The Craig And Greg Show: Leaders Need Friends

September 6, 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: 

  • [0:31] Can a leader have friends at work?
  • [1:22] Can a leader mix work friendship and personal relationships?
  • [2:25] You can’t be friends with everyone.
  • [3:21] How many true friends can you maintain?
  • [4:47] Bringing someone into your confidence can be a challenge.
  • [6:01] Tell people their story, not someone else’s.
  • [7:45] Greg talks about getting naked with your team.
  • [8:58] I explain why you need a Paul and a Barnabas in your life.
  • [10:01] Leaders need play time to recharge and refresh.
  • [11:08] I make the case for “sabbathing” to be a verb in my book Shepherd Leadership.
  • [11:55] We discuss being intentional about how you spend your time.
  • [14:31] I describe the qualities I look for in a strong leadership friend.
  • [16:45] We discuss how a “yes man” isn’t a true friend.
  • [18:12] Leaders need to be careful not to end up on an island.
  • [21:52] How do you navigate friendships through organizational groups and silos?
  • [23:20] I shares a humorous note Greg left me to illustrate the friendship tradeoff.
  • [24:22] Greg says you need a trusted friend to help you monitor your energy level.
  • [25:30] I say it’s important to thank friends for paying attention to you.
  • [26:14] We use Jesus’ relationships with His disciples to model their own friendships.
  • [27:40] We would love to be your leadership friend in our coaching huddles.

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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The Craig And Greg Show: Responsibility Starts At The Top

August 24, 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: 

  • [0:55] What’s one of the biggest attributes that sets leaders apart from their peers? 
  • [1:56] Check out why Stephen Covey’s definition of responsibility is so important in our discussion
  • [3:02] Why do people like to play “the blame game”?
  • [4:18] Accountability must be a partner with healthy responsibility
  • [4:52] Greg learned the blame game early on with his younger sister
  • [5:57] I worked in an unhealthy organization where the senior leader never accepted personal responsibility
  • [8:04] How do leaders “own it” in a healthy way?
  • [9:22] Exemplary leaders demonstrate how to accept consequences in a healthy way
  • [10:34] Responsibility and coachability strengthen a team and unleash greater potential
  • [11:27] Blame is “so dang easy” and makes the blamer a laughingstock
  • [13:27] What things contribute to blaming?
  • [14:14] How Greg handled the compliments and complaints from his clients
  • [15:11] Blaming is a spreading cancer in your organization
  • [15:44] Being a control freak isn’t the same thing as taking responsibility
  • [17:01] There is a balance for leaders so they don’t “fall on their swords”
  • [18:49] Team sports give us a good analogy of what shared responsibility looks like
  • [21:07] What’s on the other side of responsibility and blame?
  • [21:47] Leaders can enhance the benefits of responsibility through self-reflection
  • [23:51] Greg has a memorable and disarming way of helping people accept responsibility
  • [24:27] Our coaching huddles can help you learn to enhance the benefits of responsibility in your personal leadership

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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The Craig And Greg Show: Abundance Is A Mindset

August 9, 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: 

  • [0:50] What does it mean to look at things with an abundance vs. scarcity mindset?
  • [1:45] Greg talks about his keynote on abundance mindset
  • [2:50] Abundance mindset is key to making halftime adjustments
  • [4:04] What kind of situation is a leader seeing when they decide to have Greg come speak?
  • [4:53] It doesn’t take much for one scarcity mindset person to change a culture
  • [5:58] People are naturally inclined to talk about negative experiences more than positive ones
  • [6:42] Sometimes it takes a caring outside observer to point out tough problems in the organization
  • [7:15] Abundance encourages creativity, but scarcity stifles it
  • [8:08] I talk about the growing pains of changing an organization’s mindset
  • [9:16] We talk about change agents
  • [10:53] Greg talks about meeting a “business pastor”
  • [11:28] Why is scarcity so easy?
  • [13:26] How can we get positivity back?
  • [16:20] Greg discusses the balance of considering scarcity without becoming consumed by it
  • [17:00] Are the people around you in a scarcity mindset?
  • [18:15] Create boundaries for your mindset
  • [19:17] You don’t have it all, so don’t act like it!
  • [19:43] Greg would love to help your organization develop an abundance mindset.

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

July 29, 2022 — Craig T. Owens

T.M. Moore wrote to pastors, “Effective ministry and fruitful Christian living are not automatic. They don’t just happen. Each requires that we receive the gifts of God, develop them according to His Word, and put them to proper use day by day. We must work out our salvation and work at our calling with focus and vigor.” Check out the rest of his post.  

Speaking of pastors: In order for us pastors to be at our peak, we need to take care of ourselves. Here is a short video where I talk about the principle of sabbathing (a topic I explore in-depth in my book Shepherd Leadership: The Metrics That Really Matter).

This study from PennMedicine tells us that our brains can continue to learn new things until the day we die. So apparently you can teach an old dog new tricks!

My friend Greg and I have always tried to combine work and play. We’ve found that fun can really help leadership lessons stick. Check out this clip from a recent Craig And Greg Show leadership podcast.

Some really fast-moving stars in our Milky Way galaxy have further called into question the dating of our universe. These stars seem to indicate a universe that was created by God recently.

“When you’re good at something, you’ll tell everyone. When you’re great at something, they’ll tell you.” —Walter Payton

How does the word of man become the Word of God? Great teaching from John Piper in his “Look at the Book” series.

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The Craig And Greg Show: When Craig Met Greg

July 19, 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: 

  • [0:40] Who are we and how did we meet?
  • [2:00] A little bit of Greg’s biography as he headed to college
  • [4:10] A little bit of my biography as I headed to college
  • [5:40] How Greg tweaked his major while at Hope College
  • [6:57] I added an additional major while at Oral Roberts University
  • [7:28] Greg was drafted by two professional sports teams
  • [9:14] Transitions are important for leaders
  • [10:29] Self-reflection + coach ability = superpower 
  • [11:02] Greg’s first business venture was only an entry point to his career
  • [13:37] Another decision further refined Greg’s niche in business
  • [15:03] The unforeseen changes that brought me to West Michigan where I met Greg
  • [15:59] One of the first ministries that we worked on together
  • [20:00] A leadership lesson we tried to teach to the students at an urban youth center
  • [20:40] The dream list for us going forward
  • [22:40] What do we do as consultants?
  • [24:02] Greg has some cool keynote addresses that he presents
  • [25:53] How we can help you grow your leadership capacity

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

July 16, 2022 — Craig T. Owens

John Maxwell makes it clear in this quote that leaders are to focus on the other person: “Lead according to their dream. Coach according to their weakness. Mentor according to their potential. Delegate according to their strengths. Relate according to their personality.” —John Maxwell 

In my ongoing Monday Motivation video series, I shared one of my favorite Bible verses about mentoring:

A very interesting mini-biography of Alexander Hamilton: American Prodigal—The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of Alexander Hamilton.

“…One of my favorite analogies of prayer is a wartime walkie-talkie. I like to contrast the wartime walkie-talkie of prayer with the domestic intercom. What I like to say is that one of the reasons prayer malfunctions is because people take a wartime walkie-talkie and try to turn it into a domestic intercom, in which they ring up the butler to please bring another pillow to the den. 

“Prayer is not designed as an intercom between us and God to serve the domestic comforts of the saints. It’s designed as a walkie-talkie for spiritual battlefields. It’s the link between active soldiers and their command headquarters, with its unlimited fire-power and air cover and strategic wisdom. When you understand this, you can pray the locks off people’s hearts.” —John Piper

“I do not think that there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance.” —John D. Rockefeller

“Envy is the demand that what will make me happy is what I do not possess.” —Dr. John Townsend

How Nazi rocket scientist Wernher von Braun became a Christian. Here’s an interview by C. M. Ward.

Here is a brief clip from a recent Craig And Greg Show leadership podcast that honors my grandpa’s words and gives something for all leaders to aspire to: honoring others…

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The Craig And Greg Show: Live An Honor-Filled Life

July 5, 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: 

  • [0:45] Honor should be an everyday practice
  • [2:05] Greg’s pet peeve for leaders
  • [2:45] Advice from my grandpa
  • [3:20] Leaders look for ways to honor those around them
  • [3:48] Can you honor too much?
  • [4:29] How can we honor our parents and grandparents?
  • [5:13] Greg has a book releasing soon called Sage Advice 
  • [9:44] Greg explains that application is the real compliment
  • [10:36] Honor starts with noticing others and then expressing what was noticed
  • [11:49] Honoring calls out great potential in others
  • [12:32] What does it mean to “trust the person with a limp”?
  • [14:15] Honor is for people who gave, not for people who received
  • [15:28] Why is hard for leaders to acknowledge the success of others?
  • [16:27] Leaders need to looking around for opportunities to honor others
  • [17:11] Hand out compliments publicly for maximum effect
  • [17:55] Leaders receive honor by first honoring others
  • [19:45] Our leadership challenge to you 

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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The Craig And Greg Show: Playtime Can Be A Leadership Tool

June 21, 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] Summertime is a good time to review our work vs. leisure balance
  • [1:21] I share how a leader can realize the organization needs some downtime
  • [2:51] Leaders need to recharge themselves
  • [4:13] Self-care is not selfish; self-care needs to be built into a leader’s schedule
  • [5:40] Greg reminds leaders that there isn’t an award for not taking a vacation
  • [6:46] Greg has seen the fallout from overly-tired leaders, and I share some ideas for leaders to help themselves and their teammates de-stress
  • [9:31] How do leaders build playtime into their regular work schedule?
  • [11:10] Share your ideas with us!
  • [11:34] Greg shared some playtime activities he used in his organizations
  • [12:27] Why do leaders think they have to be so serious?
  • [15:15] Some thoughts for leaders to help their teams
  • [16:51] Greg emphasizes again the importance of self-care and they guys talk about how we can help other leaders practice self-care
  • [19:03] Our coaching huddles can help you grow your leadership
  • [20:02] Is it possible to find work-life balance?

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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The Craig And Greg Show: Generous Leaders Unleash Potential

June 7, 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: 

  • [0:15] I adapt a verse from the Bible to talk about generosity and Greg agrees with me. 
  • [1:00] Generosity is so much more than donating money.
  • [2:15] Generous leaders are proactive, and have appropriate boundaries.
  • [2:48] Leaders cannot fake generosity.
  • [3:42] Generosity isn’t in the big things, but the everyday things.
  • [4:25] Time, talent, treasure are all important components in generosity.
  • [6:00] Greg shares a telling statistic about how Americans give to charities.
  • [6:45] Greg says giving your network can be one of the most generous things a leader does. 
  • [7:37] Generosity requires an abundance mindset.
  • [8:52] What holds us back from being generous?
  • [10:00] Comparisons kill generosity.
  • [10:27] Being generous expands our influence, but stinginess strangles it.
  • [12:55] Our teammates are looking for places to be generous.
  • [13:53] Generosity opens doors for new opportunities.
  • [14:51] Greg shares an insightful quote from Anne Frank 
  • [15:17] I make a connection to the change in Ebenezer Scrooge’s life.
  • [16:11] How we define a generous leader.
  • [17:38] Our leadership challenge: how can you view generosity differently?

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

June 2, 2022 — Craig T. Owens

Dan Reiland shares 5 reasons leaders stumble and fall.

Max Lucado addresses the sickening news of sexual abuse coverups in the church. He wrote, “[Jesus] defended the weak, stood up for the forgotten. The idea that His church would be unsafe for His sons and daughters disturbs Him deeply. And you can bet your Bible that He’ll turn a few tables. If history teaches us anything it is this: Jesus will not sit idle while His church drifts from His cause. ‘I will rescue My flock from their mouths,” He declared through a prophet. ‘It will no longer be food for them’ (Ezekiel 34:10). 

“Repentance is necessary; heartfelt, tear-stained, face-on-the floor repentance. By all of us in positions of leadership. Will we see it? I pray so. Regardless, I pray that you will pursue the difficult path of seeking Christ in spite of Christians who have let you down. His pastors have failed to pastor. But when they don’t, He still does. Let Him pastor you.”

Darren Carlson wrote, “Healthy pastors experience the fullness and complexity of their emotions, and then hold them up against the sinlessness of Christ. How might Jesus respond to the pain and loss and victory and neediness in front of me? We grow emotionally as leaders by studying the heart of Jesus as he walks among sinners and sufferers.” His post ‘Healthy Pastors Have Emotions: How to Test and Cultivate Your Feelings’ is an excellent read. I explore the emotional health of shepherd pastors in my book.

Nicky Cruz’s story is a fascinating one. His message for America today should be heeded!

My friend Greg Heeres and I had a helpful discussion about leaders and forgiveness on our Craig And Greg Show podcast. Here is a brief snippet:

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