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Ever heard of burnout? When you're leading a mentoring organization, burnout is a very real thing, and it can ruin all the progress you've worked hard to make. Ron Hadley from whererugoing.com rejoins Zach this week to talk about how burnout shows up in a mentoring organization and how to prevent it from happening to you.
Show Notes
Ever heard of burnout? When you're leading a mentoring organization, burnout is a very real thing, and it can ruin all the progress you've worked hard to make. Ron Hadley from whererugoing.com rejoins Zach this week to talk about how burnout shows up in a mentoring organization and how to prevent it from happening to you.
Ron Hadley's Website:
https://whererugoing.com
Purchase the You Can Mentor book:
You Can Mentor: How to Impact Your Community, Fulfill the Great Commission, and Break Generational Curses
youcanmentor.com
Ron Hadley's Website:
https://whererugoing.com
Purchase the You Can Mentor book:
You Can Mentor: How to Impact Your Community, Fulfill the Great Commission, and Break Generational Curses
youcanmentor.com
Creators and Guests
What is You Can Mentor: A Christian Youth Mentoring Podcast?
You Can Mentor is a network that equips and encourages mentors and mentoring leaders through resources and relationships to love God, love others, and make disciples in their own community. We want to see Christian mentors thrive.
We want to hear from you! Send any mentoring questions to hello@youcanmentor.com, and we'll answer them on our podcast. We want to help you become the best possible mentor you can be. Also, if you are a mentoring organization, church, or non-profit, connect with us to join our mentoring network or to be spotlighted on our show.
Please find out more at www.youcanmentor.com or find us on social media. You will find more resources on our website to help equip and encourage mentors. We have downloadable resources, cohort opportunities, and an opportunity to build relationships with other Christian mentoring leaders.
You can mentor is a podcast about the power of building relationships with kids from hard places in the name of Jesus. Every episode will help you overcome common mentoring obstacles and give you the confidence you need to invest in the lives of others. You can mentor.
Speaker 2:Welcome back to the You Can Mentor podcast. I'm here with my man, Rod Hadley. Ron say, hi.
Speaker 3:Hello, Zach and everybody.
Speaker 2:We're talking about operating, leading, starting, running a mentoring program, and today's focus is about you, the leader. We're talking about what you need to make it for the long haul. We're talking about how every leader needs help and being intentional about seeking out that help surrounding yourself with the right people, and ultimately creating the team for you as the leader. Because as you go, so the organization goes. Ron, you've had just extensive experience as a leader, as a CEO of some pretty large 501c threes.
Speaker 2:Can you just kinda talk about your journey in staying healthy and the importance of that and how you do that of what fills you up as you lead your nonprofits.
Speaker 3:Yeah. It's a great tee up. I I I would almost wanna back up just a little bit if I if I may, because I want to acknowledge that you and your team here at You Can Mentor have put together a a very valuable series of of of podcast around how to pull a team together, on how to launch a mentoring program, and and all the the the functions and technicalities and vision casting, and and and there's so much good content that you've put together that as we talk today about the leader and how the leader himself or herself takes care of self, it's really pulling in everything that that you've you have already presented to your audience and to your listeners up to this point. Because as you said, as the leader goes, so goes the organization. And and and so I have found that it's very important if I'm gonna be the most effective leader that I take care of myself, and and that's on a personal level.
Speaker 3:So, you know, this is a formula that that I have found is is works for me, but it doesn't it doesn't necessarily work for everybody. We all have our different ways of kind of filling ourselves and taking care of ourselves. But, you know, for me, it it's important to have a healthy and active social outlet, having friends and family and and and time just to hang out together and know that that that does a regular part of my my my schedule, that that helps me stay healthy. Physical activity is important to me, taking time out for the gym or for the the the hiking trail here in Dallas. Just getting out and enjoying activity and and fresh air, that that helps me stay centered and focused.
Speaker 3:And then taking care of my spiritual life is important to me and and being engaged and, involved in my my church family and in my own personal journey of faith. So, you know, knowing what's important to each one of us on on how we fill ourselves back up is important. But even going beyond that, as a leader, I have found and I and I and I counsel coach other leaders this way too, is it's important to surround yourself even within the organization and within the team with energy that that that fills you up as well. You don't you don't want the organization or elements of the organization or team to constantly be a drain on you as a leader. So I know we we've talked about, and I know in other podcast you've talked with with other cohosts about building your team.
Speaker 3:And it's it's so important to bring the right people on board. And that's not just your staff team. That's your board. That's your your your community partners that share your vision and share your values. You wanna make sure that you've built a team in an organization that aligns with you and that that fills you up and doesn't drain you.
Speaker 3:And it's not just building them, of course, it's also then how do you interact and take care of those people. By that group of people I'm referring to is your your team. It's your community partners. It's your board members. It's not just a matter of bringing the right people together.
Speaker 3:It's taking care of each other and and you knowing that you've got the the the people around you that share your vision, and each day can help stretch you and and move the team and the organization towards the goal. The last thought I would just kind of maybe underscore is, you know, we can't know what we don't know. And so to have people around us within that team that can stretch us and can help us see what's ahead, it it just prepares us for it it it helps us to navigate what what a tough day might bring.
Speaker 2:Yeah. For sure. And I think if you don't like who you are spending time with at work, if you don't like the people who you're working alongside, you're just not gonna like your job very much.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And you've gotta be filling yourself up with people that you enjoy being with, shared values and shared passion and things of that nature. I know for me as a leader, like, I I would always kinda feel selfish whenever I would do something to kinda take care of myself. But then someone once told me this phrase that I love. It's called self care is not selfish. So, you know Yeah.
Speaker 2:For me, kinda like you, I have to exercise. And every Tuesday Thursday, I leave work at 4 o'clock because I go work out from 4 to 5:30. And I just know that if I don't do that, I'm not gonna be the leader that I need to be. You know? Couple times a week, I'll take 30 minutes out of my schedule and just I'll just take a walk and just pray and just reflect and just sit in silence because I know that's what I need as a leader.
Speaker 2:I know that I need to have I try to go, you know, take off early on a Friday, once a month or so, and go play golf because that's that's what I need to be the best leader that I can be. I have to go to bed early. I have to wake up early. Like, these are all things that, for me, I I have to do if I'm gonna be the leader that the Lord needs me to be or wants me to be. And kinda like what you said, every person's different.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And so you, as a leader, you need to figure out what you need to be the best version of yourself. But I think for today, Ron, the the the main thing that we're gonna talk about is being intentional with surrounding yourself with the right people. Yeah. Because that really is kinda you can't do this alone.
Speaker 2:You need help. You need support. As you pour out, you need people to pour into you. And so so yeah. Just and I think that the main word that we wanna key in on is just intentionality.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So so, Ron, like, as you've been around, you know, high performing leaders, have you as you've kinda coached them, can you just kinda share the importance of, surrounding yourself with people who can invest into you?
Speaker 3:Yeah. And I know you've also kinda integrated this in throughout this entire podcast series, but it it it starts with your why. It starts with your vision. If you're gonna surround yourself with people who can help you get to where you're going, they have to share your vision. And that might sound kind of basic and elementary, and it is, but that's where you start.
Speaker 3:I mean, you can't o you can't overlook that, and you can't even overemphasize the fact that when you're surrounding yourself with that intentional group that can pour it back into you, they have to share your vision. Mhmm. So, you know, we're talking most directly about starting up or leading a mentoring organization. So having people surrounding you who believe in the power of relationships, who believe that investing into other people is the most effective and sustainable change agent in a life. Mhmm.
Speaker 3:Believing that intentionally getting to know people and their story and caring about their story and helping them journey through. That's the shared vision greatly on on impact you're looking for. And then if you're looking to scale and and, you know, and grow and you need somebody who's a big thinker or people around you that are big thinkers like that as well. Intentional about surrounding yourself with with close confidantes, your own mentors. It's a meant you're you're leading a mentoring movement, a mentoring organization.
Speaker 3:You need your mentors as well, and and they should be sharing your vision. That's where you start. You know? And then there's a lot of technicalities too. You because part part of this team you're pulling together is your staff, but it's also your board.
Speaker 3:It's also your community partners. It's also your friends and family. You know? What's that cross section of people who just really help you move forward? And so on on some of those groups, like your board and your staff in particular, you also need to be surrounding yourself with people who have some technical skills that complement your own.
Speaker 3:You have to be self aware of what you you're strong at and what you might be limited at. And when you're you're pulling that close group together of confidants and people who share your vision and can help you move through and pour into you as you're journeying forward, some of those close confidants and and and mentors and coaches will be people who have different technical skills, different functionalities that than you do and they complement yours. You know? So be intentional. Look for that when you're you're building that that close core.
Speaker 3:And then, you know, 3rd and and and final that I would think of oftentimes in in counseling or, coaching leaders is you want people close to you who are who are well connected, and I wanna say that differently. And by well connected, I just mean they have a network of people that they that they interact and and and share what they're a part of with. So because you you want people that are close to you that are helping to share your story. Mhmm. You know, they're pouring into you, but they're also part of pouring into you and your leadership and your vision is is sharing that vision outside of yourselves as well.
Speaker 3:So I think part of your core group, you want people who are just connected and and networked, and so they're helping to share the story. If you got people who share your vision and your values, you have you have people who complement your strengths and and and can help fill in on some of your limitations, and they're connected in a way that they can help share your story out. And by your story, again, it's the organization story and it's the vision. You know, that is the kind of characteristics, if you will, of that that that core mentor or coaching group for a leader to tap into.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And I think you tapped into something big there, that self awareness. Right? Like, you've gotta know what you're good at, and you've gotta know what you're not good at.
Speaker 3:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:And, ultimately, what you're doing, one of your main jobs as a leader is to put together a team who can help make the vision that the Lord has given you happen. And just like if you're putting together a football team or basketball team, you need people who play different positions. You know, like, if you were playing football, you had 11 guys on your team and they're all quarterbacks, you're not gonna have a ton of success. You need a quarterback, you need a running back, you need a wide receiver, you need offensive linemen. You need people who have different skill sets.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And there's a bunch of books, you know. It would be great by Jim Collins, getting the right people in the right seats on the bus. People fuel, that's a that's a new one that I just found by John Townsend, I think. It just talks about the different types of people that you need.
Speaker 2:You need coaches, you need confidantes, and things like that. But being able to identify your skills, maybe using personality tests or Gallup's strength finders or anything like that, but you, as a leader, you have to know yourself, and then you have to be secure enough to say, hey, this is what I'm good at, and this is what I'm not good at. Mhmm. I'm gonna surround myself with people who can be strong where I'm weak. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I think that that takes a lot of intentionality. That takes a lot of patience, because you have to go out and search and be intentional about finding that type of person. But, ultimately, I just love that God has made it to where you need other people
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:If you're gonna do what he's called you to do.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And, Zach, that's exactly right. And I and I love the analogy that you gave of, you know, any team, but you referred to a football team. You need you need different players in different positions, and that analogy so often is used when you're building an actual organization team, a staff team, but it applies the same for what we're talking about today when you're building your your your team of mentors, your team of confidantes as a leader. Because when you have that that peer group that you are tapping into to help feed you and help keep you focused and energized, you need that same type of broad consideration of of, you know, what are the areas in my life that I need some mentoring or coaching with?
Speaker 3:So that was a perfect I agree completely that example.
Speaker 2:Well and I think as a leader, you have to be able to identify what you need. Yep. You have to be able to identify the issue. So, man, I am running low on energy this week. I need to have some fun.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So you gave an example, we both did for that matter, but how you kind of fuel yourself on a personal Mhmm. Angle. What about what we're talking about right here? Can you what what would be an example maybe of some areas in your leadership and in your professional development that you identified you needed some mentoring, some coaching, and you tapped into somebody and would you give an example?
Speaker 2:Oh, I can give a lot of examples, John. Yeah. So so I am, by nature, a pretty passionate guy. I'm a big guy. You know, for those of you guys who don't know, I'm 68250.
Speaker 2:I'm a strong personality, and you can only assume that it's an issue for me to give feedback in a kind and general way. Right? So for those of you guys who don't know my story, I'm currently on my 3rd staff. And why I'm on my 3rd staff is because I burned the other 2 staffs. I ran them too hard.
Speaker 2:I micromanaged. I didn't give them feedback in a way that they could understand it. I I didn't deal well with when people failed. I mean, I was I was a pretty bad leader, Ron. And if it wasn't for a couple mentors who, at the time, were a part of our board, if If it wasn't for a couple people who financially invested into us, who pulled me aside and said, hey, Zach.
Speaker 2:Here's what we see in you. Every time you walk into the room, the temperature changes because you're so uptight and so fearful and so insecure. Hey, Zach. Here are some things that we see. You are afraid to give feedback, and when you do give feedback, you give it in a way that is very abrasive.
Speaker 2:Hey, Zach. Your passion is a gift, but at times, it can be a weakness as well. Hey, Zach. You you don't delegate. And when you do, you micromanage, and your communication skills aren't strong enough to clearly articulate what you want.
Speaker 2:And your insecurities are so great that when you do, you're constantly over people's shoulders and making sure that they're doing what you've asked them to do your way, not necessarily in their way. And so I can say now that culture and staff and all of these things, it's a real strong point in our nonprofit, but that wasn't always the case. And a lot of that came back to me as a leader, like, my spiritual health, my emotional health, my mental health. I mean, Ron, I was working 65 hours a week. I never stopped.
Speaker 2:I would have a meeting at 6:30 in the morning, 4 days a week. I would work at night, multiple days a week. There's a story that I tell that was really the big, like, okay. Something's gotta change here. It was the point whenever my board chairman and one of my coaches sat me down and said, hey, Zach.
Speaker 2:This right here is the epitome of what we've been seeing in you, and it needs to change or else you're not gonna last long. And here is what happened. There's this donor here in town, and this guy is super successful, has a bunch of money, and I've been pursuing him for years. I've been trying everything that I knew how to do to get time with this guy. And I've been sending emails.
Speaker 2:I've been calling him, and it wasn't like he was ignoring me. We just could never find a time to meet. And one day, he sends me an email and says, hey, Zach. I'm free next Thursday morning at 6:30. Let's meet.
Speaker 2:And I was just like, yes. Like, yes, Lord. Like, this guy can cover our entire financial budget with one check. Like, this is it. Right?
Speaker 2:And I'm just excited about it. You know? Well, there was one issue. My wife was pregnant, and she was expected to give birth to our first child any day. And Wednesday night came, and about 2 in the morning, and I had this meeting with this guy the very next day.
Speaker 3:Oh, wow.
Speaker 2:About 2 in the morning, she gives me a nudge. She says, hey, Zach. I'm going into contractions. I think I'm about to have this baby. And I'm not kidding around, Ron.
Speaker 2:The first thing that went through my head is, but I've got this meeting at 6:30 that I can't miss.
Speaker 3:I hope you didn't say that out loud.
Speaker 2:I did not say that out loud. But I'm sitting there, and, I mean, we're packing our bags. We're, like, on the way to the hospital. We get to the hospital about 5 AM, and I'm talking to the doctor. I'm talking to all of her nurses, and they're like, hey.
Speaker 2:Look. She is gonna give birth in the next 24 to 48 hours, but, typically, the first birth kinda takes a while. And so I'm sitting here like, oh, great. Like, if it's gonna take a while, then is it cool if I go to this meeting? Zach, I'm getting worried.
Speaker 2:And I said that to the nurse, and the nurse was one of my friends. She she and I had, you know, it just happened to be that she was was our nurse, and she just looked at me and she's like, Zach, what are you talking about? Your your wife's about to give birth. You can't go to a meeting. You you need to be here for her.
Speaker 2:And so I was like, oh, you're right, I guess. So I called up the guy and sent him an email, said, hey, we're gonna postpone. I'm about to have a baby. So I really didn't think anything of it, Ron. And, you know, we have our baby.
Speaker 2:It was great. But the next week, we had a board meeting, and I'm sharing the story. And in my head, I'm thinking, hey, guys. Here is this funny story. Why don't y'all come alongside me on this and, you know, And I told the story, and my board didn't crack a smile.
Speaker 2:And they it just stared at me. And I'm sitting here like, hey, guys. Like, this is a funny story.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:They didn't think it was funny. Instead, after the board meeting, my board chairman and a couple other guys sat me down and said, Zach, this is a major red flag. Like, this story that you just told puts into words things that we've been feeling and seeing for a long time now. You're going too hard, man. You're not making time for your family.
Speaker 2:You're prioritizing work over everything. There's fear in not being able to fundraise, and they just gave me this this list of things that they've been seeing in me that I didn't see in myself. And thank God, over the next 18 months, they helped me. Yeah. They helped me prioritize my life.
Speaker 2:They helped me get healthy, physically healthy. Hey, Zach, you have to exercise. It's like you have to eat right. They gave me funding for a coach that I met with every month, and I can't tell you how important it was for me to receive that coaching. They intentionally called me.
Speaker 2:They intentionally texted me. I met with my board chairman every Friday every other Friday morning for about a year just to check-in, just to just to kinda have that fatherly covering. Right? They told me to go have fun. Like Yep.
Speaker 2:They encouraged me exactly. It's okay if you start work at 6:30. It's okay to go home at 4 o'clock some days. They gave me that freedom to get right because they knew that if I wasn't right as a leader, if I wasn't healthy, it was only a matter of time before my lack of health leaked into the nonprofit.
Speaker 3:Yeah. That that that's an amazing story.
Speaker 2:I think it's
Speaker 3:Spot spot on as far as an application of what we're talking about, And there's humor in it. Yeah. But at the time, your your board probably approached that correctly and and not focusing on the humor of it, but on the red flag of it. Yeah. Because in some ways, we're talking about just a balanced life that that applies to everybody no matter what journey they're walking.
Speaker 3:But as it applies most specifically to leaders, I I wouldn't necessarily say it's it's even more important because it's important for everybody to live a balanced life, period. But what is different is and you you you've touched upon this, multiple times. If a leader doesn't do that, if a leader isn't finding that balanced way of of taking care of their own health, then it does begin to affect the the team on the most broad level. It it affects the organization. It affects the ability to achieve the vision.
Speaker 3:I wouldn't say it's more important for a leader to find that balanced life for themselves, but I would say if a leader doesn't if a leader in particular doesn't find that right balance for themselves, it has a larger impact on the potential around them because they are in a position. They've chosen to be in a position where they're leading a group of people, where they are leading a vision, where they're leading an organization, and cannot do that effectively as you and I have already said multiple times. You cannot do that effectively if you're not taking care of yourself.
Speaker 2:Well and, you know, you as the leader, you set the tone. Mhmm. And so your staff will follow you. So if your staff sees you going super hard, working 60 hours a week, they're gonna feel like they need to follow that. At the same time, if the staff sees you being intentional about rest, about being mentored, about relationships, about exercise, about taking days off, then it's like your actions give them permission.
Speaker 2:Like, oh, well, if he's leaving early at 4 because he came in at 6, 6:30, if he's taken a day off, maybe I can too. Right? Right. And like you said this. Right?
Speaker 2:It's like having this balance. And it's like we have identified these kinda six things. It's being intentional with your board. How can your board support you? It's being intentional with your donors.
Speaker 2:How can they support you? And, yeah, they can give you money, but they can also give you connections. They can give you wisdom. They can give you advice. Their supporters, I mean, they are a part of your team.
Speaker 2:How can they help you get healthy?
Speaker 3:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:It's your friends. It's your family. Like, what emotional needs do you have that they can fill? Like, there are days when I just need to have fun. Like, I I have one friend, and he's my fun friend.
Speaker 2:If I just need to relax, I can call him. Because I know that we're not gonna talk about anything serious. I know he's not gonna talk about work or about anything. Now we can talk about that, but he's also totally fine. Hey.
Speaker 2:Let's just go let's just go play golf. Let's go play basketball. Let's have a drink, and let's just talk about the Dallas Cowboys. And that's okay. Like, I I need that sometimes.
Speaker 3:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Right? It is your mentors. It's your coach. It's who who is investing into you, and you're really not giving them anything in return. I mean, that is essential.
Speaker 2:And then I think one thing that we've haven't talked about yet is peers.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 2:Who's doing what you're doing just on a different part of town, in in a different job, in a different setting? Who is the guy or the girl that you can call and say, hey. I'm having this hard conversation with my staff. I'm having this issue with my board. I don't know what to do.
Speaker 2:Has this ever happened to you? Right? And so it's like those people like, I love talking to other CEOs. I love talking to other executive directors because they know what it's like. Right?
Speaker 3:Exactly. And
Speaker 2:they can give their experience and give their feedback. They can give their
Speaker 3:wisdom. Today's world, it's not all that difficult to find those peers. Mhmm. You know, media, LinkedIn, and and other social, platforms, you can readily identify who's in your area or who's in your field of of of work and and reach out and connect to them.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 3:You can know just in your your community and pick up the phone and call them that kind of of adjust your outreach to appear on your level of leadership and your level of of of impact. That's gonna be welcomed by whoever you're reaching out to. They're they're gonna want that kind of connection as well. So just pick up the phone and and, you know, if you know somebody across town who's doing the same type of work, connect with them and ask them out for for you know, meet up for coffee or something. But but you have to be intentional about it to to the point that we're we're making.
Speaker 3:What whatever the group whatever subset of that core group you're talking about, whether it's your board, whether it's your family and friends, whether it's your your staff team, whether it's peers, it's your coach or your mentor, most of that is not going to evolve organically. You've got to be intentional about a leader knowing that you've got to take care of the balance in your life, and you gotta you gotta take care of having the right people surrounding you, that that that smaller core group that share your vision and can supplement your strengths and and your limitations and can help you move forward in the vision you have for a mentoring organization, for life, and for for career impact.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I mean, like, it's that self care is not selfish. Like, people wanna help you. People want to see you succeed. Sometimes you just have to ask.
Speaker 2:You have to be able to identify what you need, where you're weak, and things like that, and just like, hey. I'm having a hard time having difficult conversations with my staff. Can you help me?
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 2:Do you have any wisdom? And if they say no, that's okay. Then you can say, hey. Is there anyone that you know who can help me? And more times than not, like, oh, yeah.
Speaker 2:My neighbor, my cousin, my, you know, did that.
Speaker 3:Fill in the blank. Right.
Speaker 2:I mean, but you have to be vulnerable and humble enough to ask for help. But you need help. I mean, all of us, we all need help. There's a one person out there who has it all figured out. And there are people out there who can create this team that you need, this team of support, this team of mentorship or coaching or just team of support to help you become all that you need to be to be an effective and empowering leader because we want you to make it for the long haul.
Speaker 2:Like, we we want you to lead a nonprofit or lead a movement that lasts longer than you. Right? But you can't do that on your own. And so I'll say this one last thing. Like, when it comes to coaching, you know, coaching costs money, costs 2, 5, $800.
Speaker 2:When it comes to pure advisory groups, you know, whether it's in your city, the small and local, or, like, one of the national things, like a c 12, they are expensive. But I've never met anyone who has paid the money, and it hasn't given them so much more than the $500 it cost a month, the $800 cost a month. Every time, it's worth it.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And so if you have the margin, if you have the the space in your financial budget, I mean, ask your board for a coach. Ask your board for a support group because it does help. There's there's something about being able to process someone who's totally objective, who has experience, who's been there, that can really take you from point a to point b. And if you're ever trying to find a coach, Ron, they can holler at you.
Speaker 3:Happy to do it. Enjoy that role, but there's there's many out there that are qualified too, of course.
Speaker 2:But, like, Ron, I mean, how do we meet? I mean, I I don't know how, but it had something to do with, hey. This guy's been involved with mentoring. I'm involved with mentoring. This guy is a CEO.
Speaker 2:I'm an executive director, and I think we just grab lunch.
Speaker 3:That that that's exactly right. I actually do remember how we met because it it I didn't have this in mind a moment ago, but it was an exact example of what I just mentioned. I sent you a blind email saying, hey, Zach. I came across your name. I came across your organization and the impact you're doing in East Dallas.
Speaker 3:Yes. Could we meet for lunch? I wanna hear more about your journey and what you're doing and what your vision is for the future for 4 Runner Mentoring. And we met at a, I think, one of your favorite, taco joints over here. Korea.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Yeah. And that was my introduction to the ta and to you, and I I think, we had about an hour scheduled, and we went for closer to 2 hours. It was a great connection and a good conversation. And, yeah, that's exactly how it happened, and that would have been in, I don't know, summer of 17 or 18, I think.
Speaker 2:It's crazy. But just, guys, it it all comes down to you as a leader. You need to surround yourself with help. You need to be intentional. You need to have different people on your team who can give you different things, who have different skills.
Speaker 2:Be intentional to reach out. Be intentional to ask for help, and just put in your life as many people as possible who might be able to help you as you try to do what the Lord has called you to do. Alright. Well, I think that that's all we got. But just know guys that we believe in you.
Speaker 2:If you're operating, leading, wanna start a mentoring program, we're here for you. So please feel free to reach out. Take care of yourself. Self care is not selfish. As the leader goes, so goes the organization.
Speaker 2:And remember this, you can