Leadership Lessons: Clarify Vision & Tell Authentic Stories

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:05.280 I want a double portion of your spirit. It's a challenge you prayer to 2 00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:10.400 pray a double portion, and so we started to ask ourselves what would a 3 00:00:10.720 --> 00:00:18.760 double portion of impact that Moody Bible was it to look like. You're listening 4 00:00:18.800 --> 00:00:23.640 to the Higher Ed Marketer, a podcast geared towards marketing professionals in higher education. 5 00:00:24.239 --> 00:00:28.160 This show will tackle all sorts of questions related to student recruitment, don't 6 00:00:28.199 --> 00:00:32.439 a relations, marketing, trends, new technologies and so much more. If 7 00:00:32.479 --> 00:00:36.719 you are looking for conversations centered around where the industry is going, this podcast 8 00:00:36.759 --> 00:00:44.240 is for you. Let's get into the show. Welcome to the High Ed 9 00:00:44.320 --> 00:00:48.600 Marketer podcast. My name is troy singer and I'm here with my cohost and 10 00:00:49.039 --> 00:00:54.719 honorary super bowl referee, Bar Taylor, where each week our quest is the 11 00:00:54.759 --> 00:01:00.359 seek out higher ed marketers and executives and gain from them, to their stories 12 00:01:00.479 --> 00:01:06.519 and through their advice, tangible things that you can take back and implement right 13 00:01:06.599 --> 00:01:12.159 away. Today we are graced by Dr Mark Joe. He is with Moody 14 00:01:12.200 --> 00:01:19.640 Bible Institute and we're going to talk to Dr Job about leadership lessons for major 15 00:01:19.760 --> 00:01:25.760 impact in growth. He gave us a semester of leadership lessons within forty minutes. 16 00:01:26.159 --> 00:01:29.079 Yeah, I think it was a really great conversation and I'm really excited 17 00:01:29.159 --> 00:01:32.439 to share this with everyone. And again, you know, mark has a 18 00:01:32.480 --> 00:01:38.560 tremendous amount of of leadership experience as well as what he's doing today at the 19 00:01:38.560 --> 00:01:42.560 Moody Bible Institute. It's a hundred and thirty five year old institution, massive 20 00:01:42.599 --> 00:01:45.719 in the size. I mean many of you might think about it's just that 21 00:01:45.760 --> 00:01:49.400 Little Bible College in Chicago. They've got, you know, a massive radio 22 00:01:49.480 --> 00:01:53.959 network, they've got a print publishing division. All that falls under the leadership 23 00:01:53.000 --> 00:01:56.799 team that Marcus put together, and so I think that it's a it's a 24 00:01:56.840 --> 00:02:01.120 great conversation about leadership. It's also a great conversation about authentic storytelling and how 25 00:02:01.159 --> 00:02:06.239 to do that in different environments that were in today. And so, you 26 00:02:06.239 --> 00:02:10.199 know, regardless of your type of institution, I think that this episode would 27 00:02:10.199 --> 00:02:15.639 be really, really pragmatic and beneficial for you. Yes, here's our conversation 28 00:02:15.800 --> 00:02:22.479 with Dr Job. It's our pleasure to have Dr Mark Job, president of 29 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:27.199 Moody Bible Institute, here on the hired market a podcast and before we go 30 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:31.479 into our conversation with him about the leadership lessons for a massive impact and growth. 31 00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:36.400 Would like to know, mark, if you could give us overview of 32 00:02:36.479 --> 00:02:42.719 the Moody Bible Institute and what all comes under your authority. Yes, thank 33 00:02:42.759 --> 00:02:46.120 you, troy, and are great to be with you today. Moody Bible 34 00:02:46.240 --> 00:02:53.560 is stitute probably, like many organizations of higher institution, is complex. We 35 00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:59.719 are in the hot part of Chicago. We have been around for a hundred 36 00:03:00.199 --> 00:03:07.000 thirty six years, started by a high powered evangelist by the name of D 37 00:03:07.560 --> 00:03:13.639 L Moody who was quite a force to be reckoned with. And so currently 38 00:03:14.439 --> 00:03:19.840 moody is a both a school. We have an Undergrad school with students living 39 00:03:19.919 --> 00:03:23.919 on campus downtown, about fourteen hundred students that live on campus. We have 40 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:30.840 a total about threezero students. We have a seminary, seminary in Michigan. 41 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:36.599 We have an aviation school in Spokane, Washington, and that's education. Of 42 00:03:36.639 --> 00:03:43.360 course, online education as well. But we also have a publishing arm that 43 00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:52.199 sells about three point five million books the year in the religious Christian nitch area. 44 00:03:52.280 --> 00:03:57.680 And then we also have a broadcasting network. So we have one point 45 00:03:57.680 --> 00:04:03.439 five million listeners listen every month and that goes throughout all the country. We 46 00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:09.479 own various stations and that works. So it's all under one umbrella called the 47 00:04:09.479 --> 00:04:15.720 Moody Bible Institute, but it has three full stool we like to call it. 48 00:04:15.759 --> 00:04:20.680 That literally impacts tens of millions of people every year. That's great. 49 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:25.360 Thank you for that that introduction there, marking, really appreciate having you on 50 00:04:25.399 --> 00:04:30.560 the show and it's it's fascinating to me. I mean that's obviously a lot, 51 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:33.000 a lot of under your purview and your team's purview, but the same 52 00:04:33.000 --> 00:04:36.759 time, I think you know, being being a new president at Moody in 53 00:04:36.800 --> 00:04:42.519 the last few years, I understand that there's there's some ways that you kind 54 00:04:42.519 --> 00:04:45.959 of look at it from a leadership standpoint. That really kind of helps with 55 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:49.639 that idea of how to massively grow, how to, you know, provide 56 00:04:49.680 --> 00:04:54.800 massive impact for the mission. Once you tell me a little bit about how 57 00:04:54.800 --> 00:04:59.839 you frame that and and how that works from from your experience. Yeah, 58 00:04:59.920 --> 00:05:03.800 so first of all let me say that I do not come from higher education 59 00:05:03.800 --> 00:05:10.399 background. I do have a doctorate degree. I come from the ministry background. 60 00:05:10.879 --> 00:05:16.439 Pastor in Chicago for thirty five years, urban setting started a non for 61 00:05:16.600 --> 00:05:24.519 profits so that's been my world and so when Moody First asked me to come 62 00:05:24.560 --> 00:05:29.360 and consider, I was reluctant because I thought I love Moody. But you 63 00:05:29.399 --> 00:05:31.720 know, that's not the world that I live in. But what I've come 64 00:05:31.759 --> 00:05:39.240 to realize is that every ministry, every organization, whether it's Tire Institution, 65 00:05:39.639 --> 00:05:45.120 higher at institution or whether it's a church, the principles are very similar. 66 00:05:45.560 --> 00:05:53.519 Leadership is leadership in whatever fields you're at. And so when I started at 67 00:05:53.560 --> 00:05:57.759 Moody, I thought what would I like to see, what would we like 68 00:05:57.920 --> 00:06:01.160 to see as a team in the next decade? And so I'm a terrible 69 00:06:01.240 --> 00:06:06.240 maintainer, but I get very fired up when there's a challenge that I think 70 00:06:06.279 --> 00:06:14.040 that's worth investing in. And so we started to envision and pray of bold 71 00:06:14.160 --> 00:06:18.800 prayer, and our bold prayer was that of a lie shaw the profit when 72 00:06:18.839 --> 00:06:25.319 there was a transition between a senior profit to the next guy. He said 73 00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:30.839 I want a double portion of your spirit. It's a challenging prayer to pray 74 00:06:30.959 --> 00:06:35.560 a double portion, and so we started to ask ourselves what would a double 75 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:41.680 portion of impact at Moody Bible is it to look like? And so, 76 00:06:41.800 --> 00:06:45.519 for us. It look like doubling the number of the students that were in 77 00:06:45.639 --> 00:06:50.439 pacting. It meant double the number of listeners that we have via radio and 78 00:06:50.519 --> 00:06:57.680 digital, doubling the number of books and readers that we have, which seemed 79 00:06:57.759 --> 00:07:02.560 like a very, very challenging prayer to pray, vision to have, but 80 00:07:02.680 --> 00:07:06.600 we felt like that's what we want to do. So from thirty seven months 81 00:07:06.639 --> 00:07:12.040 ago, when I started, we have been focused on that. What does 82 00:07:12.079 --> 00:07:16.879 it mean, not just numerically to double our impact, but spiritually, impact 83 00:07:16.920 --> 00:07:23.720 of students, impact on leaders, leaders, and so that's what we've been 84 00:07:23.720 --> 00:07:30.040 going for and it has been a has been a great challenge and the team 85 00:07:30.040 --> 00:07:34.199 has bought into it. We're on the same page. Someone told me you 86 00:07:34.279 --> 00:07:39.680 must be doing something right because I heard a janitor talking to someone else and 87 00:07:39.720 --> 00:07:43.079 we said, well, this is about doubling the impact, and so the 88 00:07:43.279 --> 00:07:47.839 janitors are talking about doubling the effect. You know that it's seat down the 89 00:07:47.959 --> 00:07:54.680 ranks into the mass of employers. We have a great team working on that 90 00:07:54.680 --> 00:07:57.759 way now. I think that's great and I love the fact too, that 91 00:07:58.199 --> 00:08:01.639 I think you just pointed out there with that story of the janitor even talking 92 00:08:01.720 --> 00:08:05.120 about it. I think sometimes I mean the leadership, whether we're the president 93 00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:09.480 of an institution or whether we are, you know, a director of communications 94 00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:13.639 or a project manager, there's still leadership that's involved in that and I think 95 00:08:13.680 --> 00:08:18.040 that kind of what you're saying is having some clarity of that and and making 96 00:08:18.040 --> 00:08:22.279 sure that you can kind of help guide those that are that are a part 97 00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:26.519 of the team. It's not this and it's also, like you said, 98 00:08:26.519 --> 00:08:30.879 bold visionable prayers, but I think that we, you know, sometimes I 99 00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:33.360 think we get kind of confused that, well, I'm the leader, I'm 100 00:08:33.399 --> 00:08:37.320 supposed to know everything and it's supposed to be on my shoulders to make that 101 00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:41.039 happen, even even if I'm a leader within my small department on Campus and 102 00:08:41.039 --> 00:08:45.440 we're talking to hire ad marketers. They're still this idea, though, that 103 00:08:45.639 --> 00:08:48.600 as leaders, it's our responsibility to know where we start and stop with what 104 00:08:48.639 --> 00:08:52.200 we know. Is that true? Yeah, you know, I look at 105 00:08:52.279 --> 00:08:58.559 leadership. I have a limited responsibility. Sometimes people look at what I'm doing 106 00:08:58.639 --> 00:09:01.519 and they say, how do you do so much? How can you keep 107 00:09:01.600 --> 00:09:05.480 track? But good leader has to narrow down, I think, what are 108 00:09:05.480 --> 00:09:13.440 their primary responsibilities? And so I view my primary responsibilities as number one. 109 00:09:13.720 --> 00:09:20.960 Number one clarifying vision. Where are we going and what is our mission? 110 00:09:20.240 --> 00:09:24.879 And so vision and mission are a little bit different. Mission is the purpose 111 00:09:24.879 --> 00:09:31.919 why we exist. Vision is in a timely fashion. Where are we going? 112 00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:35.120 Vision can be five years out, ten years out. How are we 113 00:09:35.159 --> 00:09:39.000 implementing that mission? So I think it's a it's the responsibility of a leader 114 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:43.679 to say this is where we're going. Max Dupre, who taught a out 115 00:09:43.840 --> 00:09:50.200 a leadership, said the first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. 116 00:09:50.519 --> 00:09:54.600 If you don't define reality, if you don't define our current state, where 117 00:09:54.600 --> 00:09:58.000 we're going, someone else will define it for you. So we started to 118 00:09:58.039 --> 00:10:01.039 define this is who we are. Let's be clear about who we are and 119 00:10:01.080 --> 00:10:07.159 who were not, and let's be clear about what we want to accomplish in 120 00:10:07.240 --> 00:10:11.720 the next ten years. The second responsibility, I believe, of a leader, 121 00:10:11.720 --> 00:10:16.080 at least in my case, is to gather the team, the right 122 00:10:16.080 --> 00:10:24.840 team of competent leaders to be able to implement a strategy move things forward. 123 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:28.840 And that's not always easy to do, but that was part of the response 124 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:33.600 ability when I stepped into Moody. And then, I think, finally, 125 00:10:35.480 --> 00:10:41.159 part of the responsibility of a good leader is then to embrace a strategy. 126 00:10:41.240 --> 00:10:45.519 Once you have the vision, you have the team, you articulate a strategy 127 00:10:45.600 --> 00:10:48.759 together. I believe that's formed together, and then metrics to say how are 128 00:10:48.759 --> 00:10:54.879 we progressing towards that? So those are my three pime primary responsibilities. Now 129 00:10:54.879 --> 00:11:00.799 I may do a lot of other things in subcategories, like do podcasts for 130 00:11:01.360 --> 00:11:09.759 Barton Troy, but my primary responsibilities fly in those three areas. That's great. 131 00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:15.320 I also know from a previous conversation that you take pride in knowing what 132 00:11:15.360 --> 00:11:18.600 you don't know and you use the story of how, when you first took 133 00:11:18.600 --> 00:11:24.039 over the leadership role for Moody, that there were a recruiter to that was 134 00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:30.440 crucial to your success as you set out on the journey. Could you share 135 00:11:30.440 --> 00:11:33.919 those stories with us? Yeah, absolutely. I think that comes under the 136 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:41.480 category of bringing together the right team. When I started at Moody, Moody 137 00:11:41.600 --> 00:11:46.360 had just well, there was several people that had transition out of their office. 138 00:11:46.440 --> 00:11:52.240 The three top roles really the president, the COO and this and the 139 00:11:52.279 --> 00:11:58.960 provos. So those are very important in a higher edge education setting and all 140 00:11:58.960 --> 00:12:03.000 three of those had trend asitioned out around the same time, and so I 141 00:12:03.039 --> 00:12:09.600 stepped in and I looked over Moody and I realized, okay, I come 142 00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:13.360 from a pastor background, a leadership background. I believe in the mission. 143 00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:18.679 I can articulate that I can inspire people to train men and women to live 144 00:12:18.759 --> 00:12:24.120 on purpose, on mission for the cause of Christ. I understand that. 145 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:30.200 But this is a big business operation as well. There's organizational dynamics, there's 146 00:12:30.240 --> 00:12:35.399 strategies, it's there's quite a few employees, were multi campus, were scattered 147 00:12:35.440 --> 00:12:41.159 around the country. I need someone that really understands business. And so there 148 00:12:41.240 --> 00:12:46.679 was a gentleman on the board by the name of Mark Wagner and he had 149 00:12:46.679 --> 00:12:52.799 been the president of all dreams and obviously he had worked his way from way 150 00:12:52.840 --> 00:12:56.679 down in the mail room all the way up to the presidency and I thought 151 00:12:56.799 --> 00:13:03.320 he would be a great cooo. I talked to some of the other board 152 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:07.919 members about it and he had stepped into some volunteer responsibilities and I said, 153 00:13:07.919 --> 00:13:11.879 hey, you think he would consider it? They laughed at me and said 154 00:13:11.879 --> 00:13:16.720 he's not going to take on that responsibility. But I sat down my wife 155 00:13:16.799 --> 00:13:20.919 and I sat down with him and his wife in October. I started in 156 00:13:22.039 --> 00:13:28.159 January and I said, mark, I'm stepping into this role and I know 157 00:13:28.240 --> 00:13:31.559 that you have the decisions to make. I had heard that he wanted to 158 00:13:31.559 --> 00:13:39.480 transition maybe into retirement, and I need someone like you, with your skills 159 00:13:39.519 --> 00:13:46.759 and your understanding, to come help help me make an impact for the kingdom. 160 00:13:46.840 --> 00:13:50.720 You've helped walbreves make a lot of money and but come help make a 161 00:13:50.720 --> 00:13:56.320 spiritual impact with me. And we talked for quite a while that would look 162 00:13:56.360 --> 00:14:00.799 like and he said I'll pray about it. Five days later he called me 163 00:14:00.879 --> 00:14:03.360 up and said I can't get away from the idea of making an impact, 164 00:14:03.399 --> 00:14:07.639 so I'm going to say yes. And so I told him, Hey, 165 00:14:07.679 --> 00:14:09.159 mark, I don't even know if I can hire you because I'm not eat. 166 00:14:09.240 --> 00:14:13.000 I haven't even started yet, but I think we can work out those 167 00:14:13.039 --> 00:14:18.000 details. And so mark, who's never worked at a non for profit, 168 00:14:18.120 --> 00:14:22.559 never worked in higher education, he's worked in the business sector, the pharmaceutical 169 00:14:22.639 --> 00:14:30.720 sector, he was just a great guy to bring a balance to my gifting 170 00:14:30.879 --> 00:14:35.799 that I did not have. And so and then we needed someone to head 171 00:14:35.840 --> 00:14:41.120 up education. Neither mark nor I were experts in education, and Moody, 172 00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:48.200 you know, as primarily an educational institution. And so we were able to 173 00:14:48.240 --> 00:14:52.840 recruit and hire someone that was seasoned and education by the name of Dr Dwight 174 00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:58.000 Perry. That was his field, he understood it, and so those are 175 00:14:58.080 --> 00:15:03.519 some of the top lead leaders. But it was my responsibility to say who 176 00:15:03.559 --> 00:15:07.200 needs to form this team, and they're just doing an outstanding job. It's 177 00:15:07.240 --> 00:15:11.240 hard to go places if you don't have the team to help take you there. 178 00:15:11.600 --> 00:15:16.000 That's great. Love that story and love how that, how that I'll 179 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:20.440 plays out in place together. I think that's so, so important and again 180 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:24.159 I think it can apply to so many different ways and I think that you 181 00:15:24.159 --> 00:15:26.360 know, just kind of also tell me a little bit about you know, 182 00:15:26.840 --> 00:15:31.600 over the course of the last thirty, six, thirty seven months, you 183 00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:35.519 know there's obviously some challenges that all of us is faced with with the pandemic 184 00:15:35.600 --> 00:15:39.559 and and with, you know, the the economic issues around that and even 185 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:45.279 you know, whether whether it's retail sales or whether it's people coming into into 186 00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:48.440 higher education, everyone's had a challenge. But tell me a little bit about 187 00:15:48.519 --> 00:15:54.320 how you and your team kind of work through those physical challenges. Yeah, 188 00:15:54.320 --> 00:15:58.159 well, I have to echo everybody else to saying this has been one of 189 00:15:58.200 --> 00:16:08.159 the most disruptive challenging times for institutions, organizations and leaders to navigate through. 190 00:16:08.360 --> 00:16:11.360 And, by the way, if you're leading something right now, I want 191 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:17.480 to just commend you. It won't always be this way. It hasn't always 192 00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:22.240 been this way. I had to remind my twenty eight year old son that 193 00:16:22.519 --> 00:16:29.120 stepped into pastor and recently. Hey, these last three years have been in 194 00:16:29.240 --> 00:16:36.679 intense crash course on leadership. That probably puts you ahead ten years into the 195 00:16:36.759 --> 00:16:45.600 leadership curve because you had to deal with challenges and political polarization and racial issues 196 00:16:45.039 --> 00:16:52.200 and economic issues and virus issues and well, when we stepped in, obviously 197 00:16:52.320 --> 00:16:57.919 I didn't know that a year after we had begun to announce and pray for 198 00:16:59.080 --> 00:17:03.559 a double of the impact, that we would be hit by a massive global 199 00:17:03.600 --> 00:17:10.799 pandemic that would seek to almost shut everything down. But we actually viewed it 200 00:17:10.880 --> 00:17:15.519 a bit as an accelerator. It's been disruptive, but I also see it 201 00:17:15.559 --> 00:17:23.720 as the great accelerator. It has thrust US forward a decade. Technology has 202 00:17:23.920 --> 00:17:30.119 sped forward some of the trends that were happening, even off site or remote 203 00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:34.480 working. I think that was coming anyways. I think the virus has just 204 00:17:34.759 --> 00:17:40.480 kind of accelerated it. For so we've been in this capsule of time that 205 00:17:40.519 --> 00:17:45.160 has compressed the speed of change. Leaders have felt that, you know, 206 00:17:45.480 --> 00:17:49.440 in the midst of this. A couple of things I would say. One, 207 00:17:49.799 --> 00:17:56.920 I think Mark Wagon Arcoo. He had the foresight to believe the created 208 00:17:56.960 --> 00:18:00.920 task force to handle this disruption and in the beginning of the Task Force made 209 00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:04.240 of about twenty thirty people met every single day. Every single day they were 210 00:18:04.279 --> 00:18:11.039 meeting overcommunicating. That was just some good experience. That said, we need 211 00:18:11.119 --> 00:18:18.200 to overcommunicate during this time, as we got into this volatile season, we 212 00:18:18.279 --> 00:18:22.519 also discovered that it was a time where there was a lot of very strong 213 00:18:22.559 --> 00:18:27.559 opinions about a lot of different things and it was a time where people were 214 00:18:27.720 --> 00:18:33.480 people were expressing their opinions, often times in a very strong way, towards 215 00:18:33.680 --> 00:18:37.039 the leadership and what we were doing. And for a little season I felt 216 00:18:37.119 --> 00:18:45.599 like we just were responding to negative social media post to negative comments, to 217 00:18:47.039 --> 00:18:52.440 negative stories, and it felt like for a while we were just on the 218 00:18:52.480 --> 00:18:56.720 defense and I had a long conversation with our head of marketing and I said, 219 00:18:56.839 --> 00:19:02.440 you know, I feel like we're just not saying much, but just 220 00:19:02.640 --> 00:19:08.160 waiting to have to respond to the next critical, negative reaction. We need 221 00:19:08.200 --> 00:19:14.279 to be much more proactive in telling what is going well, telling our stories 222 00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:18.599 of our graduates and the impact that's happening. And so we did. We 223 00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:22.519 determined we're not just going to wait around for the next negative story to pop 224 00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:26.119 up, that we're going to start telling these great stories that we have to 225 00:19:26.119 --> 00:19:30.640 tell. We told the story of one of our graduates who, during the 226 00:19:30.680 --> 00:19:36.319 pandemic in the city of Chicago, was able to roll up his sleeves with 227 00:19:36.359 --> 00:19:41.359 a bunch of volunteers and feed, at one time, thirtyzero people a week. 228 00:19:41.359 --> 00:19:48.039 Over the last twenty months, fed two million people. A Moody Graduate 229 00:19:48.079 --> 00:19:52.519 of rolling up his sleeves engaging in the community. Many of this in immigrant 230 00:19:52.519 --> 00:19:56.319 communities, and well, we realize is we have so many good stories to 231 00:19:56.400 --> 00:20:02.599 tell and we need to be proactive in telling those stories and compelling ways, 232 00:20:02.720 --> 00:20:07.240 rather than just saying back and trying to play the defensive. I love that 233 00:20:07.279 --> 00:20:12.440 idea because I think that, especially in today's environment, it's very easy. 234 00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:18.079 It's so there's just so much polarization of everything and I think that if we 235 00:20:18.160 --> 00:20:22.880 can be proactive and telling the stories of our institution of the mission that we 236 00:20:23.000 --> 00:20:26.839 represent what we're doing. I think that's going to be so much more impactful 237 00:20:26.880 --> 00:20:32.759 for those constituents that we have, whether they are already constituents or they might 238 00:20:32.799 --> 00:20:37.200 be willing to become a prospective student or family, those types of things. 239 00:20:37.240 --> 00:20:40.160 So are you what kind of ways are you telling those stories? I mean, 240 00:20:40.240 --> 00:20:42.079 I guess this gets into a little bit more of the pragmatic and practical 241 00:20:42.079 --> 00:20:45.559 ways because, I mean, you have those stories. From a practical standpoint, 242 00:20:45.559 --> 00:20:49.079 how are you getting those stories out? About About Moody Bibal Institute? 243 00:20:49.519 --> 00:20:52.200 Well, you know, you have the traditional ways of telling stories, with 244 00:20:52.279 --> 00:20:59.759 alumni magazines and so forth, and so they've been that's been happening a little 245 00:20:59.759 --> 00:21:04.079 bit more aggressively, but we've also sought to tell the stories a little bit 246 00:21:04.119 --> 00:21:12.279 more visually and video being able to capture the images, I think is crucial 247 00:21:12.359 --> 00:21:21.000 for institutions nowadays. Most higher education institutions, I don't think, are probably 248 00:21:21.079 --> 00:21:26.359 that good at that. I just had a talk just this morning with our 249 00:21:26.400 --> 00:21:33.480 it people and I was responding to some improvements that we could make and the 250 00:21:33.519 --> 00:21:37.759 head of it, Johnson, say that he told me this. He said 251 00:21:37.799 --> 00:21:41.559 I get it. He said. What I realized is that we have to 252 00:21:41.680 --> 00:21:51.079 operate much more as a production company than an audio visual support team. And 253 00:21:51.119 --> 00:21:55.960 I said, you know, John, you got it, because nowadays are 254 00:21:56.119 --> 00:22:00.640 streaming, like we for example, we live stream our chapels. We have 255 00:22:00.759 --> 00:22:06.920 events on campus that become the windows to the world. Not only are we 256 00:22:07.000 --> 00:22:12.599 disseminating a message outwardly, but we are also giving people a peek into the 257 00:22:12.640 --> 00:22:18.720 institute, into our world. And so our team, and he told me, 258 00:22:18.759 --> 00:22:21.559 Hey, we've been playing a lot of catch up, but our team 259 00:22:21.599 --> 00:22:27.920 has become much more, much more adept at telling stories with students creatively through 260 00:22:29.039 --> 00:22:36.559 visual content and through our different online platforms, are social media platforms. That 261 00:22:36.680 --> 00:22:40.039 has become much more the way that we're telling stories. Now. Now you 262 00:22:40.039 --> 00:22:47.119 have an older, older constituent that maybe aren't as versatile and adept to social 263 00:22:47.160 --> 00:22:48.920 media, so you don't want to disengage them. There still going to be 264 00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:53.119 the printed exactly. So people that are, you know, in their S 265 00:22:55.160 --> 00:23:00.799 S S, they may not be as adept to social media, so I 266 00:23:00.839 --> 00:23:04.720 think print is still important for them. I told our marketing guy, hey, 267 00:23:04.759 --> 00:23:11.119 I'd like to I'd like to have a video videographer right in the car 268 00:23:11.160 --> 00:23:15.279 with me my first day at Moody and just capture some of my thoughts as 269 00:23:15.359 --> 00:23:18.039 I'm starting on campus, what it looks like. So he wrote around in 270 00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:22.279 the car with me and I'm driving to the institute. Try Not to get 271 00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:27.920 to distracted. Don't want any car accident and he just traveled with me in 272 00:23:29.000 --> 00:23:32.519 the car and I'm talking to him about to start. This is my first 273 00:23:32.599 --> 00:23:34.880 day. I'm excited about it. This is why I took this position. 274 00:23:36.559 --> 00:23:41.640 Parked the car followed me out and I'm walking into the institute, go into 275 00:23:41.640 --> 00:23:44.559 the office, I'm saying hi to people. You know, I think there 276 00:23:44.680 --> 00:23:51.200 was a there was a time when the stories that were told were very clean 277 00:23:51.359 --> 00:23:56.720 cut, formalized, very produced right, and that was what people expect. 278 00:23:56.759 --> 00:24:00.279 That I think the greatest stories nowaday, are authentic, the raw a they're 279 00:24:00.359 --> 00:24:04.480 less produced, the real, their unedited and people have a sense of I 280 00:24:04.480 --> 00:24:08.079 can I get who these people are, and so I believe that we need 281 00:24:08.119 --> 00:24:18.680 to be telling more raw, authentic stories, especially the our video platforms. 282 00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:23.319 That's great. I must admit that I find you inspirational and you are a 283 00:24:23.319 --> 00:24:30.880 wonderful storyteller. So I'm sure if that's permeating through your organization that you are 284 00:24:30.960 --> 00:24:36.200 very effective of getting those stories acrossed. Earlier you had talked to joy. 285 00:24:36.599 --> 00:24:42.279 You're welcome. Earlier you had mentioned the give me double and I would like 286 00:24:42.400 --> 00:24:48.599 to go to what I believe is titled The Vision Script Initiative, where you've 287 00:24:48.640 --> 00:24:52.720 taken that concept and then you utilize that and kind of formalize that with your 288 00:24:52.759 --> 00:24:59.200 team for massive impact and growth in the organization. Could you explain to the 289 00:24:59.240 --> 00:25:04.759 listeners the Vision Script Initiative? Yeah, again, I think that it's a 290 00:25:04.839 --> 00:25:12.880 responsibility of the leader to try to paint a clear picture of the future and 291 00:25:14.319 --> 00:25:18.559 typically we set goals that are numeric, which I think they should be. 292 00:25:18.599 --> 00:25:22.759 We have to measure our progress and so we had, almost from day one 293 00:25:22.880 --> 00:25:26.960 numeric goals. What does it mean to double publishing? What does it mean 294 00:25:26.960 --> 00:25:33.119 to double education? What does it mean to double broadcasting, listeners, readers 295 00:25:33.160 --> 00:25:37.759 and students? But most people, to be honest with you, are not 296 00:25:38.680 --> 00:25:48.680 inspired by numbers per se. Most people are inspired by the three dimensional picture 297 00:25:48.720 --> 00:25:53.480 of what that means. And so I started to realize as people dug in 298 00:25:53.559 --> 00:25:59.279 a little bit more and say Hey, what does the doubling impact really mean? 299 00:25:59.319 --> 00:26:03.640 I realized I need to do a better job at painting the picture, 300 00:26:03.680 --> 00:26:07.640 and so I believe I first heard of this concept through Michael Hyatt, who 301 00:26:07.640 --> 00:26:15.240 does some coaching and so forth, and this was much more for personal development, 302 00:26:15.319 --> 00:26:22.519 but I thought it would be great for organizational development. I was in 303 00:26:22.559 --> 00:26:29.160 Mexico with my wife and I was thinking about our marriage and our children and 304 00:26:29.160 --> 00:26:34.279 our family and I was inspired through some of the reading about that to paint 305 00:26:34.400 --> 00:26:38.240 a picture of what it would look like over the next ten years for us. 306 00:26:38.920 --> 00:26:45.519 So I did a vision marriage script for us, like I want to 307 00:26:45.599 --> 00:26:49.119 laugh more than ever before. I want to have some adventures. When I 308 00:26:49.119 --> 00:26:52.759 look around, this is what I want to see. This is the kind 309 00:26:52.799 --> 00:26:56.799 of relationship I want to have with my children, this is how I want 310 00:26:56.880 --> 00:27:02.200 us to be experiencing our life in Taine years from now. And it was 311 00:27:02.240 --> 00:27:07.079 a and then we read it together. It was a very compelling, powerful 312 00:27:07.240 --> 00:27:11.119 description of the future that I thought it was helpful for us in our marriage 313 00:27:11.119 --> 00:27:15.400 and our family. But I was inspired by that actually to say, you 314 00:27:15.400 --> 00:27:19.519 know, this is the same thing that I need to do for Moody, 315 00:27:19.720 --> 00:27:26.519 and so I got away, set down and I wrote out if I were 316 00:27:26.680 --> 00:27:32.039 to step into the year two thousand and twenty six. I did a little 317 00:27:32.079 --> 00:27:36.480 bit shorter because two thousand and twenty six is our hundred year aniversary of our 318 00:27:36.519 --> 00:27:41.480 first broadcast, it's our hundred and forty anniversary of existing as an institution, 319 00:27:41.599 --> 00:27:48.559 as a school, and so I sort of went forward into the future. 320 00:27:48.599 --> 00:27:51.200 I said, if I were to look around in two thousand and twenty six, 321 00:27:51.839 --> 00:27:55.559 what would I want the culture to look like? What would I want 322 00:27:55.599 --> 00:28:02.039 our team to be celebrating? What would I want the students to look like? 323 00:28:02.119 --> 00:28:08.680 The atmosphere on the school are finances, our engagement with our society? 324 00:28:10.240 --> 00:28:15.200 What are we celebrating? What are people coming to learn from us? What 325 00:28:15.240 --> 00:28:22.200 are we highlighting? And about a two page paper I include education, broadcasting, 326 00:28:22.920 --> 00:28:33.160 publishing, culture, dynamics, finances, spiritual health and atmosphere on our 327 00:28:33.240 --> 00:28:38.799 campus, impact and then I read it to our executive team, I've read 328 00:28:38.839 --> 00:28:45.960 it to our board and I've read it to our staff as well, and 329 00:28:47.480 --> 00:28:49.559 I've had so many people come up to me after it and say now I 330 00:28:49.640 --> 00:28:56.119 get it, now I get it, and you know we're wired that way. 331 00:28:56.799 --> 00:29:00.079 Troy, if you're listening to a story, there's a lot of stats, 332 00:29:00.160 --> 00:29:06.920 a lot of good information. You can disengage, but your mind is 333 00:29:06.960 --> 00:29:11.839 wired to engage as soon as you hear a story of picture is painted and 334 00:29:11.960 --> 00:29:17.599 I believe that many of us, as we go forward into the future, 335 00:29:17.640 --> 00:29:22.119 we need a clear picture. It needs to connect with our emotions, it 336 00:29:22.160 --> 00:29:25.599 needs to we need to be able to see it more clearly as we move 337 00:29:25.680 --> 00:29:30.200 forward and I think that's part of the responsibility and job of the leader to 338 00:29:30.240 --> 00:29:33.839 do so. And so now we have a clear picture of the challenges and 339 00:29:33.880 --> 00:29:37.759 people refer to that. Hey, in the vision script you mentioned this like 340 00:29:37.880 --> 00:29:41.440 one of the things we want to do is honor people better on their way 341 00:29:41.440 --> 00:29:48.880 out, that retire or transition, and we just had a phenomenal honoring of 342 00:29:48.880 --> 00:29:52.440 a couple that's been around for forty years and I just thought this is part 343 00:29:52.480 --> 00:29:57.559 of our vision script. We want to honor people well as they transition into 344 00:29:57.599 --> 00:30:03.000 this next season. That's great. It's very inspiring and Dr Joe, we 345 00:30:03.200 --> 00:30:08.079 end every episode by asking our guests if there is a quick piece of advice 346 00:30:08.119 --> 00:30:12.759 that they could offer that could be implemented by a listener right away. What 347 00:30:12.799 --> 00:30:18.519 would that be? If you're the leader of a team, I would challenge 348 00:30:18.599 --> 00:30:27.799 you to clarify, clarify, clarify where you're going and what your mission is. 349 00:30:29.720 --> 00:30:36.119 I believe that there's a lot of vague fuzziness, lack of clarity, 350 00:30:36.160 --> 00:30:41.000 and it makes teams not function at their best, and so if you're a 351 00:30:41.039 --> 00:30:45.359 part of the team where there's lack of clarity, then I would encourage you 352 00:30:45.400 --> 00:30:51.799 to set down with wherever's leading the team and maybe give a little nudge and 353 00:30:51.920 --> 00:30:56.000 say, you know, I'd like to I really believe in this place, 354 00:30:56.039 --> 00:31:00.200 but I feel like we need to be more clear about who we are, 355 00:31:00.240 --> 00:31:04.319 what we're trying to accomplish and what does it mean to win in our setting. 356 00:31:04.880 --> 00:31:11.480 Wonderful, well said and again very inspiring. For our listeners that would 357 00:31:11.559 --> 00:31:15.079 like to find out more about you or maybe even reach out to connect with 358 00:31:15.119 --> 00:31:18.519 you, what would be the best way for them to do so? Yeah, 359 00:31:18.559 --> 00:31:21.960 well, there's a lot of ways of following me. If you would 360 00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:27.000 like to. I'll mention a couple of them. I have a instagram account. 361 00:31:27.039 --> 00:31:30.599 I have, of course, of FACEBOOK, AC out. I'm on 362 00:31:30.759 --> 00:31:37.079 Linkedin. I also do a daily radio program called both steps. There's a 363 00:31:37.079 --> 00:31:41.400 lot of information message that you can get there, and they can even go 364 00:31:41.519 --> 00:31:48.039 to pastor mark jobcom and I have a website there as well, and all 365 00:31:48.079 --> 00:31:51.319 things movie. By the way, of course, you can just Google Moody 366 00:31:51.319 --> 00:31:53.880 Bible Institute and there's a lot of stuff that's there. Thank you, Dr 367 00:31:55.000 --> 00:32:01.480 Job. I've sincerely enjoyed our conversation and listening to your leadership advice. Bart 368 00:32:01.519 --> 00:32:05.920 do you add any final thoughts or words that you would like to share? 369 00:32:06.000 --> 00:32:07.079 Yeah, just a couple things I wanted to kind of pull out of our 370 00:32:07.119 --> 00:32:12.599 conversation just as our final points. Really appreciate what Dr Job talked about with 371 00:32:12.960 --> 00:32:15.640 authentic storytelling. I think that that's something that you know, just you might 372 00:32:15.680 --> 00:32:19.839 go back and listen a little bit more about that, about especially how, 373 00:32:19.880 --> 00:32:23.680 if we can be authentic in our storytelling, and especially storytelling that is visual 374 00:32:23.720 --> 00:32:29.480 and and creates emotion and we'll really allows people to kind of Peek into your 375 00:32:29.480 --> 00:32:32.400 institution. I think that's going to be so critical and really a nice pragmatic 376 00:32:32.400 --> 00:32:36.680 point to take away. And I also really liked a lot of what he 377 00:32:36.720 --> 00:32:38.680 talked about with leadership. And again, if you'RE A if you're president of 378 00:32:38.680 --> 00:32:43.400 a college or if you're a leader of a marketing team, I think that 379 00:32:43.440 --> 00:32:46.119 clarity of vision and the way he articulated that was so important. It's what 380 00:32:46.160 --> 00:32:50.000 we've heard from so many of our other guests, whether it was Elin or 381 00:32:50.160 --> 00:32:53.920 Bierman from Indiana University. She's marketing off stree talked about the clarity of vision 382 00:32:54.000 --> 00:32:59.839 is what keeps the silos at bay and their institution. We've talked to you 383 00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:04.079 and brightened a couple times at perdue and he's often talking about the idea that, 384 00:33:04.359 --> 00:33:07.599 you know, having that vision being the drivers of the marketing in the 385 00:33:07.599 --> 00:33:13.240 brand on campus rather than just the driven to make something look prettier by Monday. 386 00:33:13.279 --> 00:33:15.680 It all comes back to that clarity of vision, whether you're receiving it, 387 00:33:15.720 --> 00:33:19.599 whether you're giving it. I think that the more clear that we can 388 00:33:19.599 --> 00:33:22.759 be with each other, the better off effective that we're going to be in 389 00:33:22.799 --> 00:33:25.279 our jobs, and so really appreciate that and really appreciate the time today. 390 00:33:25.319 --> 00:33:30.000 Thank you, Dr Job. That brings us to the end of another episode 391 00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:34.799 of the High Ed Marketer podcast. Our show is sponsored by Taylor solutions and 392 00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:40.960 education marketing and branding agency and by thing patented, a marketing execution company combining 393 00:33:40.960 --> 00:33:47.599 personalization and customization for engagement success. My name is troy singer. On behalf 394 00:33:47.640 --> 00:33:54.519 of my cohost, Bart Taylor. Thank you for joining us. You've been 395 00:33:54.519 --> 00:33:59.839 listening to the Higher Ed Marketer. To ensure that you never miss an episode, 396 00:33:59.839 --> 00:34:04.160 subscribe to the show in your favorite podcast player. If you're listening with 397 00:34:04.160 --> 00:34:07.119 apple PODCASTS, we'd love for you to leave a quick rating of the show. 398 00:34:07.239 --> 00:34:12.440 Simply tap the number of stars you think the podcast deserves. Until next 399 00:34:12.480 --> time,