Are you effectively raising up new leaders?
One of the frequent topics of conversations around here is how do we develop future leaders at NewSpring? It’s a frequent conversation because we don’t know the answer.
Leaders are developed around here. We just don’t have an intentional plan for making that happen…if that makes sense. In my opinion we have a great leadership environment. And, we have great leaders. We just don’t have a specific strategy for developing future leaders. That’s why I’m asking you for help.
I’m not the only person looking for help. Here’s an excerpt from an email message I received earlier this week:
“I’ve recently been given a new and daunting assignment from our Senior Pastor. He has asked to me to begin creating a Leadership Development Program here at our church for people within our congregation to move into other areas of ministry. Specifically, we have several guys that we see carrying the potential to be strong ministry leaders, associate pastors or even campus pastors at the point when we are ready to go multi-site. However, one thing that is severely lacking is a means by which we develop these guys. And I have to tell you I’m not really sure where to start.
Do you have any suggestions maybe from what you’re doing at NewSpring or from other churches that have leadership development programs that are effectively raising up new leaders? If you have any books, links or other resources you would refer, I would be really grateful.”
- Are you experiencing success with leadership development at your church? If so, what are you doing?
- What books or websites would you recommend on this topic?
- Or, maybe more importantly, do you think it’s possible to develop leaders, or are leaders discovered?
a few books that have been helpful for me are “grow your own leaders” and “leaders at all levels.”
i think what’s important is not so much having program, but a clear system of how do we find leaders, and when we find them, what do we do. also creating a culture of development among all leaders and the culture of constantly developing someone in your area. what would happen if you got hit by a bus? who would do what you do?
A secular book that has really helped us develop a team and what is needed along that line is by Patrick Lencioni. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. Ultimately the root that every leader needs is an environment of trust. I highly recommend that book. He has a ton of great books along that line.
We intentionally think about terms of service as well as rewards for service. Andy Stanley said it best, what we want repeated we reward. We spend money and time to keep our volunteers and leaders focused. I spend time rewarding staff with lunches, activities, personal hand written notes, ask them to lead a staff meeting, periodic devotionals etc.
Oh man, Tony, this — leadership development — is my passion. My personal mission, which was impressed on me anew at Catalyst a few weeks ago, is to recognize, encourage, and develop ministry leaders. I believe this is a huge area of weakness at most churches. We tend to want to hire superstars from the outside, instead of taking the time to develop them from within. There are many notable examples of large churches that are running into succession and leadership problems right now because they have always hired from the outside. Another problem with signing the A-Rods of leadership is that they have to adapt to a new culture in the new organization, instead of understanding it from the inside out by growing up within the organization.
I believe every church should have a “farm system” of sorts, where men and women with leadership potential are “called out” (in a good way, by naming the gift or potential in them), and then given opportunities to demonstrate leadership, starting with servanthood, at increasing levels of responsible. At the same time, they need to process through those opportunities with mentors & coaches, and learn how to discover their own unique gifts, call, and leadership style. Plus they need to be challenged on the personal/spiritual/moral authority side of their lives.
A few churches are doing this fairly well, and they have put out some curriculum, but IMHO most of that curriculum ends up looking too “packaged” or too Christian-education-focused, instead of experiential. I do not know of many books that provide good guides to this. One of the problems, again IMHO, is that many pastors do not themselves understand leadership, and what makes them a good (or not-so-good) leader, so they are unable to teach or replicate it. It either comes naturally, or it doesn’t.
I believe that some people are born leaders, but I also believe that anyone can increase their leadership potential and effectiveness with the right opportunities. My dream is to start a “leadership lab” that teaches the things that seminaries (and most churches) do not.
I don’t know if this helps the discussion, but it sure got my juices flowing. Let me know if NewSpring (or any other church) is hiring for this, and I’ll take the ball and run with it! Or I would be happy to walk you through possibilities for your situation. That is not meant to be a shameless plug, just an expression of my passion for this.
Succession planning when done well in advance of retirement is a good thing. I would first suggest that competencies based on required behaviors and expectations. Use profiles or assessments to find what an individual lacks. Creating a long term individual development plan is always helpful. I recently had a conversation with my colleague who is an Industrial/Organization Psychologist and she informed me that where most organizations miss the mark is not the lack of training opportunities but the lack of feedback from higher ups. People dont usually leave organizations, they usually leave thier boss.
Because our church is going multisite we focused on defining our leadership development system. We borrowed the Leadership Pipeline idea from Community Christian Church in Naperville, IL. Our pipeline is a little different, but essentially it is
Volunteer–>Apprentice–>Leader–>Coach–>Director
This is the same across all ministries, and allows us to present a clear plan to all volunteers. But, the real leadership development happens with the 1-on-1 apprenticing and the team building that takes places at every level.
2 book recommendations – 1. “On Becoming a Leader” by Warren Bennis and 2. “The Leadership Baton” by Forman, Jones, and Miller.
As far as developing leaders… Tony, were you discovered or developed? I think it is a little of both.
Very timely. Right now we are mostly of the opinion that the “marketplace” has amazing “leadership training”, so we don’t need to reinvent the wheel on that. There are amazing marketplace leaders who come to our churches every weekend. We don’t need to invest a ton into them regarding how to inspire people, delegate tasks, work with a team, communicate effectively and efficiently – probably most churches have people who TEACH those courses in the professional world. We feel like what (our) people need is spiritual formation, and training in how to infuse those principles into their leadership paradigm. We are trying to identify those high-caliber professional leaders, get them hooked into deepening spiritual practices so service becomes a part of who they are, and then they will naturally take up servant-leadership in the church.
Now – we haven’t really figured out HOW to do much of that. But that is the theory we are going to work towards, and I look forward to the rest of the feedback and comments on this post.
Finding and developing leaders is one of my hardest jobs. Just when I find a leader that seems to have some energy and vision something comes along and smacks them down – major illness, death, economic hardship.
God gave me a passion several years ago to begin intentionally developing/training leaders within my church and 6 years ago gave me a passion to offer that training to other churches who were desiring to develop their leaders.
I’m sure this is not a new thought due to the saturation of his materials in the world, but I found John Maxwell’s material very easy to use as teaching material.
As a general “wide net”, I gave an open invitation to anyone desiring to become more effective at what they do.
But, I also gave a specific written, then personal invitation to those around me that “blipped” my leadership radar.
Developing The Leader Within You was the first book we would use…Then Next Generation Leader…Then 17 Laws of Teamwork. We would read a chapter each week…come to class where I would teach an outline based on the chapter…then we would discuss and apply the principles.
There’s so much more. But that’s it in a nutshell. I’d love to talk to you about it sometime. There’s so much we’ve learned in the last 8 years of doing this.
Later,
Johnny
Leaders are discovered and than developed.
We use a philosophy based Kary Oberbrunner’s second book “called” he outlines his philosophy for discipleship in it and what has become our Grace Institute.
Reggie McNeal has some books on developing leadership but I would point to scripture on the one point you asked concerning leadership. Paul talks about some were called to be deacons and others teachers… so on and so on.
I personally believe that God chooses those who will be called to leadership. But I also think we sometimes have a gross misunderstanding of what church leadership should look like.
When I served on staff at Skyline Church (under John Maxwell) he modeled leadership development by doing it with his staff and his church Board. We in turn did it with our leadership teams. Several methods were used…one was to meet on a regular basis with our leaders and go thru books together on leadership development, teach and discuss. Today I have a 12 month leadership progam and the majority of books used are by John Maxwell. In that year we go on a retreat plus attend a conference on leadership development.
Just as important is doing fun events together such as a ball game, etc., during the mentoring period. Exposing my leaders to other leaders is also a huge plus.
For over 10 years now I have committed to forming a team of 5-6 leaders to specifically study leadership. There are 3 basic components to the 1-year journey: 1) Launch at the Willowcreek Leadership Summit in August (Satellite Site) where we retreat the experience and go deep into relationship to begin the journey. 2) Bi-Weekly 75 minute early morning meetings studying leadership in an interactive way using leadership models (similar to Hybel’s “Axioms”). This time is approx 40 min in study and 35 min in prayer. 3) An 8-10 day Leadership Intensive Mission Trip in a hard place in the world (leadership teaching – not construction or discovery and not Australia but India, Mongolia, etc.). This is usually at the end of the trip. THE RESULT – in 10 years I had raised up 65 leaders (including a women’s team of 7) who were undoubtedly some of the best leaders in the church and who took on significant roles. Perhaps the greatest benefit was the relational and leadership knowledge and trust we shared.
Tony – what a great topic to discuss! We have started to try to address the issue of intentional leadership development in our church but are not far along yet. You’re clearly doing a lot of things right but are blessed with natural leaders – having a ‘great leadership environment’ and great leaders is 90+%. The question to ask is what makes it a great environment and how does one get there/stay there?
In fact, I think recognition that leadership is very important and being intentional about raising/developing new leaders is really the key attitude. Not all churches want an environment where ‘power’ is shared.
I think that leaders must be both discovered and developed. Like any spiritual gift or natural ability we must be aware it’s there, know what it’s used for, and given the opportunity to grow in grace and effectiveness.
For intentional leadership development one book I found very helpful is “Building Leaders: Blueprints for Developing Leadership at Every Level of Your Church” by Aubrey Malphurs. For what an individual leader is and how to be a better one, I do like a lot of Maxwell’s works. The problem with only looking at his books or others aimed at an individual leader is that they totally miss the aspect of leadership development as a process – identification, recruitment, placement, evaluation, encouragement, and reproduction. For a “great” leader in a great existing environment, these occur naturally, but for the rest of us… a program or a process can be very helpful, perhaps not so much in the program itself but in elevating the vision and importance of leadership development.
Teachers can pass along information to anyone, but it takes a leader to reproduce a leader, and any program has to put potential/growing leaders together with a leader with a heart for equipping others and let these new leaders actually lead, not just sit in a class or workshop.
Immerse yourself in the leadership books of John Maxwell – anything written by him is a must read it!!!!!
Leadership can both be discovered and developed (Next time you’re with a huge group of people, notice that one person who takes charge and heads up where people should go, or what should be talked about – it’s inevitable within a group who the ‘leader’ is). Other individuals notice leaders – it’s a quality that is evidenced.
Leadership can also be developed and learned (it can be taught).
“There are few leadership books; most deal with management.” -John Maxwell
“Management is the process of assuring that the program and objectives of the organization are implemented. Leadership, on the other hand, has to do with casting vision and motivating people.” -John Maxwell
A mentor of mine said that ‘our entire calling in life is dealing with people – our career [what we do] is an outlet in which we are able to do that.’ ‘People’ are especially involved in the area of ministry and knowing how to lead and win people’s hearts is way more important than control.
Bottom line – master John Maxwell!!!
our leadership development plan is more organic than formalized, though it would probably be a good idea to crystalize the road map. here’s some of what we do, for what it’s worth.
1. leaders invite others to join them in their tasks. this is very free-flowing, but works well. every volunteer leader has a written job description and at the top it says “invite someone else to do this with you”
2. we allow staff to invite one lead volunteer to our all staff, and encourage them to go out to dinner after.
3. we meet 4 times a year with all our leaders (we call it a leadership summit) where I talk about vision and share leadership principles.
i’m looking forward to reading more of everyones comments here.
Thanks Tony for opening my question to a larger audience here on your blog. I’ve read through the comments and have found some helpful stuff. Some of my other questions also include:
1. How long is a healthy time period for a leadership development program? 12 weeks? 6 months? 1 year? More?
2. I love Maxwell’s stuff, but honestly 21 Irrefutable Laws, 17 Laws of Teamwork, 52 Laws for Eating a Mint While speaking publicly, are very top heavy when you’re trying to take average lay people, with full-time jobs, families and other responsibilities. I’m not saying Maxwell’s stuff is bad, probably the best that’s out there. But I’m wondering what’s out there that’s a little more concise and easier to navigate through with these types of people?
3. What elements of practical experience can be incorporated in a Leadership Development program?
If you are looking for quick, easy to use materials that are very practical for all levels of leadership I would highly recommend Tim Elmore’s series entitled, “Habitudes”. I’ve used it for emerging young leaders as well as pastors and executives and it’s been great. The principles are taught using imagery and each principle is usually only about 2 or 3 pages long.
I’ve found that offering training in 8 to 12 week “courses” has worked best. It gives the opportunity for some level of commitment…but also an out at the end of the course for those that feel it’s not for them.
As part of the training…I expect open dialogue from trainees regarding each principle we’re learning. I expect them to bring me stories the next week of how they implemented the principles we learn together. Obviously everyone doesn’t have a story every week. But the benefit to the group is always good when they hear each other’s real life examples.
Thank you for asking some good questions. I learned about your blog from Perry Noble and rejoice with you about what God is doing at Newspring! My son attends Anderson University and goes to Newspring so when I’m in Anderson and not preaching elsewhere I visit Newspring. By way of introduction, I serve at Columbia International University and have a great interest in leadership development. Here is a brief bio of me: (http://www.ciu.edu/faculty/bio.php?id=89).
One of your questions asked, “What books or websites would you recommend on this topic?” Although, several books come to mind, I want to highlight a church that I think would comparable to Newspring with regard to some of the issues you face in leadership development. Mac Lake at Seacoast is doing a phenomenal job is developing a people (rather than program) centered model of leadership development. The following website can give you an overview of their ministry: http://www.mynextsteps.org/. Seacoast is doing a great job and I’m sure they would love to assist you.
Concerning your second question, “do you think it’s possible to develop leaders, or are leaders discovered?”; those of us in ministry have experienced both situations. I believe the Church has a tremendous opportunity to be intentional and take the lead at developing men and women for service to our Lord. I learned many valuable leadership lessons in the military, but God’s word is the final authority on leadership. Several years ago I had the opportunity to be certified as a Leadership Catalyst coach (http://truefaced.com/site/) and have found those principles to be transformational in helping churches develop relationships of trust in an environment of grace.
By the way, I’m looking forward to Unleash 2009! May God continue to richly bless you and your ministry at Newspring!
2 Cor 2:14
love this post T-Mo… really looking to see how we begin to strategically crystallize our “farm teams” @ NS…
Great question and comments. I have been doing leadership development in the church for 11 years and found so little written on process, that I co-authored the book with Aubrey Malphurs entitled Building Leaders: Blueprints for Developing Leaders at Every Level in Your Church. I believe there is some very unique contributions to the topic especially chapters on delegation/empowerment, the metaphors Jesus used for leadership development, and how to create a leadership culture. Go here for a free chapter download: http://willmancini.com/books