Margaret Fitzwater, the Executive Director of Training, Development, and Care for the Navigators, attributes her strong faith and Christ-centered leadership to having good life rhythms. Particularly daily time in the Word – journal and pen in hand – and observing a weekly Sabbath where she focuses on life-giving activities. This dedication to allowing the Word of God to be a part of her life (not just overlaying it) is Margaret’s key to leadership!

At Navigators, Margaret leads five teams that train over 2,700 staff. This means that creating a sense of belonging is mission-critical! Being virtual is a challenge for building that culture, but her teams have learned to invest the time and effort to make sure that every staff member feels seen and heard. Margaret shares so much wisdom with us in today’s show, but the bottom line is that following Jesus is a different way of life than the world’s way.

Guests: Margaret Fitzwater

Ministry/ Workplace: The Navigators

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Get ready to be drawn in by the gentle leadership of Beth Guckenberger! Right off the bat, Beth shares with us her keys to Christ-centered leadership: fellowship and accountability. And what do these two things have in common? They are a part of being in community... part of belonging. Beth and her husband have spent years traveling and learning about other cultures, but the Bible’s principles for belonging always apply no matter where they are.

Plus, we talk about Beth’s new book, Throw the First Punch, where she applies some great principles from 1 Peter 5 and Ephesians 6 on the issues of spiritual warfare. After all, why should we wait for Satan to attack?  We know he’s prowling around looking for something to devour, so be aggressive and put on the Full Armor of God and throw the first punch! Imagine the kind of impact that we could have in each of our areas of influence if we took this approach.

There are so many great nuggets in this episode - you might need to listen to it more than once!

Guests: Beth Guckenberger

Ministry/ Workplace:  Back2Back Ministries

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Nona Jones wears many leadership hats – from church to business to family – so she knows that thriving leadership requires personal growth. Being a college science major, she’s able to give some spot-on examples from nature about what’s needed for growth and what signs show healthy growth vs. withering away.

A leader’s health is oftentimes directly reflected in their team’s health. So, if there’s one thing that Nona has been learning lately, it’s the importance of pouring into the lives of her team members.

As a biblical example in the same plant-related realm, Nona notes the necessity that leaders have of both being pruned for continual growth and carefully pruning others to encourage them to thrive, too. That being said, with the last years of added stress and challenge, God has been pointing her towards compassion and sincere care for truly effective leadership. Since Nona has been an executive at Meta (formerly Facebook), this is something she wants to encourage ministries to focus on as they use social media – not just producing content but connecting with people where they are.

Two pieces of leadership advice to take away from this interview:

1 – The right answer matters more than being right. We must be humble to be good leaders!

2 – Strive for an “additive” leader mindset. As leaders, we should be adding to those on our team, not using them to get ahead.

Guests: Nona Jones

Ministry/ Workplace:  NonaJones.com

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