Ep 41: Turn Right: When Performance Becomes a Place to Hide with Matthew Wingo

What happens when the place where you’re most successful becomes the place you go to avoid what hurts? Matthew Wingo knows what it costs to choose performance, control, and the path that feels easier in the moment. He is the founder and president of Turn Right Ministry and author of *Turn Right: The Pursuit of Noble Things*.  His own story includes corporate success, a marriage in crisis, a prodigal season, recovery, redemption, and one literal right turn that became a picture of what it looks like to choose the noble path when your flesh wants something else. Our conversation begins at that stoplight, but it quickly becomes a much larger conversation about identity, leadership, vulnerability, family, healing, and surrender. Matthew describes how corporate performance became a place where he could still feel successful while other parts of his life were falling apart. At work, effort produced visible rewards: another project completed, another promotion, another affirmation that he was valuable. At home, restoration required slower work without the same immediate feedback. That distinction matters for high-responsibility humans. Sometimes the places where we are most capable can become places we hide. Performance can become a costume we wear because it gives us access to an identity that feels safer than admitting we are hurting, failing, afraid, or unsure what to do next. And as Matthew’s story reminds us, God is willing to meet us underneath all of it. In this episode, we discuss: The literal “turn right” that became a defining moment in Matthew’s story Why choosing the noble path is not usually the same as the new, exciting, or outwardly courageous path How worldly success and performance can hide our avoidance  Why leaders need trusted people with whom they can be fully human and vulnerable The pressure on men to build identity around performance, usefulness, strength, and success The difference between immediate professional rewards and the slower work of faithfulness in marriage and family Why redemption is not limited by what happened yesterday—or by what we can imagine for tomorrow Why surrender often sounds less like “God, bless what I decided” and more like “You already have my yes and amen” One of my favorite lines from this conversation came near the end, when Matthew said: “I’m gonna trust my tomorrow to You, and I trust yesterday to You as well.” That is such a different posture from trying to control our way into a life that feels safe. It also connects directly to what we have been exploring in this season of the podcast: the difference between who God created us to be and the identities, defenses, competencies, and performances we build around ourselves. Matthew’s story is a reminder that God’s redemption reaches the places we wish we had handled differently. We can acknowledge the scars, take responsibility for what belongs to us, and still trust that He is capable of building something beautiful from here. A question to carry forward with you from this epsiode: Where has your ability to perform well made it easier to avoid a slower, harder place where God may actually be asking for your attention, honesty, or surrender? Connect with Matthew Turn Right Ministry: https://turnrightministry.org Book: Turn Right: The Pursuit of Noble Things Connect with Dr. Lee, TLC, & the High Responsibility Humans™ Community: Discover your Primary Motivational Gift: www.growinyourgifts.com Join Our High Responsibility Humans Community: https://regulatedroots.com/hrh Explore our Agency services: regulatedroots.com/agency Follow on TikTok: @leechelseacordell Connect on LinkedIn: Dr. Lee Cordell