Two weeks ago, I had the privilege of joining 200 Christian entrepreneurs and C-level executives at the Ritz-Carlton in Sarasota, FL for a 3-day conference.

In attendance were founders and CEOs of global 11-figure companies with thousands of employees, entrepreneurs who had scaled their companies 10-20-50x or sold multiple companies with 9/10-figure exits.

From a resume perspective, I had no business being there. But I’m glad I was. It was a life-altering experience.

Here are 5 powerful insights I gained for how to more effectively lead our organizations from a Christ-centered perspective:

#1 – Abundance in Life Begins with Abandonment to God

You are a steward of this business, not the owner.

Surrender is the key to becoming a joyful leader.

It’s impossible to lead well when you believe you are the owner of your business & therefore the one who must be in control of it.

When you enter your work day as an owner, your attempts to “stay in control” create a burden you were never built to carry.

However, when you adopt a mindset of a steward, the pressure is off. Obedience becomes the goal rather than control.

#2 – Connection Fuels Capacity

Jesus described our relationship to Him like a vine and branches. Without the Vine, even the strongest branch is worthless.

You might be highly talented & highly ambitious but if you aren’t spending intentional time in Scripture and prayer with Jesus, your capacity for Kingdom impact is ZERO.

As a leader and steward of your business, your first and primary responsibility is to stay connected to the Vine, your true power source.

#3 – Live from the Inside-Out, Not the Outside-In

Don’t seek to derive meaning from your work, bring meaning to your work. As a Christian, all work ought to be seen through the lens of service.

If you’re struggling to find meaning in your work, it’s because you’re looking for your meaning in the wrong place. Your mission is MUCH bigger than the tasks you have on your plate for the day or making money or choosing the right strategy.

#4 – Where You Stand Impacts How You Lead  

Running a company is hard. There are days where it feels like everything that could go wrong is going wrong and it’s easy to become anxious or slip into over-work in an effort to control things.

In those moments, where you choose to stand matters.

Are you standing on the Rock of God’s promises or something else?

• Your ability to control the situation
• Your performance
• Your bank account
• Your circumstances
• Your ability to “figure it out”

There are over 7,000 promises from God in Scripture…those promises are there for us to stand on when the waves of life or our business feels out of control.  

#5 – More Success Doesn’t Create More Joy

While in FL I heard dozens of stories from people who talked about how reaching higher levels of success did not give them the joy, sense of security, satisfaction, or fulfillment they expected.

It’s so easy to find ourselves getting caught up in the pursuit of higher levels of success. There’s nothing wrong with that, but when we’re hoping it provides us something only God can, we get into trouble.

Never forget where true life is found.

These may not sound like the type of insights you were expecting from a room with that level of high-caliber leaders, but they are exactly what have allowed those individuals to create the companies they have without losing their true mission in the process.

Where you lead from impacts how you lead – which impacts what you create.