Christian Woman Leadership Podcast with Esther Littlefield & Holly Cain

Do you feel like you can't take a break from work?  Like if you left the whole place would stop altogether? Do you have high turnover in your volunteers or employees?  Do you have a hard time meeting metrics or feeling successful? Or do only one or two people pull their weight? If this is you then you could be "leading solo". "Leading solo" is when a leader has a team but doesn't trust them to car...

How does a wife, mom of 3, and entrepreneur maintain a healthy family life plus run a thriving business? In this Leadership Rewind episode, I talk with Barbara Carneiro about how to set goals from a mindset of doing less not more. Barbara shares some of her best tips, such as creating manageable routines instead of chasing the elusive idea of balance, doing less instead of more, and getting outsid...

Do you have a message you want to share?  Is there something on your heart you feel people need to hear?  Or do you manage a team and need to make sure your initiatives are communicated well and efficiently put into motion? You may even have a new idea you want to present to your leaders.     In this episode, I provide practical tips that help you think through your message and how to convey it mo...

As a leader, you communicate constantly. But are you communicating in the most effective way? What are some best communication practices when there's conflict? What are some practical strategies you can implement today to better your public speaking? In this leadership rewind episode, I chat with Carrie Sharpe, a homeschooling mom of five, wife, and business owner. We dive into the topics of effec...

Have you ever wanted to convince others to go along with an idea or get your team to be on board with a new project you're planning? Or maybe you've wanted to get your leader to agree to a new idea you have that you think will make a big impact in the long run. Or, perhaps you're wanting to raise funds for a ministry or missions trip. In all of these cases, you are needing one thing: persuasive co...

Have you ever thought you knew what your calling in life was, only to have God redirect you to another path? Your current role may define your present situation but it doesn't define your purpose. How can being intentional about self-leadership impact your journey as you lead teams or organizations?   In this leadership rewind episode, I chat with Jenni Catron, a leadership coach, author, speaker,...

Today we want to talk about something that we ALL do, and that is hard to stop especially if you're not aware that you are doing it. And it's causing problems in your communication and your leadership. Can you guess what it is? This has the potential to cause breakdowns in your relationships, misunderstandings in your communication, and can even lead to major leadership problems. If you guessed as...

Have you ever felt like you are juggling so many balls at once, and at any moment, they could all come tumbling down? Kayla Cornish found herself here, and she actually experienced the balls crashing down. She had been living the life of hustle and seeing success–but it came at a price. It wasn't until she and her family began accepting the gift of Sabbath rest that things started to change. As a...

Is it possible to lead when you don't have a leadership title or role? Is there a difference for someone who does have an official title vs. someone who is a team member?  In this conversation, Holly and I talk through how leadership looks different for us now than it did when we started the podcast. And we discuss how we feel about leading without a role or title.  Finally, we give some practical...

When life changes, does our leadership change? How do we navigate seasons of loss or change as leaders? And what does it look like to endure the pain of healing even when we'd rather avoid it? In this episode, Holly and I are chatting through some life updates and sharing some reflections about the past year of our lives. We discuss what our goals are looking like this year as well as how they are...

Have you ever set goals and then a few weeks later completely abandoned them? Or perhaps you even forgot what goals you were supposed to be working on? You're not alone. And the reason so many goals are abandoned is because we forget to create a plan for how we're actually going to accomplish them. In this final episode in our Purposeful Goal Setting Mini-Series, Holly's going to talk you through...

If you've done the first 2 steps of reflection and dreaming, you're ready to start setting some goals. But how? What if you're not sure where to start? In this episode, I'll walk you through some key principles of goal setting and some helpful tips that have worked for me. We'll also look at the differences between project goals and habit goals so you can determine which type of goals make sense f...

After reflection, are you excited and ready to jump into setting your goals for the next year or season? Before you do, there's one more thing you need to do: take time for dreaming and casting a vision. In this episode of our mini-series, Holly will walk you through what it looks like to dream and create a vision for your year. This is a chance to allow God to inspire you and lead you into someth...

Is it really necessary to reflect before setting your goals for the year or the next season or phase of your life? Why does it matter, and does it impact whether your goals are effective? John Dewey says: "We do not learn from experience... we learn from reflecting on experience." And while you can go straight to goal setting, I have found immense value in first reflecting on the past before creat...

Yes we are in January - but perhaps, like me, you've struggled a bit to get your 2024 goals on paper. Maybe your 2023 dished out more than you could handle. Or perhaps life hasn't slowed down enough for you to think through your goals. It could be that goal setting really isn't your thing, and that's okay. This week on the podcast, Holly & I are coming to you with a mini series about goal setting....

Have you ever heard a word or phrase that made an impact and stuck with you for days or weeks to come? Perhaps someone said something directly to you or maybe you heard it in a podcast, read it in Scripture, or it came up in a conversation with a friend. Words have power, and over the past year, I've been collecting phrases and words that have helped me immensely. Today, I'm sharing some of those...

What does it look like to disagree in a healthy way as Christians? Can we consume content from people who hold different views from us, or should we try to limit our exposure to varying beliefs? What exactly is deconstruction, and is there such a thing as a healthy or good version of it? In this replay of episode 194 of the podcast, our guest Joel Muddamalle, Director of Theology and research at P...

Do you ever feel like you need to stuff your emotions down in order to be an effective leader? Or maybe you prefer not to talk about emotions and you'd rather just get stuff done.  What if there was a way to deal with your emotions in a healthy way, rather than stuffing them, letting them take over, or ignoring them? In this replay of episode 180, Jessica Hottle shares about a 5-step process to ma...

The difference between who we say we are and how we actually live impacts not just us personally, but also everyone we lead. But how can we learn to identify this gap and begin shrinking it? In this replay of episode 121 of the CWLP, Holly and I talk with our guest Terra Mattson, about this issue, which she calls an integrity gap. We dive into what this means, common symptoms of an integrity gap,...

In the past few weeks, our country has been reminded of the reality of racism. As Christian leaders, how should we as the church respond? And what can we do on an individual basis? While some of us may not be affected by or see racism on a regular basis, the issue was brought to light in a significant way in recent weeks due to the death of George Floyd (among other incidents). As I considered thi...

How can the church develop women in leadership? How can male pastors support women in ministry? What are the main challenges female leaders face in ministry? And how should you handle an insecure leader? In this episode Holly and I speak with female leader, consultant, entrepreneur, and author Kadi Cole about women in leadership. Regardless of where you stand theologically on the idea of women in...

In this episode, I talk with Jenny Randle, wife, mom, business owner, entrepreneur, and author about how God created each of us to create, how to fight for our creative nature, and how she handles being multi-passionate. Whether or not you believe you're creative, this is an episode you will not want to miss. This episode is a replay of episode 43, and is one of my favorite conversations we've had...

Have you ever wondered what the people you lead need from you? We often talk about what we as leaders need to be doing and how we can be developing, but today I want to talk with  you about what your followers or team members need from you. And it starts with a teenager. I didn't expect to get a powerful leadership insight from listening to a teenager give a speech. But that's what happened this p...

Five years ago, we had a mission: we wanted to create a resource for Christian women leaders who are looking to grow in their leadership and hear from other women just like them. We never imagined this podcast would last this long or reach as many women as it has.  Holly and I are grateful to each and every listener, and in this episode, we are celebrating our five year milestone! In this conversa...

Do you ever struggle to own your gifts and voice and feel like you have to hide them in the name of humility? Do you wish you could really put your expertise and knowledge forward in order to make the jump into that next big dream? In episode 216, our guest Jo Saxton shares her views on women in leadership, the unique gifts women bring to those roles, and the ways their gifts enhance any space. Jo...