Faithful on the Clock is a podcast with the mission of getting your work and faith aligned. We want you to understand Who you're serving and why so you can get more joy and legacy from every minute spent on the clock. Thanks for joining us and taking this step toward a more fulfilling job and relationship with God!

We'd love to have you stay up-to-date with the show on all our platforms!

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In this episode...

David, Saul, and Handling Toxic Leaders

https://faithfulontheclock.captivate.fm/episode/david-saul-and-handling-toxic-leaders

Saul was a toxic leader as David rose to the top. Episode 133 of Faithful on the Clock offers takeaways from their relationship to help you be more effective.

Timestamps:

[00:04] - Intro

[00:51] - Summary of the story of David and Saul

[06:17] - Anointed but not appointed

[07:43] - What’s motivating the toxic leader under the surface

[09:25] - Don’t compromise your values to match the dysfunction

[10:02] - The importance of allies and advocates

[11:47] - Self-protection as wisdom

[13:07] - Being developed even where you didn’t plan to be

[13:55] - Avoiding “fixing” the leader

[14:57] - Seeing the leader’s humanity despite their mistakes

[16:56] - Prayer

[17:49] - Outro/What’s coming up next

Key takeaways:

• Saul was God’s anointed king, but He disobeyed God and was not respectful to Him. His relationship with David began as Saul sought music to calm and heal his spirit. But once David was anointed himself and started to gain fame as a warrior, Saul’s insecurity tore him apart. He plotted against and tried to kill David for the rest of his life because he feared David would take his kingdom and exceed his own greatness.
• You can be anointed but not yet appointed. Trust God to bring you into authority in His perfect timing.
• Toxic leaders often feel threatened by the gifts of others. Try to understand what’s activating them underneath the surface.
• Don’t compromise your values to match a toxic leader’s dysfunction. David kept his focus on God, rather than playing tit-for-tat games and seeking to harm Saul for his own benefit.
• Find wise advocates and allies. They will protect and affirm you through the chaos a toxic leader creates. You don’t have to survive alone.
• It’s not disloyal to protect yourself. Self-protection is wisdom, not rebellion.
• God can still develop you in the wilderness. Just as David grew in the cave, you can grow wherever God sends you for safety.
• Let God handle vengeance and timing. Your job isn’t justice, but rather humility, obedience, and to be ready for what God asks of you.
• See the humanity the toxic leader has. Grace is emotional maturity.

CTAs:

• Who’s your Jonathan? Think about who helps you stay grounded when leadership gets hard. Reach out and thank them this week — or intentionally look for someone who can be...

Faithful on the Clock is a podcast with the mission of getting your work and faith aligned. We want you to understand Who you're serving and why so you can get more joy and legacy from every minute spent on the clock. Thanks for joining us and taking this step toward a more fulfilling job and relationship with God!

We'd love to have you stay up-to-date with the show on all our platforms!

Threads

Bluesky

Facebook

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LinkedIn

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In this episode...

How to Have the Hard Conversations You Dread

https://faithfulontheclock.captivate.fm/episode/how-to-have-the-hard-conversations-you-dread

Not every discussion is easy to have. Episode 132 of Faithful on the Clock combines psychology and Scripture to get you through even the hardest conversations.

Timestamps:

[00:04] - Intro

[00:37] - Difficult conversations for redemption and clarification

[02:00] - Speaking the truth ais kindness; the benefit of reframing hard conversations as opportunities

[04:14] - Active listening as a key tool for navigating difficult conversations; giving sufficient space to the conversation and the role of prefrontal cortex load

[06:54] - Anchoring bias as a conversation tone setter

[07:54] - The illusion of transparency and the need to be explicit about our feelings and intentions.

[08:40] - The SCARF model (introduction)

[09:36] - The SCARF model (real-world application)

[11:11] - Kingdom communication and its intentionality defined

[12:48] - Call to action: Pray for your posture.

[13:14] - Prayer

[13:59] - Outro/What’s coming up next

Key takeaways:

• Hard conversations can pave a positive path. — Difficult conversations might challenge us, but they can be redemptive and clarifying.
• Truth is protection and kindness. — Even though you might dread them, honest conversations that deliver truth in love can guard others and everything you’ve built. Reframing transforms hard conversations from moments of confrontation into opportunities to build trust and clarity.
• Regulate the tone early. — Because of anchoring bias, whatever you lead with sets the emotional tone for everything that follows. Lead with compassion and shared purpose.
• Be explicit. — The illusion of transparency means people don’t automatically know your intent. Say what you mean clearly.
• Use active listening with enough space. — Slow down, ask questions, and allow time for feelings. It helps keep everyone calm and prevents miscommunication. If emotions are running hot, step back. Don’t force a conversation when someone’s prefrontal cortex is offline due to stress.
• Apply the SCARF model. — People resist what doesn’t feel safe. Addressing the core social needs of status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness, and fairness helps make a tough conversation more digestible. If someone is especially sensitive to one SCARF domain (e.g., fairness),...

Faithful on the Clock is a podcast with the mission of getting your work and faith aligned. We want you to understand Who you're serving and why so you can get more joy and legacy from every minute spent on the clock. Thanks for joining us and taking this step toward a more fulfilling job and relationship with God!

We'd love to have you stay up-to-date with the show on all our platforms!

Threads

Bluesky

Facebook

Pinterest

Instagram

LinkedIn

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In this episode...

Leadership, Meaning, and Making Space for Questions

https://faithfulontheclock.captivate.fm/episode/leadership-meaning-and-making-space-for-questions

Ever feel scared to ask a question? Episode 131 of Faithful on the Clock welcomes Catherine Cowell to help you see the freedom and power of reclaiming inquiry.

Timestamps:

[00:04] - Intro

[00:47] - Catherine’s welcome and bio

[01:50] - How Catherine came to work in communication and leadership

[05:54] - Catherine’s involvement with initial question groups

[14:23] - The need for guidelines in groups designed for question facilitation

[18:31] - Types of questions people brought to Catherine’s groups

[20:23] - Confronting the idea that questions mean weak faith or that you’re just starting your Christian journey

[29:28] - The importance of learning to consider your core passions and of asking other people about theirs

[35:50] - Catherine’s definition of leadership; the importance of holding space to help people find their gifts

[46:44] - Catherine’s two guiding philosophies

[49:47] - How to connect with Catherine

[50:38] - Outro/What’s coming up next

Key takeaways:

• In leadership and communication, how you listen is more key than how you get your message across.
• People can have all kinds of questions they’re afraid to ask. Modeling true vulnerability gives them permission to engage in full, authentic exploration — people are motivated to open up when they know we will sit in the space we create with them.
• As people begin to explore the questions they have, it can be helpful to establish guidelines around values. It reduces the mismatch of expectations — and subsequent uncomfortable situations — that can sometimes happen as people make inquiries.
• Questions can happen at any point of life, not just when you are just beginning your Christian journey. Having them doesn’t mean your faith is weak.
• People often hesitate to ask questions if they feel others will find them lacking for it. There’s a tendency to squash feelings down, believing we ought to be able to bring them under the authority of Scripture. This can leave us stunted, because we never really work through what’s in our hearts.
• God understands we are going to have questions on our faith journey. There’s nothing we could ask that could put us outside of His love.
• Asking questions helps us to become more settled as human beings because we stop hiding ourselves and don’t worry about our image so much.
• People often don’t...