Show Notes
Adam Weisner was a staunch atheist until 18, then kept his faith out of his work for more than 20 years. McClain McKinney asks what changed, and how a kid with a tongue ring ended up opening company meetings in prayer. Adam's answer: in small business you can do whatever you want, "so if you're not bringing Jesus into your business, it's because you've decided not to." For him that shift came four years ago, when he joined C12. He was on Oprah at about 14 as a young Kurt Russell lookalike. He studied string theory to argue with Christians, until physics convinced him something had to exist outside space and time. "He used the very thing that I thought proved that he didn't exist to show me that he did." Then came 18 years of corporate work, from an AT&T Wireless kiosk in a Pomona Walmart to a bank branch after Bank of America bought Countrywide in 2008. McClain admits it took him until last year to see Scripture as applying to his own business, and asks the "dumb question" most owners are thinking: why does a P&L matter if you never spend more than you bring in? A coach at a Fortune 150 bank: "Just because you have a good idea doesn't mean you need to share it." A $60 million company with 400 employees netting $1 million, next to a $6 million company with 12 employees netting twice that. Law three of his book: close the books in seven days, hold seven months of cash, and get paid faster than you pay out.
CHAPTERS 00:00 Praying before recording 04:10 "It's not Sunday school. It's daily school." 06:47 On Oprah at 14 12:14 Parenting: finish the season, then decide 17:08 A tongue ring, a tattoo bluff, and Taco Bell 22:09 Atheist until 18, and the physics that changed his mind 25:49 The dentist appointment card 34:21 "There's a lot of fish in the sea" 38:35 Faith, marriage, kids, in that order 48:22 From tongue ring to bank branch manager 51:37 Six months married when Countrywide fails 57:51 The coach who told him not to share every idea 1:01:45 Leaving corporate for automotive suspension 1:05:38 Needs-based selling 1:15:35 "People don't care what you know until they know that you care" 1:19:44 The four leaders who shaped him 1:27:34 One-year goals and monthly cycles 1:30:30 What small businesses lack: conviction 1:37:07 Law three: close the books in seven days 1:43:22 Keeping faith out of work, until C12 1:49:26 Advice to his 18-year-old self
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 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 Agency: chalant.us
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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.
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