Show Notes
What separates a business from a biblical business? Adam Weisner's answer is one sentence, and living by it cost him a company.
This is episode one. Adam Weisner and McClain McKinney open the show on the question everything else hangs off of. A biblical business, Adam says, is one the owner understands was never his. A business is something a person owns and grows for himself.
Then he refuses to let that be a soft answer. You cannot run a biblical business badly. Sloppy books, no processes, nobody minding the marketing, and a cross in the logo is not a biblical business. It is a poorly run business with a cross in the logo.
Adam grew up an atheist, climbed to managing director at a Fortune 150 bank, and until about three years ago treated his faith and his work as two separate things. A C12 group finally put them together for him in October 2022. Inside of a year he had sold his ownership in the company he was running and taken over Sherman Research, where 51% of net income goes to advancing the gospel.
McClain comes at it from the other direction. On his first job out of college, a director of photography told him the two rules of working on set were no politics and no religion. He was 22, and he wrote it down like it was wisdom. He ran a company for twelve years before he questioned it.
Along the way Adam explains why "Christian" in front of a noun came to mean second rate, and calls that a disservice to the creator of the universe. He thinks most Christian business owners quoting "preach the gospel, and when necessary use words" simply do not want to use the words, because words carry consequences. On letting someone go, his position is that showing them Jesus in that meeting is already far too late. McClain brings up the hire he got wrong and the severance he paid anyway, which made no business sense to him until he stopped calling it his money.
CHAPTERS 00:00 The difference between a business and a biblical business 03:42 The C12 meeting that turned business into a ministry 07:51 The two rules McClain was handed at 22 14:53 Selling his ownership and taking over Sherman 18:41 The 51%, the teardown rebrand, and Galatians 5 23:07 You cannot run a biblical business badly 23:48 Why "Christian" in front of a noun came to mean subpar 26:24 What people hide behind when they say "when necessary, use words" 32:20 A thousand videos in a year 59:13 AI as commoditization, and why trust becomes the separator 1:06:00 Firing people differently, and what grace is not 1:11:01 Why showing someone Jesus in the termination meeting is too late 1:13:09 The hire McClain got wrong, and the severance that made no sense 1:18:06 "He's been there the whole time. He's just watching us fumble the bag." 1:33:29 The book, and what's next
Adam Weisner and McClain McKinney host Biblical Business together. Adam is the CEO of Sherman Research and the author of Biblical Business: Seven Unbreakable Laws of Leadership, at biblicalbusiness.com. McClain runs the creative agency Chalant and does most of the asking.
Every episode is a long conversation with a founder who loves Jesus and is actually building something.
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More from Biblical Business Podcast
Business books or the Bible? McClain McKinney asks Adam Weisner where to draw the line, and they land on jazz: learn the standards first, then you earn the right to improvise. Adam on why science keeps catching up with what was already there, and why Jesus is only concerned with the heart behind it. Then Adam's story. He wanted a car for Christmas and opened a box of Tony Robbins tapes. A strong-willed child, a house with no power, and getting saved in October 2000, right before he met Jen. They talk about iron sharpening iron, the loneliness of leading, and what Adam found inside C12. Adam on selling with contentment ("the outcomes didn't determine my output"), why stoicism is about self and contentment is about God, and how to steward a business without panic. Their close: it's hard to trust God with the outcomes. Trusting Him with the timing is harder. CHAPTERS 00:00 Business books or the Bible? 03:09 Jazz standards 07:07 Learn the rules, then break them 11:59 Science catching up to God 16:43 The Tony Robbins tapes 20:03 A strong-willed child 26:38 A house with no power 33:05 October 2000 40:31 Iron sharpens iron 46:52 The slow drip and the dam break 51:01 The loneliness of leading 56:23 Inside C12 1:04:56 Contentment is not stoicism 1:13:09 Stewardship without panic 1:18:58 Right practice, wrong intention 1:24:36 Breaking the rut 1:28:50 Trusting God with the timing 1:34:57 Redefining success FOLLOW THE SHOW YouTube: youtube.com/@biblicalbusinesspodcast Instagram: instagram.com/biblicalbusinesspodcast ADAM WEISNER CEO of Sherman Research. Author of Biblical Business: Seven Unbreakable Laws of Leadership. Instagram: instagram.com/thedispensableceo TikTok: tiktok.com/@thedispensableceo YouTube: youtube.com/@TheDispensableCEO LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/adamweisner Newsletter: adamweisner.substack.com Book: biblicalbusiness.com MCCLAIN MCKINNEY Founder and CEO of Chalant. Instagram: instagram.com/mcclainmckinney TikTok: tiktok.com/@mcclainmckinney YouTube: youtube.com/@McClainMcKinney LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mcclainmckinney Site: mcclainmckinney.com Agency: chalant.us Subscribe to Biblical Business so you catch the next episode. Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
How should Christians think about AI? Adam Weisner and McClain McKinney start with Daniel in Babylon: he learned the language and the culture, and when it mattered, God got the glory. Adam's line: "We're not believers in AI. We are leveragers and users of AI. I believe in Jesus." They talk about what changes when anyone can execute, why judgment, taste and ideas become the most valuable things you bring, and why being made in God's image means you were made to create. Then the video game Adam built from one prompt. McClain walks through a chart of how few people use AI at all, and they get practical: guardrails, filling out a 31-page RFP, turning a 93-page brand guide into a working brand system, what Adam hands off, and how McClain writes his prompts. Then the hard part. McClain admits he'll go to AI before he goes to God, and Adam names the biggest danger of AI for Christians: the illusion of control. Test it by the fruit of the Spirit, and choose silence. CHAPTERS 00:00 How should Christians think about AI? 02:19 Daniel in Babylon 05:24 Purpose beyond profit 08:37 Nothing new under the sun 13:17 When anyone can execute 17:24 A game from one prompt 20:30 You are not behind 23:10 Guardrails 26:53 RFPs and brand systems 33:53 What Adam hands off 39:16 Mapping the business 42:58 Productivity is not efficiency 46:40 How McClain prompts 49:05 The game is done 55:15 AI before God 57:01 The illusion of control 1:02:24 Test it by the fruit FOLLOW THE SHOW YouTube: youtube.com/@biblicalbusinesspodcast Instagram: instagram.com/biblicalbusinesspodcast ADAM WEISNER CEO of Sherman Research. Author of Biblical Business: Seven Unbreakable Laws of Leadership. Instagram: instagram.com/thedispensableceo TikTok: tiktok.com/@thedispensableceo YouTube: youtube.com/@TheDispensableCEO LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/adamweisner Newsletter: adamweisner.substack.com Book: biblicalbusiness.com MCCLAIN MCKINNEY Founder and CEO of Chalant. Instagram: instagram.com/mcclainmckinney TikTok: tiktok.com/@mcclainmckinney YouTube: youtube.com/@McClainMcKinney LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mcclainmckinney Site: mcclainmckinney.com Agency: chalant.us Subscribe to Biblical Business so you catch the next episode. Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
This one wasn't planned. Adam Weisner and McClain McKinney had a two-hour meeting, kept talking, and decided to hit record. It's a conversation about leadership. Adam on going from a 19-year-old with a lot to prove to a servant leader, and why the only real mark of success is Jesus' name growing with his influence. McClain, an Enneagram 3, on learning to be uncomfortably honest; Adam, an 8, on why he hears conflict as raw truth. Then the bank's color test ("be brief, be bright, be gone") next to the fruit of the Spirit. They get into accountability: who asks the leader the hard questions, what Adam found in C12 after Vistage, and why you might only need one person. Adam on putting the sail up and waiting: a company debt paid off in about two years instead of the five he expected, and the hire who backed out the morning of his start date. "Pruning is preparation." McClain talks through a hard season after 40 days away, and Adam tells him there are a lot easier ways to make money. Their close: you are in control of your obedience today. CHAPTERS 00:00 An unplanned episode 04:04 From proving to serving 06:16 Conflict is raw truth 09:26 The color test 13:16 Younger than the room 18:22 Who holds the leader accountable? 28:00 C12 vs Vistage 32:49 Put the sail up and wait 38:05 Manufacturing wind 42:26 Pruning is preparation 44:54 A winter you didn't expect 52:00 Why do any of this? 57:52 You never owned it 1:00:57 In control of your obedience FOLLOW THE SHOW YouTube: youtube.com/@biblicalbusinesspodcast Instagram: instagram.com/biblicalbusinesspodcast ADAM WEISNER CEO of Sherman Research. Author of Biblical Business: Seven Unbreakable Laws of Leadership. Instagram: instagram.com/thedispensableceo TikTok: tiktok.com/@thedispensableceo YouTube: youtube.com/@TheDispensableCEO LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/adamweisner Newsletter: adamweisner.substack.com Book: biblicalbusiness.com MCCLAIN MCKINNEY Founder and CEO of Chalant. Instagram: instagram.com/mcclainmckinney TikTok: tiktok.com/@mcclainmckinney YouTube: youtube.com/@McClainMcKinney LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mcclainmckinney Site: mcclainmckinney.com Agency: chalant.us Subscribe to Biblical Business so you catch the next episode. Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Is your brand selfish? McClain McKinney tells Adam Weisner he is approaching branding from a selfish perspective. Adam's answer: a brand always starts with someone's selfish opinion, and then it has to earn trust. They start with a definition. Adam: "Your brand is your reputation." McClain: "the subconscious affiliation of unrelated things." From there they get into the brand moat, the thing that protects you when someone does the same thing you do, or does it cheaper. Then AI. Adam argues that the capability of AI is inversely correlated to trust, and that all future currency is articulation. McClain makes his case for human-made work on purpose, and they work through what Tesla and SpaceX say, a thousand true fans, and why great marketing is other people telling your story, not you. They finish on where they agree: trust is the moat, and the first principles they want for this podcast. CHAPTERS 00:00 The disagreement 06:36 What is a brand? 10:20 The brand moat 14:04 Is branding selfish? 19:19 Trust in the AI era 25:34 Human-made on purpose 34:53 What Tesla and SpaceX say 45:46 A thousand true fans 48:05 Invest in story, not ads 56:16 Humble and curious 58:53 Where we agree 1:04:30 Competing without manipulation 1:09:54 Branding this podcast 1:13:59 Trust is the moat 1:18:40 What's worth doing next 1:28:10 First principles for our brand FOLLOW THE SHOW YouTube: youtube.com/@biblicalbusinesspodcast Instagram: instagram.com/biblicalbusinesspodcast ADAM WEISNER CEO of Sherman Research. Author of Biblical Business: Seven Unbreakable Laws of Leadership. Instagram: instagram.com/thedispensableceo TikTok: tiktok.com/@thedispensableceo YouTube: youtube.com/@TheDispensableCEO LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/adamweisner Newsletter: adamweisner.substack.com Book: biblicalbusiness.com MCCLAIN MCKINNEY Founder and CEO of Chalant. Instagram: instagram.com/mcclainmckinney TikTok: tiktok.com/@mcclainmckinney YouTube: youtube.com/@McClainMcKinney LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mcclainmckinney Site: mcclainmckinney.com Agency: chalant.us Subscribe to Biblical Business so you catch the next episode. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
What does it look like when a company decides to "manage someone out"? Adam Weisner says a biblical business does the opposite. Adam's answer starts with the leader: if you are firing someone, you have most likely failed them. Usually the gap is a lack of clarity, a lack of accountability, or a bad hiring process. So he sets a real process (a verbal warning, a written warning, then 30, 60, and 90 day windows), ends each step with "how can I help you?", and means it. His line: "If somebody's underperforming, it is a direct reflection of your lack of leadership." Adam has terminated people because of changes in the business and for things they did or didn't do, and says it never gets easy, ever. Some of the people he has let go, or who quit, still ask him to be their mentor. He has also moved underperformers into a smaller role instead, sometimes at the same pay and sometimes at a way reduced scope. McClain McKinney brings the small business owner's side. He hired for growth when he needed operations, had to let that person go, then told his network about him, and 10 people asked for the man's email. He also tells how the coaching relationship with Adam turned into a job at Sherman. CHAPTERS 00:00 Why people see a firing coming, and a family hire who stops showing up 04:14 "If I'm firing somebody, then I have failed them most likely as a leader" 05:30 How corporate "manages someone out," and what stewardship does instead 07:02 Verbal warning, written warning, 30, 60, and 90 days: "how can I help you?" 11:23 Why firing "wrecks you," and the people who still call afterward 15:09 Why corporate trains people to be cold, and what ignoring an underperformer tells everyone else 17:35 A witness in the room, a confirming email, and one consistent process 23:21 McClain hired for growth when he needed operations 26:33 Letting him go, then telling his network: 10 people asked for his email 32:10 The garage hiring video and the thousands who responded 41:20 "You just need to be you": watches, UFC, and homeschool 43:28 McClain's 40 day sabbatical, and "what if you were to come work for me?" 48:06 A speaking invite to a castle in Scotland, and how Adam ended up in Orlando 53:47 "There is no butterfly effect" 1:01:29 Adam's rule: no top-level hire without his wife's buy-in 1:07:41 "Is this an easy path to what?" 1:09:26 Tennis versus pickleball, and who wrote your SOPs BOOKS MENTIONED The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgenson: https://amzn.to/4yk6rlA As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. FOLLOW THE SHOW YouTube: youtube.com/@biblicalbusinesspodcast Instagram: instagram.com/biblicalbusinesspodcast ADAM WEISNER CEO of Sherman Research. Author of Biblical Business: Seven Unbreakable Laws of Leadership. Instagram: instagram.com/thedispensableceo TikTok: tiktok.com/@thedispensableceo YouTube: youtube.com/@TheDispensableCEO LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/adamweisner Newsletter: adamweisner.substack.com Book: biblicalbusiness.com MCCLAIN MCKINNEY Founder and CEO of Chalant. Instagram: instagram.com/mcclainmckinney TikTok: tiktok.com/@mcclainmckinney YouTube: youtube.com/@McClainMcKinney LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mcclainmckinney Site: mcclainmckinney.com Agency: chalant.us Subscribe to Biblical Business so you catch the next episode.