This week on The Sowers Podcast, I sat down with Chris Vacher to talk about his new book, The Long Way to Lead — and I haven't stopped thinking about one image since: the maple tree.
Chris and his family tap maple trees on their own property, and he uses that process as a picture of leadership. A tree doesn't do anything special to produce sap — when it's healthy on the inside, the sap simply runs. Leadership works the same way. You can't skip straight to the outward growth (the influence, the title, the results) without first tending to what's happening underneath.
A few things that stuck with me from the conversation:
His definition of leadership: godly influence towards God's agenda. Not influence for its own sake, and not just tenure or title — a specific kind of influence, aimed at something beyond yourself.
The four dimensions at the trunk: character, competency, credibility, and chemistry. Character sits at the center, like heartwood — Chris's point is that a leader with power, position, or charisma but weak character doesn't take much to knock over.
The knots and scars we all carry: Chris shared a hard but honest story from his own performance review, where a boss gently told him his team didn't doubt his competency — they wondered whether he actually cared about them as people, or just wanted them on the team so they'd help him win. It's a gut-check worth sitting with.
The five directions leadership shows up outwardly: spiritual, personal, relational, ministry, and strategic leadership — a helpful framework for anyone doing a 360-style review with their team.
Listen to the full conversation, and if you lead a team, grab the book and work through the discussion questions together — thelongwaytolead.com.
GUEST BIO
Chris Vacher spent 20 years in church ministry leadership in the Greater Toronto Area before founding Clearway Church Solutions in 2022, where he now coaches pastors and church teams across Canada and the U.S. on strategy, executive coaching, and his Leader360 feedback process. He holds a Master's in Leadership from Trinity Western University and lives in Ontario with his wife, Sonya, and their four kids.
To learn more about Chris, Clearway Solutions, and order his new book, please visit:
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