Episode #46
Episode 46 | Ownership vs. Stewardship: Who Really Owns Your Life? | Liz Hartke
In this episode, Curtis Morley sits down with leadership coach and entrepreneur Liz Hartke, who has coached thousands of people and has worked alongside leadership giant John Maxwell. The conversation begins with Liz's entrepreneurial upbringing and her evolution from helping business owners scale their companies to helping leaders become the people they are called to be. One of the episode's central ideas is the distinction between ownership and stewardship. Curtis describes ownership as a counterfeit of stewardship: ownership can create a sense that everything is "mine" and must therefore be controlled, while stewardship recognizes that we are responsible for what has been entrusted to us without ultimately possessing it. Liz expands this idea to business, leadership, children, relationships, and life itself. Liz also shares the story of meeting John Maxwell, whom she had studied extensively. What begins as a reluctant trip to an event shortly after the birth of her fourth child turns into a personal meeting with Maxwell, followed by an invitation to work with his organization. Perhaps the biggest lesson she takes from the experience isn't networking or business strategy—it's curiosity and humility. Even at the highest level of leadership, Maxwell continued asking questions and learning from others. The conversation then turns toward calling and purpose. Liz emphasizes that calling isn't necessarily one permanent destination. What God calls someone to do can change with different seasons of life. Her "Clarity Matrix" distinguishes between things that are "easy but heavy" and things that are "hard but light." The easy-but-heavy path represents things we're competent at and can do successfully but that leave us restless or unfulfilled. The hard-but-light path is challenging and uncertain, but it brings a sense of energy, purpose, and alignment. The most emotionally powerful portion of the episode comes when Liz recounts losing her fifth baby during pregnancy and then nearly dying from massive blood loss. After surviving, she describes experiencing an overwhelming clarity: she and her husband decided they would no longer spend their lives on things that weren't aligned with what they believed God was calling them to do. That realization led Liz to make difficult business decisions, including walking away from profitable work and programs that no longer aligned with her values. She describes the process as a daily battle against returning to what was comfortable, convenient, and financially safe. The episode ultimately circles back to peace. Liz describes peace as a compass for determining whether she is in alignment, while Curtis describes it as the one emotion in his framework that cannot be counterfeited. Liz's most profound experience of peace came not when circumstances were easy, but when she surrendered control in the middle of the most difficult circumstances imaginable. CONNECT WITH LIZ HARTKE Website - https://luminaryleadershipco.com/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/elizhartke LISTEN/WATCH/SUBSCRIBE TO THE “COUNTERFEIT EMOTIONS” PODCAST: *Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/counterfeit-emotions-podcast-with-curtis-morley/id1815869994 *Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0aGzO1BVLAXyGKfb4absPn?si=8c746decf9514fe3 *YouTube Podcasts - https://www.youtube.com/@AuthenticCurtis/podcasts CONNECT WITH THE “COUNTERFEIT EMOTIONS” PODCAST *Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/authenticcurtis *LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/curtismorley/ *YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@AuthenticCurtis *TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@authenticcurtis *Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AuthenticCurtis *X - https://twitter.com/AuthenticCurtis *Website - https://www.counterfeitemotions.com/ *Email for general messages - info@counterfeitemotions.com *Collab with us - info@counterfeitemotions.com *Book me to speak = speaking@curtismorley.com
