Scott Beck was the first franchise owner of Blockbuster video, scaling that company to 5,000 stores before moving on. He’s also scaled Boston Market, Einsten Bros. Bagels and Ancestry.com, among others. More recently, he founded a new company called Gloo to help churches use data to do more effective ministry.
Scott joins David Kinnaman, President of Barna Group, to talk about how local pastors can use data to make better leadership decisions. Plus, they share how they’ve led through past crises, how each company has pivoted in light of the current crisis, and what they think the new normal will look like.
Welcome to Episode 335 of the podcast. Listen and access the show notes below or search for the Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and listen for free.
Plus, in this episode’s What I’m Thinking About segment, Carey gives his latest thoughts on the COVID-19 crisis and how to respond as leaders.
GUEST LINKS
Barna on Instagram | Barna on Facebook | Barna on Twitter
Barna’s Website | Gloo’s Website | ChurchPulse Weekly
EPISODE LINKS
Ministry Boost
My friends over at Ministry Boost specialize in coaching and training family ministry leaders, and they’ve just released an exciting new resource for new family retention. It’s called The New Family Retention Plan, and you can grab the turnkey solution for just $25 and start working on your plan now.
Ministry Boost understands COVID-19 has changed everything, so they’re offering a free resource just for listeners of this podcast that will help you better engage and connect families during this season. It’s got some practical ideas on how your church can navigate our current reality with an eye toward the new normal after COVID-19.
Check out The New Family Retention Plan at
MinistryBoost.org/Carey
CONVERSATION LINKS
The ChurchPulse Weekly Podcast
Text CRISIS to 33777 to get access to Carey’s How to Lead Through Crisis online course
CNLP 125: David Kinnaman on the Clergy Crisis and the State of Pastors Today
unChristian by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons
The Top 7 Reasons Everyone Ignores the Online Content You Produce by Carey Nieuwhof
3 INSIGHTS FROM SCOTT AND DAVID
1. Data-informed leaders become better leaders
As a leader, you trust your instincts. And trusting your instincts works out well for a while until things change, or you end up being wrong about something. Your lack of knowledge can become a roadblock if you never find out the truth. The problem is that, as leaders, we are hesitant to trust other people’s opinion and knowledge base over our own.
So, what will cause us to willingly change our mind? David has found that solid data is one of the most efficient ways for a leader to undergo a needed paradigm shift. That’s why he and his company have done everything they can to collect, analyze, and publicize critical data about the next generation in the Church.
2. Churches that thrive in Digital Babylon need to embrace technology
For years, David has been talking about this idea that we are all now living in “Digital Babylon.” He popularized this idea with his most recent book, Faith For Exiles. In the book, he outlines that we are no longer living in the Jerusalem-like culture or Christendom that used to exist in America. We are now all occupants of this foreign land called Digital Babylon.
Society in Digital Babylon has very little trust in the Church or interest in Jesus, and if the Church wants to continue to reach lost people in this new medium, we are going to have to change in some major ways. We need to understand how Digital Babylon works in order to reach people in it. We will also need to begin to use “big data” to meet the specific needs of specific people.
3. When crisis hits, look for ways to help people
David, Scott and Carey all made extremely fast pivots when the crisis hit, and those pivots are paying off. How did they know what pivot to make? Well, over the last four decades, Scott has led through many crises. From those experiences, he’s learned that you never waste a crisis. Whenever something shakes the world up, there is a way to better help people. The minute this crisis hit, he began to look for ways to help.
David has spent the last couple of years facing a personal crisis in his wife, Jill’s, battle with cancer. Through that process, he’s learned that it’s important to identify what you’ve lost in a crisis but to look for what’s been gained, as well. When the Coronavirus took over, he was looking for the positives in the sea of negative information.
QUOTES FROM EPISODE 335
With every crisis comes peril, but there also comes great opportunity. – Scott BeckCLICK TO TWEET
People don’t gain out of consumption, they gain out of contribution. – Scott BeckCLICK TO TWEET
In crisis, you’re reminded you really don’t control that much except for yourself, your posture, and your commitments. @davidkinnamanCLICK TO TWEET
It’s our job to wrestle with, ‘How do we bring technology into alignment with God’s purposes to be able to accelerate the work that we’re trying to do?’ – Scott BeckCLICK TO TWEET
You can’t have a good relationship with somebody if you don’t really know them. @davidkinnamanCLICK TO TWEET
You absolutely can’t get up every morning now as a leader without being a data-informed leader. @davidkinnamanCLICK TO TWEET
Relationship is the key catalyst in any kind of personal growth journey. – Scott BeckCLICK TO TWEET
As a leader, you need to be able to make decisions with limited amounts of information. – Scott BeckCLICK TO TWEET
Church leaders just don’t seem to understand that you can’t just minister to people an hour-and-a-half every couple of weeks. @davidkinnamanCLICK TO TWEET
Some of us are horse-and-buggy makers in the age of the automobile. @cnieuwhofCLICK TO TWEET
READ OR DOWNLOAD THE TRANSCRIPT FOR EPISODE 335
Looking for a key quote? More of a reader?
Read or download a free PDF transcript of this episode here.
WATCH BACK EPISODES OF THE PODCAST ON YOUTUBE
Select episodes of this podcast are now on YouTube. Our new YouTube Channel gives you a chance to watch some episodes, not just listen. We’ll add select episodes to YouTube as time goes on.
HOW TO LEAD THROUGH CRISIS: A NEW FREE COURSE
The world is experiencing a series of unprecedented challenges, and you’re leading in the midst of it all.
I’ve got a brand new online, on-demand course, called How to Lead Through Crisis, that can help you lead your team, your church and yourself through the massive disruption.
The course is the gift from me and my team to you and leaders everywhere. In light of everything that’s going on, we decided to make it available 100% free.
Inside How to Lead Through Crisis, you’ll learn how to:
- Cultivate a non-anxious presence that inspires confidence and trust.
- Care for yourself so the crisis doesn’t break you.
- Master the art of fast-paced, clear decision making.
- Gather and interpret the most reliable data that will advance your mission
- Advance digitally to scale past physical barriers and grow your outreach.
- Lead your team and congregation remotely
While no one has all the answers in a crisis this big, in the course, I share the mindsets, habits, tools and strategies that I believe will help you lead through crisis to get you and the people you lead to a new (and better) future.
You can enroll and get instant access for you and your team here.
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NEXT EPISODE: MICHAEL TODD
In 2015, Mike Todd took over as a 20-something pastor of a church of 200. Five years later, he has almost a million followers on Instagram, his sermons are watched a quarter million times a week and Transformation Church just moved into a 4,000 seat arena at its new building, and is debt free after 7 months in their new location. Mike explains the meteoric rise, what it’s doing to his soul, how he’s navigating it, and the power of being 51% sure a decision is the right decision. Plus, we talk about his new book, Relationship Goals.
Subscribe for free now so you won’t miss Episode 336.
