Seven Steps to Developing Leaders
I have intentionally developed all my leaders in One Church. It gives me great pleasure to watch them grow. Well, most of the time! Sometimes the lessons are painful as we are all learning. When it comes to growing leaders, remember the 3 Ds…
Discern. It takes one to know one. True leaders can identify a leader.
Demonstrate. It takes one to show one. True leaders are models.
Develop. It takes one to grow one. True leaders equip other leaders
1 Peter 5:2-3 – Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.*
Choose your potential leader carefully – Two indicators I look for are desire and potential. Desire. They want to make a difference and are hungry to grow. Potential. They have already demonstrated initiative and character in a task. Ie. You caught them doing something extraordinary!
Set an appropriate challenge – I usually test their character first by prodding them. Eg. A comment that causes them to react. You’re looking for the “honey” or “vinegar” in their response. The truth of someone lies in their reaction not how they promote themselves. Potential leaders need to be challenged, not just taught. Give them a problem to solve. The challenge should be personal, attainable, measurable and important. Unless a person is stretched, it is impossible to assess their potential.
Invest your resource into them – Firstly, your time. This speaks volumes. Time can only be spent once. Secondly, share what you have. Put great resources into their hands. This could be books, ideas, mentors, podcasts, or training.
Allow them to watch you lead – People do what people see. Let them see you model what you want them to learn. Be an example of people skills, decision making, good planning and vision casting. I often get a potential leader to sit with me when I’m running a meeting. I can give a running commentary on what’s going through my head. I will often ask them what they’d do in a particular moment.
Identify their strengths and give regular encouragement – Locate their God-given gifts and encourage them to lead from that position of strength. Constant affirmation – encouragement is the oxygen of the soul. I’m a big fan of the Strengthsfinder assessment. Combine that with a standard spiritual gifts test and you have a solid base to work with.
Project over promotion – Give them genuine responsibility and authority for a project. Potential leaders eventually must be given responsibility for a task; they must do more than just follow you. Giving your potential leader a project both protects them and your organisation. I always assess someone on a project before I promote them. Trust me, it’s very hard to reverse the appointment.
Evaluate them on a regular basis – Balance expectation with inspection. Potential leaders must hear your assessment of their growth and their progress on the job. There is a danger that we create an evaluation based on intention rather than results. We can avoid this by asking these questions: Are they doing what is expected? Are they learning while they are doing? Are they effective with people? Are they ready for new challenges?
*To reiterate an earlier point: people do what people see. When is comes to developing leaders you must be an “in development” leader yourself. So before you implement a development plan for another…make sure you’ve instigated one for yourself!
Ps Simon Jarvis