Podcast: Change Isn’t a Four-Letter Word

November 29, 2022 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the audio-only version of this podcast by clicking on the player below, or scroll down to watch the video.

On this episode of “The Craig And Greg Show” we talk about: 

  • [0:30] Change is a four-letter word for some people.
  • [2:05] What holds people back from embracing change?
  • [4:39] How does a leader’s pride play into successful change?
  • [5:50] People don’t buy-in to change overnight, which is why a change catalyst is needed.
  • [9:00] Improvement committee can work well to help an organization make changes.
  • [10:49] The unselfishness of leaders is key for making effective changes.
  • [12:22] Who should be on your improvement committee?
  • [14:34] The benefit of diversity on your teams.
  • [16:55] The right and wrong ways to roll out changes.
  • [19:59] Give and get lots of feedback during the change process.
  • [21:14] What is unacceptable for a leader in the arena of change?
  • [23:16] How can leaders overcome the fears that your teammates have about changes?
  • [27:13] We can help you with changes in your organization.

Check out this episode and subscribe on YouTube so you can watch all of the upcoming episodes. You can also listen to our podcast on Spotify and Apple.

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Links & Quotes

May 5, 2022 — Craig T. Owens

The seed your weakened hand is sowing
May ripen to a harvest broad,
Which yet may help, without your knowing,
To fill the granaries of God! —Margaret J. Prescott

My friend and podcast partner Greg Heeres talked about growing and learning through change. You can check out the rest of this episode of The Craig And Greg Show here.

Sometimes the prophetic language in the Bible can be a bit confusing. Like the phrase: “A time, times, and half a time.” Here is how Dr. Henry Halley unpacks this—

“It denotes the duration of the other horn of the fourth beast (Daniel 7:25). It denotes the period from Daniel to the time of the end (Daniel 12:6–7). It is used in Revelation 12:14 as identical to 42 months and to 1260 days (Revelation 11:2–3; 12:6, 14; 13:5), the period of time the Holy City was trampled, the two witnesses prophesied, the woman was in the wilderness, and the revived beast was on the throne. 

“The word ‘time,’ in the phrase ‘a time, times, and half a time’ is generally taken to mean year; the phrase thus means three and a half years, which is 42 months, or 1260 days. 

“By some, this is taken to refer to a literal three and a half years. Others, on the year-day interpretation (Numbers 14:34; Ezra 4:6), take it to be a period of 1260 years. Still others look upon the figures, not as defining time limits or periods, but as being symbolic: 7 Is the symbol of completeness, while three and a half, which is half of 7, represents incompleteness—that is, the reign of evil will be only temporary.” —Halley’s Study Bible (check out all of the biblical references in this quote by clicking here)

“Ambivalence toward the Law of God is troubling. Theologians discard the Law, and pastors either reject or neglect it. Jesus said that keeping and teaching the Law of God was a mark of Kingdom greatness (Matthew 5:17-19). Apparently that’s not a goal many of us aspire to. He also said that when the Law of God is neglected, love grows cold (Matthew 12:24). The ubiquitous lack of love in our world today is undoubtedly related to our failure to teach and live according to the Law of God. … 

“Pastors have three main resources for the work and business of ministry: The Word of God, prayer, and their personal example (Acts 6:4; 1 Peter 5:1-3). If any of these fails, their ministry will as well. Especially must pastors be seen to be men zealous for the Law of God, to obey all the counsel of the Lord in His Word and to resist the devil and overcome every temptation. Jesus did. Paul did. John said this is the way love flourishes (1 John 5:1-3). Throughout this generation, failures of obedience on the part of highly visible pastors have contributed to the Church’s becoming an object of scorn by many unbelievers, while believers have been largely silent about their failings. We must be diligent in obeying Christ if we would teach others to do so and thus fulfill our calling to the Kingdom and glory of God.” —T.M. Moore

New wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) analysis dates the Shroud of Turin to the first century.

Not all viruses need to be eliminated. A study has discovered 5500 new RNA viruses on the ocean, finding “an entire phylum, the Taraviricota . . . found all over the oceans, which suggests they’re ecologically important.” The Creator knew what He was doing!

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Podcast: Seasons Of Leadership

April 26, 2022 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the audio-only version of this podcast by clicking on the player below, or scroll down to watch the video.

On this episode of “The Craig And Greg Show” we talk about: 

  • [0:17] Craig gives an important weather report 
  • [0:42] Organizations go through changes of seasons too
  • [1:43] How can leaders see a change of season approaching?
  • [2:44] Leaders need to check both their “thermometers” and “thermostats” in their organizations
  • [3:55] What is the leader senses a change of season but some teammates aren’t ready to change yet?
  • [5:26] Leaders need to talk to themselves about their seasons?
  • [6:53] What leaders can look for to help navigate their changing seasons
  • [8:10] How do leaders get their teams ready for changes?
  • [8:42] How do leaders handle change that is imposed upon them?
  • [10:00] Changing seasons can be a threat
  • [11:25] Change is inevitable, but growth is optional
  • [13:50] Every leader fears change going poorly
  • [14:27] Trying and failing is a natural part of the change process
  • [15:06] Sacred cows can be problematic when attempting to make changes
  • [17:03] How leaders lead through changing seasons is so crucial to success
  • [18:53] Our coaching huddles can help you with your season of change

Check out this episode and subscribe on YouTube so you can watch all of the upcoming episodes. You can also listen to our podcast on Spotify and Apple.

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Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance? (book review)

March 22, 2022 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. 

Just as I was beginning my business career, Louis Gerstner was at the top of his career. Mr. Gerstner stepped in as the CEO of IBM when Big Blue was at a perilous time: This massive company was on the brink of either crumbling or soaring. Gerstner unpacks the impressive turnaround story in his book Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance? 

When I was in my teenage years, several family members were encouraging me to consider IBM for my career path. They explained that a job at IBM would become a lucrative, influential, and lifelong position. Indeed, since its founding in the early twentieth century, it had grown into a worldwide behemoth of technology. You could tell IBM employees by their distinct dress, confidence, and loyalty to Big Blue. 

But adhering to the rigid principles that both Thomas Watson Sr. and Thomas Watson Jr. had preached turned into inflexible practices that were losing the true soul of this once-great company. By the early 1990s, IBM was floundering, hemorrhaging cash, and about to experience one of the most epic collapses any organization had ever seen. 

Enter Louis Gerstner. He had developed a stellar reputation at American Express and RJR Nabisco, and was highly sought as the CEO of IBM. Except Mr. Gerstner initially didn’t want to take on this challenge. He knew how difficult it would be to lead change in an organization that was so entrenched in its nearly 100-year-old ways. 

Eventually, he did agree to step into this role, and over the next decade led one of the most comprehensive and impressive turnarounds in business history. IBM shook off stodgy practices while returning to its founding principles, refocused on customers’ needs, and as a result, regained its dominance in the technology field. 

Any organization—whether for-profit or non-profit—can get stuck in a rut. Its once-beneficial principles can morph into practices which are merely attempting to keep the machinery running, but are no longer meaningful for either team members or other stakeholders. 

Mr. Gerstner’s refocusing of the elephant-sized IBM will give any leader some invaluable insights into how to keep their organization from sliding into ineffectiveness and irrelevance. I would highly recommend this book to all leaders. 

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

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Podcast: What’s New, Leadercat?

March 16, 2021 — Craig T. Owens

On this episode of “The Craig And Greg Show” we talk about: 

  • the challenge for leaders when things are changing
  • too many leaders get comfortable with the status quo 
  • leaders need to adopt a growth mindset
  • what if we changed “what’s the worst that could happen?” to “what’s the best that could happen?”
  • I reference John Maxwell’s helpful book Sometimes You Win—Sometimes You Learn  
  • Greg cautions that either we address change or we avoid change, but if we avoid changing, our group may move on without us
  • just because we are changing doesn’t mean we are growing
  • Greg offers counsel on what leaders need to evaluate when considering changes
  • “unhealthy leaders change things to gain more control; healthy leaders change things to help the whole team get better,” Greg says
  • we don’t grow in areas of comfort: we learn most of our lessons moving forward, but we learn very few lessons sitting still
  • good leaders reassure other leaders to make thoughtful changes
  • the right way for leaders to partner with their team to effect positive changes

Check out this episode and subscribe on YouTube so you can watch all of the upcoming episodes. You can also listen to our podcast on Spotify and Apple.

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Think, Do, Evaluate, Propose

January 19, 2021 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.

The seed thought for me was this quote from John Maxwell: 

“Nothing you do will be perfect, so embrace the reality and benefits of failure by releasing yourself from the burden of not making mistakes.” 

Here’s what I am endeavoring to implement: Think, Do, Evaluate, Propose. And then Repeat. 

THINK ABOUT IT—It’s important to put some thought into what you want to do before you do it, but we cannot camp-out here forever. I like to think in terms of goals I want to accomplish, whether those are for me personally or for organizations I lead. 

DO IT—At some point, I must launch out. Many people point out that Peter began to sink under the waves when he took his eyes off Jesus and began to look at the storm. But let’s not forget that Peter was the only one of the disciples who actually got out of the boat and walked on water! I often remind people who are hesitant to begin something that you cannot steer a parked car. We have to get moving first. 

EVALUATE THE MISTAKES—Let’s remove all doubt: you will make mistakes. But those mistakes are beneficial because it gives you something on which to work. Get some wise friends around you that can help you evaluate your mistakes. And always remember I failed ≠ I am a failure (here’s another post where I elaborate on this point). 

PROPOSE CHANGES—After evaluating your mistakes or shortcomings, you now have evidence that can be processed for your next attempt. This evidence can be taken back into the laboratory of the “Think” box as you prepare to try again, except now you are more informed than you were in your first attempt. 

REPEAT THE PROCESS AGAIN—No one is an overnight success, so keep trying again and again and again.

Leaders, walk through this process with your team members. Help guide their thinking, and then move them to action. Let them know that mistakes are okay because they have given you some invaluable feedback you can use as you make your proposals for your next attempt. 

Success is a continual run through the Think-Do-Evaluate-Propose cycle, with each revolution moving you closer to success. 

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

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Where’s God Today?

April 20, 2020 — Craig T. Owens

Transitions are always hard things. We are leaving the known for the unknown. Even if the known is unhealthy or painful, it’s still hard to go to the unknown. 

Why are these transitions so difficult? Perhaps it’s because I’ve learned how to cope with the known, or I’ve gotten used to this “normal” life, or even I’ve simply learned to navigate any dysfunctional areas.

But is that really living? Am I managing my life or is God? When I’m against transitions, aren’t I really saying that I’ve put God’s plan for my life in my box?

Those questions trigger even more questions in my mind: Where’s God in all of this? Why can’t He just make my known better? Why is He leading me (or maybe even pushing me) into this unknown? 

Jesus didn’t endure the unimaginable horrors of the Cross just so you could cope with life. Jesus came to bring us abundant life—not a barely-getting-by life or just a coping life!

How does He bring us into this abundant life? By leading us through transitions. And where is He in all our transitions? Closer than you think! 

Moses sang a song to conclude his sermon in Deuteronomy. In that song, he mentions God taking care of His people the way an eagle cares for its eaglets.

Adults eagles build their extremely large nests in the highest point they can find. Their nests are made of massive branches. In fact, they build some of the largest nests of all birds, and build them in the most inaccessible of places. Before their eggs are laid, the adult eagles will soften their nest with feathers pulled from their own body. From the time the eggs are laid until the eaglets leave the nest, they are never without a parent present—while one parent hunts, the other watches. 

Eaglets first test their stumpy wings by jumping around in the nest, mimicking their parents. Eventually they will start “branching”—jumping to nearby branches—and then “fledging”—taking their first short flights from the nest. All under the watchful eye of the parents. Finally, the adult eagles will “stir up” their nest by blowing away all of the comforts of their plucked feathers, encouraging the eaglets to soar. 

Moses said that this is how God cares for His children. First by shielding and guarding us, and then by stirring up our nest and encouraging us to soar! 

Much like when Jesus ascended back to Heaven. He was going to physically leave His disciples, but He knew He had adequately trained his “eaglets” to soar without Him with them in bodily form. 

But Jesus never leaves us spiritually. He said that His ascension back to heaven would allow for the Holy Spirit to be resident in each of His followers (see John 16:7-15). It is the Holy Spirit that continues to guide us, teach us, empower us, correct us, and lead us to SOAR into abundant, God-honoring, Christlike living. 

There are many, many times of transition as we soar, but He never leaves us. The Holy Spirit is our constant Counselor. God shows His love for us by caring for us. God also shows His love for us by making us uncomfortable with the status quo. 

May the times of transition cause us to rely even more on the very present help of the Holy Spirit.

Continue to follow along with me in a new series of posts looking at how the Holy Spirit helps us to soar!

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Turning From Moral Folly To Wisdom

October 2, 2019 — Craig T. Owens

“The man who says, ‘I want to go to heaven, but I don’t want to live a pure life; I want to be free to continue with my present life. I will change a little and do better, but I have no desire to be pure,’ or the man who says, ‘I want to escape hell and make heaven my home at last, but I have no particular desire to cease to live as I have lived’ is deceiving himself. You are hearing the language of a moral fool. This is not the language of wisdom, but the folly of the damned. … 

“The penitent man wants to be changed. If you are still sufficiently in love with yourself and all you want is a little improvement, I see no possibility of faith approaching your heart. Unless a man comes to Christ seeking to be a different person, to be humble, meek, and self-effacing, he is not coming to Christ at all. Unless we hate evil and love righteousness, at least to the degree we are able at the moment, we are still in the bonds of iniquity and the enemies of righteousness. … 

“Join me in this prayer: “Oh, I want to be other than what I am. I want to be different. I want to change. I am not satisfied. I want to believe in Thee, and trust in Thee, and throw myself boldly on Thee, and I want to be made like Thyself. I do not want only to escape hell, I want to escape sin. I not only want to go to Heaven at last, but I want to have Heaven in my heart now. I not only want to dwell with the redeemed, I want to be like the redeemed here on earth. I want to be another kind of person.” —A.W. Tozer, in The Wisdom of God

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19 Quotes From Other Authors In “Love Like That”

November 15, 2018 — Craig T. Owens

As Dr. Les Parrott presented the five ways Jesus showed His love to us, he supported his thoughts with some insightful quotes from other authors. Check out my full book review of Love Like That by clicking here.

“If you stop to be kind, you must swerve often from your path.” —Mary Webb 

“We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade, the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him. He walks everywhere incognito.” —C.S. Lewis 

“Pride is our greatest enemy and humility our greatest friend.” —John R.W. Stott 

“Jesus was the Man for others.” —Dietrich Bonhoeffer 

“Jesus was able to love because He loved right through the layer of mud.” —Helmut Thielicke 

“They that know God will be humble; they that know themselves cannot be proud.” —John Flavel 

“Those who judge will never understand, and those who understand will never judge.” —Wilson Kanadi 

“Mercy gave the Prodigal Son a second chance. Grace gave him a feast.” —Max Lucado 

“Christ accepts us as we are, but when He accepts us, we cannot remain as we are.” —Walter Trobisch 

“Jesus did not identify the person that with his sin, but rather saw in this sin something alien, something that really did not belong to him, something…from which He would free him and bring him back to his real self.” —Helmut Thielicke 

“While every other religion offers a way to earn approval, only Christianity dares to make God’s love unconditional.” —Philip Yancey 

“Judgmentalism finds its identity in what is not. … Rare is the person who can weigh the faults of others without putting his thumb on the scale.” —Byron Langenfeld 

“To love a person means to see him as God intended him to be.” —Fyodor Dostoevsky 

“I do not at all understand the mystery of grace—only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us.” —Anne Lamott 

“All human nature vigorously resists grace because grace changes us and the change is painful.” —Flannery O’Connor 

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” —John F. Kennedy 

“We often err not because we find it hard to perceive the truth (it is often right there, at the surface), but because it is easier and more pleasant to be guided by our feelings, especially if self-centered.” —Alexander Solzhenitsyn 

“A ‘no’ uttered from deepest conviction is better and greater than a ‘yes’ merely uttered to please, or what is worse, to avoid trouble.” —Mahatma Gandhi 

“Every time you listen with great attentiveness to the voice that calls you the Beloved, you will discover within yourself a desire to hear that voice longer and more deeply.” —Henri Nouwen 

Check out some of Dr. Parrott’s quotes from Love Like That which I shared here. 

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12 Quotes From “Developing The Leader Within You 2.0”

September 12, 2018 — Craig T. Owens

Whether you’re a novice or a veteran leader, there’s so much to learn from John Maxwell in his book Developing The Leader Within You 2.0! Check out my full book review by clicking here, and stay tuned for even more quotes coming soon. 

“Developing yourself to become the leader you have the potential to be will change everything for you. It will add to your effectiveness, subtract from your weaknesses, divide your workload, and multiply your impact.” 

“You have influence in this world, but realizing your potential as a leader is your responsibility. If you put effort into developing yourself as a leader, you have the potential to influence more people and to do so in more significant ways.” 

“When you say everything is a high priority, then nothing is a high priority. It really indicates that you’re unwilling or unable to make a decision, which means you won’t get anything done.” 

“Instead of filling every space in my calendar, what I needed to do was create some white space. If I didn’t, nobody else was going to. People who keep burning the candle at both ends aren’t as bright as they think they are.”

“People cannot climb beyond the limitations of their character. Leaders cannot succeed beyond the depth of their character.” 

“Instead of wanting to point to my breakthroughs, I want to direct people to the brokenness that has led to my breakthroughs.” 

“When it comes to character, I believe the best guardrails are the decisions you make before you face high-pressure situations.” 

“People do not naturally resist change; they resist being changed.” 

“If life is tough for individuals, its difficulty is multiplied for leaders. Individuals can think me, but leaders must think we. A leader’s life is not his or her own. Thinking we means other people are included, and that means their problems are also yours to deal with.” 

“You can’t solve problems for others. If you do, you’ll be forever solving their problems. You must solve problems with them—at least until they get the hang of it.” 

“Good leaders don’t just resolve the issue to get it off their plates quickly for the sake of their own comfort. They help create solutions that take their people and their organization forward and put them in a better position than they were in before they experienced the problem.” 

“As a leader, you need to see opportunities differently than most people. They are a chance for you to learn about yourself, your team, and your opportunities. They provide you a way to improve your own life, improve the lives of others, and gaining influence.”

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