05/29/2026
๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐คโฆโฃ
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and still need to ask a hard question:โฃ
โWho is holding the rock right now?โโฃ
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That line stood out from Steve Adamsโ conversation with Jim Batten.โฃ
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Jim has carried real responsibility in business, banking, board service, and family life. In the conversation, Steve introduces his background with QCR Holdings, Guaranty Bank, H2D2 LLC, International Dehydrated Foods, and OโReilly Automotive.โฃ
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But what made this conversation so valuable was not just the rรฉsumรฉ.โฃ
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It was the honesty.โฃ
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Jim talked about faith.โฃ
Family.โฃ
Work.โฃ
Church.โฃ
Long seasons.โฃ
Heavy responsibility.โฃ
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And what it takes to stay grounded when life does not fit neatly into a โbalancedโ schedule.โฃ
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Here are a few lessons that stayed with me:โฃ
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๐. ๐๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ.โฃ
When Steve asked Jim about his family, Jim said family is number one after his faith.โฃ
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He talked about his wife, Lorna, their 40 years of marriage, their five children, their grandchildren, and the blessing of seeing his children serving God.โฃ
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That was one of the clearest statements in the whole conversation:โฃ
For Jim, his kids serving the Lord is the number one measure of success.โฃ
Not a title.โฃ
Not a company.โฃ
Not a financial milestone.โฃ
Family serving the Lord.โฃ
That kind of clarity changes how you carry success.โฃ
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๐. ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฌ๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ.โฃ
Jim did not pretend work was always easy to manage.โฃ
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When he was at OโReilly, he described seasons where the work was challenging, the hours were long, and he and Lorna had to operate as a team.โฃ
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Sometimes she would bring the boys to the office with pizza so he could see them before they went to bed.โฃ
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Other times, he would come home, spend time with them, and then stay up working after they went to sleep.โฃ
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That is not the glossy version of leadership.โฃ
That is real life.โฃ
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Jim said he had โonly so big of a pie,โ so he collapsed the slice of personal time. He quit playing golf and other things like that.โฃ
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Work.โฃ
Family.โฃ
Church.โฃ
That was the rhythm.โฃ
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๐. ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฌ๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ, ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ญ.โฃ
One of the strongest parts of the conversation came when Steve asked how Jim stayed on track spiritually through all those years.โฃ
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Jim said something important:โฃ
The perfect work-life balance is not really sustainable as a flat line.โฃ
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There are seasons where you are borrowing.โฃ
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Sometimes the company needs time.โฃ
Sometimes a deal or acquisition requires more.โฃ
Sometimes work gets upside down for a while.โฃ
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But that cannot become the permanent pattern.โฃ
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Because as Jim said, you cannot leave your family holding the rock of everything you are supposed to be carrying.โฃ
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They may be able to hold your part for a while.โฃ
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But if you never come back and pick it up again, that is when things break.โฃ
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๐. ๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐๐ก ๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ.โฃ
Jim shared a simple practice from his drive home.โฃ
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There was a specific place on his route, about 10 minutes from his house, where he would try to turn off work mode.โฃ
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That physical spot helped him switch gears before walking into the house.โฃ
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Steve called it a demarcation point.โฃ
A place to flip the switch.โฃ
A place to get into prayer.โฃ
A place to be ready to show up at home and be home.โฃ
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Simple?โฃ
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Yes.โฃ
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But for anyone who has ever carried work stress through the front door, it lands.โฃ
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๐. ๐๐ญ๐๐ฒ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฌ.โฃ
Jim talked about staying faithful to church, family time, and the Word.โฃ
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He stayed involved in church.โฃ
He was on the worship team.โฃ
He was in a small group.โฃ
He served on the church board.โฃ
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Steve pointed out that staying involved can become a kind of forcing function.โฃ
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Because when everything gets busy, the first things we cut are often the very things helping us stay grounded.โฃ
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This conversation was such a helpful reminder:โฃ
Faith and work are not separate compartments.โฃ
Family is not an interruption to success.โฃ
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And leadership is not just about what you carry in public.โฃ
It is also about what you return to carry at home.โฃ
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So hereโs the question:โฃ
๐๐ก๐จ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ก๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ค ๐ข๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ง๐จ๐ฐ?โฃ
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And is it time to come back and pick up what is yours to carry?โฃ
๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ฉ๐ญ ๐๐ฏ๐ข๐๐๐ง๐๐โฃ
๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ธ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ถ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ต๐ญ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ถ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ EP 98 ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ค๐ณ๐ช๐ฑ๐ต. ๐๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ง๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ด, ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐น๐ข๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ.โฃโฃ
