next Level Church that the leaders who were a couple tiers under him were not being empowered to make decisions for themselves. Instead, they would wait for direction of those above them without question. He then began asking, “Are the people on our team and in our volunteer positions able to say yes to questions that people present to them, or do they always have to go higher up in the organization to find a yes?” Once this problem was acknowledged, the leadership team had to develop those underneath them to the point where they could trust them with in their leadership positions. 3. When it comes to filling needed positions, don’t put a band-aid over the problem. In other words, don’t put someone in a role just because they are available but may not be the right person for the job. Don’t settle for filling a need; don’t settle for “band-aids.” Instead, look for people who can fuel your mission and who have the potential to become great. Great people produce great fruit. Take this point a step further by continually asking yourself if those people are in the “right seat” of the bus, even when they have been in their position for a long period of time. Quotes From This Episode: “You can have a big vision, but outside of the ability to train great leaders, your vision never has a vision to stand on.” - Josh Gagnon “You’re never going to grow God’s Kingdom large if it’s only through the opinion and voice of a few.” - Josh Gagnon “You’re never going to empower someone you don’t feel like you can trust, and you’re never going to trust someone who’s not developed.” - Josh Gagnon “There’s a major difference between the right person and the available person.” - Josh Gagnon “Great players are needed in order to have a great team, and great teams are needed to have great dynasties, and great dynasties are needed to order to leave great legacies.” - Josh Gagnon “Greatness will produce greatness. Great people produce great results. Great people produce great fruit.” - Josh Gagnon “If you don’t have the right people, you’ll never have the right organization; if you don’t have great people, you’ll never have a great organization.” - Josh Gagnon “The primary responsibility of a leader is to raise up great leaders.” - Josh Gagnon
Welcome to our special bonus episode of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! Make sure you leave a review of the podcast on iTunes! For anyone who leaves a review this week, they will be entered for the chance to win a signed football by today’s guest, Jerod Mayo of the New England Patriots. Just leave your review and send an email to info@joshuagagnon.com with your username you used in the review, and you might win this week’s giveaway. Today we will be hearing from Patriots linebacker and captain, Jerod Mayo, as he shares his story about his career in the NFL and the lessons God has taught him to get to where he is today. Learn more about Jerod: Jerod’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/jerod_mayo51 Jerod’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jerod_mayo51/ 3 Takeaways: When in the midst of a storm, reflect on your blessings. Jerod explains that when he faces difficult situations, he remembers how blessed he is and how much worse it could be. God never promises that living a life following Him would be easy, but He does promise that we would live life in freedom. Live life with open hands. Jerod makes it clear that whatever God has blessed him with--fame, fortune, material possessions--it was not his to begin with, and he lives his life with the mentality that we aren’t owners, we are simply managers of what God has given us. He said, “God blesses obedience.” When we are obedient with our giving, we will be blessed. It may not be a blessing in the area of finances, but God does promise to bless us if we are obedient to Him in giving of our time, talents, and treasures. Be a light in a dark place by bringing positive energy. Being a professional football player, Jerod understands that we live in a dark world that needs the light of Jesus Christ. As a Christ-follower, he strives be that light on and off the field, but this takes accountability. Jerod keeps himself accountable by regularly attending chapel services and surrounding himself with like-minded Christians who are also football players. Quotes From This Episode: “If it’s easy, maybe you’re not doing the right thing.” - Jerod Mayo “God’s always preparing you for what He has prepared for you.” - Josh Gagnon “Even though this is our job, it’s still a game.” - Jerod Mayo “God blesses obedience.” - Jerod Mayo “Everyone ends up somewhere, few get there on purpose. Most of us get there on accident.” - Josh Gagnon “You have to be a light in a dark place sometimes.” - Jerod Mayo Tune in next week for a brand new episode on the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!
Welcome to Episode 25 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! Please make sure you leave a review of the podcast if it has positively impacted you and your team! One lucky reviewer will be chosen to be the winner of our book giveaway, “War Room: The Legacy of Bill Belichick and the Art of Building a Perfect Team” by Michael Holley. Just leave a review and send an email with the username you used to info@joshuagagnon.com for your chance to win. Be on the lookout for our special bonus episode to be released on February 3, the Wednesday before Super Bowl weekend. In this episode, Pastor Josh will be speaking with New England Patriots linebacker, Jerod Mayo, about his faith in Christ, his career with the Patriots, and much more. Today we will be hearing from another NFL player: Dion Lewis, a running back for the New England Patriots who recently suffered from a torn left ACL in November 2015 and has been out the rest of the season. In his conversation with Pastor Josh, Dion talks about who has influenced him in his career as well as what it is like to play for Super Bowl XLIX winners, the New England Patriots. Learn More About Dion: Dion’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/DionLewisRB Dion’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/d_lew33/ 3 Takeaways For Leaders: 1. Be coachable. Dion explains how his high school football coach taught him this valuable lesson. Even when you don’t necessarily agree with your leaders or elders, give them your respect and be willing to be teachable. 2. Make sure your organization cares about the needs of its people. For Dion, what made the New England Patriots stand out among the several other professional football teams he had been on was that the leadership cared about their players, not just as football players, but as people. As a result, Dion says that the players on that team play harder. He shared how Robert Kraft, Chairman and CEO of the Patriots, is always in the locker rooms before and after the game, and is considered part of the team. 3. Be the same man on the field as you are off the field. When Pastor Josh asked what characteristics of Tom Brady that Dion most look up to, he explained that Brady is the same person day after day. He works hard each day and he doesn’t waiver in that. The best leader is someone with the kind of integrity that others around them notice. Quotes From This Episode: “A lot of leaders will find strength in their weaknesses.” - Josh Gagnon “You don’t always have to agree with someone. Just respect their opinion.” - Dion Lewis “The greatest quality of a leader is teachability: being willing to be taught.” - Josh Gagnon “I knew that whatever team picked me, I just had to make sure I went out there and work as hard as I could to be the best player I can be.” - Dion Lewis Listen to a bonus episode with Jerod Mayo on the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast on February 3!
Welcome to Episode 24 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! Congratulations to username Mcfpastorryan for being the winner of this week’s book giveaway! Please send an email to info@joshuagagnon.com with your contact information and an address we can ship “God Dreams” by Will Mancini and Warren Bird. For the rest of our listeners, please make sure you leave a review of the podcast! Our next book giveaway is “War Room: The Legacy of Bill Belichick and the Art of Building a Perfect Team” by Michael Holley - a perfect book for any football fans out there! In honor of the upcoming Super Bowl, we will be releasing a special bonus episode on the podcast featuring New England Patriots linebacker, Jerod Mayo. Be on the lookout for this special episode on February 3. Today’s conversation was prompted by a talk Pastor Josh gave the staff of Next Level Church after witnessing time after time prioritizing tasks over people, along with some breakdowns in communication. In this episode, you will hear Pastor Josh explain several reasons why we don’t prioritize people as well as some important principles of communication. 3 Takeaways For Leaders: 1. One of the reasons we don’t prioritize people is because the task that needs to get done is more important than the individuals getting the task done. Pastor Josh noticed this reality among the NLC staff and that often times we value the task more than the people getting the tasks done. The focus becomes the task rather than the person. Don’t make the mistake of seeing people as the tool in which we get ministry done, but rather, see them as the treasure in which we get ministry done. 2. Another reason we don’t prioritize people is the speed at which we’re we’re leading is faster than our ability to communicate change. Pastor Josh admits that when he started NLC, he led so often at this fast pace of trying to get the big vision across, but he learned that he wasn’t equipped with the ability to lead at that pace. Since then he has slowed down in his decision making and leadership role and has learned to lead in the moment rather than live in the future. 3. When it comes to prioritizing people, we must learn to communicate better. Pastor Josh hits on several points for better communication: 1) Never assume anything, 2) Ask layers of questions, 3) Invite people into being part of situation, 4) Listen, 5) Put yourself in their shoes, and 6) Over-communicate. Quotes From This Episode: "The larger an organization gets, the temptation is to forget that each person still should matter as much as they ever did when you didn’t have such a large organization." "People matter at every size." "Until we understand or recognize that every person serving under you and alongside of you matters, we’re going to fail at this thing called ministry." "One of the reasons we don’t prioritize people is because the task that needs to get done is more important than the individuals getting the task done." "You don’t lead the moment by living in the future, you have to slow down and lead the moment." "When it comes to leadership, more people do damage through assumption than anything else." "The greatest answers ever given simply come from the greatest questions ever asked." "Leaders should be great question-askers and not just great answer-givers." "Insecure leaders barely ask questions; secure leaders love asking questions because they’re empowering people to find answers." "Communication is never strong verbally outside of you being strong listening." "Too many leaders are so busy talking, they have no idea what they should be saying." "Communicate with your mouth, listen with their ears." "Without great communication, you will never lead or be a part of a great church or organization." Follow Pastor Josh on Twitter at @joshgagnon!
Welcome to Episode 23 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! Congratulations to username Joseph Velarde for being the winner of this week’s book giveaway! Please send an email to info@joshuagagnon.com with your contact information so we can send you Brad Lomenick’s book, “H3 Leadership”. If you have not left a review of the podcast, please make sure you to do so and send an email to info@joshuagagnon.com with the username you used. Anyone who leaves a review over the next two weeks will be entered into a drawing to win the book “God Dreams: 12 Vision Templates for Finding and Focusing Your Church's Future” by Will Mancini and Warren Bird, which will be released on January 1, 2016. Our guest on today’s show is Dr. Warren Bird, a name you might be familiar with as he has authored or co-authored over 28 books. Perhaps the world’s most prolific researcher and writer on fast-growing and larger churches, Warren is also the leading researcher on multisite churches, high-visibility pastoral succession and compensation issues for megachurches. A pastor and church planter by background, he currently oversees the research division at Leadership Network, he’s a long-time adjunct professor at Alliance Theological Seminary in Metro New York City where he and his wife live. Learn More About Warren: Warren’s Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/warrenbird Warren’s Website: http://warrenbird.com/ Warren’s Books: http://warrenbird.com/books-2 Mentioned In This Episode: www.leadnet.org www.leadnet.org/megachurch http://leadnet.org/available-now-the-leadership-networkgeneris-multisite-church-scorecard/ 3 Takeaways for Leaders: 1. Statistics can help, but statistics can also hurt. While some statistics offer education in the context of church and ministry, often times, pastors and church leaders will be turned off by negative statistics concerning the church. Warren explains how he tries to do some myth-busting on church statistics so that church leaders will be more encouraged in their ministries. 2. True church growth is not based on numbers, but on discipleship. The easy way to measure a growing church may be to count the number of bodies, but physical numbers is not everything. It may be easy to idolize numbers, but refrain from doing this. Look at the spiritual growth over the physical growth, which includes how many disciples the church is raising. Warren explains two ways of measuring growth: lag measures and lead measures. A lag measure is how many people showed up; A lead measure is what produced those people to show up and how did those people respond in faith to the challenges given. 3. Leadership development is core to a healthy and growing church. Warren mentions that 74% of large churches have a structure for internships so that they are continually training new leaders. Whether it is an internship that grows new campus pastors or a small group that is developing new leaders within, it is imperative that churches find structures to raise leaders who are not only capable of leadership, but who understand the culture of the church. Quotes Mentioned In This Episode: Let's be more excited about discipleship growth rather than just numerical growth. - Josh Gagnon The greatest task the church has to overcome with millennials is trust. - Josh Gagnon Momentum according to size is going to look different depending on where you are. - Josh Gagnon If done well, multi-site is a releasing function for training and moving people from spectators to greater levels of participation. - Warren Bird If the focus is on our comfort, then you're not making disciples. - Warren Bird When we stand before God, it's not going to be about how fruitful we were, it's going to about how faithful we were with what we were given. - Josh Gagnon Don't resent disappointment, embrace it because the moment you start resenting disappointment is the moment you stop dreaming. - Josh Gagnon
Welcome to Episode 22 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! The winner of this week’s book giveaway is username “fool4Christ”! This user left an awesome review of the podcast and we want to thank them by sending them Caleb Kaltenbach’s book “Messy Grace”. Please make sure you are leaving reviews if you have been positively influenced by this leadership podcast, and you might win this week’s book giveaway. This week we’re giving away “H3 Leadership” by Brad Lomenick to one of our lucky listeners. Just leave a review on iTunes and email the username you used to info@joshuagagnon.com for your chance to win a copy of “H3 Leadership”. This week’s episode features the Operations Pastor of Next Level Church, Daniel King, and the Executive Pastor of Next Level Church, Roman Archer. Daniel and Roman sat down with Pastor Josh to discuss the topic of giving within the church. Mentioned In This Episode: Contact Daniel King, NLC’s Operations Pastor: daniel.king@nlc.tv NLC’s 2014 Annual Report: http://bit.ly/1m5eBt5 “Your sacrifice is making a difference” cards: front - http://bit.ly/1TOu37R back - http://bit.ly/1TOu6R6 3 Takeaways For Leaders: 1. Be intentional with how you are communicating giving. Create a balance where people understand that ministry costs money but first-time guests don’t feel uncomfortable or feel obligated to give. Be authentic and honest, not seemingly fake or manipulative. The language of the offering talk is also very important, so be intentional with how you are communicating to both the givers and the first-time guests. 2. Make it easy to give. At Next Level Church, we offer multiple ways to give, including online giving. In today’s culture, many people do not carry cash or a checkbook on them, so they won’t have the option to give at church. Setting up online giving allows people to give consistently and without thinking about it. 3. There are four reasons people will give: to vision, out of the need they see, out of a sense of responsibility, and out of obedience. In offering talks at NLC, we make sure our location pastors speak with these things in mind so that people will feel compelled to give. Quotes From This Episode: “Integrity is doing the right thing even when no one knows you’re doing it.” - Josh Gagnon “Generosity is giving even when no one knows you’re giving.” - Josh Gagnon “Teach and celebrate giving.” - Josh Gagnon “Pray, plan, prepare.” - Daniel King If you have questions about this episode or would like more information about how we do giving at NLC, feel free to email info@joshuagagnon.com or daniel.king@nlc.tv. As always, please rate and review! Stay tuned for Episode 23 with Warren Bird!
Welcome to Episode 21 the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! Congratulations to username Complexkilla for winning this week’s book giveaway! Please send an email to info@joshuagagnon.com with your name and contact information so we can send you Carey Nieuwhof’s book, “Lasting Impact”. And make sure you are leaving reviews on iTunes or Stitcher of this podcast! Leave a review before our next episode comes out--in two weeks--and you might win our next book giveaway, “Messy Grace” by Caleb Kaltenbach. Today’s guest is Caleb Kaltenbach, the lead pastor of Discovery Church in Simi Valley, CA. Before coming to Discovery Church, Caleb was on staff at Shepherd of the Hills Church for 11 years serving in the areas of college ministry, small groups, and multisite ministry. At Discovery Church, he serves as Lead Pastor where he is the lead communicator, casts vision, and leads with the elders and staff. He and his wife, Amy, have two children and are living in Southern California. Learn More About Caleb: Caleb’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/calebwilds Caleb’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calebwilds Caleb’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calebwilds/ Caleb’s Book, Messy Grace: http://messygracebook.com/ Discovery Church: http://discoverychurch.com/ 3 Takeaways For Leaders: 1. Church growth happens when churches become a safe place for people to realize that they don’t have it all together. Caleb shares his experience when his homosexual mother came with him to a church he was preaching at, and was told not to bring his mother back. He says that the most faithful people are not the people who have it all together, but who are willing to say, “I’m doubting now. I don’t understand why this happened. I’m not okay.” Church has to be a place where it’s okay not to be okay. 2. The church has to be a place for community to accept all kinds of people with all kinds of struggles. So many times, we as Christians tell those in a homosexual lifestyle that not only do they need to stop being gay, but they have to lose the community they’ve been a part of and they won’t find it at church. Discovery Church states that they are a church where you can belong before you believe. Before churches make people leave the homosexual communities they find acceptance in, they need to offer that community to them within their church doors. 3. What are the church’s next steps when dealing with messy grace? Caleb explains that we first need to have conversations at the leadership level and be able to ask tough questions on leadership boards and staff teams. Another step is listening to those who struggle with these issues. Lastly, we need to hold firm to truth about what God says about intimacy being between a man and a woman. We need to allow these truths to guide us, but still wrestle with how to carry out grace and kindness. Quotes From This Episode: “A theological conviction should never be a catalyst to treat someone less.” - Caleb Kaltenbach “I think the churches that ignore the issues of our day will become irrelevant and they will eventually become Pharisee factories.” - Caleb Kaltenbach “We’ve got to be about both theology and ministry.” - Caleb Kaltenbach “Churches need to understand that culture is not something to war against. Culture is something to lovingly engage.” - Caleb Kaltenbach “As a church, we need to be ready to give answers because we’ve had the questions.” - Josh Gagnon “This isn’t about gay or straight, this is about God’s church.” - Josh Gagnon “Messy grace is not loving someone in spite of their sin, it’s loving someone that you struggle with loving.” - Josh Gagnon “When I decided to follow Jesus, I gave up my rights. I don’t get the right to choose who I love and don’t love.” - Caleb Kaltenbach “Loving the people who are hard to love makes us more like Jesus.” - Caleb Kaltenbach For more leadership insights, follow Josh Gagnon on Twitter at @joshgagnon!
Welcome to Episode 20 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! Congratulations to the winner of this week’s book giveaway: user PastorAshton! Thank you so much for your review of the podcast on iTunes. If you enjoy this podcast and would like to help it to reach more leaders, make sure you leave a review on iTunes or Stitcher, and then email the username you used to info@joshuagagnon.com for your chance to win this week’s book giveaway, “Lasting Impact” by Carey Nieuwhof. Thank you to all our listeners who submitted questions for today’s Q&A episode. If you have a question for Pastor Josh that you were not able to send for this episode, you can still text them to (646) 801-6033 to be answered in future episodes. Mentioned In This Episode: Pastor Josh’s Interview with Carey Nieuwhof: http://joshuagagnon.com/2015/09/ep-16/ Listen to the message series “Elisha”: http://apple.co/1j86KZT Email NLC’s Creative Team: creative@nlc.tv Email NLC Operations Pastor Daniel King: daniel.king@nlc.tv Email NLC Creative Pastor Allen Robbins: allen.robbins@nlc.tv Lasting Impact by Carey Nieuwhof: http://amzn.to/1SECZvU H3 Leadership by Brad Lomenick: http://amzn.to/1lv6rtY Listen to The Overcome EP by NLC Music: www.nlcmusic.tv The Moment Podcast with Brian Koppelman: http://apple.co/1GACZb9 The Robcast with Rob Bell: http://apple.co/1FN6fyp The Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast: http://apple.co/1lbUEsQ Catalyst Podcast: http://apple.co/1bMEO73 The Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast: http://apple.co/1usKXNU Creating Disney Magic with Lee Cockerell: http://apple.co/1PiZ4z5 Life.Church: http://www.life.church/ 12 Stone Church: http://12stone.com/ Elevation Church: http://elevationchurch.org/ Quotes From This Episode: “Competence in the wrong direction doesn’t equal momentum in the right direction.” “If you hire the wrong people to keep up with growth, the growth will eventually stop.” “It’s more about leadership than about preachership when it comes to location pastors.” “Excellence isn’t doing the best with what others have; excellence is doing the best with what you are given.” “Doing the right things for a long time consistently will give the right results that you’re hoping to achieve.” “Live in the calling that God’s put in your life and don’t try to achieve the dreams that God’s put in everyone else’s life.” “Let the Spirit of God whisper to you what is successful.” “Do less things better than more things good.” Don't forget to leave a review of the podcast and Tweet this episode out! Find Pastor Josh on Twitter at @joshgagnon.
Welcome to Episode 19 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! Have a question about leadership you’d like to ask Pastor Josh? Text or call the number (646) 801-6033 with your question and Pastor Josh might answer it on our next podcast episode! Pastor Josh will be answering all the questions that have come in from our listeners for a special Q&A episode. Don’t miss out on this awesome opportunity! Send your question in this week! If you’ve been impacted by the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast, please leave a review on iTunes or Stitcher! Leave a review this week and you will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win Gordon MacDonald’s book, Ordering Your Private World. Just leave your review and send an email with the name you used to info@joshuagagnon.com. Mentioned in This Episode: Lasting Impact by Carey Nieuwhof: http://amzn.to/1XNLTe1 Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast: http://careynieuwhof.com/mypodcast/ The School of Greatness with Lewis Howes: http://apple.co/1m8SaTf 3 Takeaways for Leaders: 1. Key relationships keep you healthy. Find a mentor who doesn’t want to talk to you about church and your ministry, but instead shows an interest in your personal walk with God. Furthermore, find someone who has walked the road you are walking and can offer you valuable wisdom and insight. 2. Live with high-impact moments in short amounts of time. Pastor Josh talks about how he has committed himself to never being lazy with his time. Although the season of life he lives in might only allow him to spend a few short hours each night with his family, he makes the most of those hours by being present as a husband and a father. Make sure that wherever you are, be all there. 3. Identify your disciplines rather than set goals for yourself, and these disciplines will help you to accomplish your goals. For instance, one of Pastor Josh’s disciplines is spending time in prayer at a certain point in his morning run every day. As leaders, we must decide how we will achieve something rather than what we will achieve. Quotes From This Episode: “I’ve never been more secure in who I am because I’ve never found less of my identity in what I do.” “If you’re upset with your team’s attitude, it’s probably because you have a bad attitude.” “A healthy leader usually starts leading a healthy team.” “Who you surround yourself with--the questions they ask, what they seem to care most about--usually determines what you strive to be best at.” “Live with open hands because the moment you close your hands, you take ownership, but it was never yours. Give it back to God daily.” “When it comes to relationships, inviting people into your darkest places is the safest place you can ever live.” “Leaders that are failing at home probably aren’t failing because they have zero time at home; they’re probably failing at home because they aren’t using the time they have wisely.” “Greatness is not achieved by setting goals; greatness is achieved by committing to disciplines that lead to accomplished goals.”
Welcome to Episode 18 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! Do you have a question about leadership or ministry for Pastor Josh? We will be hosting a special episode on the podcast where Pastor Josh will be personally answering a series of questions from our listeners. If you would like to have your question answered by Pastor Josh on the podcast, you can leave a voicemail or send a text message to (646) 801-6033. Today’s guest is Tim Lucas, the lead pastor of Liquid Church, a multisite church with four campuses located in New Jersey. Tim is a dynamic communicator and he’s known for his trademark humor, honesty, and insight. He has also written a book about marriage, called You Married The Wrong Person: The Relationship Secret Every Couple Needs To Know. Liquid Church's innovative approaches to outreach have been spotlighted by CNN and The New York Times. Learn More About Tim: Tim’s Website: http://www.pastortimlucas.com/ Liquid Church’s Website: http://www.liquidchurch.com/ Tim’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/pastortimlucas Tim’s Instagram: https://instagram.com/pastortimlucas/ Tim’s Book, You Married The Wrong Person: http://amzn.to/1Rmn058 3 Takeaways For Leaders: 1. When reaching others with the Gospel, it’s not just proclamation, it’s demonstration. One of the hurdles churches who are in or near urban areas may face is reaching them in a real and authentic way so that they are attracted to the thought of coming to church. Pastor Tim explains that his method of sharing the Gospel to a new community for a location is by serving them. Liquid doesn’t wait until launch day to show them they care, but rather they go out into the community and start impacting them by serving them in any way possible. 2. Leadership has to be more localized. Learn to speak the language of the community your church is in. Pastor Tim shares how diverse New Jersey is, and as a result of this, Liquid has played off of this diversity. Pastor Josh made the point that many times churches will copy the methods of other churches, but they overlook the fact that they are in a completely different culture. Contextualize the gospel message to the culture in which you live. 3. Don’t let ministry become your mistress. Tim admits that he had prioritized Liquid’s growth over the growth of his family. In order to eradicate this, he went through a season of “radical pruning”, where he radically cut back his schedule. This included letting go of his involvement in many church ministries and decisions, as well as saying no to outside speaking engagements until his children were a certain age. Tim explained that he had to “say no for a season so that my family...would get my prime cut.” Tim also revealed that his work week consists of Monday through Thursday, with his Fridays and Saturdays reserved specifically for family time. Quotes from this Episode: “A church on mission that’s engaged with the culture is more of a hospital for sinners than a museum for saints.” - Tim Lucas “Never preach methodology. Preach the message, but the methodology changes.” - Tim Lucas “The people we’re reaching, they’re not starting at 0, they’re starting at -4.” - Tim Lucas “We have to present the Gospel in the most winsome way possible. And it’s not just proclamation, it’s demonstration of grace.” - Tim Lucas “Contextualize the gospel message to the culture in which you live in.” - Josh Gagnon “Reach the culture that you’re in and stop trying to copy the culture everybody else is in.” - Josh Gagnon “The Church is Jesus’ bride; the calling is mine.” - Tim Lucas “It’s a discipline of the schedule that elevates the spiritual health.” - Tim Lucas “If you are in ministry, God has only entrusted it to you for a season--it’s not yours. But don’t fail on the things that God has entrusted to you for a lifetime.” - Josh Gagnon
Welcome to Episode 17 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! Do you have a question for Pastor Josh about leadership or ministry? We’ll be featuring a special episode on the podcast in the next few weeks where Pastor Josh will be answering your questions! You can ask your question by calling or texting (646) 801-6033. Be sure to listen for this special Q&A episode where your question might be answered! Today’s show guest is Brad Lomenick, who was one of our keynote speakers at Activate in September. Brad is a speaker and leadership consultant, as well as an author. He has written two books: The Catalyst Leader and H3 Leadership. His extensive experience in leading and equipping leaders vastly comes from 12 years he spent as the president of Catalyst, one of America’s largest movements of young Christian leaders. He has since moved into a strategic advisor role with Catalyst, along with several other organizations. Brad also keeps a blog where he writes about leadership, the next generation, creativity, teamwork, generational issues, and many more topics. Learn More About Brad: Brad’s Website: http://www.bradlomenick.com/ Brad’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bradlomenick Brad’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/bradlomenick Brad’s Instagram: https://instagram.com/bradlomenick/ Brad’s Book, The Catalyst Leader: http://amzn.to/1McJh1x Brad’s Book, H3 Leadership: http://amzn.to/1OiCsjm 3 Takeaways for Leaders: 1. How do you know when you are ready to move on from your position of leadership? Brad shares his insight on what it was like to step down from his presidency of Catalyst. Wherever you find yourself, it’s part of your job to transition. Don’t get caught up into thinking that the longer you stay somewhere, the more effective you’ll be. Some questions you can ask yourself to know whether you are ready to move on in your role of leadership are: Does your leadership become stale? Are your accomplishments more important than your mission? Is your identity wrapped up in what you do? 2. Don’t expect to have it all together at 25. Brad shared that he often comes across young leaders who act like they know exactly what they are doing, but this becomes their downfall. Make sure you’re not trying to act like you have gotten to a level that you’re not even close yet. Be coachable and teachable. There is always more to learn, so don’t fall into the temptation of showing off how much you know or what you have accomplished. 3. When you’re building something of significance, you have to keep your inner life as the main focus. One of the most difficult parts of ministry is that your own personal spiritual life can fall by the wayside while you are building up others spiritually. This is a struggle for so many leaders, and Brad admitted that this was a struggle for him as well. The first step in refocusing on your own spiritual well-being is to become aware that this is a struggle. Second, Brad shares, you must also create systems that protect you from yourself. You will naturally kill yourself by pursuing this “Kingdom Goal” of trying to grow others while neglecting your own growth. Quotes from this Episode: “Succession and transition is one of the most important essentials for a leader at any level.” - Brad Lomenick “Part of our responsibility as leaders is to pass on and move out of the way.” - Brad Lomenick “When we’re in ministry, we start to find our identity in the work we’re doing rather than the work God’s doing in us.” - Josh Gagnon “What you do is determined by who you are, but who you are is not determined by what you do.” - Brad Lomenick “One of the great temptations of leadership is that significance is built on size.” - Brad Lomenick “If you’re a young leader, the best way for you to get to the next level is be great at what you’re doing right now.” - Brad Lomenick
Welcome to Episode 16 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! Last Wednesday, September 16, was our Activate conference, and we were blown away by the speakers, worship, and connections that were made through this event. Thank you to all who participated, and we hope to see you for Activate 2016 set for September 21, 2016. Be sure to sign up today at www.activateconference.tv to take advantage of our Super Early Bird Special Pricing, starting at just $25 a ticket. Also, be on the lookout for our Activate Roundtables that will be held at Next Level Church once a month, designed specifically for leaders in each area of ministry to connect and learn from one another. We will be hosting a special episode on the podcast in the next couple months where Pastor Josh will be personally answering a series of questions from our listeners. If you would like to have your question answered by Pastor Josh on the podcast, you can leave a voicemail or send a text message to (646) 801-6033. Today we will be hearing from Carey Nieuwhof, the lead pastor of Connexus Church in Toronto, Canada. He has written several books, the most recent being Lasting Impact: 7 Powerful Conversations That Will Help Your Church Grow, which will be released in October 2015. He has a heart for seeing leaders within the church grow to reach their full potential, as evidenced by his blog and leadership podcast. Learn More About Carey: Carey’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/cnieuwhof Carey’s Instagram: https://instagram.com/careynieuwhof Carey’s Blog: http://careynieuwhof.com/blog/ Carey’s Leadership Podcast: http://careynieuwhof.com/mypodcast/ 3 Takeaways For Leaders: Sometimes ignorance works in your favor. Carey talked about how he began his ministry not knowing how to lead a church. However, where he lacked in experience he made up for in ambition and passion, and was able to start his church’s mission and vision from scratch. Rather than coming from a background of knowledge and pompousness, Carey was able to figure out how to lead the church together with his team. It takes time to build trust in your congregation, so don’t quit early. Although it may be tempting to feel discouraged by the numbers and size of your church, don’t take it as though God is directing you away from your calling. It takes an average of five years for people to trust you, particularly if your church has a short succession of pastors. As long as you are bearing fruit, stay faithful where you are without comparing yourself to everyone else. The greatest character test is how you handle success when it comes your way. Stay grounded, surround yourself with people who are not impressed with you, and make sure you stay true to what is most important. God is the One who gives success, and He can just as easily take it away, so rather than focus on how well your ministry, blog, or podcast is doing, focus on growing your character. Quotes From This Episode: “I think you can have the curse of knowledge.” - Carey Nieuwhof “I didn’t have enough experience back then to teach me what couldn’t happen.” - Josh Gagnon “Don’t tell me it’s not possible, because it is.” - Carey Nieuwhof “Most of the people we admire are people who haven’t switched jobs or callings every 5 years.” - Carey Nieuwhof “You have to have the messiness of ministry if you’re going to be in ministry.” - Josh Gagnon “It’s not what you do, it’s who you do it with.” - Carey Nieuwhof “Accountability is only as trustworthy as the person who’s being held accountable.” - Josh Gagnon “The darkness loses its grip when you bring it to light.” - Carey Nieuwhof “It is a bigger character test to handle success than it is failure.” - Carey Nieuwhof “Your character has to grow faster than your platform.” - Carey Nieuwhof If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to rate and review the podcast!
Welcome to Episode 15 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast! If you enjoy this podcast, please leave a review on iTunes of how it has impacted your leadership and ministry. Also, be sure to email the username you used to leave the review to info@activateconference.tv, and one lucky listener will win two tickets to this year’s Activate! Activate is happening on Wednesday, September 16 at Next Level Church in Somersworth, NH. We will be featuring amazing keynote speakers, powerful worship, and countless opportunities to connect with other churches in the New England area. Make sure you register your team while there’s still time at www.activateconference.tv. Today’s guest is one of our Activate speakers, Whitney George. Whit is the Executive Pastor at Church on the Move in Tulsa, OK, where he oversees the operations and ministries of the church. He is a talented visionary and creative, and has been used by God to help make Church on the Move what it is today. He and his wife, Heather, have five children and he loves Notre Dame football. Learn More About Whit: Church on the Move’s Website: http://www.churchonthemove.com/home Seeds Conference Website: https://seeds.churchonthemove.com/home Seeds Blog: https://seeds.churchonthemove.com/blog Whit’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/whitneygeorge 3 Takeaways For Leaders: Honor your younger leaders. Often times, when younger leaders push for change, older leaders will struggle with allowing the change and not completely support them. You have to be willing to back your younger leaders’ ideas like they were your own, and don’t throw them under the bus if their ideas fall through. Relevancy is not as important as what the church’s values are. Remember what your church is built upon, and don’t try and change it just for the sake of making it more attractive for younger people. Whit expressed that his ultimate desire for church is for it to allow life change, and the “relevant” tools we use, such as lights and haze, are just that--tools. As long as they are working towards the goal of furthering God’s Kingdom, then they will be utilized. Have extreme intentionality. Work hard, because you care. Everything you do has to have a reason behind it. Whit shared that he works hard because he is intentional with everything he does. Every worship set, graphic, and sermon series should be chosen with care and consideration. Always ask yourself, “Why am I doing this?” Quotes From This Episode: “People are naturally afraid of change.” - Whit George “Go slower than you think you need to...but don’t move until you have complete conviction.” - Whit George “Young people are smart enough to be able to smell the same package wrapped in a different wrapper.” - Whit George “You have to care about the people of your community as much or more so as the people you already have.” - Whit George “Lights and smoke have never made anything relevant. Relevant is about what it means in your life.” - Whit George “A lot of people are allowing a model to create change rather than culture.” - Josh Gagnon “We have to be okay with the reality that there are churches that won’t be like us that still work today.” - Josh Gagnon “The only thing that I care about is that what I’m working on works.” - Whit George “When we’re wowed, we have a tendency to say ‘how?’...If you flip that around and you have a bad experience, you don’t ask ‘how?’ you just ask ‘why?’” - Whit George
Leave a review of the podcast on iTunes for a chance to win tickets to this year’s Activate! Activate 2015 will be held on Wednesday, September 16 at Next Level Church in Somersworth, New Hampshire. Register your team today for the opportunity to be a part of the one of the largest church leadership conferences in New England! Go to www.activateconference.tv for tickets and information. Lee Cockerell is the former Executive Vice President of Operations for the Walt Disney World Resort. One of Lee’s major and lasting legacies was the creation of Disney Great Leader Strategies, which was used to train and develop 7,000 leaders at Walt Disney World. He now dedicates his time to public speaking, and has authored four books: “Creating Magic”, “The Customer Rules”, “Time Management Magic”, and “Creating Career Magic” which is soon to be released. Lee also performs leadership and service excellence workshops and consulting for organizations around the world as well as for the Disney Institute. Lee and his wife Priscilla live in Orlando, Florida. Learn More About Lee: Lee’s Website: http://www.leecockerell.com/ Lee’s Blog: http://blog.leecockerell.com/ Lee’s Podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/creating-disney-magic/id954054965 Lee’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/LeeCockerell Carol Quinn’s Hiring Training Program: http://www.hireauthority.com/ 3 Takeaways for Leaders: Take risks. Take calculated risks to an extent, then go with your gut the rest of the way. Lee admits that after every great obstacle he faced, life just got better for him, and it’s because he took a risk. He expressed his desire to never live with regrets, which prompted him to move several times and step out of his comfort zone. Get better before you get bigger. Many times the temptation for growing organizations can be to boast about the size, but rather than tell others how big you are, you should focus on getting better. The size does not matter as much as the quality of the product you are offering. Focus on culture before vision. Lee said there are three things they focus on at Disney: hiring better, training better, and having a better culture. The culture they create is one where everybody matters and they know they matter. For every hire, leaders must show them that they matter, and the best way to do so is by telling them. Quotes From This Episode: “Spend a lot of time every day thinking—it’s a very good habit to get into.” – Lee Cockerell “Culture has to be the foundation which vision and mission are built off of.” – Josh Gagnon “Culture’s not part of the game, culture is the game.” – Lee Cockerell “The more you can know about a person, that sends the message that you care about them.” – Lee Cockerell “Opportunity is the best benefit any organization can give you.” – Lee Cockerell “If you need [volunteers], let them know they matter and that what they’re doing matters.” – Josh Gagnon “Leaders want to present the highlight reel, and those looking at that highlight reel feel more insecure about their reality.” – Josh Gagnon “The fastest way to forget what God thinks of us is to be consumed by what everyone around us does.” – Josh Gagnon
Welcome to part two of Pastor Josh’s interview with Ben Dubow. Make sure you listen to part 1 before diving into this episode! Our annual Activate Conference is coming up on Wednesday, September 16. This conference is open to church and ministry leaders and it provides the chance to connect with other churches in the area and to listen to some of the most influential Christian leaders of our time. Special ticketing prices are available for church plants. Get your tickets at www.activateconference.tv. Our next podcast will feature Whit George from Church On The Move in Tulsa, Oklahoma, who will also be speaking at Activate. In addition, Pastor Josh will be sitting down with Lee Cockerell, the former Executive Vice President of Walt Disney World Resort, for a future episode. Be on the lookout for these amazing interviews on the podcast in the next few weeks! Learn more about Ben: The book Ben was featured in: http://www.amazon.com/Does-Jesus-Really-Love-Christians/dp/0062049747 Ben’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/bendubow Ben’s Blog: https://faithautopsy.wordpress.com/ Ben’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bendubow 4 Things We As Church Leaders Should Be Doing: Create a place where homosexuals can feel safe and respected. NLC provided this for Ben. He admits that he did not agree on everything, but what he did agree on was NLC’s commitment to making Jesus a priority and making Him known to everyone. Be bold about what we believe. Ben stated that he doesn’t want church leaders to be fake; they should be upfront and lay everything out on the table so that no one is left guessing what their church believes. Ben also expressed that hearing where a church stands on [homosexuality]—in love—is more helpful and honorable to him than pretending that they don’t have a stance at all. Surrender our agendas. Create a space for people, no matter what their background or issues. Ben believes that, for the most part, the church is pretty good at this in every other area but with gay people. We should take what we learned about dealing with people who face addictions and other struggles and apply it to this issue. Engage in these kinds of conversations. We need to be able to sit down and talk honestly as brothers and sisters in Christ, for the sake of those who don’t know Christ yet. There will be situations when we encounter this issue on many different levels. Will our mission be to exalt the name of Jesus and allow the Holy Spirit to do a work in each of us, or otherwise? Quotes From This Episode: “Most gay Christians I know want to be seen as real and whole people with a whole set of issues, the least of which is their sexuality.” – Ben Dubow “I don’t need a place where we agree on everything. I need a place where it’s safe to be real and take my mask off.” – Ben Dubow “We’re not going to agree on everything, and we don’t have to agree on everything to respect one another and honor one another.” – Josh Gagnon “We need to surrender our agendas and be okay with the messiness of peoples’ lives.” - Ben Dubow “You have to ask yourself, how many people that are gay would be following Jesus today if the church didn’t shut Jesus off simply because they were gay?” – Josh Gagnon “The goal is to create a safe place to encounter Jesus and let the Holy Spirit do the work in each of us.” – Ben Dubow “The more we focus on the Jesus that loves us in spite of us, the more we can offer that Jesus to others.” - Josh Gagnon
Don’t miss out on this year’s Activate Conference on Wednesday, September 16! Activate is an awesome opportunity for church leaders from across the Northeast to connect, engage in powerful worship, and hear from some of the top Christian leaders of today. Special pricing is available for church plants. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.activateconference.tv. The recent Supreme Court ruling of legalizing gay marriage in all 50 states has been the subject of much debate, fear, and confusion, especially within the church. In this episode, listen to Ben Dubow, an openly gay man who was a pastor and church planter, as he talks about his experience with the church as he came out as a homosexual, and how he believes the church should handle this matter. Learn more about Ben: The book Ben was featured in: http://www.amazon.com/Does-Jesus-Really-Love-Christians/dp/0062049747 Ben’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/bendubow Ben’s Blog: https://faithautopsy.wordpress.com/ Ben’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bendubow Quotes From This Episode: “Unless the church begins to understand the heartbeat of those living in a homosexual lifestyle, we’re really going to be missing out…on loving people like Jesus loves people.” – Josh Gagnon “Secrets kill.” – Ben Dubow “You tell enough small lies, it becomes really easy to start telling bigger lies.” - Ben Dubow “If I’m going to be wrong, I want to be wrong on the side of inclusion and love and grace, as opposed to not.” - Ben Dubow If you enjoyed this podcast, don’t forget to rate and review! All questions and comments can be sent to info@joshuagagnon.com.
Don’t forget to leave reviews and share on social media! We want to hear from you! Email info@joshuagagnon.com for any questions or comments you may have. Activate Conference is coming up on Wednesday, September 16 at Next Level Church in Somersworth, NH! You can get more information and register for tickets at www.activateconference.tv. Register before July 31 for special early bird pricing! Watch out for our next episode featuring Ben Dubow, an openly gay man who had previously attended Next Level Church and has since then gone on to be a pastor and a church planter. You can expect this episode to be extremely eye opening as Ben shares his story, as well as how he has seen the church deal with the issue of homosexuality and where he thinks the church is missing the point. This episode is a continuation of an interview Pastor Josh had with Gordon MacDonald. If you have not listened to part 1, please do so before continuing this episode! Here are some of highlights from this episode: Some of the disciplines Pastor Gordon has developed over the years that bring depth to his life both personally and as a Christian leader: • Being a man of the Word. We must be committed to God’s Word by absorbing and memorizing it. • Reading biographies of past Christian leaders • Prayer • Accountability to a mentor and close friends • Asking questions. Few people know how to ask questions. As leaders, we must pry into people to help them grow spiritually. “Your peers help you to create, but your mentors help you to go deep.” – Gordon MacDonald “Asking questions is a powerful key to spiritual development and growth.” – Gordon MacDonald Every person has a story. Asking questions engages people to truly think about their honest answers. Hard questions force you to account for the depth of your life. Be the leader who doesn’t just ask surface level questions, but who reveals their motives by the first question they ask. “The questions you ask will reveal the motives of your heart.” – Josh Gagnon The best piece of advice Gordon ever received for his marriage was, “God means to say many things to you through [your wife]; listen to her.” For any men in ministry, it is important to remember that your wife will have many things to say to you that you need to hear. Treat your wife with dignity and respect and help her recognize her spiritual gifts, then draw upon them. “Your job is to help your wife to become everything God wants her to be.” – Gordon MacDonald As a father, always commit to making your children a priority over ministry. Your children should know that they come first. “If you need to work a lot of hours, punish yourself…don’t punish your family.” – Josh Gagnon “Make sure your priority list starts with the people who will be standing around your grave.” – Gail MacDonald
As young church leaders, we are often so quick to flock to the hip, influential pastor of the biggest mega church. But what we desperately need is to seek out the priceless wisdom offered by generations of leaders who have gone before us. In this episode, Pastor Gordon MacDonald shares his experiences as a pastor of more than 40 years, as well as his insight for where he believes church leadership is headed. Here are some of the main ideas from this episode: When faced with new situations, learn to decode the culture and understand what is important to people. Otherwise, you’ll miss them by a mile. In the context of ministry, New England is unique in several ways: • Connectedness to the local community – this same connection is expected in church • New Englanders are not impressed with size – they don’t want church to get too big and impersonal • There is an edge of arrogance to New Englanders – they uphold education and history We are being brought up in a culture that says the more influence you have, the more successful you will be. This way of thinking is different from the past, where people were taught to be humble and grateful with what they had. The message we hear today is that when we trust Jesus, he will make you successful, but we cannot forget that real success can also come in the form of persecution. This truth is becoming less relevant in today’s culture. Today’s generations crave personal attention. The only way to reach a broken people is through transparency. People don’t want to run from tradition because there is a richness in tradition. We’re going to miss something if we chase after new and forget the old. Generations today are lacking personal and as a result, they are looking at the past and how things were done then. Gordon MacDonald is the Chancellor of Denver Seminary and has previously served as spiritual advisor and mentor to President Bill Clinton. He has written over two dozen books, including Ordering Your Private World and Going Deep: Becoming a Person of Influence. He and his wife, Gail, live in Concord, New Hampshire. Be sure to tune in for part 2 of the interview!
Welcome to Episode 009 of the podcast. Welcome to the podcast. Don’t forget to leave us a review or rating on your favorite app or wherever you listen. Send your questions for Pastor Gordon MacDonald to pastorjosh@nlc.tv or on twitter @joshgagnon and Pastor Gordon may answer it on one of our future episodes! The Activate Conference is happening on September 16, 2015 at Next Level Church Somersworth! Get your tickets today at www.activateconference.tv! Leaders can have many different personalities. You must be able to grow in your weaknesses, not just blame it on your personality. Wise leaders surround themselves with people who are not just like them, but balance their strengths and weaknesses. The greatest danger in leadership is surrounding yourself only with people who are just like you. Don’t lead those around you to become just like you, but encourage them to grow in their weaknesses and allow their strengths to lead up to you in your areas of weakness. The greatest teams always beat the greatest individuals. One is too small of a number for greatness. Pastor Josh remembers God teaching him: “Stop praying for her to become the woman you want her to be, and start praying for her to become the woman God wants them to be.” If I can develop people to become the greatest “them” they can be, God will do amazing things through them. Developing people into the person God wants them to be is superior to developing them into who you want them to be every time. Jesus was both an in-your-face leader and an at-your-feet leader. Just because you’ve been given great authority and position, doesn’t make you a great leader or someone who is using that responsibility well. Great respect is always born out of great sacrifice. Just because people obeying you doesn’t mean they respect you. You earn more respect through humility than through authority. You can do things because you “should” or because it is genuinely who you are becoming as a person.
Welcome to Episode 008 of the podcast. Welcome to the Directional Team Lead Pastor Josh Gagnon, Executive Pastor Roman Archer, Launching Pastor Allen Robbins, and Operations Pastor Daniel King What is assimilation? Intentionally moving people and connecting them to following Jesus and to God’s church. Pastor Daniel’s contact information: Email: daniel.king@nlc.tv Twitter: @danielkinglive A copy of the experience guide & connect card: http://joshuagagnon.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/expguide-front-1.jpg http://joshuagagnon.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/expguide-back-1.jpg 1st time guest packet: http://joshuagagnon.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/IMG_3528.jpg http://joshuagagnon.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/IMG_3529.jpg Salvation bags: http://joshuagagnon.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/IMG_2017.jpg Samples of “Your sacrifice is making a difference” cards: http://joshuagagnon.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/g-1.jpg http://joshuagagnon.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/g-2.jpg “New Giver” booklets link to purchase: https://kb951.infusionsoft.com/app/storeFront/showProductDetail?productId=55 Life change video example: http://www.nlc.tv/the-lajeunesses-story Sample offering talk: http://joshuagagnon.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/May24Offeringtalk.docx The service we use to send text messages to FTG: http://www.eztexting.com The text message they receive: {#FirstName#}, thanks for being at Next Level Church today - we're glad you came & pray God moved in your life! We'll call you soon to see how we can serve you. Our church management software: http://www.churchcommunitybuilder.com/ The website we direct people who accept Christ to: http://www.mynextsteps.tv
Welcome to Episode 007 of the podcast. Stay faithful with what you have been given. Leaders always want the next leadership high. When we get focused on what’s next, we find ourselves being unfaithful with where we are at. You can download the YouVersion app and learn more by visiting www.bible.com anytime. 1 SAMUEL 17:20 So David left the sheep with another shepherd and set out early the next morning with the gifts, as Jesse had directed him. He arrived at the camp just as the Israelite army was leaving for the battlefield with shouts and battle cries. David was faithful with the responsibility he had before he moved on to greater responsibility. Every leader must be constantly striving to replace themselves. A leader doesn’t advance out of a season of neglect. Be faithful with what God has given you now. David went on to defeat Goliath but not because he neglected his previous responsibilities. If we remain faithful, God will remain faithful. A church that grows in the summer, will explode in the fall. Are you being or are you staying? God’s calling isn’t abusive. If you’re wounding people to get to where you feel called to go, you may want to rethink your motives. Godly leadership fits into a godly timeline. My job is to tend to my responsibilities and rest in God’s timing. We are not going to miss out on what’s best by doing what’s best for where we are at. God’s purpose is bigger than our plans.
OC15 - Josh Gagnon Breakout Outline - Senior Leader Track 4.5 ministry myths that may be holding you back in leadership... Myth #1 - “We don’t have enough ___________” (time, resources, staff, equipment, creativity, talent, experience, backing) Your focus will determine your influence. Limitations inspire innovation. Excellence isn't doing it the best, excellence is doing the best with what you have. What if your staff talked more about what you do have than what you don’t have? You have all you need… "right now" WHAT IS IT YOU FEEL LIKE YOU DON’T HAVE? What excuses have you been making? What excuses are you allowing your team make? Have you become comfortable blaming where you're at as a church on what you don't have as a leader? Myth #2 - “It worked there, it will work here.” What works in the South will not work in New England and what works for one community may not work for another…. WE CAN’T IGNORE THE CULTURE WE LIVE IN in attempts of reaching that culture. THE CHURCH BECOMES SHALLOW IN ITS METHODS WHEN WE COPY. We can move too far in front of culture… One size doesn’t fit all and neither does one style. Some ministries are simply trying to copy success and as a result have lost their unique vision… MAKE EFFECTIVENESS YOUR HIGHEST GOAL. WHAT ARE YOU DOING THAT THE CULTURE YOU LIVE IN ISN’T RECEIVING? Myth #3 - “It will work itself out” (I don’t have to deal with that staff issue, I don’t have to fix that volunteer conflict) Just because a problem seems to go away doesn’t mean the conflict doesn’t exist and the problem won't reoccur. Passive leadership never leads to movement….it leads to an idol organization. A leader's constant companion is pain…avoiding conflict is the hope that we can avoid pain. WHAT DECISIONS DO YOU NEED TO MAKE THAT YOU ARE AVOIDING? Myth #4 “They don’t like change” (they won’t want to change the seats, they won’t change the music style, they won’t change facilities, they won’t change methods, curriculum, that ministry) The goal of being effective has to trump the desire to stay the same. AS A LEADER we cannot choose to avoid change over being effective. AT NL,C WE HAVE A CULTURE OF CHANGE….the only thing I know will be the same 10 years from now is that we will be worshipping Jesus. Change communicated correctly can inspire change...instead of only focusing on what you are changing explain the why behind the change. The willingness to change doesn’t erase the need to plan...it just gives the leaders in the organization a gap to grow. An organization that allows no change ultimately is expecting to hire perfect people. WHAT CHANGES HAVE YOU BEEN AVOIDING? DO YOU HAVE A CULTURE THAT RESISTS CHANGE? Myth #4.5 “I don’t have what it takes to ________” (break this lid, build the right team, start that campaign, transition this church, release someone who doesn't fit on the team, to change, have that talk, etc) 2 Corinthians 12:8-10: Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong. HAVE YOU LOST PART OF YOUR DREAM BECAUSE GOD'S TIMING WAS DIFFERENT THAN YOURS?
Welcome to episode 5 of the podcast. Pastor Josh is going to be speaking at the Orange Conference as part of the senior leader's track. Register at www.theorangeconference.com. THE BIGGER WE GET THE MORE WE ... 1. Instruct doers VS inspire dreamers…. 2. Rely on what we have VS rally behind what we don’t yet have 3. Fear failure VS fear nothing 4. Employ people looking for a career VS empower people who are called 5. The more we rely on experience VS rely on God Tune in every 2 weeks for a new episode. You can subscribe on iTunes or leave a comment and review, as well as follow along at www.joshuagagnon.com.
Welcome to episode 4 of the podcast. Pastor Josh is going to be speaking at the Orange Conference as part of the senior leader's track. Register at www.theorangeconference.com. Pastor Josh was featured on Episode 17 of the Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast talking about not becoming discouraged in your calling. Today we are going to host a special episode called “Cabin Talk” with our Directional Team. As a directional team, we go away a few times a year as a very unique part of our culture. We are going to talk about the closeness of our team and how that has impacted our effectiveness and stewardship as a move of God. We have tough skin and deep love. Our team knows they are loved but they know the call and mission even more. How do we manage the tension between friends and boss/employee? You can love someone without being their best friend. One of the best things that leaders can begin to do is take one day to walk around to every office in your building and high five, encourage, and ask about their families. People are not a task but a person within an organization. They are not there to fulfill your ministry, but to fulfill the ministry of Jesus. The key to floating between friends and bosses is if the employees will allow that to happen. We made a conscious choice in that moment to always choose honor and to carry that throughout our culture from that point forward. Even though it feels awkward, the lead person has to be willing to set that culture. Clear lines are essential. “I am happy to wear both hats, but if you force me to choose one, I will always have to choose Next Level Church [over friendship].” -Pastor Josh Gagnon There is nothing stronger than a directional team that likes and loves one another and is doing everything possible to reach people for Jesus. One of the keys to make it is easy to honor is when there has been a true investment. From a follower’s perspective, how do you help your leader to create this environment? Don’t put baby in a corner. Learn your leader’s hats. Ask your leader to give you cues of what hat he is wearing. Honor the moments when you are allowed into the “friend hat”. Be publicly 100% behind every decision once it is made. Most leaders are insecure so they default to not giving away their authority. Tune in every 2 weeks for a new episode. You can subscribe on iTunes or leave a comment and review, as well as follow along at www.joshuagagnon.com.
INTRODUCTION Welcome to episode 3. We are going to continue today where Episode 2 left off, which the second half of Pastor Josh's teaching on "Culture determines destiny". Would you like to join us at the 2015 Orange Conference? Pastor Josh and many other great leaders will be sharing as part of the Senior Leader's track. Get details today at www.theorangeconference.com. CULTURE DETERMINES DESTINY To be unified in our mission and not in our culture is similar to fighting in a war for a cause you believe in, but with an army dressed in all different colors. OUR CULTURE...(continued) A CULTURE OF EXPECTATION We expect to see our God do what only He can do. We expect to win because He defeated death. A CULTURE OF “OH CRAP” We will step out into the water and if we sink He will catch us, but we won’t lead this church from the safety of the boat. We don’t chase comfort...we expect discomfort. A CULTURE OF “IF IT CAN BE DONE, IT WILL BE DONE” We will be competent at what we do. We accomplish more because we are willing to try to do more. A CULTURE OF EXCELLENCE What we do matters forever. A CULTURE OF FUN/CELEBRATION We will play harder than anyone...We will work harder than anyone! A CULTURE OF RESILIENCY We don’t lose our shape when we are stretched. We will encourage each other to be resilient. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and join us next time on Episode 4. You can hear more leadership teaching from Pastor Josh at www.joshuagagnon.com or on twitter at www.twitter.com/joshgagnon.
INTRODUCTION Welcome to episode 2. Thanks to everyone who joined us for episode 1 and shared this podcast! Would you like to join us at the 2015 Orange Conference? Pastor Josh and many other great leaders will be sharing as part of the Senior Leader's track. Get details today at www.theorangeconference.com. CULTURE DETERMINES DESTINY Exodus 14:10-12 "...the people of Israel looked up and panicked when they saw the Egyptians overtaking them. They cried out to the LORD,11 and they said to Moses, “Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt? What have you done to us? Why did you make us leave Egypt? 12 Didn’t we tell you this would happen while we were still in Egypt? We said, ‘Leave us alone! Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!’” Culture: A collective group of people united by common outlooks, attitudes, values, goals, beliefs and behaviors. A common culture is what keeps keeps a common cause achievable. Don’t tell me how big your cause is, show me how strong the culture of your team is. OUR CULTURE... A CULTURE OF HONESTY Honest in our own desire to walk close to Jesus. Honest in our desire as a team to want nothing more than for people to live in God’s best while here on earth and forever in eternity. A CULTURE OF HONOR (No one becomes common) We will honor God in every decision ... His honor is our highest goal. We will honor those who God has placed over us. We will honor those who lead beside us. We will honor those that we lead. A CULTURE OF UNITY We are unified. We recognize the power of our tongues... We defend the vision, we defend our leaders. If you talk about them...you’re talking about me. A CULTURE OF CHANGE Nothing is sacred but Jesus...HOLD nothing too tightly. Change that communicates the why is always a win. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and join us next time on Episode 3 for the second half of "Culture determines destiny". You can hear more leadership teaching from Pastor Josh at www.joshuagagnon.com or on twitter at www.twitter.com/joshgagnon.
In this episode, Pastor Josh explains the 5 key ways to Identify the Leaders in your organization and gives some tips and advice on how to engage and develop those leaders. The most gifted leaders rarely make the best coaches. 5 questions to ask to help identify leaders: 1. Are they passionate about the vision? 2. Do they bring problems or do they bring solutions? 3. Is anybody listening to them? 4. Are they tough-minded? 5. Are they willing to take responsibility and finish the work that they've started? Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes. To hear more from Pastor Josh on leadership, please visit www.joshuagagnon.com or follow him on twitter at www.twitter.com/joshgagnon.