Episode 73 | Leadership on the Rocks with Bethany Rees

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Welcome to the Lead with Hope
Podcast, the podcast that helps

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you lead and live with habits,
optimistic mindset, purpose, and

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excellence.
I'm your host, Brandy Kelly,

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author, speaker, and leadership
coach, here to spark meaningful

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conversations that fuel growth
and resilience.

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Each week, you will hear
powerful stories and practical

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tools from leaders who face
challenges head on and learn to

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lead with hope.
Today's guest is Bethany Reese,

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an educator and John Maxwell
Certified Coach with nearly two

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decades of leadership
experience.

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She's the author of Leadership
on the Rocks and a trusted voice

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in helping leaders simplify
complexity, build strong teams,

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and lead with clarity and
confidence.

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Bethany brings humor, heart, and
hard earned wisdom to every

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conversation, reminding us that
even when the path gets rocky,

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great leaders know how to stand
firm and rise stronger.

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Welcome to the show, Bethany.
I have been looking forward to

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this podcast.
You are so fun to talk to, so

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engaging, and I would like for
you to start out and just share

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a little bit of your story with
the audience.

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So looking at my story, you
know, I high achiever loved

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doing what I'm told and doing it
well so that I get the

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affirmation and validation from
people from accomplishing what

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they asked me to do.
But at the end of the day, my

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life is I wrote a story in my
head on how it should go.

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And then through prayer mail
said, God, this is what I want

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for my life.
And Kyle goes, that's so cute,

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but we're going to do it this
way instead.

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And it's, and it was the battle
of relinquishing the control of

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where my life, where I, my life
should go and what I should be

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doing and how I should be doing
it to grow where planted.

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And, and then also allow not
only to myself to grow where

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planted, where God has planted
me, but also allow his pruning

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to take place so that I have the
right skill set for the next

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place that I'm planted.
And that is what I've seen the

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fruit of in my life is stepping
into a situation that I didn't

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necessarily want to be in.
Or you know, where you get asked

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to take take a step into a
position.

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A lot of my life has been being
asked to, hey, will you step

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into this?
Will you step into this?

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And it's professionally, but
it's also personally, even

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through serving.
And every job that I've had

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professionally has been that
way.

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And I'm like, well, I want to
please people.

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So yes.
And then I get in there and then

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internally I'm like, oh, I don't
like this.

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This is, you know, I don't want
to be a peg in a hole.

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But then God transforms my heart
of saying, no, here's what I

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need you to learn here.
And then it always leads to the

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next thing to the next thing to
the next thing.

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So how I started in education,
that was my background was I

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couldn't even get a job.
My degree was in history.

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I love teaching history.
I wanted to be very thematic and

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just set the the classroom on
fire with accents and costume,

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but I don't coach anything fresh
out of college.

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All I could get was a long term
substitute position.

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So I did that.
I taught 9th grade, but then

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that led to guess what?
My next thing, I did such a good

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job there that I got noticed
that then I went into my my

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quote UN quote real job, which
led to a master's degree in

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gifted and talented, which led
to then using instructional

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technology, become an
instructional technology coach,

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then instructional coach, then
administrator, opening a brand

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new high school.
And so that was the big lesson

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that I've learned is grow where
planted because there's skills

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and character that you need in
that and it will always lead to

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the next thing.
Absolutely grow where planted.

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I love that that phrase.
And I think it's important that,

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you know, we identify the
challenges that we come up

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against in life and in
leadership because as we were

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talking before I hit record, you
can't separate the two.

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Life and leadership.
They happen together, your

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personal and your professional
life.

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It happens at the same time.
And I have noticed personally in

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my life, themes have reared
their ugly heads both in my

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personal life and my
professional life.

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So for those listening the
audience, what advice would you

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give them in navigating those?
Difficulties that adversity, the

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challenges in life when it rears
its ugly head in your life and

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in your leadership.
Well, I think first of all,

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you're stating a principle that
we all need to recognize is

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true.
A principle is, is universal.

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It applies all the time.
Like gravity, right?

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If I drop something, it will
always fall.

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The principle that you're saying
is whatever's going on

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internally will always spill out
externally.

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That's a principle.
So first of all, if I'm aware of

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that, as great leaders, we
should always be bent towards

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proactive action.
So proactively in private, I

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need to work on myself and my
identity, any kind of label that

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I have on me, any kind of trauma
that I've gone through, any kind

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of experienced.
You know, I have strengths that

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I bring to the table, but I also
have a lot of constraints and

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blind spots.
And then I have confirmation

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bias that I tend to look for,
and I'm not always aware of

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that.
There's all this stuff happening

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internally and so privately I
need to do the work.

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If you're a faith-based person,
dive into your faith and ask for

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God to expose whatever those
things are so that when chaos

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comes and chaos will always
come, there's another universal

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principle.
You as a leader will always have

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problems, conflicts,
constraints, always, it's going

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to come.
You don't want all that chaos

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internally to spill out
externally, right?

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And so do the work privately.
That's the proactive action.

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Now, when chaos does come, and
let's say you're not perfect,

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you're going to make a mistake.
You're going to probably have,

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you're going to take AI.
Think High Road and low Rd.

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A High Road leader responds
well, they're very calm.

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They've collected their
thoughts, so they're not making

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assumptions.
They're staying curious.

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So their feelings are not huge.
They're not taking things

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personal.
They're able to respond to the

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challenge.
We want to be that.

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But occasionally we take the low
Rd.

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We allow our thoughts to just
spiral out of control with

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assumptions and stories, and
then we have big feelings and

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big emotions and then we have an
overreaction.

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It's happened.
It's happened to me plenty of

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times.
If that happens to you, the next

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step is to own it.
You have to reconcile with the

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people in which you have
overreacted.

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Own it, Take accountability for
your actions and just say you

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know what this thing happened
and then explain it.

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I allowed my thoughts to take
this path and therefore had this

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emotion and this overreaction
and that was not OK and I'm

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sorry.
And so here's how I would like

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to, you know, reconcile not only
the the action of how to solve

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this problem, but also the
relationship because I've

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probably heard the relationship
with that overreaction.

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So those are the 2 of proactive
and then kind of, I guess

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reactive.
How do I overcome my

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overreaction?
And it's so true.

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We need to recognize what's
going on inside of us.

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And then when we mess up and we
will mess up, we're human.

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We have to own it, and we have
to take responsibility.

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And sometimes we have to
apologize, you know, so that we

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can move on, forgive one another
and live a life in peace and

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productivity.
So I was thinking about this

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very thing just this week and
what helped me to start living

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out some of these principles
that you're talking about, you

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know, dealing with the internal
mess.

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And somebody pointed out to me
you cannot spell message without

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the word mess.
Oh, that's good.

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Yeah, we all have a mess.
Some messes are bigger than

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others, but we all have a mess
and we all have a message.

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But for me, in order for me to
tell my story, to develop the

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scars and heal the wounds, I had
to get still.

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And I feel like God told me
Randy be still.

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I don't do that well if I'm
busy, I'm not thinking about the

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internal mess.
If I'm busy, I'm not necessarily

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feeling all of the feels, but I
had to get still and I had to be

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obedient with with what God was
saying to me.

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And it was then that I started
to heal from my mess, from my

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wounds.
And during that time, I launched

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my book, I started my new
business and I've kind of

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started a whole new chapter of
my life.

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I know you as well have written
a book called Leadership on the

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Rocks.
And I'm just curious, you know,

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high, high overview, what,
what's the message that you want

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to share through your story,
through your book?

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I just love that you asked this
question because it's so true.

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We have to go through pain and
earn those wounds, but then also

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heal to where we have the scars
and the limps and now we have a

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message.
I have been through this

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hardship, but here's what I
learned from it so that I can

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encourage you when or if you go
through that same hardship.

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And that's what the majority of
books and messages and podcasts

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are about.
And so mine is no different.

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So I I actually got a skip level
promotion in education.

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I went from instructional coach
at a junior high.

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And this is north of Houston in
a very large district, so

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massive school systems.
And so I went from a junior high

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to opening a brand new high
school that was going to be 6 a

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so thousands of kids, you know,
the anchor high school for that,

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that part of the community that
was just exploding.

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The community had like 60,000
people in it.

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And in that skip level
promotion, what I felt was first

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of all, absolute elation.
Oh my gosh.

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You mean you want me to skip be
an assistant principal, to be an

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associate principal, to
establish the curriculum and

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instruction and culture of this
building?

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Oh my gosh, yes.
I have so many ideas.

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Vision, mountaintop of promotion
was where I was at.

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I was made for this.
And then as soon as I, you know,

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got through that mountaintop of
promotion of all the ideas and

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the vision and the goals, I
literally felt like I got kicked

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out of a plane with a parachute
that said, good luck.

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Let us know if you need
anything.

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And then I crash landed on to
this like horrible rocky

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terrain.
And I had no idea what I was

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doing as a leader because again,
there's there's no way to

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prepare for that.
And so I felt immediately like I

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experienced Jumanji level 5
problems, conflicts and

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constraints, what I call the
landslide of reality of being a

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leader.
And I landed in this valley of

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despair and overwhelm.
Is this what leadership is as an

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individual contributor?
Man, it was nothing but positive

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affirmation for me.
I'm always helping people.

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I'm serving.
It's great.

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And then as a leader, it was
nothing but negativity.

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I have this problem.
I have this conflict.

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Here's a constraint.
You know, you have to hire all

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of these teachers, like 200
teachers in one year.

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And then how in the world are
you going to find a computer

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science teacher when zero people
applied like stress?

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And so and.
And through that, I tell you, it

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broke me down.
And I compare this.

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I am full of visual analogies.
Forgive me.

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I'm a visual thinker.
I feel like that whole

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experience was just stripping me
away of all my pride,

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selfishness, arrogance,
everything that I thought I

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brought to the table.
Now, I still bring things to the

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table.
It's important to know that.

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But it had to strip me away to
say that I can control and do

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everything.
Yeah.

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And I learned that I can't.
I just, it was such a hard

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lesson and I learned so much
about the process.

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And so the book, the high level
book, the view of the book is

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you are navigating a wilderness
as a leader.

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How are you going to navigate
it?

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And what I've learned through my
experience, through my pain, and

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now I walk with a limp because
of it is there are four things

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that you absolutely must
consider when you're navigating

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any challenge as a leader.
Number one is the head of

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leadership.
That's your mindset.

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Your mindset is your GPS.
It sets the navigation for how

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in the world you're going to
navigate all of it.

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It's the biggest battle you face
is the one in your own head as a

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leader.
And so how do you capture your

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thoughts?
How am I thinking about the the

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situation?
And the next part is the heart

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of leadership.
It's all about relationships.

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As a leader, you're no longer
doing the tasks, you're leading

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the people.
How am I connecting,

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communicating and collaborating
with the people involved?

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And so it's the heart of
leadership.

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And then the third one is the
hands of leadership.

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And it's all about execution.
You've actually been hired to

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get something done.
You have to improve scores, get

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results, increase profit,
whatever that is.

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And so how do you organize
systems and processes with great

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service to get the thing done?
That's the execution piece, the

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hands.
And then lastly, I learned this

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the hard way.
It probably left the deepest

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scars is accountability.
And that's how, how am I going

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to own it?
And that comes with having the

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hard conversations, you know,
and, and also owning the

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mistakes.
And here's what the biggest

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lesson I learned with
accountability of the guts of

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leadership is.
So often I can look at people

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and say, you're being the
problem.

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But if I back up enough and I
say, whoa, was I clear in the

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expectation?
Did I provide training and then

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coaching?
If the answers are no, it's not

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their problem, it's my problem.
And so lots of lessons learned.

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But that is pretty much the
essential message of the book

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Leadership on the Rocks.
It's how to survive but also

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navigate and then thrive in that
wilderness using that framework.

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Yeah, such powerful lessons in
that book too.

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And I love that you talk about
the mindset piece because you

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know, we are our biggest
obstacle and it starts in the

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mind.
That's where everything starts.

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And if we can take those those
thoughts captive, there's often

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a way to overcome our obstacles
through a simple reframe.

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When we're.
Yeah, when we're getting in our

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way, If we can reframe the
obstacles into opportunities,

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just like you said, you know, if
we take a couple of steps back

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and we look in the mirror and if
somebody wasn't successful, did

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we coach them?
Did we set clear expectations?

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And if that answer is no, we can
use that to reframe and to help

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us to do better the next time to
set those people up for success.

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But it's a it's a simple
practice that we have to be

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intentional about.
But I love the lessons, the

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head, the heart, the hands and
the gut with accountability and

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ownership so powerful.
So I often ask people on this

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podcast, you know, sometimes it
gets a little bit heavy because

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we're talking about adversity,
we're talking about obstacles,

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talking about the pain points of
leadership.

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What brings you joy, Bethany?
What do you love?

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About life oh man so many things
but let me tell you where I have

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found my absolute peace and I've
I've learned 2 words that I just

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anchor too harmony and joy.
We so often talk about balance

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and I am huge on how do you
navigate professionally without

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it overwhelming your personal
life because you also need to

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lead your family well.
And what I have found is

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harmony.
It's not balance.

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It's not a math problem.
There are going to be seasons

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00:15:36,960 --> 00:15:40,720
where my work, my professional
works gets a little bit more of

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00:15:40,720 --> 00:15:42,720
me than my family, but there's
going to be seasons where my

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00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:44,320
family needs more of me than my
professional work.

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00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:46,160
It's harmony.
Think about music.

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00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:48,960
I'm not a music person.
I Can't Sing a lick, but I do

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00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:51,360
know enough to have.
You can have different notes,

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00:15:51,520 --> 00:15:53,720
they're playing at different
levels, but together it's

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00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:55,080
harmony.
It sounds good.

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00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:58,960
And that's what I shoot for is
harmony between my professional

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00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:01,360
and my personal life and that
has given me.

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Now let's talk about joy.
It's not happiness.

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Happiness is in a moment of a
feeling.

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Joy is a piece about you despite
the chaos that may even be

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00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:14,200
around you.
Doesn't matter the circumstance,

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00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:17,280
it's not circumstantial.
Joy is an inner peace that I

304
00:16:17,280 --> 00:16:20,320
have because I have harmony and
I have peace.

305
00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:23,520
Shalom with God and with my
family and how I'm serving at

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00:16:23,520 --> 00:16:26,120
work.
It doesn't mean I will ever out

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00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:30,120
navigate or ever out proactively
plan problems, conflicts and

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00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:33,720
constraints.
Where I find joy is now in my

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00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:39,280
role as a leader is I can't
always out structure again,

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00:16:39,280 --> 00:16:40,640
problems, conflicts and
constraints.

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00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:43,360
But you know what my role is and
now I have joy in this is when

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00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:46,440
they come and they're going to
continue to come is my job is to

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run to it and then through it
and to show people how to

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00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:52,520
navigate it well.
And, and I think so often we

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00:16:52,520 --> 00:16:55,920
live in this absolute love of
self help, where if you just

316
00:16:55,920 --> 00:16:59,240
implement my 10 step program,
you will mitigate all problems,

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00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:03,920
conflicts and constraints.
OK, you can make them a little

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00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:06,839
less, get proactive, get ahead
of it, but you're not going to

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00:17:06,839 --> 00:17:09,880
make them all go away.
My job as a leader now and my

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00:17:09,880 --> 00:17:12,880
hope lies and the joy of you
know what?

321
00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:15,400
I have more confidence that my
job is to run to it.

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00:17:15,520 --> 00:17:18,440
That's why I'm here, and that's
my hope and my joy.

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00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:22,040
So I have harmony and I have
joy, despite the chaotic world

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00:17:22,040 --> 00:17:23,880
that we live in.
That's beautiful.

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00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:27,319
I love that and it makes me
think of that image you talked

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00:17:27,319 --> 00:17:30,320
about visual images of the
Buffalo, you know, being like

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00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:34,400
the Buffalo and running into the
storm and going through it.

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00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:37,720
Sometimes the patterns in our
lives, the themes in our lives,

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00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:40,880
they emerge and they re emerge
because we never really truly

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00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:44,560
deal with it.
We never get still and clean out

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00:17:44,560 --> 00:17:49,320
the house, getting in every nook
and cranny, opening every drawer

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00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:57,800
and cleaning out every area of
our life so that we can live a

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00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:00,520
life that God has intended for
us to live.

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00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:05,000
And I believe that God has given
each one of us a purpose and he

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00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:10,440
has predestined what we, what we
are to do in this in this life

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00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:14,520
that he has given us.
And your purpose is very

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00:18:14,520 --> 00:18:18,080
powerful.
Now when you think about your

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00:18:18,120 --> 00:18:21,880
purpose, Bethany, you know,
you've been a school leader,

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00:18:22,120 --> 00:18:25,720
you've you're an author.
Now you're a coach and a

340
00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:29,000
consultant.
How would you describe your

341
00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:32,400
life's purpose?
And so for me, I have to

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00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:34,560
differentiate it a little bit.
I am a person of faith.

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00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:37,720
So my purpose is love God, love
people.

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00:18:38,080 --> 00:18:41,120
That's my purpose.
My calling is the way in which I

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00:18:41,120 --> 00:18:45,320
engage with the world.
And so I would say looking at

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00:18:45,320 --> 00:18:48,520
the the talents or spiritual
gifts or whatever the

347
00:18:48,520 --> 00:18:51,760
experiences God has given me and
how to use them in that calling

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00:18:51,760 --> 00:18:54,800
to love God and love people.
It's very much I am an

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00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:58,080
encourager.
I can sit with people without

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00:18:58,080 --> 00:19:02,360
judgment in the funkiest of funk
that they're sitting in and just

351
00:19:02,360 --> 00:19:05,920
say, tell me all the things.
I will not judge you because

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00:19:05,920 --> 00:19:08,920
mercy is also very high in my
spiritual gifts.

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00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:11,640
And I can just sit there and say
you're not alone.

354
00:19:11,640 --> 00:19:13,320
Let's walk together and figure
out.

355
00:19:13,320 --> 00:19:16,760
I can encourage you.
Let's figure out how to walk out

356
00:19:16,760 --> 00:19:20,040
of this.
And so I think that is my, my

357
00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:23,440
calling.
I, I, you know, looking at all

358
00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:26,080
of it doesn't matter the
personality test you take or the

359
00:19:26,600 --> 00:19:31,880
strength finders or enneagram or
disc, all of that stuff is you,

360
00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:34,920
you look at it and you say, man,
God has enabled me in certain

361
00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:37,280
ways.
How can I ensure that I'm using

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00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:40,440
those gifts and talents to serve
God and love people?

363
00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:42,880
And so that's mine is I'm high
in mercy.

364
00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:45,320
I love listening, I love
encouraging and I love coaching.

365
00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:48,040
Doesn't mean I have all the
answers, but I can only sit with

366
00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:49,440
you in the funk and you're not
alone.

367
00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:51,480
And together we will figure out
how to navigate it.

368
00:19:51,840 --> 00:19:55,480
And that differentiation between
purpose and calling, it's

369
00:19:55,480 --> 00:20:00,560
important because I believe it
is everybody's purpose to love

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00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:03,680
God and love people.
But a calling is something a

371
00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:05,520
little bit different.
So I love that you

372
00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:09,080
differentiated those two.
And then when you think about,

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00:20:09,360 --> 00:20:13,800
you know, that that role of
being a person who gives mercy,

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00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:17,640
who encourages other people, you
do that in your coaching.

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00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:23,600
How does that how does that look
in practice, Bethany?

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00:20:25,360 --> 00:20:28,320
Let me give you a couple of
examples, and they're an

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00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:31,840
education examples.
So as an administrator, you do

378
00:20:31,840 --> 00:20:33,360
hours and hours and hours of
duty.

379
00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:37,040
If you're either at a sport
event or you're doing lunch duty

380
00:20:37,040 --> 00:20:38,840
or hallway duty, you're always
doing duty, right?

381
00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:42,120
And so I was walking down the
hallway during lunch duty.

382
00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:44,680
And then, you know, kids should
either be in class or they

383
00:20:44,680 --> 00:20:47,560
should be in the lunchroom.
And something just drew me down

384
00:20:47,560 --> 00:20:51,120
a hallway and there was a kid
sitting in a hallway sobbing, a

385
00:20:51,120 --> 00:20:54,840
girl.
And in that moment, I just, I

386
00:20:54,840 --> 00:20:57,400
literally sat in the floor,
crisscross applesauce, and she's

387
00:20:57,400 --> 00:20:59,920
a teenager.
And I'm sitting there and I

388
00:20:59,920 --> 00:21:01,920
said, hello, my name is Miss
Reese.

389
00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:03,880
I am.
And and I couldn't see her face.

390
00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:05,840
Her hair's all covered.
She's sobbing in her hands.

391
00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:08,400
And so I told her who I was and
that I was going to sit there

392
00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:11,240
with her and that she could take
all the time she needed.

393
00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:13,680
Didn't ask.
You know, she's experiencing big

394
00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:15,600
emotions.
People don't have logical brains

395
00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:17,200
and thoughts whenever they're
having big emotions.

396
00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:18,400
I'm letting her have her big
emotion.

397
00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:21,160
But she is safe.
And so I told her that, and I

398
00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:22,400
think that's one of the ways
now.

399
00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:26,040
We eventually got her out of the
hallway to my office and all,

400
00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:28,320
you know, everything opened up
about all that she had gone

401
00:21:28,320 --> 00:21:29,800
through.
She had attempted suicide.

402
00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:31,880
This was her first day back to
school after having been

403
00:21:31,880 --> 00:21:34,120
hospitalized.
It was just a big thing.

404
00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:37,880
And we had a very close
relationship all the way until

405
00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:41,160
she graduated.
And so that is an example of

406
00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:45,720
just, I don't know, listen to
those intuitions that you're

407
00:21:45,720 --> 00:21:48,720
having.
Notice, if you notice something,

408
00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:51,000
you're noticing it for a reason.
Step into that.

409
00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:54,120
Don't just, you know, sweep it
to the side and continue doing a

410
00:21:54,120 --> 00:21:56,200
task.
Focus on the people.

411
00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:58,240
What did you notice?
Did you notice a shift in

412
00:21:58,240 --> 00:22:00,160
atmosphere or body language or
whatever?

413
00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:03,800
Follow that.
And then looking at teachers,

414
00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:06,600
I'm going to go with the COVID
example because that was the

415
00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:08,680
hardest thing I've ever gone
through professionally.

416
00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:11,120
Again, in education, it flipped
on a dime.

417
00:22:11,160 --> 00:22:14,920
I mean, we were literally, I was
in Texas, we were on spring

418
00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:17,440
break and we didn't come back
from spring break physically.

419
00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:22,160
Now administrators did and the
anxiety of everybody, What are

420
00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:23,760
we going to do?
How's it going to look from

421
00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:27,160
teachers to students to parents
to the community, everybody.

422
00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:31,320
The anxiety was so high.
I had 0 answers.

423
00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:34,840
I enjoyed working in the state
of Texas and I'm sure a lot of

424
00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:38,040
people experience this, but I it
just felt like they changed

425
00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:39,720
their mind on everything.
Every single day.

426
00:22:39,720 --> 00:22:41,360
It's like today we're doing
this.

427
00:22:41,360 --> 00:22:42,760
Nope, tomorrow we're going to do
something different.

428
00:22:42,760 --> 00:22:45,120
It was just constantly changing.
You know, we had asynchronous

429
00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:47,400
and we had synchronous teaching.
It was, we had to do dual

430
00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:49,400
platforms.
It felt so chaotic.

431
00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:52,560
But at the end of the day, I sit
there and I'm like, I'm going to

432
00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:55,040
put myself in the shoes of the
teacher, the student and the

433
00:22:55,040 --> 00:22:57,200
parent.
What's the number one question

434
00:22:57,200 --> 00:23:01,920
they're asking and how can I
step into that and say, I see

435
00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:04,560
you, I see what you're asking,
what you're feeling, what you're

436
00:23:04,560 --> 00:23:07,080
experiencing, and here's how I
can encourage you in the moment.

437
00:23:07,120 --> 00:23:11,600
And so much of that led to
constant communication, even if

438
00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:13,040
it was, I don't have a new
answer.

439
00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:17,080
And the whole point of this
communication is I'm here and I

440
00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:19,280
am here for you, no matter what
it is.

441
00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:23,240
And that was how I LED through.
And that's how I was able to see

442
00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:26,000
around the corner.
I think through COVID, I didn't

443
00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:31,000
always know the mandates that I
could put myself in a posture of

444
00:23:31,040 --> 00:23:34,600
empathy for the people I was
serving so that I knew how to

445
00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:38,280
reach out a little bit quicker
to to meet whatever their needs

446
00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:39,760
were.
Because whenever something like

447
00:23:39,760 --> 00:23:43,320
that happens, go back to
Maslow's hierarchy, it's all

448
00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:45,920
about physical safety, emotional
safety 1st.

449
00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:48,800
And those, those were the needs
that I was meeting.

450
00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:51,520
And then we got to all the other
needs of educational needs and

451
00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:53,520
all the other stuff.
But those are just two quick

452
00:23:53,520 --> 00:23:55,680
examples.
Yeah, those are great examples.

453
00:23:55,680 --> 00:24:00,320
And, you know, I think that when
you think about what we dealt

454
00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:04,800
with with COVID and you know,
that example of the student who

455
00:24:04,920 --> 00:24:09,760
was sobbing in the hallway,
those moments that we can step

456
00:24:09,760 --> 00:24:13,360
into a need and can really
connect with somebody.

457
00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:18,480
Sometimes it's a trauma bond.
Sometimes you are bonding with a

458
00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:21,960
person because that is a turning
point in their life.

459
00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:24,840
And you were the helper, you
were the encourager, You were

460
00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:28,600
the person that gave mercy.
And I think about, you know,

461
00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:33,280
when my brother Brandon drowned
so many years ago, that class,

462
00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:35,720
his classmates, they're still
bonded.

463
00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:40,840
It's a trauma bond.
When we step into the messiness

464
00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:46,680
of life and we show up for those
people, we can really change the

465
00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:51,880
trajectory of people's lives.
And it feels good to be able to

466
00:24:51,880 --> 00:24:56,760
do that for other people.
But in that service, we are also

467
00:24:56,760 --> 00:25:00,720
helping ourselves.
It it is so true.

468
00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:02,040
And let me tell you one thing I
learned.

469
00:25:02,040 --> 00:25:04,800
I'm such a, a feeler, an
empathetic feeler.

470
00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:10,600
My first year, I was so weighed
down heavy with every situation

471
00:25:10,600 --> 00:25:13,200
that I learned of whether it be
teacher, student, whatever.

472
00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:15,560
And then I took it home and it
affected my sleep.

473
00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:18,240
I had insomnia so, so bad.
What about this person?

474
00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:23,040
What about this person and I
learned not just learned I could

475
00:25:23,040 --> 00:25:25,800
not live without going to God
every single morning.

476
00:25:25,800 --> 00:25:30,400
I was waking up so much earlier
than I had to to say God, you

477
00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:32,920
know every single soul that's
going to walk through those

478
00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:34,840
doors today and every single
need that they have.

479
00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:38,720
Let me be the hands and feet
with whoever, however, but also

480
00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:42,000
God.
I cannot carry their weight and

481
00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:45,040
their situations either.
So I am coming to exchange it.

482
00:25:45,040 --> 00:25:47,200
And that's where I learned the
process of just exchanging

483
00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:51,520
through prayer and scripture at
the cross Here is this, this,

484
00:25:51,840 --> 00:25:54,200
you know, precious student who
is going through some massive

485
00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:56,320
trauma, so much so she wanted to
end her own life.

486
00:25:56,600 --> 00:25:59,960
I lay her at your cross in
exchange for God.

487
00:26:00,120 --> 00:26:03,760
Just give me spiritual
discernment and knowing how to

488
00:26:03,760 --> 00:26:06,400
be there for her.
And it helped me internally

489
00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:09,600
where I didn't walk around
carrying, you know, this bag of

490
00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:14,000
rocks of everybody's problems,
conflicts, constraints or

491
00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:19,240
struggles as a feeler.
And I've learned to do that by

492
00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:22,240
exchanging it at the cross.
They are your person.

493
00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:25,120
And I do it with my kids.
I have grown children now, man.

494
00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:27,800
I am constantly.
I picture my mind of them when

495
00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:29,040
they are infants.
They are your.

496
00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:31,880
Children, please show me how to
parent them well as adults

497
00:26:31,880 --> 00:26:33,400
because it's a different
relationship.

498
00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:36,920
It is, it is.
And as a control freak, you have

499
00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:39,080
no control over your adult
children.

500
00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:44,840
And it is that act of letting go
and giving it to God over and

501
00:26:44,840 --> 00:26:47,400
over and over again.
And I'm in the same season of my

502
00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:50,760
life where, you know, my kids
are making decision.

503
00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:52,760
They're raising their own
children.

504
00:26:52,760 --> 00:26:56,880
They've they've launched into
adulthood, fully launched.

505
00:26:56,920 --> 00:27:01,160
And sometimes it's hard for me
to just give it all over to God

506
00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:03,280
and to let them live their
lives.

507
00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:06,400
But I know in the long term,
that's what we're called to do.

508
00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:10,920
We raise them and then they
launch and they're going to live

509
00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:12,760
their life at this point
forward.

510
00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:21,120
But you talked a little bit
about, you know, praying and,

511
00:27:21,120 --> 00:27:24,240
and giving these constraints and
these problems and these

512
00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:27,600
struggles over to God.
I started out in education as a

513
00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:31,280
school social worker.
And one of the early lessons

514
00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:34,120
that I learned was to
compartmentalize.

515
00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:38,320
And when I started counseling,
that's how I dealt with it.

516
00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:41,480
I would compartmentalize.
I would say a prayer over my

517
00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:44,760
students when I left my office
at the end of the day and I

518
00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:46,760
would leave it at the office and
go home.

519
00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:52,000
But over the years I found that
that really doesn't work because

520
00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:55,880
if you're compartmentalizing,
that compartment begins to get

521
00:27:55,880 --> 00:27:59,400
very heavy and it begins to
weigh you down.

522
00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:02,640
And so I think the better path
forward is, is the path that

523
00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:06,280
you've provided for us here
today is in the moment.

524
00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:09,720
Love those people with
everything you've got.

525
00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:13,960
Be present and and help them in
any way that you can.

526
00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:19,360
But I don't know that you can
really compartmentalize.

527
00:28:19,360 --> 00:28:23,560
But what you can do is you can
say, God, I know I can't carry

528
00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:26,760
this burden, but I know you can.
So I'm going to give it to you

529
00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:31,040
and then go home and love your
family.

530
00:28:31,680 --> 00:28:33,880
It's so true.
Can I, can I give the background

531
00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:35,480
of leadership on the rocks for a
minute?

532
00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:36,880
Because I think it ties in
perfectly.

533
00:28:37,480 --> 00:28:40,760
You know, in Matthew chapter 5,
Jesus is given the Sermon on the

534
00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:45,960
Mount and there's so much
amazing just how to live as a

535
00:28:45,960 --> 00:28:47,920
disciple of Christ in the Sermon
on the Mount.

536
00:28:47,920 --> 00:28:51,720
So Matthew chapters 5 through 7
and he talks about, you know,

537
00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:55,840
the Beatitudes, blessed are the
poor in spirit and blessed are,

538
00:28:55,840 --> 00:29:00,280
you know, the the morning and
for they shall be comforted all

539
00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:01,520
these things.
And then he also talks about

540
00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:04,120
anxiety, right?
Who can add to their life a

541
00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:05,960
single hour with anxious
thoughts?

542
00:29:05,960 --> 00:29:07,840
You know, isn't life more than
food, the body more than

543
00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:09,480
clothing?
Like don't be anxious like he's

544
00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:11,520
telling us how to live.
Don't be anxious, be light, be

545
00:29:11,520 --> 00:29:15,800
solved at the very end.
Matthew's chapter, Chapter 7,

546
00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:19,560
verses 24 through 27, he's given
all this of how to live as a

547
00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:22,760
disciple of Christ.
And then he says, the man who

548
00:29:22,840 --> 00:29:25,080
you know, listens to these words
of mine and puts them into

549
00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:28,600
practice is like the wise man
who built his house on the rock.

550
00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:32,440
And then the rains came and the
floods rose and his house stood

551
00:29:32,440 --> 00:29:36,120
firm, you know, but the foolish
man built his house.

552
00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:38,080
Who doesn't listen to these
words of mine, builds his house

553
00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:40,720
on the sand.
And then the rains came and the

554
00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:44,040
floods rose and his house, you
know, great was the fall of it,

555
00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:46,280
you know, And I think of the I
used to sing my children the

556
00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:48,000
song.
And the wise man built his house

557
00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:50,280
up on the rock.
I used to sing all this stuff.

558
00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:52,560
So I've heard this story
multiple times.

559
00:29:52,560 --> 00:29:55,680
I've, you know, sang the song.
But as I was going through

560
00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:59,040
massive hardship of how do I
navigate problems, conflicts,

561
00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:02,440
constraints again, Jumanji level
5 every day, how do I navigate

562
00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:05,000
this?
I was like, oh, I'm going to go

563
00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:07,640
to the Sermon on the Mount.
This is how I love people.

564
00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:09,600
I love my enemy.
The parent that is cussing me

565
00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:12,040
out have been spit on twice.
Like, come on, I'm still going

566
00:30:12,040 --> 00:30:13,840
to love those people because
that's what Jesus called me to

567
00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:16,440
do.
It removes me from my emotions

568
00:30:16,440 --> 00:30:18,800
in that moment.
And so as I'm looking at the

569
00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:21,240
Sermon on the Mount at the end,
I was like, I just got to build

570
00:30:21,240 --> 00:30:26,240
my leadership on the rock.
And I love puns.

571
00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:29,960
And I also know whenever people
are stressed and things are not

572
00:30:29,960 --> 00:30:32,600
going well, they say my job is
on the rocks, my marriage is on

573
00:30:32,600 --> 00:30:34,640
the rocks.
You know what, I'm so stressed.

574
00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:36,640
I'm going to have a drink on the
rocks.

575
00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:40,880
That's a negative connotation.
And I'm like, oh, let's take

576
00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:42,360
that.
Let's take that lifestyle that

577
00:30:42,360 --> 00:30:45,400
we're struggling with every day.
Everything is bad and it's on

578
00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:48,840
the rocks to wait.
I'm going to love and live like

579
00:30:48,840 --> 00:30:51,360
Christ and I'm going to lead
like that, and I'm going to

580
00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:54,720
build my life and my leadership
on the rock with the most

581
00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:57,880
essential rock being Jesus.
So that's the background of this

582
00:30:57,880 --> 00:30:59,160
phrase.
I love puns too.

583
00:30:59,160 --> 00:31:02,280
So my own podcast, Leadership on
the Rocks, has a whiskey glass,

584
00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:04,680
but really it's about coming to
the rock of Jesus.

585
00:31:05,040 --> 00:31:08,560
I love that.
And as a faith-based leader,

586
00:31:10,320 --> 00:31:13,680
that is the source.
That is the only way that I know

587
00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:17,280
to get through the adversity,
through the problems, the

588
00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:19,040
challenges, the struggles of
life.

589
00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:23,560
And, and as I said before, we
all have a mess in our message.

590
00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:29,840
And what I think the most
powerful way that we can use our

591
00:31:29,840 --> 00:31:32,880
message is to point people to
Jesus.

592
00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:36,920
Yeah, and it doesn't mean breast
knuckles beating him over the

593
00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:39,640
head of the Bible.
It is how you love, you know,

594
00:31:39,640 --> 00:31:41,760
And I just think about going
back to Jesus again.

595
00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:45,000
Those, you know, when I was
sick, you took care of me.

596
00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:46,440
You visited me.
When I was in prison, you

597
00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:51,000
visited me like how you love
other people by just being kind,

598
00:31:51,040 --> 00:31:55,920
by being present, by noticing
and just being there with them

599
00:31:56,160 --> 00:31:59,520
that is loving them like Jesus.
It's not, you know, hey, can I

600
00:31:59,560 --> 00:32:01,200
open up the Bible and tell you
the Scripture?

601
00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:03,760
It's through that relationship
of I'm going to be with you in

602
00:32:03,760 --> 00:32:06,120
the mess.
I have my own mess, right by the

603
00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:09,040
blood of the Lamb.
Salvation is Jesus is not ours,

604
00:32:09,600 --> 00:32:12,000
but the word of our testimony,
All right, blood of the Lamb and

605
00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:15,120
the word of our testimony, our
testimony, our message, how

606
00:32:15,200 --> 00:32:17,960
we've experienced pain and how
we can encourage others through

607
00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:19,840
their own pain.
That's what we're here for.

608
00:32:20,200 --> 00:32:24,040
And I think as leaders, I mean,
we can look, there are story

609
00:32:24,040 --> 00:32:29,840
after story after story in the
Bible that gives us solid

610
00:32:29,840 --> 00:32:33,800
instructions through parables,
through stories, through

611
00:32:34,160 --> 00:32:38,240
scripture of how we are to live
our life, how we are to love God

612
00:32:38,240 --> 00:32:40,440
and love people.
And I think about the story of

613
00:32:40,440 --> 00:32:44,080
Mara, Mary and Martha, you know,
Mary and Martha.

614
00:32:44,080 --> 00:32:48,520
And one of them was focused on
tasks as a leader.

615
00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:51,000
That was me.
I was focused on the task.

616
00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:56,080
I I wanted to get the results
and I wanted to control all of

617
00:32:56,080 --> 00:32:58,280
the things and make these things
happen.

618
00:32:59,840 --> 00:33:04,280
But what we're called to do is
forget about the tasks sometimes

619
00:33:04,560 --> 00:33:08,800
and focus on the people.
And I can't remember which one I

620
00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:11,840
think it was.
Was it Martha that was loving on

621
00:33:11,840 --> 00:33:13,760
Jesus?
But no, Mary was loving on

622
00:33:13,800 --> 00:33:14,560
Jesus.
Martha was the.

623
00:33:14,600 --> 00:33:16,240
Task Martha was the task
taskmaster.

624
00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:20,200
Yeah.
So, you know, she, Mary was

625
00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:25,320
loving on Jesus.
She was washing his feet, she

626
00:33:25,320 --> 00:33:30,600
was taking care of his needs.
And that's what we are called to

627
00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:32,360
do.
We are called to love one

628
00:33:32,360 --> 00:33:34,120
another.
And it's not always easy.

629
00:33:34,120 --> 00:33:38,040
It's not easy when you have your
keyboard warriors and they're

630
00:33:38,040 --> 00:33:41,720
saying terrible things about you
on Facebook or they're blaming

631
00:33:41,720 --> 00:33:45,200
you because you didn't hire that
computer teacher quickly enough.

632
00:33:46,200 --> 00:33:49,120
It sometimes it's hard and
sometimes those internal

633
00:33:49,120 --> 00:33:53,960
struggles that we're dealing
with are triggered by those

634
00:33:53,960 --> 00:33:57,840
negative comments or the
commentary that we're reading.

635
00:33:58,040 --> 00:34:01,440
And it's important that despite
all of that, we build our

636
00:34:01,440 --> 00:34:04,960
leadership on the rocks and we
love people.

637
00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:07,520
But first we have to love God.
We have to have that

638
00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:10,239
relationship with Christ and the
thing that got me through the

639
00:34:10,239 --> 00:34:12,040
day, right.
I told you I woke up early and I

640
00:34:12,040 --> 00:34:14,120
still do right.
Bible study is so important.

641
00:34:14,239 --> 00:34:15,560
It anchors my day for
everything.

642
00:34:15,560 --> 00:34:17,520
I have coffee.
I literally have my coffee cup

643
00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:19,159
right here running on Jesus and
coffee right.

644
00:34:19,560 --> 00:34:21,760
And so that that anchors your
day.

645
00:34:21,760 --> 00:34:25,960
But in the chaos of the day that
the running, the busyness, I

646
00:34:25,960 --> 00:34:27,560
cannot tell you how much this
helped me.

647
00:34:27,560 --> 00:34:30,400
This is like my number one tool.
If I could give you a tool to

648
00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:35,880
use, it's actually 2 is pray.
Pray before you go into that

649
00:34:35,880 --> 00:34:39,000
meeting.
Pray while you're doing the task

650
00:34:39,040 --> 00:34:41,760
of supervising whatever.
I mean, I can't tell you how

651
00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:43,639
many times.
I mean, obviously we can't

652
00:34:43,639 --> 00:34:47,480
proselytize or or do anything
like that in public education.

653
00:34:47,639 --> 00:34:49,120
But man, nobody controls my
head.

654
00:34:49,120 --> 00:34:52,760
I'm prayer walking that
cafeteria and all these kids.

655
00:34:52,760 --> 00:34:54,760
I know so and so's going through
this situation.

656
00:34:54,760 --> 00:34:56,560
Lord, be with them, be with
their family.

657
00:34:56,560 --> 00:34:59,040
This kids, a foster child,
please be with them.

658
00:34:59,280 --> 00:35:01,320
Like I'm prayer walking that
thing as I'm paying attention.

659
00:35:01,320 --> 00:35:03,720
So I'm not on my phone checking
my e-mail, right?

660
00:35:03,840 --> 00:35:06,560
Literally engaging with kids and
praying for them.

661
00:35:07,120 --> 00:35:09,040
So prayer, pray before the big
meetings.

662
00:35:09,040 --> 00:35:11,720
Pray before the presentations.
Holy Spirit, come down upon me.

663
00:35:11,720 --> 00:35:14,360
Give me your words to, you know,
speak about whatever it is that

664
00:35:14,360 --> 00:35:17,440
needs to be spoken about.
And then the second one is have

665
00:35:17,440 --> 00:35:19,840
mantras to capture your
thoughts.

666
00:35:19,840 --> 00:35:22,560
Our spot, our thoughts spiral so
quickly.

667
00:35:22,840 --> 00:35:26,360
Yeah, they go so fast.
Our brain is an amazing creation

668
00:35:26,360 --> 00:35:31,560
by God, but it's so fast before
you get on the spiral of

669
00:35:31,560 --> 00:35:34,480
negative thoughts or judgments
have a mantra to blow that first

670
00:35:34,480 --> 00:35:38,760
thought up to take that thought
captive to Christ and the way

671
00:35:38,760 --> 00:35:40,800
that you do that.
I loved memorizing Scripture and

672
00:35:40,800 --> 00:35:44,640
there's so many that just anchor
If I am sitting in a conflict

673
00:35:45,040 --> 00:35:48,720
quick to listen, slow to speak,
slow to become angry right.

674
00:35:48,720 --> 00:35:53,760
James 119 Always I say that in
my head at Bethany B quick to

675
00:35:53,760 --> 00:35:55,760
listen, listen, listen, listen,
so to speak.

676
00:35:56,320 --> 00:36:00,520
And then another one is like
social media and spreading lies

677
00:36:00,920 --> 00:36:02,520
and miscommunication.
Awful.

678
00:36:03,160 --> 00:36:05,080
And then stuff about you,
especially when it's about you

679
00:36:05,080 --> 00:36:06,600
and you're just like, that's
100% not true.

680
00:36:06,600 --> 00:36:08,640
What that is not what happened.
That's not what I said.

681
00:36:08,640 --> 00:36:13,400
Whatever I have to go to, I have
to lean on, you know, and this

682
00:36:13,400 --> 00:36:15,640
is in Psalms and I don't even
remember all the references all

683
00:36:15,640 --> 00:36:19,000
the times, but you know, God, I
serve you, not man.

684
00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:20,800
What can man do to me?
That's in the Psalm.

685
00:36:20,800 --> 00:36:24,680
What can man do to me?
And I'm like, you know what,

686
00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:26,000
you're going to handle this and
it's OK.

687
00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:30,320
I'll deal with it as I can.
But also, this is a second.

688
00:36:30,360 --> 00:36:34,920
Timothy 17 is God did not give
me a spirit of fear, but one of

689
00:36:34,920 --> 00:36:38,400
power, love and sound mind.
I can't tell you how much

690
00:36:38,400 --> 00:36:41,880
anxiety and fear run how we
interact with others.

691
00:36:42,560 --> 00:36:44,000
God did not give me a spirit of
fear.

692
00:36:44,040 --> 00:36:46,280
I will take caps.
I will take my thoughts captive

693
00:36:46,280 --> 00:36:49,520
to Christ and I will not have
fear and anxiety and all the

694
00:36:49,520 --> 00:36:52,200
stuff about this got to have
your power show me, give me

695
00:36:52,200 --> 00:36:54,920
discernment.
So mantras, Bible verses, use

696
00:36:54,920 --> 00:36:57,520
them day-to-day in every
situation that you're

697
00:36:57,520 --> 00:36:59,600
encountering.
Yeah, I love quotes.

698
00:36:59,640 --> 00:37:02,920
And so the quotes that I had in
my in my office, there were a

699
00:37:02,920 --> 00:37:06,320
number of them, but there's a
couple that really stand out.

700
00:37:06,320 --> 00:37:10,400
And one my favorite Scripture is
all things work together for the

701
00:37:10,400 --> 00:37:13,080
good of those who love the Lord
and are called in accordance to

702
00:37:13,080 --> 00:37:16,760
his purpose.
Romans 828 And you know, all

703
00:37:16,760 --> 00:37:18,920
things work for good.
That was one of the quotes that

704
00:37:18,920 --> 00:37:21,720
I had.
And just having those visually

705
00:37:22,120 --> 00:37:26,160
in your office to help to ground
you, to help to remind you to

706
00:37:26,160 --> 00:37:29,480
focus on the things, focus on
these things, the things that

707
00:37:29,480 --> 00:37:31,120
are lovely.
You know, there's a scripture

708
00:37:31,120 --> 00:37:34,960
that talks about that.
It's important for us to have

709
00:37:34,960 --> 00:37:36,360
that front and center in our
life.

710
00:37:36,360 --> 00:37:39,000
And then I love those, those
tools that you gave the audience

711
00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:44,920
to, to focus on prayer and
mantras to help ground you and

712
00:37:44,920 --> 00:37:48,200
to help to keep what really
matters at the forefront of our

713
00:37:48,200 --> 00:37:50,080
minds.
Absolutely.

714
00:37:50,240 --> 00:37:54,600
Yeah.
So I talk a lot about hope, and

715
00:37:55,120 --> 00:37:58,880
obviously we have hope in our
Lord Jesus Christ.

716
00:37:59,240 --> 00:38:04,280
We have hope that tomorrow can
be better, hope for a better

717
00:38:04,280 --> 00:38:06,560
future.
And then I also talk about my

718
00:38:06,560 --> 00:38:10,440
system of hope, which are
habits, optimistic mindset,

719
00:38:10,640 --> 00:38:15,480
purpose, and excellence.
And I think that if we can

720
00:38:15,480 --> 00:38:21,400
utilize hope in any of its forms
to fuel leadership, we're going

721
00:38:21,400 --> 00:38:23,440
to be a better leader.
So do you have any?

722
00:38:23,440 --> 00:38:26,600
Stories you would be willing to
share or can think of off the

723
00:38:26,600 --> 00:38:30,440
top of your head about a hope
fueled leadership story?

724
00:38:32,040 --> 00:38:34,600
I can, but I want to anchor it
on a Bible verse.

725
00:38:34,600 --> 00:38:38,360
John 1633.
OK in this world you will have

726
00:38:38,360 --> 00:38:42,640
trouble the take heart.
I've overcome the world.

727
00:38:42,720 --> 00:38:44,600
Yeah.
And you know some verses

728
00:38:44,600 --> 00:38:46,240
depending on how you read it.
In this world you will have

729
00:38:46,240 --> 00:38:47,440
tribulation.
Yeah.

730
00:38:47,920 --> 00:38:49,720
You know, the hard stuff is
going to come.

731
00:38:50,560 --> 00:38:52,360
So know that that's a universal
point.

732
00:38:52,360 --> 00:38:54,680
It's going to happen.
But take heart.

733
00:38:55,200 --> 00:38:58,720
We are here in an imperfect
world.

734
00:38:59,480 --> 00:39:02,400
But I don't have to own all that
or fix all that.

735
00:39:02,400 --> 00:39:05,440
I just have to love God and love
people in front of me.

736
00:39:06,160 --> 00:39:08,280
And I think that is my greatest
hope.

737
00:39:08,280 --> 00:39:11,040
The hope is always thinking
about my current situation is

738
00:39:11,040 --> 00:39:12,720
not the end all be all of
anything.

739
00:39:13,040 --> 00:39:15,800
There is a better future.
That's hope.

740
00:39:16,040 --> 00:39:20,160
There's a better future, right?
And I love your your framework

741
00:39:20,560 --> 00:39:23,560
to show us how do we focus on
that better future through our

742
00:39:23,560 --> 00:39:25,000
habits.
You know, for me, it's going to

743
00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:28,600
be a Bible study and scripture
memorization and those things.

744
00:39:28,960 --> 00:39:32,040
Like there's so many things that
through your framework that

745
00:39:32,040 --> 00:39:34,360
allow us.
So having hope, no matter what

746
00:39:34,360 --> 00:39:37,280
you step into, whether it be in
your marriage, in your

747
00:39:37,280 --> 00:39:41,040
parenting, in your professional
life, you know, there's so many

748
00:39:41,040 --> 00:39:44,400
things happening politically,
geopolitically around the world.

749
00:39:44,400 --> 00:39:47,160
And so many people are just
running wild and crazy with fear

750
00:39:47,160 --> 00:39:50,120
and anxiety.
Have hope in this world, you're

751
00:39:50,120 --> 00:39:53,920
going to have tribulation, but
you know, Jesus has overcome the

752
00:39:53,920 --> 00:39:56,240
world.
And so I think it's I'm going to

753
00:39:56,240 --> 00:40:03,040
go back to it's the mindset of
as, as leaders, everybody's

754
00:40:03,040 --> 00:40:04,920
looking to us, is the sky
falling?

755
00:40:05,560 --> 00:40:08,720
Is the sky falling?
Everybody's looking to you for

756
00:40:08,720 --> 00:40:11,720
answers and for validation and
affirmation and all these things

757
00:40:11,720 --> 00:40:13,600
and encouragement.
Your job as a leader is to

758
00:40:13,600 --> 00:40:16,560
encourage.
You can never look at the people

759
00:40:16,560 --> 00:40:18,920
in which you serve as their
leader and say.

760
00:40:19,440 --> 00:40:21,280
You know what?
Yeah, things are bad.

761
00:40:21,760 --> 00:40:23,680
I mean, I'm not saying you don't
acknowledge the truth.

762
00:40:23,880 --> 00:40:26,960
You say here's where we're at,
but here's the hope for the

763
00:40:26,960 --> 00:40:29,000
future.
You deliver hope for the future.

764
00:40:29,000 --> 00:40:30,680
That's what you do.
You encourage, you show them how

765
00:40:30,680 --> 00:40:33,840
to navigate the storms.
That's your job.

766
00:40:34,280 --> 00:40:39,520
And I think whenever you finally
settle on that and stop saying,

767
00:40:39,520 --> 00:40:42,040
I can't believe I have to deal
with this, I can't believe I

768
00:40:42,040 --> 00:40:44,600
have to deal with this, Get get
out of yourself.

769
00:40:45,080 --> 00:40:47,640
They focus on service over self
and you'll start seeing the hope

770
00:40:47,640 --> 00:40:48,960
there.
And then you'll start leading

771
00:40:48,960 --> 00:40:49,600
with hope.
And guess what?

772
00:40:49,600 --> 00:40:50,680
You're going to start smiling
more.

773
00:40:50,960 --> 00:40:54,680
Everything about you is going to
exude positivity.

774
00:40:54,880 --> 00:40:59,160
It's going to exude hope and
encouragement and also problem

775
00:40:59,160 --> 00:41:00,840
solving of how we're going to
navigate this.

776
00:41:00,840 --> 00:41:03,040
So I just that's my help for.
Everything.

777
00:41:03,040 --> 00:41:07,440
There was a 2025 Gallup study
that they released, and it said

778
00:41:07,440 --> 00:41:13,480
that followers want leaders who
have hope above any other, any

779
00:41:13,480 --> 00:41:17,000
other characteristic.
It was hope followed by trust,

780
00:41:17,520 --> 00:41:20,520
compassion and stability.
And for some people, that really

781
00:41:20,520 --> 00:41:23,360
surprises them.
But it really doesn't surprise

782
00:41:23,360 --> 00:41:28,000
me because you know, our job as
leaders, we cast a vision.

783
00:41:28,200 --> 00:41:30,520
This is where we're headed.
This is where we're going.

784
00:41:30,800 --> 00:41:32,960
And this is how I see us getting
there.

785
00:41:33,360 --> 00:41:39,320
But having that hope that it's
possible that we can create a

786
00:41:39,320 --> 00:41:42,720
better future together, that's
what people want.

787
00:41:42,880 --> 00:41:46,760
Because we live in uncertain
times and we know that our brain

788
00:41:46,760 --> 00:41:50,480
is not wired for truth.
It's wired for survival.

789
00:41:50,760 --> 00:41:55,120
And the way that we have
survived is by staying away from

790
00:41:55,120 --> 00:41:59,320
what's difficult, what's a
struggle, what's not

791
00:41:59,320 --> 00:42:03,440
comfortable.
And as you so aptly said, we

792
00:42:03,440 --> 00:42:07,160
have to walk into it.
We have to face the difficulties

793
00:42:07,160 --> 00:42:13,240
of life, trust in something
better than us, a higher power,

794
00:42:13,240 --> 00:42:18,000
God, Jesus, and walk into the
storms and help the people that

795
00:42:18,000 --> 00:42:23,480
are with us navigate it.
And I think that another really

796
00:42:23,480 --> 00:42:30,840
important leadership practice
that will serve any leader out

797
00:42:30,840 --> 00:42:35,600
there listening to this podcast
is surround yourself with people

798
00:42:35,600 --> 00:42:38,960
that are going to help you be
the best version of yourself.

799
00:42:39,200 --> 00:42:42,560
Because sometimes we find
ourselves with people who are

800
00:42:42,560 --> 00:42:46,000
dragging us down.
They don't want us to succeed or

801
00:42:46,200 --> 00:42:48,000
they're dealing with their own
stuff.

802
00:42:48,280 --> 00:42:51,160
And because of that, they're
really weighing us down and

803
00:42:51,160 --> 00:42:54,320
we're not able to realize our
full potential and take our

804
00:42:54,320 --> 00:42:55,880
teams where we need to take
them.

805
00:42:56,400 --> 00:43:00,000
We need to surround ourselves
with encouragers and people who

806
00:43:00,240 --> 00:43:03,320
can help us to realize our
potential.

807
00:43:03,760 --> 00:43:05,800
It's so true.
And, and I'll throw out another

808
00:43:05,800 --> 00:43:09,840
one, competition.
People can be so in competition

809
00:43:09,840 --> 00:43:12,320
with one another, getting
working and focusing on the next

810
00:43:12,320 --> 00:43:15,560
promotion that you're now
hoarding encouragement, you're

811
00:43:15,560 --> 00:43:18,080
hoarding ideas and you're not
collaborating.

812
00:43:18,440 --> 00:43:21,560
And you know, the number one
thing I learned as a teacher way

813
00:43:21,560 --> 00:43:25,160
back in the day 2000 is whenever
you have a power struggle, let

814
00:43:25,160 --> 00:43:27,040
go of the rope.
There is no.

815
00:43:27,040 --> 00:43:30,320
Power struggle.
You know you are not my

816
00:43:30,320 --> 00:43:33,600
competition.
And the other one that that I

817
00:43:33,600 --> 00:43:37,040
learned probably in the
superintendency is where I've

818
00:43:37,040 --> 00:43:40,120
learned this one.
There's going to be betrayal

819
00:43:40,880 --> 00:43:44,080
likely to happen if you're in
leadership for any period of

820
00:43:44,080 --> 00:43:49,480
time, and navigating that with
grace and forgiveness is going

821
00:43:49,480 --> 00:43:52,000
to help you to be the best
version of yourself.

822
00:43:52,480 --> 00:43:54,320
So good.
I mean, even Jesus had a Judas,

823
00:43:54,320 --> 00:43:56,400
right?
And, and, and so often we'll

824
00:43:56,400 --> 00:43:58,920
focus on Judas, which is
obviously the major betrayal,

825
00:43:59,040 --> 00:44:02,000
but man, Peter even denied
Jesus. 3 * 3 times.

826
00:44:02,320 --> 00:44:05,200
But in the Bible, I love it,
Jesus before any of all that he

827
00:44:05,200 --> 00:44:08,760
said, and when you fall away, he
knew Peter was going to deny

828
00:44:08,760 --> 00:44:10,840
him.
When you do come back to your

829
00:44:10,840 --> 00:44:13,360
brothers, you know, come back
and lead, everybody's going to

830
00:44:13,360 --> 00:44:14,680
make a mistake.
We're going to.

831
00:44:14,680 --> 00:44:18,680
We may not be the Judas, some of
us, I hope you're not, but we're

832
00:44:18,680 --> 00:44:21,680
all at least gonna be the Peter.
We're all gonna make mistakes

833
00:44:21,920 --> 00:44:25,000
and so come back, own that and
then keep leading forward.

834
00:44:25,000 --> 00:44:26,640
So, so good.
So you're.

835
00:44:26,640 --> 00:44:27,640
Giving me hope.
I love.

836
00:44:27,640 --> 00:44:29,200
I love what you do.
I love your message, I love your

837
00:44:29,200 --> 00:44:32,560
platform and your podcast, and I
love that you bring every

838
00:44:32,560 --> 00:44:35,040
leadership principle back to
Scripture.

839
00:44:35,440 --> 00:44:38,200
You know, that really encourages
me.

840
00:44:38,200 --> 00:44:41,000
It really does it.
It gives me hope.

841
00:44:41,800 --> 00:44:45,000
So as we're finishing up this
recording today, I'm just

842
00:44:45,000 --> 00:44:48,440
curious, Bethany, what is giving
you hope right now in the world?

843
00:44:49,600 --> 00:44:52,520
Who?
You know what I have?

844
00:44:52,840 --> 00:44:54,440
I have growing children, right?
Told you.

845
00:44:54,440 --> 00:44:57,080
I have a young adult Ness and I
have a teenager in high school

846
00:44:57,080 --> 00:45:00,280
still, but one is officially
launched and 1 is so

847
00:45:00,280 --> 00:45:01,800
independent.
You would think that she was

848
00:45:01,800 --> 00:45:04,480
launched and it's it's my
children.

849
00:45:05,560 --> 00:45:10,480
I know so often society can look
down on younger generations and

850
00:45:10,480 --> 00:45:14,240
be like these kids, you know,
and then start labeling them all

851
00:45:14,240 --> 00:45:16,760
these things.
I'm looking at my children and

852
00:45:16,760 --> 00:45:19,840
I'm like, it's a higher tone.
These kids.

853
00:45:19,840 --> 00:45:25,120
Wow, like I just have hope for
the future because of generation

854
00:45:25,120 --> 00:45:28,240
ZI mean I'm an ex and then I
know we have millennials.

855
00:45:28,240 --> 00:45:29,560
I have brothers that are
millennials.

856
00:45:29,560 --> 00:45:32,720
They're awesome too, but I'm
looking at the younger

857
00:45:32,720 --> 00:45:37,160
generations and I'm like, I am
so thankful for you and how

858
00:45:37,160 --> 00:45:40,480
you're growing and learning from
the mistakes of your parents and

859
00:45:40,480 --> 00:45:43,720
from society.
And I know that social media

860
00:45:43,840 --> 00:45:46,280
pushes algorithms that may show
something different than that,

861
00:45:46,280 --> 00:45:48,680
but I'm telling you what I
physically see in front of me

862
00:45:48,680 --> 00:45:51,560
and their friends.
I have hope for the future.

863
00:45:52,680 --> 00:45:55,160
Yeah, kids can really give us
hope for the future.

864
00:45:55,160 --> 00:45:57,760
And, you know, whether I'm
talking about my biological

865
00:45:57,760 --> 00:46:02,720
children or my grandchildren or
the students that I'm getting to

866
00:46:03,040 --> 00:46:07,080
get to know in the CEO program
here in Macoupin County, I, I

867
00:46:07,080 --> 00:46:10,200
have hope for the future.
And it's bright.

868
00:46:10,360 --> 00:46:13,400
The future is bright with these
kids leading the way.

869
00:46:13,400 --> 00:46:15,800
Yeah, it's exciting times for
sure.

870
00:46:16,520 --> 00:46:20,480
So Bethany, do you have any
passion projects or any anything

871
00:46:20,480 --> 00:46:22,680
that you're working on that
you'd like to share with the

872
00:46:22,680 --> 00:46:26,360
audience?
So, well, a couple what I mean,

873
00:46:26,360 --> 00:46:28,640
my book is not even that old.
It's not even a year old yet.

874
00:46:28,640 --> 00:46:31,240
So the absolute number one
passion I have is writing this

875
00:46:31,240 --> 00:46:34,200
testimony of just the ultimate
survival guide for leadership.

876
00:46:34,200 --> 00:46:36,960
Everything I wish I had known
prior to leadership so that I

877
00:46:36,960 --> 00:46:39,840
could have served better.
So the book leadership on the

878
00:46:39,840 --> 00:46:42,800
rocks, but I have a private
passion that is actually small.

879
00:46:42,800 --> 00:46:46,120
Only a few people know about it,
but I blog weekly and it is a

880
00:46:46,120 --> 00:46:48,800
faith driven blog.
It's called rocks before sand,

881
00:46:48,800 --> 00:46:50,240
right?
It's all about stop building

882
00:46:50,240 --> 00:46:51,880
sandcastle lives, building the
rocks.

883
00:46:51,880 --> 00:46:57,000
So rocks before sand.com and I,
I put out just a faith filled

884
00:46:57,000 --> 00:47:01,480
encouraging blog and it's, it's
really just me sharing

885
00:47:01,480 --> 00:47:04,000
everything I'm learning.
It's most of it's written based

886
00:47:04,000 --> 00:47:06,000
upon here's what I learned this
week in my Bible study.

887
00:47:06,000 --> 00:47:07,480
And here's the mistake I made
this week.

888
00:47:07,480 --> 00:47:08,520
And here's what I learned from
it.

889
00:47:08,520 --> 00:47:10,680
So, but it's also very
encouraging.

890
00:47:10,680 --> 00:47:13,640
So there's that.
But so I have leadership on the

891
00:47:13,640 --> 00:47:15,800
rocks for the professional
focus, but then I have rocks

892
00:47:15,800 --> 00:47:17,200
before saying for the faith
focus.

893
00:47:17,200 --> 00:47:18,920
I can't.
I can't not do both.

894
00:47:19,480 --> 00:47:21,560
Right.
And I think the faith, you know,

895
00:47:21,560 --> 00:47:26,560
for us who like that's my, my
main core value, that's the most

896
00:47:26,560 --> 00:47:30,520
important thing to who I am.
You know, God has to come first

897
00:47:30,840 --> 00:47:34,320
in everything that I do.
And I think it's important that

898
00:47:34,320 --> 00:47:38,320
we anchor everything back to
Scripture and to how this

899
00:47:38,320 --> 00:47:42,640
applies with an eternity focus.
I mean, you know, it talks about

900
00:47:42,640 --> 00:47:47,600
in the Bible how after Jesus was
risen from the dead, from that

901
00:47:47,600 --> 00:47:52,360
time forward, that's end times.
We don't know how long end times

902
00:47:52,360 --> 00:47:58,480
is going to last, but we are in
end times and being able to

903
00:47:58,480 --> 00:48:03,360
share our experiences and always
pointing people towards Christ

904
00:48:03,560 --> 00:48:07,960
so that we can all experience
and have the hope of eternity

905
00:48:07,960 --> 00:48:10,960
with him together.
That's why we're here.

906
00:48:11,560 --> 00:48:14,360
Absolutely, Yeah, that's great.
Yes.

907
00:48:14,360 --> 00:48:16,680
I just hope everybody listening,
I hope you feel encouraged and

908
00:48:16,840 --> 00:48:19,040
empowered to like, go forth and
be awesome.

909
00:48:19,360 --> 00:48:21,760
Yeah, absolutely.
That's the goal.

910
00:48:21,760 --> 00:48:24,280
That's the goal.
And that's just we want to give

911
00:48:24,280 --> 00:48:27,040
people hope.
We want to help people to live

912
00:48:27,040 --> 00:48:31,080
more productive, fulfilling
lives, to have peace and

913
00:48:31,080 --> 00:48:35,520
productivity and, and just to to
love God and love people.

914
00:48:35,560 --> 00:48:39,080
That's the purpose right there.
So if people want to get in

915
00:48:39,080 --> 00:48:41,720
touch with you, how would they
get in touch with you, Bethany?

916
00:48:42,360 --> 00:48:46,160
I am most active on LinkedIn so
in LinkedIn it's just Bethany

917
00:48:46,160 --> 00:48:50,080
Reese that's REESI have no
affiliation with the delicious

918
00:48:50,080 --> 00:48:53,440
candy of Reese with an alien.
So Bethany Reese.

919
00:48:53,680 --> 00:48:56,400
But my website is leadership on
therocks.com.

920
00:48:56,920 --> 00:48:59,400
You can see access to anything
that I have there.

921
00:48:59,400 --> 00:49:01,440
I have a ton of freebies.
I have like an essential

922
00:49:01,440 --> 00:49:05,120
survival checklist to help you
and I have a meeting agenda.

923
00:49:05,120 --> 00:49:07,480
So I have tons of freebies and I
even have one on marriage.

924
00:49:07,760 --> 00:49:09,080
That's a good one.
You know, a lot of times we

925
00:49:09,080 --> 00:49:11,880
don't think about leadership in
marriage, but so that's a

926
00:49:11,880 --> 00:49:14,000
freebie as well.
But leadership on the rocks or

927
00:49:14,000 --> 00:49:16,920
LinkedIn, I do have Instagram
and Facebook, I'm just not as

928
00:49:16,920 --> 00:49:18,840
active on those.
So LinkedIn is the best place.

929
00:49:19,160 --> 00:49:21,280
Now to check out that marriage
resource, Bethany.

930
00:49:21,280 --> 00:49:25,160
I mean that is that's probably a
whole nother podcast recording,

931
00:49:25,160 --> 00:49:27,600
but leadership and
relationships.

932
00:49:28,640 --> 00:49:29,840
Yeah.
So my husband, I've been married

933
00:49:29,840 --> 00:49:32,360
25 years and it's literally all
the lessons we've learned, like

934
00:49:32,360 --> 00:49:34,480
1 per year.
And it's just so funny.

935
00:49:34,480 --> 00:49:38,200
You can see us aging through the
whole process of the lessons

936
00:49:38,200 --> 00:49:39,480
that we've learned.
Yeah.

937
00:49:40,080 --> 00:49:42,640
My husband and I were high
school sweethearts and we got

938
00:49:42,640 --> 00:49:45,320
married right out of high school
with, with my brother Brandon

939
00:49:45,320 --> 00:49:48,200
passing away when I was so
young.

940
00:49:48,280 --> 00:49:51,240
I, I, we wanted to hurry up and
do everything right.

941
00:49:51,520 --> 00:49:54,320
And so we got married right out
of high school and we have been

942
00:49:54,320 --> 00:49:59,040
married for 33 years.
That makes me feel very old.

943
00:49:59,040 --> 00:50:03,400
Bethany 33 years.
But we grew up together,

944
00:50:03,880 --> 00:50:07,720
literally grew up together.
And every lesson that we've

945
00:50:07,720 --> 00:50:12,800
learned has, has been hard
fought, but I think we, we

946
00:50:12,840 --> 00:50:20,680
finally have found a way to love
each other despite of all of our

947
00:50:20,680 --> 00:50:25,880
flaws and our inadequacies and
our different personalities.

948
00:50:26,240 --> 00:50:30,040
We're both oldest children so we
butt heads quite a bit still,

949
00:50:30,040 --> 00:50:35,200
but we we definitely love each
other better and more fully than

950
00:50:35,200 --> 00:50:36,960
we ever have in our in our
marriage.

951
00:50:37,400 --> 00:50:39,560
Man, what a testimony.
Oh, it's so good.

952
00:50:40,280 --> 00:50:41,200
Yeah.
You got to lead in your

953
00:50:41,200 --> 00:50:42,840
marriage.
You know, if you have chaos at

954
00:50:42,840 --> 00:50:44,720
home, it's going to breed chaos
at work.

955
00:50:44,720 --> 00:50:46,680
So take care of your home.
Lead the most important

956
00:50:46,680 --> 00:50:48,120
organization.
Patrick Luncioni says.

957
00:50:48,120 --> 00:50:50,280
It's the most important
organization you'll ever lead is

958
00:50:50,280 --> 00:50:52,360
your family.
So lead well there first, my

959
00:50:52,360 --> 00:50:53,320
friends.
But.

960
00:50:53,360 --> 00:50:55,480
Bethany, I love talking with
you.

961
00:50:55,520 --> 00:50:58,160
I think it's the same, yes.
Thank you.

962
00:50:58,160 --> 00:50:59,920
I just, I do.
I feel like it's completely off

963
00:50:59,920 --> 00:51:01,200
the cup.
I feel like we're having coffee

964
00:51:01,400 --> 00:51:03,680
and we could just talk for hours
and hours and hours and just

965
00:51:03,680 --> 00:51:04,960
walk away.
Just like I'm ready.

966
00:51:05,040 --> 00:51:06,720
I'm ready to take on the world.
Let's go.

967
00:51:06,880 --> 00:51:09,240
Yes, we're ready so well, thank
you.

968
00:51:09,240 --> 00:51:10,880
I appreciate you coming on the
show today.

969
00:51:11,560 --> 00:51:14,360
Thanks for tuning in to Lead
with Hope, where we share

970
00:51:14,360 --> 00:51:18,880
stories and strategies to help
you rise, lead, and redefine

971
00:51:18,880 --> 00:51:22,240
what's possible.
If today's episode inspired you,

972
00:51:22,680 --> 00:51:26,480
please take a moment to like,
subscribe, and leave a review.

973
00:51:27,040 --> 00:51:30,440
Your support helps us reach more
leaders like you who are ready

974
00:51:30,440 --> 00:51:33,520
to lead with heart, purpose, and
resilience.

975
00:51:34,280 --> 00:51:38,800
Don't forget to visit
sparkhopeedu.com for resources,

976
00:51:39,280 --> 00:51:43,640
upcoming events, and tools to
help you build a culture of hope

977
00:51:43,760 --> 00:51:47,520
in your life and leadership.
We're so grateful to be part of

978
00:51:47,520 --> 00:51:50,680
your journey.
Until next time, keep leading

979
00:51:50,680 --> 00:51:51,160
with hope.