Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Don’t Put Your Purpose in a Holding Pattern w/ Dr Joseph Walker
25 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: What inspired Dr. Joseph Walker to write 'Pursuit of Purpose'?
Hello, hello, all my people. What's up? It's Questlove. Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with the one and only A$AP Rocky. He reflects on his journey from Harlem roots to global icon status and discovering the hip-hop origin of his name. The ledge was on the TV. Rakim had the bucket hat Kangol joint on. My pops was like, that's Rakim. That's who you named after. I just...
Listen to the Questlove Show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A new year doesn't ask us to become someone new. It invites us back home to ourselves. I'm Mike Della Rocha, host of Sacred Lessons, a space for men to pause, reflect, and heal. This year, we're talking honestly about mental health, relationships, and the patterns we're ready to release.
If you're looking for clarity, connection, and healthier ways to show up in your life, Sacred Lessons is here for you. Listen to Sacred Lessons with Mike Della Rocha on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Dr. Jesse Mills, host of the Mailroom Podcast. Each January, men promise to get stronger, work harder, and fix what's broken.
But what if the real work isn't physical at all? I sat down with psychologist Dr. Steve Poulter to unpack shame, anxiety, and the emotional pain men were never taught how to name. Part of the way through the valley of despair is realizing this has happened, and you have to make a choice whether you're going to stay in it or move forward. Our two-part conversation is available now.
Listen to The Mailroom on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows. This season on Dear Chelsea with me, Chelsea Handler, we've got some incredible guests like Kumail Nanjiani. Let's start with your cat. How is she? She is not with us anymore. Okay, great, great, great way to start. Maybe you will cry. Ross Matthews. You know what kids always say to me?
Are you a boy or a girl? Oh my God. All the time. That's so funny. I know. So I try to butch it up for kids so they're not confused. Yeah, but you're butching it up. It's basically like Doris Day. Right? No, I turn into Bea Arthur. Listen to these episodes of Dear Chelsea on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Calling all my sweeties to the forefront.
I'm your host, Kris Renee Hazlitt, and this is the Keep It Positive Sweetie Show. Bishop Walker is widely known for his leadership, influence, and reach. But today's conversation is about the weight that comes with that responsibility.
From stepping into leadership at a very young age to navigating faith, loneliness, marriage, and legacy, this is a chance to hear how he carries leadership beyond the pulpit and how he continues to go through it. Kip's family, please give a very warm welcome to the incomparable Bishop Joseph Walker III. How are you, Bishop? I'm great. I'm great. I'm here with you. Wow. We finally got you here.
Oh, gosh. I'm so honored to be here. No, I'm excited. When you hit me and said you got a new book, It was a no-brainer. I wanted to have you on. I'm excited to finally have you on with us. I know that this is going to bless some people. And your new book, Pursuit of Purpose, Piece by Piece, is literally you're the one who has pursued purpose and done it very well. So I'm excited to get into that.
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Chapter 2: How did Bishop Walker navigate his early leadership journey?
Don't confuse my confidence with arrogance. Right. I'm stepping into this role, walking into this place, saying this is where God wants me to be. Yes. I love that you said unapologetically. That is, unapologetic is the theme of season 10. Oh gosh. So you just, we're going to definitely use that. Look out. So let's talk about this. This is book number 14. 14. 14 books.
Pursuit of Purpose, Peace, as in peace by peace. All right. I love how you did that. Now, what inspired this book and why now? I looked over my life at all the various seasons and saw them as pieces of a puzzle. And individually, those pieces, obviously, some of them are not as pleasant as others, very painful moments. loss, betrayal, the things that we often go through.
And when I experienced those things, I realized that when you understand why those things happen, the pieces happen, they were actually forming you into a place of creating or moving you to this place of purpose. And when you understand that, that's where peace comes. I have peace about what happened. When Joseph says, you know, the thing you thought evil against me, God meant it for my good.
Like all those different pieces of my life from the pit to the prison, All of it, I have peace about it. So I'm not going to be vindictive. I'm not going to be bitter because I can't walk in the fullness of my blessing if I'm bitter. So that's kind of what inspired it. And people really asking me over the years, like, how do I understand my purpose? How do you arrive at it?
And purpose does not come without pain. Ooh, let's talk about that. It doesn't because I think a lot of times people see us living out our purpose and it looks amazing from this vantage point, right? But they don't understand everything we've gone through. You had a book, Leadership Loneliness, and people don't understand with that. That's right.
And that there's pain that comes with it where you talk about betrayal. You talked about grieving. What are some moments as you were even writing this book that you had to relive and you were like, oof, I have been through a lot. Chapter 10, it's an interesting title, 735. I'm writing the book reflecting over, at the time I wrote it, 735 funerals I had done. Jeez. And
trying to process the fact that God has blessed me with this extraordinary memory and I can't unsee it, I can't forget it. So every time I have a funeral, I relive every funeral I've ever done. Then kind of got a little bit more focused around it and realized why was God showing me that while I was writing it? It's because I experienced loss as a spouse. I lost my first wife to cancer.
And then I lost my mother. So I lost, I experienced it as a son. Then I lost recently my brother as a sibling. So as a spouse, As a son and a sibling, I began to realize that most time I engage people in grief, they're in one of those spaces. Either they've lost a spouse, they've lost a parent, they've lost a sibling. And so I began to ask God, why? Why was I chosen to walk in that space?
Because now I don't show up. as this person who's got it figured out, I show up in my brokenness. I show up in a place of empathy. And I think what happens, people who lead well in purpose have a greater sense of empathy. Absolutely. We're not out here alienated from other people's pain.
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Chapter 3: What is the significance of stewardship in leadership?
Goodness. And God continues to do it. Yes. I've seen them come and go. Right. And when you do what God tells you to do, I mind my business, stay in my lane. Yes, you do. You get it? You know I do, right? I don't bother nobody. I just do my thing, keep my head down and keep my face to the clouds and say, God, just lead me and guide me. And when you do that, that's what the blessing is.
Yes, my goodness. Three pillars that were in this book were why am I here? Why did this happen? And what do I do now? And you talked about, you asked God, why have I gone through all these things? But what is that pivot of... why did this happen to what do I do now? What are those steps? Yeah, why did it happen has a lot to do with, I think, understanding the peace.
You never get peace until you understand why. And what was it building in me? Like when I look at the scripture, why did this happen to this person? What was God preparing? And I always think God is always preparing something. For me, I was always looking at it like, well, God, you're punishing me. Shucks, why me? You ain't got nobody else? Right. But he's like, no, I'm preparing you.
And I'm allowing this to happen, to build something in you, because I don't look at you in your actuality. I look at you in your potentiality. Everybody else sees you in your actuality. That's why they give up on you in their own chapters. Wow. God always sees us at our potential. And so he's preparing us not for our right now, but our right not yet.
And so for me, that's when I began to realize why this has happened. It was giving me resilience, helping me. I've been to school. I studied pneumatology, sociology, psychology, epistemology, but I didn't know folkology. Yeah. I did not know. Oh, I could have said that so many different ways. You know, I could have. Right, yeah. Listen, you know what I'm saying. I know exactly.
Listen, only life can teach you that. Goodness gracious. Only the Lord can help you navigate EQ and IQ. navigating rooms, knowing people's agenda, having discernment. You know, those things are important. If you don't know how to navigate those spaces, then God will let you get hurt sometimes.
He'll let you walk into it so you'll say, okay, I've been there before, so now I have, you know, I kind of have a few boundaries as a result of that, and I've learned. And sometimes you have to go through that to experience it. No, for sure. You're also a father of two beautiful children.
So I want to know, like, how do you implement these, these principles into your children as they're growing up? Because they have great examples in you and Dr. Stephanie. So to have two amazing parents as you and Dr. Stephanie, but what are you guys implementing into them daily? Yeah, Giovanni, you know, she's 13. She's all into ballet. She's just doing so many amazing things.
They're both just incredible students, Joseph's seven. And one of the things that Steph and I have decided to do is take that scripture literally, train up a child in the way they should go. When they're old, they will not depart from it. And the way we read that scripture is train up a child in the way they're leaning. Like they're telling you.
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Chapter 4: How can empathy enhance effective leadership?
You got to believe it. That is so true. I love that. Because a lot of times I feel like pastors can get typeset, as you say. Like you can get stuck in that. Oh, yeah. Stuck in one thing. I'm just going to preach. That's what I do. That's what I do. And I'm like, there's so much more. And sometimes it's the people that want you to just do that. Man, I'm like, no. I mean, I love you. I love you.
I do commencement addresses. I teach leadership stuff for corporations. I'm just all over the place. I just want to maximize. For me, it's about living full and dying empty. Wow. I love that. Live full, man, and die empty. Leave nothing on the table. God, everything you have given me, I left it in the earth. Yes. I love that. Hey, what's up, y'all? This is Questlove.
Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with A$AP Rocky ahead of his album release, Don't Be Dumb. He reflects on his journey from his Harlem roots to global icon status, discovering the hip-hop origin of his name. The ledge was on the TV. Rakim had the bucket hat Kangol joint on. Pops was like, that's Rakim. That's who you named after. I just was like, damn, that was... I got swag.
Rocky offers a window into not only a boundary-breaking artist, but as a man committed to fusing creative ideas, community, and remaining unapologetically himself. Have you ever gotten roasted for any of your outfits? For sure. Some people don't be getting the vision. Look, they can roast me, they can cook me, they can deep-fry me, they can saute whatever they want.
There's nobody who can f*** with my fashion sense and my taste is impeccable. I'm just like, I impress myself a lot. It's an amazing conversation. One you definitely don't want to miss. So listen to The Questlove Show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
This season on Dear Chelsea with me, Chelsea Handler, we've got some incredible guests like Kumail Nanjiani. Let's start with your cat. How is she? She is not with us anymore. Okay, great, great, great way to start. So this is a great beginning and hopefully you'll be able to, I don't know, maybe you will cry. Amanda Seyfried. Life is so short.
If you feel something like that, you have that fire in you for this experience. It's not for a guy. It's for the experience of being in love. And like, it's bigger than a guy. Elizabeth Olsen. I love swimming naked so much. And I know you love taking pictures of yourself. I love to be naked. I just want to be in my brown underwear all the time. Ross Matthews. You know what kids always say to me?
Are you a boy or a girl? Oh, my God. All the time. That's so funny. I love it. So I'm always like, hi. I try to butch it up for kids, you know, so they're not confused. Yeah, but you're butching it up is basically like Doris Day. Right? No, I turn into Bea Arthur. Listen to these episodes of Dear Chelsea on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
A new year doesn't mean erasing who you were. It means honoring what you've survived and choosing how you want to grow. It means giving ourselves permission to feel what we've been holding and knowing that it's okay to ask for help. I'm Mike Della Rocha, host of Sacred Lessons.
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Chapter 5: What role does pain play in discovering one's purpose?
And then play with it. You don't play with purpose. And so God brought us together for purpose is greater than ourselves. I love that. Listen, you don't play with it. You can't be somebody here, put people in a holding pattern. You don't put purpose in a holding pattern. Bishop, you better talk to me. When it's real, you got to land that plane. Land it. Come on now. Come on. Bishop, I said.
You clear for landing. Some of y'all didn't hear that. You clear for landing. Clear for landing. That's the season I'm in right now. Do not play with me. Land a plane. Land it. No, I said this year is going to be my year. I feel it. I believe it. I feel it. I believe it. I feel it. And it don't take all that. Don't take all that. When you know, you just know. I love it. And here we are.
How many years later? Man, 14 years later. Goodness. Isn't that a blessing? And I just love everything y'all do together. Yeah. What was the book that you guys wrote together? Oh, Becoming a Couple of Destiny. Yes. Oh, my gosh. Becoming a Couple of Destiny, man.
And, you know, the crazy thing, and it's 16 years, Becoming a Couple of Destiny, and God has blessed that book, and God has blessed our YouTube podcast together, Couple of Destiny. We're doing things together there, and it's a blessing. So, man, I'm telling you. And she's a real superstar with that. Now, she's dropping gems on Couple of Destiny. Y'all got to check it out. She's dropping gems.
Y'all gave me that. Y'all gave that to us when we came to your house. And I remember like, I'm like, yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. That book was crazy. Yeah. Any couples read that book, read that book and watch couple of destiny on YouTube. I know that's right. So good. I love that. Um, with pursuit, they can get this now. Yeah. Yeah. Get that anyway. Yeah. It's out.
But what are some things that you want people to take away when they get through this book? Yeah, so I want you to understand that your life has never been a series of accidents, but they've been incidents that have really directed you toward true purpose. And don't look at life as this big casualty.
Look at it as it was all caused by God to push you to a place you otherwise would have never gone. Recognize that you are unique and walk in that uniqueness of who you are. Recognize that God... Fearfully and wonderfully made you. He knew everything about you when he called you. You don't have to tell him all your shortcomings. He knew that.
But when God anoints you, he anoints originals only, not copies. And always come to a place where you recognize. Live it and do it for him. Because whatever you do in purpose, I always tell people, and I say it in the book, if you do it for the applause of people, if their applause becomes your oxygen, you will suffocate in their silence. That is so true.
People can't handle when the applause stops because they don't know what, I don't need their affirmation. I have his confirmation. Yeah. And, I understand how to navigate various seasons of purpose and continue to reinvent and evolve and reimagine what God wants me to do. And purpose is an amazing thing.
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Chapter 6: How do personal experiences shape leadership and purpose?
And I was like, man, I was like, just put everything, my whole life into perspective in that moment. To be chosen and to be chosen before the foundations of the world. That that was a moment that you had to emerge and the enemy knew it. The enemy knew Moses was chosen. That's why he tried to kill him. Sure did. He knew Jesus was chosen. He tried to kill him. Yes. And he knew you were chosen.
And all the things. He couldn't kill you, but he tried to get you to kill yourself. Yeah. He tried to get you to self-destruct. Come on. But the devil is a liar. He is a liar. You just keep walking in what God told you to do. Yeah. And all this stuff, man, all these attacks. God's got that. I've learned, man. I let God fight my battles. I'm like, I'm chosen. I'm walking on that.
Because he will save his anointed. Yes, he will. That's what the Bible says. He'll preserve his anointed. Yes, he will. Yes, he will. My goodness. I'm so grateful for the day that I sat next to you in first class. Oh, my God. Do I ever remember that day. Yes. Oh, God. So I was styling Tyler at the time. And I was coming from work doing something with him. And I sat next to you.
And I knew you because I was going to Bishop Paul S. Morton's church. And I was like, oh, my God. It's a walker. And then what's her name? Janae Stevens that works at Neiman's. What's her name? Natasha. She introduced us. I was like, yeah, I sat next to him. I got his book. But I'm so grateful for moments like that because you just never know who God puts you in the presence of.
And you have continued to cover me ever since through life and how God has continued to take me on this ride. You've been there every step of the way of my ascension. So I want to say thank you. I'm so proud of you. Thank you so much. I'm proud of you. Everybody, please go get the book, Pursuit of Purpose, Piece by Piece. Bishop, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for the opportunity.
Yes, absolutely. Okay, so this is from Brianna Butler. And she says, how do you stay motivated and focused when things aren't progressing as quickly as you would like? Oh, yeah. So I think you have to believe in what God showed you. And vision for me, purpose for me kind of works this way. I agonize first. It's in me deeply. I know it's something I'm supposed to do. And then I visualize it.
And the visualization part is when you see it. Vision is for an appointed time. So you have to constantly keep your focus on that vision. Regardless of the distractions and setbacks, never forget what God showed you. Yes. Right? And then there's the visualization for me then goes to I visualize and I strategize. That's the board, the whiteboard. And then I organize, right?
But I think sometimes when you're organizing a thing and you say, okay, I strategize and I organize and I mobilize. Why don't I monetize it? That's how it works, right? I need to get my business. Where's the monetizing? How much more do I need to strategize? And you have to realize, never forget the visualization because it is for an appointed time. Yes, and it's God's time.
That part, all it takes is one thing. And suddenly. And suddenly. And you're thinking like, well, I've done this and done all the things. God's like, no, I'm going to show you what I do no man or woman can do for you. It'll be one moment, one situation, and boom. And you'll know it's nobody but him. That's so true. I love that.
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