Biblical Leadership @ Work
Biblical Leadership @ Work
Mentoring and Developing with Nancy Lewis
Nancy Lewis is the owner and CEO of Progressive Techniques, a leadership consulting firm which has been in business for 27 years. She is also a Board Chair for a girls elementary Christian school.
Nancy is a passionate mentor and people developer. In todays episode we discuss her professional work as well as her focus on mentoring young women and teaching children. Listen in as we discuss her approach to leadership as well as how God has worked in and through her over the years, to impact others.
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Ladies of Favor Website
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Welcome to the biblical leadership at work podcast. I am your host, Jason Woodard. Today we will meet Nancy Lewis. Nancy is the CEO and owner of progressive techniques, a leadership and organizational consulting firm, which has been in business for 27 years. Nancy is also very active in mentoring young women and teaching in her church. And she talks about how much all of these young ones mean to her.
Nancy:I've certainly been a mother to a lot of young ladies and sometimes even young men. But I've mentored, and I'm mentoring a lot of young ladies now, but being over the Sunday school, uh, the children's ministry of my church is such a blessing. I love my. I have the one to 12 year old and they're just so precious to me. So they're all of my children.
Jason:In addition to her mentoring work. Nancy is the board chair for ladies of favor, which is an elementary Christian school for girls. She also shares about her career path and the many ups and downs, including when God led her through a job loss and used that time to humble her and bring her closer to himself.
Nancy:I had a good job at one point, at a very early age in my career. God bless me, with a great job. I traveled. you know how you just have that ideal job making good money at an early age, and you're just full of pride, you don't realize it because you know, you're just in that space. And so I lost the job. The job was, that was phased out and I just like, what ca what? What is this? All of a sudden I had this wonderful job that I didn't have it, and later on I realized that God had to bring me back to I humble. He humbled me to say, okay, I'm gonna get your attention now. Because I was so prideful,
Jason:nancy. And I also discuss her approach to leadership. She emphasizes two key characteristics for biblical leadership.
Nancy:two words come to mind integrity and authenticity. have to walk in integrity. That means that what you say you do, authenticity is being a first rate. You is one of my Nancy isms and not a second rate.
Jason:We also discuss some of the challenges Nancy had early in her career, such as being a very direct person. And how God has matured her through that over the years.
Nancy:I tell people when I first started working, I did not have a filter. Whatever I thought, I see it. and sometimes it'd be, it would, it would be correct, but if this wasn't what I said, it was how I said it.
Jason:Nancy is a highly energetic leader who loves Christ and is working diligently to help others become better leaders. This episode will leave you feeling energized and optimistic about how God can use you to serve others. So now let's meet Nancy Lewis. Okay. Well, Nancy Lewis, Thank you so much. uh, for joining my podcast. I really look forward to, to getting to know you and sharing that with the audience.
Nancy:Well, thank you Jason for having me. Uh, it is a pleasure to be here.
Jason:So Nancy, can, let's, let's start off with, uh, let's talk about your career background and, uh, educational background, kind of the professional side of things and how the Lord has brought you to where you are.
Nancy:Well, it's interesting. I started out, um, as a medical technologist because I wanted to be a professional model, but my mom said I needed a career because she said, when you get older, what are you gonna do I said, well, I'll just be an old model. She said, you need, you're good with science and math. You need to do something that you can always have a job. So I was good in science and math. So I became a medical technologist and then I specialized in the study of blood and I was working at. I worked at several places and I worked at, it's one place I worked at Emory University Hospital, but it was such, it was a, it was great. I enjoyed the actual hands-on, but it was like very rigid and because working in a lab is very structured. You do things a certain way and I'm kind, I need some spontaneity, a little bit of more change. So I eventually, I launched out and had an opportunity. Leave, and start doing cell support for Johnson Johnson Company. So I, cuz I had a lot of jobs before I became an entrepreneur and so I worked as, uh, with Johnson Johnson and actually had to move from, I grew up in Indiana, moved to Atlanta, then I moved to New Jersey for the Johnson and Johnson opportunity. And that's really where my speaking career began because I actually began to do sales support training there to help their sales team with products that they were. to the marketplace going in fielding issues, questions, clients had, et cetera. And then they actually said, I was pretty direct. They said, so we wanted to learn to help you to become more refined. So they sent me to Dell Carnegie courses to learn how to become, to learn how to, to, I kind of temper things. And so I was so, I was so impressed with the course. I said one day, I really wanna teach that program. Cause I, I'd never been in an environment where everything they focused on, no matter how bad it is, was. So I said, okay, so I, I took the class reluctantly. The first few weeks I was a little bit miffed that they had the nerve to send me to a class like that. So first couple weeks I was like, what is this? I don't need this. Then I realized it was really a blessing in disguise. God was blessing me, was an opportunity, and so I. I took a class and finished and I said, one day I wanna teach that class. And so I had some other jobs along the way cuz my, my background was very diverse, so I got into hr. I was an HR manager for Northwest Airline. Just show you how diverse my background was. Uh, and I was a professor of Georgia State. And so when I moved back to Atlanta, I had an opportunity to become a Dale Carnegie instructor. So I was one of the first black Dale Carnegie instructors they had. So I taught the program that I was in for like 13 years. Part-time people kept saying, you need to start your own business. You need to speak professionally. I said, God hadn't said that. God hasn't spoken. I said, so, nope, not doing that. So then finally the opportunity came where I went on an interview for a job when I was working full-time in my job. Cause I was doing weekend stuff with, moonlighting on the weekends and taking vacation days to do. And so I had this opportunity to interview with a major organization. They were looking for contract facilitators for like six months, and I said, okay, that sounds pretty good. So I went for the interview. So the man asked me in the interview, he says, well, how will you do this if you Get offered one of the facilitating spots? I said, well, I'll quit. I'll leave my job. That'll be a sign. I'm so saliva. I said, nah, I'm good. So he said, okay. So I really, either way, I said, Lord, if you want me to have this, then it'll work out. If not, I'm good. And so they called me and offered the spot. So I was one of, uh, several contract trainers starting doing six months of training for this organization. And so midway through it, I realized that if I didn't. begin to get clients I was gonna have to go back and get a nine to five. And so I was able to realize the importance of relationship building and that God had given me a unique gift because the one man said, you have such energy and you have, he said, your eyes sparkle and you train. I'm like, doesn't everybody, he said, no. I knew God had give me an ability to be able to connect with people. And so being able to do it now full-time and really being out here on my own with God on my side, cuz everything that I do is because God has graced me to do it. And again, you mature as you get in your walk, you. and so to glory God be the glory. This week actually mean. March 15th I'll be in business. 27
Jason:that's awesome. Yeah, I saw that on your, your LinkedIn profile. You've been doing it a long time.
Nancy:So, I mean, but it's been heal, it's been, it's been some mountaintop experiences, some valleys It is. It's not for the faint heart when you're an entrepreneur, it's not. So, I mean, I have a lot of jobs, but I launched out from healthcare all the way over here to aviation, to working at HR Aviation. I had my HR credentials to being certified in a. Variety of programs and being an entrepreneur for the last 27 years. So I'm very thankful. God has navigated it, continues to show himself. True in my life. Again, faith without works is dead. You gotta have the faith, but you also gotta have the works. They're com you need both of them.
Jason:you gotta be willing to step out and try some of the, I, I like how you talked about Nancy, that. you were, you were content with where he had you and you were waiting for it to be clear if you were gonna go onto a, you know, a different role and step out. I think that's, I think that's, uh, that's wise to do that, to wait for, you know, it's a, it's a mixture of faith and practicality, I think, and not doing anything foolish, you know,
Nancy:Just to your point, sometimes people will tell you, cuz people were saying, you are so good at this, you can just go out. I said, it's not just, it's easy for you to say you can go out. Yeah, you can go out and do whatever you wanna do, but if you don't have a real foundation built something that's really solid, you can go out there and you'll find yourself back working for someone else again pretty quickly. So I said I haven't had, God, I haven't heard God speak. When he's, when it happened, I said I was so at peace of if they hire me, great. If they don't, I'm still going. I'm gonna continue until he opens the door for me to step in. And that was 27 years ago. And even during this 27 year trek, there been times I've tried to go back to get a full-time job because it's been that tough, but it's been shut down. This is about the last time when it got shut down. It was like crystal clear, like this is not where you're supposed to be. So I don't, I don't even go there anymore.
Jason:That's good. That's awesome. I love that testimony. That's, I think that that's important for people who are earlier in their career that as Christians. to understand and rest in his sovereignty, that he has a plan for you. And there's gonna be, like you said, there's, there's ups and downs and there's times you feel like giving up and quitting. And I've been through those before. I've been in tears. Just, you know, anxiety, stress, what am I gonna do? And I will tell you, in my experience, Nancy, maybe you would say the same thing. Those were the times when I grew. To the Lord cuz I had to, it wasn't, you know, I, it was, it was falling apart out of my control. And I'm like, I've got, I'm, I give up. I give up.
Nancy:when Moses came to the end of himself, that's what God used him. When we come to the end of what we can do, cuz the problem is we are all control. We wanna be in control. It's really says trust Lord all th heart. Even that to that own understanding and always acknowledge him, he would direct your path. We sometimes will think that we we're doing that, but then when it comes down to total trust, we have a hard time sometimes totally trusting God. But to your point, yeah, I've been the point where you're in tears, you're things have happened where you just have to say, okay, you're kinda like, well, I can't go here because I need to make sure that I. Uh, gas to get here. I mean, there have been some lean times where you have to really make some hard decisions, but through it all, I said, God, I know you didn't bring me here to leave me here,
Jason:Yeah, that's
Nancy:so I know some I'm gonna out of this. So it's just, you gotta, you gotta stay and you gotta stand during the test.
Jason:Yeah.
Nancy:You can't quit.
Jason:Yep. No, that's great. I love it. So, hey Nancy. Tell us about your family. What's the situation there?
Nancy:Well, I was married, I'm divorced. It wasn't my choice, but you know, life. And so I've been divorced for 10 years and I at, at some point in time when a guy gets ready, he'll send somebody to come forth and, and, and he will be the, I said he will find his wife finds a good thing and he'll come and find me. But in the meantime, I'm enjoying my singleness, my ministry as I'm ordering minister and working actively in ministry. I'm over the children's ministry, so I don't have any biological children. I had three stepsons when I was. but I've raised nieces and nephews and I have about 60 children that are part of our children's ministry. So they're all my children and I've, I mentor a lot of young ladies in terms of helping them to, to step into what God has called me. So I am a, a mother by default in terms of a surrogate mom because I didn't have any biological children, but I've certainly been a mother to a lot of young ladies and sometimes even young men. But I've mentored, and I'm mentoring a lot of young ladies now, but being over the Sunday school, uh, the children's ministry of my church is such a blessing. I love my. I have the one to 12 year old and they're just so precious to me. So they're all of my children. So, you know, and I have sisters and my mom and dad are deceased. they, you know, to God be the glory, they're walking the streets of gold. So that was, those were some tumultuous times when that happened because my mom was my greatest cheerleader. She was my, um, best friend. She was there for me and she was always cheer me on it. Now she would correct me, but she would cheer me on. So, you know, but that makes some mistake. and he called her home. You're like, it's like it's her time to go. So I did everything I could while she was here, and that's what I would tell someone who's watching today. When you're getting an opportunity, if your parents are still living, do what you can do for them while they're living. So you have no regrets if they go before you go, you did everything you could do. I had total peace when she transitioned to be with the Lord. I had total peace. My dad's death was sudden, so, so, it was a little bit different, but, but he was a pastor, so it's the point of where I still just had to release it and just say, you know, God is, God is faithful. He knows what.
Jason:Yeah. That's our hope. Right? In Christ. And we know where they are. Yeah.
Nancy:yes, So, I have older siblings and lots of cousins and stuff, so a lot of relatives that live in Atlanta area and some still live in Indiana,
Jason:so where about in Indiana? Uh, Nancy?
Nancy:Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Central Indiana basketball state. You know, this is a basketball state, so I love basketball. So
Jason:you said your dad was a pastor. Tell us a little bit about your, uh, how you came to faith and talk to us how Christ got a hold of you.
Nancy:Well, you know, my mom and dad were divorced, uh, when I was very young. So my mom had us in church all the time. I mean, literally we were in church for. summer, in the summertime, we were in all these vacation Bible schools and she had us on these programs online when we were having to do homework and turn stuff in. So we grew up in church. I said when I got grown, I was, I was, I used to laugh and say when I was growing up, you know, when you're really, you know, going to church, you all that stuff. You join the church and you accept Jesus, your personal savior, but some of us, you don't really have the realization what that really means. but I said when I get grown, I will have enough gun been to church enough that I can maybe not go as much because I have some like, Some reserves, you know, you have foolishness. That's all this
Jason:Yeah. That's it. Yep.
Nancy:foolish. And so, uh, my mom was just, I mean, my mom and dad, you know, as I said, they were divorced. He was in Pastorship, but I did not go to his church. Uh, I was at another church with my mom and uh, family, and we just, we spent a lot of time in church. And you just knew that God was real, you know, he was real in your life. And then when you get baptized, you knew that you, you. Just being raised in that kind of family. My mama was a strong Christian woman, taught us total lots of values, total values in terms of doing things the right way. So even when I wanna slip off and do crazy stuff, I could just hear her saying, that's not what God wants you to do. You know, you have to like this little figure there. That's not how you were raised. So just that, the fact that. That was always a part of our, found my foundation. And as I got older or more mature, it just became more, it became stronger because you know, you're a baby Christian, you know the word, I grew up in the word, but it's very different. Knowing the word and really having the word inside of you is very different.
Jason:Yeah.
Nancy:you grow mature. Yeah. When you realize that Jesus is, he's real, no matter we know He's always real. But there's something about when you really come to know him personally, where you see him operating in your life, and you really know that if he doesn't show up, if he doesn't help you, you, you are on your own, you, you're going to, you'll be a sinking ship. That's the realization where you finally have to get to where you totally trust him and surrender to him. Say, Lord, you know your, your will be done. Not my will, because sometimes he gives us permissive will, which many times I've operated in, but it wasn't his perfect. My desire now is, Lord, I wanna do what you would have me to do. So wherever you don't want me to be, I said, shut it down. So when I came to Faith, just in terms of growing up in the Word and always being in church and always being a part of the word, and that's just how I grew up throughout my life. So no matter when I moved to Atlanta, even when I would go out to clubs and like to dance and stuff and party, my foundation was, I was still at church on Sunday, I was like, that was it, you know, no matter what. Cuz when you lived at home, no matter what you did, you were in church. so that, that, that, but now you've moved from just a religious experience to really being a spiritual person. That's where I've moved to, cuz you can go to church every Sunday, but sometimes it's more out of, well, I fulfilled my commitment, I went to church and now it's about being spiritually enlightened. And that's what God has brought me to where I don't just go to church. I wanna be spiritually in tuned with God is doing in my
Jason:I can totally appreciate that. Uh, background. I was, uh, from about middle school on wasn't my, my, uh, my dad and stepmom. We brought together a blended family and they were faithful in having us in church from that time on and. you know, he heard the word was in youth group, participated in all that. And then I, I rebelled, you know, as a late teenager and into my early twenties. But man, that, that the truth of God's word never left me. And when I was doing things and I know I shouldn't be, that conviction was still there. And, you know, ultimately he drew, he drew me back. I mean, he had to. Let me fall pretty hard. But, it's then you really start to mature and I mean, I'm, I'm 51 years old and I feel like in the last three years I've grown even more and it's still just, it's sanctification right? Until we're called home. I think we continue to grow grow and grow in our faith. So yeah, that's,
Nancy:We we're working practice. We are a working parties because there was a point where I went to and I tell people I didn't realize it till later. But I had a good job at one point, at a very early age in my career. God bless me, with a great job. I traveled. I mean, I was having, you know how you just have that ideal job making good money at an early age, and you're just full of pride,,I mean, you're so full of pride. You are just so, you just, so you just off outta control. And I didn't, you don't realize it because you know, you're just in that space. And so I lost the job. The job was, that was phased out and I just like, what ca what? What is this? All of a sudden I had this wonderful job that I didn't have it, and later on I realized that God had to bring me back to I humble. He humbled me to say, okay, I'm gonna get your attention now. Because I was so prideful, didn't realize that God said, okay, you are just, and now I love you enough, I'm gonna bring you back. So I tell people, you've heard the quote when you hit the rock bottom, you gotta remember that Jesus is the rock. He was a rock. Now it tell when back on it is the fact that it was, God was just saying, you know, you were so prideful. You needed, you need to have a wake up call that I'm in. You forgot. You forgot who gave you the job.
Jason:Yeah, that's right. Nope, that's good. Yeah, I've been through that experience. Hey, so, uh, turning, uh, subjects a little bit, Nancy, you've been developing and coaching and l and uh, working with leaders for a really long time, and I really want to get into some of your, your experiences, uh, around that. What is, to start, what is your core like leadership? If you had to boil it down to one, one thing or one kind of principle, what's the, what's the key thing for you when it comes to leadership?
Nancy:I say two, two words come to mind and I that that first, and I have to just go with those cuz when something happens, I think God downloads integrity and authenticity. Leaders have to walk in integrity. That means that what you say you do, authenticity is being a first rate. You is one of my Nancy isms and not a second rate. Because people are trying to, sometimes the imposter syndrome is real for a lot of people. So if you have the integrity, the things that come with that are trust, honesty, camaraderie, all those things come off of that. But if you don't have integrity with people, I tell people a quote, is integrity's a lot easier to maintain than regain. So leaders who are effective in this new dispensation where we're in post covid, have got to walk in integrity. and it's important for you to be authentically true to who you are. So you show up in a consistent fashion so you're not, one day you come in, you're this way. Even though we're doing the hybrid model, we're doing totally remote, we're doing in-person. You got all these models going on, but Covid exposed a whole lot and Covid changed the way we work forever. And so I think for me, a true leader, those two things are core. You gotta have the integrity and the authenticity. Everything else builds off of that. Cuz if there's no trust there, there's no integrity, I can trust you, do what you say you're gonna do, then we have nothing. And many organizations are suffering from uh, lack of
Jason:Yeah. Oh, it's huge. I, you know, when you think about. best people you've ever had on, uh, to work for, they're your best managers. I think when people think about who is the best manager I ever worked for it, I guarantee it was a trusting relationship. And, and it has to, you're right, it has to tie back. There has to be integrity there. You have to be able to know that they're going to say what they do and do what they say as much as humanly possible. But that other piece really, I think about J just being genuine and not, as you said, not trying to be somebody else. And that, and I think even with our flaws and even with our whatever, I mean, we all have areas that we're. I don't say weaknesses, but we all have areas that, you know, make us imperfect, obviously. And I think that, you know, I've learned with my teams to try to be very genuine and open and transparent with them and good, bad, and indifferent, right? And say, Hey, I know that sometimes, you know, for me, sometimes, you know, I'll say something I shouldn't, but hey, I want you to be able to come and give me feedback on that. I'm gonna just be really genuine as a leader and, and show them. I know I make mistakes and I want you to, to know, you can come to me and say, you said something that offended me, or you didn't do something and I thought you were going to, or anything like that, and have that, just, just very much openness and transparency. I think that's, that's super huge.
Nancy:You made a, a wonderful point there when you said, when you missed the mark as a leader, because leaders mess up. We dropped the balls. I said, we're all a work in progress. We all. And so I tell people when a leader is willing to say, you know what, Hey, I dropped the ball. It's not your fault. It's not your fault. I dropped the ball. That humility that you show opens up the door and shows the humanistic side of you that opens up and endears your group to you. Cuz they used to realize, okay, if you can admit that you made a mistake as a leader, that encourages them to do the same. So we have to get back to those words are coming out. Integrity, empathy. I've certified emotional intelligence. Empathy is a big word now in the world of leadership. You've gotta know how to apply empathy, sincere and. Empathy, but leaders also have to have the ability to be operate in humility. Kinda like what you demonstrated in terms of, Hey, I missed it. I dropped the ball, not try to make it chooses. I just dropped the ball.
Jason:yep. It happens. And then they know that, oh, okay. I'm human too. I guess I, I, it's okay if I do it, and then we, again, it's a very transparent, open, genuine relationship and things can go really, really fast and it just operate far more efficiently and effectively when, when those, those kind of relationships are in place. question for you, Nancy. What are your spiritual disciplines? How, what do you do day to day, week to week to to continue to grow in sanctification and grow close to the Lord?
Nancy:well, um, in church regularly. I mean, not just in church, but seeking to grow from the, the word that's preached into really making a part of my. So we have covenants that we, we apply in terms of how we relate to people. Things that we are as a member of our church that we're going to govern ourselves with. So trying to follow those tenets, not just in trying to follow a rule, but making it a part of my life. I have scriptures. I have a scripture wall in my bathroom that has scriptures that I say daily that are things about affirming what God is saying about. And we have this year, these covenants to govern our year. So these are things we say every day, but it's also becoming a part of who we are. It's imprinted, it's getting imprinted on our heart. So we have family altar, we have family altar for the most part, Monday through Friday from six to seven o'clock in the morning. So we pray, do praise and worship, and we study some word and then we go on with our day. So just spending time in terms of reading the. seeking the God's divine presence and just when things happen, okay, trying to remember, okay, what would God do in this situation? What would Jesus do? Not what I want to do, but what would Jesus want me to do? And, and always recognize, and sometimes because the enemy is always coming at us and sometimes our flesh does rule and we, we have to repent and make it and get it right. I mean, that's just human. Sometimes we know I shouldn't said that, so you have to repent and God is so forgiving and merciful, he forgives us, but trying to make sure that that happens less and not letting the flesh. And just the discipline of just spending time with people who are like-minded. People who are like-minded. I spend a lot of time with people that don't like-minded. We do a monthly prayer call for business owners because I have a conference that happens every year that's happening, uh, March 16th. But we do a once a month prayer call just inviting people, men and women to join us in prayer, praying about businesses and stuff. So that's something we do every month. Usually the first Tuesday, each month we call it transforming women entrepreneurs. T w e, monthly prayer call. We just pray for businesses, pray for whatever else people may want us to pray for. So it's just a discipline that I'm very active in, um, couple organizations working with youth, and one of'em is a Christian girls school. I am the board chair. We work with urban young girls, teaching'em about ex empowering them, educating them and exposing them to greatness. But also everything's built on the foundation of God first, knowing that God loves you, wants the very best for you. So in instill that in these young ladies at an early age. So I'm the board chair for that. So it's called Ladies of Favor. That's the group that we work with and it's just amazing. So I'm very thankful for being a part of that, being able to. Poor again, into young ladies helping to understand the power of having. When you get that foundation on early on about understanding the power of God in your life, it's not gonna say you're not gonna, you're gonna have storms, you're gonna have tests, but the foundation is sure. So when the storms come, you won't cave in and quit because your house is built on solid ground, solid rock.
Jason:the girls school, is that a, is that a, a k through 12 school, uh, Christian school, or what is.
Nancy:It's Ladies of Favor. Dream Academy is K is uh, K four. Kimmy, what is it? Pre-K to fifth grade right now.
Jason:That's awesome.
Nancy:And so, it is amazing. The director is doing an incredible job. We're going into, she's going. her fifth year, fifth or sixth year doing the program. But you know, it's just the fact that they're, they still get the curriculum you get in public schools and everything else, but everything is built on. They have scripture, they have bible time. It's founded on the word of God. The stuff that they do, they have people come in and talk about that and she prays with them. All the things to help them realize that God is real at an early age for
Jason:Yeah, that's, that's awesome. I was actually, um, a board for a, it's a local K through 12 Christian school that we're very involved in. My wife is a art teacher there. My daughter graduated there. My granddaughter goes there, my son goes there. So I'm really passionate about Christian education, so, That's, uh, fantastic that you're involved in that. And then you also talked about, you said something about family alter in the morning, six to seven. Do you meet, like, is it a face-to-face or like, what is that?
Nancy:It's like I have two young ladies who live with me. So we get up in the morning and we have, uh, we meet in the fam. We eat, meet in the dining room, and we have, familys one of our covenants at our church to have family also. Now there are sometimes where things happen where we don't meet, but we meet most of the time. But it's Monday through Friday, um, six to seven praise, and we being with prayer, praise and worship. And then we also, then we have a word sharing of the word, however, God, however, the Holy Spirit.
Jason:Yeah, that's
Nancy:We like. That's the part we begin with praise and worship. We, we begin with prayer, praise and worship, and then we spend time in the work. So this's something we do, just to reiterate and, and to basically start your day off seeking God
Jason:Yeah. Oh, no, no. That's important. I, I do, I, I mean, that's my morning time is with the Lord, and that's, uh, I do that on my own. Of course, I get up about 4, 4 30 and there's nobody in my house that's getting outta bed that early, but that's all right. That's my time with the Lord. But I, I, I really, I think that's great that your church as a church said this is something that we want to do in our homes, this year. And challenge, challenge parents to do that with their children. I think that's, uh, that's huge. That's good.
Nancy:That's been something that we do. It is not just this year. That's just something that's ongoing. That's one of our kinds of our churches that you need to have family altered so that your people, your children see you serving God, worshiping God when, even when you're going through difficult pie, seeing God work the miracles out because sometimes you want people to see what you have to walk through so they can realize the power of. because if, you know, if you paint the sanitized version of how everything works out, everything doesn't always work out. You, you have to apply your faith to say, okay, Lord, I believe that doesn't matter what I see. Your word is true. And when you're, sometimes when people around you see that, they're like, they're in curse society. Do you really believe us? Yes. I really believe this. And our pastor, we see him walk by faith. We see him walking faith out literally in front of us. So again, we can't talk faith. People can tell you about faith, but faith has been faith until it's tested for all.
Jason:Yep. that's it. No, that's good. Very, uh, that's challenging. That's a, that's a challenge for people to, to do that. And in, in the homes, and I know as I raised, uh, we raised three kids. It was, we tried and we weren't always consistent at it. And, uh, but when we did it, it was, it was, uh, Really impactful. So, so again, switching topics for you. What were, when you think back as a young leader, what were some of the things that you struggled with? Maybe a couple specifics that you really struggled with, and then how, you know, how did you mature through those? Is it something you still struggle with? How do you manage that? And just think back to that time.
Nancy:Well, growing up as a very direct child, in Indiana, grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I was a direct child. I, I was the child who would always ask questions. Okay, well how come you as an adult are doing that? And I can't do that if you say it's wrong. And in that year I grew up, it's like you didn't, you just, you get pop slap, whatever you do, as I say, now that you do, as I say, not as I do, it wasn't a lot of discussion. So, you know, I did get a fair amount of little whippings because I was always the child who's asking those questions. But I was just, that was just how I was wired and I learned it. I think I was. That was a, that was a turn for 12 or 13, somewhere around there. And we were eating dinner and I, my mom was asking me, so. and we were eating dinner and I told her something, but I didn't want to eat what we had and this wasn't what I liked And, and back in those days you didn't, it wasn't like Burger King, you can't have it your way. And so I said, I don't have to eat this next thing. Notice I felt her hand on my face. She slapped me. I mean, it was like It was like, one of those slaps that you like, okay, I don't wanna ever happen that happen again. So I said, you know what? I think I just need to keep my mouth closed. So I learned that because my mother did not play. She was a strong disciplinary, strong black woman disciplinarian. She loved us, taught us values and everything and wanted us to love God first, and realize that with God on us, there's nothing we can't do. That was something she kinda drilled in us, always wanting us to have more than what she had in life. And so as I matured and. started out in the business world. The first, there's some things I did early on is I worked with millennials and young people now and other people as well, is that I tell people when I first started working, I did not have a filter. Whatever I thought, I see it. every, and sometimes it'd be, it would, it would be correct, but if this wasn't what I said, it was how I said it. Uh, and sometimes I tell them, you know, you can want to say something, but sometimes when you're the young person on the team, you might wanna have somebody who's vetted say it for you, or sometimes you don't even need to say it at all. And so early on in my career, I didn't have the, I didn't have mentors or coaches to say, don't say that. Don't do that. So whatever came up when sometimes when I would be challenged or someone would be what I felt was being disrespectful to me, I'm the employee, but you the manager, but I thought you were being disrespectful to me. You really call me on it. People don't take two county do that when you're the employee. And so I, early in my career, I brought bridges. Not proud of that, but it happened because I was saying stuff that didn't need to be said. So I've had to learn how to temper that through the years because I'm just a very, if you ask me a question, I'm gonna tell you what you asked me, but sometimes people are asking questions, they really don't wanna know the answers to that. They don't want that. They're the ones that honesty. And so I had to learn how to. Realized I needed to temper what I said. And Del Carnegie taught me a lot when I was going through the class, but when I taught it, it taught me a whole lot more. But first God was, you know, if you wanna really model after Christ, he said 70 times seven, you forgive. He was, he's a model for all things we should be to be do and how we should wanna love the way he loves act, the way he act, do what he do. We wanna be Christlike. So I, I'm still working. I've gotten much better. Uh, there are times that I see something I want to say something about, and the Lord will say, not. You can't say it today cause it won't. It'll be the right words, he said, but it won't come out right. The tone, the fragrance will not be right. He says, so not today. Say when I tell you to say it. And that's what I do. So I have learned the process and I, when I work with specifically a lot of young people, I tell them, learn from me. Everything you think you don't say in the moment, you just don't because you burn bridges that you cannot go back over again and maybe you don't wanna go back over them. I said, but sometimes it's not necessary because once you put it out there, you can't take it back. You can apologize. And when people still remember that I. I learned that the hard way. So I said, learn from me sometimes. Just temper what you say and have a filter. Create some filters about what you're going to say and what you don't say because I coached some of them. I mentored some of them. I said, I'm telling you some things that will help you navigate your career to a greater success. So I've got much better at that.
Jason:Yeah, no, I, when you were talking about that, I went through Dale Carnegie early in my career, and it was a huge help for me. I, that, that wasn't a particular issue I struggled with actually. I struggled with not being direct enough and, uh, but Dale Carnegie. Is such a great program and I'm sure it's still available and it's, so, I just, yeah, I really recommend it for, for people that are trying to grow in their, in their influence with others and just grow as leaders. So that's, uh, yeah, and for sure.
Nancy:Is he being a black woman? Sometimes when you speak less passion, I mean, I do a lot of diversity work and all that stuff in. I do a lot of diversity, inclusion, emotional intelligence, leadership work, but sometimes when you speak with passion, many times it is. Construed as anger as the angry black woman. I said, no. If I'm angry, you know it. I'm speaking with passion. I'll be confused. It's a cultural thing sometimes, just understanding the different cultures, how we are wired in, in terms of helping us to know that we speak with our hands. We're very animated. We're very, we're very gregarious. That's just how we are wired. Many of us are not all of us. I said, but we're not angry because he see those passion there. So having to educate people, which I have no problem, I call'em teaching moments when people need to get a teaching moment. Sometimes I know when you know better, you do better. So sometimes I give people teaching moments to encourage'em and enlighten'em about why would they just sit was crazy,
Jason:I think about, it's funny, as you were talking, I, I, I have worked with a couple of young, uh, black ladies who were, I think probably like you when you were younger, and I really enjoyed working with them. And once we built a good relationship, with trust with each other. I knew, again, they would come and tell me. I, I'm, I work in manufacturing and I'm thinking of one particular that worked in one of my plants, and I always knew I could get a straight answer from her, but she cared. I mean, she really did care and some people, she rubbed the wrong way, but she was, Strong, confident young woman and, uh, yeah, I, I had a tremendous amount of respect for her and I think she did for me as well. In the end, we, we really worked well together, so, yeah, she, she probably was a young Nancy Lewis. I'll bet. I'm thinking
Nancy:Yeah. And sometimes, you know, I tell people it's not things that I was proud of, but, but I've always just been direct, but I've learned God is working on me and still working with me. To help me to continue to refine that. So I'm a work in progress. I've made some significant strides, but sometimes I have to catch myself because sometimes I'll just, some say like, really, you asked me this question? It's kind. It's like, but again, I've had to sometimes step back up, step back and catch myself so that I don't, I always wanna make sure that I'm representing Christ, and sometimes as opposed to saying something, I'll just say, not, no comment at.
Jason:That's good. Yeah, that's wisdom right there. I'm gonna, yeah, no comment right now. Hey Nancy, again. You've worked, I mean, you get a chance to work with a lot of leaders in a lot of different areas, big companies, small companies. You've been doing it for a long time. when you look at leadership, uh, gaps, what do you see as like a theme, a leadership gap in general right now? Uh, that's probably has the biggest negative impact, uh, on people's teams.
Nancy:I think number one is accountability. The lack of account. there's the lack of accountability. I see in a lot of organizations where there are deadlines, there are assignments given. There are projects that are due on a certain date, and then when you come back to the meeting, two people got it done, two didn't. So you send it for the next week. The message is that you're telling'em. You're really saying that it really wasn't an important, so the next time the people who spent the hours getting it done, they know the next time you give a deadline, they're gonna look at it like, doesn't really matter. So I said accountability. A lack of accountability is a real issue. In the workplace today in terms of people not holding people accountable and then documenting about the performance of what wasn't done, because it's never personal. It's about the performance, never the performer. And so what happens is many leaders don't document that John or Susie are not good employees. They did not fulfill their commitment to do X, Y, Z. So therefore, because they didn't do it, it's not about me not liking you. It says that you were given an assignment that wasn't. And making sure that you stay on course with the performance. And so people sometimes struggle with the accountability, the lack of accountability. And then sometimes, because in that accountability, sometimes you get into friction or conflict. People sometimes want to avoid conflict. So they pat, they just sometimes push people along. They don't really give people what they deserve cause they don't wanna deal with the conflict. So we just give you a good performance review or acceptable one will keep it moving. So I think leaders have to become, hold people account. It starts at the top, holding people accountable and leading by example. Cuz you may have the title of a leader or title of a manager, vp, district manager, whatever it is. But people follow you because of your title. You want people to follow you because of who you are,
Jason:and that starts to breed a, uh, culture of complacency when that happens. I think I found that before, and it is just all of a sudden you lower the bar because. you're saying that it doesn't, these things don't matter and you're not gonna be held accountable. The other thing that does long term, and I know you've seen this, you've probably had to help clean up messes like this, is the high performers eventually either lower their standards or they leave, and then, all right, the whole, just the whole productivity of the entire team is negatively impacted. And so you get more poor performers because they're not gonna be held accountable and your good performers start to disappear. And that's, uh, really painful for a.
Nancy:And see, to your point, Jason, what happens in the workplace is that so many times think about it and you can think about this from your own perspective as a, as a leader. Sometimes what happens is that people who do a good job in your, on your. Generally get more work. So when you have a special project or an assignment that you wanna get done, you generally give it to your stars. So what we wind up doing is we are penalizing the performer and rewarding the non-performer. And what gets rewarded gets rewarded. So we have to really change that model in terms of people who do a good job generally get rewarded with more work. more things to do, and in this area we're in now where everyone's fighting for talent, there is a major war on talent. People who are skilled and do a good job can find a place to go. The people you might want to leave are those marginalized people who do just enough to get by, who don't get projects done. Those are the ones you want to leave, that they're not going anywhere. The other people can find a job. People want them. So we've gotta begin to. Coach, people who are marginalized, who do just enough to move them, move them up to say, okay, this is not acceptable. And make sure that we're dealing with them on performance reviews and documenting that. So we have a paper trail. There's my HR background in place to say this is, we can't, this can't continue.
Jason:Yep. No, that's good. Absolutely true. Hey, different topic. How do you, in your work, uh, Development and consulting, like how do you honor Christ in, in your work? What are some practical ways that you try, you've hit on some of those already, but when you think about honoring him in your work, how do you, how do you do that?
Nancy:Well, for the most part, like a lot of stuff that I do, if people follow me on social media, my posts. Very much if you follow me, you know I love Jesus so it, it comes through my posts and like one of my friends says, you're unapologetic. She says, you're unapologetic about your faith. I said, well, isn't everybody? She said, no, no, no, you're unapologetic I said, okay, so I have a t-shirt, a blank T-shirt that I sell. This is unapologetically Jesus. And so I don't push my religion on people, but a lot of people will ask me what I do, who I am, and I tell them that, you know, I'm ordained minister things I do and, but I tell people, even in my coaching, when I go training, when I do things, people know that's my, most people know my background, they know I'm in ministry. And so I actually had a client, I guess it's been probably about seven or eight years ago, I was gonna speak for them, major organization in Atlanta. And so they knew I was in ministry, so they. See now we know you get on the platform, you'll be doing your seminar. You'll talk about God and Jesus and stuff you just said. You put it out there, we're paying you. You can't say Jesus of God in your presentation cause we're paying you. So I didn't, so I used parables in my message. So it is of, they came and said, well, you still, I said, you told me I couldn't use God. I couldn't use Jesus. I said, I didn't say any of those words. I said, but the greatest leader was. Since 11 disciples changed the. I said, so his, the foundation of who I am is founded in that. I said, you didn't say I couldn't use parables. So I just use parables. But managers, if you are a good leader, a good manager, it should show and how you relate to people that you'll know. The tree by the fruited bears. So I use a lot of anecdotal stuff from the word out. The bonus of the heart, the mouth speaks. So people who don't know the word, but sometimes say, oh, I like your anecdotal stuff. That's just so good. Others, people say, weave that word in. So I weave the word in when I'm talking, when I'm training and stuff. People who know the word nothing is the. I said, definitely, I find the power of the tongue, so sometimes I, you can't, I cannot stop it when it happens, when something, uh, is said that elicits a response that's spiritual. I just put it out there. And so again, it's coming through in the parables and the different things that I know. This is just a part of who I am. And so people who know the word disagree that you, you wrote that word in there. And so I have some coaching class that I actually coach who sometimes will. well, sometimes I will sense stuff going on with them and I'll say, you look good. One lady came in when before Covid, and she, we were having an in-person meeting and she said she came in, but she, I could just see the heaviness on. It was just like, she was just heavy and I said, you look good. You're dressed up. I said, you know, I said, but you are in pain. I said, you look good on outside. I said, but you're a wreck on the inside. I said, and I'd like to pray with you before we leave. how do you know that? I said, because there's nothing hidden in the spirit. And so before we. I actually prayed with her. I said, first of all, I said, may I pray with you? She said, absolutely. So I pray with her and that was the end of that. I mean, I prayed with, I prayed with a lot of my clients, but I always ask them, they say, may I pray with you? And most, I've never had anybody tell me, not that I couldn't. I actually had a lady who was a Muslim and she was getting ready to make a bad decision, a very bad decision, but she brought it up. and I said, no, no, no, you don't need to do that. I said, may I pray with you, So she said yes. So I prayed with her. And so again, if God tells me to do it, I know he's made a way for me to do it. If he's saying, if I'm asking these questions or putting this out there, I know that I'm covered in the blood of Jesus, that he's gonna protect me from whatever happens, so I know I'm okay. So it's wo to everything that I do. Um, in terms of like, I'm called in one, some areas that come here, marketplace evangelist. I evangelize as Jesus in the marketplace sometimes without happen to say, because sometimes you gotta reach people. Everyone's not. If you start pulling out your Bible says thus, says the Lord, the lords, you know, people will run the other way. We should be our, we should be the Bible that people read
Jason:Yeah,
Nancy:walk to the exemplify what Christ walk was. He was about his father's business. We need to be about our father's business, so we need to treat people the way he treat. with love. With compassion. So we have to be modeling that. Do we always get it right now? Cause we were born in sin, but when we miss it, we have to go back and repent it. Ask people to forgive us and do things of that nature, which I had to do. but it's important for us to model Christ like behavior and not apologize for my faith. So when something comes up, when I'm making a presentation in front of a group of clients, I don't apologize for saying Jesus has God to come up. I know it's to come up for a reason. I just keep it moving. That's what I do. So it come, it's woven through what I do, and it's just like one person. It's just a grace. I always pray before I start that's got to cover whatever I'm. In the blood of Jesus is protect me, that whatever now I need to say will be said. So before I do any presentation, I'm always praying ing God blessings on it, that it's not me, but it's him using me as the vessel.
Jason:That's awesome. Well, you know, here God is a source of all truth. His word is all truth, and every leadership principle that works is. His principle. Right. And I mean, as I've learned and studied leadership for 30 years, I mean, it, it's it's because it's his truth. Anything that I've ever read and learned, and, you know, Dale Carnegie tools that I've learned, right? You read John Maxwell and these principles are all, they're all biblical principles, right? And so you know, we're just putting them, we're applying them in a, In leadership, in work, and it's all his truth. So I love that. That's great. I mean, that's just, it's who you are. It's your child of God. And when you're doing your work, you're showing that you're a follower of Christ and you're one of his children. Hey, so another, again, another topic for you. Who do you follow as far as, authors? Who do you like to read? Who do you recommend? What about podcasts and things like that? I like to, I like to share those with the audience. And then, and then I'll link'em in the show notes too. tell us about books, authors, podcasts. Who, who do you like to, to keep track of?
Nancy:I, I just, I mean, I don't, I'm used to very honest, I don't do a lot of podcasts. I don't, I just periodically will do a podcast because my life is so full between. doing things for the business and creating new opportunities. And sometimes the things I do, I don't do well with sometimes replaying stuff back. I just don't. You know, in terms of reading his word, I mean, sometimes I go through that and I'll read the gospels, I'll read. He had me in what, at one point I was in, I think it was second, um, first chronics, I think with Jehosaphat when Jehosaphat had to, was basically was, was beleaguered. It was just scared about what was getting ready to happen. He went and prayed, said, aren't you the God who created all this? So he had me there at one point for like, probably like, almost like a month just looking at that because how Jehosaphat had to, king Joseph had to just make some adaptation. So again, I don't spend a lot of time. uh, pockets that just don't, I mean, there's tons of mouth there that are, but I just don't have any favorites that I can recommend for people. It's really what works best for you. That is, right now my skill in it is not something I do. I read a lot of books. It's just variety books. I'm reading, I'm reading a book now on adaptive leadership because that's, I'm actually going through a training on it later on this month, but it's a, it's leadership with a twist in terms of basically creating disruption in a positive way.
Jason:Okay. A adaptive leadership.
Nancy:Active Leadership. It's a great read. I mean, it gives you how you have to have the balcony. Then you have, you know, kinda like on the, at the grassroots level, but at some really powerful messages in it. I mean, I'm really, it's a really good book, but it's adaptive leadership. When I'm going through the training later this month, training trainer on adaptive leadership, because leaders have to learn how to move from the status quo. Just sometimes you willing to make the change of doing something, even if there's a fair that happens. What do you learn from that? Because Nelson Mandela says, you never lose, you the winner. So failure is never final. As long as you learn something from it. It's a matter of perspective. And then I read books like the, I recommend, the Emotion Intelligence, QuickBook. Uh, I think Bradberry is one of the authors on that. B R A D B E R R Y. It's a QuickBook that helps people. It's been around for a long time, but I tell them it's a great read on people who wanna get a basic understanding of emotional intelligence because eq, emotional intelligence is gonna be the secret sauce. Those who learn, leaders who learn how to master e. We'll be the ones who will soar. Those who learn to really master empathy, which is a part of that social relationship in eq. Those people are going to soar because that is the secret sauce. So I told you, as much as you can get around emotional intelligence, spend some time there really developing their skillset. So as it comes through genuine, that will help you bringing, I recently got a book that someone recommended. It's like, I'm not yelling, it's a Black Woman's Guide to Navigating the Workplace by Elizabeth Liba. And so I've recommended this to a lot of my clients as well as, Uh, this is one on digital body language. I, I have as well, how to build trust and connection no matter the distance. Erica Duwan, I may not be pronouncing her name correctly, but it's digital body language. So these are some books that I have that are in my list of books to read that. Uh, but I read some on leadership, like the lens of leadership. Uh, c and Covey has a book that's been around for a long time, but it's probably one of the most powerful ones I've read. The speed of Trust, it's an old, it's been out for a while, but the speed of trust, it breaks down trust in so many c. That it's really relevant to, no matter what time of season you're in, it would be beneficial for you. It's actually, I think Steven Arch. Arch Cubby did that, but it's called The Speed of Trust.
Jason:Yeah, no, that when you were talking about your core leadership principles earlier, Nancy about that integrity piece I thought about that book. I read it years ago, the speed of trust. It was excellent. So I would absolutely say that I also just recorded, and it's not released yet. Maybe by the time your podcast releases it will be, but I will be releasing, or maybe I already have. A podcast solely focused on emotional intelligence. One of my professors, uh, in my MBA class, I, I interviewed him. So really good topic. You're right, super important. We talk about why it matters and why, especially as Christian leaders, we should care about it because we should care about people. And that's really what it is, is that empathy piece. So, yeah, I'll look for that if you wanna learn, learn more about that. But I'll, uh, I'll link, I will link in the show. Some of those books, so I appreciate, I appreciate that for sure. Hey, what, uh, and you've probably had this happen to you before. You have a new leader, someone who's new in their role, maybe a young lady who just first time promoted to, as a manager, what advice would you give to somebody in that type of a position to to get started?
Nancy:Well, I, I've had to have those conversations with quite a few, millennials who are leading boomers over the last few years, who said, Ms. Lewis, sometimes they don't want to, they don't wanna gimme respect. They're just like, they tell me their children are older than me. I said, you've been hired to do the job, I said, you have to remember your competencies, that you were hired to do the job and you were qualified to do the job. I said, here's a few things you wanna keep in mind if you're leading, boom. And they're part of your team. I said something you wanna make sure that you do, you err to the side of formality. So you call them, hi, Ms. Smith. Hi Miss Nancy, whatever. It's, I said, and they will tell you, it doesn't require us to be that formal. Manners are very much important for boomers. If you come into a room or you come into a zoom room, teams, whatever, and you don't speak to anybody, many times, you cannot recover with a boom. Thirdly, I said, you need to understand they have experience. You cannot Google Yahoo or being experienced. You gotta walk it out. They know about where the dead bodies are. They know things you need to know. So you tap into their experience and say, Hey, you're a valued part of this team. I want to, I want to tap into you to let us work together that, Hey, I'm here as a manager, but I value what you bring to the workplace. So how do we make sure we work together? You don't come in as doing it all arrogant. I said, cuz you will alienate them and they have information that you. So I just tell them, I say, but realize you're, you've earned the right to be there. So don't apologize for it. Realize sometimes it may take time, but help them. It's about they put you in that role. Sometimes you will have to let them know I'm here because they hired me to do it because I'm able to do this job. Now, I may be the same daughter as age as your daughter, but while we are here, I am your manager. and I'm, I'm gonna respect you. I'm gonna treat you with dignity and respect. I'm gonna honor you, but you have to do the same thing for me. You have to put it out there. So I give them some, some tools in terms of things they can say, but I, in terms of just some the things about respecting them, going to the side of more formality. Just doing things like that, speaking to them. I said, those are things when you send an email, you might say, good morning, uh, blah, blah, blah. Just don't say, I said, these are little things that mean a lot to them because managers are very important to them. I said, it's not that you've gotta go and say, how's your weekend? How's everything going? But managers are important to boomers now. We got generation X who's in the middle, who's being forgotten again. So they're feeling lost because people are forgetting them as when they came into the workplace. I mean, I wrote a book about millennials and. So I do a lot of work in the space of helping organizations and agencies navigate the generational.
Jason:I think about my very first time as a supervisor and I was managing. a couple of gentlemen, one of which, well, both were old enough to be my dad, but one I literally went to high school with his children. So I mean, he was he was. And what made it harder? I'll tell you Nancy, what made it harder? I had come up through an apprenticeship program. I worked in, you know, the manufacturing field. And I was an apprentice under these gentlemen. And then I moved away to another site and finished my apprenticeship, and the next time they saw me, I was their boss. And so they still called me. They still called me boy and pop, and I let'em, I was like, that's all right. It was good though. They were, they weren't too hard on me, but that's tough. Yeah. That's that's good.
Nancy:that you have to choose your balances. Sometimes they wanna, you know, hey, but the part is they have to respect you because you were put in the position because the, the best organization said you're qualified to.
Jason:That's right. Yep. Yep. And they did. And I, you know, I had, yeah, just to your point, I, I really made a huge effort to trust them, to show them respect, cuz I, they still knew way more than me, as you said. And once they saw that I wasn't, I wasn't gonna come in there and try to, You know, show'em up. I was just, I was in, I was responsible for the department and, they, they helped me a ton and it, yeah, they could have made it a lot harder on me.
Nancy:don't come in and make changes immediately. Get to survey the land, spit. Take the, if you can, the first 9,220 days, get to know who the players are. Meet people one on one. Get to know people at a personal level, at the appropriate personal level to let them know that you are all in this team together. Don't come and making something change.
Jason:That's, that's so important. Yeah, that's, I'm glad you said that. I had someone tell me a long time ago that when you come to a new. Yeah, three things first, listen, learn, then lead. Don't come in and yeah, try to, yeah. Change things up. That's very, very wise advice. Yeah. So two, I have two more questions before we wrap up. One is what. Do you hope to leave as a legacy once the, you know, the Lord, calls you away from full-time work? I know you're the type of person I know you're never gonna retire. I can tell you you're not gonna retire, but there's probably a time maybe when you're not, you're done with a full-time consulting work and you'll focus more on ministry type of work. But what do you hope to leave as a legacy with those that you've worked with?
Nancy:Is that when you are true to who you are and you're walking in your God-given talent, God will make room for your. And you open up the doors and you'll be able to touch lives and sometimes you don't even know how far the lives go in terms of that. You've touched, I worked, I had a program for young girls years ago, probably about 10 years ago. It was called Dev Divine Young Ladies, changing Hearts to Change Lives. And I was going into a troubled school. They had major trouble. I mean, the first time I went into the school, they told me they had gang members who had shot people. I was. we're talking about. So it was So I was in there, I was teaching them and just kinda encouraging'em cause they came from single families, et cetera. Just sometimes just not a lot of, not a lot of being taught the spiritual aspect in terms of all that. So at the end of all that, I did it for about two or three years and I said, I said, Lord, am I making an impact? Am like, you know, sometimes you know you're doing something you. I don't know is am I reaching some of them? I saw some changes to some of them, but I said, but I'm not really making an impact. Then I got an email probably, I don't know, maybe several years later from one of the young ladies in the program, and she said, Ms. Lewis, because of you, she said, I finished high school. I'm on my way to college, and I don't have a baby outta wedlock, and so I just wanna say thank you. That was like, oh, I was like, it's like that, you know? You know, we speak a lot. I speak to a lot of people. I talk to a lot of people. I mention to a lot of people, but sometimes you never know how far reaching that. But for someone to take the time to send that email, that meant the world to me in terms of someone said, because of what you said, how God used me. Cuz it's never me, it's always God working through me to give you that word. But God used me as the vessel to honor him, that she came back and said, thank you for touching my life in a special way. Those are the things that people will remember. Something I said, cuz my thing is help people realize there's a diamond inside of you. I just wanna help make that diamond shine.
Jason:I love it. That's great. No, there's been a few times in my career I've had similar. Where I, yeah, I didn't even realize I'd impacted somebody. And, you know, when I got ready to leave an organization typically is when it's happened and somebody comes and shares with me something like, uh, not, not as, not as personal as that, but just, you know, that I've impacted him in a way that was, is really helpful. So that's a, a huge blessing. And like you said, it's always God working through us. We're just a vessel for him to, to do that work. So before we wrap up, how can people get ahold of you? I mean, uh, what's the best way to reach out and get in touch?
Nancy:Well, the best way to reach me is people can always call me seven seven zero nine six four five five three. That's 7 7 0 9 6 4 5 5 3 3. They can follow me in on LinkedIn. Nancy J. Lewis. That's l e w i s. That's Nancy, j Lewis, l e w i s. On LinkedIn, I post regularly. I am very active in, very active on LinkedIn. I do a Monday morning inspirational nugget. every Monday morning there's inspirational nugget out there. I do an inspirational written nugget on Tuesday. I do Wisdom a Wednesday. Uh, so I'm out there very active and I post a lot of articles about emotional intelligence, leadership, et cetera. So I do a lot there and they can always email me or go to my website www.progressivetechniquesinc.com. And that's Progressive Insurance Company techniques is spelled T E C H N I Q U E. I nnc.com. It's Nancy Progressive, excuse me, www.progressivetechniquesinc.com. The email is nancy progressive techniques inc.com, so they can reach me in a multitude of
Jason:yeah, I'll link, I'll put links to, to all of that in the show notes. And, and you, you offer services for its consulting leadership development, right? I mean, do your elevator speech. I don't want to try to do that.
Nancy:I said our, our tagline, our promise is that, we help you develop better leaders, guaranteed. Our why is we bring joy to the workplace. So we help, we are a premier management development company that basically helps organizations with their people factor in terms of whether it's emotional intelligence, leadership, uh, diversity and inclusion. The change management, all those courses we bring, we come there and we do programs. Most of them are done virtually now, but we do a lot of stuff around that career development. As an HR professional, I do a lot of executive and business coaching, so I work with executives and their leadership teams one-on-one helping them, their leaders, the CEOs and their teams with one-on-one sessions for coaching. So I'm here anywhere in the world now. I do stuff. I've been working with people in Nigeria and Molly. Republic of Congo. So, I mean, I do truly international stuff, so doesn't matter where you are. If you need a coach, you want a coach that's gonna help you change your life. That is me. I wanna help you change your life. So I do the coaching, the HR consulting, and I, and I have a team, people who work with me when I need to bring them in to help me with whatever I need to. But I do a lot of the training. They can be done virtually or I still go out in person. I do stuff in person. Recently I was at NASA in Huntsville, and I did it in person training. So I do come in person, but if people want me to sit in front of a screen, I'm happy with. So I would love to work with people either if you have a desire to wanna excel and bring joy to the workplace and help develop better leaders. Guaranteed you need to call it, call it.
Jason:Awesome. Good. No, I, so yeah, check out our website. Definitely follow her on LinkedIn. I have been, and yeah, some good stuff there. And, uh, reach out for some help on, uh, Leadership development, team development, a lot of, lot of things that, uh, you can help with. So thank you so much for being on today. It has been an absolute joy to hear about what God has done through you and is doing through you, and, uh, just your energy is contagious. So that's, uh, that's been, that's been great. It's been awesome getting to know you as a sister in Christ, Nancy. Thank you for being on.
Nancy:Thank you, Jason for having me. I appreciate it. Thank you for the opportunity.
Jason:And thank you for once again, tuning in to meet another leader who is striving to honor Christ and their work. I hope this episode was an encouragement to you. Could you please take a minute and rate the podcast to help others find us as well? And Lord willing, we will see you again next month.
