Month: January 2025

EP 161: Molly Fletcher on Choosing Fulfilment Over Achievement

Posted on January 28, 2025 by - Calling, Character, Communication, Confidence, Conflict Management, Leadership Development, Leading Others, Leading Yourself, Performance Management, Podcasts, Relational Intelligence, Replenishment, Wellness

Now introducing The Global Leadership Podcast presented by the Global Leadership Network.

SUMMARY 

As leaders, we understand that purpose and calling play critical roles in achieving our goals. This week’s guest highlights the potential pitfall of focusing solely on achievement. In this episode, former top sports agent Molly Fletcher shares how long-term joy and happiness come not from achievement but from daily improvement and fulfillment. At the 2024 Global Leadership Summit, she discussed key concepts from her book, Dynamic Drive: The Purpose-Fueled Formula for Sustainable Success, in a live interview with Jason Jaggard. 

 

IN THIS EPISODE 

 0:00 Intro 

 3:30 How did Molly come to be so successful in a typically male-dominated industry?  

 6:55 How can we hold people accountable to being the best versions of themselves?  

 9:50 Molly’s backstory and how did she developed her career.  

 13:25 What are some practical principals of negotiation?  

 20:50 Why is curiosity so important, and what are some of the barriers to being a curious person?  

 25:22 The part of Molly’s book that matters a lot to her but that she may not always get to share from a stage.   

 28:52 The story of what motivates Ernie Johnson Jr. (NBA on TNT), and how that motivation shaped Molly’s contract negotiations for Ernie.  

 32:03 Outro 

 

LISTEN 

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube 

 

STANDOUTS AND TAKEAWAYS 

  • We live in a world that talks about “balance,” but “alignment” is the better target to pursue. 
  • Demand regularly exceeds our capacity, so it’s important to get clear on what matters most to you and to be able to yes or no based on that understanding. It’s also helpful to have people around you that can support you in that clarity. 
  • If we want people on our teams to become the best versions of themselves, consider getting permission to hold them accountable to their own dreams and goals.  
  • Negotiation is essentially a conversation, so relationships are critical.
  • If you want to blow up a deal, send your requests in an email.
  • If you find yourself getting defensive in a negotiation, do your best to shift into a posture of curiosity to find out what matters most to the other party.
  • It is tempting to get obsessed with the outcome that you desire, but when you take a step back and think about what might be motivating your counterpart you can connect more easily and more the conversation forward.
  • Sometimes it is best to have the courage to pause and to listen: to the other person, to the Spirit. Moreover, pausing can send a powerful message about the confidence you have in your position.
  • If you’ve built a strong relational foundation, it allows you to pause when necessary.
  • Curiosity helps you get inside the hearts and heads of the people you lead, which can then help you to lead them more effectively. It tells them, “I am thinking about you.”
  • Curiosity can help you anticipate gaps in the lives of those you serve and lead.
  • When you only focus on achieving a goal, the only thing to do next is to try and achieve more. “Dynamic Drive” is about improving every day, which is a never-ending journey.
  • “Dynamic Drive” keeps purpose and progress at the center and helps keep complacency at bay.  

 

LINKS MENTIONED 

 

SPONSOR 

EP 160: Megan Fate Marshman on Balancing Public Leadership with Private Disciplines

Posted on January 14, 2025 by - Character, Leading Yourself, Podcasts, Relationship with God

Now introducing The Global Leadership Podcast presented by the Global Leadership Network.

SUMMARY 

One aspect of purpose and calling is being willing to live it out with freedom and joy. But what do you do if your purpose is highly visible and involves frequent accolades and applause? In this episode, author and speaker Megan Fate Marshman sits down with Jason Jaggard to share about how private disciplines help balance her public call. Together they explore the importance of slowing down, the importance of grounding your identity in Christ and how emotions like anger and anxiety can be signposts for us as leaders. If you’ve ever wondered how to stay rooted while maintaining a public ministry, this is a great episode to check out! 

  

IN THIS EPISODE 

  • When did Megan first discover that she was a leader? 
  • Why do church leaders sometimes struggle to get people to use their leadership gifts for the good of the church?
  • What is the relationship between Megan’s public speaking and the private, “off-platform” aspects of her leadership?
  •  What are some of Megan’s daily disciplines?
  • As she travels and speaks, what are some issues that Megan is seeing and observing in churches?  

 

LISTEN 

 Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube 

 

STANDOUTS AND TAKEAWAYS 

  • So much of inviting people into leadership hinges on how you make the invitation. Getting to know someone, seeing them uniquely and inviting them into something specific is critical. 
  • Whether or not someone is serving has a significant impact on whether they feel like they belong at a church.
  • People don’t need more to do in their lives; they just need to be more intentional about what they are already doing.
  • Our souls can’t handle environments where we only ever hear applause.
  • Before you share anything on a platform, let it change you first.
  • When you are working on a sermon, it’s a great strength to bring your questions to the text.
  • Use your daily life to establish some prayer “triggers” that can serve as reminders to slow down, or to connect with someone, etc.
  • Take time daily to peel back the “layers” of your life, and to root your identity in Christ. After that’s done, take the time to consciously put the layers back on.
  • Anger and anxiety are not innately sinful; they are signals and doorways that can either pull us backward or remind us to release control.
  • Many leaders are missing the opportunity to both give and receive love by staying isolated.
  • Ask yourself, “What do you WISH someone would do for you?” Then do that for someone else.
  • Many people feel like they are being reminded constantly that they are not as they should be, and their reaction is to just start working harder and harder by themselves. The better solution is to relax and to simply become more open to the work that God has already done.  

 

LINKS MENTIONED 

 

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Our Favorite Craig Groeschel Quotes From 2024

Posted on January 8, 2025 by - Articles

By Amber Van Schooneveld 

Globally recognized as a leader of leaders, Craig Groeschel is the founding and senior pastor of Life.Church, a three-time Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award recipient. Craig is the host of the top-ranked “Craig Groeschel Leadership Podcast” and a New York Times’ bestselling author. He has also been part of the amazing lineup of speakers at the Global Leadership Summit since 2008, and each year he inspires and challenges us deeply.  

This year, Craig gave us “permission to obsess.” He challenged us to rethink our negative perception of obsession and instead harness our obsessions to lead with excellence. Here are our favorite quotes from Craig Groeschel from the 2024 Global Leadership Summit! 

  1. “All the forces in society are conditioning you for conformity. And conformity is the quickest path to mediocrity.” 
  2. “When you’re average, everybody’s OK with you. But the moment you start to rise, to dream, to do more, people tend to pull you down, back toward average. Average never changed the world.”
  3. “God didn’t create you to be average.”   
  4. “People will cheer on your passions, but they will talk you out of your obsessions. I want to give you permission to obsess. Granted: you have permission to obsess.”   
  5. “Press hard into your passion. I invite you, encourage, you, inspire you to obsess about what you were created to do.” 
  6. “If you don’t obsess about something, you’ll never be great at anything.”   
  7. “Where has God given you a little extra? What do you love irrationally? What breaks your heart? What drives you crazy? Makes you righteously angry?”   
  8. “Don’t be afraid to be weird. Last I checked, normal wasn’t working.”   
  9. “Normal is broken. Normal is miserable. Normal is grumpy. Normal is a bad attitude. Normal’s a critical spirit from the guys sitting on the sidelines that don’t know how to play the game. Normal is quiet quitting. Normal is prolific excuses. And that’s why I give you permission to obsess. Refuse to be normal because there is more inside of you.”    
  10. “Strategically obsessed leaders focus relentlessly. Most leaders don’t.”  
  11. “Busy creates the illusion of importance.”  
  12. “Busy leaders don’t change the world. Focused leaders do.” 
  13. “The greatest barrier to productive leadership isn’t a lack of commitment, but overcommitment.”
  14. “As a leader, our goal is never activity but only productivity.”   
  15. “One of the most spiritual things you can do is say no because the most successful leaders don’t grow with their yeses, they grow with their nos.”    
  16. “Obsess about caring for your people.”   
  17. “You can’t lead people if you don’t love people.”   
  18. “Appreciate people more than you think you should. Then double it. Do it more than feels natural to you.”  
  19. “Some leaders make you think they’re good. A great leader helps you know that you are important.”   
  20. “Apathy makes excuses. Obsession finds a way.”   
  21. “Greatness isn’t found in the middle. It’s born in the extremes.”   

We hope these quotes have given you the courage to focus relentlessly on the areas where God has given you a little extra. Still hungry for more Craig Groeschel quotes? Check out some of our favorite Craig Groeschel quotes from 2021.  

As powerful as these quotes are, there’s nothing like the challenge and inspiration of hearing Craig speak live. Join us live for the Global Leadership Summit in August to hear directly from Craig, along with a lineup of other world-class leadership experts!  

Check out the Global Leadership Summit.

EP 159: Purposeful Leader — GLN President and CEO David Ashcraft

Posted on January 7, 2025 by - Execution, Leading Organizations, Podcasts, Vision

Now introducing The Global Leadership Podcast presented by the Global Leadership Network.

SUMMARY 

“Vision leaks” is a well-known leadership axiom, and to kick off January’s theme of being a “purposeful leader,” Whitney Putnam sits down with GLN President and CEO David Ashcraft. In this conversation, they explore the role purpose and mission has in David’s life and leadership. We’ll also hear about some common pitfalls that leaders can face regarding purpose, and how he has learned to guard against them.      

  

IN THIS EPISODE: 

  •  Does David do New Years’ Resolutions? 
  • How would David describe his life’s purpose?
  • What can people do to discover a purpose that lasts?
  • What can leaders do if an organization starts to drift from its purpose or mission?
  • How did David learn the importance of maintaining clarity and focus?
  • For David, who modeled the quality of consistently showing up, day after day?
  • How do you keep showing up to do your job if it doesn’t align with your passion?  

 

LISTEN 

 Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube 

 

STANDOUTS AND TAKEAWAYS 

  •  Focus on simplicity; don’t try to do too many things. 
  • The leader’s job is to be the gatekeeper of the vision, to say no to things that might pull the organization off track.
  • Even after you spend months crafting the perfect vision statement, it will inevitably leak. Repetition is crucial.
  • After you establish your purpose, everything you do should be measured against it.
  • Oftentimes, people will get bored with vision and purpose and want to try new things. Sometimes the leader needs to remind people that winning comes from being consistent and doing their job.  

 

LINKS MENTIONED