Being Human with Steve Cuss

Brad Lomenick is the former president of Catalyst and the author of several books including the H3 Leader.  Brad is a gifted connector and developer of people. For two decades he has met with thousands of Christian leaders. In this interview, Steve gets into Brad's early leadership experience when he was 8 and what wrangling horses taught him about leadership. Like others before him, he gleefully...

Julie Mavis is the Founder of Dream Makers Project, an organization dedicated to helping youth as they age out of foster care. Because of Dream Makers, these kids do not have to face the world, their future and their decisions alone.    Julie is joined in this interview by Annika Marek-Barta, herself a former foster youth and on the Dream Makers team.    In this powerful interview, we get into Jul...

Steve LOVED interviewing William Vanderbloemen on this week's episode. He brought so much needed wisdom for leaders today.   William is the founder of Vanderbloemen Search Group. Since their founding they have placed 2500+ employees into churches and non profits and they have done 30,000 job interviews.  It is out of this unique experience as well as being a former pastor that William writes his l...

This week, Managing Leadership Anxiety turns five!   This episode has four parts: 1) Why Steve launched MLA, early concepts and lessons.  2) Why Systems Theory, other practitioners, Steve's unique contribution to the field.  3) What Steve has learned from doing 'public' work.  4) Exciting announcements and updates for 2024.    The free 'Four Spaces Of Anxiety' video. (Note, Steve may have said 'yo...

Many leaders and people in care giving vocations are notorious for focusing on others to the detriment of wellbeing. In this episode Steve is joined by his wife Lisa as they discuss core tools of self care as we approach the holiday season. Self care, in our field, is fundamentally about relaxing into God's presence, not about self nurture or self improvement.  To download a free Life Giving List,...

Dr Kathleen Smith wrote one of my all time favorite Systems books called Everything Isn't Terrible. The book is brilliant, clear and witty and a great reflection of Kathleen herself.    Kathleen is a therapist in the DC area and her book gets us right into her therapy room as we follow along with her clients' journeys of healing and wellbeing. Kathleen also happens to write my favorite newsletter...

This week Steve and Jimmy look beyond problems to 'attempted solutions.' Jay Haley famously said, 'I do not address problems, I address attempted solutions.' So often we get stuck in 'more of the same' and 'try harder' because we do not see our own complicity in the situation. Steve and Jimmy look at how we get stuck and then how to get unstuck when faced with recurring problems.    Thanks to Semi...

Today, Jimmy Carnes joins Steve to continue their four part series, 'the four dynamics that infect every relationship.' They look at 'stuck' or predictable, recurring patterns. First patterns in ourselves, then in our relationships and teams. Tips to notice them and diffuse them and examples from Steve and Jimmy's own anxious lives.    Thanks to Seminary Now for sponsoring this episode. Click the...

I often get asked about Systems Theory books to read. In this episode, I list a number of books and also offer critique or recommendation AND I also pull out of some of the books a key tool you can use in your life. So you can listen to this book review episode, not read any books and still benefit!    Books by: founders of the theory (who are all white men), women, faith based. I also talk about...

Aundi Kolber is a licensed professional counselor (MA, LPC) and the best selling author of the critically acclaimed Try Softer and her new book Strong like Water.   She has received additional training in her specialization of trauma- and body-centered therapies and is passionate about the integration of faith and psychology. Aundi has appeared on Good Morning America, regularly speaks at national...

There are four dynamics that infect every relationship you have: assumptions, reactivity, stuck patterns, attempted solutions.    These four dynamics infect not only your human relationships, they also infect your relationship with God.    They also infect your relationship with yourself and they are a key reason why your wellbeing gets disrupted.   On this episode Steve is joined by Capable Life...

There are four dynamics than infect every relationship: assumptions, reactivity, stuck patterns and attempted solutions. In this first of four episodes, Steve and Jimmy Carnes dig into assumptions: what they are, how to notice them and why they make things so much bigger and catastrophic than they really are.    To live stream or watch the Unlocking Faith conference or to get more info, click here...

Steve thoroughly appreciated this chat with fellow Aussie Benjamin Windle as he brought many profound and succinct nuggets for us.  Benjamin recently wrote the excellent Good Catastrophe, looking at how God turns and uses catastrophic events in our lives. Ben has lived enough of them for all of us.  He has been a local church Pastor for over 20 years, including as a Founding and Senior Pastor and...

John and Nancy Ortberg join Steve to endure several of his Gauntlet of Anxiety Questions. Not surprisingly, the questions generated MUCH wisdom from these giants in our faith. Steve found himself doing some deep work in real time as John and Nancy fleshed out a way of being human and with God.    To get tickets to our upcoming Unlocking Faith conference, click here.  Learn more about your ad choic...

Today we launch a brand new tool and it is one of our favorite type of tools because it is: very straightforward and simple but is also SO obvious, we neglect it. Therefore, we can begin to practice it and revolutionize our inner wellbeing. Lisa is joined by Lisa, the Friendly Neighborhood Therapist to kick around the new tool:   Put yourself on your conscious list of relationships.  To participat...

This week Steve is joined by his therapist wife Lisa and Capable Life Trainer Jimmy Carnes. They dig into Steve's morning of shame, virtues, vices and the autopilot we get into, as well as some noticing and diffusing tools.    To learn more about our upcoming Unlocking Faith Conference, click here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We all know what to believe and what our brain believes, but what does our anxiety believe and what does ori body believe? Sometimes the gap between our belief about God and our experience of God comes down to our functional theology.  On this episode, Steve is joined by Lisa Cuss and also Capable Life trainer, Renae Loring. They dig into Renae's journey of anxiety management, how to locate your f...

Steve chats with Glenn and Holly Packiam about leadership transition, establishing trust as a new leader, the challenge a leader’s spouse faces in ‘second hand criticism’ and their recent book and upcoming journal, Intentional Year and the soon to be released Intentional Year Journal.    Glenn is an essential voice in these times. He brings a rare combination of compassion, academia, creativity, a...

Jimmy Carnes is a Capable Life trainer who has worked with Steve for over ten years. He joins Steve on the pod to chat:   - What do you do when you don't know what to do. - Leadership as 'taking responsibility' rather than 'knowing what to do.' - How many milliseconds do you need to know if a worship band member is not ok? And much more.    To get info and tickets for our upcoming Unlocking Faith...

Sometimes it is easier to SEE Differentiation before you TRY it! We frequently recommend first watching it, then noticing a time you're anxious and debriefing after and then trying it for yourself.    To that end, in this episode Steve spends time clarifying what differentiation is and then shows how it shows up in: Hidden Figures, The Crown, The Princess Bride, Toy Story and Spotlight.    Coming...

This week Lisa and Steve dive into the 4 styles of attachment, we help you locate your own attachment styles and then we talk through some characters from the show and their attachment. We also dig into differentiation, how some people mis use it and where we see characters differentiating well.    Unlocking Faith is coming! We'll help you locate and unlock beliefs that block your enjoyment of God...

We all have beliefs that lay deeper than our belief in God and these beliefs block our connection to God. In this episode, Steve is joined by his trauma and attachment therapist wife, Lisa to chat the nature of beliefs and tools to dislodge core beliefs so our precious belief can soak deeper into our lives.    Our Unlocking Faith conference is approaching! Early bird prices end June 30th. To come...

Jessie Cruickshank’s new book is Ordinary DIscipleshipship - an incredible and fresh approach to the way we change and help others change. I loved this interview where Jessie digs into attachment theory, the way God wired our brains for change, the power of truth and assumptions and her favorite way to die while being outdoors.    Jessie is Director of Certification for Future Church, an ordained...

Nick and Christine Caine are two of the most phenomenal people I know. Christine is an evangelist, gifted preacher and author. She and Nick lead Equip and Empower, an organization dedicated to helping women thrive in faith and leadership. They also lead A21, a global anti human trafficking organization. A21 is a full service organization from advocacy to rescue and recovery and operates in a dozen...

If you'd like to get more intentional about working on these, you can join Capable Life either by yourself or with a group of peers. Some entire teams are joining together to work through these tools together.    For more info on our Unlocking Faith conference in Oct, click here.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices