Lead Stories Podcast

On this bonus podcast Steph and Jo speak with Emily P. Freeman , author of 5 books and founder of Hope Writers - a community for writers of all stages who want to take their writing to their next level! Lead Stories is so thankful to partner with Hope Writers because we deeply believe in what they do! If you are thinking about writing, have just started writing, or have been writing for a while -...

What are your God-given talents and gifts and are you unwrapping them and maximizing them? Listen in to hear Jo and Steph practically discussing how we can faithfully invest in our gifts and see our skills grow to maximize kingdom growth.   Passages mentioned: Matthew 25 / Luke 19   Discussion questions: How can you identify your gifts so that you can begin to maximize them? What are the things ot...

This week's Lead Voices Episode is an interview Beatrice Achieng Nas who is the founder and director of  Pearl Community Empowerment - Foundation. Beatrice was born in the Tororo district of Uganda where she grew up in a town with no access to clean water and needed to travel far to just go to school. She ended up becoming the first person from her town to graduate from college. After going on to...

What does healthy ambition look like? Is it a God-given thing or just our own strivings? Do we have to make a choice between being ambitious and being happy? Jo and Steph tackle these questions and more in today's episode on maximizing drive and ambition. Together they will look at what can happen when we repress ambition and how to discern which dreams are God-given (and how to embrace those heal...

Listen today as Stephanie and Jo speak with Pastor Rachel Billups about leadership, identity and calling.  Rachel is a visionary, leader and author. She currently serves as Pastor of Ginghamsburg Church and Lead Communicator. She partners with family and young adult ministries to dream and deploy discipleship opportunities for making young disciples of Jesus Christ. Rachel is an ordained Elder wit...

Pastor Laurel is back talking maximizing leadership with Jo and Steph. In this highly practical episode, Pastor Laurel shares from her personal experience and tools and resources which have helped her move forward into all God has for her.   A practical way to maximize your leadership: Divide your paper into two down the middle. Write your gifts and dreams on one side and fears and vulnerabilities...

How do mentors and sponsors impact our leadership and how do we find them? Listen in to hear how Jo and Steph's leadership has been helped by mentors and sponsors and what we can all do to open the doors for others.     Discussion questions: Who could you sponsor right now? Where do you have influence? Is there someone who you can open a door for who is a different gender or background than you? A...

Today on this Lead Voices episode of The Lead Stories Podcast Jo and Steph talk with Natalie Manual Lee - Executive Producer and host of Now with Natalie on the Hillsong Channel. Check out the show here! Follow Natalie on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/nataliemanuellee/

Do you have a tribe? Join Jo and Steph as they talk about the why and hows of maximising your tribe and the barriers to them.   Things that hinder us from being part of a tribe: Feeling you need to / should do something on your own Feeling we are in competition with others Idolising the nuclear family   'Now he's using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the co...

Listen in today (and be moved!) as Steph shares about her recent trip to Uganda and what she encountered regarding the celebration of leadership and women there. Listen in also to hear an introduction to the new Lead Stories series - 'Maximizing your leadership'.   Resources:   Graham Hill - Global Church Project https://theglobalchurchproject.com/   Discussion questions: How would you feel if som...

This episode originally aired in the Lead On series in November 2017. When you lead you will be criticized. So how can we lead on in the midst of criticism? Jo and Steph talk from personal experience about how they have received criticism and how to filter negative feedback without getting bitter or discouraged.     Discussion questions: What have you not done for the Kingdom because of the fear o...

Journey with Pastor Steph and experience the moment when a community gets fresh water for the first time! To help the O'Briens fund a well for a community just like the one featured in this podcast head to: JDandSteph.com You can also see photos of what you are hearing! The group they traveled with is FieldsOfLife.org  

Spring Break Replay during the month of March! Enjoy these previously published favorites! Also, check out this link to download a copy of "Lead On: A Resource for Leading in the Midst of Anxious Times"  We need practical tools to help us thrive in a world of comparison and competition, which so often begins with our minds!   This week Jo and Steph talk about internal and external struggles with c...

Spring Break Replay during the month of March! Enjoy these previously published favorites! Also, check out this link to download a copy of "Lead On: A Resource for Leading in the Midst of Anxious Times"  Comparison and competition are as old as Cain and Abel. Rachel and Leah struggled with it and the disciples too.   This week Jo and Steph discuss the difference between a scarcity and an abundance...

Spring Break Replay during the month of March! Enjoy these previously published favorites! Also, check out this link to download a copy of "Lead On: A Resource for Leading in the Midst of Anxious Times"  Last week Jo and Steph discussed the Imposter Syndrome and this week they show you how to overcome it!   Using the letter A (because Jo has loved Sesame Street since childhood) they are going to d...

Spring Break Replay during the month of March! Enjoy these previously published favorites! Also, check out this link to download a copy of "Lead On: A Resource for Leading in the Midst of Anxious Times"  Jo and Steph discuss the 'Imposter syndrome' today, the feeling that many people have, even high achievers, that they just got lucky and are not as able as it appears.  'Imposter syndrome' is an i...

Join international speaker Pastor Laurel Bunker as she chats healthy and unhealthy sacrifices with Jo and Steph. Listen in to this passionate conversation to hear how she responds positively to the sacrifices of being a black female leader and what she does to sustain God's call on her life without making unhealthy sacrifices.   Discussion questions: Can you name some positive sacrifices you have...

Pastor Steph grew up with parents who understood the sacrifice of leadership in full-time ministry.  Listen in as Jo interviews her about what her early understandings of leadership and sacrifice were and what being a leader has cost her as a woman and as someone who breaks many different stereotypes.   Discussion questions: How are you different from other people? What is your leadership 'flavor'...

Steph interviews Jo on the role of sacrifice in her leadership journey. Listen in to hear Jo discuss the sacrifices she has faced since her earliest leadership, as a single in her twenties and as a woman and mother leader as well as some of the sacrifices universal to us all.   Discussion questions: Can you identify a time in your life when you make a healthy sacrifice in leadership and a time whe...

What are some of the sacrifices of leadership that you can think of? Join Jo and Steph as they share some of the sometimes necessary sacrifices of leadership and also how we can approach them so that they don't come as a surprise to us.   Discussion questions: Which of the sacrifices that Jo and Steph mentioned can you most identify with? Did it come as a surprise to you? Where might you be sacrif...

Embrace the positive and avoid the negative ways to engage with personality and strengths assessments as a leader. Listen in as Jo and Steph share how they can be helpful tools for leading and working as a team, with a particular focus on how to get the best out of Myers Briggs, Strengths Finder and Enneagram.   Resources: Myers Briggs Humanmetrics.com 16personalities.com   Strengths Finder Streng...

Whether you want to find out how Jo says 'aluminium' or whether you would like to fine-tune your personal wellbeing this year, you are encouraged to listen in to today's tool of the trade: the Personal Development Plan. Click here or go to  https://www.leadstoriesmedia.com/pdp   to get your free personal pdf download.)   Check out Christine Osgood's wellbeing resources at: www.theurbanretreat.info...

Enjoy this new episode of Lead Voices, the companion podcast to Lead Stories, featuring our friends who will inspire, challenge, stretch and encourage you. Today's guest is Jessica Honegger, Founder and co-CEO of  Noonday Collection , author of  Imperfect Courage , brand-new podcaster, and mom to three littles. She is passionate about encouraging others to leave comfort, go scared, and step into a...

Enjoy this new episode of Lead Voices, the companion podcast to Lead Stories, featuring our friends who will inspire, challenge, stretch and encourage you. Today's guest is Jessica Turner author and blogger who lives with her husband, Matthew in Nashville,  with their silly 6-year-old son Elias, spunky 3-year-old daughter, Adeline, and  newborn son, Ezra.  Jessica talks today with Jo and Stephanie...