Hero Maker Podcast – From Hero to Hero Maker

Todd Wilson kicks off the “HeroMaker” podcast series with an overview of the five essential practices for making this essential shift

November 13, 2017

Exponential CEO Todd Wilson joins Exponential President Dave Ferguson to kick off the HeroMaker podcast series. Here, the two leaders focus on the importance of hero making to Exponential’s “4-10” mission (to see the number of reproducing churches in the United States increase from less than 4 percent to greater than 10 percent) and why these statistics represent a leadership problem in the church.

An Interview with Dave Ferguson & Todd Wilson on Exponential 2018 HeroMaker Theme

Wilson candidly addresses the realities that are keeping leaders from becoming hero makers:

“I think the operating system we’ve created is the biggest barrier,” Wilson says. “The average pastor wakes up each day and there’s a well-established system in the church that revolves around budgets and attendance—a hero kind of scorecard that values accumulation over multiplication. We have to intentionally put a value on investing in other people and build platforms for others vs just making our platform bigger. People will emulate what they see, especially in those they look to as leaders.”

Together, he and Ferguson explore each of the five essential practices for becoming a hero maker and share inspiring stories and examples of how the hero makers in their own lives are carrying out these specific practices:

Multiplication thinking

Permission giving

Disciple multiplying

Gift activating

Kingdom building

“If you’re not seeing the majority of your volunteer leaders investing in others,” Wilson asserts, “there’s a good chance they’re not seeing it modeled. It has to start with your leadership. We have to embed it into the value system of our churches.”


Todd Wilson is the CEO of Exponential and author of multiple books, including More: Find Your Personal Calling and Live Life to the Fullest and most recently, Multipliers: Leading Beyond Addition. Visit exponential.org/2018 to learn more about becoming a hero maker and leading a Level 5 multiplication culture.

Dave Ferguson

Dave Ferguson

Dave Ferguson is the CEO / President and co-founder for Exponential. He is also the lead pastor of Community Christian Church, an innovative multi-site missional community that is passionate about "helping people find their way back to God." Community has grown from a few college friends to thousands every weekend meeting at multiple locations in the Chicago area and has been recognized as one of America's most influential churches. Dave provides visionary leadership for NewThing, a global movement of multiplying churches.  He is an award-winning author of eight books, including Hero Maker: 5 Essential Practices for Leaders to Multiply Leaders. Dave and his wife, Sue, live in Naperville IL. They have three adult children - Amy, Joshua and Caleb.
View Author
Todd Wilson

Todd Wilson

Todd is a Kingdom entrepreneur. He spends the majority of his time starting and working with organizations committed to Kingdom impact and multiplication. Todd is a founding member of Exponential, which organizes and hosts the annual Exponential conference in Orlando and live events throughout the United States and world. Todd serves as President and CEO of Exponential, providing vision and strategic direction to the organization. Todd lives in Durham, NC, with his wife, Anna. They have two sons and two daughters-in-law: Ben & Therese and Chris & Mariah, and an amazing grandson Evan.
View Author

Related Articles