707: Andy Stanley & Sam Kaufman - Problems to Solve, Tensions to Manage, The 3 Questions Behind Every Great Decision, and The 7 Essentials of Enduring Leadership (What Great Leaders Do)

Ryan Hawk (0:00)

You should join a group where your desired behavior is the normal behavior. That's what James Clear said to me a few years ago at our Learning Leader Growth Summit. Our Learning Leader Growth Summit is the three-day leadership retreat we have for members of our Learning Leader Circle. And applications are now open to be part of our next Learning Leader Circle. If you want to be surrounded by a group of 8s and 9s and 10s who are striving to be better, this group might be for you. If you want to be surrounded by a group of get after it doers, people who are achieving big things, making a positive dent in the world, then the Learning Leader Circle might be for you. If that's you, go to learningleaderscircle.com to apply. That's learningleaderscircle.com.

Welcome to The Learning Leader Show presented by Insight Global. I am your host, Ryan Hawk. Thank you so much for being here. Go to learningleader.com for show notes of this and all podcast episodes. Go to learningleader.com. Now, on to tonight's featured leader, the great Andy Stanley is the founder of North Point Ministries, which he launched in Atlanta in 1995 and has grown into eight churches across Metro Atlanta and a global network of more than 225 churches serving over 200,000 people a week. He's the author of more than 20 books. His latest is called What Great Leaders Do, 7 Essentials for Enduring Impact. And I had a special guest host, my friend, Sam Kaufman, Chief Revenue Officer at Insight Global, joined me on this one because Sam lives in Atlanta and has benefited from seeing Andy's work in person at his church over the years. During our conversation, we discussed the one question John Maxwell asked over lunch that determined how big Andy built this next church. And then the difference between a problem you solve and a tension you manage. And how that one distinction spread through all of Insight Global after Sam heard Andy teach it and then he went to work to implement it. Next, Leading Through Uncertainty. What Andy did when Covid forced him to rebuild the entire business model in real time. And why clarity and not certainty is what people actually need from a leader. Ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy our conversation with Andy Stanley.

I loved reading about Mother Mary and actually the story of the power of a leader believing in somebody else.

Andy Stanley (2:58)

Yeah.

Ryan Hawk (2:58)

Because now you're in the position to believe in somebody, but she's one of the first that believed in you when you were kind of a punk. Can you tell the story of Mother Mary?

Andy Stanley (3:07)

Yeah. So Louie Giglio and I grew up together in my dad's church, and we were kind of the troublemakers in our little youth group.

One morning after we had disrupted everything, everybody had left and she brought us back in and she sat us down. I still remember the room and she said, Andy, you and Louie are leaders and you need to lead. These kids will do what you, she went on and on about our influence. I mean, I think I was in the eighth or ninth grade, just remembering the season. And I remember thinking, well, then I don't want to be a leader. If a leader means you have to behave and do what the adults say.

But I still remember that conversation. I mean, nobody ever associated leader with me for many, many years after that. But she saw something in us, and of course, Louie has done extraordinary things in the world as a leader. And I've had the opportunity to do extraordinary things. And she's 101, she's about to turn 101 So on her 100th birthday, we went, Louie and I went over there and had our picture made with her and posted about her and she saw what we did not see. And I mean, for years after that, she gave us opportunity after opportunity that we did not deserve, that we did not handle well and she just never gave up. And Mary never had children of her own. And to this day, she calls us her sons. So talk about Visioncast, you know, and to your point, Ryan, because of that, when I see people who I think have that kind of potential or a leadership gear, maybe we'll talk about that. I just try to just speak life into that and fan that flame because she did that for both of us and we did not deserve it. Oh my gosh.

Ryan Hawk (4:47)

Yeah, what do you think she saw?

Andy Stanley (4:49)

Well, what she saw is, as we did, everybody else in the youth group did. If we did good, they followed along. If we were disrupting, we kind of set the temperature in the room. It was, and again, we're talking about 40 or 50 middle school, high school kids. This was hundreds of people, but she knew if she could get us online with what she was trying to do, her work was done. And if we weren't, it wasn't. And she should have kicked us out. I mean, the easy thing is, you know what? I have all these kids that I'm responsible for. You guys are out.