Season 16

Transforming Leadership: Managing Anxiety Within Our Communities

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Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership Podcast

Welcome to Season 16, Transforming Leadership: Managing Anxiety Within Our Communities. This season we will be exploring Systems Theory, also called Family Systems Theory. Ruth welcomes guest Steve Cuss, pastor and author of Managing Leadership Anxiety, Yours and Theirs, to help us unpack Systems Theory.

Season 16: Episode 1 | What’s Really Going On? Systems Theory and the Soul of Leadership

May 9, 2022

Welcome to Season 16, Transforming Leadership: Managing Anxiety Within Our Communities. This season we will be exploring Systems Theory, also called Family Systems Theory. Many of us have seen the troubling Barna research about the extreme levels of burnout pastors are experiencing right now. As we look at Systems theory, we will be examining how…

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Season 16: Episode 2 | The Most Powerful Leadership Tool: Diagnosing and Diffusing Anxiety

May 11, 2022

Welcome to Season 16, Transforming Leadership: Managing Anxiety Within Our Communities. This season we will be exploring Systems Theory, also called Family Systems Theory. Many of us have seen the troubling Barna research about the extreme levels of burnout pastors are experiencing right now. As we look at Systems theory, we will be examining how…

Listen and access show notes

Season 16: Episode 3 | The Sins of the Fathers (and Mothers): How Family of Origin Impacts Our Leadership

May 16, 2022

This week, Ruth and Steve delve into the topic of family of origin and its impact on leadership. Why do we need to do the messy work of untangling our childhood issues? How do we carry childhood wounds into our leadership? How can genograms help us do this work? Ruth and Steve share their thoughts…

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Season 16: Episode 4 | Calm Presence: Leadership, Anxiety, and the False Self

May 23, 2022

Ruth and guest Steve Cuss continue to explore Systems Theory. This week they look at leadership, anxiety, and the false self. What are some examples of false selves and false beliefs and how do they relate to anxiety? What is the calm presence? Ruth and Steve’s conversation covers all this and more, including an invitation…

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Season 16: Episode 5 | The Freedom of Taking Responsibility

May 30, 2022

This week, Ruth and Steve are talking about differentiation. What is differentiation and how does it differ from individualism? Steve shares his framework of the Four Spaces and explains how paying attention to these spaces can help us differentiate and understand what is happening in a group. As we wrapped up, Steve shared a few…

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Season 16: Episode 6 | Second Order Change: Recognizing and Dissolving Stuck Patterns

June 6, 2022

Sometimes our greatest anxieties can surround areas of stuckness, places where we know what we are doing isn’t working, but we can’t seem to find our way out. This week, Ruth and Steve will discuss second order change and how we can recognize and dissolve our stuck patterns. How does paying attention to process over…

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Season 16: Episode 7 | It’s a Human Thing: Systems Theory in Non-Majority Spaces

June 13, 2022

This week we invited two additional guests to tackle this tender and challenging topic. Ruth and Steve are joined by Pastor Tina Harris, a former pastor and lawyer and currently Transforming Center’s Cultivator of Community and Connection, and Pastor Marvin Williams, the pastor of Trinity Church in Lansing, MI, and a doctoral candidate doing his…

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Season 16: Episode 8 | Systems Theory and Leadership: Picking Up the Tools that Diffuse Anxiety

June 20, 2022

We’re nearing the end of our season on Systems Theory and leadership anxiety! In this last episode with Ruth and Steve together, the two give really practical help with concrete tools that can help diffuse anxiety. These tools range from personal to relational, and they are rooted in deep care for the soul of the…

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Season 16: Episode 9 | Transforming Leadership: Spiritual Resources for the Journey

June 27, 2022

We are ending this season just as we started it: with Ruth going solo behind the mic. This time, she recaps Bowen’s 8 concepts, with particular emphasis on differentiation, encouraging us to reflect on what is ours to do in this work. Then, she shares about Bowen’s undeveloped 9th concept about spirituality, including some of…

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BONUS: Ask Ruth #5 Excerpt

July 14, 2022

Over on Patreon, we concluded season 16 with our fifth installment of our Ask Ruth series. This episode included questions specific to this past season on Transforming Leadership: Managing Anxiety Within Our Communities with Steve Cuss. Patrons submitted questions that arose from their listening of the podcast, and Ruth provided her trademark thoughtfulness, wit and…

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BONUS: A Conversation with Glenn Packiam on Being a Resilient Pastor, Challenges Facing the Church, and Cultivating A Spiritual Life

July 22, 2022

We can’t wait for you to hear this encouraging conversation between Ruth and Glenn Packiam, a pastor and author of The Resilient Pastor: Leading Your Church in a Rapidly Changing World. Glenn and Ruth shared their thoughts on why it’s so hard for pastors to prioritize their life with God, performing our spirituality vs. cultivating a…

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