Latest / Global Leadership Collaborative / #01: Sowing the Seed of God's Word: Davis Powell, CEO of Seed Company
Transcript
- Woody McLendon: Hi, and welcome to the Global Leadership Collaborative Podcast, a podcast designed to encourage leaders around the world of the Bible translation movement. My name is Woody McLendon and I'm your host. As we launch this new podcast on this very first episode, I'm really thrilled to welcome a good friend, a dear brother, and the president and CEO of Seed Company, Davis Powell. Davis, thanks for joining this morning. Davis Powell: Thanks, Woody. So great. So great being with you. I'm excited for our conversation and for the journey that this podcast is going to be on over the next several months. Woody McLendon: Thank you so much. we're just getting started and the purpose is to encourage leaders around the world, but others might happen onto this and just say, what is this? So before we get into a lot of detail, can you just give me a brief introduction of what is the ministry of Bible translation today and who is Seed Company? Davis Powell: Yeah, yeah, great, great question. You know, ⁓ some may think that Seed Company is selling seeds, so we often get some calls to our office to ask for sunflower seeds, but we are all about sowing the seed of God's Word around the world. And some people know this, but a lot of people don't. There over 7,000 languages spoken in the world today, and only around 10 % of those languages, less than 800 languages, have access to a full Bible. English, we have access to a full Bible. We've got multiple versions of a full Bible, Genesis to Revelation, but less than 800 around the world have that. Thousands of languages have portions. They're on their journey. They've got a gospel or maybe the New Testament or portions of the Old Testament, and there's still roughly 500 languages awaiting their first verse. They do not have any scripture. And just think for a moment of what you would replace your worship with if you didn't have scripture. If you looked out at a beautiful world and didn't know that same Creator you, if you had idea that there is a loving Father who desires relationship with through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And so that is our heart as Seed Company. We want to be a part of that movement to sow the seed of God's Word ⁓ so that around the world ⁓ can worship with all their heart. And so we're about that every day and we're currently serving in right over 1,300 languages globally. Woody McLendon: Wow. I can tell you're passionate. I love it. I also have the privilege of serving along with you at Seed Company. So this is a huge blessing for me. But let's position, turn a little bit, because as we're, the goal of here is to talk to leaders around the world. So many of whom, of our partners, we have lots of partners. So talk a little bit about your conversations, what you would tell a partner today about the unique contribution you feel God calling us at Seed Company to this, what is now a global movement. Davis Powell: That's right. Yeah, yeah, and C Company does everything in partnership. And so that's so important to know from the get-go is that our heart at C Company is to not go alone, but to go together. There's amazing leaders around the world, amazing leaders in local context. And so we get to lock arms with these leaders, raise up translators who know these indigenous languages to translate the word of God for their people. And so I've served at C Company for right over 10 years and what had the privilege of stepping into serve as CEO and president over right around two years ago. And as I stepped into serve in this role, one of my first things was that I desired to meet, have conversations, sit down over tea, sit down over Zoom with so many of our national partners that we work with in country contexts. And so C Company has over 1200 named and known partners. And so I hit the ground running to try and have these conversations. And, you know, as I stepped into serving this role, something that has always been on my heart is a desire to learn and recognizing that leaders are learners. And in a Western context, we have got a plethora of leadership content. Frankly, we probably don't need another leadership podcast in the West. Right. We've got books. I could go through my whole bookshelf right here. We've got. podcast that I listened to this week. We've got amazing thought leaders. And so for me stepping in to serve, I was gleaning all these things. I was trying to think through how do you, your first 90 days, how do you galvanize a team? But as I began to engage with these amazing brothers and sisters in executive director roles, in CEO roles, I quickly realized that for many of these contexts, these leaders have the same hunger to learn, but not the same resources to glean from. And even culturally, in our Western context, there's something about a leadership culture, learning leadership content, but that was just not present. And so the more and more that I engaged in conversations with leaders, amazing leaders, and saw that hunger of content, saw that hunger of wanting to feel seen, saw that hunger of wanting to hear from other peer CEOs across the globe, particularly in the Bible translation movement, to learn from them, because we're all walking through things. The enemy wants to tell us, that we're the only leader walking through something. But that's just not the case. And so the thought behind this platform, the unique contribution and niche that I thought Seed Company provide would just be to provide an avenue for ⁓ a medium where leadership content could be shared with a focus ⁓ national leaders. hearing not only from the two of us, I mean, you've got an amazing leadership journey, Woody. We're so privileged to have you on staff. You were the president of JARS, a really large missions organization. And so the privilege to hear from you, to hear from other peers, national leaders, and just to say, hey, you're seen, you're doing a good work, and let's learn from each other. And so that's why I'm so excited about this podcast and the conversations that are gonna be had. Woody McLendon: Thank you. Thanks, Davis. Well, I feel like part of one of the things, I mean, I appreciate your learning hard. And one of the things I've appreciated so much is other leaders who have shared their journey of leadership because it's not just the facts and the books are great, but what's the experience of leadership look like? How did you sense God call? And so one of my hopes for this podcast and my intent is to interview leaders from around the world, our brothers and sisters who are amazingly gifted doing some, I mean, faithful, passionate, courageous. Davis Powell: That's right. That's right. Woody McLendon: But here are their stories and hopefully we can encourage one another. So thanks for your encouragement and support that was we kicked this off. And this global leadership collaborative is an idea obviously birthed out of your heart. Any further thing you want to touch on, you've hit it, but anything else you want to say before we move on. Davis Powell: Yeah, yeah, you hit the nail on the head of leadership is a journey. It's an experience. It's not a destination. It sounds cliche, but it's so true. And the heart posture is I'm so thankful to have the opportunity to share a bit of my journey in this first episode. But I am going to be a listener of the podcast, not a consistent contributor, because the reality is that we want to raise up voices from around the globe. brothers and sisters in Indonesia, our brothers and sisters in Benin, our brothers and sisters in South Africa, our brothers and sisters in hard context in South Asia, so that we can hear from them, because they've all got amazing experiences and journeys in a lot of different cultural contexts that we're all wrestling with. And so I'm just really excited because for those who journey along with this podcast, you're going to hear from amazing leaders and Lord willing giving them a voice ⁓ to share to new audiences in ways that they haven't before. Woody McLendon: That's great. So as you had these conversations and you've been talking to a number of leaders already, what are the things you're hearing about the unique challenges of leadership and even in your own experience, the challenges of leadership in the Bible translation movement today? Davis Powell: Yeah, yeah, the list is long, right? And again, we're all on our own leadership journey, but there's quite a few themes and things that have come up. Even in Cameroon two weeks ago with an amazing leader, Brother Kea, who leads in an organization called KABTOL, which is an acronym, and they're a leading Bible translation organization. You know, we spent multiple hours in a car. You know how that is in Africa. You're going to visit. a language community and you've got a lot of time. And we were discussing so many different things. We were discussing how do you lead a team through transition? When you step in as a new executive director, how do you honor what the victories and the wins and the success of the past and also push towards ⁓ a new horizon? How do you do that well, right? How do you manage conflict on executive teams? And when do you lean in as the executive director? When do you lean out and allow the executives to work things out? together, right? How do you be aggressively patient or patiently aggressive? How do you know when to move quickly? Because I think I was listening to a leader recently share that they were in a space and they asked the question, how many people have taken a decision too quickly? And all the hands went up. And then they asked the question, how many of you have known that you were supposed to take a decision and didn't take it? And you waited too long and all the hands went up. And it's just the reality of it's not black and white. so those are some of the things we talked about. Other things we talked about were cultural contexts, right? We've got a global Bible translation movement with hundreds of partners and each context and the way in which work is accomplished and honor shame culture versus guilt culture, all these different cultural realities that are very difficult, but we're trying to partner across these cultural realities. Right? Another thing that came up and I'll stop after this if we don't spend the whole podcast just listing out listing out the themes, right? But another thing was how do you how do you spend your time? Right? How are you structuring your day? How are you structuring your day when it comes to time to work in the mission versus work on the mission? How are you creating what we would call white space to dream? How are you then passing along ideas to your team? Right? What does change management look like with your style? Woody McLendon: No, you're great. Keep going. I mean, this is wonderful. I love it. Davis Powell: And so all of them, again, the list goes on and on and on. But all of these are things that when we started, again, ⁓ with one of my good friends and leaders ⁓ in Benin, Prosper, you know, when we both entered into our roles within the same few months, and we were talking about what are you trying to accomplish in the first 90 days? And what am I trying to accomplish? And how are we going to do that well? And is your organization in a turnaround or accelerated growth or startup? And we were talking through all these things. And the thing that we realize is that we are across the world from one another, but we are thinking through the same things. And it was a moment where both of us just said, we don't speak the same first language, but we're not alone. And the Lord could choose any two people to lead these two organizations at this time, but He's chosen us. And so, there's not hubris that comes in that. You got to have humility. But with that, saying, Lord, lead us. Lord, Woody McLendon: Exactly. Davis Powell: help us to figure this out. But just as we see in Scripture over and over, the Lord calls us to do things in His kingdom and community. And so, really, really excited. Woody McLendon: Wow, thanks. mean, awesome stories and exactly the kind of things I hope we're going to discover more in hearing other voices in those journeys. And thanks for taking initiative to build those relationships because it's indeed, we're not alone. And one of the things I love that I've heard come from the Wycliffe Global Alliance is this idea of being friends in God's mission. You know, this we're walking together in the journey where we don't have all the answers, but we have friends and partners we can walk with and learn from the work of the Lord. So Davis Powell: Yeah. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, it's great. That's right. Woody McLendon: One of my goals is to interview leaders about their own journey. So I'd love to pivot and ask you a bit about your journey as a leader and how God brought you to this point. You ready? Davis Powell: Yeah. Let's do it, let's do it, that sounds good. Woody McLendon: Great, so let's start at the beginning. Now I understand you have a unique family story, you're growing up. So tell us a little bit about where you were born and growing up in your experiences as a young person. Davis Powell: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thanks, Woody. I now live in Dallas, Texas. Seed Company's headquarters are based out of Arlington, Texas, but I was born and grew up in South Carolina, the great state of South Carolina. The picture behind me is from the coast in South Carolina. ⁓ I can be pretty nostalgic at times, and so I love just having a piece of home with me during the day. But grew up in a household that loved the Lord, grew up in a household with amazing parents. I've got a younger brother, who is about four years younger than me, but a really, really neat part of our story is that we were adopted. And the thing that I am so grateful for and believe that it's a grace from the Lord is that my adoption story has not been one that I have wrestled with to say, who am I? But because of the ways in which my parents have loved me, have raised me, have never made me feel different than, it's simply been a pure reflection of the way in which we're adopted into the family of God. Adoption into the family of God has not been something that I've had to wonder what does that look like? What does that mean? Because I have felt it throughout my whole life and my Again, so close with my with my parents. They love the Lord My dad is my best friend best man in my wedding. He and when I think about mentors growing up and even now ⁓ He is he is a he is a wise counsel to me and someone who called me ⁓ to leadership even from a young age when I didn't know what he was doing. Woody McLendon: So how did he do that? I'm curious. That's great to hear. Davis Powell: Yeah, yeah, you know, my dad is a lot of fun, ⁓ but also is a leader. And I watched from a young age the ways that he could interact with individuals. And it did not matter who the individual was. It could be the governor of the state, or it could be ⁓ someone that was mowing the grass, or it could be someone that he met in the grocery store. There was no difference in the way that he interacted with them. And the people that gravitated towards my dad like a magnet, Taught me a lot that leadership is not about what title is on your business card because he's held plenty of leadership roles principal at KPMG He now serves on the governor's cabinet in South Carolina, but that's never defined who Who he has been or who he is? And so that influence has been key and just like just some sayings right you hold on to sayings growing up You know, my dad would would always say Davis you got to do things ⁓ You got to do the right thing in the right way for the right reason And you can do things in the right, you can do the right thing and in the right way. But if you do it for the wrong reason, that's not going to be good. You can do things for the right reason and in the right way. But if it's the wrong thing, that's not going to work. And you can do the right thing for the right reason, but in the wrong way, timing, tone, whatever it is. And that's not going to work either. And another thing he always said was just, you know, the cream rises to the top. Talk about a South Carolina saying, right. But when I would get bogged down and look at, you know, who was popular growing up or Woody McLendon: Amen. Amen. Davis Powell: or what people had or all that, he would just call me back to being grounded, pursuing the Lord, trusting the process, working hard, and just always kept me grounded. And felt pushed growing up, but never disappointed when a result didn't come back that was as high as I wanted. And I just think that was a really good blend that also has taught me about my own leadership and management now of we can be responsible for inputs. into the ways that we work and inputs into strategy, but we don't always control the outcomes. And so as a leader, you need to recognize as you're leading staff, what are the inputs and the activities that your staffs do and celebrate that and recognize that outcomes aren't always going to be ⁓ produced as you want. And so I think that oftentimes just side note as leaders. we can just look at the outcomes and not pay a lot of attention to the activities of the inputs that get to that outcomes. And so it's really important. And even the way that my dad raised me growing up and teaching me how to tie a boat to a dock, I remember those fond. Woody McLendon: That's awesome. Well, and praise God for your family and the story of this really tangible personal example of the beauty of adoption, us being adopted into God's family and you experiencing that in a really wonderful way in your own family there. you started, Dad's been a huge influence, grew up in a Christian family. How did God begin to get a hold of your heart for service in ministry? What did that look like? Davis Powell: Yeah, yeah. ⁓ I would say from just growing up, being involved in church, had the opportunity to go to a smaller Christian school in Columbia, South Carolina, where I grew up. And it was just an amazing experience and just multiple ⁓ people around me have just a heart for service that made me want to be a part of it too. right, and just saw not only immediate family but extended family and the way that they would serve others, the way that they would jump into ministry, whether it be formally at church or just to your neighbors. And so I think that was instilled at me from an early age of, that's what we do. We serve people, we look out for people. ⁓ And, you know, I would say kind of starting in high school, right? High school oftentimes is when you start getting, you know, a part of organizations or tap for things or sports or whatever it might be. ⁓ And frankly, I didn't really think of myself as a leader, you know, in middle school, high school, but it was others calling that out in me and others saying, hey, Davis, ⁓ you should think about this. There's a reason why, you your teammates are asking your counsel on something, right? Outside of soccer, you know, on life, you know, just lean into that a little bit. And so I would say a lot of my journey of ⁓ leadership and servant leadership in ministry that really started in high school with a few positions and in college ministry ⁓ was a lot of, frankly, me having insecurity of why I'm not a leader and good friends and mentors speaking against that insecurity and saying, should go for it. I just, you know, there's ⁓ in Proverbs 22, I believe it is, it just says, those with purity of heart and gracious speech will have the King as their friend. when I think about my leadership journey and even jumping into ministry, times when I've really fought to have a pure heart and wanting it to be about the Lord and not about me, things go well. The Lord seems to bless that. The times when I make it about me, even if I'm doing it subconsciously, that does not go well, you know? And there have been plenty of those times. And so that was a little bit of just Woody McLendon: Amen, completely understand. Davis Powell: you know, again, that heart for ministry and ⁓ was really people kind of inviting me into things, starting to go on mission trips, know, ⁓ things like that from a young age that just was part of life. Woody McLendon: Now, I understand you were interested in potentially pursuing medical missions. So how did that unfold? And then now you're in Bible translation. That's a whole, a little bit different. Unpack that a little bit. Davis Powell: I was, yeah, yeah, yeah, can speak into that, yeah. That's right. Yeah, yeah. Got a degree in biological sciences, which I am not using every day, you know, typically not talking a lot about cells in executive team meetings, but can bust it out every now and then. Typically just as a joke, you know. So I, you know, yeah, so I grew up in a family where we've got some physicians in the family. And so I grew up around medicine. Some of my friends' parents were physicians. And so that wasn't a foreign concept to me by any means. And it was early on in high school, we were at church and they played a medical missions video. I don't remember the organization. I don't remember, you know, I don't even remember why they were playing it. I just remember it was like two or three minute video and I showed physicians that would go on different medical mission trips. And I said, hey, that's what I'm going to do. I think that, think, you know, and it was the aspect of seeing the stability of that career. you know, wanting to be driven around something that would be a little more difficult and being able to leverage it to see the kingdom of God advance around the world. And so I feel like I chose it for a a for a again, a pure reason for the most part. But I just kind of put my head down. That's what I was going to do. And so the rest of high school was about getting into college. Ultimately decided that I wanted to go to Clemson University in South Carolina, go Tigers. And then as soon as I got into ⁓ college as well, just head down and needed to get certain grades for medical school. And it's really funny, ⁓ my senior year of high school, I was asked, the way that they did the speech was not ⁓ the valedictorian, because I would not have even been close on the list. Part of the reason why, you know, maybe I'm not a physician. No, I'm just kidding. But, you know, you were nominated by some classmates to give the speech at graduation. And so I was really honored to be to be nominated and to share that at my graduation. And it's really funny because ⁓ a few years ago, I came across the Word document that was my speech. And I think it was in my email or I don't know how, but it was, the whole topic was being open to the Lord, changing the career or vocation that you think you're gonna have as you leave high school, which was so hypocritical. Woody McLendon: Awesome. Wow. Well. Davis Powell: because I was so dead set on physician, I'm going to major in biology, but I was then preaching to my classmates of, be open to what the Lord has, but I wasn't open at all, you know? And so I was like, this what I'm supposed to do. And so again, yeah, went through Clemson, ended up graduating with biology, but around junior year, just multiple things in my life started to shift. Relationships started to shift. And again, I had known the Lord, came to know the Lord through an amazing ministry called Young Life in middle school. But just ⁓ my I started to really ask the question, I've given my life to you, but I don't really think I've given my vocation to you. And just, again, through mentors, through parents, through good friends, just began to realize that, ⁓ you know, when the Lord calls you to something, I believe He gives you a grace for it. And that doesn't mean that it's easy by any means. It can still be very difficult, but there's a deep peace from the Lord. And frankly, majoring in biology, biology was my lowest grade in high school. know, like majoring in biology was super difficult for me. I was having tutors all the time. Right? And so I think just recognizing that I just put myself head down, I'm going to do this. But the Lord really wasn't giving me, in that sense, a grace. And it just kept feeling like this is not it. This is not it. This is not it. And so there was a church based out of Atlanta that was doing a lot of ministry on campus. at Clemson while I was there. And they just said, hey, while you figure out if you want to serve, if you want to pursue medical school or not, why don't you just come and work for us for a year? They did a year-long residency where you come into the church and you learn from the pastors and leadership and serve and jump in. And so I did that. And that's really where the Lord began to mold my heart to say, Lord, I believe you're calling me into ⁓ not only ministry, because every Christian is called to ministry, hands down. but vocational ministry. And side note, we grew up in Germany when I was really little for a few years and grew up in a household that always valued international. And so I had that on my mind. And so international missions just began to just be this pulse. And that church had actually partnered with Seed Company. And so I heard about Seed Company through a current staff member of Seed Company. His name's Joe Sumrall, who was part of that church. And the rest is history. Woody McLendon: Awesome. Wow, what an awesome history. along this journey, God brought into your life a godly young woman, Kate, who is now your wife and blessed you with three amazing kids that I think are quite lively at this point. Tell me a little bit about that journey and ⁓ how God's weaving together this family and ministry for you as a couple, because that's a big deal. Davis Powell: That's right. That's right. Very lively. Yeah, yeah, yeah. can tell you about the journey, but I can tell you more about things that we're learning because it hasn't gone well than things that are going super well. I'm kind of surprised that Wes, our two-year-old, hasn't started to build a castle and throw blocks in the next room. ⁓ that's the phase room. We got a five-year-old daughter, Hartley, two-year-old son Wes, and eight-month-old daughter Hunter. And yeah, amazing wife, Kate, we've been married coming up on 10 years and she's just, I mean, I just, you hear this all the time, but it is apart from following the Lord, it is the biggest decision you're gonna make in your life is who your partner is. And you know, this has been a journey for us over the last 10 years at Sea Company, there's just been multiple opportunities to step up and it hasn't. Then application processes, you know, I did go through a process for the CEO. But before that it was kind of hey, here's an opportunity Davis, can you step in? Sure, you know and with each with each opportunity came more responsibility and more ⁓ More weight and in that it's been a journey for Kate and me of what that looks like, right? We're in a we're in a context for travel is a big part of the role ⁓ we're in a we're in a context where ⁓ you know, just because of my disposition and being a people pleaser and caring for others and allowing my mind to just go, go, go, go, go. You know, I can be at dinner at night physically, but not there mentally. And the kids feel that, Kate feels that. And so, ⁓ you know, I think that's been a lot of the journey that we've been on of I'm not a believer in balance. I think that if you are... trying to have balance, it's gonna be a lose-lose, because you're never gonna have balance. Things are always changing, you know? When we had one kid, it was very different than three kids, but I'm a huge believer in rhythm. And you've got to know your rhythm and what's working and what's not. And your first ministry is the home. so Kate and I talk a lot about that. know, again, with each kid, the context changes, but we're constantly trying to seek out ⁓ mentors. That was a big... part of the process of even discerning this current role that I'm serving in of we do not want to sacrifice family for vocational ministry. And just the thing that literally keeps me up at night if I let it is my five-year-old daughter when she's 28, us having a conversation on the back porch and she's saying, Dad, I know you loved your ministry, but there were times where I wasn't really sure if you wanted to be with us. And man, I think about those conversations every day to say, what decisions am I making to ensure that the conversation when my daughter's 28, five now is different? And they knew that I was a dad before I was ever serving in any position. ⁓ it's been learning. I fall on my face all the time, you know? ⁓ And again, just an amazing... Woody McLendon: We all do. Davis Powell: ⁓ wife, Kate, who ⁓ we just are journeying along together. And we view this as a we thing, not a me thing. We view this as our family is a part of Bible translation. Our family is praying for Bible translation. Our family is serving in this way in this season. It's not we're holding the fort down and dad's serving. And that's been really crucial for us, even with our kids at a young age, talking about Bible translation, talking about the world. reading stories about Bible translators, you know, making sure that the kids know that it's such a privilege that we have the Word of God in our lives. And so, it's a rhythm that we're always trying to figure out. Woody McLendon: That's awesome. And as a dad of three adult girls who are now married, now women, I can just say it's a huge blessing and God will weave these things together. Yeah, we make mistakes, but the wondrous thing is we have a heavenly father who's a great example and can guide us and show us and, and help us when we need to say sorry and help us also just to have fun and enjoy the season. So good for you guys in that. So I want to touch on the CEO journey because this is a big step. Davis Powell: That's right. That's right. Woody McLendon: Two years ago, you accepted the role and began as the CEO of the C Company, your young man with young family. ⁓ And you touched a little bit on that journey. So unpack that a little bit. What did that look like for you guys and what was your discernment process? Were you expecting to be considered when you got like, hey, Davis, would you be willing and talk a little bit about that journey of discernment to accept this new responsibility? Davis Powell: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, would be honored to. You know, ⁓ I've been really, and this was something that was a challenge to me by a pastor in Atlanta at the church that I served with. They just said, hey, be really careful to not view roles as stepping stones. And of course you want to have an aspiration or an ambition. Ambition's not bad. Selfish ambition, very bad. But pure heart ambition is great. But be very careful to not... ⁓ So not just consider everything a stepping stone, right? Because you wanna be present and serve really well with where you are for the goal of that, not necessarily just getting to the next thing. And so I would say that was really a posture that I fought for at Seat Company. ⁓ Opportunity comes up, Davis, can you serve? Yes, but try not to look to the next thing. ⁓ Now I would be lying to you if I didn't say that at some point in my journey, at some point in my career, would I have loved to serve in a capacity like this? Yes, but I ⁓ definitely wouldn't have sought it out at this point in life. There's been two people who have asked me what ultimate position I want to serve in life. And it's my executive coach that I've met with for the last few years and Dallas Theological Seminary in a class. I had to put it into a paper. And so in those two times, I said, I would love to serve as the leader of an international nonprofit. So I had that on my heart in some way, shape or form. ⁓ But, you know, it's so important just from the get go. I believe that the ⁓ success of an organizational transition is so dependent on the outgoing leaders championing the transition. you know, people, and again, there are plenty of things in this transition that haven't gone well that I should have done differently again. So all the caveats, but been really humbled to feel Woody McLendon: Amen. Davis Powell: and for staff to give feedback and for partners to give feedback that said, it feels like this transition was a lot smoother than other transitions we see at times, which is very interesting. Larry has been in Bible translation for over four decades. He has way more experience than me. He is known globally. And then there's me, who is a younger leader, and I've been in the Bible translation for one decade and plenty to learn. And the answer I always give is I'm happy to talk about that. And I've got a lot of things that we intentionally did, but the biggest reason for the success is Dr. Larry Jones, who was serving as CEO of Seed Company and the way that he championed the transition publicly and privately. I just had time, was the first time in a while ⁓ Larry yesterday for 45 minutes, just the two of us just talking and catching up. And it was so beautiful. So I start with that. So it is May, 2023. And ⁓ the board has stated that they're going to begin a CEO transition. It wasn't a surprise when Larry stepped in. They were the board had always thought about four to five years and Larry had thought about that as well. So was was no surprise that a transition was starting. And Larry came to the executive team. So there's about four of us at the time and said, hey, regardless of whether you think you're going to be a part of the process or not, you need to pray about what you would say if you were nominated. because the way in which the board went about the process was that they invited nominations from staff, from field partners, and from investors, where those ⁓ different groups could nominate individuals that the board would then invite into the process. And so that was a really different way of thinking about it. You could obviously self-apply, and there was no issue with that, right? Again, pure ambition, amazing. ⁓ But Larry just said, hey, whether you're gonna self-apply or not. Each of you being on the executive team just gives you a greater likelihood of someone nominating you. So you need to pray about that. So Kate and I already had a vacation plan the next week, family vacation back in South Carolina, and we were praying. And we came to the conclusion that it was not the time for us. We had Wes, our second on the way. ⁓ And so it wasn't, didn't, weren't gonna put our names in the hat or my name in the hat, but we did feel a conviction that if we were to be nominated, that we would say yes to that step. And part of that was to honor the nomination. Part of that, frankly, as a young leader, I love experience and being in a board led CEO search, even if it was one interview, would be an amazing experience. What a growth opportunity. And so came back from vacation and that was our posture. and I was really humbled to have a few staff that sought me out, said, hey, I'd love to nominate you. And so again, really humbling and the process was I had to give them the okay in my resume, I believe it was, and they had submit that through the form or whatever. And so Kate and I began that journey and it was about all in all about six months journey, seven interviews, multiple essays, third party ⁓ leadership assessment, all the things. And it was really interesting because when we first said yes, it was, I think I literally said this and what a privilege. No way I'm gonna get it, but I'm gonna learn so much, you know? And I was speaking out of insecurity. I think some of it truly was just not feeling ready and self-aware and things like that, but I also was speaking out of insecurity. And so Kate and I immediately brought in, particularly when we got to that second, that third interview, obviously we're a part of a community. Woody McLendon: Right, right. Yeah. Davis Powell: two other families that we've been a part of for nine years now. So obviously they were really tight with us in the process, but we just started seeking out older couples that we knew had held leadership roles when they had young kids and that we knew that travel was a big part of their role. ⁓ we just started having conversations. And some of these were individuals that were even a part of Seed Company in the past. Some of them previous board members, people that we just really respected and we know would shoot us straight. ⁓ I'll never forget, there was one conversation. ⁓ with one of these couples and ⁓ they shared Davis and I'll say it how I received it. Maybe this wasn't their exact words, but they said, Davis, people believe in you, so you gotta start thinking about that maybe the Lord is calling you up. So basically get out of this insecurity, this young stuff, your age stuff, like start asking the question, Lord, is this for you? And then don't get in the way of that. And that just opened up, there was just a freedom in that. And throughout the process, Kate and I just began talking a lot about, okay, what would it look like for our family? What would it look like for travel? I'm not gonna be able to travel as much as the two previous CEOs did, simply them being empty nesters, right? I mean, just some practicalities like that, thinking through, how can I replace lack of experience with amazing counsel around me? Right? What does that look like? And just having these conversations. So again, May, 2023, kind of early June, things kick off. And then in November, 2023 was invited to serve in this way. And maybe 2020, no, no, 2023. Yeah, I had it right in my head. And so November, 2023 was invited to serve. And we're just one more key thing. The board made it so clear that they wanted us to succeed as a family. That was one of the first things that they talked about. In the last CEO interview to the offer, they wanted us to succeed as a family. And so each board we meet, our board meets three times a year formally in person. I've got a board call right after this with board leadership. So we meet monthly, ⁓ but each board meeting that comes up. Davis, how are you guys doing? How's your family doing? How's travel going? Can you delegate more travel to others? Right? ⁓ We're counting my nights away annually. Woody McLendon: Amen. Davis Powell: Kate's a part, not just a part of the process of me deciding travel, but she is in the process with me. We were talking about that all the time. We plan nearly a year out for the next year on when we think we can do travel. And so ⁓ it's been such a blessing, but that's how the process has been. And something that was shared with me from the get-go was from a friend, John Chestnut, who is the president and CEO of Wycliffe. Bible translators, know that you know John, Will, Woody, and he's a good man. And something that he shared with me from the get-go was he said, hey, Davis, ⁓ Woody McLendon: Good man. Davis Powell: always think about yourself as I serve as CEO, not I am CEO. Because there's gonna be a day when you are no longer serving as CEO. And there are people who want your attention right now, or want meetings with you, or are giving you affirmation. And there's just things that come with the role, not Davis. And if you start to tie your identity, Woody McLendon: Wise counsel. Davis Powell: which it's really easy to not tie your identity in the first several months, the first year, even the first two years, because you're new, you're learning a lot, you're being humble. But as things, as the grind starts, as you get into realities, as you're facing difficult decisions, or as you are trying to discern multiple perceptions, it is really easy to become insular and it's really easy to begin saying whether your day is good or not based on affirmation. based on how you think you're doing as a CEO, based on how others say you're doing as a CEO, and it is so dangerous. And so that's just a great reminder for me and for other leaders, hey, we're serving in a position. We are not that position because there's gonna be a time where that position is gonna go to someone else. And may we be in a posture to champion that person serving in the position and recognizing that there are things that come with the role that's not tied to our identity. and we've got to be really careful not to mix those. Woody McLendon: That's so powerful and I appreciate that because that's an important lesson I've watched and that was something I, when I was serving as president of JAARS, I was, I would say that very intentionally for that same purpose. And the great thing is when it's time to release the role, you can freely say, okay, Lord, what's next? You know, and, and, and then he has other cool things for you. So Davis Powell: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's right. That's right. And it's more, you know, it's not even that others will hear me say I serve. It's just a reminder to me every time I say it, right? It's for me, you know? And that's, yeah, it's good. I've seen your servant leadership over the years, Woody. just when I was, before I was ever in this role, before I was ever in an executive role, when we first met, I think somewhere else around the world. Woody McLendon: Well, exactly. Davis Powell: at a meeting, just the way you sought me out, the way that you gave me your phone number, the way that you invited conversation together. And so I've seen that play out in your leadership journey, which I'm immensely grateful for. Woody McLendon: Well, thank you. I've had so many, like you, so many great mentors, people in the movement before faithfully serving who've given example, lived out great examples of leadership, godly leadership for me that I've been honored to learn from and grow through and grow with. a couple of questions about your role today. You've touched on a few things, but what gives you the greatest joy in serving in this role right now? Davis Powell: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, you know, I could probably go through the last four days and tell you at different moments kind of what joy was each day. But, know, as a whole, ⁓ I'm typically not to say the Lord doesn't, you know, through His grace give me immense visions and, you know, this strategy that I can just, you know, I can just have all this wonder. ⁓ But the reality is that my My greatest gifts that I believe that I can provide as I serve in this role ⁓ is giving discernment to multiple ideas that are present and then galvanizing the team around that. And so even when I think about working genius, right? A great assessment from Patrick Lincione and the table group, galvanizing and discernment are my two highest. And so I think that... I say that because the times when I just get the greatest joy in my role is seeing individuals come up with amazing ideas and trying to just pour fuel on those ideas. And I think that that's where, you know, for me, it's about people and the opportunity to be on mission with people and to hopefully be a champion of people. And I kind of describe it as in the organization at any given time, there's all these little fires, these fires burning, good fires, right? You've got these little embers of ideas. And how can you, serving as CEO or serving as executive director or whatever context you find yourself in, go in and just blow on those embers. And we know that when you blow on the embers, things catch and the fire grows. And so when I think about just some of the greatest joys has been just being a... ⁓ in a position to just blow on those embers and to see ideas take shape and come to life. I think that another thing that Lord's really impressed on my heart with Seed Company generosity. And often when we think generosity, we think financial and of course that plays into it. ⁓ ⁓ how can we as an organization ⁓ ideas come to life and then be generous to give those ideas away and not care in five years that it came from Seed Company? ⁓ You do not ⁓ just drift towards that. It's a daily decision because the world would say be competitive. The world would say take credit. The world would say watch your own back because you're gonna need it at someday when someone comes after you, whatever. But how can we, again, purity of heart and gracious speech, how can we be an organization that's generous? And when we see someone doing something that... we had tried or that we had told them about or that we had shared learnings around, man, may we not get any of the credit and may we celebrate it. And so that's another thing that gives me a lot of joy in these days. Woody McLendon: Amen. That's awesome. So as you're talking with other leaders, you've had meetings, you're hearing also some heavy things. What burdens weigh on your heart as you're traveling around the world, as you're observing the realities of the ministry today? Davis Powell: Yeah, yeah. You know, it's... There's so many different ways I can answer that. ⁓ think that one reality ⁓ health burdens, honestly. ⁓ It feels that more and more ⁓ just a lot of health issues on with partners around the world. And some that is due to ⁓ the lack of quality health systems. ⁓ But at Company Help we've got that prayer where prayer requests comes in and it feels like from the translators and from the partners, there's just more and more health realities that people are facing and that's burdensome for sure. ⁓ I think another thing that is burdensome is particularly in a Western context, at times we want to make it very much so that if you do one plus two, you get three and it's very linear. And it makes sense. We've got infrastructure, we've got structures, we've got amazing resources where typically you can come around a problem and put structure, resources and culture around a problem and fix it fairly quickly. And in other times, in different contexts, just thinking about the trip that you were on a few weeks ago in the Congo, where there are hundreds of thousands of individuals in a city and the city, ⁓ does not even provide power. Every person has their own generator. and by the way, water only comes on for two hours a day and you don't know what time it's going to come on. And thinking through, and you probably don't want to drink it, right? I think we could both raise our hands and say we've experienced the aftermath of that situation. ⁓ I think that that's a burden for me because I ⁓ an urgency we at Seed Company have an ⁓ urgency see scripture made available. Woody McLendon: And you probably don't want to drink it either. Davis Powell: And speed and urgency are not necessarily synonymous. And that's the burden that I feel at times of how can we always operate with an urgency to see Scripture translated and impacting as fast as possible. And also at times recognizing that there's certain contexts where it's going to feel stuck a little longer because we have got to figure out how to navigate the complexities of this culture. of this reality. And there have been times where mission agencies, even seed company in the past have said, you know what, we'll just do it. We'll go into this context. We'll set up shop. We will drive the process. We will translate scripture. And what often happens is that then the community doesn't feel like it was their scripture to begin with. The community still feels like this God is that person's God who came in out of nowhere, didn't even know our language. And all of a sudden is pushing scripture on us. And so there's these just dynamics and that weighs on me greatly. It weighs on other leaders greatly of how can we have this urgency but recognize that there are times when urgency doesn't always mean speed. And seed company is known for speed, frankly. You know, I've heard it joked around at times that we're called the speed company. Sometimes that's good. Sometimes that's not so good. Right. And of course. We want to see Scripture made available as quickly as possible. And there's a burden that I feel that other leaders around the world feel of how do we do that in a context that is very difficult and do so in a way where when Scripture is made available, it's received and engaged and opened. Because the last thing that we want to do is translate Scripture and it becomes a product that sits on a shelf. We want to translate Scripture so that it is open in people's hands. And that's a big burden that ⁓ talk about a lot with international leaders. Woody McLendon: Well, that's also a prayer burden. And I was going to ask in terms of, because, you know, we trust that God is the one who gets a hold of people's hearts and opens doors. how has being CEO impacted your prayer life? Davis Powell: Yeah. Yeah, great question. Again, going back to Dr. Larry Jones, previous CEO, I've never met someone who's more prayerful or who has had a more consistent prayer life. And ⁓ I would say that one of the biggest impacts for me is that you see in Scripture, right, pray continuously. And there are times where I just remember wrestling with that in life, and what does that mean? You know, pray continuously. And I've experienced that more than ever in this role. of it never feeling like there's an amen. Because if you are not leaning on the Lord in every moment, if you're not going to the Lord in every moment, and there are times in an executive meeting where we need to stop and give something to the Lord, there are also times where a conversation is happening and I just know that, okay, there's two options here. I can either pray to the Lord right now, even as we're entering into this topic, or I can rely on my own strength. And of course, the Lord gives grace and you don't have to pray before everything. you know, because again, you're constantly walking with the Lord and the Holy Spirit inside, you know, living inside of you, all those things. But there's a ⁓ reality of praying consistently throughout your day that has just become new to me because it sounds cliche and I'm really not trying to make it cliche or, you know, spiritualize it too much or use big spiritual words, but if you rely on yourself, it will not end well for you. it will not end well for me. And the Lord says that we can ask for wisdom and He gives it, right? The Lord literally, you I love, I've heard it said before by our pastor here in Dallas, right? If you want to hear the Lord speak to you, just open His word and read it out loud, you know? And so ⁓ that's been immense. And just even the prayer life, frankly, between Kate and me, our marriage, it... ⁓ Woody McLendon: Amen. Davis Powell: It's been a blessing and I would say we are scratching the surface of what the Lord calls us to be. And so we're going to continue to lean into that and grow in what prayer looks like. Woody McLendon: That's awesome. And I think we're always in that journey, right? Until Jesus calls us home, discovering, growing deeper and praise God for his mercy and his grace and the wisdom that he gives freely. I love the fact that it says gives freely without finding fault. Beautiful. So I'd like to shift it up a little bit. We've talked about some serious topics. I'd like to have a little bit of fun here for a moment. I feel like one of my observations about leadership, particularly leadership in ministry, is we do well. Davis Powell: Yeah. That's right. Yeah. That's right. That's right. Yeah. So good. Yeah. Great. Woody McLendon: as leaders not to take ourselves too seriously. So I'd like to ask some kind of fun questions and random things just to get a smile here. So tell me about a funny family tradition or saying that you guys have that something you share together that kind of keeps you connected as a family. Davis Powell: No doubt. Wow, that's funny. ⁓ You know, we have dance parties in the elevator. That's our thing. So whether we're in the airport or whether we're in the mall or wherever we are, if we're in an elevator and it's just our family, which happens more than you would think, ⁓ we're gonna dance. We don't play music. We just start humming something and we all start dancing. And then as soon as the doors open, we act normal. That's our family tradition right now, which is so fun. Woody McLendon: That's hilarious. How awesome. I would have never imagined. That's great. Cool. So tell me one thing in your office when you look at it, it makes you smile. Davis Powell: Yeah, great time. Yeah, yeah. You know, there's a big vision that we've never stood in at Seed Company called All Scripture, People. And it's this reality that we want every single person around the world to have all of scripture, not just portions of scripture, but Genesis to Revelation. And we did a gift exchange as an executive team last year, and ⁓ it's since been discontinued. But there is a ⁓ moon landing Lego set. And ⁓ Aimee Reynolds, who serves as our chief data and strategy officer, ⁓ knew that when we talk about all scripture, all people, we talk about it being our moonshot. We talk about it being going to the moon in a decade. Right. And so she she gifted me with a built Lego landing set. And so it sits right there in the office. And it's just a great reminder of don't know how we're going to get there. We don't know exactly what it looks like to send a spaceship to the moon when no one's done it before. But man. we're gonna go for it with all we've got, laying on the Lord. So that's something I look at in my office and it's really exciting. Woody McLendon: Awesome. That's, that's awesome. So shifting gears a little bit, tell me about something that you've been offered to eat while you're somewhere in a ministry trip, the most unique or different thing. And what did you do? Davis Powell: Yeah, great question. ⁓ My prayer life has increased in those moments. I can shout out. I'll keep just, they might be watching this podcast in the future. So I won't name particular visits on which leader was offering me something. ⁓ But no, I mean, think honestly, I don't have any crazy experiences where I'm eating this crazy thing. I've had... Woody McLendon: Yep. Davis Powell: you know, different live seafood in Korea. You know, we passed a Python in Cameroon on the side of the road ⁓ that someone was selling for dinner. I kind of wish I could have tried that one. That would have been fun. But, you know, you'll know exactly what I'm saying when I say this, but there are plenty of opportunities for bushmeat. And so you don't exactly know what it is. But in my mind, I just think this is chicken. Doesn't look like chicken. Doesn't taste like chicken. But Lord, turn this into chicken. Woody McLendon: There you go. Davis Powell: So that's that's for me. What about for you? Woody McLendon: ⁓ my. ⁓ I think one of the most interesting things I ate was on a trip to Indonesia, and we were at a church gathering, I mean, large church gathering for a conference about Bible translation, and they had a beautiful buffet set up. And as I was going through the buffet, these people looked at me and started waving like this, and I'm like, bird, what? They're pointing to this food. And I'm like, what's this? And so they said, ⁓ somebody translated from Indonesian, it was fruit bat. So I'm like fruit bat. So I had to try it, right? It didn't taste like chicken. Davis Powell: Fruit bat, nice, yes. Yep, I think there's a chance that I've eaten a fruit bat in Nigeria, small chance, so. Woody McLendon: Yeah, didn't quite taste like chicken, but you know, wasn't bad. It the bones in it. I did it. You know, there you go. And I think they all, you know, I think the thing about food is when somebody from their cultural context offers you something that's special. And if you say, accept it and say yes and taste it and try it and try to, even if it's something you're like, ⁓ okay, ⁓ you do your best, that's a blessing. And so. Davis Powell: Yeah, that's right. That's right. That's right. Yep, that's right. That's right. And I mean, that is a huge lesson that I've learned from other cultures of, man, at least in the US context, we have a lot to learn when it comes to hosting and hospitality. I am always blown away. you know, going back to Nigeria a couple of years ago, being in a context where we were given grain as a gift for visiting. And the grain given was over a day's wages for them. I mean, ⁓ over. And it's not just wages and money. It is what they are eating. And the gratitude of generosity and the joy of generosity, it would have been so offensive for us not to take it, right? But it has deeply impacted me. Woody McLendon: Exactly. Davis Powell: of visiting places and being welcomed and hosted. it's, yeah, we've got a lot to learn. Woody McLendon: But you know, the wondrous thing is we have dear brothers and sisters who are friend, generous and sharing and helping us grow too. You know, and that's the joy I think of this ministry that we get, you know, we have this huge family and we get to meet our brothers and sisters and walk alongside them. So just to wrap up one or two last questions as a young leader and thank you for sharing your story, your testimony. mean, really significant, hugely encouraging. What Davis Powell: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Woody McLendon: counsel would you have for more mature leaders in the Bible translation movement for how to encourage and come alongside this next generation? Davis Powell: ⁓ That's a great question. That's honestly not where I thought your question was going initially. that's, really like that question. I would say, you know, I think back to ⁓ my time serving with Samuel Chiang, who was CEO of Seed company for several years. And I served as Samuel's executive assistant and then ⁓ for a time as his chief of staff. Samuel gave me opportunities that I had not earned. And he put me in contexts where I learned through osmosis. And I would say the more that leaders can invite younger leaders into those contexts, the better. Here's some practical examples, right? Samuel would invite me to a partner meeting. I was to not say anything in the meeting. I was not to have input in the meeting. But Samuel would tell me beforehand, I want you to sit in that meeting as if you were in an executive position and I want you to be thinking through the conversation and the questions asked so that you can determine what you would do in that situation. You're not, he would always say, you're never just a note taker. That might be your function, but you're never just a note taker. You always need to be thinking about if I was an executive, what would I be doing? And there were multiple times where after an executive meeting with me taking notes, cause I was his assistant, he would call me. on our way home. I'd never forget and see Samuel Chang come up on my phone and he would say, hey, we just took this decision as an executive team. What would you have done? And he wasn't going to change his decision, but he also provided a space where I could maybe say a different opinion. And again, it was the intentionality. You don't need to send you. You don't have to spin up these formal leadership courses for your young leaders. You don't have to. Woody McLendon: Wow. Davis Powell: place them in roles before they're ready. But there's so much that can be gleaned through saying, yeah, come with me on this trip. Yeah, come to me, come with me on this meeting. And then afterwards, asking just a couple questions to ensure that that young leader knows, no matter where you're serving right now, you need to always be thinking about what decisions would you have taken if you were in that position. And then also, You know, I get, we've got to say no a lot. I have to say no a lot. You have to say no a lot. However, ⁓ when you see someone that's hungry, give them time, even 15 minutes, give them time. And then the last thing I'll say is give feedback, give feedback, because that's also gonna weed out quickly. Who are the individuals who wanna grow to get into a position? And you're going to see pride in that versus who are the leaders who want to grow to advance the kingdom, not for their namesake, but for the Lord's sake. And you're going to see a lot of receptivity to feedback. And so those are a couple of things that I would share to some leaders who are thinking about how to raise up the next generation. Woody McLendon: That's awesome. Okay, last question. Then we will, I'll let you go. What would you say to young leaders about how to, how to prepare for what the Lord might have for them? Davis Powell: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, I would say find individuals who are in a place or who have served in a place where you desire to be one day and get to know their stories, get to know what they wish they would have done differently, get to know how they thought through situations, never show up to a meeting without a pen and paper. And I get that it's easy to take notes on your phone. I gotta do that when I'm in a pinch sometimes. but show up with a pen and paper, even a remarkable or a digital notepad, whatever, but take notes. That would be the biggest thing, take notes. I would also say don't be intimidated by the word mentor. We can make that this big word that's super formal. No, just start asking people to lunch, start asking people to coffee. A lot of us at least have commutes. Call someone on your way home, ask for some time, ask questions. People wanna share their experience with you, they do. Right? So don't hesitate to do that. And the best, this sounds funny, but some of the best advice I ever received as a young leader. This was when I was stepping into my previous role on the executive team overseeing our development efforts. And I sought out a mentor and Todd Peterson, who we know well. And I was just concerned. At that time, was, I think, 27 stepping into a development role and for an organization that was seeking to raise $60 million and making big asks. And if I'm being completely frank, I was trying to seek out, if I step into someone's living room and ask for a large ask amount, am I gonna be taken seriously because of my age? And I don't think that was false humility. think that was just, honestly, I think there was some wisdom in that. And Todd said, Davis, never be so prideful that you don't know when to have gray hair in the room with you. And I just love that. And there have been a lot of situations in my past. There are a lot of situations right now where I ensure that I have gray hair in the room with me. And as a young leader, putting pride, hubris, thinking you got to prove yourself to the side and thinking not about yourself, but thinking about others, thinking about what's going to serve the individual I'm meeting with and even recognizing, again, speaking to young leaders in a Western context. Woody McLendon: Wow. Davis Powell: In other contexts, there are realities around age that you shouldn't let anyone look down on you because you're young, but you also need to face reality. And so just thinking through some of those dynamics and having wisdom and seeking out counsel, talking to partners is great. So that's how I'd answer that. Woody McLendon: Wow, that's awesome. Thank you. mean, really, really excellent answers. Look, I need to let you go. I know this has been awesome. I'd love to keep talking. We'll maybe have another conversation, but thank you so much for taking time today and blessings in your leadership and your family and all that God's placed before you. Very grateful for you and really grateful to have you as a friend. So. ⁓ Davis Powell: Yeah, me too. It's been great. Yeah. Thanks, Woody. Right back at you. And I'm just praying that these conversations will encourage and equip ⁓ leaders from around the world in the Bible translation movement so that they know they are seen, valued, and that God has got great works, Ephesians 2-10, for them to walk into. So thanks for stewarding these times. Woody McLendon: Amen. Well, that's great. Good start. I'm looking forward to the conversations ahead and all that God will do. Thank you. Davis Powell: Here we go.