In this solo podcast episode, Tim Pratt Jr. opens with a quote from John C. Maxwell—“You’re not made in a crisis, you’re revealed”—and explores how crises expose, rather than create, character and leadership. Drawing on his professional experience as a senior technical project manager, he explains how risk‑mitigation frameworks and business‑continuity planning prepare organizations for unexpected events like the COVID‑19 pandemic. He argues that when spiritual direction is not explicit, leaders should rely on timeless, principle‑centered decision‑making rooted in biblical values. Tim critiques various leadership responses to the pandemic, from CEOs taking bonuses to companies raising frontline wages, and urges leaders to choose actions grounded in character rather than profit. He highlights how churches have seized the crisis as an opportunity to expand online ministry, illustrating the broader theme of reframing circumstances to discover new pathways. Throughout, he weaves Philippians 4:13 to underscore contentment and reliance on Christ as the lens through which leaders should view adversity. The episode concludes with a call to share the message and connect further via his website.
Chapters
Hey, this is Tim Pratt Jr. I want to welcome you to the podcast Student of Life. I pray that you hear something that will add value, shape, develop, and cultivate your faith in order to be the person that God desires you to be, as well as the application to see it through. Enjoy. What's up? So this is episode 5 of season 3, and we're going to call this one It's a Crisis: Made or Revealed. So I don't have a opening or foundational scripture for this episode, but I do want to start it with a quote that I read within Good Leaders Ask Great Questions by John C. Maxwell. And it reads, "You're not made in a crisis, you're revealed." Now, in the full context of things, like I said, it was actually somebody else that quoted within the book, but they were talking about leading, you know, in a crisis. And but I really spent some time with that and that just resonated with me. And I was like, man, I mean, yes, I know he was talking in the context of leadership, but that's really something that's applicable to all of our lives and stuff. And so, you know, what does that really mean for me in the context of my life? Well, to unpack that, some— I personally don't believe— well, let me say this, although I believe that we can learn from crisis, uh, crisis I don't think we can be made through it. You know, I'm trying to figure out how to really unpack this. So I work at— like I said, I'm a senior technical project manager, uh, for a software development company. And one of my, one of my primary things is I dedicate a lot of time towards compliance, you know. So you get into like risk mitigation and understanding crisis management and so on. But we go through and study a lot of things, you know, beforehand in order to come up with these, like, so worst case, best case scenarios. And that way we kind of have like a framework to go by in case we are hit— we don't want to, but in case we are hit with something like, you know, a big risk that we just take, or a crisis that, you know, or incident that really can change the way we do business, if not, you know, put us out. And so of course that's worst case scenario, you know. It's just like this coronavirus stuff, you know. We had to have business continuity, you know, incident management in place in order to like respond. Okay, what if this does come to America and companies end up, you know, having to work remote when, you know, A lot of the company can, but then part of the company couldn't. But then when business continuity come in place, you know, they have to— if the government comes down and say, hey, you know, right now don't go to work, we have to still be able to show that we can do business in the midst of that. And so what does that look like? Well, kind of going back to why I said I don't believe that you're made in it, you're revealed in it, is because especially like I said, in this time since I'm making this episode, this coronavirus stuff going on, leaders are being exposed, whether it be good or bad. They're being revealed, you know, maybe I should say revealed or exposed. But all that leadership stuff, it's time to really demonstrate it now, you know. Some say, well, we never experienced something like this before. Okay, well, kind of going back to things that we've studied, and yes, I know it is things that we can, you know, basically come upon that we never really experienced, but But that's where leadership comes from. That's, you know, from the spiritual sense, the foundational. That's where being just led by the Holy Spirit, you know, or I like to say, if you hear me say oftentimes, spirit-led, principle-centered. So if I don't have a spiritual direct, like, just hear anything directly from the Spirit of the Lord, then I make this decision based off principle because I believe principles transcend time. So that being said, simply put, the Holy Spirit isn't speaking, God's not speaking. Make that decision based off of my principles, you know. So you're taking morals, values. This is where character comes into play, you know. Are you going to basically make a decision purely off money, or are you going to make a decision off that you really do care about your companies? I mean, you, you know, it's a balance in between the two, you know. Are you going to quickly lay people off, or are you going to start with yourself? So it's like, and I'm not saying lay yourself off as a CEO, a leader, but I've seen like a lot of CEOs, they take these big bonuses and salaries, you know, they're not doing it, especially in these times, you know, right now. Or you seeing where like people are temporarily like going from $13 to $17, $18 an hour, you know, in the— what's the word— uh, like Walmart, Target, places like that. You know, or you are seeing healthcare workers go from an average of $20 to like $25, $30 an hour, you know, and counting. So those are good things. I think leaders within that, those companies or healthcare sectors, they're stepping up and they're saying, okay, you know, we have to do something, we have to manage this hit. So, you know, but keeping in mind that, you know, let's be very clear Reality is reality. So depending on the nature of what's going on, like I said, especially within the context of leaders, we have to define and address it. So you have to define reality, basically saying like, this is what it is, this is what we're dealing with. Don't try to, you know, paint a picture that's not really there. Speak to the facts, but at the same time, address it in a, you know, a godly manner. Or if you don't, you know, say if you're not a spiritual person, address it in a principled manner. Like I say, those morals and values, like just a principled decision. Because this is where, like I say, where we are revealed. It comes into place and basically we have to see, you know, what opportunities can come from this, whatever we are experiencing right now. Like, look at how a lot of small local churches or mid-sized local churches are ramping up their online presence and getting creative and outside the box with doing ministry outside of the four walls as we know it. This is stuff that we should have been doing. So sometimes, you know, these, like I said, are opportunities to get back to the way that we should have been doing it, but we have got so accustomed to doing it one way. And so, you know, one of my things I said a while ago is that when to see things as opportunities, and we have to draw a different frame around the same set of circumstances. And new pathways will come into view. So it's just like this. Once again, Philippians. In Philippians— and I really spent a lot of time in Philippians, uh, just to be honest with you, because I've been struggling with contentment. But that's, you know, we go back to the episode, lack of contentment, to hear on that. But in Philippians 4 13. You know, we've used this verse before. Paul said, I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me. But the line right up before that, Paul was speaking in terms— in the context of contentment. Like I say, he said, I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in what? Like, you, you can't go around it. You can't at all. So what— how am I tying this all into everything? Is that Paul, no matter what he went through, he was looking things through the lens of that I can do this through Christ. So no matter what I'm dealt with— so as a leader out there No matter what you're dealt with, a person, if you, you know, it sucks that if people have been laid off, people, positions have been retracted, but what's going to come up out of you? You know, are you going to go in a rut? Because it's like, if I say we, if we squeeze, if I squeeze a lemon, I get lemonade. If I squeeze the orange, I get orange juice. So what's going to happen? But if I squeeze you, what's going to come out? Positive or negative? You know, what lens are you looking at things through? So like I said, draw a different frame around the same set of circumstances that you experience and watch the new pathways come into view because you will be revealed in this. You won't be made in it. You can learn from it and go back and lessons learned, but you will be revealed. Hey, so I want to thank you for taking the time to listen to this content today. If it has impacted you in any kind of way, I want to encourage you to share it on your social media feed with family and friends. And if you desire to connect with me on a more deeper level, go to www.timothyprattjr.org where you'll get more information on how to do that. With that being said, continue to have a blessed day, and Lord's will, I'll see you next time.
