290. Don't Assume Trust Guarantees Success in Leadership, with Tod Bolsinger

As ministry leaders, we often imagine that building trust is the ultimate goal—once we have it, the road to transformation should be clear. But what happens when trust alone isn’t enough? The truth is, trust is only the starting point. Moving beyond it requires us to invest our trust in ways that actually make change possible, even when it means taking risks and facing loss together.

In this episode, Tod Bolsinger, author of Invest in Transformation: Quit Relying on Trust, shares why trust is essential but insufficient for transformative leadership, how we can begin to discern our congregation’s unique calling, and what it takes to wisely invest trust as we guide people through the challenges of adaptive change.

THIS EPISODE'S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

• Tod Bolsinger asserts that there is no transformation without trust.
• Leadership requires energizing a community toward its own transformation for the sake of a shared mission.
• People will not trust a leader to guide them through difficult change if they don’t trust them with current, familiar responsibilities.
• Leaders build trust through both trustworthy character and technical competence.
• Relational congruence means consistently showing up as the same person in all relationships, reinforcing trust.
• Even leaders of good character need to be experienced by others as trustworthy in daily interactions.
• Technical competence in areas such as scripture, soul care, and organizational skills is non-negotiable for pastoral leaders.
• Trust is the bank account that leaders must invest (and spend) when leading adaptive or transformational change.
• When transformation is pursued, trust levels may decrease as change creates uncertainty and resistance.
• Tod Bolsinger notes that maintaining trust means not squandering it on trivial matters, but instead strategically investing it in real transformation.
• The process of transformation begins with clarifying a congregation’s unique charism—its distinctive gift to the broader community.
• Charism emerges from actual values and stories, not from aspirational wish lists or debates about what a church “should” be.
• Discerning a congregation’s charism requires telling stories about the times they were most proud of the church.
• Identifying a congregation’s charism is followed by asking how it can address the pain points of the community, thus connecting internal giftedness with external needs.
• Transformation always involves loss, and truly adaptive change means some may leave, but new vibrancy and alignment with mission can develop as a result.

RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS:

• Church Leadership Institute
• Books mentioned:
  • Invest in Transformation: Quit Relying on Trust, by Tod Bolsinger
• Related episodes:
  • 230. The Power of an 8-word Mission Statement, with Tod Bolsinger
  • 264. Building a Future-Focused Church, with Kara Powell, Jake Mulder, and Raymond Chang
  • 272. Beyond Church Revitalization, with Josh Hayden

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