Episode 1374: Interview with Ryan Franklin Author of The Christian Leader Blueprint

[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: Thanks for joining us on episode 1, 374 of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

[00:00:09] Ryan Franklin: Hey there, I'm Ryan Franklin, and I challenge you to invest in developing yourself and your influence with others so that you can truly serve and invest in others so that you can fully impact the world with your time, your talent.

[00:00:27] And your treasures to live out your God given calling and one tremendous way that you can move towards growing yourself and others is simply by listening to the inspired stewardship podcast with my friend, Scott Maderer.

[00:00:48] To just look alike instead of truly unifying a team. And the problem with this low hanging fruit is that, that, that it can be fulfilling enough [00:01:00] that you stop feeling the hunger for more. And you don't want to work through the, the, the hard stuff that it takes to, to, for unity.

[00:01:10] Scott Maderer: Welcome and thank you for joining us on the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

[00:01:15] If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent, and your treasures for your true calling. In the Inspired Stewardship Podcast, you will learn to invest in yourself, invest in others, and develop your influence.

[00:01:44] In today's podcast episode, I interview Ryan Franklin. I asked Ryan about his faith, his journey, and why he developed the Christian leader blueprint. I also asked Ryan about what we need to do to grow as a Christian leader without suffering from burnout. And I [00:02:00] asked Ryan about how he views the search for unity over uniformity.

[00:02:05] I've got a new book coming out called Inspired Living. Assembling the puzzle of your call by mastering your time, your talent, and your treasures. You can find out more about it and sign up for getting more information over@inspiredstewardship.com. Inspired Living. That's inspired stewardship.com Inspired living.

[00:02:28] Ryan Franklin is an assistant pastor at the Pentecostals of Alexandria and an executive coach to pastors and Christian leaders. With more than 25 years of personal development and leadership experience in businesses and churches, he's dedicated to helping others

[00:02:43] achieve

[00:02:43] Scott Maderer: greatness as a leader while they expand their influence and change lives.

[00:02:48] Through his YouTube channel and popular podcast, Christian Leader Made Simple, he shares his Christian Leader Blueprint methods. Ryan's passion is to see pastors and Christian leaders succeed in producing healthier [00:03:00] organizations as they live out their God given vision. He's considered among his peers to be integral in helping leaders establish a better rhythm of life, see themselves more clearly, leverage their strengths, and build more productive relationships.

[00:03:14] His leadership experiences started while living in Washington, D. C., where he helped a new church in northern Virginia build a strong foundation during its early pivotal stage. During the same time, he became a strategic influence as center director of a failing clinic as it turned profitable in George Washington Hospital, Washington, D.

[00:03:34] C. After several years of dealing with experiences in his own past that held him back as a leader, and with the help of an executive coach guiding him to uncover the things that were zapping his fulfillment, along with an extensive journey of coaching others, Ryan created the Christian Leader Blueprint.

[00:03:53] Using Jesus as the perfect example of an influencer and the greatest example of an effective leader, Ryan has proven these [00:04:00] valuable concepts by coaching clients for many years. He is the author of two popular Bible studies with worldwide distribution, The Bible Made Simple and Salvation Made Simple, which have sold over 70, 000 copies and are translated into seven languages.

[00:04:16] Ryan's greatest joy is spending time in the outdoors with his family. He was born and raised in Alexandria, Louisiana, where he currently lives with his wife, Angie, and his children, Olivia and Neil. Welcome to the show, Ryan!

[00:04:30] Ryan Franklin: Thank you, Scott. I appreciate you inviting me on. Absolutely.

[00:04:34] Scott Maderer: I'm glad to have you here.

[00:04:35] So we talked a little bit in the intro, but I always tell people intros are like the Instagram version of our life, right? We make sure the dirty laundry is not in the picture when we were going to put it on Instagram. Can you talk a little bit more and expand a little bit on your journey and what brought you to putting out the book you did and doing the work that you're doing now?

[00:04:58] Yeah.

[00:04:59] Ryan Franklin: [00:05:00] Scott, let me give you a little bit of the backstory and then maybe some vision behind where this Christian leader blueprint book came from. I've been heavily involved in ministry for over 25 years in a variety of roles. I've done volunteer youth ministry. I've done bivocational assistant pastor.

[00:05:24] Yeah, that was the tougher years of ministry. But I've done bivocational assistant pastor at a in a metro area in Washington, DC. I did that for about three years. Then I've done a full time pastoral ministry in an intense, large. highly active church for the last 19 years of my life. So I've been I've had a lot of experiences and because of that I've been in so many different environments with different circumstances, different people.

[00:05:58] I know what [00:06:00] leading from insecurities feels like. And I know what trying to prove myself even in unhealthy ways. And in my earlier years of ministry, I know what that feels like. And even having a crazy. Out of whack work life balance, I can relate to that and I've pursued I've pursued positions and titles in my past over my calling and I really had very little idea of for many years of what my true strengths, my true weaknesses were at the time.

[00:06:39] And really honestly, Scott, what God designed me to do. And so in the. struggling of that and negotiation of that. I've damaged relationships along the way because of these blind spots in my life. And there's no doubt that all of those things have lessened my effectiveness [00:07:00] at times has drained even my enjoyment of leadership and life even.

[00:07:06] And. In 2016, I took on a new role. It was an overwhelming pastoral role at the same church that I had been assisting the pastors in for many years, and I was basically handed a massive amount of responsibility. I oversaw over 60. different ministries. It was a ministry based church and it wasn't long and all of those weak areas of my life They started coming to the surface in ways.

[00:07:34] I never even expected and I found myself filling those dreaded feelings of burnout And really, there was a point where I just, I really, it wasn't long into that role that I just wanted to quit and run from my circumstances and I knew that if I was going to sustain any sort of future in ministry, something in me had to change.[00:08:00]

[00:08:00] And I'm going to speed this story up a lot and kind of skip a lot of the details here, but I found myself. Searching for the answers and through prayer and godly men in my life, I went through a year of really expensive executive coaching and, but it literally changed my life. I I found a rhythm in my work life balance that I had never had before, and I began to see myself clearly.

[00:08:31] In ways that I had never even realized that I could see myself. And then all of a sudden I started leveraging my strengths, using my gifts and leading in ways that were productive, that were successful for the environments that I was leading in. And then over time, I just, I developed the ability to build and resource from our relationships, like I had never experienced in my past.

[00:08:58] I wish I had learned it[00:09:00] many years ago, but all of these things made. All the difference in my life in my effectiveness, in my role as a leader, as a pastor, and especially in my enjoyment of what I was doing. So again, skipping a lot of the details I ended up learning to help people with these very same things through executive coaching.

[00:09:23] I, executive coaching changed my life so much. I said, Hey, I wanna do this . And and so I went to school and I had a mentor as well. Actually my executive coach, my original executive coach agreed to be my mentor. And we even to this day, have a great relationship and he mentors me even to this day.

[00:09:43] But I was helping to guide and empower. Christian leaders from all walks of life to rise, if you will, rise above the challenges that they were facing and to learn to lead with purpose and [00:10:00] authenticity and compassion. And every time I would work with a client. I was seeing a similar success story.

[00:10:12] It became a pattern. And so I started digging deeper and I'm a analyst, very analytical person. And so I started digging deeper and studying this pattern. And I literally graphed the characteristics that I was seeing and the data that I was seeing. And eventually through that graph and through a process of filtering it through people in my life, the Christian leader blueprint model.

[00:10:39] And in today's fast paced and ever changing world, there are so many Christian leaders that find themselves grappling with that same sense of being stuck and they're overwhelmed with complexities of the complexities of leadership, especially today, post COVID, and they don't know how to [00:11:00] align their faith with their role as leaders.

[00:11:03] And so my book, The Christian Leader Blueprint it basically addresses these. desperate needs by giving the reader a comprehensive blueprint, a plan, if you will, that helps them navigate through those complexities of leadership with a strong foundation in their faith and in scripture.

[00:11:27] And I deeply understand the pain. And the frustration that comes up with leaders when leaders feel disconnected from their values and their lack of clarity and their decision making and through this, I call it a very powerful model because I believe that with all of my heart, I offer in that very practical.

[00:11:52] Strategy. I'm a practical guy and I offer very practical strategies and just real life examples. I get very [00:12:00] transparent and vulnerable with my life in it and insights that help equip the leaders to, to overcome some of these challenges that I had to overcome and embrace a leadership lifestyle that is not only effective.

[00:12:14] And enjoyable, but also rooted in Christian principles. And so the Christian leader blueprint is the tagline on it is a step by step guide to leadership transformation. And I'll stop with this, but my greatest desire is that Christian organizations, especially churches, would see unprecedented growth And fulfillment in their churches and their, in their businesses and stewardship, if you will, because the, all because the leadership team chose to embrace the principles of the Christian leader blueprint, that's my greatest desire.

[00:12:59] Scott Maderer: [00:13:00] And we'll talk a little bit more, but when you think about the book who is it really for you mentioned Christian leader a couple of different times, but paint a little bit more of a picture. Who do you mean when you say Christian leader?

[00:13:13] Ryan Franklin: I have to be very transparent and honest here, Scott.

[00:13:17] My, you wouldn't expect anything less, right?

[00:13:22] Scott Maderer: No, I expect you to lie to us, actually. No, clearly not. The, my, my target, honestly, is the greatest passion within me is to grow churches. But I know that if you grow the business leader, the Christian business leader, that they're going to use their finances to build the kingdom of God.

[00:13:47] Ryan Franklin: They're going to use their time, their talents. They're going to steward, they're going to use their resources and steward them in a local church and help grow a local church. So that's why I say [00:14:00] question. It's for any Christian leader. These principles absolutely 100 percent work in the business world as well.

[00:14:08] I led for many years as a center director at GW hospital in Washington, DC and and transformed a that clinic into a thriving clinic. So I know what it means to, to live in the business world. And I've been in both worlds. I've again, I've had a wide range of activity in my leadership history with business, church, volunteer, bivocational.

[00:14:41] Even full time. There's dynamics with full time that you don't get to you don't get to see if you've never experienced that, that are quite challenging.

[00:14:54] Scott Maderer: So how did your faith journey evolve through this? You talked about [00:15:00] especially. feeling that time of burnout and all of that.

[00:15:03] And I think a lot of Christian leaders today are feeling that feeling of burnout there, there's a lot of pastors retiring and a lot of different denominations. There's a lot of Christian leaders stepping away from the church. How did your faith journey intersect with the work that you were doing and the lessons you were discovering how did it affect you?

[00:15:28] Ryan Franklin: Faith journey we can go a lot of different directions there, but let me just say this. The decision to integrate Christian principles into leadership was a no brainer for me, obviously as a pastor and as a kingdom driven person. It was born out of my own experiences and observation and study of scripture.

[00:15:53] And as a pastor and as a Christian leader myself, I came to realize that leadership at its [00:16:00] core It's not just about achieving goals and driving success at its core. It's about being a more biblical steward of what God has placed in my realm of responsibility. It's about influencing and impacting the lives of others with love and compassion and just a genuine desire to serve people.

[00:16:27] And we find that in scripture. Scripture is full. of leadership principles. And it's unique to most conventional models. It teaches us the value of humility, which you don't find in a lot of conventional models, of empathy and selflessness. Scripture is very clear that the first is gonna be last, and the last is gonna foundational.

[00:16:59] to [00:17:00] effective and transformative leadership, and we find them in the Bible. And by drawing on these biblical teachings, even the life of Jesus himself has got so much rich. leadership principles within his life, we find invaluable lessons on how to lead and even enjoy life while we're doing it.

[00:17:21] And so ultimately, this biblical approach, it just helps us enjoy an environment of trust. And respect and authentic relationships, and that ultimately is going to lead to higher levels of engagement and especially productivity within organizations. And so I hope this sort of shed some light on why I'm so passionate about exploring, not just leadership, but Christian biblical leadership

[00:17:55] Scott Maderer: At the same time, I think a lot of folks have a hard time.[00:18:00]

[00:18:00] Figuring out how to, even in a church environment, this isn't even just in the business environment. I've seen a lot of times where it's a almost at the meetings, it's, we're going to do business and then we'll do church out of the meeting as opposed to integrating our faith throughout all of the different stuff.

[00:18:22] That we do. And again, that's in a, that's in a church environment where you would expect it to be done and it's even harder sometimes in a business environment or in a secular environment how do you recommend that people begin to find ways to integrate and walk the walk, so to speak while they're talking the talk about their faith.

[00:18:48] Ryan Franklin: That's a very difficult question because it's honestly. I have found that I have, [00:19:00] those two things have collided in my life. In a prayer room, if I can just be transparent with that and it's in my mind, that is really more of a heart matter than a logistical matter or a principle matter.

[00:19:19] It's really a heart matter and that's, that is where where those two things can actually not just collide, but collide and merge. With unity and with with authenticity, with integrity. To me, that's going to happen in a prayer room. And it's my heart meshing with God's heart. And if I don't, if I don't start with a prayer room, It's not likely that I'm going to integrate those principles into my life in a way that is going to be fluid and and [00:20:00] comprehensive in, in my life, if that makes sense.

[00:20:04] Scott Maderer: So I, I'm sure this never happened in any of the Christian organizations that you've been around, but sometimes there's a lot of conflict and confusion and these sorts of things. within churches, Christian businesses, other sorts of things like that. What are some of the skills or techniques that you recommend for leaders to focus on and develop that can help calm that rather than add to it, because I think a lot of times as leaders we're called to be the calmest person in the room, so to speak, as opposed to adding to oil, to the fire how can we develop that

[00:20:44] Ryan Franklin: ability?

[00:20:46] Yeah. A lot of people are going to try to avoid conflict. They're going to they don't want conflict in their organization or their churches. [00:21:00] And the reality of it is if you want to lessen confusion and you want to bring a sense of unity within an organization, you have to have conflict. It's not that we need less conflict.

[00:21:15] It's that we need the right kind of conflict. We need to be able to, like you say we don't want to be all we want to be something that's dissolvable in the room and something that's going to bring unity and mesh in a room. And that is when we work through things from a healthy perspective and healthy conflict, and we need more direct communication.

[00:21:40] A lot of churches and even Christian businesses, we find a lot of passive aggressive type people,

[00:21:50] because, and here's why many times when the spirit of God begins to work in a life, you develop a compassion for people [00:22:00] that is supernatural. And when compassion meets conflict, sometimes we want to passively skirt around that conflict. And so what I recommend people to do with people that are very high in compassion and struggle with this the most is that they embrace the compassion within them, embrace the interpersonal sensitivity, the supportive nature, the comforting nature within them, and actually move into that conflict.

[00:22:35] Don't deny it. Don't work around it, but move into that conflict. And it's not in a, in an abrasive way. But we want to be assertive with our communication and actually work through those things and I use a simple formula when I'm working through conflict and working through things that [00:23:00] may be a little bit or feel a little bit abrasive to have to address.

[00:23:04] And there's an extended version of this. But I keep it pretty simple because a lot of times people are in the heat of the battle and they're not going to remember lots of steps. I've got a really good eight step conflict resolution model. But but if you don't remember the eight steps and we don't have to go there today I just tell people, remember to sandwich truth between grace.

[00:23:31] John chapter 1 verse 14 talks about truth and grace. And in any environment, if you bring truth and grace to a conversation, it's usually going to turn out pretty well. So I start with grace and that's not just saying something positive about a person because that kind of. They feel like, Oh, brother what's coming next when you say something.

[00:23:57] The old

[00:23:58] Scott Maderer: management thing is do [00:24:00] the con do the feedback sandwich where you tell him something good, then tell him something bad, then tell him something good again. And it's that doesn't actually work

[00:24:06] Ryan Franklin: usually. No. And it's the same principle. However, grace is a little bit different.

[00:24:13] It's

[00:24:13] Scott Maderer: different than just telling them

[00:24:14] Ryan Franklin: something good. Yeah, exactly. Grace is, it feels more authentic. And if you're a trustworthy leader who has built trust and relationship with your, the people that you're leading, when you bring grace to the table, they feel a difference. It's a, it's an experience of love and they feel love from you.

[00:24:38] And then you present truth to them. And here's where people get, get into trouble. A lot of times they belabor the truth, and again, maybe even skirt around the truth, but because they don't want to just say what the problem is. And so I recommend people say the problem in as few words as you can say it.

[00:24:58] If it's a sentence, if you can get it done in a [00:25:00] sentence, great. If it's two sentences, but don't belabor the truth. So you may even want to belabor grace a little bit, but tell the truth very quickly. And to the point, and then get back to grace again, and what you're doing is we've all got a judge inside of us.

[00:25:20] And when we give people truth that people don't like at times, it raises the judge up in us and it's a natural, it's a natural thing. It's going to happen to even Christian leaders who do this well. The judge is going to raise up in people, but what you're doing with the grace, you're preparing them with your, you're providing them acceptance and love and affirmation, validation for where they're at.

[00:25:46] Those are key relational nutrients. And then when you give them truth, guess what? You're going to negate the grace that you just gave them and that judge is going to raise up in them. It's natural. It's going to happen just about every time. And [00:26:00] then you give them grace again. So you're calming the judge again.

[00:26:03] You're preparing to give them truth. You give them the truth. And then you're you're calming that judge back in them again by giving them more grace. That's probably the simplest method that I could tell that there's, there, there's other tactics, but I think the other tactics are going to naturally kick in at times.

[00:26:26] If you just remember those three steps, grace, truth, and more grace.

[00:26:31] Scott Maderer: It's I used to be in leadership in a secular position and one of the things I, and I was actually in an executive position where I had leaders reporting to me. And one of the things I used to remind the. leaders of is that it's a when you're talking to that employee, that's struggling, remember in your heart of hearts, they do not show up to work on Monday morning going, boy, I really hope I stink at my job this week.

[00:26:59] That, [00:27:00] that is not the frame nobody does that or if they do, that's very few and far between, that's not the norm so you go into the conversation, recognizing that. They're doing the best they can to do what you need them to do. So there's a block there somewhere. Our job as a leader is to help remove that block, if at all possible.

[00:27:23] They are, they're in the wrong seat. They don't have the right understanding that start there start there with the right, the assumption that they want to do well, as opposed to what a lot of times happens as a leader is, Oh, they're just doing this to mess us up. And it's no that's probably not in their heart of hearts.

[00:27:42] And it starts us out a little better foot. Yeah. You mentioned earlier about work life balance and those sorts of things and burnout. And again, conflict, like we were just talking about is one of those sources that I think, especially that hidden passive aggressive or triangling [00:28:00] conflict that happens in a lot of Christian organizations where somebody comes to somebody and says somebody told me that as opposed to we all just sit out in a room and talk to each other.

[00:28:12] How do you see what are some of the sources of helping the Christian leader avoid that work life balance burnout and the other things that cause us as leaders to burn out?

[00:28:25] Ryan Franklin: Yeah. And I'm glad you phrased it in that manner, the work life balance burnout. And the other things that could cause burnout because it's multidimensional.

[00:28:36] And when an executive client comes to me, for instance normally it's they're at the edge of burnout and they're just saying, Hey, Ryan, help me. I need something. And it's generally going to manifest in their work life balance. It's going to manifest in their relationships in some form or fashion.

[00:28:58] That's where the pain starts [00:29:00] happening and they seek answers and medication for that pain.

[00:29:04] Scott Maderer: Sometimes that's the symptom though, not the problem.

[00:29:07] Ryan Franklin: Exactly. A lot of times that is the surface level. And so it can be really multidimensional. It can really be the problem, the underlying problem can be multidimensional.

[00:29:20] And Getting under, getting into that, digging into what may be causing that is, is critical in 2016, when I took on the new role as a assistant pastor at a very large church, I was doing things. I was found myself having to do things at that point that I never should have been doing.

[00:29:48] I was not equipped. I was not gifted in some of the things that I was having to do. And. What people don't realize is when they are doing things that they are [00:30:00] not built to do, it is such a energy drain. It's going to be a physical energy drain, but even more it's going to be an emotional energy drain and it just zaps the life out of them.

[00:30:13] And that is what eventually will lead to burnout. The energy drain is what leads to a burnout, but that could come in the form of doing the wrong things. That could come in the form of maybe there's deep insecurities within us that we've never worked through. And so we achieve to where our work life balance is completely out of whack.

[00:30:38] And and so it brings us down a place where we are. physically in a bad place, and then it leads to problems in our marriage and problems with our kids. And so it's an emotional displacement of our life. There's a lot of factors that could cause a person to [00:31:00] lead to burnout, which is actually why I, one of the reasons why I wrote the Christian Leader Blueprint, to give sort of a blueprint for all of the things that could.

[00:31:12] Contribute and add to pile on the things that would lead the blueprint to the, to, excuse me, burnout. The blueprint is divided into four components. One is a, is to establish a better rhythm of life. Two, is to see yourself more clearly, understand yourself, understand your, have a clarity of mind, understand from a, an emotional intelligence standpoint, understand what motivates you, understand your leadership derailers, those insecurities that may be within.

[00:31:49] And then also the third part is leveraging your strengths. That's your calling. You talk a lot about calling. That is critical that we understand [00:32:00] what our calling is. That's a supernatural thing to some degree. And it's what we've been in my opinion, what we were born and built to do.

[00:32:09] And so we've got to find that. Our giftings, our how to lead others effectively and develop others. And then the fourth component of that is to build more productive our life.

[00:32:24] then it's going to absolutely lead, eventually lead to burnout. God designed us to not only need him, that's first and foremost. We have to start in a prayer room. We need him, but he designed us also to need people. People are our fuel. That is what drives us. That is what fills us up. And God alone without people.

[00:32:54] Though he could do anything he wants and he would if he chose [00:33:00] to help us thrive in that manner then he absolutely could. But he designed it to where we're not going to thrive with God along, but we're also not going to thrive with people along. We've got to have both. We've got to have God as first and foremost, but we also have to have people in our life that are going to fuel us, help us regulate ourselves.

[00:33:22] Help us move past some of the factors that would be related to burnout. And I've found in my life that is probably the most contributing factor. We can deal with a lot if we have people in our life that can help fuel us and regulate us and provide that biblical sense of relationship.

[00:33:51] I, I see pastors, I work with pastors and even business leaders. All across the nation and [00:34:00] without fail, the majority of those leaders are surrounded by people and they're lonely. They're surrounded by people, but they keep people at an arm's length and they're lonely. And. That is probably ultimately the dagger in the heart when it comes to burnout

[00:34:23] Scott Maderer: Earlier when we were talking about conflict you use the word unity a couple of times, and one of these ideas that I've been struggling with and in some of the things that I see happening and different church organizations and Christian leadership and that sort of thing is this idea of.

[00:34:44] Yeah. I think we sometimes confuse unity with uniformity it's so much easier if we all look the same, sound the same, talk the same, believe the same things, walk the same way, wear the same clothes, [00:35:00] come from the same background the more alike we are, it seems like that's easy. Now we can have unity.

[00:35:06] And yet, I think too in God's kingdom, we're called to the strength of diversity and recognizing all the parts and the gifting of all the different parts. So how do you see that kind of struggle between unity and uniformity playing out in the work that you've been doing with Christian leaders?

[00:35:25] Ryan Franklin: Yeah. I think I understand your question here. And I just did recently, actually, my last podcast was on diversity. And we talked about this a little bit and I think this kind of goes along with conflict as well. There's a lot of Christian organizations that won't, don't want conflict, as I mentioned before, and with no conflict, that's what you get, Scott, is uniformity.

[00:35:55] And, but with the right conflict, you move [00:36:00] beyond uniformity and you get unity and uniformity is about looking the same, as you mentioned. And unity is about actually being one team, one, one, one unit working towards one vision. And and actually what people don't realize is that uniformity kills the possibility of unity.

[00:36:29] And that's partly because and follow me here because uniformity can also lead to unity but it often doesn't lead to it. It actually kills it because uniformity is low hanging fruit and unity is incredibly hard to achieve and even harder to maintain. And so it's just, it's simply easier. It's more tempting [00:37:00] to just look alike instead of truly unifying a team.

[00:37:05] And the problem with this low hanging fruit is that it can be fulfilling enough that you stop filling the hunger for more and you don't want to work through the hard stuff that it takes to, for unity. The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 12. He compares this new community of Christ followers that knew at that time to a body, to a literal body.

[00:37:34] And he argues that a body functions as well as it does because it has so many different organs. And each of those organs are responsible for certain and different things. And really to make your point. That is why diversity really truly matters on a team and it's [00:38:00] also why diversity is not enough because while diversity is a it's a great pushback, pushback against what you're talking about with uniformity it's only a halfway point.

[00:38:16] Diversity is a halfway point. We have to move on from diversity into that sense of unity. Among that diversity and unity is actually combining that diversity with all of our differences. And I'm not just talking about skin color, but I'm talking about all of the differences that we may bring to the table, not just finding common ground, but working together for each other's interests and assertively working towards a common vision together.

[00:38:53] approaching communication assertively not aggressively, assertively. To [00:39:00] where we're working through things and doing the hard work relationally to, to to move the ball towards that common vision.

[00:39:10] Scott Maderer: It's getting beyond just the surface level and digging in to do the hard work of. Why are we doing this and where are we going?

[00:39:19] And how can your strengths add to mine and your weaknesses? And can I can shore those up with mine and we're going the same direction not just sitting here

[00:39:30] Ryan Franklin: together. Exactly. And Scott just to bring that to a practical place my greatest strength. My two greatest strengths, one is prudence, my ability to get things done, to be planful, to check the to do boxes to just roll the ball get the wheels turning.

[00:39:56] My second greatest strength is my leadership energy. [00:40:00] My ability to take charge, to create vision, to be competitive but I have a very low sociability. So for many years, out of insecurity, I sought a church. And I almost went to be a senior pastor. I was going to go start a church in Dallas, Texas and the, to make a long story short, the Lord shut that down.

[00:40:28] And I'm so glad that happened because shortly after I really dove in and understood my strengths and weaknesses and what I brought to the table. And because of that I realized that with my high leadership energy and my high prudence and ability to get things done, I was the perfect organizational style.

[00:40:50] church assistant pastor. I don't want it. I don't want or need to be in front of people all the time. I can occasionally, I need to occasionally based on [00:41:00] my job, but I love the behind the scenes work, leading people, leading ministries, working with people one on one, getting rolling rolling the ball towards the vision.

[00:41:12] And when I realized that when I realized my seat on on the boat or the bus, where I should be when I realized exactly where I needed to be, Oh my goodness, that was so much freedom that came from that. I released the things that came from an insecure place and I was able to truly be a steward of what God designed me to do.

[00:41:42] Scott Maderer: Ryan, I've got a few questions that I like to ask all of my guests, but before I, I go to those, is there anything else about the work you're doing with the Christian leader blueprint, leadership blueprint that you'd like to share with

[00:41:55] Ryan Franklin: the listener? Yeah. I just want to say [00:42:00] this that, and this is a common line, but the team doesn't get better unless the leader gets better.

[00:42:06] And so it starts. with the individual a leader, a team that is going to be cohesive when it's going to find unity. That's going to really move the ball down the road towards a vision. It's going to start with the individual and it starts with personal growth and reflection and hard work and the Christian leader blueprint gives you that perfect guide.

[00:42:32] In my opinion, it's a perfect guide. It it gives you a model or a blueprint, if you will. To help you understand the areas of your leadership in your life that are your greatest opportunities for growth and within the blueprint there's 16 total components or topics that and we don't have to just accept a [00:43:00] deficiency.

[00:43:00] In any one of those areas, these are areas that I have identified through my research that I feel are critical for personal growth as a leader and we don't have to accept deficiency. There's some things like I'm not going to work to try to improve, to try to make myself an extrovert.

[00:43:20] That's just not that's just not a needed thing. It wouldn't be beneficial. I'd spend a lot of energy and waste my time, but there's certain things like emotional intelligence or understanding your calling or building a personal support team. These are things that if you're deficient in, you don't have to be deficient in these things.

[00:43:40] You can grow. And if we're struggling in one of these 16 areas of the blueprint we can grow. And we should grow. And the more we grow in these areas and by the way, we're never going to arrive in any one of these 16 things. There's always going to be room for [00:44:00] growth. But it's critical that we work to, especially the deficient areas.

[00:44:05] We, we really need to work to improve those particular areas of these topics. Now, I want to mention that it can also help a team grow. It's a if a person will systematically work through all 16 of these areas of the blueprint I've got people that basically just start with the first component of the blueprint and they have worked through various components and they're working through the components that may take them a couple of years, actually, to work through all of the components with a team, but that's sort of their blueprint.

[00:44:42] And once they're done with the 16 topics. Yeah. Their intention is, it's just to start over with the first topic. Cause there's always deeper growth and deeper understanding. But if a team will systematically work through these topics, I promise [00:45:00] you, there is no doubt in my mind, Scott, your team will have been introduced to the most significant aspects of growth that will literally multiply the results of your team and the enjoyment of your team.

[00:45:16] And I want to point out that this is not just a one and done type book. You don't just read it and then leave it alone. These concepts can become your growth blueprint for, I say, even the remainder of your life. It's a template basically that we can resource from. Once you've read the content of the book on that particular subject Then go find another book on that subject.

[00:45:41] It's a blueprint that you can resource from and continue to grow in for many years to come. And if you're wondering, if you're out there wondering how can I develop my team, my leadership team? Then I say, Scott, look no further than the Christian leader blueprint [00:46:00] model that's found in this book.

[00:46:03] Scott Maderer: My brand is Inspired Stewardship, and I talk a lot about stewardship and what that means to folks, and yet it's one of those words that a lot of people use it and mean different things when they say it. When you hear the word stewardship what is the meaning and what is the impact of that

[00:46:21] Ryan Franklin: had on your life?

[00:46:24] God has given us resources. He's given us physical things. Yes. And I think we have to be stewards of that. But more importantly, there are internal things that are specific to us. He's given us gifts. He's given us time, even that's a resource to use those gifts. And so when I think about that question, I think, how will I steward the resources that he has given me?

[00:46:59] [00:47:00] And if I'm not currently doing that, how will I work to position myself to best do that? And again, I'm, I don't want to belabor the point, but that is what the Christian Leader Blueprint is all about is to help position a person to the best possible place. to steward the resources that God has given them.

[00:47:25] Scott Maderer: So Ryan, this is my favorite question that I like to ask everybody. I imagine for a minute that I invented this magic machine and with the power of the machine, I was able to pluck you from where you sit today and transport you magically into the future, maybe 150, maybe 250 years. But through the power of this machine, you will be able to look back on your entire life and see all of the connections, all of the ripples, all of the impacts you've left behind.

[00:47:52] What impact do you hope you've left in the world?

[00:47:55] Ryan Franklin: It's pretty simple for me. I want to look back and I want to know [00:48:00] that I have fulfilled the God given calling that I was designed to fulfill. I want to make disciples of Christ. I want to do my part to progress the kingdom of God. And I am driven, what gets me up every day, what helps me work through the tough things of life is I am driven for the cause of the gospel and here's where it gets very specific for me and what I've identified in my life.

[00:48:28] And this is a one liner that would tell you what I want to look back on and see. I want to be a change agent. among Christian leaders who are sharing the gospel. And and I do that by helping churches, helping business Christian leaders gain stability to create a personal vision. And to follow a plan of action to to grow their leadership, effectiveness, and enjoyment.

[00:48:55] I want to be a catalyst in that. [00:49:00]

[00:49:00] Scott Maderer: So as we finish up here the rest of this year what's on the roadmap? What's coming up next for you?

[00:49:07] Ryan Franklin: I'm not even sure I've shared this with you personally, Scott, but I, in just a couple of weeks, I'm launching a very, a brand new platform that is called the Christian Leader Community Coaching.

[00:49:23] It's a basically a platform with 16 courses. There's 16 topics in the Christian leader blueprint. So I've got 16 courses that are professionally recorded with very detailed and comprehensive application guides that help you dive into these topics really well. I've also developed a pretty comprehensive self assessment that is free on my website, by the way, that that anyone can go and take, but that's, it helps identify what area of [00:50:00] the blueprint you need to focus on first.

[00:50:02] And it's, it seems to be pretty accurately pegging people at this point. So I'm excited about that. It's a brand new assessment, but Among that, that platform, there's also community forums and cohorts of people that will be working through these concepts and then routine. community coaching by, by myself like hot seat type coaching where you jump on a zoom and and coach a few people in front of the group.

[00:50:33] And all of that is designed obviously to grow the leader grow a team, and that'll be available in. just over a month for one monthly fee. So that's what I'm working towards. That's what I'm putting all my energy and focus on for the next few months. And for the foreseeable future, actually.

[00:50:56] Scott Maderer: Awesome. That sounds like a great thing. And. [00:51:00] You can find out more about Ryan Franklin, his coaching, his book, and that community that he's putting together over at ryanfranklin. org. And of course, I'll have a link to that over in the show notes as well. Ryan, anything else you'd like to share

[00:51:13] Ryan Franklin: with the listener?

[00:51:15] I just want to stress the point, Scott, that this is, this book is much more than just a collection of words on pages for inspiration. This book is a guide that will literally... transform your life. It'll lead you to greater influence and enjoyment and leadership. And I just strongly believe that this community coaching program, this book and this community coaching program is going to have a profound impact on pastors, church leaders, and.

[00:51:45] Even Christian business leaders. And so I would encourage all the listeners go check out ryanfranklin. org. You can join the waiting list and be notified when that community comes out. And then I've also got a short guide [00:52:00] of the Christian leader blueprint that you can download. It's free. You can test the principles of the blueprint before you actually even buy the book before you even spend the 15 bucks on a book.

[00:52:12] And and then I've also got that. That self assessment that I would love for people to come on and take, and it'll help identify areas of growth that, that you would need to grow in. And all of that, again, is on ryanfranklin. org.

[00:52:27] Scott Maderer: Thanks so much for coming on today,

[00:52:28] Ryan Franklin: Ryan. Thank you for having me, Scott.

[00:52:30] I really appreciate it.

[00:52:36] Scott Maderer: Thanks so much for listening to the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. As a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen. but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you enjoyed this episode please do us a favor. Go over to inspired [00:53:00] stewardship.

[00:53:00] com slash iTunes rate. All one word. iTunes rate. It'll take you through how to leave a rating and review and how to make sure you're subscribed to the podcast so that you can get every episode as it comes out in your feed. Until next time, invest your time, your talent, and your treasures. Develop your influence and impact the world.