Follow 2 Lead: A Christian Leaders Podcast

What happens when praising God no longer comes naturally? In this episode, Tony sits down with author, speaker, and Bible teacher Wendy Speake for a deeply personal conversation about praise, perseverance, spiritual disciplines, and learning to trust God when life gets hard. For years, praise had been a natural overflow of Wendy’s faith—until she entered a season where life became tremendously difficult. In the middle of feeling physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and relationally broken, Wendy began to discover that praise and thanksgiving aren’t dependent on our circumstances. Sometimes, they become a discipline we choose precisely when we don’t feel like it. Wendy shares the unexpected airplane conversation that led her into an “ask fast,” where she temporarily stopped petitioning God for what she wanted and instead focused on praising Him for who He is. That practice became an important part of her healing—and ultimately inspired her new book, A Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving. Tony and Wendy also explore the daily practices that keep faith rooted, how our thought patterns shape our relationships, what it means to share vulnerably without sharing every detail, and why persevering in our relationship with God matters even when everything else feels like it’s falling apart. In this episode, you’ll discover: Why praise is a spiritual discipline—not just a response to good circumstances. What an “ask fast” is and how it can shift the way you approach prayer. How to build spiritual disciplines without turning them into shame-filled checklists. Why intentionally focusing on what is true and praiseworthy can reshape your thought patterns. How surrendering control can change the way you relate to the people you love. The important difference between vulnerability and transparency. Why leaders should be thoughtful about sharing wounds that haven’t fully healed. What it looks like to persevere with God when you’re barely persevering in life. Coaching Question What spiritual discipline are you building today that will help anchor you when life gets hard? Connect with Wendy Speake Wendy Speake is an author, speaker, and Bible teacher whose latest book, A Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving, explores what it means to praise God through difficult seasons. Website: wendyspeake.com Integrated Leader Mastermind — Applications Open Strong leaders weren't meant to lead alone. Tony Miltenberger and Trey Tucker are bringing together 12 Christian men for a six-month mastermind focused on growing professionally, personally, and spiritually alongside other leaders committed to doing the same. Learn more and apply: leader-integrated-cohort.replit.app Connect with Tony Miltenberger Website: twmilt.com 12 Questions: follow2leadbenchmark.com YouTube: youtube.com/@twmilt Substack: twmilt.substack.com Instagram: @twmilt | @follow2lead SEEDS Download the free SEEDS app and take one small step today: plant your first seed and see what God can grow. Please check out our sponsor: EBEB Solutions ebebsolutions.com That Sounds Fun Network thatsoundsfunnetwork.com Follow 2 Lead Coaching follow2leadbenchmark.com Apple Podcasts Follow 2 Lead on Apple Podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What if everyone on your team is saying yes—but you’re not actually aligned? In this episode, Tony Miltenberger sits down with real-life friends Allison Steele and Rachel Huffman of Emerge Recovery & Trade Initiative to talk about what it takes to build a team that can move in the same direction without avoiding the hard conversations along the way. Rachel shares a recent realization from Emerge’s leadership team: they were good at making decisions and moving forward, but sometimes they were acting like “good soldiers” instead of spending enough time in healthy conflict. Real alignment requires more than agreement—it requires trust, curiosity, honest conversation, and a willingness to stay at the table when perspectives differ. Tony, Rachel, and Allison also explore leading through rapid growth, navigating relationships with founders, discerning God’s direction, and Allison’s approach of simply doing the “next one right thing.” And they get personal about the relationship they’ve built as leaders—one where disagreement is safe, hard conversations are possible, and neither has to lead alone. In this episode, you’ll discover: Why agreement and alignment aren’t the same thing. How healthy conflict can actually strengthen a leadership team. Why curiosity is a leadership muscle worth developing. How core values create clarity around hiring, decisions, goals, and accountability. What it looks like to lead an organization when the founders are still involved. Why Allison focuses on the “next one right thing” instead of figuring out the whole path. How trust creates the safety leaders need to disagree and grow. Why great leaders weren’t meant to lead alone. Coaching Question Where might your team be settling for agreement when you need to spend more time building real alignment? Connect with Emerge Recovery & Trade Initiative Emerge Recovery & Trade helps people build healthy, sustainable lives through an integrated ecosystem of behavioral health services, supportive housing, and workforce development—including its on-site Trades Institute. Website: https://emergerecoverytrade.com/about Integrated Leader Mastermind — Applications Open Strong leaders weren't meant to lead alone. Tony Miltenberger and Trey Tucker are bringing together 12 Christian men for a six-month mastermind focused on growing professionally, personally, and spiritually alongside other leaders committed to doing the same. Learn more and apply: leader-integrated-cohort.replit.app Connect with Tony Miltenberger Website: twmilt.com 12 Questions: follow2leadbenchmark.com YouTube: youtube.com/@twmilt Substack: twmilt.substack.com Instagram: @twmilt | @follow2lead SEEDS Download the free SEEDS app and take one small step today: plant your first seed and see what God can grow. Please check out our sponsor: EBEB Solutions ebebsolutions.com That Sounds Fun Network thatsoundsfunnetwork.com Follow 2 Lead Coaching follow2leadbenchmark.com Apple Podcasts Follow 2 Lead on Apple Podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What if one of the biggest things holding you back as a leader is believing you’re supposed to have the answer? In this episode of the Follow 2 Lead Podcast, Tony Miltenberger sits down with Joni Fedders, President and CEO of Aileron, for a conversation about vision, self-leadership, creating space to think, and what it really takes to help people and organizations grow. After more than two decades leading Aileron, Joni has seen the power of a clear vision play out across hundreds of privately held businesses—and in her own life. She shares why a vision should be more than words on a wall, how it changes the way you show up today, and why leaders need to intentionally get out of the urgent and immediate if they want to think differently about the future. Tony and Joni also explore the influence of her longtime mentor and Aileron founder Clay Mathile, the unexpected career path she believes was guided by the Holy Spirit, and the coaching lesson that transformed the way she leads: the person sitting across from you doesn’t need you to have the perfect answer. They need you to help them discover theirs. In this episode, you’ll discover: Why a vision is a “dream with a plan”—and why you have to keep working it. How shifting from “I want” to “I am” can change the way you show up. Why your vision doesn’t have to be perfect before you start moving toward it. How creating physical and mental space helps leaders escape the urgent and think bigger. Why Joni came to see leadership and business as a vocation. What one mentor taught her about humility, self-awareness, and leading through deeply held values. Why great coaching starts with empowering questions instead of advice. How busyness can keep leaders from becoming aware of what’s really happening inside them. Why growth in your organization and growth in yourself can’t be separated. Coaching Question Where are you trying to provide the answer when your leadership would be more powerful if you asked a better question? Joni Fedders + Aileron Summit Joni Fedders is President and CEO of Aileron, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping privately held businesses build healthier organizations through professional management, leadership development, coaching, and community. She has led Aileron since 2003 and has spent decades helping business owners and leaders grow themselves as they grow their organizations. Aileron Summit brings business owners, CEOs, presidents, and their teams together to step away from the day-to-day, connect with other leaders who understand the weight of leadership, and create space for meaningful conversations about building healthier businesses. There’s still time to register and join Tony at Summit. Learn more: aileron.org Integrated Leader Mastermind — Applications Open Strong leaders weren't meant to lead alone. Tony Miltenberger and Trey Tucker are bringing together 12 Christian men for a six-month mastermind focused on growing professionally, personally, and spiritually alongside other leaders committed to doing the same. Learn more and apply: leader-integrated-cohort.replit.app Connect with Tony Miltenberger Website: twmilt.com 12 Questions: follow2leadbenchmark.com YouTube: youtube.com/@twmilt Substack: twmilt.substack.com Instagram: @twmilt | @follow2lead SEEDS Download the free SEEDS app and take one small step today: plant your first seed and see what God can grow. Please check out our sponsor: EBEB Solutions ebebsolutions.com That Sounds Fun Network thatsoundsfunnetwork.com Follow 2 Lead Coaching follow2leadbenchmark.com Apple Podcasts Follow 2 Lead on Apple Podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What have you already decided you could never do—before you’ve even explored what might be possible? In this episode of the podcast, Tony Miltenberger welcomes back bestselling author, podcaster, entrepreneur, and longtime friend Annie F. Downs for a conversation about vision, leadership, risk, relationships, and what happens when we stop allowing “no” to be our first answer. As Annie prepares to release her new book, Don’t Let That Hold You Back, she shares why hearing people repeatedly say, “I could never do that,” made her start questioning the limits we place on our own lives. Sometimes the door you thought you were heading toward will close—but taking the next step may reveal doors you couldn’t see from where you started. Tony and Annie also get candid about leading through major life change, protecting a God-given vision without softening it to keep everyone happy, surrounding yourself with people who expand your thinking, knowing when to end something that’s still successful, and learning to hold the things you build with open hands. In this episode, you’ll discover: Why softening your vision can actually make alignment harder. What Annie has learned about leading a company while preparing for marriage. How to build a personal “board of directors” that expands your thinking. Why the people you need around you may change as your life changes. How Annie knew it was time to sunset something that was still successful. Why “no” usually shouldn’t be your answer before you’ve explored what’s possible. What Seth Godin taught Annie about leadership, learning, and expanding an idea. How Don’t Let That Hold You Back challenges the stories keeping us from taking the next step. Coaching Question Where have you already told yourself “I could never” without first asking, “Could I?” Connect with Annie F. Downs Annie F. Downs is a bestselling author, podcaster, speaker, entrepreneur, and founder of the That Sounds Fun Network. Her new book, Don’t Let That Hold You Back, releases September 15 and challenges readers to examine what has kept them from becoming who God created them to be. Website: anniefdowns.com Don’t Let That Hold You Back: dontletthatholdyouback.com Integrated Leader Mastermind — Applications Open Strong leaders weren't meant to lead alone. Tony Miltenberger and Trey Tucker are bringing together 12 Christian men for a six-month mastermind focused on growing professionally, personally, and spiritually alongside other leaders committed to doing the same. Learn more and apply: leader-integrated-cohort.replit.app Connect with Tony Miltenberger Website: twmilt.com 12 Questions: follow2leadbenchmark.com YouTube: youtube.com/@twmilt Substack: twmilt.substack.com Instagram: @twmilt | @follow2lead SEEDS Download the free SEEDS app and take one small step today: plant your first seed and see what God can grow. Please check out our sponsor: EBEB Solutions ebebsolutions.com That Sounds Fun Network thatsoundsfunnetwork.com Follow 2 Lead Coaching follow2leadbenchmark.com Apple Podcasts Follow 2 Lead on Apple Podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are you actually leading your organization toward the future—or just getting really good at managing today? In this episode of the podcast, Tony Miltenberger sits down with longtime leadership expert, bestselling author, and former Chick-fil-A executive Mark Miller to talk about two responsibilities leaders can’t afford to delegate: casting vision and creating alignment. Mark explains why so many leaders struggle to articulate where they’re going, why knowing exactly how you’ll get there isn’t a prerequisite for casting vision, and what it takes to get an entire organization moving toward the same preferred future. Tony and Mark also dig into the leadership discipline of margin, the power of storytelling, personal development planning, and the lessons Mark learned through decades of working alongside Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy. In this episode, you’ll discover: Why leadership begins with a clear picture of the future. How to create alignment through role modeling, storytelling, and strategic repetition. Why leaders need to delegate today’s work so they can focus on tomorrow’s. How intentional time to reflect, assess, and create strengthens your leadership. Why stories can communicate what facts alone can’t. How to build a personal development plan you’ll actually use. Why identifying your critical gaps should come before simply developing your strengths. Coaching Question What leadership work are you neglecting because the urgent work keeps winning? Connect with Mark Miller Mark Miller is an author, speaker, leadership coach, and former Chick-fil-A executive whose work is dedicated to serving and developing leaders. His latest release is the fourth edition of The Secret, co-authored with Ken Blanchard. Lead Every Day: leadeveryday.comThe Secret: https://a.co/d/02PZvYst Integrated Leader Mastermind — Applications Open Strong leaders weren't meant to lead alone. Tony Miltenberger and Trey Tucker are bringing together 12 Christian men for a six-month mastermind focused on growing professionally, personally, and spiritually alongside other leaders committed to doing the same. Learn more and apply:leader-integrated-cohort.replit.app/ Connect with Tony Miltenberger Website: twmilt.com12 Questions: follow2leadbenchmark.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@twmiltSubstack: twmilt.substack.comInstagram: @twmilt | @follow2lead Please check out our sponsors: SEEDS: Download the free SEEDS app and take one small step today: plant your first seed and see what God can grow. EBEB Solutionshttps://www.ebebsolutions.com/ That Sounds Fun Networkhttps://thatsoundsfunnetwork.com/ Follow 2 Lead Coachinghttps://www.follow2leadbenchmark.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices