Latest / Leadership Podcasts / LeaderImpact Podcast - Ep. 114 - Preston Wieler - From Farm To Global Leadership

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LeaderImpact Podcast - Ep. 114 - Preston Wieler - From Farm To Global Leadership · Leadership Podcasts

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the Leader Impact Podcast.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: We are a community of leaders with a network in over 350 cities around the world dedicated to optimizing our personal, professional, and spiritual lives to have impact.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: This show is where we have a chance to listen and engage with leaders who are living this out.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_01: We love talking with leaders, so if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions to make this show even better, please let us know.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: Best way to stay connected in Canada is through our newsletter at leaderimpact.ca or on social at leaderimpact.com.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_01: If you're listening from outside of Canada, check out our website at Leaderimpact.com.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: I'm your host, Lisa Peters, and our guest today is Preston Wheeler.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: Preston is the executive director for Leader Impact Global, dedicated to empowering marketplace leaders worldwide for purposeful kingdom impact.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: Prior to becoming involved with Leader Impact, just over 20 years ago, Preston was a corporate farm owner.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: Following a mission trip in 2002, together with his wife, Myra, God shifted their focus to a much bigger harvest than they ever imagined, living on the Canadian prairies.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: Preston and Myra live near Vancouver, BC, in Canada and enjoy the outdoors lifestyle of the Pacific Northwest, along with making the most of the time spent with their three adult children and spouses and their grandchildren.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: Preston, welcome to the show.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you, Lisa.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: Glad to be here.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: But yes, that's been a recent development in the last year and a half as we have two grandchildren, two lovely little granddaughters, and another grandchild on the way as of just a month ago that we found that out.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: So it's a whole new world when it comes to grandchildren, Lisa.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: I um, you know, when the first one was announced to us by our daughter, my wife and I both looked at each other, we're not ready for this.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: And uh we just felt like, oh man, this is going to upset our world.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: But you know what?
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: As soon as that little girl is born, everything changes.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: And we uh it's it's been such a joy to be a grandparent and you know, engage in this new life our children have, as well as the little joy that little bundles of joy that these little grandgirls have brought to life.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I mean it's been amazing.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think many people listening, uh well, mothers who uh I was like, How am I gonna fit this all in?
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_01: Or we reflect back and go, how did we get anything done?
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like children, you just you make it work and it's it's just beautiful.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: And but it can be terrifying or for a mother who you know for the new child coming along or a parent.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_01: Parents, yeah.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: So that's awesome.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: So it's yeah, it's great.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, good.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I'm I'm excited that you joined us today.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: And um I didn't know that you were a corporate farm owner.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I'm I'm excited to hear a little bit more about your story.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um I'm not sure if you've included the corporate corporate farm owner in there, but sort of the how did you get to where you are today?
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: And mostly I'm looking for those pivotal moments that got you where you are today.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I mean, if you want to think about farming, I can start there.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: I, you know, as a young child, I just followed my father at a farm.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: So I just followed him everywhere he went.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: And when he would leave on his truck, I would jump in the truck and follow him.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: And and actually got upset when he left me at home, you know.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: And he, I was only seven, eight, nine years old at the time, right?
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: And uh so farming, I guess they say it kind of, you know, it's in the blood.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: And so, in in terms of our family blood, farming was definitely in mine.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but coming out of high school, I already knew this is what I wanted to do.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: Went to university, you know, did what I needed to do there as a as a way, as a as a as a backup plan.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: If farming ever didn't work out, um, at least I'd have you know something to fall back to.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: But my dream, my vision was um was farming.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: And it was really farming to the point of taking my parents' small little, you know, small little farm, you know, just enough to make a living kind of thing, to big farming.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: It was an era where you know this the family farm was starting to, you know, kind of fade away and and corporate farming is starting to um take hold, right?
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: More acres, more hogs, more everything.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: So just in terms of economies of scale.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: So that was what I that was, I thought that would be my life.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: I poured my life into building, diversifying the farm, uh, starting other businesses related to to agriculture.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, that was uh that was life.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I I I loved it.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: I and I think part of the piece that I loved so much wasn't so much about making money or being really profitable.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: I think it was about success and building.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: I love to build.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: So this idea of building something, taking something that's you know, kind of on the smaller and building something, you know, large and in this case corporate out of it, was the big dream for me.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: So that was, you know, if you would have asked me 25 years ago, I would still be doing that.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: I would still be thinking about transitioning to, you know, maybe hopefully to a child or children.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: That was the journey I was on.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: There was a period of time.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, talk about pivotal moments.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: There was a period of time, I guess probably from 2000 to 2025, 2000 to 2005.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: There were God just started to do something in, I guess, in my heart.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: I was focused on my business, I was focused on myself, probably pretty self-centered.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't really care about other people.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: I I just knew where I was going, and and that was it.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um but over the course of a you know of a few years there, um two things, probably two pivotal things happened.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: One, I was invited to get involved in something called the Power to Change Manto Manitoba campaign.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: And it was this media campaign connecting to churches, and they gave me a little role to work with youth in our area.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: And so really all we did is work with some youth leaders in some of the local churches and put together a couple of events.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: But one of those events drew 1,200 kids to a skateboarding demonstration and and a concert, you know.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: And when the leaders of the um skateboarding group did an altar call, 200 kids stood up to accept Christ.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: And that was like, wow.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: Like I this, I mean, it blew my mind, honestly.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: Like I couldn't actually even comprehend.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we didn't even have follow-up capability for all these kids and all of that, right?
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: So um that was a turning point in terms of how God could use me to do something um amazing for the kingdom purpose.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: The second thing was a I was my wife and I were invited to go on a mission trip for business people, and we had no idea what we were getting into, but we knew the location was Acapulco, Mexico.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: This is where we had gone for our honeymoon, and we thought, hey, why don't we go?
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it sounds interesting, not really knowing what's happening, but let's go.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: And we knew a few other couples that were going, so it felt like um it could even just be a great social time, um, you know, with some people.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: And again, very transformative in my journey, I'd say my wife as well.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, working with the local business people in that city, being challenged, you know, to give a little talk and share your faith.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, probably the biggest thing we saw there was how the local leaders really cared for other leaders in their community.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: And we I hadn't been exposed to that.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: Like, and so we came back to our little town and said, What can we do for leaders in our community?
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like, how can we have an impact on them?
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: And so, with some of the other people that were on that trip from the same town, we started to get together once a week to plan something.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: What can we do?
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: Pray about it, and we tried some crazy things, but uh, in you know, the the cool part is we we probably could say we brought the spiritual conversations and discussions into the marketplace, which I'd say nobody was really doing at the time.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: Very you, I mean, you can meet people in the street or in the coffee shop, you talk about business, you talk about, you know, you can talk about maybe some politics.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because it was a farming community, you definitely talk about weather.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: But how often did we talk about spiritual things?
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, doing a couple of events that that started to open up those kind of conversations, and we started a group at that time within Leader Impact.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there was nothing.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: The leaders at the time basically said, just do something.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: Do something in your community with what you learned in Mexico.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: And so we just found some material and started a group.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: And and again, amazing the conversations that start to happen when we start talking about you know the spiritual component to leadership.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: So, anyway, those are the pivotal things.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: And and then a few years later, we were challenged to join the staff, and we said no.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: And then, and then, but we said we should we should at least pray about this.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: And then it started to transition to, well, maybe we'll keep working hard, retire early, we'll do missions then.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: And then all of a sudden, the conversation between my wife and I said, Well, our kids are young enough to move now.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: At that time, the expectation was you moved towards the office here in Vancouver area.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, and on and on.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: And we started asking our friends, and they said, No, we can we can see this.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: And then probably the biggest moment there was my my I said to my father, um, you know, we're thinking about doing this, we're thinking about leaving the farm.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: And what do you think?
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and he blew me away with his response.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: Basically, we've seen the changes in your life, we've seen that you're interested in different things than just the business.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: We've seen that your heart has changed and um what you value is changed.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: Like we blessed you.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: Why don't you should go?
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: The you know, the farm will take care of itself, we can sell it.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, he was a retirement age anyway, and so he wasn't as involved in the day-to-day any anyway, and so um that to me was the besides God saying, you know, we're going, like this.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: He used my father to tell me that, right?
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: This was this was happening, and so and that was that.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, we got involved over the course of the next 20 years.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: We're involved in really the development and growth of leader impact in Canada, working with leaders like Nathan and Judy Hildebrand, John Havercroft.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: Those were some of the early leaders that I got to, you know, work with.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, I think as a small team, it was just it was just exciting.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: The things that we were learning, trying, doing, and um, over the course of the next number of years, I think we developed a model that was working, you know.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, and then and then the last, you know, I guess as that model started to work and we started to see impact in our in our marketplaces of Canada, the world was taking notice.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: And they started to think about we need a team globally to help grow leader impact around the world.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: And so the headquarters of you know, of Campus Crusade for Christ International um invited uh myself to join the global team.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: And so we did that in 2018, and um I've been working at growing and and building the movement around the world uh since then.
• 12:05
  unknown: Wow.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: So that's kind of where we're at today, you know, and and I love I still love business.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: I love business people, I love building, and so the aspect of building hasn't changed.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, that part of it is still alive and well, and I just get to do it for you know building the kingdom rather than building my own empire.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_01: So listening to you and then listening to your dad's response when you decided to not farm.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm going to assume you were maybe raised in the church.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: You're okay.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, when you were making this decision, uh because I think people um they they don't maybe we don't know how to listen to God.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: We don't know how to hear God when he when he's calling us to do something, to make a change like you did.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: That do you remember that moment of really?
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: Is this what I'm gonna do?
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh do you remember that moment how you felt?
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: Was it scary?
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: Just uh just acknowledge that for a minute to our listeners, our viewers.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: Just that listening and going, it it felt right, it felt good.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't feel the discouragement.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: I, you know, I don't know.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like I said, our first response was just no.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I mean, that's not who we are.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: We're not, we're not missionaries.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: Other people can do that, right?
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: And but I think when we said, okay, we should at least pray about it, that started to soften our heart to the possibility.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that was point one from God, is just softening our heart first.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: Like, let me even just talk to you first, like before you say no, right?
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: And um, so through prayer, that was number one.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, and as we started to pray, we we didn't hear no from God, you know.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: So that was the kind of kind of the maybe what we didn't expect, you know.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: And we could we start, I mean, we were basing some of our decisions on, well, we've got a young family, we got a growing, you know, good business, we great friends, all our family is here.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: Like, why would we move from here to do this?
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_00: Why would we change our career, you know, and move away from everything that we held dear in our lives, right?
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: And um, but I think then some of the next steps were the affirmations of other people, close friends, um, you know, talk to people that we trusted, who knew us well, who were in the same stage of life as us, so also with young families, you know, and they were saying they were actually, no, we we see this in you, we see that you're this is something you should actually consider, you know.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: And then, of course, as um, you know, my father spoke into this.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um you know, and that was the one my dad's a great was a great guy.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: He passed away 10 years ago, no, nine years ago, but he he was a man of God, uh, definitely, you know, who I always say, you know, he saw he saw farming as just a way to make a living, but he loved the church, very involved.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: He was uh, he was involved in a gospel quartet.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: They traveled all around, you know, the prairies and the northern states, like that was his heart.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, kind of, you know, kind of building the kingdom in his way was probably closer to his heart than than business was.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I never understood that, but it was at that moment I understood that, I understood that, right?
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I could see how he could now really say, no, I see that in you, and and bless us and say, if I affirm you in this, and uh, and you know, and you should, and you should do this.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's you know, it's not gonna change anything in our family dynamics.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: We love you, we support you, we'll be behind you.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's just gonna look different.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: And uh so yeah, that was that was it.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I think through you know, through all of that, we heard God, but we heard God through people, probably was the biggest thing.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: And that was, and in that, I think, you know, the fear dissipated.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: It was we we changed from fear to excitement.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: God could really use us, God could really we actually have something God wants, you know, what, you know, and can use.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that was the part that uh was exciting during that time is we actually truly felt that, you know, as we left our town for this area, we left our business for the ministry, that it actually wasn't as scary as we thought it would be.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: It actually started to feel like this is exactly where we needed to be.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and off we went.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: That's actually, yeah, that's actually the end of the story on that one.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_01: Uh thank you for sharing, Preston.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so we're we're next going to talk about the best principle of success.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, if you have one, uh tell us what it is and maybe a story that illustrates that.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you know, leading with principles of success is important.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I think there is core principles that stand the test of time through anybody's leadership journey or business journey, right?
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: But I think some of them become more prominent at different times or more relevant at different times.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: I'd say for me at this moment, um, you know, in the context of growing and building and expanding leader impact and just kind of keeping up with the momentum, you know, that we're seeing around the world, it really leans into, I'd say, empowering leaders, uh, finding good people, empowering them, and just moving from managing them to aligning them and then letting them lead.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, for for example, in our um global leadership team, um, you know, we're a team of 10 trying to serve the world, and we're all, we don't have enough people.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: So if there's anyone out there that wants to join our team and feels led to, we could use we could use more hands.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: But besides that, you know, we worked through a process in the last few months of everybody rather than all hands on deck all the time, what's each person's role?
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: Very clearly defining that, and giving them then the freedom to own the role and lead, you know.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to lead a team of leaders rather than a team of managers.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think that for me has been the big thing lately where I'm freeing up people, empowering them to lead, letting them make some mistakes, but being there to serve and support them, align them to the vision and mission, always keeping those guardrails in place, um, and then carrying on at a regional level.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: You know, in this last year we've developed regional leadership teams.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: And so now we're moving ownership from the global team to regional ownership teams to serve the local national movements.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: And they're made up of key volunteer leaders and some staff people.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: And again, it's all about you know, moving ownership to the local level and letting everyone, you know, lead within their context, their culture, their language, you know.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't know, you know, I mean, I'm learning and growing in terms of understanding all of that globally, but they know what's best locally.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: Our leaders in, you know, Taiwan know what works best in Taipei.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, so rather than you know, an approach that where everything has to flow from leadership at a global level, um, here are the tools, here are the resources, here are the training, here's the vision and mission.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: Now we enable you to lead out in your area.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think that's the biggest thing I've been for the success of Leader Impact as a leader-led um movement.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um and you know, Lisa, it's really cool because you know, marketplace leaders are entrepreneurial by nature.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: They have no problem taking some risk, they catch the vision, we can do things better.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, and from rather than trying to control that, we I want to foster that, right?
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: So I think giving them ownership, fosters that knowing that the core, you know, the core strategy, the core platform, the core process, the core materials are there.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: And I always encourage them to try that first and then adapt um, you know, for what works in their area.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: So that's so that's the thing I'd say, you know, that I'm learning or are really leaning into, you know, in the current um development of Leader Impact.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_01: It it interesting, it leads into my next question.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_01: You talked about leader, allowing the leaders to lead and allowing them to make mistakes.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's it's hard to fail.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's hard to make a mistake and bounce back.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_01: But I mean, I think we all know we learn more from our mistakes and our failures or our failings than we do from our successes.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm wondering if you can share one that you have had, a mistake or a fail, failure, failing, and what you learned from it.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it's probably, I mean, made lots of mistakes, Lisa.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: I think every business person will tell you, yeah, that's actually becomes second nature to some degree.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: You almost expect it sometimes, right?
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_00: But, you know, I guess when you're a person who charges and sometimes charges before you think, you know, think it all through and willing to take some risks.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: And and like you say, I think the flip side of that is you learn more from failures and poor decisions.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: Than you do when everything is going well and you nailed, you know, you nailed the decisions and everything, you know, the results of that have gone really well.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I can I think I'd point back to something that's a little bit probably on the flip side of what I just shared about empowering um leaders is something I learned in my early 30s.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: We, you know, we were starting a new business with some some other partners uh in our in our town.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um the idea was great and we started off well, but for different circumstances out of an ownership group of of 10, somehow as a young 30-year-old, I became the president of the company.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I was probably not equipped to be president of the company.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: And I was probably not um, probably didn't have the right mindset.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_00: I was probably I probably said yes because probably seeking some approval, you know.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted people to notice that as a young leader I could do this.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um and so along with you know three other companies I was a part of at the time, I took on another role that spread me very thin.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_00: And so as this company took off and you know, started production, we had a general manager in place, and you know, I would say kind of just was hands off.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_00: You you're the leader, and and you know, tell me if something's going wrong.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: And and he never told me if something was going wrong, and all of a sudden we realized some things were going wrong.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: And and uh, you know, and I think the things got to the point where we actually had to, over the course of uh of the next year, sell the business and get out of that position.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: And but as I reflected on that, first of all, I felt terrible because I was such I didn't pay attention, you know.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: So I liked the mantle, I liked the title of president, but I wasn't paying attention to the business.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, letting the partners down really weighed on me is that we were going through that, you know, that that process.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but the thing I think that I learned was if you're gonna take on some a leadership role, you got you you do have to get your hands dirty to some degree, you know, at least to the point where you know the people and can trust them to hand it back off to them.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's you know, and that's that is something even with my my team now, with the the last you know, three years, like I said, we were all hands on deck.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_00: I was involved probably in a lot of you know what my team did.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: And we're at the position now where I feel like I can lead, I can let that go now, you know, and I can let them lead.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, they know kind of how I think, you know, they kind of know that I like to get things done, so I'll push.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'll push like hopefully in a godly manner, but sometimes, you know, I I want to see progress.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um you know, and uh, and that I think is because of you know what I learned.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: Like title means nothing anymore now, unless you are in it, you're active, you are engaged with your people, your team, your other leaders, and um, and really trying to work and grow the bit um grow the business, grow the organization through empowering others and empowering my team, empowering our regional leadership groups, empowering leaders in every city uh that we're active in.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so I I mean it's it's something, right?
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, like I said, there's lots of failures, but that's definitely one that uh came to mind as you asked about that.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_01: Did you ever I lately it has been crossing my mind and and like the phrase, God doesn't call the equipped, he equips the called.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_01: You know, when I think of you got you, you know, did you feel called into that taking that leadership role?
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_01: Because you you talked a little bit about just you took it, maybe you were seeking approval, you liked the title, you know.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I definitely I don't, I mean, some of the other people on them on the ownership group called me, but I don't know if I felt called, but I just said yes.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, what is it gonna say?
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_00: I respected those, you know, those other guys, those other leaders, the partners, and I didn't want to say no.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I know they were all busy people too.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, this was kind of something that um, you know, I like I said, I think I might have said yes for the wrong reasons, right?
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_00: Now, the role I have now with Leader Impact, I would say completely it's about less about being equipped and about being called.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you know, there's many mornings I I wake up and think, God, like what am I?
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not really I'm not a I'm not a missionary.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what am I doing here?
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like I don't feel equipped to lead a global organization, but for whatever reason, God has me in this season, and I do feel called to be here, and I will give it my all until he says you're done and someone else takes over.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_00: But I I think now I know what it means to be truly called, um, and have now for you know over the last 20 years.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, and I think that is the best place in terms of finding where you lead, where you are, is trusting that the Lord will lead you into where he wants you to be.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_01: I think, Preston, that every moment of your life was meant to happen.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_01: You were meant to say like this.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_01: Is just I and I think I say this just so I make myself feel better.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_01: Because you know, when you when you when you say yes to something and you're like, what have I done?
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_01: I'm overcommitted, I can't, you know, whatever it is.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_01: And I feel like you always learn.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_01: And it's meant to be part of your story, your path.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, don't don't look back and go, that was the worst.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_01: Look back and go, man, did I learn?
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_01: You never like I just you you never lose.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_01: You will always learn from that.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, I that's exactly right.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you can look back and have regrets and you know, and think about all the things that didn't work in your life, work out in your life.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, I just think I I mean the only way to for me to look back is to look at what have I learned, what have I learned?
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_00: That to me, that is one of the biggest reasons why you would look back on your journey, right?
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_00: What did I learn back then that'll help me now?
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and if you're looking back, remain reminiscing and oh man, that didn't work, and I how man, I felt all these things, I think then you you have you're setting yourself up for going down a you know a trail you don't need to go down.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_00: And um, you know, I I love what you said.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_00: Like I think that's exactly right.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_00: If looking back leads you to you know, to take those learnings, to apply them to your, you know, where you're at today or where you're going in the future.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that's the you know, those are those are actually to be, you should look at them in a way that's oddly fond, you know, in a fond way, right?
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_01: Such a little twist, right?
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_01: Like positive, look back and go, oh, and down that hill.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm sure you've had those on your journey too.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, it's it's just the way it is, right?
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, it is.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_01: I've learned a lot.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I mean, obviously, you know as well as I know, like, we're all part of Leader Impact.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_01: We want people to grow personally, professionally, and spiritually for increasing impact.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um I I'm wondering, and it's I'm looking at the question going, would you be willing to share an example of how the spiritual makes a practical difference in your life as a leader?
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_01: And you are Leader Impact Global.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_01: So, but what are some of the things you do?
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_01: Of like, how do you show the spiritual how it makes a practical difference in your life?
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_01: Like for people who are listening who may not be where you know you are today in your faith.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_00: What they would understand.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, this is uh it's a good question because you assume some things, you know, when you lead uh uh an organization like Leader Impact and we're you know focused on helping leaders grow personally, professionally, and spiritually for impact and even like heavenly spiritual impact, you would think that you know all of us would have it all together, right?
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_00: Spiritually.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_00: I would say, you know, for me, it comes down to understanding who I am with God, like, you know, um as his child, as a joint heir in Christ, in terms of you know, him building his kingdom.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I think, you know, once you you go to the lowest denominator, you know, in terms of your relationship with God, I am a child of God.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like he did all this for me so that I can now live for him, I can surrender to him, I can leave, you know, um, I can leave what I do um in his hands, right?
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_00: So I, you know, Lisa, I talked about success earlier and building.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just still driven by success.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_00: Even as uh as the executive director for Leader Impact Global, I want to see it grow.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_00: I want to see leaders more, I want to see a million leaders get involved in Leader Impact in the next five years, you know, and I want to see us be in a thousand cities in the next five years.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_00: So I am very motivated by growth, by success, but success maybe for the right reasons.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um but I'm not tying my uh leadership to success.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_00: I'm tying that I'm trying to be faithful to what God has called me to do, and that I'm a child of God, just faithfully walking where he is leading each day and each month and and each year.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_00: So then, you know, I can leave my efforts, I can leave, it's it's really at his, you know, it's in his hands.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_00: And if I can, you know, if I can look back on each day or start each day, God, what do I need to know today?
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_00: What do I need to do today?
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_00: And at the end of this, say, God, did I, how did I, you know, how did I do on your checklist?
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, sometimes it's better than other days, but you know what I'm saying, right?
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_00: Like I said, God, this is your movement.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm faithfully following, I hope.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_00: Some days are better than others, but I know who I am, and my in my in my identity is not wrapped up in leader impact.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's not wrapped up in how I can help other leaders, it's wrapped up in my father, right?
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm his child, and I just want to serve on serve him, you know, with humility and with everything that I have.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_01: I have found a lot of um when you talk about, you know, um serving and in your leadership um in the morning when I, you know, I get up, I have my my quiet time, and I will say, like, you know, jokingly, like, God, where are we going today?
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_01: What are where are you gonna put me today?
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_01: And knowing that I, you know, yes, I have a to-do list.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_01: I, you know, and I and then just accepting that I might get hijacked.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_01: Like one might just come in and go, you need to call someone, or someone might come into your life.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_01: Or and I have found calmness in just letting go of my own list and allowing that person needs me right now.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's right.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, versus the the goals of this world, right?
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_01: I got I gotta hit that goal to hit the end of the day.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_01: You know, just step back for a moment and I, you know, it's hard.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_01: I mean I think that's where I think.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Lisa, but you know, I'm very much like you.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I have a list of things to do, my calendar is full of tasks.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and yet if somebody calls, at the end of the day, it's about people, right?
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_00: So where did if that person needs something for me today, or if I can come alongside a person, or if God says, hey, you know, you should reach out to that person, like maybe right now.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_00: And if you are responsive and just do it, you're always amazed by, okay, maybe I did get all of the checklist done, but I was able to be a part of somebody else's journey today and maybe encourage them or pray for them or challenge them or hold them accountable to something they said they were asked that I keep them accountable to.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, those are the kind of things at the end of the day that you know they're eternity related, right?
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, my checklist of the day is maybe not always eternity related.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_00: People are.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_00: I can I think every person is return eternity related, right?
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so if it can help somebody on their journey, um, you know, that at the end of the day is probably the most important um thing that I could do that day.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's good.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_01: So I mean, we know leader impact is a is dedicated to leaders having that lasting impact.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_01: You've just said that.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_01: So as you continue to move through your own journey in your life, have you considered what you want your faith legacy to be when you leave this world?
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_00: Hmm.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm at I'm at that age where I'm starting to think about a bit more about this, right?
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_00: About legacy.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, my wife and I have started to talk about what is that, what do you what do we mean by that?
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like maybe within the context of our family.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_00: And now also, you know, with us working together.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_00: So she just joined my team as of September 1.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, kind of in our latter, kind of our latter stages of our career, what does this look like serving together in this great you know movement called Leader Impact?
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so we're yeah, so when it comes to our family, and for me as a husband, you know, as a father, as a grandfather, I, you know, Lord willing, I just want to see our our you know, our our family continue on this legacy of faithfulness, you know.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_00: I saw it in my father, as I said, I saw it in my grandfather.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_00: And part of me just has this, I just want to, I don't want to see this circle broken, right?
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_00: And and so this legacy of faith, of legacy of of a heart, you know, for people, a heart for reaching people, heart for sharing the gospel, being a vessel with that through which God can work wherever you are in each of our kids' journey or in our grandkids' journey, wherever they are.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what's God called them to?
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_00: And how can I come alongside them?
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_00: How can my wife and uh Myra and I come alongside them to um you know help them in that journey is is is top of mind, I would say.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, along that with some of our core values, I'd say is something else we're thinking about, um, even financial values.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, these are these are things that are top of mind once you get to knocking on the door of being 60 years old, Lisa.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um not 60, but I'm saying I'm knocking on the door.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um I'm right behind you, Preston.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I'd say within the ministry, you know, with uh within Leader Impact, I would say this.
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_00: I marketplace leaders, leaders, they're my people.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_00: That's where I came from, right?
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I would say many days I still think of myself as a business person rather than a missionary.
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_00: It helps me to connect with with people better, okay?
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, the just knowing how much God loves business people, even though they're stubborn, they're persistent, they are headstrong, they are self-centered, they're success-oriented, driven by profit, like all these things, God loves them.
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_00: I love them, right?
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_00: Like because I know that I've been there, I know who they are, right?
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I want to be a part of their journeys in terms of you know exploring faith, finding faith, and uh, and growing, you know, and growing faith and multiplying faith.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_00: And to me, that is um, I can't tell you what that looks like, but if I can have a part to play, you know, in these next years of growing um leader impact and coming alongside, you know, leaders in their journeys, um, I think that's to me, that's it right there.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_00: So I get, you know, one of the incredible blessings of working with leaders is that you can become a part of this community, right?
• 38:59
  SPEAKER_00: Not just within your local city, but around the world.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I've got to meet leaders from around the world, and and we all have this like-mindedness, you know, of growing uh, you know, together, of impact, being intentional about impact in our, you know, with our close relationships or in our workplaces or even in our community, and uh wanting to see others, uh, other leaders get engaged with leader impact.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um you know, a good friend of mine passed away in March.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_00: His name was Sean Mooney, and he lives in he did he lived at Johannesburg, uh, South Africa, and I've really only known him for about six years.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_00: And but we were like kindred spirits when it came to leader impact.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_00: We had such a you know um similar heart um, you know, for for engaging leaders.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I tell you, this guy, when he started having pancreatic cancer, he was so involved in a city, so involved in his country, so involved in his region, so involved globally, you know, as part of a global advisory group that you know that I had.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, days before his death, he's still joining leader impact calls.
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_00: Passionate, right?
• 40:15
  SPEAKER_00: Passionate about releasing the capacity and passion of marketplace leaders to change the world.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, so it's to me, I'm inspired by those kind of relationships, those kind of stories, you know, and legacy.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's it's legacy, right?
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_00: He uh and that's what I I want, right?
• 40:34
  SPEAKER_00: Like that's I I want I hope to my dying day I'm thinking the same way.
• 40:37
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna be, you know, squirreled away in a corner of a room just waiting to pass on.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_00: Till my dying day, I want to be active, engaged, be there with people, you know?
• 40:50
  unknown: Yeah.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_00: So guys like Sean or you know, um, you know, I met a uh uh a leader out of Atlanta about a year ago, and she's a pilot, and she's she'd heard about Leader Empire, but really only got involved in a group and started her, started a group about it, I think less than a year ago.
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_00: And it's just has changed her life, you know.
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_00: And she, you know, she's realized, you know, I'm in a, I'm, I'm, I think she's found this freedom now to live out her kingdom calling, right?
• 41:22
  SPEAKER_00: To not, it's still courageous and and being courageous and bold, but hey, I'm I'm I'm a child of God.
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_00: I'm living out, you know, my my calling in the marketplace.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_00: And um, so she said, I I'm in a cockpit with my co-pilot for three to four hours.
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like why don't I start to get to know this person?
• 41:43
  SPEAKER_00: Why don't I start to ask questions about where they're at spiritually and have conversations?
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_00: And she says, it's just amazing how you know these conversations have changed to, oh, what'd you do last weekend and what's going on?
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, oh man, our union needs to have, you know, some talks with the ownership about this or that of the like two actually really engaging personal spiritual conversations.
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_00: Not that this person has become a Christian, but at least she says, I feel this complete freedom now, you know, and that's leader impact has emboldened me to do this.
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_00: They've given me some tools to do it, and now I'm free to do it.
• 42:17
  SPEAKER_00: And again, it's great, right?
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_00: You can just see how leaders are um engaging, you know, and you know, so it's just amazing.
• 42:25
  SPEAKER_00: And even locally, Lisa, like I have a group of 10 business owners here in the Abbotsford area, and you know, we made a commitment about a year ago.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_00: What are we what are we doing for our community?
• 42:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's great to be together as a group, um, but how can we invest our leadership, our influence, our finances, and our expertise into the community?
• 42:47
  SPEAKER_00: We're doing it maybe in our workplaces, maybe we're doing it at home.
• 42:50
  SPEAKER_00: But so we started a, we call it a mentoring community where we're inviting, you know, those young leaders that are in business now that were us, you know, 20 years ago or 30 years ago in my case, you know, and they're driven, they're like starting business and they're entrepreneurial, and we've learned a lot of things, like you said, made a lot of mistakes.
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_00: How can we invest in them?
• 43:13
  SPEAKER_00: And and seeing how these young leaders are engaging with us now, um, learning and being a part of this community of more experienced and seasoned, seasoned leaders.
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_00: And we're not just talking professionally, we're having conversations about faith and we're having conversations about some of the personal sides of life too.
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and encouraging them, you know what?
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_00: Your impact doesn't have to start when you when you become successful.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_00: Start now, you know.
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_00: You can have an impact right now.
• 43:43
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to wait until your 40s and your business is in a good place and everything's running well, like even the middle of the challenges right now, or you don't know where the next dollar is coming from.
• 43:55
  SPEAKER_00: You know, invest in terms of uh being intentional about your impact.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_00: uh on others, you know?
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's the world we're living in.
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_00: That's I guess in when you think about faith legacy, um, beyond you know family, that's I guess what I'm thinking about.
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_01: It starts now.
• 44:14
  SPEAKER_00: It starts now.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_00: Legacy It should have started probably 40 years ago, but it didn't.
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_01: So never too late.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_00: Never too late.
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_00: Never too late.
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_01: I was reading this morning, so we've interviewed or on the podcast Andrew Denisov.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_01: He's in Ukraine and he's a leader there.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_01: And um this morning he posted, well I think it was this morning but we're on a time change but he he one of the last he's talking about a seminar or conference he had and he said come for the content stay for the community and I kind of heard that from you.
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_01: It's like come for the content and stay for the community.
• 44:49
  SPEAKER_01: That's what we offer is a community.
• 44:51
  SPEAKER_00: That is what we offer that is what we're about you know yeah I love that.
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I've been sharing that story recently because it used to be you know get involved with leader impact we can equip you for you know having an impact in the marketplace and and we do.
• 45:05
  SPEAKER_00: I mean it's all true.
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_00: But as you start to meet other like minded leaders you realize whether you're in Canada or in the US or Latin America or in Asia or Africa, you know leaders are you know are starting to connect and they're connecting online they're connecting through travel and we've become a community.
• 45:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's really what it is a community of like-minded leaders you know like I said committed and intent on joining God, what he's doing in the marketplace.
• 45:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah it is it is probably one of the greatest is just connecting with leaders all around the world with Leader Impact.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_01: Like I like I think in a two days I get to interview someone from India and we're on an eight hour time Prince and I'm like what time you know it's cool.
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_01: It is just cool to talk to leaders in other countries.
• 45:51
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my last question for you Preston is what brings you the greatest joy oh the greatest joy well I mean okay I'm gonna I'm gonna share probably something that's more than just of course my marriage or my children or grandchildren I mean those get bring a lot of joy to my life I mean I've been like a I mean you've been married 25 years it's awesome you know my wife and I have been married 33 years and it's just been an amazing 33 years of marriage and you know becoming you know as one as God you know designed is that's just an incredible journey right and I just love it.
• 46:35
  SPEAKER_00: Brings a lot of joy.
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_00: But I'd say I you know um I love being outside like uh being in God's beautiful creation and so for me I get a lot of joy of going outside for a hike a walk a bike ride a kayak uh or sitting at the fire in the middle you know late at night and but just the the peace and the quietness and the beauty of you know God's uh God's great creation called planet earth um you know is something that I feel close to him you know through and I would even say some of my some of the best times when I hear him when I'm looking for you know to make a decision or for guidance or for wisdom and direction are when I'm outside kind of on my own you know just me and God and is and and I think that's I smile when I go for a hike.
• 47:36
  SPEAKER_00: I honestly do because I just I enjoy that and uh and part of and you know and part of me is just you know a lot of my work is on the computer doing video calls and video meetings and I have a window I can look outside but it's like it's not the same.
• 47:54
  SPEAKER_00: The more I look outside I should probably turn my office around because the more I look outside the more I want to get out there.
• 47:59
  SPEAKER_00: But it's kind of dangerous.
• 48:01
  SPEAKER_00: But I I honestly it just brings a lot of joy and I attributed that to you know just as a as a as a physical expression of God's you know God in my life and I just see him um you know by being out there.
• 48:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 48:15
  SPEAKER_01: As you were saying I just thought of the quiet time.
• 48:18
  SPEAKER_01: I mean some people can't get outside maybe it's they they can't but uh just that quiet time just it that made my you know I have my quiet time inside I do live in Saskatchewan it can get minus 40.
• 48:30
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not going out there so I cuddle up with a coffee and you know read.
• 48:35
  SPEAKER_01: But um you know just having that find that quiet time in your day to go for a hike but or sit down or yeah so that's great.
• 48:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 48:44
  SPEAKER_00: Rest of yeah it could be a cup of coffee whatever it is right I I think it's important to find those moments in the day or in the week sometimes you know that where you can actually just unplug and just experience kind of this pure joy moment right and uh you know and it's not so much about what makes me happy right now it's to me joy is part of your relationship with God, you know, in terms of being content and being you know joyful in every season, right?
• 49:11
  SPEAKER_00: And it could be the hardest day but if you get this moment with a coffee um alone you and God, there's joy, right?
• 49:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 49:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 49:20
  SPEAKER_01: But uh so Preston just this ends our podcast.
• 49:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um we haven't I have just loved being here with you and listening to you and I just learned so much from all the leaders and you know to have Leader Impact Global right across for me is really cool.
• 49:34
  SPEAKER_01: If people want to engage with you, find you either then like leaderimpact.com is because that's where they can find you is there a a different way that we might be able to Yeah I'd say probably just uh you know connect with me through LinkedIn.
• 49:47
  SPEAKER_00: You know I'm trying to be more active on LinkedIn and posting some more stories and things like that.
• 49:52
  SPEAKER_00: So absolutely uh LinkedIn is the best place.
• 49:55
  SPEAKER_00: And then also yeah go to leaderimpact.com and you'll find more about the ministry there and there's also an info at um email address that you can you know reach out to me as well.
• 50:08
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 50:08
  SPEAKER_00: And it's just been great connecting with you Lisa um I love you know connecting with other like minded leaders like yourself.
• 50:15
  SPEAKER_00: I know what you do and you know for Leader Impact and in your local city in your local province and your country and and uh this podcast is another great way to engage leaders and get the stories out there right um the more stories we can tell about leaders of leader impact um the better and it just engages more people to you know to explore and get engaged with the movement.
• 50:40
  SPEAKER_00: So thanks for doing what you do Lisa really is great.
• 50:43
  SPEAKER_01: Well you're welcome Preston.
• 50:46
  SPEAKER_01: All right well thanks for joining us we loved having you.
• 50:49
  SPEAKER_01: All right thank you thanks all right well if you're part of Leader Impact you can always discuss or share this podcast with your group.
• 50:56
  SPEAKER_01: And if you are not yet part of Leader Impact and would like to find out more and grow your leadership find our podcast page on our website at leaderimpact.ca and check out our free leadership assessment.
• 51:07
  SPEAKER_01: You can also check out groups available in cat at leaderimpact.ca or if you're listening from anywhere else in the world check out leaderimpact.com that's where Preston can be found or get in touch with us by email info at leaderimpact.ca and we will connect you.
• 51:21
  SPEAKER_01: And if you like this podcast please leave us a comment give us a rating or review this will help other global leaders find our podcast.
• 51:28
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for engaging with us and remember impact starts with you