INTRODUCTION
List 3 people who you think have “it” and describe why
Which of the seven clout killers are currently trying to derail you?
CLOUTDISCOVER AND UNLEASH
YOUR GOD-GIVENINFLUENCE
JENNI CATRON
C L O U T S T U D Y G U I D E
CLOUTSTUDY GUIDE
JENNI CATRON
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INTRODUCTION
List 3 people who you think have “IT” and describe why.
Which of the seven clout killers are currently trying to derail you?
COMPARISON JEALOUSY
SCARCITY
INSECURITY PRIDE
CONTROL
FEAR
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How have you historically shaped your view of yourself?
What are the filters
that you’re looking
through when you look
in the mirror?
Take an inventory of
your influence. Is it
underdeveloped, mismanaged,
misdirected, unexplored? Why do you feel so?
CLOUT STUDY GUIDE: INTRODUCTION
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CHAPTER 1
Where is fear hiding in your life? How is it isolating you? (p.8)
What fears are standing in your way like a wall between you
and unleashing your influence? Write them down below. (p.10)
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What truth from Scripture confronts some of those fears on the
previous page? Take a minute to write that truth below.
Review the promises that God made to his people in Scripture
when they were afraid. Which one of these promises do you need to
remember? Write it on an index card and place it in key spots where
you will see it daily - the mirror, your computer screen, your car
dashboard, etc. If you’re more inclined to draw, sketch an illustration
of that Scripture instead.
CLOUT STUDY GUIDE: CHAPTER 1
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CHAPTER 2
How do you see the habit of comparison as a way to navigate the world
showing up in your life? (p.19)
How has comparison distorted the way you see yourself? (p.20)
Valuing each member of a team is vital to a team’s success. Identify 3
ways to celebrate those you lead and make a point to do so in the next
week. (p.23)
1.
2.
3.
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Write a promise to yourself to begin measuring your influence against
the gifts, talents, experiences, and opportunities God has given you
rather than what he’s given others. (p.25)
I Promise...
For the next 7 days,
make a “what’s
good” list every day.
Write the first one
below. (p.28)
WHAT’S GOOD:
WHO: WHY:
For one day, write down every time you
are tempted to compare yourself to others.
Keep a detailed journal of the people you
can compare yourself to and why.
CLOUT STUDY GUIDE: CHAPTER 2
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What sins does comparison usually lead to in your life: envy, jealousy,
insecurity, greed, selfishness, pride, anger, resentment, or ingratitude?
In all your comparisons, what are you missing about your unique
God-given influence?
CLOUT STUDY GUIDE: CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
Recall the last time you were jealous of a co-worker or someone in a similar
position to yours. How did that jealousy affect your actions? (p.32)
When we don’t feel secure we tend to get defensive and territorial which
triggers jealousy. Take a minute to think about your current situation,
what areas do you not feel secure in? Write them below. (p.35)
What are you currently longing for? Is that longing causing jealousy or
envy in your life? (p.37)
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CLOUT STUDY GUIDE: CHAPTER 3
Whose clout do you compare your own to resulting in jealousy or envy
that is causing you to miss the significance of your contribution? (p.39)
Make a list of 5 “I’ll never be” thoughts that plague you frequently.
Then make a list of 5 “I am” thoughts to combat those. (p.41)
“The antidote to jealousy and envy is to replace them with affirmation and celebration
of the influence of others.” - This week, write a note to 3 people in your
life who you tend to be jealous or envious of and affirm them.
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I’LL NEVER BE:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
I AM:
CLOUT STUDY GUIDE: CHAPTER 3
Do you wrestle more with jealousy or envy? Describe how and where it
shows up in your leadership. (p.42)
What are you most tempted to envy? How could you take your focus
off what you lack and find gratefulness in what you have?
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CHAPTER 4
Take a moment to think about the expectations you put on others.
Are those expectations driven by scarcity? If so, how? (p.51)
Consider 1 person in your sphere of influence who you could give
leadership away to. Write down one way you can do that in the next
week. (p.55)
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CLOUT STUDY GUIDE: CHAPTER 4
Do you struggle with scarcity? If you do, where do you think your
mind-set of scarcity originated?
Are you more tempted to hoard your words, your time, or your
opportunities?
What are two things you could do to be more generous in this area
this week?
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CHAPTER 5
Which description of insecurity most hits a nerve with you? (profound
sense of self-doubt, uncertainty about your basic worth and place in
the world, chronic self-consciousness, chronic lack of confidence,
anxiety about your relationships, fear of rejection, uncertainly about
whether your feelings and desires are legitimate) Can you identify
where this insecurity may have started? (p.66)
“We’re blinded to our potential because we cannot see beyond our
weakness.” - What weaknesses do you fixate on blinding you of your
potential? (p.69)
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CLOUT STUDY GUIDE: CHAPTER 5
Which face described in these pages does insecurity tend to take in
your life? (p.71-73)
This week, commit to keep an insecurity journal. Document when
you see it creeping up, consider where it is coming from, call it out,
& commit it to prayer. (p.75)
What steps can you take to identify insecurity more quickly in your life
and take it to God?
Look for situations in which you can turn insecurities into opportunities
to love and encourage others.
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CHAPTER 6
When we haven’t done the work of discovering our God-given
influence, we build a false identity.” (81) Take a few minutes to
reflect on your life. Have you done the work? If you have, how did
it change your identity? If you haven’t, what false identity has it
caused you to created?
Look at the list of the ways pride tends to show up on page 84.
Which of these is the biggest struggle for you as a leader?
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CLOUT STUDY GUIDE: CHAPTER 6
Consider the example of Peter. How have faith & failure coexisted
in your life as a leader? Describe the war between your desire to
wholeheartedly follow God and your prideful longings for perfection,
importance, performance, and independence. (p.90)
What enemy (or enemies) is pride trying to cover up in your life?
Fear, comparison, jealousy, scarcity, envy, or insecurity?
What desire is pride falsely fulfilling for you? Perfection, importance,
performance, or independence?
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CLOUT STUDY GUIDE: CHAPTER 6
Where do you need to get truly honest about pride’s impact on
your life?
Where can you invite community in to make the replacement
for humility?
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CHAPTER 7
Control can be extremely difficult to recognize in ourselves.
Have you ever been bold enough to ask those you lead and influence
if they perceive you as a control freak? (p.98)
Recall a time when you saw God do his greatest work through you
when you were tasked with a job that far exceeded your limitations.
What did that experience teach you about control? (p.105)
Where do you see control impacting your influence?
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CLOUT STUDY GUIDE: CHAPTER 7
Are you most tempted to control outcomes or others or both? How
does that play out in your leadership?
What are you anxious about? Is control driving your anxiety?
What can you do to replace control with trust?
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CHAPTER 8
If someone asked you “Who are you?” would you be able to answer the
question without describing simply what you do? (p.114)
Think back to your childhood or look at pictures from your childhood.
Who were you before the world taught you to be someone else? In what
kinds of things did you find joy? What was your personality like? (p.120)
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CLOUT STUDY GUIDE: CHAPTER 8
Are there mistakes that you’re holding on to? How have those mistakes
shaped who you are today/your view of the future? Have you disqualified
yourself from your God-designed purpose because of them? (p.122)
What are the greatest experiences in your life so far? Are you stuck in
those moments?
How can you remove yourself, even for a time, from the arena in
which you lead?
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CLOUT STUDY GUIDE: CHAPTER 8
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? Is
there anything about that early desire that gives you a glimpse of your
unique, God-given influence?
Have you experienced a crisis of purpose - a season when what you thought
you understood about yourself was challenged? Write your story here.
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CLOUT STUDY GUIDE: CHAPTER 8
Lots of things shape us. Knowing how they’ve shaped us helps us use
them for good.
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Identify an expectation someone had
of you. How did it affect you?
What society norm do you not fit?
Why does it bother you?
Identify a significant
experience in your life.
How has it changed you? What mistake do you regret?
Why are you still holding on to it?
CHAPTER 9
On a scale from 1-10, how would you score your confidence as a
leader? Where would you like it to be? What is one thing you can do
to intentionally start cultivating confidence this week? (p.131)
How do you connect with God? What discipline or activity can you
build into your weekly routine to make more time to connect with
Him in a way that is meaningful for you? (p.136)
Where do you struggle the most: knowing or obeying God’s will? (p.137)
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CLOUT STUDY GUIDE: CHAPTER 9
Is there currently something God has called you to do, but you are
reluctant to obey? What is underlying that lack of obedience?
How can you begin to say yes to him? (p.137)
Go back and reread God’s promises about you from page 128. What
other promises from Scripture remind you of God’s desire to have a
relationship with you?
Share with a trusted friend, pastor, or counselor the area in which you
are having trouble being obedient. Ask this person to pray with you
and hold you accountable to it.
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CHAPTER 10
Can you relate to parts of Mike’s story? What forces are trying to derail
your purpose and diminish your hope? (p.140)
Think about who you are & who you want to be. Write down 3 “be goals”
you can focus on in the next few weeks. (p.142)
1.
2.
3.
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CLOUT STUDY GUIDE: CHAPTER 10
Take a few minutes to think about the “collection of nuances that
make you unique” Sketch a picture of the pieces that make up who you
are. Maybe it’s a puzzle. Maybe it’s bricks of a building. Maybe it’s
buildings in a city. Use your imagination. (p.145)
If you’ve taken a spiritual gifts assessment, what are you top 3 gifts?
If you haven’t, refer to the resources at the back of Clout & take one
today. (p.146)
1.
2.
3.
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CLOUT STUDY GUIDE: CHAPTER 10
List 5 talents you’d say you have. If you need a starting place, consider
these questions: What was your favorite game or activity as a child? What
do others commonly praise you for? What were your favorite subjects in
school? What extracurricular activities do you enjoy? (p.148)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
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CLOUT STUDY GUIDE: CHAPTER 10
Pick 10 people in your life that you would consider close friends.
Send them all a quick text or email & ask what the first word is that
comes to mind when they think of your personality. Write down those
words below. Do you see any patterns? Did this little activity reveal
anything new to you about your personality? How does this differ
from the way you’d describe your personality? (p.149)
Which purpose of work is the most difficult for you to believe: to
glorify God, to benefit others, to make God smile, or to give us hope?
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NAME
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
THEIR WORDS:
CHAPTER 11
Set this book down for a minute, and hold your hands side by side,
palms up as if you are cradling something valuable. In these hands
God has placed your gifts, talents, experiences, and opportunities.
In the picture below, write what God has placed in your hands
during this season. (p.156)
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CLOUT STUDY GUIDE: CHAPTER 11
Work on making a plan to explore the work you’ve been given. As you
get started, list the gifts, talents, experiences, and opportunities that
have contributed to who you are today. Do you see any connection or
consistences weaving throughout? Ask God to reveal to you anything
about this combination that you are not aware of. (p.161)
Make a list of things you would love to be true about you. Don’t get
stuck by limitations of resources or responsibilities, but filter them
through the recognition of the tools God has given you. Choose a
realistic yet optimistic approach as you build this list. (p.163)
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CLOUT STUDY GUIDE: CHAPTER 11
If you have a vision statement: write it on an index card & place it in
spots where you will see it daily. If you don’t have a vision statement:
draft one. Use the steps on page 166 to get started. (p.166)
Do you have a list of guiding principles? If so, list a few of them below.
If not, start one below. (p.168)
What experiences has God uniquely given you?
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CLOUT STUDY GUIDE: CHAPTER 11
Do you have a tendency to try to manipulate or control the things that
God has given you? How could you live with open hands?
Take some time to define where you are, where you want to go, and
how you’re going to get there.
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CONCLUSION
What is currently hold you back? Where are you allowing fear,
comparison, jealousy, scarcity, insecurity, pride, or control to
inhibit you? Where have you become so comfortable with these
things that you’ve become numb to the damage they are doing
to your influence? (p.173)
As you go throughout this week, pay attention & identify the
moments when you are thriving in your God-given influence.
Write them below or in a journal. (p.176)
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CLOUT STUDY GUIDE: CONCLUSION
List 1 way that you as a leader can go first this week and give others the
gift of going second. (p.177)
Which clout killers are the most troublesome for you? What steps can
you take to begin replacing them?
I will replace
with by
May you embrace and live out your God–given influence –
YOUR CLOUT!35