Todd White: The Uncertainty Advantage and Building Organizations That Outlast Their Leaders

In this episode of The Wisdom Of... Show, host Simon Bowen speaks with Todd White, CEO of Rescue Mission Alliance and former President, COO, and CFO of Barna Group. With over 30 years of diverse leadership experience spanning startups, Fortune 500s, and faith-based organizations, Todd reveals why celebrating uncertainty beats chasing certainty, how to direct high performers without killing their genius, and the framework for integrating authentic purpose with aggressive business goals.

Discover how to build organizations that don't just survive complexity but use it as competitive fuel, and why the best leaders embed their thinking into organizational DNA rather than keeping it locked in their heads.

Ready to elevate your strategic thinking? Join Simon's exclusive masterclass on The Models Method. Learn how to think systemically about complex business challenges: https://thesimonbowen.com/masterclass

Episode Breakdown

00:00 Introduction and Todd's transition from for-profit to nonprofit leadership

02:20 Defining true entrepreneurialism: The love of solving complex problems

06:20 Why real solutions are transportable across departments and divisions

07:00 Business basics: Starting with stewardship of money, time, resources, and people

11:40 Why your life as a leader becomes a promise to others

14:00 THE 100-DAY FRAMEWORK - Building the visual model live

14:20 The three levers: Revenue, cost controls, and efficiency

16:00 Turning over rocks to find gold (not just hunting for problems)

17:30 The four quadrants: Foundation, Reach, Gold, and Priorities

23:00 Which quadrant to start with (and why reach comes first)

28:00 The AdCheck story: When tactics change but strategy remains valuable

30:00 Strategy is context and relevance; tactics are concepts

32:00 The Patterson StratOp process and strategic planning

36:00 Scale for contribution vs. scale for commerce

42:00 The power of collaboration over competition

43:00 Culture is a feature; character is the benefit

46:00 Common sense isn't common: The book Todd started writing

About Todd White

Todd White brings over 30 years of diverse leadership experience to his role as CEO of Rescue Mission Alliance. He most recently served as President, COO and CFO of Barna Group, a Christian research organization that provides data on the trends affecting faith and culture, for more than 10 years.

Throughout his career, Todd has held senior leadership positions at various organizations, including serving as CFO and VP of Finance at Gospel Light Publications and as co-founder and President of AdCheck, Inc., a marketing and media company. He earned his bachelor's degree in accounting from California Lutheran University, and an MBA with an emphasis in Strategy and Economics from the New York Institute of Technology.

Todd describes himself as "entrepreneurial-minded," which means he celebrates uncertainty, strives for growth, never stops learning, is always curious, asks tough questions and thoroughly enjoys solving complex problems.

Connect with Todd White

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddawhite/

Twitter: https://x.com/tawhite67?lang=en

Rescue Mission Alliance: https://www.erescuemission.org/

About Simon Bowen

Simon has spent over two decades working with influential leaders across complex industries. His focus is on elevating thinking in organizations, recognizing that success is directly proportional to the quality of thinking and ideas within a business. Simon leads the renaissance of thinking through his work with global leaders and organizations.