
010. A Systems Theory Expert on the Anxiety Running Your Team ft. Steve Cuss
From Formation with John Ortberg by Become New
September 2, 2026 · 1h 33m
About this episode
Steve Cuss discusses the impact of anxiety on leadership and personal experiences growing up in a challenging environment.
What happens when the person managing everyone else's anxiety is the most anxious one in the room? Steve Cuss joins John for a conversation that starts in a childhood home in Western Australia and ends up inside the emotional wiring of every leader, marriage, and church staff meeting. Steve talks candidly about growing up in a household run by unpredictable anger, the confidence he built on a foundation of fear, and the hospital chaplaincy that stripped all of it away. What emerges is a wor...
People in this episode
Host: John Ortberg
Guest: Steve Cuss
Topics covered
- anxiety
- leadership
- emotional health
- childhood experiences
- church staff dynamics
Keywords
- anxiety
- leadership
- emotional wiring
- childhood trauma
- hospital chaplaincy
Mentioned in this episode
Places: Western Australia
More episodes of Formation with John Ortberg
- AMA01. Predestination, Soul Care, Navigating Church Hurt, and Healing Childhood Wounds · August 19, 2026 · 41 min
- 009. Everything You Need to Know About the Next Generation ft. Kara Powell · August 5, 2026 · 1h 21m
- 008. As the World Gets More Synthetic, the Church Must Get More Human ft. Carey Nieuwhof · July 22, 2026 · 1h 16m
- 007. Quadriplegia, Despair, and Learning to Truly Live ft. Joni Eareckson Tada · July 8, 2026 · 1h 14m
- 006. A Silicon Valley Pastor on the Spiritual Cost of a Distracted Life ft. Jay Kim · June 24, 2026 · 1h 20m
- 005. The Hidden Spiritual Cost of How We Work ft. Gary Hamel · June 10, 2026 · 1h 25m
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Formation with John Ortberg podcast page.