Category: Mentoring

Ep. 54 Are You Actually Aligned?

Ep. 54 Are You Actually Aligned?

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:23 — 57.5MB)

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Alignment is one of those words leaders use a lot.

I’m just not sure we examine it enough though.

In this episode, Ingrid, Chuck, and I sit with a question that’s easier to avoid than to answer honestly: Are my actions today actually reflecting what I believe? We walk through the case study of Sarah, a passionate leader whose team is growing frustrated and whose decisions have quietly drifted from her own values. Nobody warned her it was happening. It rarely announces itself.

Misalignment doesn’t usually arrive as a crisis. It creeps in dressed as pragmatism. Pressure to produce. The small compromise that seems reasonable in the moment. By the time you notice the gap between who you say you are and how you’re actually leading, it’s already cost you something.

Together we draw on Proverbs 3:5-6, Jonah’s very expensive detour, and Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane to ask what it actually looks like to lead from genuine coherence rather than well-managed appearances. We also get practical: journaling prompts, a simple realignment framework, and the kind of questions a good mentor will ask you that you’re probably not asking yourself.

Here’s what I know: zeal is not the same as alignment. You can move fast in the wrong direction with a full heart and clean hands.
So here’s my question for you. When did you last stop long enough to actually assess?
Ep 53b Entropy and Leadership

Ep 53b Entropy and Leadership

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:56 — 60.3MB)

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Everything falls apart. That’s not cynicism. That’s physics.

Entropy is the tendency of any system, left unattended, to move toward disorder. Your organisation knows this. So does your marriage. So does your soul.

It doesn’t happen all at once. Gradually. Quietly. A leader drifts from their calling. A team loses its sense of purpose. A spiritual life that once felt alive starts running on memory. That’s entropy. And it doesn’t announce itself.

In this episode, Carson, Ingrid, and Chuck get honest about what entropy looks like in leadership, spiritually and practically. Carson shares a season of his own spiritual autopilot and what it took to find his way back. The conversation moves from diagnosis to direction, because naming the drift is only the first step.

The good news? Entropy may be inevitable. Stagnation isn’t.

What would it mean to lead from wholeness instead of depletion? And who around you is paying close enough attention to tell you the truth?
Ep. 53a Welcome to Season Three

Ep. 53a Welcome to Season Three

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 7:54 — 14.5MB)

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Some podcasts give you content. This one gives you a conversation.

That was always the idea. Martin Sanders and Carson Pue started it at a kitchen table, really. The mentoring that used to happen on long walks or over a shared meal had no place to live in the noise of modern leadership. So they made one.

Martin is gone now. But the conversation continues.

Chuck and Ingrid Davis stepped in at Carson’s invitation — not to fill a gap, but because Martin had mentored them too. It felt right. It still does.

Season Two surprised them. The deeper they went, the more people leaned in. Stewarding suffering. Listening. Vulnerability. Failure as formation. These weren’t polished presentations. They were honest conversations between three people who have lived long enough in leadership to know what it actually costs.

And listeners noticed. A pastor’s wife who sent the episode on communicating with adult children to her neighbour. A leader who heard the word “stewarding” before “suffering” for the first time and couldn’t stop thinking about it.

That’s what this is for.

Season Three continues where Season Two left off. Same table. Same honesty. No masks. No performance. Just Carson, Chuck, and Ingrid thinking out loud about the things leaders rarely say in public but think about all the time.

If you’re a leader who has it all together, there are other podcasts for you.

If you’re a leader willing to admit you don’t — welcome. You’re in good company.

Season Three of The Mentored Podcast is live now. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or find every episode right here at mentoredpodcast.net.

Ep. 52: The Power of Story (Season 2 Finale)

Ep. 52: The Power of Story (Season 2 Finale)

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:34 — 57.8MB)

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Everyone has a story. The real question is whether you know how to read yours.

In this Season 2 finale, Carson, Chuck, and Ingrid dig into one of the most underused tools in a mentor’s hands — story. Not storytelling as a presentation skill, but story as the lens through which we understand our own lives, and help others understand theirs.

Dan Allender puts it plainly: most people miss the deeper meaning of their own life because they don’t know how to read it. And as John McCauley adds, we’re not actually designed to read our stories accurately on our own. That’s where a mentor comes in.

The conversation covers a lot of ground: the neuroscience behind why stories stick (Dr. Paul Zak’s work on oxytocin is worth knowing about), the danger of fixed narratives — those internal scripts that quietly limit us — and the extraordinary thing that happens when a mentor believes a better story about you before you can believe it yourself. They call it “borrowed belief.” It’s one of the most honest descriptions of what good mentoring actually does.

Ingrid shares how she draws people’s stories out in practice. Carson brings the biblical frame — Jesus was, after all, history’s most effective storyteller. And the whole conversation ends with a practical challenge you can act on this week.

To our 13,000-plus listeners: Season 2 has been something. Thank you for being part of it. Season 3 is coming.

 

 

Ep. 51 The Prayer of Indifference

Ep. 51 The Prayer of Indifference

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 33:10 — 60.7MB)

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Most of us walk into our biggest decisions already knowing what we want. We just want God to agree.

That’s not prayer. That’s lobbying.

The Prayer of Indifference is an ancient spiritual practice rooted in Ignatian tradition and the Quaker pursuit of surrender. At its core, it’s the willingness to say, “Lord, I don’t want what I want. I want what you want.” Simple to say. Genuinely costly to mean.

In this episode, Carson, Chuck, and Ingrid unpack what holy indifference actually looks like in the life of a working leader. Not apathy. Not passivity. But a deep enough trust in God that you can set aside your attachments, your fears, and your preferred outcomes long enough to actually hear Him.

If you’re a business leader weighing a decision that affects your team, a pastor navigating competing loyalties, an executive who suspects their ego is doing more of the talking than they’d like to admit, or a parent at home trying to discern what faithfulness actually looks like in the daily grind of family life, this conversation is for you.

Most leaders don’t lack information when facing a hard decision. They lack freedom. Freedom from the fear of what others will think, from the pull toward comfort over calling, from the quiet pressure to choose the path with more applause.

This practice won’t make hard decisions easy. But it may make them honest.

So here’s the question worth sitting with before you press play: What would change if the outcome truly didn’t matter to you?

Ep. 50 Spiritual Authority vs. Institutional Power

Ep. 50 Spiritual Authority vs. Institutional Power

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There’s a kind of leader who commands a room without raising their voice. And there’s another kind who needs a title to be taken seriously. They are not the same.

In this milestone 50th episode, Carson, Chuck, and Ingrid sit down with a question that cuts to the heart of every leader’s journey: Where does your authority actually come from?

Institutional power is given. Spiritual authority is grown — slowly, often painfully, through faithfulness in hidden places. But in a world that rewards platforms, metrics, and organizational rank, it’s easy to confuse the two. And that confusion has consequences — for your team, your family, and your own soul.

This conversation doesn’t offer easy answers. It asks better questions. What does it look like to lead from a place of genuine calling rather than positional leverage? What happens when your title disappears — do you still have something worth following? And how do you build the kind of authority that outlasts any role you’ll ever hold?

Whether you lead a congregation, a company, or a family — this episode is worth your time.
Ep. 48 Being a Non-Anxious Presence

Ep. 48 Being a Non-Anxious Presence

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:18 — 44.4MB)

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Anxiety is contagious. But so is calm. In this episode, we explore what it actually looks like for a leader to be a non-anxious presence — not by pretending everything is fine, but by being genuinely anchored when everything around them isn’t. What if the most important thing you carry into a room isn’t your strategy, but your steadiness? We unpack why anxious leaders create anxious cultures, what it costs an organization when the person at the top is always reacting, and the quiet discipline it takes to lead from a settled soul. This one will make you think honestly about what you’re really transmitting to the people around you.

Ep. 47 Failure of Heart and Nerve

Ep. 47 Failure of Heart and Nerve

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:30 — 44.6MB)

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What really stops leaders from leading?

It’s rarely a lack of skill or strategy. More often, it’s one of two things: a failure of the heart — losing emotional connection to your mission and people — or a failure of the nerve — lacking the courage to act when it matters most. In this episode, Carson, Chuck, and Ingrid get honest about both. They explore how heartbreak shows up as disengagement, bitterness, and spiritual exhaustion, and how nerve failure hides behind indecision, avoidance, and compromised convictions. Drawing from real leadership scenarios and biblical examples — from Elijah’s despair to Saul’s fear — they unpack the ripple effects these failures have on teams, organizations, and the leaders themselves. More importantly, they talk about the way back: reconnecting with your calling, building emotional resilience, taking small courageous risks, and surrounding yourself with people who won’t let you stay stuck.

If you’ve ever found yourself pulling back emotionally or hesitating when bold action was needed, this one’s for you.

Ep. 46 Resilience In Leaders

Ep. 46 Resilience In Leaders

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 34:33 — 63.3MB)

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Episode 46 shines a light on resilience as a major transformative force in leadership and life. Hosts Carson Pue, Ingrid Davis, and Chuck Davis redefine resilience—not just as bouncing back, but as bouncing forward, growing stronger through life’s challenges. They share heartfelt stories, practical wisdom, and spiritual insights to inspire listeners to embrace resistance as a gift that builds strength.

With themes of vulnerability, recovery, and continuous growth, this episode encourages everyone to see setbacks as stepping stones and to lead with courage, faith, and perseverance. Resilience isn’t perfection—it’s the power to keep moving forward.
Ep.45: Stewarding Suffering – Part Two

Ep.45: Stewarding Suffering – Part Two

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 34:26 — 63.1MB)

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Ep.44 began a crucial conversation about stewarding suffering—something every mentor and aspiring mentor will encounter on the journey. As we continue through the Christmas season, which beautifully reminds us of redemption emerging from hardship, we’re shifting gears to focus on practical wisdom for navigating pain as someone who guides others. Whether you’re pouring into someone else or looking to be poured into, this episode offers real-life insights and actionable tips to help you support others—and yourself—when suffering hits close to home.

In Part Two, we take the conversation from understanding suffering to actively mentoring through it. What does it look like to walk alongside someone—whether as a mentor, a friend, or a fellow traveller—when pain is raw, and answers seem distant? How can you be transparent about your own struggles without losing credibility or hope? This episode will give you practical insights, encouragement, and honest questions to help you guide others while caring for your own soul.

This episode is about discovering purpose in pain—both for yourself and those you’re walking alongside. We’ll explore how asking, “What might God be teaching me (or my mentee) in this?” can move us beyond just surviving to experiencing real redemption. Suffering doesn’t define you, nor does it define those you mentor. Still, your response—and how you help others respond—can become a legacy, offering a lighted path for anyone finding themselves in a dark valley.

We’ll share practical steps for mentors and those seeking mentorship, including insights you can apply right away:

  • Sharing your struggles with appropriate transparency to build connection.
  • Focusing on what God may be teaching you, revealing purpose within the pain.
  • Using your experience to serve and guide others with grace and empathy.

Join us as we wrap up this meaningful dialogue, inviting mentors and those seeking mentorship to gather wisdom for both your own journey and those you’re guiding. Together, we’ll find practical ways God might use our hardest seasons to grow our empathy, strengthen our faith, and help us become wiser guides for others.

Listen now to discover practical ways to mentor and be mentored through seasons of suffering. Whether you’re guiding someone through hardship or seeking wisdom for your own journey, this episode is packed with insights and tips you can use right away. Share this two-part series with a fellow mentor or mentee who could use some encouragement and hope.

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