Social Impact Authors: How & Why Mike Kai of ‘That Doesn’t Just Happen’ Is Helping To Change Our World
An Interview With Edward Sylvan
I think a lot of people think or assume that only pastors or missionaries or founders of nonprofits have a “call” on their lives. But with my new book, That Doesn’t Just Happen, what I hope to achieve is to show that when we have a big-picture outlook, excellence is the game-changer for anyone; no matter what they do for work or where they go to school. Excellence is an accelerator, an elevator, and a separator — a big-time game changer.
As part of my series about “authors who are making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mike Kai.
From humble beginnings in multilevel marketing to co-founder of The Inspire Collective, Mike Kai is passionate about building business leaders in their everyday sphere. A visionary leader and the pastor of a thriving, multi-site church in Hawaii, he has authored three books: The Pound For Pound Principle, Plateaus, and That Doesn’t Just Happen. Out of his conviction to empower leaders, The Inspire Network was birthed, which hosts annual conferences such as Arise Women’s Conference, Kingdom Man Conference, and the Equip and Inspire Conference that reaches people locally, nationally and globally. In 2020, he also launched The Inspire Collective aimed at equipping business leaders and executives globally with leadership tools through a professional exchange. Mike and his wife, Lisa, reside in Honolulu and are the proud parents of three daughters and two grandchildren. Mike has traveled to speak at conferences and to congregations all over the world and conducts pastors’ and leaders’ roundtables nationally and internationally.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into the main focus of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?
I was born and raised on the Big Island of Hawaii (one of 8 major islands in the chain) and grew up in a small town called Honoka’a. Most of the people there either worked in the sugar plantations, the macadamia nut factory or at the beautiful hotels about 45 minutes away. My mom was a homemaker until her four children started eating more. My dad was a police officer, baseball coach, founder of the Jaycees, and launched the Macadamia Nut Festival complete with horse races, rodeo, beauty pageant, golf tournament, and bake-off — all in one week! Dad then moved onto the private sector in security services until his retirement. Growing up, we played four sports a year until we graduated — all-conference for all of us — and went to the beach every weekend. We were raised in the Catholic faith and I am thankful for that upbringing. All four Kai kids moved out of our small town after graduation.
When you were younger, was there a book that you read that inspired you to take action or changed your life? Can you share a story about that?
I actually loved reading when I was growing up and quickly advanced from old books like Sink it, Rusty and biographies of Roger Staubach. I read all the way up through high school but didn’t read much in college. Once I turned 21, a shift in my interests happened where I began reading books by the late Og Mandino who wrote some of the greatest books I could have read such as The Greatest Salesman in the World. The Richest Man in Babylon by George Samuel Clason also had a huge impact on my more formative years.
Can you share the funniest or most interesting mistake that occurred to you in the course of your career? What lesson or take away did you learn from that?
When I was a young assistant in the church that I came to know Christ in, I was hired from the business world and started working. I was impetuous and spoke out of turn too often. I would chalk it up to passion and inexperience. Well, there was this one time when the guy who was in charge of all the resources of our pastor was asking for help to come to the school and set up the resource section at 5 o’clock in the morning. Well, from my perspective that was a sideways delegation and we called that dirty delegation. I complained that he should have recruited his own team instead of using paid staff members to do his job. We were all having lunch at the Subway franchise and after ranting and complaining, everybody cleared out and I was alone with the guy who ran the bookstore. It was as if the air had left the restaurant. My pastor leaned over and told me emphatically, “You’re going to set that thing up until Jesus comes back!” He didn’t raise his voice, but he was quiet and intense. At the time, my wife was also on staff running the children’s ministry, and she looked so embarrassed. I felt like a fool because of my big mouth. He had every right to do what he needed to do. Years later I would retell the story about what happened and he said, “I noticed that the young Michael Kai that I hired was losing his way. He would’ve done anything to be on this staff and I just wanted to get his attention.” Wow. That was such a blessing. We all laugh about it now, but it was such a good reminder that we are people who are called and are not entitled to anything.
If you’ve got time for one more. . . the first time I was allowed to preach, I thought that I did a great job. I preached my heart out! The night before I was riding all over the floor lamenting that I had this very big responsibility to preach the word and when I got done I felt very good about myself. I patted myself on the back. But then someone told the pastor that I reminded them of “a rooster strutting on the stage!” Talk about humility! But they were probably partly right. The Lord has done great work in me since — I hope!
Can you describe how you aim to make a significant social impact with your book?
I think a lot of people think or assume that only pastors or missionaries or founders of nonprofits have a “call” on their lives. But with my new book, That Doesn’t Just Happen, what I hope to achieve is to show that when we have a big-picture outlook, excellence is the game-changer for anyone; no matter what they do for work or where they go to school. Excellence is an accelerator, an elevator, and a separator — a big-time game changer.
Can you share with us the most interesting story that you shared in your book?
That’s hard to pinpoint, but I’ll go with how the Queen of Sheba traveled so far (three months) to come and see all that Solomon had built (the temple and his palace) after it took him 20 years to do all of it. He amassed such great wealth, peace on every border, and the admiration of other kings in the surrounding countries, that they came from far and wide to sit at his feet, hear his wisdom on matters, and to see what God had built through him. That, in and of itself, is an incredible story. And the Queen was awestruck and #NoWords. In today’s world, it would be the equivalent of touring Tesla and visiting Elon Musk!
What was the “aha moment” or series of events that made you decide to bring your message to the greater world? Can you share a story about that?
I’d love to. I had been teaching the lessons in my latest book, That Doesn’t Just Happen, to my staff for several years. I had been talking to them about how we needed to communicate with excellence, that we needed to have excellence in our weekend services and in our architecture and in our office design, but I never thought it would become a book until I preached this one sermon about the Queen of Sheeba’s visit to King Solomon in my congregation two years ago. That’s when the light went off and I felt called to write a book on building a culture of excellence. We seem to be living in a time of “good enough” or downgrading and downsizing our aspirations, and we have neglected excellence in customer service in exchange for expediency. I would like to change that. I would like to see people not only aim for but achieve excellence.
Without sharing specific names, can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause?
To be honest, this message of excellence isn’t necessarily new to my staff, but I believe that so many of the staff we’ve had over the past 20 years have benefited from this message. Sometimes excellence gets a bad rap because people think that it’s another word for perfection. But it isn’t. We need to offer another view. Excellence is essentially doing the very best you can with what you have been given. So it’s not about how much money and resources you have, but doing the best you have with what you currently have.
Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?
I’d like to pose this question, what if we didn’t have to be so dependent on society and politicians to move the needle of our values and standards? What if we, in turn, as individuals influence our community, society, and politicians? Excellence in our demeanor, the way we communicate and conduct ourselves, actually opens the doors. Anger and hate only further divide us. What if we sought wisdom and finesse, displayed more diplomacy to help change things around us with love, and looked for ways to serve those around us? What could our society look like then if we each sought excellence in this way?
How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
Leadership is influence. How we decided to use that makes all the difference. Our leadership should be strong yet finessed.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each. From my example as a pastor?
Ok, here goes….. from a 20 year perspective as a pastor.
- You’ll spend more time meeting with people and helping them on their journey than you will on sermon prep.
- There will be this thing called “social media” that will help or hurt you, depending on how you use it.
- You’ll navigate more political and social situations than you ever imagined.
- A lot of people will love you and your message but. . . some. . . people won’t like you (surprise, surprise!).
- This will be the toughest and most rewarding thing you will do with your life.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“I’m always content, but never complacent.”
I’m thankful and have practiced contentment (1 Timothy 6:6 tells us “Godliness with contentment is great gain”), but I’m never complacent or comfortable. We keep pushing, pulling, striving to become better and more excellent in what we do.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
Michael Jordan. I’d love to play a round of golf with him; anyplace, anytime, my treat! I am a huge basketball fan (I still play hoops to this day), and I’ve always loved Michael Jordan. I’ve got his golf shoes, his basketball shoes, his sweatpants, hoodies, jackets, and if he had underwear, I would buy that too. I’ve always admired his commitment to excellence in his approach to the game of basketball and in his brand.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
I’ve written three books and started the Inspire Collective for people who want to fulfill the call of God right where they are; the 98% who aren’t called into full-time ministry per se (missionaries and pastors), but have influence in every sphere of society. They can follow me on Instagram at @mikekai or go to www.mikekai.tv or join me at https://www.inspirecollective.com
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!
Social Impact Authors: How & Why Mike Kai of ‘That Doesn’t Just Happen’ Is Helping To Change Our… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.