Leadership Begins with a Healthy Soul

I've learned a lot about leading well since planting Jubilee City Church on January 10, 2026. I've learned that leading well begins with a healthy soul.

It would be impossible to lead well if I'm not well myself. That's why I write my weekly Lead Well Newsletter, which is about learning how to lead well in everyday life—wherever you are, whether that’s in your home, your workplace, your community, or another area of responsibility. It explores leadership through a biblical lens while staying practical, accessible, and relevant to anyone who wants to become a better leader. And as a pastor, author, speaker, teacher, and consultant, learning to lead well matters significantly!

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Leadership in general matters significantly!

Over the years, I've worked for leaders who genuinely cared about my well-being, and others who just wanted me to help them get what they wanted. To them, I was a number — just an employee, a means to an end. And whenever leadership makes someone feel like a number instead of a person, that's not real leadership. That's narcissistic leadership: leadership that serves the leader, not the people it's supposed to serve.

Servant leadership is the opposite. It's what inspires, challenges, and gives people room to grow and thrive. It doesn't ask people to shrink so the leader can look bigger—it asks the leader to invest in people so they can become who they're capable of being. That's what creates the environment where people, teams, and organizations can truly flourish.

The difference isn't subtle, and people can feel it. Under narcissistic leadership, you learn to protect yourself. Under servant leadership, you learn to grow. One drains people to fuel the leader's ambition. The other fuels people so the whole organization rises with them.

So, as a leader, are you healthy?

So, as a leader, are you healthy?

Not just productive. Not just successful. Not just getting things done.

Are you healthy?

Because the health of your leadership will eventually reflect the health of your soul.

You can build a successful organization while your soul is slowly falling apart. You can lead a growing team while neglecting the people closest to you. You can accomplish more and more while becoming less and less like the person God has called you to be.

I've had to learn that leadership isn't just about what I can accomplish. It's about who I'm becoming while I accomplish it.

That's why leading well starts with learning to live well.

It means making space for God before I make space for everything else. It means caring for my marriage and my family, not sacrificing them on the altar of ministry or ambition. It means knowing when to rest, when to say no, when to ask for help, and when to step away long enough to remember that I'm not the Savior.

I'm a pastor, but I'm not Jesus.

I'm a leader, but I don't have to carry everything. And I don't know everything either.

I'm called to be faithful, not to be everything to everyone.

And maybe that's something you need to hear too.

You don't have to destroy yourself to lead well.

Healthy leaders don't simply produce healthy organizations. They create healthy environments where people can become healthier, stronger, more capable, and more confident in who God has called them to be.

So before you ask, "How can I become a better leader?"

Maybe ask a different question:

"What kind of person am I becoming?"

Because you can't separate the leader from the person.

Your leadership will eventually reveal what's happening inside of you.

Take care of your soul.

Lead yourself well.

Serve people faithfully.

And remember that the goal isn't simply to build something great.

The goal is to become the kind of person who can steward what God has entrusted to you well.

That's what it means to Lead Well.