The Resilient Leaders Podcast with J.R. Briggs

A fiddle-leaf fig becomes strong through wind, and leaders do too. Explore how resistance, feedback, difficult conversations, and small risks build courage, adaptability, humility, and deeper roots. The discussion also examines why excessive comfort creates fragile leadership and how to challenge people in healthy, formative ways.

A fall reset for leaders built around better questions. Explore how to discern God’s work, pursue personal growth, strengthen family rhythms, deepen friendships through courageous conversations, and focus leadership energy where it matters most. A thoughtful reflection on trust, support, service, and intentional growth.

How do resilient leaders steward their time? This conversation explores the difference between Chronos and Kairos, then breaks leadership schedules into think time, face time, and administrative time. It covers adapting these priorities across changing seasons, creating rhythms for reflection, investing in relationships, and using a simple weekly calendar audit to lead with greater intention.

“Pick your brain” may sound harmless, but it can turn a meaningful connection into a vague, burdensome request. Explore how to seek wisdom with clarity, preparation, respect, and genuine appreciation. From crafting thoughtful questions to honoring someone’s time and following up well, this conversation offers a better approach to learning from the leaders who inspire you.

What can an obscure band teach us about resilient leadership? The Velvet Underground’s legacy sparks a conversation about influence that outlasts popularity, the power of small actions, and developing leaders who multiply impact. Explore the tension between meaningful behind-the-scenes work and the desire for recognition, plus why lasting leadership means playing the long game.

Why do leaders so often avoid the very tool that can help them grow? This conversation explores feedback as a foundation for healthier, more effective leadership, from overcoming insecurity and hubris to building reliable feedback loops. It covers trusted voices, recurring patterns, discernment, and turning observations into meaningful behavioral change.

Leadership rarely comes with a clear path. This conversation explores 21 recurring challenges, from decision fatigue, board tension, and financial strain to team misalignment, conflict, loneliness, and uncertainty. It also examines accountability, founder dependence, developing new leaders, work-life balance, self-leadership, transitions, emotional intelligence, fear, and imposter syndrome.

Leaders are challenged to shift from answering to asking thoughtful questions that build ownership. The focus moves from holding control to releasing authority to create capacity. Simple, replicable patterns are promoted over adding followers. Emphasis is placed on raising peers and turning knowledge into obedient practice through reflection prompts.

A rapid Q&A about how reading shapes leadership habits and thinking. Topics include a three-pass reading method and practical note-saving for reflection. Guidance on when to quit a book and how to vet reads guilt-free. Recommendations for must-read titles and fitting fiction or audiobooks into a busy leader’s routine.

Discover 11 thoughtful questions that can transform one-on-one meetings. Explore ways to build psychological safety, uncover hidden concerns, identify energizing or draining work, track priorities, assess capacity, address missed commitments, and remove obstacles so team members can thrive.