How to Lead in a World of Distraction

Chapter 1 – The Best Kind of Leader // Great leaders inspire us! We often use words like visionary, communicator, strategist, or brilliant. Surprisingly, as we uncover more and more research on what makes a great leaders, we’re finding those words fail to align. Instead, the best leaders are the most emotionally healthy leaders. This book is about the greatest danger to our emotional health…the kudzu of white noise taking over our lives. Chapter 2 – The Problem of White Noise // White noise is a sound-masking tool, designed to cover up the sounds that distract us. With so much white noise in our lives, we’re losing the ability to directly deal with our emotions. Too often, our white noise distracts us from the emotions we don’t want to deal with. Chapter 3 – Common White Noise in Leadership // There are common white noises in leadership and ministry used to mask the unpleasant emotions inside of us. Our increasingly busy lives, the numbing nature of entertainment and social media, and the urgency of ministry itself all work together to create a toxic cocktail of emotional distraction. Chapter 4 – Emotional Avoidance Because of Pain // Our inability to deal directly with our emotions has created an emotional incompetence that is at an all-time high. We’re more anxious, stressed, and depressed than ever before. Ultimately, all of our avoidance can be traced back to some kind of pain that we’ve found debilitating. Chapter 5 – “The” Habit of Great Leaders // Emotional healing begins with emotional awareness. Being able to identify and understand our emotions requires some counter-cultural practices. Great leaders turn down the white noise low enough and long enough to be ruthlessly curious of their emotions. Chapter 6 – Spiritual Disciplines are Leadership Habits // Emotions are messengers. They’re trying to tell us something. Spiritual disciplines of fasting, meditation, Sabbath keeping, prayer, and hospitality are practices intended to create space for emotional evaluation and exploration. Chapter 7 – Forced Volume Control // God designed us to live in rhythm. Six days of work with a seventh day Sabbath is a practice of emotional curiosity and cleansing. The practice of rest forces the volume control for white noise. Chapter 8 – Consistent Meditation // Though the term “quiet time” is outdated, the practice of spending intentional time for prayer and thoughtfulness has never been so crucial. Even the practice of using Scripture as a daily mirror for our lives is essential for emotionally healthy leaders. Chapter 9 – Fearless Curiosity and Evaluation // Too often, what we’re most afraid of is what we’re least willing to evaluate. Healthy leaders are unfraid of being curious of even the emotions that scare us most. Chapter 10 – Persistent Application // Without curiosity, we remain unaware. Without application, we remain unchanged. All emotional curiosity is worthless unless it translates to life change. Chapter 11 – The Payoff // The benefit of turning the white noise down is immense. Your ability to see a future vision, feel what your team is feeling, and hear from God is contingent on your willingness to turn down your white noise low enough and long enough.