If you want a team whose belief grows every cycle — not just their workload — learn more about the Ready Set Grow Mastermind: https://www.readysetgrowchurch.com/mastermind

Most churches treat celebration like an afterthought.

A few minutes of polite applause, a quick "great job team," and then right back to the next thing on the list.
But that pattern is quietly doing something to your staff — cycle after cycle, it's eroding their belief.

Not in one dramatic moment. Slowly. Every time a hard-fought win gets a brief golf clap and a "let's keep going," your team absorbs a message: it wasn't enough. We're always behind. There's always more.
And then pastors who want to cast bigger vision wonder why their team keeps hesitating.

This episode makes the case that celebration isn't a personality trait or a culture nice-to-have — it has to be built into your leadership system. And it breaks down a simple framework for doing it in a way that actually builds belief, unity, and momentum.

Inside:
- Why skipping real celebration is psychologically damaging — and what it's actually costing your team's momentum
- Why your team's confidence comes from completion, not from rah-rah speeches
- The domino principle: how celebrating smaller wins builds the belief that bigger challenges are possible
- A simple four-part framework for celebrating wins with your team: frame what you said you'd do, what you actually did, what you overcame, and who showed up
- Why the Bible itself is a collection of documented wins — and what that means for how you lead
- Three mindset shifts that happen when your team celebrates regularly: "we might fail" becomes "we've done this before," "this feels too big" becomes "this is the obvious next step," and "this feels risky" becomes "this feels inevitable"

You don't grow from experience. You grow from examined experience.

If you want to stop white-knuckling your way through every vision cycle and start navigating the messy middle with a repeatable system, learn more about the Ready Set Grow Mastermind: https://www.readysetgrowchurch.com/mastermind

You cast the vision.
The team was fired up.
And then... it got messy.

The momentum slowed. People started asking the same questions. Frustration crept in. You weren't sure if the team was confused or just not bought in.

This is the messy middle — and every pastor hits it.

Here's the hard truth: most leaders only plan for the start and the finish. They know how to cast vision, and they know how to measure results. But no one teaches you what to do in mile 12 when you roll your ankle.

This episode breaks down the Middle Method — a proven framework built to help your team navigate the messy middle and come out stronger every single cycle.

Inside:
- Why visionary leaders almost always plan in 2D but lead in 3D — and what goes wrong because of it
- The three reactions most teams have when they hit the messy middle (and why none of them actually work)
- What cycles and cool downs are — and how they map to the natural rhythms of your church calendar
- The exact tools your team needs during a cycle: CycleRock Dashboard, 365, Weekly 3 / Daily 3, Effective Meetings, and the Ideas List
- How the cool down phase works: Heartbeats, one-on-ones, Mission Metrics audit, Growth Planning Workshop, and 365 audit
- Why cycles without cool downs lead to burnout — and cool downs without cycles lead to stagnation

The messy middle isn't something you can avoid. But it is something you can learn to lead through.

If you want to grow your leadership, build a more aligned staff culture, and create systems that help your church scale without chaos, learn more about the Ready Set Grow Mastermind: https://www.readysetgrowchurch.com/mastermind

Most church staff meetings aren’t intentionally designed.

They become catch-all conversations that drain energy, waste time, and create more confusion instead of clarity.

In this episode, Mark, Scott, and Hunter break down a practical blueprint for building staff meetings that actually move your church forward. They unpack how healthy meetings create alignment, accountability, leadership development, and stronger team culture—without becoming endless discussions that frustrate everyone in the room.

This conversation covers how to structure meetings with clear purpose, how to keep teams focused on what matters most, and why the right meeting rhythm can completely change the health of your organization.

Inside:

• Why most church staff meetings fail
• The difference between leading and facilitating a meeting
• How to create accountability without micromanaging
• The “Start, Stop, Scale” framework for improving Sundays
• Why team check-ins build healthier culture
• How great meetings reinforce vision and execution

Healthy churches are built through healthy leadership systems.