Before You Lead

Bishop Todd Hunter
  • 5.0 (7)
  • Christianity
  • Daily

If you run a company, a classroom, a medical office, a congregation or a household, you are a leader, and your leadership matters to God's work in the world. Before You Lead helps you pay attention to the Spirit before you step into the demands of your day—receiving before giving, listening before speaking, slowing before acting. bishoptoddhunter.substack.com

  1. 13h ago

    That’s Not the Real Me

    Content note: This episode includes discussion of domestic abuse. Most leaders believe the “real me” is the one with good intentions: the person who wants to do better and has promised never to do it again. But our words and actions show what’s really going on inside, more reliably than our intentions do. In this episode, I share one of the hardest conversations I’ve had in decades of supervising leaders. I sat across from a man whose staff had accused him of abuse, and he kept pleading that his behavior didn’t reflect the real him. He never faced the anger and need for control that drove him. I have never seen anyone grow into servant leadership without being willing to look honestly, and with hope, at what’s going on inside. Today’s practice: Before you lead today, name one thing in your inner world that works against your better intentions. Then ask yourself what the first step might be toward defeating it. Follow Before You Lead on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Before You Lead is a free gift from Todd Hunter Ministries. If this episode helped you, share it with a leader you know. Get full access to The Gospel of the Kingdom at bishoptoddhunter.substack.com/subscribe

  2. 1d ago

    Two Steps Forward

    Servant leadership isn’t something we master once and then move on from. Most of us take two steps forward and one step back. We ask for forgiveness, work on our hearts, and try again. That can feel discouraging, as if we should be further along by now. But the stumbling is part of the path. It doesn’t mean we’ve failed. In this episode, I share what decades of trying to lead like Jesus have taught me. God knows about work, workplaces and leadership. He created, and Jesus worked too. With a few women and a dozen men, Jesus started a movement that changed the world and modeled a new way to lead. Servant leadership isn’t a fad. It’s as old as God’s own goodness. Today’s practice: Before you lead today, name the one thing in your inner life you’d most like God to transform, so that your leadership would be transformed too. Then ask God for the grace and power to change it. Follow Before You Lead on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Before You Lead is a free gift from Todd Hunter Ministries. If this episode helped you, share it with a leader you know. Get full access to The Gospel of the Kingdom at bishoptoddhunter.substack.com/subscribe

  3. 2d ago

    Too Much Lettuce

    Most of us can name a boss who made work miserable. They showed up late and blamed everyone else. They handed out tasks with no context or help. They pulled rank instead of pitching in. Leaders like that don’t just make bad decisions. They teach the people under them to stop trusting leaders at all. In this episode, as we continue our look at servant leadership, I share my son’s experience in his first jobs and ask you to imagine something different, in the words of Paul in Philippians 2: Leaders who do nothing out of selfish ambition, but in humility value others above themselves. Today’s practice: Before you lead today, commit to being the kind of leader who gets the right things done the right way, serving your way into excellence for your team, your mission, or however you measure success. Follow Before You Lead on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Before You Lead is a free gift from Todd Hunter Ministries. If this episode helped you, share it with a leader you know. Get full access to The Gospel of the Kingdom at bishoptoddhunter.substack.com/subscribe

  4. 6d ago

    It’s Always Personal

    Few leaders set out to be mean. But a goal that seems vital, like hitting the number, saving the organization or getting the project over the line, can quietly justify almost anything. “Whatever it takes” sounds like commitment until it starts to include harming people. When someone opens with “This isn’t personal,” we all know the next thing they say will be deeply personal. In this episode, I look at where meanness grows. Jesus said a bad tree can’t bear good fruit, and the meanness we fear grows from anger and contempt that leak out under pressure. I name three things a godly leader must not do: win at all costs, manipulate, or grab for power. Jesus didn’t need to grab. He lived in a God-bathed reality, secure in God’s totally competent love. Today’s practice: Before you lead today, ground yourself in a God-bathed reality that settles and secures you, so that you don’t feel compelled to grab, but free to give. Follow Before You Lead on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Before You Lead is a free gift from Todd Hunter Ministries. If this episode helped you, share it with a leader you know. Get full access to The Gospel of the Kingdom at bishoptoddhunter.substack.com/subscribe

  5. Oct 28

    Put on an Apron

    Power-driven leadership wears everyone out. The leader is always grabbing for more control and more leverage, and the team has to live with the fallout. Servant leadership isn’t weak or passive, and it doesn’t turn a leader into a doormat. It still works to shape the future of an organization. It just starts from a different assumption: I’m here to serve first. In this episode, I continue our look at Jesus’ words “not so with you” in John 13. Jesus knew the Father had put him in charge of everything. He knew he had come from God and was going back to God. So he put on an apron and washed his disciples’ feet. When we’re secure in where we come from and where we’re going, we don’t need to grab for power. We’re free to serve. Today’s practice: Before you lead today, take Jesus’ words in Luke 12 to heart: “Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions.” Your leadership concerns can rest there. Follow Before You Lead on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Before You Lead is a free gift from Todd Hunter Ministries. If this episode helped you, share it with a leader you know. Get full access to The Gospel of the Kingdom at bishoptoddhunter.substack.com/subscribe

  6. Oct 27

    Not So With You

    Many leaders quietly assume they have to choose between being good and getting results. When the pressure is on, it can feel as if the only way to win is to push people around and demand our own way. Jesus disagrees. In the way of Jesus, leadership can be both ethical and effective. We don’t have to sell our souls to pursue results. In this episode, I look at the moment the disciples argued over who would sit at Jesus’ right hand, and his reply: The rulers of this world lord it over people, but “not so with you.” Following the self-emptying Jesus of Philippians 2 means laying down arrogance, ambition and the need to control. Then, after we’ve done our best work, it means leaving the outcomes with God. Today’s practice: Before you lead today, check in with Jesus about where you are on the journey to “not so with you”: toward servant leadership, and toward results rooted in integrity. Follow Before You Lead on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Before You Lead is a free gift from Todd Hunter Ministries. If this episode helped you, share it with a leader you know. Get full access to The Gospel of the Kingdom at bishoptoddhunter.substack.com/subscribe

  7. Oct 26

    My Boss Stinks

    No leader wakes up planning to be a jerk at work. But under enough pressure—like a looming deadline, a blown budget or a hard conversation with our own boss—our worst selves come out. Over time, the team stops talking to us. Leaders who ask, “Why am I the last person to know anything around here?” usually don’t like the answer. They’ve become someone no one wants to talk to. In this episode, I begin a conversation about servant leadership. I look at what bitterness toward leaders costs: disengaged teams, broken trust, and frustration people carry home through the front door. I also share Max De Pree’s conviction that organizations need a moral purpose. Servant leadership, modeled by Jesus, is that moral compass. Today’s practice: Before you lead today, invite Jesus to be your teacher and mentor in the practice of leadership. Follow Before You Lead on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Before You Lead is a free gift from Todd Hunter Ministries. If this episode helped you, share it with a leader you know. Get full access to The Gospel of the Kingdom at bishoptoddhunter.substack.com/subscribe

  8. Oct 23

    Little Droplets of Grace

    The gifts of the Spirit make many leaders nervous. They seem controversial, and they get tied to strange behavior and hype. But the word the New Testament uses for them, charismata, comes from the word for grace. The gifts aren’t meant to divide us. They’re small portions of God’s grace, given so the Church can do its work in the world. In this episode, I share the gifts Paul names in 1 Corinthians, Romans and Ephesians, and some practical values for using them well. Serve others. Let love guide you. Be naturally supernatural, without a special voice or religious performance. Hold your impressions humbly, and respect other people’s agency before God. Today’s practice: Before you lead today, ask the Spirit to refresh and enliven your gift of leadership, and to give you the gifts you need in each moment of your day. Follow Before You Lead on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Before You Lead is a free gift from Todd Hunter Ministries. If this episode helped you, share it with a leader you know. Get full access to The Gospel of the Kingdom at bishoptoddhunter.substack.com/subscribe

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5
out of 5
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About

If you run a company, a classroom, a medical office, a congregation or a household, you are a leader, and your leadership matters to God's work in the world. Before You Lead helps you pay attention to the Spirit before you step into the demands of your day—receiving before giving, listening before speaking, slowing before acting. bishoptoddhunter.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    Bishop Todd Hunter
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    17
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Bishop Todd Hunter
  • Show Website
    Before You Lead

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