Nate Miersma - Business Leader, Culture Builder, Combat Veteran

In this episode of the Biblical Leadership at Work podcast, host Jason Woodard interviews Nate Miersma, whose career spans both military and corporate leadership. Nate's journey includes 11 years in the U.S. Army, where he served as a company commander with combat deployments, and nearly 20 years at Stryker in strategic roles. Currently, Nate leads the orthopedics division at Conmed Corporation. A devoted Christian, he integrates his faith into his leadership style, emphasizing integrity, transparency, and team wellbeing. Nate discusses his educational path, career transitions, and the pivotal moments and struggles that shaped his leadership principles. He also shares how he honors Christ in his work and the importance of loving people as Christ does. Throughout the conversation, Nate provides valuable insights for aspiring leaders and highlights the role of faith in professional settings.

Transcript

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Jason 0:00

Welcome to the Biblical Leadership at Work podcast. I am your host, Jason Woodard. On this month's episode, we will meet Nate Miersma, a leader whose career spans both military and corporate leadership. Nate served in the U. S. Army for 11 years, including time as a company commander with combat deployments. After his military service, he transitioned into the corporate world, spending nearly 20 years at Stryker in leadership roles across strategic sales. marketing and operations. I had the privilege of working alongside Nate for several years at Stryker and I found him to be a strong, confident leader that I highly respect. Nate is a devoted Christian who integrates his faith into his leadership. He values integrity, transparency, and a deep commitment to his team's wellbeing, striving to be an advocate for their personal and professional growth. With a leadership style built on faith, high standards, and a passion for people, Nate is a fantastic example of what it means to lead with biblical principles in the workplace, and I'm excited for our conversation today. Nate, welcome to the show, brother.

Nate 1:05

Thank you, Jason. That's a nice intro. I'm excited to be here.

Jason 1:08

Good. Excited to have you. Hey, as we always do, let's start off and tell us, so, you know, the introduction hit a little bit of your background, but can you walk us through, kind of talk about from your education, university education, on through your career history, what God has done for you? Through you and how he's taking you to where you are right now

Nate 1:28

Yeah. Well, uh, God has taken me, uh, over, under, around and through, uh, in my career. So. Uh, I guess I'll start with a little story. I, I'm not a hundred percent certain why I want, wanted to be an engineer at first, but I started my education at Purdue and like many young college kids who were moved out of the house for the first time and raised in a conservative Christian home, those first couple of years were, Um, wilder than necessary. And, um, and I wasn't living in the life that was honoring to God. And candidly, I just, I wasn't enjoying my education and about two years in to, uh, to my time there. I just woke up one day and said, you know what? I'm not becoming the person that I know that I'm meant to be. I don't think I want to be an engineer. Um, I didn't pray about it, nor did I call my parents, but I called an army recruiter and, um, he came to my fraternity house and, uh, you know, a week later I wound up being sworn in. I enlisted in the army reserve actually. And so halfway through college, um, Oh, by the way, but before I get there, I, you know, then I called my parents and said, Hey, guess

Jason 2:32

let him know

Nate 2:33

Um, you know, I don't want to be an engineer anymore. I'm leaving Purdue and I joined the army and you could hear a pin drop on the, on the call for a little while. So, uh, thankfully they were, you know, they were supportive after they realized they didn't really have a choice. And so I went away to basic training and, um, and thankfully I had the presence of mind at the time. To join the reserves because I knew I wanted to finish college. So I went away to, uh, to basic training and military police school after that. And I moved back to Kalamazoo after that, my hometown. And I was fresh out of the army with, you know, bald head. And I thought I wanted to kick down doors and, you know, I wanted to be an FBI agent or something like that. So I transferred my credits to Western Michigan university and enrolled in their sociology and criminal justice program. And by the time I was a semester away from graduating from Western, um, I already had a job offer from Stryker because I had gotten a temporary job there, uh, earlier in the year. And, uh, so I don't know, maybe 30 days in, they said, Hey, we really like you. We'd love you to stay. And, uh, and so I, I sort of got this amazing job at this great company in my hometown. Um, really just by the grace of God and nothing else. And so, um, in April of 2023, I graduated from college. I got hired into Stryker full time. I got commissioned as an officer because during that time at Western, I'd also enrolled in their ROTC program after getting a phone call. Um, and I got married to my wife, Danielle. And so it was, uh, it was a big month. And, uh, from, from there, uh, it was crazy. So I wound up getting orders almost immediately because 9 11 had happened, uh, prior to that, to, uh, to Fort Leonard Woodbury. My wife and I moved down there for a short period of time. And then I got orders directly from there to head to my first deployment in Iraq. And so Danielle came back to Kalamazoo and. Bought our first house without me ever seeing it. And, you know, life started taking crazy turns. And so in between a couple of combat deployments, I came back to Stryker. Um, we, uh, we had our first baby and, uh, I enrolled in a master's program. I had the presence of mind again to realize that I was probably going to be traveling or deployed quite a bit. And so I enrolled in a, um, I enrolled in a program that allowed me to do it remotely. And, uh, I wound up getting my master's a couple of years later. And, uh, and then I was at Stryker for gosh, I think just about exactly 20 years after that. And so I guess from an education leadership perspective, it was. Purdue, then Western, then Colorado Technical University for my master's. Um, Stryker sent me to some great executive education courses that I really, I would say I probably learned more from than I did during my master's degree. And, uh, and I had some really great leadership opportunities along the way.

Jason 5:13

Yeah. Now you said when you first started you when you got married that was 2003

Nate 5:18

That was 2003.

Jason 5:19

Okay. Yeah. Yep What what made you decide army was And when you're in college, like what, why the army, why the military?

Nate 5:28

Uh, I had no family in the military, uh, outside of one uncle who served in the Navy during Vietnam. I just kind of grew up as an outdoorsy kid that liked to hunt and fish and camp. And I just always wanted to join the army when I was growing up. And, uh, I don't know, it seemed like a good idea at the time. I knew I didn't want to be on a boat.

Jason 5:46

Yeah.

Nate 5:47

um, I think the only thing that I knew about the military, really. Was that, um, the army and the Marine Corps trained generalists in terms of leaders, um, and the air force and the Navy trained specialists. And so you come out of the army, you'll be a generalist. You come out of one of those other service branches and you'll be a specialist in something. And I just thought that's the direction that I wanted to go.

Jason 6:10

Yeah. General leadership. Now where you were, you in, uh, was your training in military police when you were in, when you first went in?

Nate 6:18

It was, yeah, so it's, I was enlisted, um, as a military police officer and I reported to a reserve unit in, uh, actually in Kalamazoo, Michigan. First in Chicago and then in Kalamazoo. And I, I deployed with that unit outta Kalamazoo, uh, for my first, I don't know, a year and some odd months deployment. Um, and then I got commissioned as an officer and my branch as an officer was also military police. But, uh, oddly enough, my second deployment, I was an infantry company commander. So it just shows you how desperate the army was getting at the time.

Jason 6:46

For leaders. I think when you and I met, I want to say you, I was at Stryker in 2009. I remember my first day at Stryker was Obama's first day in office, which I think was,

Nate 6:58

Really.

Jason 6:59

yeah, that's just sticks out in my head. So I think that was 09, I think when he started and then you were deployed at the time. I didn't know you, didn't know of you. And then short within a year or two, You came back and you came back to work and we were working together. Is that sound is that like 2010 maybe?

Nate 7:17

Yeah, so my deployments were 2004 into 2005 and then all of 2008. And so if you was started in 2009, I would have been back from my deployment. Um,

Jason 7:27

that's

Nate 7:28

yeah,

Jason 7:29

You know, did you come back in oh nine sometime?

Nate 7:32

beginning of oh,

Jason 7:33

Okay. Yeah, so I guess it wasn't very long after I started I just remember I remember meeting you and I don't know why but I remember it candidly or not can't be clearly One of the first times I ever really spoke to you. We were walking across the parking lot between the 6200 and 4201 building. I don't know what we were doing, but we were walking together. It was the first time that I really got to talk to you and you said you'd, you know, come back from deployment and you'd worked there before and you know, came back and we were, I was in operations then. I don't remember if that's what you were doing then operations or not. I can't remember, but

Nate 8:07

I, uh, let's see. That's second deployment. I, yeah, I went back to operations and then I went to marketing after that. So

Jason 8:13

that's where, yeah. As I do remember like you going over to marketing as I stayed in operations and And yeah, yep. So I remember, uh, I just, the confidence that you brought and your intensity. I loved it. We're both activators, which a lot of people probably don't know what that means, but unless they work around you, then they're like, I don't know about this guy, but he has no patience.

Nate 8:33

be good sometimes.

Jason 8:35

has no patience and he's always causing chaos and yeah. He, you know, makes decisions with 50 percent of the information and that's, that's what activators do. So we connected on that, that level. So, Hey, tell us, tell us a little bit about your family, Nate. What's the situation that you said married to Danielle

Nate 8:52

Yeah. So,

Jason 8:53

Like what's that look like?

Nate 8:54

um, I got to put my plug in for my amazing, beautiful best friend and wife. Danielle, I've been married for 21 years. It'll be 22 in April, I think if I'm doing the math right. Um, and, uh, and she has been amazing. Obviously I was deployed for half of the first five years we were married. And I left when our firstborn was five weeks old, I think, and came back when I, when she was 15 months old. And she's been through a lot, even in career moves and moving to Arizona, uh, to move into sales and back to Michigan and, uh, much more recently a move to another company, uh, for a leadership role. And so she is, uh, she's been an amazing supporter and, uh, I couldn't do any of it without her.

Jason 9:33

Yeah.

Nate 9:33

have three kids. So fast forward many years from that firstborn and, uh, we have two daughters and a son, my daughter, Madeline is 17. She's getting ready to graduate high school. My daughter McKenna is 14. She'll be 15 next month. And my son is a sixth grader. He'll be 12 next month.

Jason 9:48

Nice.

Nate 9:49

Yeah,

Jason 9:50

And you guys are located in still West Michigan, Kalamazoo area.

Nate 9:55

yeah. We're in Vicksburg, Michigan. We live on a little hobby farm. So I married a girl who loved horses and I, I did not know what I was getting into as a, as a guy who's an outdoors man, I thought I can do this. And uh, and so we looked for a really long time. And when we moved back here from Arizona, we found a little hobby farm in Vicksburg. And, uh, it's on 60 acres actually. And, um, my wife is the hardest working. woman. I know she's typically up early in the morning and taking care of horses and other animals. And, you know, again in the evening and my kids have had the privilege of learning responsibility, chores and things like that. And it's been, uh, it's been an amazing experience and one that I wouldn't change for anything.

Jason 10:35

That's a great environment to raise kids in. Yeah. How many horses do you have?

Nate 10:39

Uh, we own four. I think I'm pretty sure we own four.

Jason 10:42

It's unclear at this moment.

Nate 10:44

yeah. And, uh, and we board a few as well. So there's usually seven or eight at our house.

Jason 10:48

Awesome. That's wonderful. Um, let's talk a little bit about your faith. How'd you come to know the Lord? What's that look like?

Nate 10:54

Okay. So I grew up here in West Michigan. I think from the time I was born until I was married, I went to the same church, uh, went through it moving to, you know, to different buildings as it was growing and things like that. But I grew up in the church and reform church right here in West Michigan called South Ridge. Um, if the church was open, we were typically there. And then on top of that, my mom founded a nonprofit here in West Michigan called Love for Children. And so she was kind of working out of the church basement at the time as well. I'm sure the rent was free. And so I spent a lot of time in the church building and ran the sound booth and, you know, during the services and things like that. But, um, you know, I would say. I called myself a Christian, but really I just had sort of adopted the, you know, the label that I had from being raised that way. And, and it wasn't until we moved to Arizona that, um, that we kind of established our own church family, our own, our church and the church that we went to Christ Church of the Valley. Um, in Arizona was just incredibly, um, powerful and impactful on me. And it really started to challenge the way that I was thinking about my own faith and relationship with Jesus. And, um, and it was then when I made the decision to, to make that faith my own and really claim Jesus as my Lord and savior. And so, um,

Jason 12:12

How old, how old were you? How old were you then mate? Bowen.

Nate 12:16

oh gosh, I would have been, oh, that was, that was just over 10 years ago. So I was in my, I was probably 33, 34, something like that. I'm 44 now. Yeah. So Danielle and I got baptized as adults there outside and, um, fortuitously my brother and, uh, and his wife and kids had come down to visit Arizona at the time. So they got to see it, um, you know, just surreptitiously. And I really, since then, um, have been on a new journey and had a, a true relationship with Jesus.

Jason 12:45

Yeah. Praise the Lord for that. And I ask you your age because, you know, we, we as parents, and I know there's other parents listening are raising our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord to the best of our ability. And they, uh, sometimes don't. mature in the faith at a rate that we hope. And sometimes they outright rebel and walk away. And, you know, I think it's important for us to, we have to keep praying for them and loving them and discipling them as much as they'll allow us to. And, uh, you know, maybe they are 34 years old and they're a parent when they all of a sudden, you know, the Holy Spirit wakes them up and they change. So we can't give up. So that's why, so that's good. That's

Nate 13:26

Very true.

Jason 13:27

Uh, go a little bit back on the professional side. What are you like? What are you doing right now? Talk a little bit about your role now. I know you were a Stryker for a very long time. You worked in a lot of different roles there, but tell us about what you're up to now.

Nate 13:39

Yeah. So, um, right about at my 20 year market Stryker, I, um, I got a text message from a friend of mine. Um, another strong believer sister in Christ that just said, do you have a moment to chat? And I knew she had left, uh, you know, several years prior and gone to another company and Just seemed odd, the text and the wording. And so I, I said, sure. And, uh, and we wound up talking, she asked if, if I was interested in learning a little bit more about an opportunity with a company called combat out of Florida. And, um, if I'm honest with you, I'm not sure that I was really that interested, but I said, I really only have one question. Um, you know, would I have to relocate? And she said, let me get back to you. And so it was less than 24 hours. She came back and said, no, our CEO knows who you are. He knows that, you know, you'll be where the, where the action is, regardless of where that is around the United States. And, uh, and I just started to feel this conviction that I needed to learn more about it. And, um, I'll bring up, uh, uh, somebody who's been a mentor to me from a distance for the most part. Um, but you know, Jim Heath and

Jason 14:42

Absolutely.

Nate 14:44

Jim had given somebody else advice and they had shared that advice with me. His name is Derrick Babbitt. And, um, Derrick had asked Jim. If he could go back to, you know, give his 20 year old self some advice, career advice, what would it be? And one of the things that Jim had shared with them is that, you know, for decades, I got all these calls from recruiters asking if I was interested in learning about another job. And I always just politely declined and I never even heard him out. And he said, I would. advise my younger self to, to take those calls. And either, um, you're going to learn that you're exactly where God wants you to be. And you're going to have more confidence that you're right where you're supposed to be, or you're going to learn about some amazing new opportunity that God's calling you to either way. Um, it's not disloyal to, um, phone calls and it can re process. And so I just st conviction and I remember I felt candidly, I felt a even at the thought of le been there for so long. B The company and the more that I got to learn about, uh, the man that I was going to report to Pat, the more excited I got about the opportunity. And so, uh, I just started praying hard about it. And all of a sudden it was like the weight came off my shoulders. And I realized, well, you know, I can make a decision to leave this company. It'll be just fine without me, I promise. And, um, and I think this is the right thing for. My family at this time. Um, and I feel God calling me to do it. And so I now lead the orthopedics division, uh, at comedy corporation, their offices in, uh, in Largo, Florida down on St. Pete. I'll be there next week. Um, but in reality, I, you know, I spend time wherever I need to be around the country.

Jason 16:19

Yeah. That's awesome. So orthopedics division for those that don't work in or haven't worked in the med tech industry. Tell us a little bit about what is that? What's the scope of that look like?

Nate 16:30

Yeah. Um, so ConvMed's orthopedic division is really focused on sports medicine. So we serve surgeons who do rotator cuff repair, fix your, you know, your ACL in your knee or your hip. Um, we sell some capital equipment like the, you know, the, the stuff that helps a surgeon do arthroscopic surgery, you know, the camera that goes into your body so

Jason 16:48

Okay. Yep. Yep.

Nate 16:50

uh, in there. Uh, and then we sell, um, power tools that help orthopedic surgeons put total joints in, which I know you're familiar with.

Jason 16:56

Yeah. You. Yeah. You and I had some time spending time making parts for those that way and making them. Yeah. So that's a, uh, that's a pretty big job. I was super excited to see you get that. I mean, you, uh, since I first met you, I knew you had tremendous amount of bandwidth in your leadership potential. So congratulations on that and really glad when you were going through that decision process, Nate. Um, what was, what was Danielle's input? Like, what was that conversation like with her? And then in the end, how did that look? Yeah, yeah, yeah,

Nate 17:31

always been an encourager for me, you know, and so I think, um, sometimes to a fault where I'm like, Oh, I'm not that good, you know, I promise. Um, but you know, she just encouraged me to learn a little bit more about it. And she was a sounding board for me when I, when I wanted to talk about things that I was concerned about, but I'd say most important, she's kind of like my chief de risker because she would just say, you know what, if this whole thing completely flopped. You'll get another job, it'll be fine, you know, and, uh, it made me feel a little bit more comfortable with stepping out in faith and, uh, knowing that I had her support and doing it mattered a lot because, you know, starting a new job also required really rolling my sleeves up and spending a decent amount of time on the road

Jason 18:14

yeah, yeah.

Nate 18:15

new team.

Jason 18:16

And that's so important. And that's the reason I asked that when I, so the, the, the role I'm in now, when I took this job, I had at the time was in, when was in kind of a bad situation, had a new leader come into the organization. The person that hired me was let go. So a new leader came in, was not looking good, so I was, I was starting to look and I had actually two different, two offers, which was wonderful, but they were very, very different, very different industries. And I just remember a lot of prayer, speaking to my wife and then speaking of old mentors from Stryker, Judd Hoth,

Nate 18:50

So yeah,

Jason 18:50

someone that I think very highly of. I will still reach out to him and I did on this occasion. So between, you know, some advice he had and then my, my wife and you know, some of it in fact was going to be, there was some decisions that would impact us as a family on, you know, even in financial decisions, you know, there was two different roles and two different pay levels and the same thing. My wife's always been like, whatever, I want you to be happy and you'd be able to be successful in either role and supportive. So yeah, what a blessing to have a partner like that. Yeah,

Nate 19:27

God, I'm dumb. Please smack me across the head with a two by four, slam the door in my face to what I'm not supposed to do and open it wide in the other direction because it's probably the only way I'm going to recognize which way to go and then I, you know, leave it up to him. And so it all worked out. It was, it was clear to me.

Jason 19:45

That's awesome. So hey, big job, a lot of responsibility, probably intense workload. What is your spiritual disciplines look like Nate to keep you close to the Lord through all that?

Nate 19:56

Um, I don't know, you're probably not gonna like my answer for the purpose of your podcast, but if I'm honest, I, I've always felt, um, immature in this area, sort of, so I, I always sort of felt like I don't measure up right to people that I spend time with or that I talk to, um, from a faith perspective when it comes to this department. So. Before I really became a Christian and own my own faith, even then I did devotions here and there. I read the Bible every once in a while and stuff. And, um, in Arizona, uh, we joined, uh, a neighborhood group. It was a big enough church and, you know, master plan communities all around the church. And so we joined a group, a small group of people that live right there in our neighborhood. And, um, and I started to really understand spiritual disciplines a little bit more than, and the importance of community.

Jason 20:42

Yeah.

Nate 20:43

but, you know, The things that I want to do daily, you know, it's almost like, uh, Paul talks about the Bible, you know, I still struggle to do and the things that I don't want to do, I do. And, uh, so I don't know, maybe I should be easier on myself, uh, in this area, but it's not really the way that I'm wired. So I, I'd say I, I try to spend time in, um, in the Bible every morning and I feel miserably sometimes. Spent a lot of time. Sometimes I spent a little bit of time and sometimes I completely miss it and forget. Um, and the same thing with prayer, you know, sometimes I'm praying in the car on the way somewhere. Sometimes I get some good quiet time in the morning, but I'd say spending time in the word and prayer, uh, are both really, really important to me. And, and sometimes I forget until some random time in the middle of the day and I just stop what I'm doing and just talk to God for a minute.

Jason 21:30

Yeah. Well, I appreciate your transparency, brother, cause that's part of being on this podcast and the listeners that I have, I'm sure it's all over, right? If we're honest with each other, there's people at different places in their walk. So no, I do appreciate that transparency and it is a struggle. You know, I think I've been a believer for, you know, a serious believer for almost 30 years and I can be honest with you, probably only in the last five where I've felt like my, that daily discipline, maybe even the last four or five years really gotten consistent and rich. And you know, so you just keep striving. You just, like you said, you, you know, you, you feel that conviction and you push yourself to do better and um, yeah.

Nate 22:12

Absolutely. I was, I was, um, praying about this probably, it's probably been six time flies, six to 12 months ago or something. And I was just like, man, it's just, it just feels still like discipline, right? Like I'm, I'm, I'm forcing myself to do it, but I really want to delight in it, you know, not just feel like it's a discipline every day. Um, so I was praying to God about it, just saying, Hey God, you know, I want to delight in this. I don't want to feel like it's work. Um, that I'm putting in every morning in order to do it. I don't want to feel like I'm rushing through it, you know, just to say that I did it either. I

Jason 22:43

check a box. Yeah,

Nate 22:44

and, um, and after I got done praying for whatever reason I was on my phone, probably shouldn't have been right. Um, but I, I just Googled. You know, I want to delight in my devotional time or whatever. And the first YouTube video that popped up was a pastor. It was an old video, but he just had this rule of three D's. And he said, it starts with discipline. You have to have discipline, um, first, and as you progress with your discipline, it will turn from discipline into desire. And you'll start to want to do it instead of having to do it. And maybe a long time after you have the desire, you'll go for desire to delight and you won't just want to do it, but you'll delight in it when you do it. So, you know, I'd love to fast forward to being in the delight phase. And honestly, I mean, I do feel the desire more routinely now to do it than the discipline feeling, but I would love to get to the point where I'm just delighting in it. And I'm, you know, prioritizing my time accordingly. Like I want more time for this.

Jason 23:39

yeah,

Nate 23:40

It's a work in progress. I'm a work in progress.

Jason 23:42

no, well we all are and yeah, I don't remember why or what happened, but you know, for me that clicked. Um, and like I said, probably five, maybe longer than that. It was before COVID 20, I don't know, 19 maybe. And just my morning time, especially the prayer time. It just. Yeah, it changed. I can remember. And now it's, I'll get up looking forward to it. So I pray the same for you. And yeah. What about your church family? Was that look like for you and your family and a local church you guys are plugged into?

Nate 24:14

Yeah. When we moved back to West Michigan from Arizona, um, we had such a great experience having kind of our own family's church that we said, we're going to look, uh, we never looked, you know, in our life just because I grew up going to the same church. And so, We started praying about it right away. And honestly, I think God led us to the church we were supposed to go to first. So, um, go to a church called the bridge and, uh, and at first it was in Portage, Michigan, they just created a second campus in our hometown in Vicksburg. But, you know, for a decade, uh, we went there after trying it for the first time, our first Sunday back, we went there, felt immediately welcomed. Jeff Winkie was a brand new pastor at the time. He welcomed us. We got to know some, um, some people that were on staff and some of the local community right away. And we just felt. That was where God was calling us. And so we've been there ever since, um, my wife and kids have been in, you know, children's ministry volunteer roles and things like that, uh, ever since. And so we felt like, um, felt like we were getting integrated into the community and it's just an awesome church. You know, they, they preach from the word. And, um, you know, their slogan is be one, make one. Then when you want to be, become a disciple and disciple and then make, make other disciples. And, um, it's just been another church experience for me where I felt personally challenged.

Jason 25:30

Good.

Nate 25:31

And, uh, and we still love it there. So now we're, now we're in the startup phase of a second campus where we're unloading trailers in the morning, two hours before services and doing the setup and tear down, um, in Vicksburg. And that's been a great experience too.

Jason 25:43

Yeah. That's good. That's a lot of work. We've done that before years ago and it's tough, but a lot of commitment.

Nate 25:48

It is.

Jason 25:49

Hey, I'm gonna talk a little bit about leadership. Nate, when you, when you think about leadership, your own leadership, what are a couple of key principles for you that are like foundational that you always, always go back to for yourself and then when you're mentoring other leaders?

Nate 26:04

Oh man. Um, I can probably ramble on this a little bit, but I'm not sure that, that I could list off like a top 10 list for you. I would say. First and foremost, my leadership principles come from my faith. And if I'm honest, you know, I believe that morality comes from God to begin with, right? And so my leadership principles come from doing what's right and doing what's right in the eyes of the Lord. You know, he's, he's my God. So I need to do, uh, what's right in his sight first and foremost. And so, um, They're highly aligned with my faith. They, a lot of them come from the military as well. You know, I learned some great leadership in the military that applies to life, not just the military. Um, but I would, I guess I would say a couple of things. One, put people first. They're your most important and your most valuable resource, asset, whatever it is, almost, you know, devalues that anyone, even to put another word on it, but they matter the most. And if you take care of your people and engage your people and have the right people on your teams, then the results, they happen.

Jason 27:01

It just happens.

Nate 27:02

Secondarily. And, uh, so put people first, uh, integrity matters, you know, do what's right. No matter what I feel like, um, I've never worked for an organization or been part of an organization as a leader that didn't drive that home really firmly and, um, you know, I haven't always been perfect, but, uh, but I'll tell you what I've learned over time is that it takes a long time to build trust and it takes one bad decision. One, you know, one easy wrong, instead of the hard, right. Right. to break someone's trust. Um, and then it's a lot of work to build it back up again. So just doing what's right the first time and doing what's right all the way right the first time really matters. And so I stress that with my team as well. Um,

Jason 27:44

a story.

Nate 27:44

yeah, please.

Jason 27:45

I got to share a story about you that I have always remembered. And you probably, this was probably a random conversation that you don't remember that talks about your integrity. And this, I've thought about this many times. When we were working together at Stryker. And in fact, I think someone else told me you said this. So I don't even think, I think this was secondhand. So maybe, maybe, maybe a legend or a rumor, but I believed it. And I still do. It was annual review time, right? Everybody's favorite time. And you, and the way it worked at Stryker was the manager would write the review for their employee, but that manager's manager would have to sign off on it. But first and say, okay, yeah, I agree with this or not. And the, uh, what I was, what I was told was that you had done that and you would give it to your manager and your manager was pretty critical and wanted you to make some significant changes. And you said, It's my signature going on the paper. It's staying the way it is. And that was it. And I was like, man, that was a lot of bravery. Cause you know, this is your manager. And, but that was Nate, when I think of you, and I think about that probably every year at review time, that memory pops up in my head. So I think about you at least once a year, but, but no, I mean, that was for me that your integrity has always been something I've seen shine through. You were, this is where you are, this is what you believe, and this is what we're going to do. And, um, You weren't rude about it. You always had that smile on your face, you know, and say this is this is it man So anyways, I just wanted to share that, uh that story that I always remembered about you

Nate 29:18

thank you. Um, I probably, hopefully said it politely and didn't put my finger in their face or anything like that.

Jason 29:24

Yeah, yeah

Nate 29:26

right. You know, at times you got to stand up for what you believe in and hopefully do it out of love.

Jason 29:31

Yeah

Nate 29:31

Doesn't prevent me or anybody else from giving transparent feedback. But I need to give my feedback on somebody else.

Jason 29:39

That's right. You know, I read a book Last year it was called radical candor. I don't know if you've ever heard of it

Nate 29:46

I have. Yeah,

Jason 29:47

It's a really, really good book and it talks about that whole idea of like you can give someone difficult feedback and care about them. I mean, this is, this is really the biblical principle of speaking the truth in love.

Nate 29:59

that's right.

Jason 30:00

you know, I, I care about my team members enough that when they're failing, I need to let them know and not in a demeaning or disrespectful way. I want them to know where they stand and not surprise them. you know, by, with firing them or, or, you know, what, uh, some other, um, some other action that they don't know why, why am I being treated this way? Why am I being demoted? And so I think that's super important to speak the truth and love. And sometimes that truth is difficulty. And I've had, you know, I know you have had to do terminate people. I've had to let people go and you still do it in a way that's loving and caring. And, you know, respectful of them. I've all, every time I've had to do it, I pray about it before I pray about it after I pray about them cause I know it's a very, very difficult situation, but no, it has to happen. So yeah, that level of integrity I think is important and I think it sets, I think it oftentimes will set a Christian leader apart in the workplace because of that just refusal to do the wrong thing or to compromise on what's right. So,

Nate 31:04

We just had a, uh, CEO transition in my company. So my, my boss, the guy who hired me, Pat buyer is now our CEO. And because this was his first global sales meeting after becoming the CEO, he was up on stage and kind of doing an introduction and, you know, sort of probably setting the tone for his leadership style going forward. And what one thing he said really resonated with me about this topic. And he's, and he said, I can like you. And hold you accountable. I can make you and hold you accountable. You know, he's an approachable, likable person who loves to make people smile and laughed. Um, and at the same time he wants to see results and he's not afraid to give you feedback. And, you know, I aspire to also be able to do that.

Jason 31:44

yeah, that's right. No, that's important and we can do both. We can do both.

Nate 31:48

That's right.

Jason 31:49

Hey Nate, when you think back early leadership journey, what was something that you struggled with and Have you learned to overcome it? How did you learn to manage it or do you still struggle with it a little bit? What was that? What that look like?

Nate 32:06

I'll, I'll start with the end, which is I still struggle with it. Um, and certainly haven't conquered it. I'll, uh, you, you gave me this question in advance. So I had a chance to think about it a little bit, and I really think this is probably. What I would choose to share, I'd say for the majority of my life, I have struggled with, um, feeling like I just didn't measure up. If that makes sense, you know, I didn't always fit in. I was, you know, at least a year, if not a year and a half younger than most of the kids that were in my grade because I got started a little bit early. And, um, that affected athletics. It affected being accepted by my friends because they were older and kind of the phase that they were moving into, whether it was, you know, being able to go to the mall or get your driver's license or, you know, or whatever. So I always wanted to fit in and be accepted. Um, and because that wasn't always the case, I wound up making choices, you know, throughout my life that, uh, and for a long time, you know, that kind of reflected that desire. Um, and it took a lot of growing up and, uh, unfortunately for me, some tough, you know, tough times that were a result of my own decisions as well to get me to understand that I was way too worried about that. And, uh, and then I am good enough the way that I am, and then I'm accepted by God. And, uh, and of course, as you get older and you have your own family and things, you can start to get a little bit more comfortable, you know, with yourself as well, but I do struggle with it even, um, even now, and as I was thinking about this, Jason, uh, there were, there, there are really two life experiences that I feel like, and among many, I could talk about this forever, I'm sure most good. Right. But two, maybe stories that stuck out in my head is. You know, being shaving forces and all this, um, maybe more so than I want to admit, but, um, I remember, so my dad was in finance. Um, he passed away during my first deployment when he was 48. Uh, so, um, but he was always in finance, uh, worked at Bronson hospital and then later at Alcar General Hospital and, and, uh, he would kind of a white collar job, right?

Jason 34:04

yeah,

Nate 34:05

And he still worked really hard to provide for us. And, uh, and growing up, we had a very tight extended family. So my favorite people in life, um, were, and still are in many cases, my, you know, my uncles and my, my first cousins. And so we got together on every holiday. We camped together in the summer. We played in Gus Macker basketball tournaments. We, you know, you name it, we were together. Um, and I just love that family and, um, my uncles were teachers, basketball coaches, police, undercover police officers, you know, like that, man, I looked up to all of them, uh, big time and I really wanted to be accepted by them. And very similarly, right. I was not as good at basketball as my other cousins that were my age. And, you know, and so like, I was always kind of the underdog and all of those areas, but I specifically remember a time when we were camping together. Um, and a little Christian campground called Cran Hill ranch, uh, that we still go to and absolutely love. And my kids love as well. And I don't remember much of the circumstances around it, but I remember a time when my uncles were making fun of my dad and they were, you know, they were kind of calling him a nerd and a dork and all, you know, and, and everyone was kind of laughing at him and he was laughing with them, but probably. You know, uncomfortably laughing with them. And then a couple of my cousins chimed in too, right? Their dads were making fun of my dad. So they kind of joined in and, uh, it hurt me, you know, to see my dad getting made fun of that way. And I feel like something in me changed a little bit, you know, in that moment. And I had already experienced that as a kid, right. Being younger and kind of not being accepted. I was watching it happen to my dad and something clicked in my brain where I just said, I'm not going to let that happen to me. And unfortunately, the way it played out in my life is, you know, more negative than positive over the next decades, right? Um, because what it, what it prompted me to do is try to fit in in ways that I shouldn't have. And so that's the first story. I guess the second one that, that shaped me is, you know, years later in high school, uh, another dad story, you know, but my dad, uh, was an early riser, had great, disciplines. And, um, so he would usually be reading his Bible at the kitchen table, but he was almost always gone before any of us woke up. So I could, I knew that he was there. There might be a note on the table every once in a while, but he was usually already gone. And so I walked into the kitchen that morning and he was, yeah, just finished. Uh, his, you know, reading the Bible and praying and things like that. And, um, that morning he just stopped and he closes the Bible and he looked at me and, and, uh, it was like a more serious look than normal, you know? And he just said, um, Nate, you're going to be a great leader someday. And for whatever reason, very similar to that moment where, you know, I saw him being made fun of and something clicked in my brain and I can think back to it as a memory that has stuck in my brain. You know, every day for the rest of my life since then. And I think, um, I could, I could write a book on how those two little experiences have shaped me. But, um, I've felt this in this incredible pressure to live up to his, you know, prophecy that I was going to be a great leader at the same time. I've struggled intensely my entire life with. Wanting to be liked and accepted and, um, you know, it's played out in just being a chameleon instead of being authentic, uh, to who I am or, um, spending time, uh, with the wrong people or at the wrong places or, or whatever. So that's the, uh, that's the leadership struggle. I think I, um, I've gotten way, way better with, uh, I catch myself in the moment all the time, you know, it's that leadership versus likership

Jason 37:48

yeah, yeah. I mean you used to have that sign on your office wall. We need more leadership and less likership or something to that effect. I remember that.

Nate 37:57

Yeah, there was a, there was a sign on the Kuwaiti border, um, as you would, basically they would call it going, uh, going hot, going red with your weapons, but as you would leave Kuwait into Iraq in the combat zone, there was a sign that said, uh, we need leadership, not likership. And, uh, just a reminder to military leaders that, you know, all of your soldiers lives are in your hands. Uh, it's not about being liked anymore. It's about making the decisions that are, uh, right in the moment. And, uh, that stuck with me for a long time.

Jason 38:28

Yeah.

Nate 38:29

So I do have, Jason, I have one other, I would say, uh, and this is a fast one, but my one other struggle candidly, is that, uh, Like you, I'm an activator and I'm a maximizer. And, you know, so as a leader, the way that plays out, it plays out at home and at work really for me. But, um, if I achieve something, I spend less than a millisecond sort of relishing in that achievement. I immediately. Yeah, I'm like, that's nice. Now it's over. Now what? Right. And so it's either on to thinking about the next thing that I need to get done or accomplish. Um, or it's thinking about what I could have done differently or better to do that thing better, faster, stronger, whatever it might have been. And so at work as a leader, the way it plays out, um, is that I really struggled to recognize other people's accomplishments as a leader. And thankfully, as I've, as I've grown in my career, I've been able to put people around me, And say, Hey guys, I struggle with this. So I need you to help me with, uh, identifying recognition opportunities so that I can do it in the moment, or I can do it in a town hall or whatever. And that's worked out well, but unfortunately for my direct reports, there's not somebody doing that for them. And so it's, I've always really struggled with. Stopping to smell the roses for a second and saying, Hey, you know what, Lisa, you did an amazing job on that marketing campaign or your team is really engaged right now. And I just want to, I want to thank you for all the work that you've been putting into this. And, um, so I work on that a lot and it plays out in a very similar way at home, you know, you're a leader in the house as well. Right. And so, I may walk into a house that's, you know, I've been away from for three days. And, you know, I told you, my wife works really hard. She's done chores a couple of times in the day and ferried kids around. And, uh, the house could be spotless and there could be like, you know, dinner in the oven and I can smell it. And for, for whatever reason in the moment, I will say something like, Hey, why are all the boots not lined up on the front porch, right? Instead of.

Jason 40:24

Yeah.

Nate 40:25

Wow. You know, it looks amazing. You must've worked really hard today. And so that maximizer piece of me is a, is a struggle too.

Jason 40:33

That's terrible. I, yeah, I can share so many stories. It went, you know, when I became the Stryker, it was the first time I ever had leaders around me that really, they pointed that out how I just, it was always, why would I recognize like, that's your job. Let's go on to the next one. The next one. I mean, it was

Nate 40:49

Graduations. Your badge works.

Jason 40:50

Yeah, exactly. And it was rich, rich to ball, who was my first manager there that really taught me about football. layups, right? I want weekly layups. What does that even mean? I want you guys to tell me things that I can recognize on your team. I still do them to this day. I did them today in a town hall with the production team, but I asked my staff, Hey, what, what good, you know, can I recognize from the last month on the team that I'm probably completely oblivious to? And so, yeah, it's, it's, it's a ongoing battle and

Nate 41:22

You just want it to come naturally. I want it so badly, you know?

Jason 41:26

Yep. And I have really hurt sometimes my family and I've gotten better at it, but same thing where I walk in and I'm like, why is this? And they're like, did you not see the other

Nate 41:34

Yeah. Hello. Yeah.

Jason 41:36

us for? So yeah, that's been tough.

Nate 41:39

Can be our own worst enemy at times.

Jason 41:41

Yes, absolutely. Hey, um, I want to ask Nate, how do you, strive and even just practically speaking, how do you honor Christ in your work? What are the things that you try to do to honor the, you know, you have a, do you have a job, you're a general manager, you're responsible for a division and leading people and you know, making numbers as you do that. How do you try to honor the Lord through that?

Nate 42:03

Um, you know, probably most simply, uh, is I just try to love people the way that I know Christ loves them. Um, one of my favorite country songs, you know, says always be humble and kind. And, you know, there's a million sayings about it, but it starts with just the way that you treat people. And I'm not 100 percent certain that anything really good has come from a leadership situation where somebody felt disrespected or you criticize someone in public instead of in private, you know? And so I, I really try to, um, love people the way that I know that God loves them, uh, and, and that includes, um, When they're making choices that I don't necessarily agree with. I mean, it's, it's not for me to judge if it's not in the, in the professional sense, right? So, um, I try to honor them in the little decisions that I make. Um, and I'm probably batting 500, you know, in that I'm, I'm far from perfect, but, uh, I do my best to just say a little prayers throughout the day and just remind myself, Hey, you know, this is going to be tough. Let's make sure that I'm honoring God in this conversation, or this could be an opportunity to share. Just, you know, my faith with somebody that I, that I barely know if this conversation could go well. So, you know, it's, it's probably cliche, but at the end of the day, I kinda, I want, you know, if, if I got hit by a bus today and you were to go, you know, to my office and start asking people about me, I, you know, my dream would be that if you said, Hey, you know, tell me about Nate or did Nate love Jesus, they would say, Oh man, you know, absolutely. Nate lived his faith in his work. And, um, I don't know that I always do that, but I try really hard.

Jason 43:43

sure. Yup. Yup. No, same thing. Yeah. I, especially being up. fairly high strung activator. You know, there's times when things aren't going well and

Nate 43:51

Yeah.

Jason 43:52

you know, say things you shouldn't and lose your cool. And you're like, man, that's, that is not Christ honoring,

Nate 43:57

Yeah. I did want to get that message across. I just didn't want to get it across that way. Right. Um,

Jason 44:04

Yep. Yeah. Yeah. That's it. Well, and I think that's part of it too. Your team, you know, I've had to apologize to my team, which are like, I ain't got to apologize for that. And I'm like, no, I want to apologize for that. I shouldn't have said that or, you know, came off like that. So I think that's, That's part of it. That's a big part of it. You know, knowing the people knowing that you, um, can ask for forgiveness and you can't apologize and that you see that, you know, you see the fact that, you know, you make those mistakes. It's huge.

Nate 44:31

Yeah. Well said.

Jason 44:32

Hey, um, so I think, I believe that, you know, as leaders, we should always be trying to keep ourselves sharp and whether that's reading, listening to other leaders, um, any that you'd like to share. I just try to get things out. Names, you know, authors, podcasts. Like what do you do to keep yourself sharp

Nate 44:48

Well, I think you said you've been doing this podcast for three years now, so probably, probably no new names at this point in time, but, um, like we were chatting before you hit record here. I love podcasts, um, as you do, and I'm on the move a lot. So in, you know, from a traveling perspective, it's a lot easier for me to click play on a podcast, knowing that it's a half hour long or whatever.

Jason 45:09

Yup.

Nate 45:10

and just feel like I'm developing as a leader and as a disciple, you know, that way I love, um, Craig Rochelle. I love Stanley. I love Patrick Lincioni, uh, Malcolm Gladwell, um, some classic, you know, like Zig Ziglar, you know, or whatever. Um, I just finished a book. Um, Oh, John Eldridge, maybe one of my favorite authors of all time. Um, not really necessarily leader, you know, more just man, you know, but, uh, in terms of the subject matter, but just finished a book called practicing the way by John Mark Homer. And, um, ironically, I was like, this book was so awesome. I sent it to a couple of people in our church started a series on it like two weeks

Jason 45:48

Oh, nice. All right.

Nate 45:50

um, yeah, so I'd say those are the names of, um, just really strong faith based. Leaders, uh, that I love books from podcasts from, podcasts that I like to dive into a little bit. Um, and then maybe one non faith based book that I just, you know, it's been with me for my entire career and you might've read it as well, but I think in the first 30 days that I started, um, at Stryker. The vice president of HR, his name is Jeff, um, handed me a book called first break all the rules by Marcus Buckingham. And I forget the other guy, but just a little thin book, but just some really powerful leadership principles in there that kind of changed the way that I thought about leadership really early on in my career. And, um, and I. Kind of applied a lot of those lessons, you know, still today,

Jason 46:39

Yeah. I think that must've been mandatory reading at

Nate 46:42

I think so.

Jason 46:42

that

Nate 46:43

We had to, we had to buy 30, 000 books a year or something.

Jason 46:47

taking the strengths finder. That was

Nate 46:50

That's right.

Jason 46:51

That was the big one. And I still recommend that. I do that with my team. Uh, the disc or the strengths finder is something I always encourage people to do to learn about their own personalities and

Nate 47:00

Yeah, absolutely.

Jason 47:01

Hey, if you had someone sit down with you, uh, Nate, let's say they're, you know, whatever an individual contributor role and they get their first role managing people and they say, Nate, I know you have experience doing this. I'll buy you a coffee. Let's sit down and give me your best advice. What, what kind of advice would you give someone moving into their first leadership role?

Nate 47:21

Yeah. Um, at least for me, I've always just kind of prescribed by the, just do really good at the job you're in now. Uh, you know, mindset. I just, I feel like there are a lot of people and it's like my mind went here. Even when you said, Hey, you know, young leader wants to have coffee so many times. It's like they're. They're asking all these questions like they're ready for the next job and they want to do the next thing as fast as possible. And, um, at least for me personally, I never, I know in my whole career. I never applied for a job. Not one. Um, because I was just focused on doing the right thing in my current job. And then somebody came up at some point in time and said, Hey, would you, you know, would you consider this job? And, um, and so I think that's important. Just do a good job of the thing that you're asked to do and be a good leader with the people that you're trusted to lead.

Jason 48:12

Yeah.

Nate 48:13

Somebody is going to notice and then, um, and then you're going to get the next opportunity. But in terms of like, um, stylistic or, you know, character type things. I just say, don't try to be perfect. Um, you know, it's a waste of time and, um, and try to be authentic. You know, so being true to yourself and sort of, you know, on the scale of one to 10, where one is like, I'm, I'm my authentic person, no matter where I'm at, at work and at home and at school and, you know, with my friends and with the board and anybody else and 10 being a chameleon and I just adapt to whatever environment that I'm in, you know, do you have to, Adjust, you know, or, or, uh, read the room a little bit if it's a formal situation. Yes. But I think in general, you want to be, you want to be on the, the authentic side of the scale. And I think that's something that's important, um, more now than ever, right. And, um, and leadership today. So, and, and I guess the last thing is. You know, everyone gets better when the leader gets better. I hear Craig Rochelle and Andy Stanley say that a lot on leaders, uh, podcast, um, don't be afraid to work on yourself or to take, you know, take that half hour, that one hour time block, you know, a week or every other week to go, I'm going to work on me because I want to become a better leader. My team's going to become a better team and we're going to produce better results. So you gotta work on you as well.

Jason 49:32

Good. I like it. I, I can't, uh, even recently I had this conversation and I've had many, many of them in my career where I'll have somebody come and ask about that next promotion and that next thing. and I've had to say too many times, you're not performing in your current role very well. So let's focus on that. I just had this conversation with someone recently and they, and they took it very well and we saw some positive response from them and it was that mentality. And actually they said the words, which I responded maybe more bluntly than I should have, but they said basically once I get, the promotion, then I'll start doing that other stuff you're looking for. And I'm like, you will never, never get the promotion if you're on my team with that mindset.

Nate 50:17

going to work pretty well.

Jason 50:18

yeah, I think, you know, that's, that's super key is go just perform with excellence. And you know, it goes back to very, you know, much of biblical principle that, you know, who's, who's faithful and little will be faithful and much.

Nate 50:30

Yeah.

Jason 50:30

And you know,

Nate 50:32

One of the things that I don't do well all the time, but that I feel, um, when you think about your approach to leadership and those kinds of tough conversations and stuff, I reflect back and go, why did that one go well? And this other one that I'm thinking of not go well, it's usually because I ask good questions. You know, and so instead of me and I am ultra transparent to a fault, right. Instead of me just offering my opinion right from the start saying, you know, how do you think that went? Or, you know, um, have you looked at your objectives lately? You know, how do you think you're doing to them or whatever? And just letting them reflect on their own performance, their own, you know, potential and all that kind of stuff. Um, eventually it comes back around where they want to know, well, how do you think, you know, and you have an opportunity, but I feel like when I do that, well. From a leadership perspective, um, the conversations go better.

Jason 51:20

yeah.

Nate 51:21

I still get, I still get my chance to say what I want. So maybe that's another little nugget there.

Jason 51:26

No, that's a good nugget and that's something that I don't do well because that's probably that activator in me. I just, I just got to say it and get it out there. And so I think that's something I could probably do a better job is ask. Because I, I, when I have, I, you know, many times that person is either at where I'm at, they'll admit, you know, maybe we're aligned or at least they're close to it. And so allowing them to walk through that and probably then your delivery doesn't feel maybe as much like blunt force trauma when they, when they.

Nate 51:54

Hey, um, I'm, I'm, uh, all over the place, right? I'm hearing squirrels and shiny things and all that kind of stuff. But you, the one other thing that, um, that just crossed my mind. So I was, um, I was an aid to camp in between my two Iraq deployments for a. Uh, special forces general officer. And so I traveled all over the place with him. I got to, you know, got to where we were going before him and left after him. And, uh, it was a hugely developmental experience. Um, but it was the first time that I sort of recognized this concept that it gets lonely at the top, you know? And so this guy who's a brigade commander in charge of thousands of troops, you know, in harm's way. Um, man, it's really lonely. Uh, you know, you don't get to spend a lot of time with too many people. And the reality is it's almost like when HR walks into the room, people like, Oh, HR is here, you know, and they all kind of go away. Um, when you're a leader, you, you've got to, you gotta have community. Right. And so I'm not applying that just as somebody at the general level, right. Um, that's, that's any leader, but I feel like you really have to work hard and make sure that you're connecting with people who can be accountability partners for you and challenge you in the way you're thinking. And, um, that's been really important. Uh, in my life and probably something I didn't do well early. So if it was a younger leader, I would say, you know, Hey, get yourself a, a few other leaders that you, um, you know, like and get along with and also see are talented and going somewhere and talk to each other once a week and hold each other accountable. It's almost like those 20 groups or those max groups, you know, uh, push each other to be better.

Jason 53:26

And someone you can be pretty vulnerable with and have the conversations that you sometimes can't with your team. You know, the person you're leading.

Nate 53:33

Yeah, totally.

Jason 53:34

That's good. Um, any ideas on who else you'd like to see come on the podcast? You thought about that?

Nate 53:40

Um, I can run through a whole bunch of, uh, names, but guess what? I told you a story about my uncles and cousins and like my, my thought immediately goes back to uncles and cousins. And so, um, I have an uncle named, uh, Jerry Brower who, uh, who built, um, what I think maybe. One of the largest Mastercraft boat dealerships in the country, if not the world. Um, and, uh, he's an amazing Christian leader who's really built a strong, successful business, but also just found a way to incorporate faith into all of it. You know, um, he's just a really cool guy to talk to and we do a hundred times better than me on a podcast like this. So, I mean, he's one, um, and my cousin, Dan has been an accountability partner for me for, I think we're probably going on three years now, um, works in, in the insurance industry. He's a leader. And, uh, and we talk every Monday morning, um, and you know, we focus on being more encouraging husbands, um, and sort of like, uh, softening our hearts at home and that's what we started with. But then we talk about work and leading and then, you know, all the other things going on in our lives. He's an amazing guy too. You'd love to have him, um, yeah, on your podcast and I'm sure I

Jason 54:55

I've, I've, I'd be honored if you would maybe make an email connection or something once you find out if they're open to it, that'd be great. I appreciate it.

Nate 55:03

Yeah, it'd be up to,

Jason 55:04

Hey, you talked a little bit about this already, mate, but like when you're, you know, you and I are both a ways away from retirement. I hope we got some, Maybe a decade or two ahead of us, but

Nate 55:13

so.

Jason 55:13

you're, when you're, when you're done, when, uh, that time's over or even just, you know, if you move to a different role, how do you, how do you hope people will remember you and like, what's that legacy that you hope to leave behind?

Nate 55:24

You know, it's weird. Um, I listened to your most recent podcast and I've already forgotten the gentleman's name, um, the line within podcast. And he made a comment on that, um, that the reality is that your legacy is almost like, like it's a, it's, we believe our legacy lasts way longer than it really does. Right.

Jason 55:44

right. Yep. No, it was good.

Nate 55:45

Yeah. And, uh, that really hit me, you know, so my dad passed away when he was 48. My son is 11, never had a chance to meet my dad. My dad's legacy is gone when, when my kids who never knew him, you know what I mean? Are growing up and getting older. I mean, that generation, his legacy is already gone. Now

Jason 56:04

Yeah, you'll be the last person to, you'll be the last generation to remember him.

Nate 56:08

um, And all of a sudden it put into perspective, wait a minute. Okay. So I've read, you know, um, the legacy journey, you know, and, and some books that talk about a financial legacy that maybe you could, you know, you could send your grandchildren to college or something and help them start off on a better foot than maybe you did. And, uh, and so I think about that every once in a while, but yesterday's, uh, time here in that really hit me. And I think, you know what, at the end of the day, One of the things I think about constantly is this juxtaposition of achievement and feeling like I'm called to be a leader with also what the Bible says, which is to live a humble life and please the Lord. And basically if you're loving your neighbor, living a humble life, then people who get to know you and they see your good works will go, what is it about that person? Um, that, that makes them happy and fulfilled and not anxious and things like that. And that is probably will, uh, what will make them want to understand why you are the way you are and give you an opportunity to share your faith. And maybe, you know, they'll come to know Jesus also as a result of it. So when I think about like when my time as a leader is done, I'm like, well, maybe then is when I'm supposed to live a humble and quiet life. I don't know, but I hope that the way that I've impacted people is just that I've, um, Um, loved my neighbor, you know, um, love to people the way that Jesus loves them. And hopefully when the, when the opportunity comes throughout my day to day interactions with them, I find ways to sprinkle in my faith. You know, maybe they get a little bit interested, but, you know, I think Billy Graham said, um, you know, he's had the privilege or had the privilege right of, of getting so many people from, you know, if the 99 yard line over into the end zone to become believers. But the reality is that all of us. May never know how we impacted somebody because you may have just worked an interest or gotten them from the one yard line to the two yard line, but that was God's plan. And so I hope that I impacted a whole bunch of people, even if they, you know, didn't get into the end zone. I hope they thought, you know, they thought something or became more interested in learning about Jesus. And maybe somebody else took them the rest of the way.

Jason 58:18

Yeah. I think, uh, I think, I think Paul wrote in one of the, one of his letters that it talks about that some of us plant and some of us water, but you know, it's the, it's the Lord who takes the harvest. So if we're being faithful in that, that's all we can do is be faithful in what the Holy Spirit does with that is that's up to him.

Nate 58:35

Yeah.

Jason 58:36

So, hey brother, before we wrap up, if somebody wants to connect with you, what's a good way to do that?

Nate 58:42

I'm on LinkedIn. Uh, just under my name, Nate Miersma. Um, and I'm happy to give my, maybe that's the way to do it. Reach out through LinkedIn and I'm happy to give my, uh, my personal email. I would love to connect with other, other Christian leaders. Um, you know, who want to talk more about this?

Jason 59:00

Yeah. And spell your last name.

Nate 59:03

It is, uh, M I E R S M A.

Jason 59:06

Yeah, so they can find you on LinkedIn. I always can't remember if it's EI or ie. So that's good. That's good. Hey man, thank you for your time and uh, you have been an inspiration to me over the years and I mean that. I mean, I've really respected you as a leader and um, I also want to thank you for your service and I don't just say that as a platitude. I thank you and Danielle for the sacrifice that you guys have made for our country. Really, I mean, you know, I think about how I was working through my career and doing my stuff and you were overseas fighting for our nation. So thank you brother. I appreciate it.

Nate 59:39

Thank you. I appreciate it. Thanks for having me on. This was a great experience.

Jason 59:44

Alright, man. Take care. And thank each of you for tuning in again this month. Please take a moment to subscribe to the show, and if you have any comments or suggestions, I love hearing those as well. I hope you will be back next month as we meet another leader striving to honor Christ in their work.