Linch With A Leader

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.

Chris is located in Tennessee, and currently serves as a member of the Dave Ramsey team.  Before joining Ramsey in 2014, he was known for his work in the church serving as a pastor and speaker.  However, he also had a background in business and real estate that played a role in his success as a campus pastor.  He managed the churches multi-million dollar budget that had eight different campuses and over 12,000 members.  With the Dave Ramsey team, Chris communicates to audiences the importance of stewardship through a biblical perspective.  He also helps them to understand that stewardship extends from not only finances but to other important roles such as marriages and parenting.  He also has a podcast entitled Life Money Hope with Chris Brown.In this episode, Mike Linch talks with Chris about not only his background, but the role he plays with the Dave Ramsey team, the importance of stewardship in our personal lives, and the role his spiritual walk plays in the entire journey.

Annie is currently based in Nashville, Tennessee but was born and raised in Marietta, Georgia and has burst onto the scene with her unique and creative writing style. Authoring books such as Looking for Lovely, Let’s All Be Brave, Perfectly Unique, and Speak Love, she has captivated a wide-ranging audience. Many of her books have moved on to become best-sellers, but she is also known as a speaker and podcaster. Annie frequents many churches, conferences, and large gatherings to inspire audiences. She also hosts the weekly podcast entitled That Sounds Fun Podcast where she sits down with a wide variety of well-known guests.In this episode, Mike Linch talks with Annie about her upbringing, how the doors opened for her to begin writing and speaking, the passion and vision behind some of her books and the lessons God has taught her through them, learning how to deal with the tough moments of life, and the books right now that are helping her grow as a leader.

John Flood is currently the Founder and Managing Director of Elevate which is located in St. Simons, Georgia. Elevate serves to assist executive teams to develop a performance strategy that results in performance improvement. Previously, he has served as the Vice President and General Manager of Further Processing at Wayne Farms Incorporated. He has made his career in the food industry with his 30+ years of experience in the business. Before Wayne Farms, he has worked for other giants in the industry such as: Oscar Meyer Company, Sara Lee Corporation, and King & Prince Seafood Corporation as well as others. John Flood received his degree from Michigan State University with a degree in marketing. In this episode of Linch with a Leader, Mike and John Flood dive into not only lessons learned from the business world, but also how John’s relationship with the Lord influenced decisions that he made and how it guided him throughout his career.

Kevin was born and raised in southern California. He jumped onto the baseball scene at Poway High School, and become a first-round pick of the Boston Red Sox in the 1981 MLB draft. During his playing career, he spent time with not only the Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, San Francisco Giants, and Kansas City Royals organizations. He made it all the way to AAA with both the Giants and Royals. Once his playing career was over in 1992, he was not out of the game long, and he began to climb the ranks as a scout in professional baseball. Since then he has been the one to draft a multitude of current and former players who spent time in the major leagues.In this episode, our host, Mike Linch, has a conversation with Kevin Burrell about not only his playing career, but the tools needed to be a great scout, the role character plays in the development of an athlete, some of the players he has had a role in drafting, and how his faith plays a vital role in all that he does; including living out what God is calling him to do.

Dr. Chand was born in India and raised in a Pastor’s home, and equipped him from an early age to be around leadership development. In1973, he became a student at Beulah Heights Bible College where he served as a janitor, cook, and dishwasher at the school. Dr. Chand went on to become a youth pastor and senior pastor, before returning to Beulah Heights in 1989 to become the President Emeritus of the school. Under his leadership, it became the country’s largest predominantly African-American Bible College. Dr. Chand has also gone on to become a leadership consultant to pastors and business leaders, and he has authored eleven books along the way. His expertise and background in the world of leadership has him at the forefront of the community at this time.In this episode, our host, Mike Linch, has a conversation with Dr. Sam Chand about his background in leadership, the leadership style of Jesus, leadership styles he sees in church and in business, and the vision he had as he authored some of his latest books.

Molly Fletcher has always made a mark wherever she is involved.  That’s been true since her time at Michigan State University, where she was the captain of the women’s tennis team, and earned her bachelor’s degree in communications.  She spent much of her career serving as a one of the only female sports agents in the world, representing many of the biggest names in the industry such as: John Smoltz, Matt Kuchar, Erin Andrews, Tom Izzo and Doc Rivers.  In her time serving as president of client representation for sports and entertainment agency CSE, Molly negotiated well over $500 million in contracts for her clients.  She’s been noted for her work by ESPN, Fast Company, Forbes, and Sports Illustrated.  Her success in the industry allowed opportunities for her to not only become a published author, but also a motivational speaker, reaching people all across the world.  Today, she is the CEO of the Molly Fletcher Company, which has the goal of “helping leaders, teams, and organizations get unstuck from whatever it is that is blocking you from reaching your full potential.”In this episode, our host, Mike Linch, has a great discussion with Molly Fletcher about the obstacles on the road to success, her lessons from the world of sports, and the role her faith has played in getting her to where she is today.

This month’s podcast features author and speaker Todd Gongwer.Todd Gongwer has made many stops throughout his leadership journey, but you will be hard pressed to find one where he did not make an incredible impact. He learned about leadership from a very young age on growing up around his family’s food service business. As he grew, he kept his entrepreneurial spirit as he built restaurants, and even dabbled in the world of real estate. In 1992, he began serving as an Assistant Basketball Coach at Bethel College, where in 11 seasons, he helped led them to three NAIA National Championships. In 2009, he founded Kardia Transformation Group, which was built to help audiences motivate and transform their lives. Shortly after, Todd, authored LEAD… for God’s Sake! which has gone on to sell thousands and thousands of copies. Today, Todd not only authors, but speaks to audiences all over the United States.Today, our host, Mike Linch, discusses with Todd Gongwer the inspiration and vision for LEAD… for God’s Sake!, the leadership roles he has assumed throughout his career, his faith journey, common things that leaders face, the important attributes of leaders.