The Resilient Leaders Podcast with J.R. Briggs

Explore the many dimensions of leadership communication, from nonverbal signals and attentive listening to stories, visuals, humor, vulnerability, and data. The discussion examines how to connect with different audiences, balance warmth with competence, and craft messages that inspire action. Along the way, discover why memorable communication creates vivid pictures and how studying Jesus offers a powerful model for reaching the head, heart, and hands.

The questions leaders ask expose their values and spiritual maturity. Explore Larry Crabb’s three levels of questioning, the difference between managed, wounded, and forming lives, and how hardship can shape a leader’s inner life. Discover why spiritual depth influences whether leaders project shadow or light, and how reflective questions cultivate wiser, healthier leadership.

A thoughtful collection of leadership musings explores joy, endurance, identity, healing, and the practices that create lasting effectiveness. Topics include honest self-examination, rest, humility, mentorship, preparation, forgiveness, and the tension between depth and burnout. The conversation also considers calm, invitational leadership and the freedom found in accepting reality while remaining faithful and teachable.

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.