Linch With A Leader

Andy has been working in the food service industry for over 40 years of his life. He has been in and out of restaurants his entire life. He owned several restaurants early on in his career, but was ready to take on the opportunity with a big company and joined Bennigan’s as an assistant manager. After six months he was promoted and placed in charge of the entire state of California where the company was struggling. He quickly turned things around and was honored with one of only four creative excellence awards in Pillsbury’s 60 year history. He has been climbing the ladder in the restaurant world ever since working at not only Bennigan’s, but has also been a part of the groups with Rain Forest Café and Harrah’s Worldwide.In this episode, Mike Linch talks with Andy Revella, about how his faith has played a role in his life and career, how he got his start in the restaurant industry, and some of the lessons that he has learned from the food business along the way.

Luke is the senior minister of the Westover Hills Church in Austin, Texas. On top of pastoring week in and week out, he is also an author and the host of his own podcast entitled Newsworthy with Norsworthy. In the podcast, Luke will discuss a variety of topics including, Spirituality, Christianity, and other news worthy events that occur. In October of 2018, he released his first book God over Good. In this episode, Mike Linch talks with Luke Norsworthy, about his life as a pastor and what he has learned, things he learned from his father growing up, the things that motivate him to keep growing, his journey to beginning the podcast and the lessons he’s learned from it, why he doesn’t enjoy reading leadership books, and some of the lessons that life has taught him through the years.

Christy Wright is a Certified Business Coach, author, speaker, podcast host, and business owner. When Christy isn’t speaking to Fortune 500 companies or students at some of our nation’s greatest universities, she is working with many start-up business leaders as a Certified Business Coach. She is also the host of Dave Ramsey’s podcast, and contributes as a content writer for entreleadership.com. Her work with EntreLeadership extends to the Master and Performance Series as well, where she covers the area of personal development such as leadership, life balance, setting and reaching goals, creating boundaries, and time management. In this episode, Mike Linch talks with Christy Wright about her background and how she got to where she is and what she learned from her mother, the difficulties of balancing work and family, how her faith became a pivotal part of her life, her journey to joining the Dave Ramsey Team, lessons for leaders who need to dive into what God’s calling them to, the things she hates women say to themselves.

Ken Coleman is an acclaimed interviewer, broadcaster, author and host of The Ken Coleman Show as well as hosting the EntreLeadership Podcast. Ken joined the Ramsey Solutions team in 2014 and is a frequent guest host on The Dave Ramsey Show which is one of the most listened to shows in the United States. From there, he launched into his interviewing career which has led Ken into authoring a book entitled: One Question- Life Changing Answers from Today’s Leading Voices.In this episode, Mike Linch talks with Ken Coleman about what it was like to be one of the earliest podcasters out there, where he learned and built the passion for interviewing and asking questions, his experience at Liberty University and how it shaped him, Ken’s favorite aspects of leadership, and how his faith has impacted all that he does.

Aaron Niequist is a liturgist, writer, and pastor in the Chicago, Illinois area. He has led worship at large churches such as Mars Hill Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan and at Willow Creek in Barrington, Illinois. He went on to create a new set of modern worship recordings that are called A New Liturgy. Aaron has also gone on to author a book entitled: The Eternal Current: How a Practice-Based Faith Can Save Us from Drowning which is focused on a practice-based faith.In this episode, Mike Linch talks with Aaron Niequist about his background in leadership, the growth that he has found in his faith, relationships that changed him throughout his journey, practices that he uses to exercise his faith outside of church on Sunday’s, and what he hopes God does through his new book.

Pastor Terry Smith is the Lead Pastor of The Life Christian Church in West Orange and Paramus, New Jersey. He has been at TLCC for the past 27 years and has seen the church grow to over 3,000 people, but he is also heavily invested in his local community. He co-founded The New York City Leadership Center and is involved with the West Orange Government Reform Commission, West Orange Rotary Club, and Concerts of Prayer Greater New York. He has also authored an Amazon best seller titled, Live 10: Jumpstart the Best Version of Your Life. He is also set to release a brand new book, The Hospitable Leader, which is set to release in early October 2018.In this episode, Mike Linch talks with Pastor Terry Smith about his background and upbringing, the release of his new book, how Jesus served as a hospitable leader, the different aspects of being and becoming a hospitable leader, while also applying all of these principles to our own journeys.

Coach Curry was born and raised in College Park, Georgia. He starred on the football team at Georgia Tech under the iconic coach, Bobby Dodd. In 1965, he was drafted by the Green Bay Packers where he won his first of two Super Bowls under Vince Lombardi. Curry was in the NFL until 1974, playing not only for the Packers, but also for the New Orleans Saints, Baltimore Colts, Houston Oilers, and Los Angeles Rams. He then made the transition to the sidelines as an assistant coach at Georgia Tech in 1976. He moved to the NFL as an Offensive Line Coach for the Packers, but returned to Georgia Tech in 1980 as the head coach. He was named the ACC Coach of the Year in 1985, but then went on to become the head coach at the University of Alabama. His three-year tenure at Alabama gave him the highest winning percentage among coaches at the school since Bear Bryant. After Alabama, Bill Curry became the new head coach at the University of Kentucky for a few seasons. His last stop coaching came in 2010, when he was named the first ever head coach at Georgia State University to begin the football program at the school. In this episode, Mike Linch talks with Coach Curry about his upbringing in College Park, the role that men play in the family dynamic, the lessons he learned from legendary coaches like Bobby Dodd, Vince Lombardi and Don Shula, his transition from playing to coaching, the difficulties of the expectations that come from the public spotlight, and the reconciliation we can see in our country.

Carey is the founding pastor of Connexus Church in Ontario, Canada. He is also the host of the widely popular podcast, The Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast, and the author of many books with a brand new one about to be released entitled, Didn’t See It Coming. Carey is a native of Canada and originally had intentions of being a lawyer. He eventually made the transition to ministry, and founded Connexus Church in 1995. He now oversees the communication and is working to expand Connexus’ broader ministry. In this episode, Mike Linch talks with Carey about the content of his new book, Didn’t See It Coming, and his passion and experiences that led him to authoring the book. They also dive into the struggles of many leaders, how leaders can keep perspective on what they do and how leaders handle things within their private lives, the struggles of becoming irrelevant, and how pride is one of the biggest struggles of a leader.

Chris is the Vice President of Client Success for The John Maxwell Company. Growing up between Ohio and Florida, Chris began to excel on the athletic field and earned a football scholarship to Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. While at Liberty, he studied sport management and business, but went on to play in the Canadian Football League for a few seasons. Afterwards, Chris began to launch and lead fast growing startup companies in the real estate and manufacturing world. In his current role with The John Maxwell Company, Chris’ role is to “guide corporate clientele through the process of leadership discovery by leveraging his organization’s proprietary suite of solutions.” In this episode, Mike Linch talks with Chris about his college experience, sports background and how that has translated to the business world, how learning influences the role of a leader, how his faith has influenced not only his job but his personal life, what he has learned from John Maxwell, and some common traits of the most successful leaders.

William is the CEO and Founder of the Vanderbloemen Search Group which is a search firm that serves churches, ministries, and faith-based organizations. Previously, he was in ministry for over 15 years serving as a Senior Pastor. He also draws on his previous experience studying executive search, and serving as a Manager in Human Resources in a Fortune 200 company. Vanderbloemen serves as a keynote speaker for many events across the country, and he’s also authored Next: Pastoral Succession That Works, Search: The Pastoral Search Committee Handbook and Culture Wins: The Roadmap to an Irresistible Workplace. He holds degrees from both Wake Forest University and Princeton Theological Seminary. In this episode, Mike Linch talks with William about his background and journey to where he is, what business leaders may not know about people in ministry, the first days of his search group, some of their successful things that they have learned, the importance of culture.