The Emotionally Healthy Leader Podcast

📥 Free Resource: Download our free guide to get started with the Daily Office emotionallyhealthy.org/dailyoffice

One of the questions I get asked more than almost any other is: How do you spend time with God each day? What do you do? For how long? Is there a right way?
Here's the truth I've learned over decades of pastoral ministry: there is no one-size-fits-all daily time with God. The goal was never a method—it was always a life of loving union with Him.
In this episode, I take you on a personal journey through five distinct phases of my own prayer life—from intense Scripture study to intercessory prayer, from emotional health integration to contemplative rhythms rooted in monastic wisdom. Each phase taught me something essential. None of them, on their own, was the whole picture.
Then I lay out six practical pillars you can use to design a daily rhythm with God that actually fits you—your season, your temperament, your calling.
Whether you're a ministry leader under immense pressure or someone just trying to show up faithfully, this episode will help you stop copying someone else's spirituality and start building something sustainable and life-giving.
The best daily time with God isn't the longest one. It's the one you'll actually keep.

Reserve your spot at our upcoming Global Leaders Conference.
September 30 – October 1, 2026
14th St. Salvation Army, NYC
(Live Spanish Translation available)
Register Now: https://ehd.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/3421612
Learn more about the EH Global Leader Conference 2026: emotionallyhealthy.org/conference

Take your team through the Emotionally Healthy Leader Book. Download the FREE discussion guide: http://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/leader
Let’s get honest.
Power makes most of us uncomfortable.
So we avoid it, minimize it, or misuse it.
In this episode, Pete Scazzero shares a defining leadership failure—one that cost him deeply: relationships, trust, and a 20-year community.
At the center of it?
Unclear boundaries and dual relationships.
You’ll discover:
Why every leader must name and steward their power
The danger of trying to be both a friend and a supervisor
How blurred roles quietly damage teams and culture
Why the burden of boundaries always falls on the leader
What it means to do the inner work required for healthy leadership
This is not about leadership theory.
It’s about formation.
Because if you don’t deal with power and boundaries, they will deal with you.

Reserve your spot at our upcoming Global Leaders Conference.
September 30 – October 1, 2026
14th St. Salvation Army, NYC
(Live Spanish Translation available)
Register Now: https://ehd.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/3421612
Learn more about the EH Global Leader Conference 2026: emotionallyhealthy.org/conference

Take your team through the Emotionally Healthy Leader Book. Download the FREE discussion guide: http://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/leader
Church scandals don’t begin the day they are exposed. They begin years earlier—in quiet compromises, ignored red flags, and leaders whose gifting has grown faster than their maturity.
In this episode of The Emotionally Healthy Leader Podcast, I go beneath the headlines to name the real issue: church scandals are not first a PR problem. They are a formation problem.
Jesus told us pressure would come. He told us not to be surprised. And He made clear that what will matter in the end is not image management, but whether we have become the kind of leaders who can stand firm under pressure without collapsing.
I unpack four essential pillars every pastor and church leader needs if they hope to lead with integrity over the long haul: facing your shadow, leading out of your marriage or singleness, slowing down for loving union with Jesus, and practicing Sabbath delight.
This is not about quick fixes. It’s about deep transformation.

If you care about the name of Jesus, the witness of the church, and finishing well, this episode is for you.
Reserve your spot at our upcoming Global Leaders Conference.
September 30 – October 1, 2026
14th St. Salvation Army, NYC
(Live Spanish Translation available)
Register Now: https://ehd.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/3421612
Learn more about the EH Global Leader Conference 2026: emotionallyhealthy.org/conference

Free Resource: The Benefits of Doing Family of Origin Work (Download Here):
👉 https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/school
Churches don't just have problems.
They are emotional systems.
In this episode of the Emotionally Healthy Leader Podcast, I introduce one of the most powerful frameworks I've ever learned for understanding leadership, conflict, and why anxiety spreads so quickly in churches: Family Systems Theory.
Much of this work comes from psychiatrist Murray Bowen and was later brought into church leadership by Edwin Friedman in Generation to Generation. But don't worry — we'll keep this practical, spiritual, and grounded in real ministry life.
If you've ever:
Walked into a meeting calm and left reactive
Worked harder at someone's growth than they are
Watched conflict spread like electricity through your churc
You're not crazy. You're leading inside an emotional system.

The greatest gift you will ever give your church is not better strategy.

It's your own inner transformation.
Emotional health isn't a side issue.
It's leadership.
Listen in.
Learn more about our School of Emotionally Healthy Leadership:
👉 https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/school
Download the "8 Traps That Kill Your Spaciousness" ebook:
👉 https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/spaciousness
Emotional health isn't optional. It's essential.

Free Resource: Download the “8 Traps That Kill Your Spaciousness” ebook:
👉 https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/spaciousness
Churches don’t just have problems.
They are emotional systems.
In this episode of the Emotionally Healthy Leader Podcast, I introduce one of the most powerful frameworks I’ve ever learned for understanding leadership, conflict, and why anxiety spreads so quickly in churches: Family Systems Theory.
Much of this work comes from psychiatrist Murray Bowen and was later brought into church leadership by Edwin Friedman in Generation to Generation. But don’t worry — we’ll keep this practical, spiritual, and grounded in real ministry life.
If you’ve ever:
Walked into a meeting calm and left reactive
Worked harder at someone’s growth than they are
Watched conflict spread like electricity through your church
You’re not crazy. You’re leading inside an emotional system.

The greatest gift you will ever give your church is not better strategy.

It’s your own inner transformation.
Emotional health isn’t a side issue.
It’s leadership.
Listen in.
Learn more about our School of Emotionally Healthy Leadership:
👉 https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/school
Download the “8 Traps That Kill Your Spaciousness” ebook:
👉 https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/spaciousness
Emotional health isn’t optional. It’s essential.

Reserve your spot at our upcoming Global Leaders Conference.
September 30 – October 1, 2026
14th St. Salvation Army, NYC
(Live Spanish Translation available)
Register Now: https://ehd.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/3421612
Learn more about the EH Global Leader Conference 2026: emotionallyhealthy.org/conference