LeaderImpact Podcast
LeaderImpact Podcast
Ep. 34 - Roger Osbaldiston - A Deeper Dive into Roger's Book, "The Integrated Life of Leaders"
Roger was our first guest on this podcast and he is the global executive director of LeaderImpact, leading a global team with members in over 350 cities around the world that host events and provides resources focused on leadership development. In episode number one, Roger gave us some helpful tips, insights, and conversations about developing as a leader. Today, we're going to chat about Roger’s new book, The Integrated Life of Leaders. I think I have some challenging questions. And I look forward to diving in all the way from Auckland, New Zealand.
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SPEAKER_01:Welcome to the Leader Impact Podcast. We are a community of leaders with a network in over 350 cities around the world, dedicated to optimizing our personal, professional, and spiritual lives to have impact. This show is where we have a chance to listen and engage with leaders who are living this out. We love talking with leaders, so if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions to make this show even better, please let us know. The best way to stay connected in Canada is through our newsletter at leaderimpact.ca or on social media at Leader Impact. And if you're listening from outside of Canada, check out our website at leaderimpact.com. I'm your host, Lisa Peters, and our guest today is Roger Asbaldston. Roger was our first guest on this podcast, and he is the Global Executive Director of Leader Impact, leading a global team with members in over 350 cities around the world that host events and provides resources focused on leadership development. In episode number one, Roger gave us some helpful tips, insights, and conversation about developing as a leader. Today, we're going to chat about Roger's new book, The Integrated Life of Leaders. I think I have some challenging questions and I look forward to diving in. All the way from Auckland, New Zealand, welcome to the podcast, Roger.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you, Lisa. It's great to be back again. I really appreciated our last conversation on the first podcast. I was really privileged to be there and thank you for getting me back. That's always a good sign.
SPEAKER_01:Well, I got contacted by your team and I was sent your book and I hear it's kind of in advance because this is launching April 26th, but it doesn't come out till May 3rd, I think. Is that right?
SPEAKER_00:Correct. Yeah. So first week of May, the book should be available.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. So absolutely love the book. Mine is completely marked up. I love marking up books and writing thoughts. So I'm excited to get to jump right into this. Are you ready?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, sure.
SPEAKER_01:So I think my first question is just really tell us, I mean, because we've already introduced you in our first podcast, tell us a little bit about why you wrote this book and who you wrote it for.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, well, you know, we really wrote the book for leaders. You know, I put that in a very broad term, but especially for people involved with the Leader Impact Network around the world. So especially for them, but essentially for leaders anywhere. You know, and I say, you know, when I say we wrote the book, it really has been a team effort as well. So yes, my name is on the front, but it's really been a team effort because the book, you know, we interview leaders, eight leaders from all around the world, different backgrounds, different contexts that they're leading in. And so we've got their insights in the book, but also a couple on my team, the Global Leader Impact team, Ed Maggard and Meredith Stewart, they just are Thank you so much. You know, probably on this podcast, you've had Braden Douglas, and you may remember our first Leader Impact book was Becoming a Leader of Impact by Braden Douglas. And he just did a fabulous job in there of unpacking the Leader Impact philosophy. You know, we talk about our mission of helping leaders grow personally, professionally, and spiritually for increasing impact. And he really unpacked a lot of that and shared some stories. And we felt a need to, what does this look like in... day-to-day living for leaders. So what if we actually interviewed some leaders and got them to kind of talk about their experience of living that out? So really that's kind of the purpose of this book. Especially we talk about, you know, growing personally, professionally, and spiritually. And a lot of people say when they get involved with Leader Impact, you know, there's a lot of different leadership material on growing professionally, you know, heaps of courses and degrees and coaches and mentors you can get to help grow leadership. personally as a leader, professionally as a leader. And there's also a lot of self-help books and things that focus on your personal growth. But a lot of people say that with Leader Impact, what we talk about more is what is the spiritual side and how does that actually integrate with all of life? We fully believe we're spiritual beings and we can have a relationship with God. And that actually should affect all of our lives. But it's easy for us to compartmentalize. And so when we talk about the integrated life, we want to see how all those parts work together. And for Leader Impact, especially, we want to think about how do we introduce the spiritual side? How do we integrate our faith in God, our relationship with Him into our professional life, our personal life? How does that affect our lives as leaders? And so That was really why we wrote the book, was to give a little bit more context to what do we mean by spiritual? What do we mean by the spirit-filled life, the fruit of the spirit? We often talk about one of the greatest things leaders want to experience is more love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control. And the Bible talks about those as being the fruit of the spirit. They're not things that we are trying to aim to work hard at and see happen in our lives, but they're actually fruit, which means they're bearing fruit from something, and that's from the spiritual side of our lives. So we kind of dig into that, and then each leader talks about how does that integrated life work out in multiple different contexts. And that was the really fun part about the book, was hearing people from all around the world in different roles, sharing how the integrated life and the spiritual side of life really actually come out practically for them. So in a sense, it's a sequel to the last book and kind of taking a step further or dive deeper. And we also were looking for another resource that our leader impact groups could use. So we have a lot of great books that we're using. So Brayden's book, but we also looked and read together a lot of great leadership books from different authors. And we wanted another book that could be kind of on our shelf from Leader Impact that week by week leaders could touch on a different topic and discuss that together in their groups. So that was kind of another reason behind producing the book.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. I find it funny that when I, not funny, when I read the book, I've interviewed some of these people on the podcast. They're in your book. And they tell a different story. And I always think of the questioning you have to what, you know, their stories evolve, their stories change, they tell a different story. I loved it because I felt like I knew them a little bit from the podcast, but I know them a little bit more. So I think that's why I just kept the pages kept flipping. Like, I'm like, oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Well, that's cool because, you know, every leader obviously could have shared multiple stories and on different topics, but... you know, we really chose to try and find, you know, what's one of the topics that that particular leader could speak about. And so we address things in the book like stress, risk, money, success, failure, community, conflict, family, marriage. You know, so we pick up a whole lot of topics and probably all of those leaders deal with you know, multiple of those things. But we really kind of asked them, you know, hearing their story to focus on, you know, what is one piece that we could tell about your story in a topical way. And so that's great. I think, you know, all of us could probably tell multiple stories and hopefully, you know, people will get a picture of the whole as they work through the book together.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and I love working through a book together with people. So my question wants to talk a little bit about the book because your career has been focused on developing leaders. So when you interview leaders from around the world for your book, what were some of the common themes in leadership that you
SPEAKER_00:saw? Well, one of the things that really stood out, we sort of started asking the question, how does the integrated life and especially the spiritual side impact your leadership? And we weren't quite sure what people would say, you know, around those. But each of them saw a connection. I think that was one of the common threads is, you know, they're in a sense already living integrated lives. They've asked some of those questions of, okay, how does my spiritual side, personal, professional impact my leadership? So I think one of the common themes was just the fact that people saw that connection. It wasn't like a left field conversation. idea to them. And so I think that was one piece. Another common theme is I think I learned so much. When you hear some of the leaders sharing their struggles vulnerably, their mistakes, and how they have tried to integrate their life and where they've found that difficult and challenging. So I think common struggles is another common piece that's there. A lot of leaders say it's lonely at the top, and they find that leader impact groups provide a safe place to process life. And so what we're hoping is that this book will bring up some of those topics that maybe don't always come up in the groups, but are issues that we face on a regular basis and Because the leaders share somewhat vulnerably on some of the topics, we hope that's an opportunity for leaders who read the book and discuss it to have some of those conversations that maybe it's not that common for them to have. You know, it's always good to talk about things that are going well, but what does it mean when things are stressful or difficult or things aren't going well? And so I appreciated the leaders kind of sharing some of those pieces in there. Another theme that came out, perhaps the third one, is that each of the leaders wants to have an impact. You know, they're not just growing personally, professionally and spiritually in order to make their business grow or to see their, you know, fame grow or, you know, themselves. It was very rarely about them. They really wanted to, you know, leaders lead others and people are following them. And so they really saw that outward expression of, Braden talks about your external self in his book. And so what does it mean with your impact that you're having? As a leader, we always create like a wake behind us, like a boat. We're kind of going, charging down the lake and then the waves behind us are kind of building up. And so each of the leaders, I think, was conscious of that and all talked about the kind of impact they were and influence they wanted to have and the culture they wanted to create in their businesses or whichever area they were leading and involved in. So those are just kind of some of the common themes, I think, that crossed over, you know, all of the topics, Lisa.
SPEAKER_01:It's interesting you brought up culture because when I read your book and I highlighted, I highlight everyone talks about culture. And I wrote down a bunch of examples, just how everybody talks referred to it in their book. So my question for you is, how important is it to evaluate cultural responses to success and the assumptions we make as leaders consciously and unconsciously? That's a big question. I just, but I had everyone talked about it. And you even gave great examples of culture and how you think in New Zealand to Americans. You know, I loved it.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I mean, I've spent last 10 years working and leading global teams. And most of my examples are like, oh, these are things I didn't do very well, or challenges. It is challenging. And I think that was one of the great things about the book is we've got people from multiple cultures, from Africa, from North America, from Asia, Oceania. And so we've got quite a variety of people sharing things. And so even in the telling of their stories, it was interesting to pick up their kind of cultural awareness or insight into their particular situation. And as I began to hear some of those stories and comparing it to some of my own experiences. And so I think, you know, working in an international and global environment, culture is just huge. And I confess I learned a lot, but I've still got a lot to learn in that space. But a couple of the themes that came out strongly in the book were around, as you say, success. And another one was communication, just the different ways that cultures view success and the ways that they maybe deal with communication. So, you know, in New Zealand, you know, for example, we have a saying here called the tall poppy syndrome that, you know, we were established as a very egalitarian society. We don't, particularly think our prime minister is necessarily someone particularly special and so business people come into that culture and if they're successful they can kind of tend to rise above everyone else and so the tall poppy idea is that if a poppy grows too high you have to kind of cut them down to size and so there's a a sense in our culture that sometimes we look at business people as, um, you know, they must've got to their success because of the way, you know, maybe they've done that at the expense of others and that egalitarian, everyone should be kind of equal, uh, feeling. And so that's kind of, you know, coming from my background. I think some of that's changing because our country's, you know, become so multicultural, but you know, that is a part of our culture. Um, And then, you know, I spent six years working in North America, in the US, and, you know, realizing that actually, you know, the American dream, success, succeeding, getting ahead is really prized. You know, not necessarily bragging or, you know, to other cultures that may sound a bit like that, but it's actually okay to talk about your success and how much money you've got in your new car or things you're doing in your business. And so that's a very different kind of experience. And Henry shares in the book about, he talks on that topic of success. And he's a very successful group CEO of a large firm. And he says, I was initially reluctant to talk about success. And so coming from Singapore, it's very much a very humble culture. They don't want to brag and talk about success in any way. So we kind of had to draw him out. And so it's interesting to kind of think about some of those different contexts of culture that are not right or wrong. They're just perhaps the ways that we see things a little bit differently. And I think for leaders, that's really important to kind of understand your cultural context is you know, if you're from North America and you're used to talking about all the great things you've done and you come to New Zealand, people might kind of go, oh, okay, this person's, you know, or I found in, you know, talking about what I would find coming from my culture in a North American context, I wouldn't share the success stories of my team enough. Therefore, people felt like my team maybe wasn't achieving as much as it maybe could. And so it was sometimes seen as potentially a negative that I wasn't talking about success enough. And so I kind of learned to do that more, whether that's in presentations or different things. So that's kind of one of those pieces is around success. And then the other one was communication. So obviously we have very different communication styles, you know, around the world and, you know, within cultures, we all have personalities and, and different ways that we communicate, you know, it's not that we stereotype everyone, but it's, I think it's probably fair to say in New Zealand, we're a little more indirect. We're a small country. You've got to get along with everybody. So you're polite. You always agree and don't want to ruffle feathers or rock the boat because it's a small place. You're going to see that person next week. And that tends to create a culture with a low level of desired conflict or talking about things. And I remember, you know, learning about North American culture, particularly the U S which is perhaps a lot more direct culture. And if you think about someone described to me how the U S developed and, you know, as the, because of the vast distances across the US and the multiple different cultures that moved to the US, they needed a very simple direct communication style so that person who was so many thousand miles away could get the message, you know, rather than the message changing along the way. And so, and that's been, you know, the success of so many American companies who, you know, really adopted the franchise model. You know, you work on something, you get it down to its core essentials, and then you just communicate that or, you know share that that model or principle really broadly um and so those two kind of communication styles can be you know challenging when when put together when one's really direct or prefers to be direct and the other prefers to be you know much more indirect and you know Rowena her chapter on communication kind of pulls some of that out you know she comes from Asia as well and there there's a culture of also not wanting to engage in conflict too quickly. And so she shares some of the stories in there, how it's difficult for her to kind of raise issues and questions about things in some of her examples. So those are some of the things that kind of came out around those two topics, just sort of reflecting on how different our cultures are. But I think you get the whole picture from the eight different leaders and myself that we're all different leaders. We're not all cookie cutter. And you get a little bit of a sense of what it means to kind of hopefully live out an integrated leadership life. But it's going to look different depending on the culture and place where you're coming from.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. So I have to ask you, have you read just... Because... In Leader Impact, one of the books that we have is Radical Candor by Kim Scott. Have
SPEAKER_00:you read that? Yes, my group just did that. How did you do with
SPEAKER_01:that?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, well, you know, so my group did go through that. It was the last book we did actually. We're onto a new book now, but that was the last book we did. And it was really good, you know, how to communicate more directly. And, you know, that's a challenge, I think, for many of us in our New Zealand context and teams. And so a number of my group, you know, shared examples of, some of those challenges because many of them actually work on international teams they're not working you know just with local local teams um so yeah no good that's that's and this is why i think this is why leader impact groups and you know just being in conversation with other leaders from different backgrounds and reading books from outside your kind of you know little circle i think one of the things about social media you know we tend to like focus in on um it can tend to become a little bit of a circular conversation. One of the things I appreciate about leader impact groups, you get a variety of different opinions and views and you discuss a variety of different books and topics. So, you know, one book, our group will say, oh, you know, I didn't agree with that. And the next one is like, oh, that one's bang on, but people have different perspectives. And so we can learn something from each of them.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Our group is reading that radical candor right now. Okay. And, uh, It's just, it is fantastic. And like you said, it is so good to share with other people because we are not all alike. We are diverse in our leadership, who we lead. So yeah, great book. Yep. All right, well, my next question, we can talk about Leader Impact's mission statement is to help leaders grow personally, professionally, and spiritually for increasing impact. So I wanna talk about impact. What is a simple step to make A personal impact, a professional impact, and a spiritual impact. What would you say is a simple step? If you have one of each of those areas. Because I think people listening, we sometimes don't know where to begin, right?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Well, I think let's take them one by one. So, yeah, the personal side is, Obviously, we can't separate all of our lives, but it can be helpful to think about the components at times. But personal side, we're thinking more about just our own personal relationships, so be they at home, friends, workplace. What is the impact we're having on those that are closest to us? And I think the Dindys in their chapter talk about you can't be a hero at home a hero at work if you're not a hero at home. And I found that quite a challenging topic that a lot of us may feel like we're being successful on the outside, but what does it mean with those who know us closest? And often that's, you know, without the people we live with in our homes and our families. And a simple step, you know, what I really like is what Brayden shared in his book. And it was a very challenging idea. He said, you know, think about the key people that are closest relationship to you? Do you know what their dreams and goals and aspirations are? That's the first step. And the second step is saying, what could I do to help you get there? I think that's just such an insightful step of having a personal impact. So often, I think we tend to think, here's my kind of view of the world. And we think about our people around us and think, oh, how could those people be help me or orient around my, my world or make, you know, how can I, how can we work together for mutual benefit or whatever? But Brayden says, you know, what about thinking about simple question? You know, what's your dream and hope for the year? And how can I help? I just find that a very liberating and helpful thing. It's like, you know, with my kids, what are they trying to achieve? And how can I help? With my wife, Nikki, you know, she's, been launching a new business. So we talk about that every week and I want to encourage her, you know, in there and know what's going on. So I guess it's just kind of being a little bit other centered, but I think that exercise, you know, it's quite a challenging exercise to kind of list out, you know, who are some of the key people that I have the closest personal interaction with and what's my impact on them like, and do I know what their, what their goals are for the year or what they want to see happen and how can I help them do that. So that was something I think has really helped from the personal side.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. I think of when we write our to-do list, which is things we need to do, but we need to write our you list. Like, how can I help you? Like, what can I do? You know, no, I read that in a book. That wasn't my
SPEAKER_00:idea. No, but it's really good. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. And I thought that was really good because too many times I put my head down. And it's, what do I need to get done to get me ahead? And I need, I need, we need to step out. So that was a, that's a great simple step. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Right. On the professional side, the challenge probably I put in the book is the challenge of thinking about our work in terms of God's mission. You know, in terms of professional impact, sometimes we start with, you know, if I'm just kind of a good person at work, you know, as, as if we're followers of Jesus, we want to kind of live out a spirit filled life in the workplace, you know, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, all those are great. And that's some of the things we talk about in the book. But is there a step further than that? Is, is being a leader of impact professionally and thinking about the spiritual side, is it just that I'm going to be ethical? I'm not going to, you know, be a corrupt leader or be greedy or, you know, do a whole lot of things that are kind of on the bad list and just be nice and do all the good things on the good list. Now, I'm not saying we shouldn't do those things because I think that's the starting point, you know, is to think about how are we coming across at work? You know, what is the character that we are, you know, portraying? And so a lot of people tend to start there. And I think it's the right place to start, you know, to be, ethical, to be above reproach, to be a person of high integrity. All those things are really important in the workplace. But I think the second step that I challenge us in the book is to think about what about the work we are doing? Does that matter to God? And a friend of mine, Stephen Garber, who has written a number of books on vocation, he has a book called Visions of Vocation. And he talks about that vocation is integral, not incidental, to the mission of God. Now, just unpack that a little bit. Sometimes we tend to think there's the spiritual side of life, and then there's the work side, and we keep those kind of separate. But what he talks about in the book is that, no, your vocation, the calling that you've got and the work that you've got is actually important to God, that he's created all of us with gifts and talents and abilities. And whether you're a butcher or a baker or a candlestick maker or, you know, IT person, you know, you're working, developing AI or you're an auditor or you're a CEO, your work actually matters to God. And what you do through your company matters to God. It's not a matter of like, just separating those out and thinking, well, this is business and that's spiritual. And so what Stephen Garber talks about, and I really enjoyed his writings, is no, work is actually part of what God created us to do. And if you actually go back in the beginning of the story of the Bible, God gave us work to do in the Garden of Eden and said, here's the garden. It's your job to tend and care for it. So work actually precedes. Now, the next step is that humankind rebelled against God and work became difficult and hard. But we often forget that God created work before that. And he created us to do good work. And Ephesians 2 in the Bible says that we are all God's handiwork created to do good works, which he's prepared in advance for us to do. God has kind of got ahead of us in the world and creating good work for us. So, so many of our jobs, businesses are all part of the fabric of the world that God has caused us to be living and moving in. And each part, you know, plays its part. I've also been quite influenced by Andy Crouch. He's written a book on books on culture. And he says that sometimes we, Christians can tend to think differently about culture. And he talks about we can be consumers of it, we can be critics of it, and we can be condemners of it. But he says we actually need to be creators. And I really love those four Cs. We so often feel like we become a critic of things that are happening in culture, like why is this going that way? Why is that happening? Or we can be just consuming it. We just are unaware of... the influences of culture on us we just kind of like soak it in or we can be condemners we're like no i'm not going to be like that you know i don't want to be part of that culture i want to be separate but you know andy basically says in his book no we were created in god's image and god is a creative god you know he created the world and we created in his image so that we also are creators of culture you know culture just being the things that are around us that we've produced. And it's our role as leaders not to step back from culture, but actually to step into it and to be a part of creating impact through our work. Not just being good people at work and being people of high integrity and character, but asking that second question, as a lawyer, what does it mean for me to think about that from a integrated life perspective. And you think about things like, well, what does the spiritual side of life say? Well, what does the Bible say about justice? I'm a lawyer working in the justice system. What does that mean to advance that? You might be working as a CEO and running an organization. What does the Bible say about running an enterprise? And there's so much in there, and money. I think Jesus talked about money almost everywhere. more than any other topic in the New Testament. And so we need to kind of go back and spend a lot of time thinking about those things. So that would be, you know, on the professional side, I'd just be encouraging people to, yes, pursue lives of integrity and being good at work, but then go that next step and think, how would Jesus, you know, how would the spiritual side of life impact the way I do my work? And how am I contributing to what God wants to do in my city, in my country? what is the good work that he's called us to do in the area that we're around and to see our lives as integrated in that way, not separated, that those things are separate.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. The book you're referring to, Andy Couch, that was Culture Making. Is that
SPEAKER_00:the book? Culture Making. Yeah. Andy Crouch. Yep. Andy Crouch. Yeah. I think it's Crouch. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And then you talked to another one. I just want to, Vocation by Stephen. What was
SPEAKER_00:that one? Stephen Garber. Visions of Vocation by Stephen Garber. Yep.
SPEAKER_01:Writing it down, Roger.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, good recommendations. A couple of books that have helped shape my thinking as we think about having impact through our work and profession.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. So A Simple Step in Your Spiritual Impact.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and obviously these things are all integrated. And again, we make the point in the book, as Brayden did, that you can't separate these things out. But many people might just think we are– temporal, material beings, and it's just the personal and the professional, and that's it. But I fully believe that we're spiritual and that we are eternal. But our tendency can be to focus on the material and the temporal. And so I think as we think about spiritual impact, thinking about that specifically helps us to kind of lift our eyes beyond what is right in front of us now and think, okay, the spiritual is not the material necessarily thing in front of us our work our possessions our money but it's thinking about the broader perspective and it's also not thinking about the temporal here and now what's going to happen next week and our planning but it's pulling out to the eternal and so thinking about that way i would say two things one is we need to invest in ourselves spiritually that if in fact we are eternal beings and that means we are spiritual beings What does that mean for us to grow spiritually? And so we start to unpack a little bit of that in the book. But I'd say invest in yourself spiritually. So that means, you know, as a believer of Jesus, I want to learn and follow what Jesus said. So I read the Bible. I read what Jesus said and reflect on that every day. I want to invest in that. And I want to be with others that do the same thing. So in small groups and conversations, I want to be growing and investing in myself spiritually. And in our leader impact groups, we want to also ask the spiritual questions and help each other be growing spiritually. So I guess my first step would be invest in yourself spiritually. But the second piece would be invest in others spiritually. So don't just see people from the personal and professional side, like a client or a contractor or employee or employer, that see others spiritually with eternal and spiritual eyes, not just the temporal and physical that we see. So what does that mean? I think it means asking about people's faith journey. Where are you in your faith journey? If you're a spiritual person and you've got a faith, share a little bit of your own story, but asking others, where are you at in your faith journey? And helping them, thinking about what is that next step in their journey and how can they come to know God better? How can they grow spiritually? And what is the next step for them? You know, we often talk about this idea of spiritual multiplication. And, you know, spiritual multiplication, you know, we talk about multiplication in other contexts. But, you know, if we want to grow the number of people who are following Jesus, and I think that would be a great world, I want to tell others about him and invest in others. And then they're going to invest in others. And so it actually multiplies the impact. You know, Jesus said... Remain in me and you can do great things. Apart from me, you can do nothing. And he gives the analogy of a vine and fruit. And basically he says, I'm the vine. I'm the source of sustenance. You are a branch connected to the vine, but I want you to bear fruit. And so if we think about the spirit-filled life as producing the fruit of the spirit, the key to that is actually being connected to the vine. And the more of us that are connected to the vine means the more of us that are going to be delivering the fruit of the Spirit, the more our world is going to be filled by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness. And I think for most leaders, they would love to see that more evident in their lives, but also in their workplaces, communities, and beyond. And so that's a little bit of how we can see that leaders are growing personally, professionally, and spiritually in order to have an impact personally, professionally, spiritually. And I think that's what we're called to. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I think that's the greatest part of being part of a leader impact group is everyone is in a different place. We're coming in, there are people coming in who they haven't found Jesus. Like they, they, they know they want something different in their life. They want something better and they, they want to be here. And then you have someone who's so strong in their faith and, you know, they're just reaching out and we're helping each other. And I want to say that because I think people think they need to join. They need to be believers and, you know, no, just want to make a difference. You want to make a change. Yeah. You know, it's just so good.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Our group is diverse like that. Just, you know, But people show up every Wednesday morning.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and I think we're all at different places in terms of personally, professionally, spiritually. And that's what I like is that we can come together and have those conversations. And different ones have different perspectives on things. And I think our hope is in the book, they'll see a number of different leaders coming Kind of seeking to live that out in their context. And what does it mean daily if I'm running a hotel or I'm running an accounting firm or I'm working as a nonprofit leader?
SPEAKER_01:Or I'm a world-renowned surgeon.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, or a world-renowned surgeon.
SPEAKER_01:So are you still in a leader? I think you just commented you finished your book in your leader impact group. What are you on to next?
SPEAKER_00:Actually, I brought it along. We're doing Dare to Serve. I don't know if you have heard of Cheryl Batchelder, but we're reading her book and it is excellent. We're about a third of the way through. And she, so Cheryl's had a vast career. She's worked with a number of kind of fast food restaurant businesses and she's she's probably most well known for being the CEO of Popeye's. So Popeye's Louisiana chicken. So it's a restaurant mostly in the South and the U S and they sell fried chicken. No delicious. How can fried chicken not be delicious? I guess it can be, but you know, she talks about turning that, turning that company around and she really had a great, track record of success. And in the book, she kind of unpacks how their team basically decided, you know, how can we serve the people who are running our restaurants well as a team? And it was a real, you know, step for them to think about that their franchises are not just there serving the big brand, they're actually a key to that key to the success of the whole. And so she talks about, you know, if we serve them well, how can we serve them? And so I just love her perspective on that and seeing how that can grow. So we're really enjoying that book. That's our next one. We might put it on the top 10 list of leader impact books to look at.
SPEAKER_01:We've got some great ones. You know, I don't think I've got through them all. They are great leadership books and, you know, studying them with other people is the best part of being part of this group. Just having other people tell their stories, the good, the bad, you know?
SPEAKER_00:The good and the bad. Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And I appreciated that in your book. You shared a lot of yourself in this book. As much as you interviewed leaders around the world, you always have, there's a little bit of you dripped throughout this little book. And that was really, it was really nice to read.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. And I kind of start the book with, you know, some of my journey, just, you know, starting out, leadership and thinking I was invincible and then realizing I'm not. And getting deeper into the spiritual side of life actually is key to unpacking or integrating the whole. And what does that mean to be filled with the spirit? And so we spend the first couple of chapters talking about that and then learn from all the other leaders, and then we kind of wrap it up at the end talking about impact. So, yeah, I hope people enjoy the book. You know, it was a joy to prepare it and to, you know, work with our team on it. So I'm excited for it and hope that it spurs some great conversations going forward.
SPEAKER_01:All right. Well, I want to thank you for spending the last 40 minutes with us, Roger, and just being vulnerable. And I loved your comment just now, just, you know, your thoughts, You were it. No one's going to touch you. And then, yeah, God laughed at you.
SPEAKER_00:You laugh when you make your
SPEAKER_01:own plans. But I just want to thank you for just allowing us to dive a little deeper and, you know, talking about the integrated life of leaders. Just appreciate
SPEAKER_00:your time.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you.
SPEAKER_00:Well, thank you very much, Lisa. I appreciate you and the podcast. And you've met some great people over the last, how long has it been now, this podcast? Just
SPEAKER_01:over a year. Just
SPEAKER_00:over a year. Yeah. Well done. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:It's fun.
SPEAKER_00:That's exciting.
SPEAKER_01:So if listeners want to engage with you or find you, where should they do that?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, well, I have like a blog site, you know, a site where I write articles and put some things on sort of more personally. So it's just rogerosbalderston.com. So there's articles there and you've got to find the book there. And then, of course, you know, leaderimpact.com for Leader Impact and some of our resources there. So those would be the two places. But if you go to rogerosbalderston.com, you'll find me and be able to contact me there.
SPEAKER_01:All right. Well, thank you so much, Roger. And say hi to Nikki for me. I'm sure you'll appreciate everything she does as well. All right.
SPEAKER_00:Great. Okay.
SPEAKER_01:All right. Well, thank you, Roger. And if you are part of Leader Impact, you can always discuss or share this podcast with your group. And if you are not yet part of Leader Impact and would like to find out more and grow your leadership, find our podcast page on our website at leaderimpact.ca and check out our free leadership assessment. You will also find our website page chapter one of Braden Douglas's book, Becoming a Leader of Impact. It's an amazing leadership book. You can also check out groups available in Canada at leaderimpact.ca or if you're listening from anywhere else in the world, check out leaderimpact.com or get in touch with us by email info at leaderimpact.ca and we will connect you. And if you liked our podcast, please leave us a comment, give us a rating or review. This will help other global leaders find our podcast. Thank you for engaging with us. And remember impact starts with you.
