Expert Ownership Podcast
Three Mindsets to Thrive as a Leader
Join us as we dive into a powerful lesson given by Paul to Timothy on three keys to thrive as a leader.
Enjoy
After 20 years in business together, jason and I have realized that there are three crucial mindsets that will make you an effective leader. We've had to go through leadership of all kinds with various businesses, but we found in Scripture, as we were devouring the Word of God, as we were building our businesses, there are three mindsets that if you have these, and if we have these, we can be effective leaders, and we find them in the book of 2 Timothy. And now, before we dive into Timothy, you just need to know that when you are trying to run a faith-filled business, that you need to spend time praying every single day and you need to get on a Bible reading plan so that every single day, you're reading something of scripture and then telling God essentially the same thing we told God back in 2003 when we started our business. We're like, okay, lord, we don't have business training, we don't have all sorts of stuff. You know, back then it wasn't. They didn't have like online courses on how to run business and start it and stuff like that. I mean, the internet was a thing, but Google was still just picking up speed, and so we did promise that we were going to be reading the scripture, and for us. That promise was cover to cover every year, you know for however long it would take. And we said, lord, just show us stuff in the scripture and we'll apply those principles.
Speaker 1:And so we're reading just all sorts of stuff and I remember in Lamentations we got a word from the Lord not Lamentations, it was Leviticus. We got a word from the Lord on the rule of five that in your first five years don't spend the money that you got. And we learned that straight from Leviticus. And so, as we're reading, we're continually getting things out of scripture and it's so incredibly important for you as a faith-filled entrepreneur, so make sure you're spending time in the word. And one of the words that David and I got was right here in 2 Timothy. As our business began to grow, we recognized, hey, we're not just running a business here, we're actually leading people. We need to be better leaders. And what we discovered here in 2 Timothy 2 was the older Paul talking to the younger Timothy, who was in charge of helping to build out the churches that Paul was planting, and so he's essentially mentoring him. He's coaching him like a business coach to a business owner. And so now, when we read it in that perspective, you'll read 2 Timothy 2 quite a bit differently. So Paul is encouraging the younger Timothy how he's supposed to conduct himself in leadership and right out of the gate.
Speaker 1:Before we get to the three mindsets, we want to share with you a couple things that were the foundation for what Paul said. David, read verse 1 of 2 Timothy 2. You, then my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Isn't it interesting that the first thing Paul tells this young man is be strong. Like, be strong. Draw strength from where Christ? From the grace of God, the amazing grace of God. Do you deserve God's grace? No, start there. Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. We don't say that in today's culture. Start there. Paul tells us there is a foundational truth to your leadership that needs to understand you are whacked, you are messed up. You need a Savior, you need God's grace. Start there. As messed up as we are, we are incredibly loved and incredibly valued, and knowing that should make you strong. So now we operate in strength. Why? Because God forgave me. He doesn't hold all that stuff over me. That's right. He has forgiven me. So be strong. That's the first pillar. The second pillar before we get into our three mindsets. Verse two David, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, in trust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also, okay, disciple others.
Speaker 1:So Timothy needed to have an upstream, which was Paul, and a downstream, which were the other people, and Paul was giving him this just foundational truth of leadership. This is before our three mindsets. So the first thing hey, you need to be strong. If you want to be a leader, you need to be strong. You need to draw your strength from God, starting at the place where God has given you his amazing grace. Secondly, you need to have a willingness to disciple others. You need an upstream and a downstream, and every leader needs that. They need people who are pouring into them and then they need to turn around and pour into other people. An apple tree does not yield more apples if it refuses to give away the apples that it has. It has to give away its apples right, so that it can then make room for other apples. So you need an upstream and you need a downstream.
Speaker 1:You know, I've talked to many entrepreneurs and they're like sometimes I just feel so stagnant in my walk with the Lord and I'm like okay, well, who are you pouring into? Who's pouring into you? Are you being intentional with being mentored? Are you being intentional with mentoring others, with pouring out others? Because, honestly, when you have to whether it's leading a Bible study, leading a company meeting, leading just someone individually, maybe after a workout, and you're spending time with them you have to prepare, you've got to be in the word. And a workout and you're spending time with them, you have to prepare, you've got to be in the word and you know that. And sometimes you won't do it for yourself, but you'll do it for others, especially when it's your children. And in doing that, and in the preparation and in the time of darkness and quietness, when you're preparing, you're actually becoming something brand new and the Lord is shaping you and molding you. Yes, that's exactly right. So be strong, have a willingness to disciple others.
Speaker 1:David, verse three Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. So that is our very first mindset shift that you want. I say mindset shift, that is your mindset. So the three mindsets, I'll give them to you really quick. You want to be a soldier, you want to be an athlete, you want to be a farmer. Those I'll give them to you really quick. You want to be a soldier, you want to be an athlete, you want to be a farmer. Those are the three things that Paul is encouraging Timothy. And right here in verse three, he says be a soldier. Okay, so those. That that's your first mindset shift. They read verse four, which tells us about what a soldier does. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. So let's just think about a soldier for a second. A soldier first recognizes that he's in a battle. Number one, that's right. He recognizes that he's in a battle. That, open in your eyes to that, changes everything.
Speaker 1:Now, in today's American church, so often we have created a cruise ship, not a battleship. In terms of the church, a church attendance, it's more of a cruise ship instead of a battleship. And so if you think about the identity of the passengers on a cruise ship and the identity of the passengers on a battleship, it's totally different. You have consumers waiting to be entertained or producers waiting to engage the enemy. See, this is so crucially important that we have to see ourselves as soldiers in a battle. This is a spiritual battle, so we have to see ourselves as soldiers in a battle. This is a spiritual battle, so we have to be spiritually locked in. Whatever business you're in, whatever job you're doing, you're doing it as unto the Lord. But also understand the context is a great spiritual battle over the hearts and souls of not only people but nations. And so we have to be truth-vers and truth speakers, because if you know the truth, the truth will set you free. So you have to recognize you are a soldier on a battleship. You are not a consumer on a cruise ship, and you know what.
Speaker 1:That's what your business is for. Your business is a part of the wealth transfer mechanism where God transfers the wealth of the wicked to righteous hands. Why? So that you can take influence over cities. That was the reward for the faithful servants when they got the talents. They didn't just you know, the one at 10x, the one at 5x, they didn't just get to keep their income, no, they were then handed authority over cities. So recognizing that your business is something that God will use to take back territory, to take authority, that is very, very important.
Speaker 1:You know another thing about a soldier he protects the weak, so he's always looking for the vulnerable. He's looking for a way to protect the weak. How can your business help protect the weak? That's why our business literally was the genesis of starting a pro-life ministry that has since blossomed into another pro-life ministry that's now in, I don't know, 25 different states or whatever 24 cities. And we knew that our mission was that we wanted to be the largest real estate firm specifically dealing with foreclosures in the country, so that we could breathe life into cities across America. Our whole thing was protecting the innocent and we wanted our business to be a part of funding that. So that's why it's important for you to recognize your role as a soldier.
Speaker 1:Another thing about a soldier when it comes to leadership, he doesn't want to fight, but he sure as heck ain't going to back down to one. That's right, you know, a soldier is willing to suffer, and here's what one of the things that I think is the most important, especially as entrepreneurs a soldier doesn't meddle in needless fights that aren't a part of his mission, you know. So a soldier over in Iraq, let's say, and then he is walking down the road and they're looking for landmines or something, and he sees a husband and wife getting into this massive argument, you know, and he doesn't walk over there and go hey, can I help you guys with your, with your, with your argument? No, because he realized that's not his fight. He's got a bigger fight. So a soldier doesn't meddle in stuff. That's not a part of his mission. You need to know your mission and and but we have to be tapped into the fact that there's a spiritual reality that we are all engaged. When the unborn are murdered or when truth is being trampled in the streets and all of a sudden, gender is being twisted and now targeting our kindergarten kids, that's not like. Well, that's not my mission. No, that's God's mission. You speak truth, no matter what, but he wants you faithful to what specifically he has called you to do.
Speaker 1:So, jason, which one are you heading to now? Are you going to go ahead and hit verse five? Yes, that's where I'm going to go. Okay, so the three types of people that you want to be a soldier, an athlete, a farmer. Verse five talks about the athlete, and an athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. Okay, so let me just say two things about an athlete, because if you're going to be the leader that God wants you to be, number one.
Speaker 1:You've got to play to win. You don't just don't get out there and it's like I just want to make, just enough, you know, kind of think. No, you got to play to win, like win, whatever industry you're in. Play to win, yeah, one of the things we've done in this culture is we've created the blue ribbon athletics and not everybody gets a blue ribbon. It doesn't work like that. We should not be teaching our kids Everybody's a winner. No, it's not true Now. Everybody is a winner.
Speaker 1:If you get out on the field and do your best, now that is winning. You have to redefine winning. But not everybody wins the game. You have to compete to win. Yeah, compete, compete, compete, okay. But now make sure that you're doing it, and this is just a total different teaching altogether. That we've already done. But you've got to run at the pace of your people, and your primary people are your family. So don't get out there and forsake your family because you want to win. Right, you need to win in your family first, but then, when it comes to your business, you need to make sure that you're playing to win as well. It's just got to be within the context of the, the, the um, the pace that your family can handle, okay. So not only does an athlete play to win, but an athlete also plays according to the rules. He plays according to the rules. So what are the rules of the game, you know?
Speaker 1:And when David and I got into real estate, there were some gray lines out there where, when David and I first got into real estate and we were actually brokers, there were people out there that would sell a house to somebody and that person would go get a mortgage and they would negotiate a house to somebody and that person would go get a mortgage and they would negotiate a silent second from the seller, you know, where the seller would hold back like twenty thousand dollars or whatever and he would owner finance it and they're just a bunch of stuff like that was happening. They wouldn't put it on the settlement statement, yeah, and it was just we're like oh, that's kind of gross. And we actually almost did a deal like that until one of the guys said, hey, y'all can't do that. We're like you can't Like no, I'm like well, that dude's been doing it and he's the one that told us you could do this. So we realized there were some gray lines out there.
Speaker 1:You've got to play according to the rules, and this is where radical purity comes in running your business. When David and I first started our company in 2003, we did make a radical commitment to the Lord. We're like okay, lord, purity, like if it's every area yeah, in every area, personal, in every area, corporate, like when we're running our businesses. We just want to make sure that we're pure and you know what You're going to fail, and when you do, there's repentance, there's the reset button, but it is a faithfulness playing to win and a desire to play inside the rules.
Speaker 1:The power of sin is in secrecy, so we can't be secret. Well, it's just my business, this is the way I do business. Or I'm hiding books over here, or whatever it may be. Or even in your own personal life right, two phones, an extra laptop somewhere hidden. I mean, we've walked through a lot of this kind of stuff with different entrepreneurs. But listen, the power of sin is in secrecy. So you need to be tied into community and be open and vulnerable. If you're a dude with other dudes, if you're a woman with other women, be open so that we can truly live out the purity that God wants us.
Speaker 1:When I think about the athlete who plays to win and plays according to the rules. I think about the two jobs, the two things that God gave to Adam in the garden even before Eve came. He gave him a job to do and a boundary to obey. So that job, he had to be really good at his job and he needed to do a really good job with his job. That's a lot of job, and then he also had a boundary to obey. So there are always rules. So play according to the rules. So be a great soldier to be a great leader. You want to be a soldier, you want to be an athlete and thirdly, you want to be a farmer.
Speaker 1:Verse six it is the hardworking farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. You know what? There's some truths about a farmer? A farmer is faithful in the little. I mean it's. It's very difficult to get up. You know three o'clock in the morning, get out there and work on your tractor and then get up and start plowing and start doing the stuff that you're doing. A farmer is someone who is faithful in the little. And here's what the farmer does he does his part and he trusts God to do his part. So he trusts God to do God's part, but he makes sure that he does his part. What's his part? His part is to get up, make sure that the tractor's running, make sure that there's gas enough there, to make sure that he gets out there and sits on that tractor and goes out and plows the field. That's his part. And then he's planting the seed. That's his part. What's God's part? To bring the rain, that's right. And the farmer trusts God to do his part.
Speaker 1:My favorite verse about farmers is Psalm 126, 5 and 6. And I have prayed this and read this so many times throughout business. It says this Psalm 126, verse 5, those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy. He who goes out weeping bearing the seed for sowing shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him. In other words, look as a farmer. You are going to sow seeds, you're going to spend the money to buy that bag of seed and when you throw the seed in the ground, you're literally like throwing that money into the ground, having no clue if it's going to work or not. You know, because you have to get the sun, you have to get the rain, you got pests and pestilence and all kinds of stuff famine, drought, whatever it may be. You have all of these things that are outside of your control. Sowing the seed. It's hard, it hurts. That's what investment looks like David and I always talk about. Take your active income and turn it into passive income. Turn your cash into cash flow. That hurts. Every time you release that money, it's like it's not in your account anymore, and so it just takes some time.
Speaker 1:Let me say something else about a farmer.
Speaker 1:Not only is he faithful and little, not only does he do his part and trust God to do his.
Speaker 1:He doesn't worry about the results, he just concerns himself with his duty. That's a good farmer. Yeah, he is concerned with the results, but he doesn't worry about it. A good farmer. He knows that God's going to do his part, he just concerns himself with his duty. So just do the duty, whatever it is. Have your vision for your business and then create your process, the steps that you're going to do to accomplish your vision, and then just do it and trust the process. The farmer does that, and you can too. So you have the soldier, you have the athlete, you have the farmer.
Speaker 1:And let me say one more thing about the farmer. The farmer is always faithful when nobody is watching, because most farmers work alone. So be faithful when nobody is watching. That's the hard part. But then verse seven, at the end of this listen to what Paul says, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to young Timothy Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. Yeah, so if you're thinking about your business, you're like well, how does this apply to me? Just think over it, pray over it. So if you're thinking about your business, you're like well, how does this apply to me? Just think over it, pray over it. God's going to give you understanding in everything, because you're his kid and he loves you and if you know him, you need to pray to him.
Speaker 1:My son called me the other day. He's like dad for the first time. I actually just straight up and he's living in Nashville. He's now out on his own out of college, about to get engaged, and he's living in Nashville. He's now out on his own out of college, about to get engaged, and he's like.
Speaker 1:I asked God, lord, I just need more work. He goes. I've never prayed that before. I need more work, lord, give me more work. He's a freelance videographer, producer and all this stuff. And he goes and the very next day I get a phone call from a producer who's got this YouTube account. And now I'm just he's already given me work.
Speaker 1:He said, in less than 24 hours. He's like I can't believe it. I said I mean Ty, bailey Chase, those are my other two Ty. I said Ty, that's what God does because he loves you. He says if you ask anything in my name, he'll give it to you.
Speaker 1:That doesn't mean he's going to give you that red Porsche. That doesn't mean he's going to give it to you immediately and all that stuff. But what it does mean is when you are asking according to God's will and God's will is that you work. God's will is that you provide an income for yourself. He wants you to do that. Read 1 Thessalonians, 4, 11, and 12. He wants that for you.
Speaker 1:And so when you're asking him, lord, give me work, please help me. Help me in this God will answer your prayer. Now that doesn't mean he answers it in 24 hours. He might answer it in two months, it doesn't matter, because in that waiting time he's creating something in you. He's building you, he's growing you and strengthening you and you can trust him, just like that farmer.
Speaker 1:You go out there, you make the phone calls, you pray, you knock on the doors, you pray, you do some marketing, you pray, you meet with clients, you pray, and God he knows. You're sowing the bag of seed. You're sowing the seed in the ground and you're weeping. You're like this hurts, but it's going to come. So you can trust the Lord and when he says, think about what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding and everything God's got you. He knows right where you're at. So be a soldier, be an athlete, be a farmer. Those are three keys to help you be the leader that God has called you to be, so that you can be the faith-filled entrepreneur and launch yourself into greater freedom and success and become the person that God totally has designed you to be. You can do it. God bless you, peace.