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What if the very thing you think is protecting you as a leader is actually holding you back?

In this episode of The Reluctant Leader Podcast, Paul sits down with Natasha Skolny, a former professional ice skater who is now a leadership coach and founder of The Leadership Cabin. It's a wide-ranging, deeply practical conversation about authenticity, nervous system regulation, resilience, and what it really takes to lead people well.

Natasha introduces the idea of “corporate armor”—the protective persona leaders put on to look competent, composed, and in control—and explains why that armor quietly erodes trust instead of building it. Together, Paul and Natasha explore why leaders are often promoted for control, but succeed long-term through connection.

The conversation moves from boardrooms to locker rooms to ice baths, unpacking:

• Why vulnerability actually increases credibility
• How control and discipline are not the same thing
• What professional athletes understand about emotional regulation
• Why breathwork, movement, and even cold plunging help leaders stay grounded
• How stored emotion shows up in surprising (and often destructive) ways
• Why the best leaders invest in coaches—and keep doing it
• How Natasha helps young women reconnect with their voice, values, and direction

This episode is honest, hopeful, and highly practical—especially for leaders who are tired of pretending they’re fine and ready to lead from a healthier place.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Armor creates distance; humanity builds trust
• What got you here won’t get you there
• Regulation beats repression—every time
• Resilient leaders train their nervous systems, not just their skills
• You were never meant to lead alone

🔗 Connect with Natasha

• Website: theleadershipcabin.com
• LinkedIn & YouTube & Instagram

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Thanks for listening to The Reluctant Leader Podcast with Paul Jenkins! Find me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, and be sure to read the stuff I'm writing on my blog.

Rather watch the video? Head over to The Reluctant Leader Podcast on my YouTube channel.

Got questions or comments? Text them to me!

In a world more connected than ever, leadership has quietly become more distant.

We have constant access to people—texts, emails, meetings, metrics—but proximity isn’t the same as presence. And when leaders begin leading from a distance, something subtle but serious happens: our decisions start to lose their soul.

In this episode of The Reluctant Leader Podcast, Paul Jenkins reflects on an often-overlooked moment in Exodus 28:30, where God instructs the high priest to wear the breastplate—the place of discernment—over the heart.

That detail is more than symbolic. It’s formative.

This episode explores why:

• Good decisions flow from a well-connected heart
• Leadership always moves in two directions—toward people and toward God
• Distance shows up first in our decisions
• Vulnerability isn’t a soft skill, but a leadership necessity

When leaders close the gap emotionally, relationally, and spiritually, people stop being projects and start being people again. Stories stay close. Pain stays human. Growth stays personal.

If you’ve been feeling cynical, sharp, or detached in your leadership, this episode offers a hopeful invitation—not to work harder, but to move closer.

Closer to God.
Closer to people.
Closer to the heart.

Key Takeaways

• You can be around people and still not be with them
• Discernment belongs near compassion, not distance
• Leadership breaks down when either people or God drift from the heart
• Vulnerability keeps decision-making human and God-honoring
• The heart must stay involved for leadership to remain effective

Scripture Referenced

• Exodus 28:30

Leadership Practice for the Month

Wear the breastplate again.
Let decisions be shaped by love.
Lead with people, not over them.

If this episode encouraged you, share it with someone you’re leading—or another leader who needs the reminder. And as always, keep giving God your best, and He’ll do the rest.

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Thanks for listening to The Reluctant Leader Podcast with Paul Jenkins! Find me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, and be sure to read the stuff I'm writing on my blog.

Rather watch the video? Head over to The Reluctant Leader Podcast on my YouTube channel.

Got questions or comments? Text them to me!

In this episode, Paul sits down with Maggie Mastin — life coach, spiritual director, and director of career development at Indiana Wesleyan University — for a conversation that brings leadership back into the real world… your actual body.

They explore what happens when leaders live from the neck up, why “slowing down” is more spiritual than it sounds, and how paying attention to physical sensations can become a surprising pathway to discernment, emotional health, and Spirit-led presence.

This one is equal parts practical, pastoral, and (yes) a little funny—because apparently Paul still can’t do a British accent without getting roasted.

What you’ll hear in this episode

• Why the body often reacts before the brain can explain
• The tension between having a body and being a body
• A simple practice: noticing tightness, warmth, restlessness, or peace as “data”
• How to create slower space in leadership without getting weird about it
• A powerful moment from Paul’s church: anxiety in worship as discernment, not distraction
• Seasons of the soul: why you can’t live in “spring” forever
• The “embers and flames” metaphor for faith that sustains you over time
• What farm life teaches about patience, limits, and trust
• Why play and whimsy matter more than we admit
• Photography as a “thin place”: capturing holy moments in ordinary life

Key quotes (short and shareable)

• “Your body moves toward what you want before you can explain it.”
• “You’re not the season you’re in—but the season you’re in matters.”
• “You can’t have flame without ember.”
• “Pay attention to the tension.”

Try this today (a 60-second practice)

Before your next meeting, sermon prep session, or hard conversation:

1. Take one slow breath.
2. Ask: What’s happening in my body right now?
3. Name it without fixing it (tight, heavy, energized, restless, calm).
4. Ask: God, what are You inviting me into through this?

About Maggie

Maggie is a spiritual director, life coach, educator, and the director of career development at Indiana Wesleyan University. She helps people grow in self-awareness, discern their next steps, and live with greater integration—body, soul, and story.

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Thanks for listening to The Reluctant Leader Podcast with Paul Jenkins! Find me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, and be sure to read the stuff I'm writing on my blog.

Rather watch the video? Head over to The Reluctant Leader Podcast on my YouTube channel.