PASS THE PANCAKES — Chet Gladkowski on Leadership, Identity, and Spreading HOPE. (S5E42)
The Shepherd at Work
Saturday, October 17, 2026 - 26 minutes
What does a stack of pancakes have to do with leadership?
You're going to have to listen to find out.
Chet Gladkowski joins Krystal in the studio for a conversation that is equal parts clever, practical, funny, and deeply rooted in faith.
And yes...
Somehow pancakes become a leadership lesson.
But underneath the laughter is something Chet has devoted his life to spreading around the world:
A powerful four-letter word.
HOPE.
In a world filled with anxiety, uncertainty, division, and people desperately searching for answers, Chet believes hope isn't wishful thinking.
It's something you can actually build your life on.
Strong hope.
Hope that stands with you when life is good.
Hope that sustains you when you're walking through the valley.
And ultimately, hope rooted in a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Chet is an author, teacher, speaker, and gifted communicator whose ability to take complicated ideas and make them understandable is remarkable. Whether he's writing about hope, anxiety, identity, leadership, or walking with God, his heart is the same:
Help people discover truth they can actually live.
Krystal and Chet also dig into something every leader needs to understand:
Identity.
Chet contributed the chapter “The Power of Identity” to Kingdom Commerce, exploring what happens when we allow our value to be determined by performance, circumstances, accomplishments, or our own constantly changing opinions of ourselves.
That's shaky ground.
But when our identity is anchored in who God is and what He has done for us, we have something capable of standing through the storms of life.
And then there's Chet's approach to leadership.
He's clever.
He's quick.
He's brilliant.
But perhaps most importantly...
He's here to serve.
Because Chet believes God created us for His glory and to serve one another—and that's where a life of purpose and significance is found.
Chet's mission through GLAD Associates is to communicate the good news of Jesus in ways people can understand and apply to the real problems of everyday life.
And he's not slowing down.
Through his books, articles, devotionals, teaching, and vision for spreading hope, Chet is reminding people everywhere that brokenness doesn't get the final word.
Hope does.
This episode will make you think.
It will make you laugh.
It may even make you hungry.
But most importantly, it will remind you that as Christian leaders, we carry something into our workplaces and communities that the world desperately needs.
HOPE.
👉 Learn more about Chet, his books, and his work through https://www.chetglad.org/
🎧 Listen. Pass the pancakes. Spread HOPE. Serve somebody.
