The H2 Leadership Podcast

Most leaders don’t fail because of a lack of ideas... they fail because those ideas never leave their heads. In this episode, Alan Briggs helps leaders make the crucial shift from intuitive to intentional, showing how to build systems and filters that multiply impact and prevent burnout. If your team constantly depends on you for decisions, it’s time to get what’s in your head into theirs — so your organization can grow beyond your personal capacity. Alan unpacks insights from the middle of his book, Anti-Burnout: A Lighter Way to Live and Lead in a Heavy World, and breaks down a practical process that will help you lead more effectively without carrying it all alone. What You’ll Learn Why your best ideas and decisions shouldn’t stay in your head The three essentials for moving from intuitive to intentional: process, courage, and trust How to clarify your vision, mission, and values so your team can act without hesitation The four H filters every leader needs (humble, hungry, honest, high-capacity) How to reduce decision fatigue and build simple, repeatable decision-making filters Why slowing down, documenting, and delegating is an investment, not a setback How releasing control can actually expand your influence and create new space for creativity Key Quote “Filters are pre-made decisions that make decision-making in the moment simple.” Resources Mentioned Book: Anti-Burnout: A Lighter Way to Live and Lead in a Heavy World by Alan Briggs Learn more about H2 Leadership: www.h2leadership.com Schedule a Breakthrough Coaching Session: h2leadership.com/#breakthrough Join the Conversation If this episode helped you rethink how you lead, leave a review or share it with a leader who’s carrying too much alone. Follow the H2 Leadership Podcast for more practical, human conversations that help you live and lead Healthy + High Impact.

Every leader has that project...The one that’s been sitting on your list for months (or years) because you don’t know where to start. In today’s episode, Alan breaks down a simple but powerful 3-step framework to help you get unstuck and finally take action on the work that matters most. Whether you’re writing a book, launching a new initiative, creating a new offering, or trying to push a big idea across the finish line, this episode gives you a proven path forward rooted in clarity, momentum, and healthy leadership practices. This teaching comes directly from the H2 coaching process and aligns with the principles in Alan’s book Anti-Burnout: A Lighter Way to Live and Lead in a Heavy World. In This Episode, You’ll Learn: Why feeling stuck is not a leadership flaw—it’s a signal The first mindset shift required to create movement The exact 3 questions you must ask to break through resistance How healthy leaders use who and how to move faster—with less stress A practical way to break down overwhelming projects into actionable next steps Three Questions to Get You Unstuck Who can help me? How can I do this more lightly (not harder)? What smaller chunks can I break this into? Resources Mentioned Anti-Burnout: A Lighter Way to Live and Lead in a Heavy World by Alan Briggs Coaching with H2 Leadership – Learn more at H2Leadership.com Subscribe & Review If this episode helped you get clarity, share it with a leader who needs momentum. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review—it helps more leaders discover tools for health and high impact. Chapters / Timestamps 00:00 – Why every leader gets stuck 02:40 – The difference between feeling stuck and being stuck 04:15 – Step 1: Naming the project 05:30 – Question #1: Who can help me? 07:45 – Question #2: How can I do this more lightly? 09:50 – Question #3: Break it into chunks 12:00 – Final leadership challenge & call to action

Legacy isn’t what you leave—it’s what you set in motion. In this conversation, David Green (Founder & CEO of Hobby Lobby) and Bill High (CEO of Legacy Stone) share insights from their new book, Legacy Life: Leading Your Family to Make a Difference for Eternity. Together they unpack how to think beyond success and retirement to build something that outlives you—faith, family, and purpose that multiplies through generations. What You’ll Learn What inspired Legacy Life and why legacy is a system, not a season The key difference between legacy and generosity Why retirement isn’t the finish line for leaders of faith How to clarify your identity, calling, and assignment The practical process to write your family vision, mission, and values Why storytelling is vital for passing down faith and wisdom A simple model for repairing conflict and celebrating progress The mindset of a 100-year leader and how to start now Episode Chapters 01:06 – The story behind Legacy Life 03:34 – Rethinking retirement: calling never expires 07:36 – Legacy vs. generosity: why generosity is a symptom 10:21 – Inheritance vs. legacy: passing on what truly lasts 12:15 – Creating family vision, mission, and values 17:27 – Setting legacy in motion (not leaving it behind) 22:09 – Simple steps to start your family legacy plan 26:22 – Why storytelling keeps generations connected 29:58 – Repairing the past and celebrating progress 32:26 – The 100-year family mindset 36:20 – Final takeaways: eternal impact through intentional living Guests David Green — Founder & CEO, Hobby Lobby Bill High — CEO, Legacy Stone; co-author of Legacy Life: Leading Your Family to Make a Difference for Eternity Resources & Links 📘 Legacy Life — [https://a.co/d/1vS943R] Legacy Stone — https://www.legacystone.com/about Hobby Lobby — [hobbylobby.com] Learn more at [h2leadership.com] If this episode challenged or encouraged you, share it with one person you respect—and take 20 minutes this week to write down your family’s top five values. Legacy begins there.

Misalignment sneaks up slowly—and it’s expensive. When your life, work, or team drifts out of alignment, you start feeling it: fatigue, frustration, disconnection, and eventually burnout. In this episode, Alan unpacks how to spot misalignment early and realign your wiring, your purpose, and your team before things break down. You’ll hear: The story of a coaching client who ignored the “alignment rumble” too long Why wiring, purpose, and team are the three biggest alignment zones How to use the Working Genius Assessment to clarify your design The Drains & Fills exercise to reclaim energy and focus A simple Pacing Check to make sure your speed matches your team’s capacity Two reflection questions to realign your work this week “You will hit potholes. You will need realignment. It’s not if—it’s when.” Reflection Questions How can you align your work more closely to your wiring? What change can you make to align more closely with your team? Tools Mentioned www.h2leadership.com for more tools and resources. Chapters 00:00 – What is an H2 Leader? Health and high impact in harmony 02:15 – The need for new brakes and better alignment 03:30 – What misalignment looks and feels like 05:00 – The story of “Tim”: when wiring, purpose, and team fall out of sync 07:00 – The cost of misalignment in leadership and culture 09:20 – The great disengagement: how misalignment kills engagement 10:00 – Tools for realignment: Working Genius, Drains & Fills, Pacing Check 11:45 – Reflection questions and next steps Subscribe and follow the H2 Leadership Podcast for more episodes. Share this episode with another leader who might be feeling “out of alignment.”

We said goodbye to Stay Forth—and hello to H2 Leadership. Same mission, sharper clarity. This episode is our official announcement and a roadmap for where we’re heading: helping leaders become healthy and high impact (H2). From a beach pop-up studio in Delray Beach, we unpack: Why the name change (clarity over clever): people loved our work but didn’t always “get” the name. What H2 Leadership means: health (heart, soul, mind, body, relationships) + sustainable impact. Energy > time: lead by ROE—Return on Energy, not just calendars and hustle. The core shift: moving from reactive to proactive leadership. Priorities → elimination: clarity creates riverbanks; a to-don’t list protects what matters. Who we serve: business, nonprofit, and ministry leaders—any catalyst who wants to lead well. You’ll learn A simple way to audit the 5 domains of health How to tune tension (like a guitar string) between health and impact Practical steps to reclaim focus and build momentum with your team What’s changing (brand, clarity, systems) and what’s not (our mission + coaching) Chapters 00:00 Welcome & context 01:05 Why we’re rebranding 04:10 What “healthy + high impact” looks like 06:20 The five domains of health 09:20 What’s changing vs. what stays 11:25 ROE: Return on Energy 12:15 From reactive to proactive 13:55 Priorities, riverbanks & elimination 17:40 Who we serve (catalysts) 20:05 What’s next + how to connect Links Start here: https://www.h2leadership.com The H2 Leadership Podcast hub: https://www.h2leadership.com/podcast Stay connected YouTube: @H2Leadership Instagram: @h2leaders LinkedIn: H2 Leadership Call to Action If this helped, follow the show and share it with a leader you care about. Want personal coaching or team support? Tap the link above and let’s begin your H2 journey.

Ineffective leaders create dysfunction around them, but grounded, effective leaders create life, clarity, and vitality. Work is meant to bring dignity and meaning—not constant stress and confusion. In this episode, Jonathan and Alan unpack why grounded leaders are desperately needed right now and how they shape healthier, more focused, and high-impact teams. You’ll hear: The difference between being efficient with tasks and being effective with people Why grounded leaders produce both internal fulfillment and external impact Practical ways to shift from scattered to grounded leadership The markers of a healthy, focused team versus a stressed, reactive one How to stop doing in the name of efficiency and start doing in the name of effectiveness If you’re feeling the weight of distraction, burnout, or constant urgency, this episode will help you re-center on what matters most and lead in a way that protects both your health and your team’s impact. 👉 Don’t miss the other episodes in this leadership series: The Leadership Shift You Need Right Now Activity Is Not the Same as Action: The Value of Well-Crafted Work

Pastors and ministry leaders are carrying more than ever—and too many are doing it in silence. Dr. Mark Mayfield (author of The Mental Health Handbook for Ministry, professor, clinician, and former pastor) joins Alan to demystify mental health in the church, unpack the real difference between coaching and counseling, and give you a practical playbook for when struggles walk into your office… or show up on your staff. This isn’t theory—it’s field-tested, grace-filled, and immediately actionable. In this episode you’ll learn: Coaching vs. Counseling (the clean line): when you need tools to move forward vs. when you need to heal backward How to spot pop-psych “silver bullets” and what trustworthy care actually looks like A fast diagnostic lens for depression: intensity + duration (and what to do next) ADHD or overloaded attention? Trauma, screens, and why so many leaders are being mis-labeled Burnout’s bottom layer: dissociation/avoidance—and how to interrupt the loop Boundary basics for pastors (why “I don’t know—let me check” is leadership strength) How to build a staff culture of care (and discuss hard topics without guessing) Chapter Markers 00:00 — Why this conversation matters now 02:30 — Coaching vs. counseling: the simplest way to decide 05:25 — The danger of pop psychology & “quick fixes” 08:20 — Inside The Mental Health Handbook for Ministry (how to use it fast) 12:25 — High-performing families & hidden pressure 16:30 — Where churches are actually making progress 19:10 — Staff discussions you should be having (and how) 20:40 — Depression in leaders: signs & next steps 32:30 — ADHD or attention trained by trauma & screens? 36:00 — What sits under burnout—and how to respond 40:50 — A word to lonely leaders: you don’t have to know it all Resources Mentioned Book: The Mental Health Handbook for Ministry — Dr. Mark Mayfield (Baker) Site: MentalHealthMadeSimple.life (discussion guides & tools) Mental Health Made Simple: For the churches Stay Forth: Coaching for healthy + high-impact leadership About Dr. Mark Mayfield Clinician, professor at Colorado Christian University, author, speaker, and former pastor. Mark equips churches to receive and care well for people in mental and emotional struggle—and to keep pastors healthy in the process.

Feeling called to your work is a gift — but it can also be the very thing that burns you out. In this conversation, Alan sits down with Dr. Arianna Molloy, author of Healthy Calling: From Toxic Burnout to Sustainable Work, to unpack the hidden costs of living from a deep sense of purpose. Leaders who love what they do often give until they break. Arianna calls this deep shame — the disorienting feeling of losing yourself when the work you once loved starts consuming you. Together, Alan and Arianna explore how to recognize the early signs of burnout, why calling carries both resilience and risk, and how leaders can craft healthier rhythms to sustain their impact. 👉 In this episode: Why those who feel “called” are statistically the most prone to burnout The unique fingerprint of burnout that purpose-driven leaders face Practical daily, weekly, and quarterly rhythms to de-stress and reset The role of micro-breaks, community, and job-crafting in sustaining your leadership How to pre-plan rest before you need it This isn’t a “work less” conversation — it’s a “work sustainably” conversation. If your leadership matters, your health matters more. 📘 Grab Arianna’s book Healthy Calling anywhere books are sold. 🌐 Connect with us at Stay Forth and learn how to lead healthy + high impact.

In this special episode, Alan Briggs steps away from the usual pace of life—and leadership—and invites us into a slower, deeper rhythm. Recorded on location from the island of Terceira in the Azores, Alan shares reflections from his very first pilgrimage—a spiritual journey with a physical component. What began as a walk through unfamiliar terrain turned into a profound time of rest, reflection, and reconnection with God. If you’ve ever felt burned out, spiritually dry, or simply curious about how to slow down long enough to hear from God… this one’s for you. In this episode, Alan explores: What really is a pilgrimage—and why it matters today The tension between being a tourist and a seeker Unexpected spiritual lessons from Holy Spirit houses and Catholic cathedrals Questions that shaped each day: How have I limited God? How am I different when I rest? How nature, walking, and reflection unlock new clarity and connection This isn’t your typical leadership episode—and that’s the point. Feeling the nudge to take your own pilgrimage? Whether that looks like a long walk or a short retreat, we hope this conversation helps you slow down, listen deeper, and reorient around what truly matters. Stay in the Loop Get resources, tools, and updates from the Stay Forth team: stayforth.com Let’s Connect Leave a review, share this episode, and tag us on social: #StayForthLeadership

Our phones promise connection but often choke out what matters most. Alan Briggs and Joey Odom dive into the “PID loop” of proximity, interaction, and dependence — and share practical ways to reclaim your time, creativity, and relationships from constant distraction. We all feel it. That little computer in our pocket is shaping our attention, our relationships, and even our leadership. But what if our phones aren’t just tools—they’re thorns? In this episode of the Stay Forth Leadership Podcast, Alan Briggs sits down with Joey Odom, co-founder of Reclaim Well and the ARO Box Book recommendation: The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt Alan’s book The Sabbatical Journey — your field guide for deep rest and reorientation Subscribe, rate, and review the Stay Forth Leadership Podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts