Ep.039: Leadership at Christmas

The final stretch of the year can feel like a paradox: our calendars overflow while our energy runs dry. This conversation brings the tension into focus and offers a path forward rooted in presence, clarity, and care. We start with gratitude and a candid look at the creative grind that accompanies Christmas, especially for teams in churches and small businesses. The recurring theme is simple: your people make the year possible, and the best gift you can offer is your presence. Presence means showing up with attention, slowing down enough to notice the wins, and recognizing the human effort behind every deliverable. It also means naming the strain and giving permission to pause without guilt.

We explore how reflection turns into strategy when leaders ask better questions. What worked, what surprised us, and what stretched us are prompts that open the door to an honest year-in-review. The team describes a structured planning process that invested 14 hours across two days to map improvements toward 2026. The point is not to obsess over metrics but to pair them with moments that matter. Celebrate the people who carried the weight. Create a “hall of thanks” that highlights vendors, volunteers, and even difficult clients who sharpened your processes. Culture solidifies when gratitude becomes visible and specific, not generic applause at the end of a long year.

Recovery is not a luxury; it is operational strategy. We talk about “reset before you restart,” and how silence, sabbath, and clear boundaries remove noise so the real signal can be heard. Leaders who rest normalize rest across the team. One practical tip is batching work before a break so the time off is truly restorative rather than a half-vacation haunted by open loops. Another is setting one or two replenishing goals for the holidays, small commitments that fuel you—sleep, reading, walks, prayer, or play—so you return with a clearer mind. You cannot lead with clarity if you never clear your mind.

A standout practice is an online-only service to honor volunteers and staff, especially in communities driven by serve teams. By removing a high-load Sunday, leaders communicate trust and care: stay home, drink coffee, worship with your family, and breathe. The gesture is more than convenience; it’s a statement about values. It recognizes capacity limits, what John Maxwell calls the “law of the lid,” and treats energy as a finite asset to be guarded. When leaders protect margin, creativity returns and cynicism recedes. The result is a team that arrives in January ready to move, not hobble.

Finally, vision is framed as direction plus meaning. People follow leaders who know where they are going and why it matters. That requires closing the year with clarity and opening the next with focus: reflect on the truth, celebrate real wins, thank the people who made them possible, and define the next right steps. Whether you are a founder, creative, or volunteer, treat this season as a reset. Step back. Honor the work. Name what you will stop doing. Then, with fresh attention, build a plan that multiplies what matters and cuts what doesn’t. Presence now becomes momentum later.

Chapters:

0:00 Season Finale And Holiday Greetings

2:36 Season 4 Plans And Release Break

4:20 Creative Life At Christmas

6:20 Favorite Memories And First Responders

9:12 Presence Over Presents For Teams

12:05 Reflect, Celebrate, And Avoid Burnout

15:20 Rest, Silence, And Replenishing Goals

18:00 Online-Only Service And Volunteer Care

21:00 Resetting Capacity And Guarding The Lid