If Everyone’s a Leader, No One Is — What Actually Makes Men Worth Following (EP. 24)

Is every man actually called to be a leader — or is that just something we say? Brad, Sam, and Noah start with the weight of leadership and end up in the fight underneath it: what your word is worth. They wrestle over whether leadership is discipline that adds value or maximizing what’s been entrusted to you, whether the man who promises seven things and delivers six and a half beats the man who promises one and delivers it, and why “something came up” is almost always a lie. Expect The Incredibles, Jelly Roll walking in the rain, 800 trading cards, a notecard hidden in a medicine cabinet, 400 missionaries, and Winston Churchill versus the patriarch at the dinner table. If you’ve ever promised more than you delivered — or kept your word so small it never got tested — this is the conversation. Welcome to Modern Man, a podcast that seeks to rediscover and redeem the heart of man in the modern world. In this episode, the guys answer one simple question – why Modern Man? And they lay out a vision for the future of the podcast. Enjoy! 00:00 Des Moines, nitrates in the water, and Iowa politics 05:45 The weight of leadership — Pope Leo, Trump, and why it’s on Brad’s mind 06:58 Subsidiarity — leadership starts at the kitchen sink with your six-year-old 10:09 No license required — taking the baby home 13:54 If everyone’s a leader, no one is — the Incredibles problem 16:37 Picture-frame TVs and Washington crossing the Delaware 19:32 Defining it — maximize what’s been entrusted to you 21:36 Jelly Roll in the rain — sick and tired of lying to myself 24:59 Credibility with yourself — stop announcing workouts you won’t do 5 27:03 The notecard in the medicine cabinet — do what you said 28:47 The wrestle — one thing done well vs. saying yes to everything 30:40 “Something came up” — nothing came up, you overpromised 33:58 The cancelled-podcast phone call — integrity in real time 36:21 Preference or principle — passion vs. peace 38:05 800 trading cards — the day Noah lost respect for his dad 40:14 Nine months pregnant, still shows up — why Noah married his wife 42:01 400 missionaries — is a missed goal a broken promise? 50:55 The gradient of your word — group chats, goals, and guarantees 55:16 Tier your commitments — and be honest at every level 57:30 Yes, no, hopefully, probably not — Brad’s schema 59:51 Churchill vs. the patriarch — which life moves the needle 01:03:26 The inflammatory closer — clergy, laity, and who gets to overpromise 01:05:56 Everyone called to lead — by degrees