Raise the Elevation
Five Characteristics Ryan Kwon Taught Me About Leadership
By Jim Applegate December 2025
Leadership is rarely taught through textbooks or classrooms; it is transmitted through proximity, pressure, and shared mission. In my three years serving alongside Pastor Ryan Kwon at Resonate Movement, I had the privilege of absorbing a distinct set of leadership characteristics. What follows are five defining principles Ryan lived out—each one sharpened in real ministry trenches and each one leaving a permanent imprint.
1. Raise the Elevation
Whenever Ryan was in a meeting or discussion, his genius was to subtly change the elevation. Whether we were discussing vision, a sermon, an organizational issue, or culture, Ryan never let a team settle for the altitude they were currently flying at. He instinctively pushed leaders to rise above their current level of clarity, passion, skill, and focus. “Raising the elevation” meant:
lifting conversations from the weeds to the big picture
make sure the team sees the why before the what, how, when
challenging people to see themselves as leaders at a higher level of responsibility
refusing mediocrity in vision, execution, or discipleship, even if it increases the degree of difficulty
calling out gifts people didn’t even see in themselves
When Ryan entered the room, expectations rose. The work sharpened. The energy increased. The mission came into focus. He believed leaders should elevate the room, not simply exist in it.
Leaders don’t push people up the mountain—they climb first and call others upward.
2. Embody the Culture You Want to See
Ryan understood instinctively that culture is not what you say, what you print, or what you announce—it’s what you consistently live.
Even before I joined the Resonate team, I was impressed with the culture of hospitality, the contextual articulation of the gospel message, and the discipleship culture. Three years later, not only was I more impressed, but I began to understand why Resonate excelled in these things: Ryan lived them.
One of the privileges of being on Ryan’s team is access to his back yard and his cigar collection. Almost nightly, Ryan would invite people to engage in deep conversations, always being present, and never rushed. Looking around Resonate, that kind of hospitality was prevalent in the pastors, leaders, and members. But, it started in Ryan’s back yard when Resonate was launched and it still continues today. Ryan embodied the culture he wanted to see, and it shows.
The lesson: teams imitate what their leader embodies.
If a leader is hungry, the team becomes hungry.
If a leader works hard, the team works hard.
If a leader is generous, the team becomes generous.
If a leader models discipleship, the team will be disciplers.
Ryan modeled passion, intensity, sacrifice, courage, and excellence. His life set the tone. He lived the values he expected from others—and the team absorbed that posture.
Culture begins in the bloodstream of leadership. There are no shortcuts.
3. Know What You Have in Your Pocket—and Use It
One of Ryan’s most unique gifts was recognizing what resources, influence, and strategic advantages God had placed in his hand. Ryan recognized that he was not just a leader of a church, but he has been given a mantle to be a leader of leaders, a pastor of pastors, a catalyst of Churches (the capital “C” emphasizes networks and movements). Ryan’s vision for the Bay Area is that Resonate is an oak tree in which other churches and ministries grow up under. Ryan consistently demonstrates this mantle and calling in the work that he says yes to.
“Knowing what’s in your pocket” means:
understanding your gifts…what you bring into the room
recognize your relational networks
be aware of the credibility and authority God has given you
leverage your strengths and relationships for the sake of the mission
All leaders have a God given gift and strength that someone sees and wants to follow. Knowing what this gift is, asking God to sanctify you in your use of it, and pressing in, is working with God in His mission for His glory.
4. Fix Problems, Not Symptoms
When teams struggle, it’s easy to mistake surface-level issues for actual problems. Ryan refused to do that. He pressed past the visible symptoms and drove toward root causes.
An example of this is Ryan’s fixation on motive. While most ministries are concerned with ‘what they are doing’ and ‘how many people are involved’, Ryan was asking the deeper question of ‘why’. Knowing long term commitment is always an issue of the heart, Ryan dug into the issue that really mattered.
Fixing problems means asking the deeper questions:
What’s the real issue underneath this tension?
What motive, belief, system, or habit is creating the problem?
What pattern keeps reappearing?
What is unsustainable, unclear, or misaligned?
Symptoms are easy to treat but they don’t produce transformation. Ryan encouraged leaders to be diagnosticians, not firefighters. This is much harder work, and takes infinitely more time and prayer, but it is the beautiful long game that produces godly leaders, churches and organizations.
5. Look Around Two Corners
Many leaders can see what’s right in front of them. Fewer can see what’s coming around the next corner. Even fewer take the time to anticipate what is around two corners. Ryan often stopped to ask about the impact of decisions in different groups within the church. For example, if a decision was being made in the youth ministry, he asked how it would impact not only the students, but the leadership, the parents, and the church as a whole. Ryan could see the impact of the decisions (the wake), long before a decision was made.
The ability to see two corners ahead looks like:
anticipating cultural shifts
preparing for organizational needs before they surfaced
building teams for the next season, not the current one
identifying unseen risks and impacts of decisions
positioning ministry for long-term health
This anticipatory leadership— seeing around two corners —keeps organizations from drifting, stalling, or getting stuck. It cultivates agility and maturity.
Leaders don’t just respond to reality—they work hard to see it, predict it, prepare for it, and stay ahead of it.
Conclusion
These five characteristics—raising the elevation, embodying culture, knowing what’s in your pocket, fixing real problems, and seeing around two corners—can profoundly shape leadership. They describe a kind of leadership that is both ambitious and grounded, courageous and careful, visionary and pastoral. I’m grateful for the privilege of serving alongside Ryan and for the ways his leadership continues to challenge me to lead with clarity, conviction, and humility. My hope is that these principles do more than inform your leadership—that they form it—so that the wake you leave behind strengthens people, deepens culture, and reflects the kind of faithfulness that sees God’s kingdom come.