Faithful on the Clock is a podcast with the mission of getting your work and faith aligned. We want you to understand Who you're serving and why so you can get more joy and legacy from every minute spent on the clock. Thanks for joining us and taking this step toward a more fulfilling job and relationship with God!

We'd love to have you stay up-to-date with the show on all our platforms!

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In this episode...

How to Have the Hard Conversations You Dread

https://faithfulontheclock.captivate.fm/episode/how-to-have-the-hard-conversations-you-dread

Not every discussion is easy to have. Episode 132 of Faithful on the Clock combines psychology and Scripture to get you through even the hardest conversations.

Timestamps:

[00:04] - Intro

[00:37] - Difficult conversations for redemption and clarification

[02:00] - Speaking the truth ais kindness; the benefit of reframing hard conversations as opportunities

[04:14] - Active listening as a key tool for navigating difficult conversations; giving sufficient space to the conversation and the role of prefrontal cortex load

[06:54] - Anchoring bias as a conversation tone setter

[07:54] - The illusion of transparency and the need to be explicit about our feelings and intentions.

[08:40] - The SCARF model (introduction)

[09:36] - The SCARF model (real-world application)

[11:11] - Kingdom communication and its intentionality defined

[12:48] - Call to action: Pray for your posture.

[13:14] - Prayer

[13:59] - Outro/What’s coming up next

Key takeaways:

• Hard conversations can pave a positive path. — Difficult conversations might challenge us, but they can be redemptive and clarifying.
• Truth is protection and kindness. — Even though you might dread them, honest conversations that deliver truth in love can guard others and everything you’ve built. Reframing transforms hard conversations from moments of confrontation into opportunities to build trust and clarity.
• Regulate the tone early. — Because of anchoring bias, whatever you lead with sets the emotional tone for everything that follows. Lead with compassion and shared purpose.
• Be explicit. — The illusion of transparency means people don’t automatically know your intent. Say what you mean clearly.
• Use active listening with enough space. — Slow down, ask questions, and allow time for feelings. It helps keep everyone calm and prevents miscommunication. If emotions are running hot, step back. Don’t force a conversation when someone’s prefrontal cortex is offline due to stress.
• Apply the SCARF model. — People resist what doesn’t feel safe. Addressing the core social needs of status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness, and fairness helps make a tough conversation more digestible. If someone is especially sensitive to one SCARF domain (e.g., fairness),...

Faithful on the Clock is a podcast with the mission of getting your work and faith aligned. We want you to understand Who you're serving and why so you can get more joy and legacy from every minute spent on the clock. Thanks for joining us and taking this step toward a more fulfilling job and relationship with God!

We'd love to have you stay up-to-date with the show on all our platforms!

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Bluesky

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In this episode...

Leadership, Meaning, and Making Space for Questions

https://faithfulontheclock.captivate.fm/episode/leadership-meaning-and-making-space-for-questions

Ever feel scared to ask a question? Episode 131 of Faithful on the Clock welcomes Catherine Cowell to help you see the freedom and power of reclaiming inquiry.

Timestamps:

[00:04] - Intro

[00:47] - Catherine’s welcome and bio

[01:50] - How Catherine came to work in communication and leadership

[05:54] - Catherine’s involvement with initial question groups

[14:23] - The need for guidelines in groups designed for question facilitation

[18:31] - Types of questions people brought to Catherine’s groups

[20:23] - Confronting the idea that questions mean weak faith or that you’re just starting your Christian journey

[29:28] - The importance of learning to consider your core passions and of asking other people about theirs

[35:50] - Catherine’s definition of leadership; the importance of holding space to help people find their gifts

[46:44] - Catherine’s two guiding philosophies

[49:47] - How to connect with Catherine

[50:38] - Outro/What’s coming up next

Key takeaways:

• In leadership and communication, how you listen is more key than how you get your message across.
• People can have all kinds of questions they’re afraid to ask. Modeling true vulnerability gives them permission to engage in full, authentic exploration — people are motivated to open up when they know we will sit in the space we create with them.
• As people begin to explore the questions they have, it can be helpful to establish guidelines around values. It reduces the mismatch of expectations — and subsequent uncomfortable situations — that can sometimes happen as people make inquiries.
• Questions can happen at any point of life, not just when you are just beginning your Christian journey. Having them doesn’t mean your faith is weak.
• People often hesitate to ask questions if they feel others will find them lacking for it. There’s a tendency to squash feelings down, believing we ought to be able to bring them under the authority of Scripture. This can leave us stunted, because we never really work through what’s in our hearts.
• God understands we are going to have questions on our faith journey. There’s nothing we could ask that could put us outside of His love.
• Asking questions helps us to become more settled as human beings because we stop hiding ourselves and don’t worry about our image so much.
• People often don’t...

Faithful on the Clock is a podcast with the mission of getting your work and faith aligned. We want you to understand Who you're serving and why so you can get more joy and legacy from every minute spent on the clock. Thanks for joining us and taking this step toward a more fulfilling job and relationship with God!

We'd love to have you stay up-to-date with the show on all our platforms!

Threads

Bluesky

Facebook

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LinkedIn

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In this episode...

Loose Leash Leadership

https://faithfulontheclock.captivate.fm/episode/loose-leash-leadership

What does a well-trained dog who’s able to walk with a loose leash teach you about leadership? TONS! Episode 130 uses that picture to explain why obedience is a gift that’s earned.

Timestamps:

[00:04] - Intro

[00:30] - Observations of dogs and handlers in the park

[01:33] - What makes dogs stay by their handlers with a loose leash; concepts of negative and positive reinforcement

[03:24] - Obedience as a response to feeling safe and taken care of

[04:49] - Training people to stay next to you; example of my friend offering consistent kindness

[06:25] - Importance of asking if your rewards are appropriate for the situation; goal of building expectation of reliability and consistency in how you show up

[07:09] - The connection between training, trust, and being led into new tasks or circumstances

[8:07] - The need to see God’s full story to understand how He disciplines; why He is worthy of trust

[11:45] - God as a consistent, ever-present trainer; the need to show up every day for those you lead and to be patient within appropriate expectations

[15:15] - Summary of key concepts

[15:38] - Prayer

[16:00] - Outro/What’s coming up next

Key takeaways:

• Dog handlers can use either negative reinforcement (e.g., hitting with a stick) or positive reinforcement (e.g., offering a treat) as they train their dogs. A loose leash combined with a confident posture from the dog as they stay next to the handler is a sign that the dog is choosing to stay and obey because they trust the handler.
• The training principle for dogs applies even to people — if you try to force people to follow, they might stay, but only out of fear, not a sense of safety and loyalty.
• To earn obedience from others at work, you need to discover what reward is appropriate for the situation and build the expectation that you will be reliable and consistent in how you show up.
• When people learn that they are safe with a good leader, they will follow them even into new situations and tasks, just like dogs who enter different courses and spaces in competitions.
• We need to look at the entirety of the Bible to understand God’s complete character and the way he consistently and appropriately disciplines and rewards us. His discipline is not random and is always protective.
• All of us are in training. But as a leader, we have to be an ever-present help and keep showing up to reinforce what people