Explore how real transformation in spiritual leadership begins with listening deeply to your community and letting curiosity—not certainty—shape your mission.

Tod Bolsinger and Markus Watson discuss this quote from Shannon Kiser in Ep. 280, Empowering Leaders for Creative Mission:

“Fresh expressions always start with listening and being attentive to who God is putting on your heart.”

THIS EPISODE'S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

• Leaders cultivate fresh expressions of church by listening deeply to their communities.
• Adaptive leadership emerges when leaders prioritize curiosity about people over quick solutions.
• Experiments in ministry prompt learning rather than simply measuring success or failure.
• New missional creativity grows out of attentive relationships, not just innovative ideas.
• Leaders empower others by embracing humility and care before offering expertise or vision.

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What if the best leadership isn’t about having the answers, but about asking the questions that draw out wisdom, connection, and creativity from those around us? What if the most transformational moments in ministry happen not when we speak—but when we invite others to share, reflect, and dream with us?

In this episode, J.R. Briggs, author of The Art of Asking Better Questions discusses how asking great questions can open new possibilities for ministry leaders and lead to healthier, more effective leadership—for ourselves and our churches.

THIS EPISODE'S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

• JR Briggs describes how questions neurologically "hijack" our brains, engaging us much more deeply than simple information does.
• Questions foster both clarity and engagement, enabling deeper connection and creativity between people.
• JR Briggs identifies several cultural obstacles to asking questions, including conversational narcissism, a lack of curiosity, and the fear of awkwardness.
• Healthy questions play a crucial role in building connection and trust, especially in an age marked by loneliness.
• JR Briggs attributes his passion for asking questions to observing his father's genuine curiosity and care for others.
• The quality of your life depends on the quality of questions you ask yourself, God, and others.
• Deliberate practice, such as collecting good questions and “gaming” conversations, strengthens one’s ability to ask better questions.
• JR Briggs outlines four levels of questions: information, interaction, understanding, and transformation, each deepening relational impact.
• JR Briggs encourages leaders to move beyond transactional questions and pursue transformational conversations grounded in trust.
• Curiosity, wisdom, humility, and courage are essential virtues for asking effective questions.
• Markus Watson notes that leading with questions, rather than only answers, builds stronger relationships and trust as a pastor.
• Great leaders amplify others and cultivate deep curiosity, according to JR Briggs’s research and coaching experience.
• Questions create space for spiritual direction, hospitality, and genuine pastoral care within ministries.
• Slowing down and asking questions in tense moments, instead of having knee-jerk reactions, can lead to greater understanding and connection.
• Jesus used questions extensively—over 300 in the New Testament—to provoke thought, deepen engagement, and transform lives.

RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS:

• Kairos Partnerships
• Books mentioned:
  • The Art of Asking Better Questions, by J.R. Briggs
  • Canoeing the Mountains, by Tod Bolsinger
• Related episodes:
  • Episode 240: Leading with Wisdom from Above, with Uli Chi
  • Episode 270: Evangelism as Consolation, with Andrew Root
  • Episode 278: Preaching in Today’s Post-Christian World, with Mark Glanville

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As ministry leaders, we often imagine that building trust is the ultimate goal—once we have it, the road to transformation should be clear. But what happens when trust alone isn’t enough? The truth is, trust is only the starting point. Moving beyond it requires us to invest our trust in ways that actually make change possible, even when it means taking risks and facing loss together.

In this episode, Tod Bolsinger, author of Invest in Transformation: Quit Relying on Trust, shares why trust is essential but insufficient for transformative leadership, how we can begin to discern our congregation’s unique calling, and what it takes to wisely invest trust as we guide people through the challenges of adaptive change.

THIS EPISODE'S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

• Tod Bolsinger asserts that there is no transformation without trust.
• Leadership requires energizing a community toward its own transformation for the sake of a shared mission.
• People will not trust a leader to guide them through difficult change if they don’t trust them with current, familiar responsibilities.
• Leaders build trust through both trustworthy character and technical competence.
• Relational congruence means consistently showing up as the same person in all relationships, reinforcing trust.
• Even leaders of good character need to be experienced by others as trustworthy in daily interactions.
• Technical competence in areas such as scripture, soul care, and organizational skills is non-negotiable for pastoral leaders.
• Trust is the bank account that leaders must invest (and spend) when leading adaptive or transformational change.
• When transformation is pursued, trust levels may decrease as change creates uncertainty and resistance.
• Tod Bolsinger notes that maintaining trust means not squandering it on trivial matters, but instead strategically investing it in real transformation.
• The process of transformation begins with clarifying a congregation’s unique charism—its distinctive gift to the broader community.
• Charism emerges from actual values and stories, not from aspirational wish lists or debates about what a church “should” be.
• Discerning a congregation’s charism requires telling stories about the times they were most proud of the church.
• Identifying a congregation’s charism is followed by asking how it can address the pain points of the community, thus connecting internal giftedness with external needs.
• Transformation always involves loss, and truly adaptive change means some may leave, but new vibrancy and alignment with mission can develop as a result.

RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS:

• Church Leadership Institute
• Books mentioned:
  • Invest in Transformation: Quit Relying on Trust, by Tod Bolsinger
• Related episodes:
  • 230. The Power of an 8-word Mission Statement, with Tod Bolsinger
  • 264. Building a Future-Focused Church, with Kara Powell, Jake Mulder, and Raymond Chang
  • 272. Beyond Church Revitalization, with Josh Hayden

Send me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking!

Get Becoming Leaders of Shalom for free HERE.

Click HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.