The Christian Leader Made Simple Show

I have personally struggled with my energy levels for most of my life. It's amazing to me that some people seem to have no problems with energy or motivation while I wrestle with these issues often. Sometimes, I run out of fuel and can't push ahead; you may be able to relate. Since experiencing a severe case of COVID last year, lately, I've had more low energy days than not. Thankfu...

Have you ever felt triggered? Of course, you have; we have all felt provoked at some point in our lives. We can easily become frustrated, angry, or defensive by something someone says or does. These actions trigger us to say and do things in the moment that we later regret. Our responses can be very harmful to our relationships, even to those relationships that mean the most to us, such as those w...

In my last post, I shared some of the deep-rooted insecurities that I’ve had to work hard to minimize in my life and leadership. Insecurities are a reality for most of us. In fact, I don’t know of any truly authentic and transparent person who hasn’t admitted to having insecurities. It’s easy for these insecurities to drain the emotional energy of a leader and even stifle the progress of an entire...

Honestly, I’ve felt insecure more days of my life than I’ve felt secure. That’s the reality for most of us. Anyone who is truly authentic and transparent will admit to having some insecurities. It’s easy for insecurities to drain the emotional energy of a leader and even stifle the progress of a team. Insecurities can derail a leader’s potential more quickly than most things. In this post, I want...

How do you act when you’re hurt, frustrated, or embarrassed? How do you respond to people when you’re exhausted or stressed? Do you lash out in anger? Do you shut down and detach from people, or do you smile through the difficulties and try to act like nothing’s wrong?  Most people have internal, relational risks that manifest when life gets tough or certain triggers are released. In this post, I...

Generally, I don’t recommend that people focus on their weaknesses. Focusing on improving your strengths allows you to maximize your God-given abilities; however, there are exceptions to this rule. There are a set of particular weaknesses that can derail your ministry and hinder your influence with others if you do not give them adequate attention. Work with me (1:1 Executive Coaching): ryanfrankl...

Honestly, I’ve never really struggled with my calling. I knew at sixteen that I wanted to serve the Kingdom of God with my time, energy, talents, finances, and every fiber of my being. I even had a clear idea of where I wanted to work. Though I’ve never really struggled in these areas, there are some important lessons I’ve learned over the last twenty-six years of ministry. Today, I want to share...

Have you ever grappled with the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I know that there are probably many who have struggled with that question. In fact, some of you are still struggling to determine what you are called to do, and there are many people who are halfway through their careers or even nearing retirement who have never found the answer to that question.  The question is...

Though I may not know who is listening to this podcast, I do know that you were created on purpose with a purpose. YOU have a calling on your life. Though we are each called by God, this is a subject that many people wrestle with. Most Christians feel a strong desire to do something great for the Lord, yet they struggle to know what that is exactly. I want to help bring clarity to this subject. Wo...

I don’t really like to focus on my weaknesses. I want to be aware of them, and I want to give them enough attention so that I don’t drive people crazy, but I don't want to spend a great deal of time and energy improving those things that I'm not naturally good at.  I really want to pour my time, energy, and growth opportunities into my strengths and the tasks that I do naturally well. Do...

One of my greatest natural gifts is prudence; I have a natural inclination for structure and organization as well as an ability to get things done. My other greatest natural gift is leadership energy which is manifested in my competitive nature, ability to take charge, and expectation for success. I’ve known these things about myself for most of my life, but it wasn’t until a few years ago that I...

Have you ever been charged with a task or duty that felt awkward and energy draining for you? Perhaps other tasks you’ve been assigned felt easy to accomplish. You know that if you could practice the easy tasks and separate them from the awkward responsibilities, life would be so much easier, right? Absolutely, life would definitely be easier! When the people in your church or organization are doi...

I don’t have strong opinions about anything. Yeah, right. Actually, I know exactly what this world needs. It needs fewer people who know exactly what the world needs. Opinions are everywhere, and technology has made it even easier to share our opinions with the world.  I’m not against opinions. I’m not even against the tough discussions that different opinions sometimes create. I think conflict is...

I am naturally very introverted. On a personality assessment I took a few years ago, I scored a 7 out of 100 in the area of sociability. I’d like to say that I was surprised by these results, but I really wasn’t. The rest of my scores only further revealed how introverted I am. I scored a 15 out of 100 for social events; I really struggle in social events. I scored a 40 out of 100 for crowds; the...

When the world shut down in 2020, it was initially a good thing for many of our relationships. Suddenly, we all had more time for each other, but it wasn’t long before many people started to realize that the extra time created new and unusual stress in their relationships. After all, we weren’t accustomed to spending that much time together. Many struggled to manage the closeness of their relation...

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You probably know people who are extremely talented but can’t seem to succeed in leadership roles. You also probably know people who are not quite as gifted but thrive in leadership roles. What makes the difference in leaders who are effective and leaders who are ineffective? Aside of spiritual reasons, the difference is most definitely higher emotional intelligence.  At some point in the last few...

The single greatest relational need in life is acceptance. Acceptance can easily make or break a team or organization. Many times, acceptance is at the center of the struggle for those who comes to me seeking clarity in life or ministry. Many people don’t feel accepted or valued in the way that they believe they should be. Sometimes these feelings originate from insecurities within the individual,...

I once took a very powerful assessment that said I possess an extremely low level of compassion. In other words, empathy is a struggle for me. I literally argued with this assessment. How could I be a pastor and an executive coach but have so little empathy? It was ludicrous for me to think about and, honestly, very disappointing. I didn’t feel as if I could be an effective minister without a high...

I've had a few people ask me how I use The Christian Leader Blueprint for one-on-one development of others. In this post, I want to provide a simple approach for how you can take this resource and make a lasting difference in the lives of the people you lead.  If you’re not familiar with The Christian Leader Blueprint, I encourage you to go to my website ChristianLeaderMadeSimple.com and down...

Not every organization spends time developing leaders. I’m sure almost everyone thinks the process is a good idea, but most organizations don’t do it or don’t do it well. Developing leaders is a hard task, but organizations that have leaders who are supported and developed get things done.  An organization that has developed leaders thrives; its future is bright. Development creates growth, promot...

If you’ve followed my Leader Podcast for the past few weeks, you know that we’ve been in a series called Grow Your Character. This is the fifth and final lesson, and in full disclosure, I really hesitated to even do this series. I realize that there have been some heavy topics and content, but I chose to do this series anyway because this subject is that important. Most people think that character...

I wrote some in my last post about my unhealthy desire to seek approval from certain influencers in my life. Though those unhealthy attachments had a great deal to do with my lack of ability to embrace reality, essentially, they represented my issues with emotional capacity. Dr. John Townsend calls this issue “the adulthood character structure.” Others may simply call it maturity, and I also refer...

A few years ago, one of my clients was struggling to settle into his ministry role. He would spend a short time working in one place before becoming bored with that job and moving on to the next, often uncovering some sort of "issue" that would make him want to consider changing positions and locations. In reality, he was simply running from some internal struggles. He continually wrestl...

The opportunity was exciting for the first few months, but then it started to become work, a great deal of work. He was also working a full-time secular job as well as fulfilling a full-time ministry role. There weren’t enough people involved in the small church to spread the load. There were Bible studies to teach, staff meetings to lead, new members’ classes to instruct, youth ministry to organi...