TSLP Season 4 Ep. 23- Faith-Filled Leadership

🎙️ Transformation Station Leadership Podcast
What happens when faith, purpose, and strategy come together in leadership?

Join me and Zachary Parker for a powerful conversation on Faith-Driven Strategist and Organizational Leader. In today's fast-paced world, leaders need more than strategy alone. They need clarity of purpose, unwavering values, and the courage to lead authentically.

Learn more about Zachary:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacharycparker/

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

What happens when faith and strategy work together? You know, the strongest leaders understand that sustainable success is not built on talent alone. What is it built on? It's built on values and vision and wisdom and the courage to lead with conviction when the path ahead seems uncertain. I know you're ready for this conversation. Let's go ahead and get started. And today, you and I we're exploring about transformation. We're exploring about the intersection of faith and leadership and organizational impact with a powerful conversation today, talking about faith-driven strategy and organizational leadership. I can't wait for you to meet Zachary Parker, but before you do, we have a few things to talk about. All right, what are we talking about? Well, number one, we're talking about the fact that, yes, that's right, we hit 6,300 downloads. So go ahead and give yourselves a round of applause because of your faithful and consistent engagement with Transformation Station Leadership Podcast, we hit 6,300 downloads. I am super excited and I want to say thank you. I also want to remind you, we're in season four. So I want to invite you for this. If you have missed any episode in season one, season two, season three, I need you to go back. I need you to go back and watch the replays and don't just keep all this goodness to yourself. Absolutely not. It is now time for you to share Transformation Station Leadership Podcast with the other leaders in your network so we can continue to be a global leadership force. I also want to remind you that we have many events. This coming Sunday, June 21st, we are having our next monthly Lee Her Shift webinar. And I'm excited about this because the topic to stop the overwork cycle, this is a really classic, evergreen topic that's really important. And, you know, it's really strategic for leaderships like leaders like you and I. Dr. Melanie Gray, she's a confidence coach. She is going to be our guest strategist. Now, you will see in the description box the link to register. This is a webinar via Zoom, but you do have to register in order to attend. So I'm inviting you to click on the link, join us, register today, share that link, or you can go to mobilizingwithimpact.com and you can also go there and find the link to register as well. All right. Now, finally, I want to remind you that every month we spend some time in prayer together as leaders because we believe the community that prays together sees miracles happen together. Our next mobilizing prayer circle is going to take place on July 12th. And so I invite you to join us on July 12th. And you can go to mobilizingwithimpact.com to get the Zoom link to be able to join us. Again, remember, the community that prays together sees miracles happen together. All right. Well, listen, I'm super excited. I've been waiting for this podcast episode for a long time. Today we have with us Zachary Parker. Zachary Parker is a faith-driven strategist, organizational leader, serving the military community. He strengthens faith and resilience of the military connected community, government organizations, and nonprofit sectors. And through his demonstrated ability to architect, lead, and scale high-impact programs across institutions, he is an amazing force for leaders. And I am absolutely thrilled to welcome today Zachary Parker. Welcome for joining us here on Transformation Station Leadership Podcast.

SPEAKER_01 4:49

Ma'am, it is an absolute honor. You continue to inspire so many inside the military and outside as well. So thank you for the invitation. I'm excited for the conversation.

SPEAKER_00 5:01

Absolutely. So I have to start off because Zachary and I are both serving in the military. So I have to start off this conversation with this note. The opinions and views expressed here solely belong to us as the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of War or its components. Any mention of commercial products or services or religious beliefs do not imply Department of War endorsement. Additionally, the presence of any external hyperlinks does not signify Department of War approval of the linked websites or their contents or products or services. All right, let's go ahead and get this conversation started. Okay, so one of the reasons why I was super excited to have this conversation is because we're talking about faith-driven leadership. And as I think about faith-driven leadership, one of the things that came to me, Zachary, was that, you know, faith-driven leadership is inspirational, but it's not about having all the answers. It's about, to me, leading from a foundation of purpose and integrity and conviction. Um, because I have found over the years that when faith informs leadership, our decisions can be more intentional, right? Our relationships can be more authentic, and organizations become more mission-focused. So I want to start off by asking you this question from your experience. How does faith influence the way you approach strategy and organizational leadership?

SPEAKER_01 6:33

That's a great question. It's a loaded question. I could spend our whole time camped out and trying to articulate how important faith is and how it influences myself and many others, yourself included. But when we come to the Word of God, there is evidence that God is a God who is intelligent in his design. And so when we see the intentionality and the preparation in the Old Testament to the new, there is absolutely an infrastructure of strategy. And then when it comes to the building of that strategy, how do we lead an organization? Well, then he also shares the wisdom of being a good steward and shepherd. So absolutely is the cornerstone for how I approach strategy, building it with intentionality. But then when the organization is built and we are at a platform or a place, we shepherd, we steward with the trust and hope that we will be guided by God the Father. So that's absolutely the way that I try to emulate uh by way of proven endurable uh blueprint that we've been able to uh read for centuries now in God's word.

SPEAKER_00 7:45

I love that. I love the words you use, endurable blueprint, right? When we think about strategy and organizational leadership, we're operating off of the tested, the tried, the true, the foundational, right? And, you know, leaders, as you listen to Zachary sharing with us, you know, one of the best practices that we want to share is, you know, as a leader, you can align your strategic goals with your core values before evaluating your performance metrics, right? So before you lean heavily on those metrics, align the goals with your core values. That will give you the keys for being able to understand the metrics, knowing what to rely on and how to guide your team. Because purpose gives direction. When we have purpose, when we align with our values, that gives direction to the strategy. So let me ask you this question. There are many leaders that are listening and watching right now, right? So talk to us. How can leaders balance faith, vision, and practical execution? Before you answer, this tends to be kind of a sticky point many times for leaders because they kind of we tend to feel like well, we we can't balance all. It has to be one or, right? But how can we balance our faith with the vision for the organization, the vision that we have internally for being a leader, and then combine that for practical execution?

SPEAKER_01 9:14

Well, I would love to hear all the leaders and what they have to say. It would continue to allow me to grow in my understanding and ability to answer this question. But balance is obviously something that is so difficult. But I would absolutely recommend looking to practice the spiritual disciplines. Practicing those spiritual disciplines, whether it be fasting, silence, solitude, prayer, worship, we can go on and on with those specific spiritual disciplines, but I think the key to that balance is silence and solitude. Again, going back to the word of God, if we reflect the patterns of Jesus, for instance, we see that a lot of silence and solitude preceded miracles in ministry. Whether he was tempted in the desert or when it talks about that he often withdrew. I think having that time of detaching, to further attach or disengage, to deeper engage or deeper submit allows us to really find clarity and wisdom and direction and purpose. And allow us to recenter to keep the main thing, the main thing. Balance is absolutely something that will be difficult as we navigate life's trials and when we hit those uh valleys and those peaks. But again, I think it's that silence and solitude being grounded in a purpose far greater than yourself.

SPEAKER_00 10:37

I love that. So, leaders, you know, here on Transformation Station, we always take a few moments for reflection. I we want to hear from you. Go ahead in the chat and share with us not only where you're listening and you're watching from, but what's resonating with you right now? And even as you look at the question of how can we balance faith and vision and practical execution, you know, you heard Zach start off by saying he wants to hear from you. So we want to hear from you as you have been walking forward as a leader. How have you been balancing faith and vision and practical execution? You know, I was thinking as you were talking that, you know, strong leaders, when we say strong leaders, we're not talking about anybody that's perfect, right? We're talking about leaders who chose not to quit, leaders who are willing to do the hard work, right? Will leaders who are willing to ask questions. And, you know, I think when I think about strong leaders, I think that strong leaders are those that understand that vision requires action. Right? Our faith many times inspires our vision, right? But it's the discipline, the planning, the accountability that brings it to life. And I've I've thought to myself over the years that leadership requires, I mean, this is mandatory. Please feel free to challenge me on this. But I find that leadership requires both belief and execution. If I just believe, but I don't execute, if I just believe in this procrastination, we got a problem. If I execute, but I don't believe in what I'm executing, it won't last, right? What do you think about that?

SPEAKER_01 12:14

Yeah, I think I'm a huge champion for belief. I think if you truly believe in something, you are gonna do the due diligence to follow through and execute and deliver. Belief and being able to deliver, that is an absolute powerful dynamic. And when you have a team that believes in that, watch out, world, because that is an unstoppable force. Belief and deliver is something to be reckoned with. And I've been part of some teams that have those characteristics, and I pray that teams would develop those characteristics, and I hope to be with more teams along the way because you inspire one another with the belief. But then when you deliver, that's what really helps fulfill the motivation to keep going and to continue to cast vision and continue to build that blueprint and infrastructure and make sure that people are realizing that impact is just beginning to generate and there's more to follow.

SPEAKER_00 13:12

1000%. And we have we I mean Zach and I, we have a principle that we want to share with you, and that is this vision without execution remains inspirational, and execution turns vision into impact. And I know Zach, we're talking to high-driven leaders, and so leaders, I know you want to have impact. And so we invite you to take your execution and turn that vision into impact. Okay, here's the next question. What leadership challenges would you say arise when values and organizational pressure collides with each other?

SPEAKER_01 13:53

That's a great question. I think that's where you really get to look yourself in the mirror and reveal your true colors. It allows you to identify what you're anchored in, what you're rooted in. If you see pride, if you see ego, if you see selfishness, that allows you to check yourself before you wreck yourself. When these challenges arise, when your values find tension in those organizational dynamics, hold on to your values. You have those values for a reason. Maybe you need to reflect upon why you developed those values, why they became important for you, and that will allow you to overcome the frustrations that may be presenting themselves in the organization. But hold on to those values no matter what. You've been gifted with them, you've been able to see how they've impacted and shaped your life, how they have been the pillars of your leadership. So do not compromise when you find those pressures. Stand firm and watch what God does.

SPEAKER_00 14:58

I love that. Stand firm, hold on to your values. You know, I think this is really important because I don't want to say especially today, but the times in which we're living in right now, right? Leaders, we are often facing pressure to prioritize short-term results over long-term integrity. I'm gonna say that one more time again. Many of us are facing the pressure to prioritize short-term results. Get it done. Get it done now, right? Just put it out there. Over long-term integrity. And, you know, I have found, Zach, that over the years, it's these moments that test character. It's these moments that reveal whether values truly guide our decision making or simply exist as statements. It's not always easy, but it's easy, but not always easy, you know. And I I try to condition myself to say, you know, Adrian, stick with your values. Even though it may take a while, even though maybe you're not getting the short-term assurances that you want right now, you know, that I want to be able to sleep at night. I want to be able to still have peace years from now. I don't want to spend time looking over my shoulder, hoping somebody never finds out. Like, leaders, it's it's these moments when you're facing pressure that test character and reveal what your value system is. And so, you know, we want to invite you for this best practice, establish non-negotiable values, not when difficulty arises, but before difficult decisions arise. Last thing, and then I want to I would love for you to just comment on this for a moment. Um, I had someone that I was reading somewhere, and it was saying that before anyone makes an inappropriate decision or action, there's always this millisecond where something inside of you, you know, some of us will say the Holy Spirit, some will say your conscience, your guide, right? But there's something inside of you that says, don't do it. That's not gonna work, not the right thing. Just like the and we choose to either, you know what, that's right, let me not, or whatever. I'm gonna go ahead and do it and count the cost later on. And so it's really important that on the inside we make a choice and a decision as to what those non-negotiable values are going to be so that when the difficult, I mean the decision is difficult, you don't want to compound that difficulty with confusion. You don't want to compound that difficulty with no, no, no. I I'm I'm choosing not to lie. You're inviting me to lie. I'm being tempted to lie, this is difficult. I can see, you know, what no, no, not going to lie. What do you what do you think about that?

SPEAKER_01 17:47

No, I think this is a very helpful best practice. When I do pre-marriage counseling, I have each uh man and woman fill out a values worksheet, and then we compare and contrast those values, and we see which ones are compatible and which ones are far off. And then I talk about the non-negotiable values that as a human being, you need to be your own human being. But when you come into union with your husband or wife, you gotta have some non-negotiables because it can get difficult. But ultimately, when we have those non-negotiables, you'll be a force to be reckoned with again. When you align values with individuals, you're able to really identify the opportunity to be strategic and make impact in other people's lives, but most importantly, feel fulfillment in that marriage. And so I think you hit the nail right on the head with that one.

SPEAKER_00 18:43

So, with that said, how can leaders build organizational culture that is rooted in trust and purpose?

SPEAKER_01 18:52

Well, this is a fun question for me because I'm a Florida boy at heart. I grew up on the beach. I knew nothing about gardening, I knew nothing about the mountains. However, by way of faithfulness and God's calling to ministry and preparation to be a Navy chaplain, I found myself in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia in seminary, and I was able to serve as the operations manager of a ministry for men who struggle with substance abuse. And specifically for this ministry, we had a three-acre garden and 80 acres of mountains. And I learned from an 80-year-old man by the name of Roy, who's with the Lord now. He showed me on that mountain for decades. He had been there for 40 years, and they picked me to replace him. He could never replace a Roy, but he was a mentor and a spiritual leader that I'll never forget. But he put little compost piles all around that mountain. And why he did that is because yearly, when we had this garden, he would get this dump trailer about 12 feet long, five foot wide, and we would break off these leaves and dig into this soil, and we would bring that soil off the mountain into the garden, and then we would till that soil. So when you talk about a specific question like this, how do you get something you're in an ordinance rooted in trust? It takes a lot of tilling of the soil. It just doesn't happen. If you're a trustworthy person, don't think that you're gonna come in there and change the organization. You gotta get your hands dirty, you gotta till that soil, you got to find out where you have fertile soil and bring it in. Bring those new ideas in. Make sure when you plant those seeds, though, that you are tending to that crop, that you are making sure those little potato bugs are not infiltrated, that the enemy's not trying to come in here and steal your joy. You gotta protect it, and you have to make sure that you know that you will give that increase. So when you see these cultures that are blossoming, there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes. They're tilling, they're manufacturing, they're they're manicuring, I mean, and they do understand that they're driven by that purpose, and you watch that crop, that harvest, and it's a beautiful thing.

SPEAKER_00 21:00

I love it. Let me give you some snaps right there. I love it. And leaders, this is a great place again for you to stop and assess. We want to hear from you what's resonating with you as we talk about trust and growing and aligning our words and building organizational cultures rooted in trust and purpose. What are some of the best practices that you have for building cultures that are rooted in trust and purpose in your organization? Andor what have you seen from leaders that you admire, that you have worked with, where they're they're doing this the right way? Share with us because we know that culture follows what leaders consistently model. Here's another question that I'm curious about. So, from your perspective, as we talk about faith-filled leadership, what role does servant leadership play? That's that's a phrase we hear quite often, a term, right? What role does servant leadership play in organizational effectiveness?

SPEAKER_01 22:01

These are the intangibles. Because it's likely that servant leadership in most contexts are not going to be pat on the back. You're going to see servant leadership in the data points that are the outliers, right? Servant leadership is going to be filling the gap. It's going to be behind the scenes. It's going to be the consistent investment in people, places, and products that are not going to usually be out in a conference room or in some executive level brief. So if you're a servant leader in a context that doesn't necessarily give you the opportunity to speak about your faith and celebrate servant leadership, keep serving and being faithful because those intangibles are what help make up an organizational uh dynamic that is effective because you're investing in people, and people are the ones that help produce the effectiveness. So I think servant leadership plays absolutely an instrumental role in organizational effectiveness.

SPEAKER_00 23:06

1000%. You know, I just want to share this, what I've seen over the years with servant leadership. Because I think sometimes servant leadership gets a bad rap because people focus on that first word from a perspective that does not really see the totality of what it means, right? Um but servant leadership, I have found over the years for me focuses from personal success to collective growth. You know, one of the team, one of the things that my team, that our team here, that we try to focus on is collective wins, collective areas of growth. We try to create a culture where it's okay to make a mistake. It's okay to fail. You know, we were sharing today that fail stands for first attempt in learning. Like what what what type of reframe and perspective would we have if we looked at our mistakes not as a failure that destroys, but as this was an attempt in learning? Now I gotta have the courage to keep on attempting, right? And you you said something that I think is key as well. You know, you talked about regularly, right? Regularly check in on your people, regularly have conversations where you're asking team members like like leaders, when was the last time that you stop to ask your team members what support do you need? No judgment, right? When they start talking, no, no, no, no, like you're not interrupting them, right? You're not telling them why they didn't get support or what what support do you need? And then you listen. You know, Zach, they say that the the same letters for listen are the same letters for silent. Right? But you're asking them what support, what resources, what professional development do you need to succeed? Man, when I had leaders that asked me those questions, it even if we didn't have the resources at that moment, the fact that they asked caused me to believe that I was seeing caused me to believe that they heard me. Leaders, so many times that's what your people need. And servant leadership says I'm taking it off of I to the we. What do you think about that?

SPEAKER_01 25:21

No, I mean, you said it way better than I could have said it. So I think that is absolutely something that we may overlook as meaningless, but that daily, regular investment, just like the illustration I shared in the garden. It was a regular, everyday, monotonous care for a plant that ended up being corn or potatoes or watermelon, whatever the case may be. And if you don't use that illustration and apply it to human beings, you're missing out on the opportunity to see how you can increase somebody's life by that daily, consistent, regular check-in. And I think that will pay dividends, not just for your own self-gratification, but for the development of that human being.

SPEAKER_00 26:13

And one of the things that I constantly think of is if you win, we win. If our team said, if I win, we win, if you win, we win, guess what? We win, we, we win, collectively. Whew, man, this this uh conversation has been like a masterclass right now. But as we turn the corner on this conversation, I want to ask you one final question. It's you know, and and really I'm inviting you to just sew into our community of leaders. What advice would you give leaders who want to increase their impact while remaining grounded in their faith and values?

SPEAKER_01 26:54

We've heard this time and time again. Blossom where you are, be faithful with what you got. Shout out to my dear pastor friend Jarvis Walsh down in Cocoa, Florida at the real church. Be faithful with what you got, Zach. That's what he kept telling me. And when you think about reframing impact, it goes back to that former question. Sometimes we look at a larger scope of impact, but the impact that you can make on an individual on a daily basis, think about that. Think about how important that is because they will win, which ultimately, as you very eloquently put, we will win. And so I encourage all the leaders that are listening in here today, be faithful with the people that God has put right in front of you, be faithful with the projects that He has put right in front of you. We had a grassroots effort down at NAS Jacks that has now grown into a Navy Wide program. I didn't think about that as a giant vision, but I was faithful with what I had, with the leaders who I had, with the limited resources, as you know, that we have. And God showed up and he gave the increase. And the intent was to just impact my command right there in Jacksonville. And so I'm thankful for the opportunity to be able to share that I wasn't looking too far ahead, that God gave me the focus right there where I was planted. And as we know, the harvest is plentiful, plentiful, but the workers are few. And so the more workers we bring in, the more we get to experience that harvest together and share that with others.

SPEAKER_00 28:32

I love this 1000%. Shout out to Navy chaplains. Woo, woo, woo, woo, woo. Um, and shout out to all of our leaders who are doing Faith Field Leadership. I want to thank you so much for joining us in this conversation today. This is definitely one that I need to go back and watch the replay because there are so many gems and leadership nuggets that I think are so applicable to be able to reflect on and then commit towards. So I know that there are leaders that want to ask you questions, that want to engage. What's the best way to be able to do so?

SPEAKER_01 29:06

Please reach out to me on LinkedIn. I was encouraged by a former training officer to get on LinkedIn, and it has been more fulfilling than I anticipated. It's a different branch of social media that invites conversations like this. Uh ma'am, I don't know if we would have really ever connected if it wasn't outside of that and me watching you crank out this wonderful content. And I just encourage you to reach out to me because I think it's a professional landscape where we want to see each other succeed and make sure we get the right resources to succeed. So I'd be more than willing and honored if you'd reach out and I'd love to connect with you.

SPEAKER_00 29:42

Absolutely fantastic. Okay, so community, you know that we like to support our guests. You saw the link on the screen, it's also in the description box. Go ahead and reach out to Zachary. Let him know first and foremost that you saw that you heard this particular episode. Let him know what resonated with you. Ask him questions and share resources so we can continue to grow together. Zachary, thank you so much for joining us today. It has been an absolute pleasure and an honor to have you with us. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 30:13

Thank you, ma'am.

SPEAKER_00 30:15

Absolutely. All right. Well, listen, this conversation that we just had with Zachary, it reminds us that leadership is not simply about achieving goals. Leadership is about stewarding influence, serving our people, and remaining aligned with purpose. I know that today's episode inspired you. So I'm inviting you right now, do not keep this wisdom to yourself. Share this particular episode with five. I'm challenging you today. Normally I say two or three, but share this particular episode: LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, Bussprout, Apple Podcasts, whatever podcast platform you have, to share this episode with others. I'm also inviting you right now. This is a right now action. Right now, hit that like, love, share. Also, it's really important that you hit the bell if you're watching on YouTube, because that helps us to get more traction. And it's also important for you to hit subscribe. Hit subscribe, hit follow, hit subscribe, follow, follow, subscribe, hit them so that you do not miss one more episode of Transformation Station Leadership Podcast. So until next time, keep leading with courage, keep serving with purpose, and keep on continuing your transformational journey.