Don’t Let Fear Sabotage the Development of Your Ministry Leaders

by: Mac Lake

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What would happen if the Christ Centered leaders in your church began to pour into and develop new leaders?  The impact on your church and community could be massive.

You can’t argue with the power of multiplication.  It just makes sense.  We’ve all heard the mathematical logic for the development of leaders.  For example:  If one leader develops two new leaders over the next six months, then those two leaders join the first one in developing two leaders each over the next six months, you suddenly have 9 leaders.  If this continues for just one more year you end up with over 80 leaders in two years!  Imagine the possibilities of what might happen with 80 new leaders!

Yes that’s exciting.  Yes that makes sense. But why isn’t it happening?  Because we allow fear to out reason logic.  While leaders give many excuses I believe the one overriding reason they don’t develop others is fear.  Most leaders are so focused on growing themselves that they don’t feel adequate to develop others.

The truth is we can be hard on ourselves.  Our fear is nurtured by our leadership weaknesses, imperfections, and inadequacies.  We’re painfully aware of our leadership mistakes and failures.  So consciously or subconsciously we question: What qualifies me to teach someone else to lead?  How can I answer others questions when I have so many questions of my own?  How will they respect me once they see my weakness?  What if I don’t know what I’m doing? What if I fail them? What if I steer them wrong?  What if they know more than me?  A million questions can run through our minds.  And even though we know the math makes sense…fear out reasons logic so we avoid developing leaders.

The best leader developers I know acknowledge their weaknesses.  They use their failures and mistakes as teachable moments and a tool for others to learn from.  Great developers recognize that ultimately it’s not about their strength it’s about their surrender to the Holy Spirit to be used to help others along the leadership journey.  If you wait until you’re the perfect leader then you’ll never take the first step toward developing others.  But if you trust what you have, what you’ve learned and who you are to be used by the Holy Spirit then He can use you to start a leadership development revolution.

So replace the fear driven questions with faith driven questions:  What if I took a chance on ____________ (you fill in the name)?  What if I spent the next six months pouring into two new reproducing leaders?  What if I allowed a couple of potential leaders to take some of my responsibility?  What if I invited a couple of young leaders to shadow me throughout my week?  What if I faced my fear and started developing leaders instead of just doing the ministry myself?  What if I embraced Paul’s mentality when he said, “imitate me as I imitate Christ.” What if I trusted the Holy Spirit to use my experience and my gifts to pour into the lives of others?

Imagine the possibilities.  Sometimes it’s not logic that helps us outwit fear…it’s allowing ourselves to imagine a better future.   Imagine what could be and determine to take a risk starting today.

What are your next steps to start a leadership development revolution in your organization?  

Read more from Mac here.

Tags: Mac Lake, Staff, Staff Leadership Roles

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Four Leadership Failures That Will Help Move Your Leadership Development Forward

by: Mac Lake

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When you come across a young leader who shows great potential, it’s easy to see them for what they could be.  We imagine what a great communicator they’re going to be, we envision the influence they’re going to have with our team, we anticipate how they’re going to take on significant responsibility.

But the key phrase is “going to.”  While they show great leadership potential, they’re not there yet.

They’ll fail to communicate the right thing at the right time, they’ll fail to gain early credibility with your team, or they’ll fail to follow through with an assigned task.

The key phrase is “they will fail.”  I want you to think about something: It may be your failure to tolerate failure that’s causing the failure of your leadership development efforts.

Our response to these young leaders failures may be one of the greatest determining factors in their future leadership.    It has a dramatic impact on them when we take the messiness of their mistakes and use it to develop their leadership insight and ability.

But that only happens when we’re able to remove our negative emotional reaction to  their failure and see if for what it could and should be: A leadership development opportunity.

• Failure may be a step backward toward an outcome, but it can be a step forward in personal development.
• Failure may do short-term damage to their leadership credibility, but their response to failure can be the very thing that establishes a long-term credible authority.
• Failure may briefly wound their leadership confidence, but coached proper, failure can inspire them to face the next risk with bold faith.
• Failure may momentarily make them look foolish, but it will ultimately increase their leadership wisdom.

Remember leadership development is a slow, messy process.  While you may feel the pressure of needing leaders “overnight,” you can’t produce leaders “overnight,” no matter how much potential they have.  So wisely partner with time and failure to do their work in the development of your potential leaders.

How well are you helping your young leaders steward failure?

>> Read more from Mac here.

Tags: Leadership Development, Leadership Failure, Mac Lake

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Five Reasons You’re Not Getting Leadership Development Results

by: Mac Lake

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You’re spending time, money and man power trying to develop leaders in your organization but your leadership pipeline remains dry and devoid of any new potential leaders. Why aren’t you getting the results you want? Here are five potential problems you should consider as you evaluate your efforts.

• You’re trying to develop leaders too fast. We want leadership development to be fast, easy and linear. But the truth is it’s slow, messy and customized to the learner. True development takes time. When we rush development we short cut the process and don’t get the results we’re looking for.
• You’re not using a reproducible model. If you survey your staff you’ll likely discover that each are using different processes to develop leaders. Left to their own they had to come up with something, so they did. And now there are varying levels of success across the organization. But no one has every stopped long enough to ask, “What are the best practices for developing leaders in our industry?” I’d recommend you communicate, coordinate, collaborate and develop a reproducible model you can use across all departments.
• You’re building your development on the shoulders of one person. We love it when there’s one person in our organization that’s a leadership development machine. It comes natural to them. They’re passionate about it and there’s a constant outpour of new leaders coming up behind them. This is a huge benefit to an organization until that person leaves. Building a culture of leadership development requires building an army of leadership developers in your organization.
• Your training isn’t adding value to your leaders. I hear this comment all the time, “We tried getting our leaders together for development but they stopped showing up over time.” Listen carefully…People will attend things that add value to their lives. Stop blaming them for not showing up and take a look at what you’re delivering. Was it boring? Was it irrelevant? Was it all lectures? Did it violate adult learning principles? Could they apply the principles in their leadership at home, work and ministry? Make it valuable and they won’t want to miss it.
• Your training is not accessible. Leaders today need options. Offering training at one time in one location is restrictive and inhibits people from participating. Leadership development will have broader impact when it’s delivered anytime, at any place and at any pace. This means less control and will require more leaders willing to invest themselves in reproducing new leaders. But with new tools such as Ministry Grid, a new online leadership development resource by Lifeway, accessibility to leadership development increases exponentially.

If you’re not getting the results you want then take time, evaluate and make adjustments. Allowing your leadership pipeline to remain dry is damaging the future impact of your mission.

Read more from Mac here.

Tags: Mac Lake, Staff, Volunteer leaders

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Facing Criticism as a Leader: 3 Responses

by: Mac Lake

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One of the things young leaders are often unprepared for is the amount of criticism they will face.  Their enthusiasm and optimism lead them to believe everyone will be just as excited and committed to their mission as they are.  Unfortunately it doesn’t take long until their idealism collides with criticism.  This can be a defining moment for a leaders character, confidence and ultimately their credibility.

There is nothing like a small dose of criticism to stir your emotions, disfigure your self-esteem and get you off track from pursuing the thing God has called you to do.  That’s why it’s essential we process and respond correctly when criticism comes our way.  There are basically three options we can choose from.

• Submissive leader – The submissive tends to be a people pleaser.  They have a mentality that “the customer is always right and I must please them to keep them.”  When faced with criticism they cower, wiggle and accommodate in order to keep everyone happy.  The submissive leader truly loves people but his love for people can cause him to put people’s preferences above what God’s called him to do. Some signs you might be a Submissive leader include: seeking unanimous agreement, shying away from conflict, suppress your feelings or opinion about a matter, and putting peace keeping above truth telling.  REMEMBER THIS- People pleasing creates a confusing culture where there’s no clarity or conviction around the mission.
• Aggressive leader –The aggressive leader tends to be very decisive and passionate.  They have a mentality that “I’m on a mission and my way is the right way.”  When faced with criticism they react without forethought, become defensive in order to prove they are right. The Aggressive leader truly loves the mission but his defensiveness can prevent him from hearing from wise counsel that God may be sending to bring greater depth to the mission.  Signs of an aggressive leader include:  they come out swinging when they’re opposed, push people out of the inner circle when they sense disagreement, failure to listen to others input, and they respond first and process later.  REMEMBER THIS – When you fight to win someone loses and ultimately the mission is the one that suffers.
• Assertive leader – The Assertive leader understands that criticism is a natural part of leadership.  They have disciplined themselves to process before responding so they can respond in way that honors God, others and the mission.  They possess a mentality that says, “People’s perception is their reality, so I can serve them and the mission better if I first listen, strive to understand and speak the truth in love.” Signs of an Assertive leader include:  Practice active listening, sees criticism as an opportunity, uses differing opinions to discover new insights, seeks to understand before seeking to be understood, stands boldly for what’s right while speaking the truth in love.  REMEMBER THIS – Assertive leadership requires spiritual maturity and patience and protects the integrity of the mission and the people who are carrying it out. 

What criticism are you facing?  In what way is it impacting your character?  Confidence?  Credibility?  What next steps do you need to take to process it correctly?

Tags: Leadership Development, Leadership Engine, Mac Lake

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The Values of Your Senior Leader Become the Values of Your Organization

by: Mac Lake

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There is a bullish, uncompromising law that you cannot ignore as you consider building a leadership development culture:

The values of the leader become the values of the organization. 

Now, I’m not necessarily talking about the values that are posted in the hallway by the water cooler, but the values the leader lives out on a day in day out basis.    (Unfortunately too often there is a big difference between the two).  A leader may order the execution of a new leadership development program, set an organization wide goal for the development of leaders or even assign a task force to develop solutions to the leadership development problem.  But if he himself is not involved in developing leaders then that organization will never cultivate a leadership development culture.

Don’t worry senior leaders, this does not mean that you have to suddenly put aside significant portions of your role to take on this new added responsibility.  No, it simply means you begin to invest in replicating yourself in at least one other person in the organization.  If you don’t model it yourself you can’t expect it from others.   But realize, It’s not the volume of leaders you reproduce that matters; it’s your voice and actions championing the cause that will lead others to follow your example and ultimately be the greatest contributing factor in building a culture of leadership development in your organization.

Read more from Mac here.

Tags: Leadership Engine, Mac Lake, Staff Development

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Recognizing Obstacles as Open Doors for Ministry Innovation and Greater Impact

by: Mac Lake

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What’s stopping you?  Are there barriers blocking the path to your dream?  What’s hindering the forward progress of your mission?  What’s deterring the realization of your vision?  And more importantly what’s your attitude about your situation?

Your whole attitude can be transformed when you recognize that obstacles can be open doors for innovation and greater impact.  Pause, and ask yourself a few important questions and see if you gain a new perspective.

• What’s the real problem I face?  Sometimes the perceived problem is not our real problem.  Skilled leaders learn to identify the problem behind the problem.
• Is there a field expert I know that can help me process my challenge?  If you don’t know someone personally simply ask yourself “What would __________ (known specialist) do in my situation?”  Opening your imagination this way may give you a fresh perspective.
• What are 5 options for overcoming my challenge?  Write them down and reflect on them.   Remember some of the best ideas are born out of bad ideas.
• Is there another approach God is prompting me to take?  Perhaps He allowed the obstacle in order to help you find a better direction.
• What are the hidden resources I have access to that I’ve not thought about?  This is one of my favorite questions and has helped produce solutions for me on many occasions.  Sometimes the things that are closest to us are the hardest things to see.

Don’t wait for your obstacle to be removed…God put it there to grow you as a leader and to open new doors of opportunity.

Read more from Mac here.

Tags: Innovation, Leadership Engine, Mac Lake, Staff Development

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Defining Your Leadership Pipeline

by: Mac Lake

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When someone first steps into leadership what should they focus on learning?  There are dozens of possibilities.  As a mentor I don’t want to frustrate a new leader by having them focus on things that are too advanced or even too simple.  However, it’s important that I provide a Learning Pathway that makes sense and helps them progress in their ability to lead at the next level.  One of the exercises we did as a leadership team while I was at Seacoast was to identify the competencies we felt were most important at each level of our leadership pipeline.  Below you will find what we came up with.  Also if you click HERE (Leading Others Mentoring Guide) you can download a sample of one of the Leadership Greenhouse Guides we developed for our leaders to mentor their leaders.

The list for your organization will be different than ours, so I encourage you to gather your Lead team, identify the levels of your leadership pipeline and then define the competencies that are most important to you for each level.  This is a great exercise that will force your team to decide what leadership behaviors are most important in your origination.  You’ll also discover this list will provide a framework not only for training but for hiring, promoting and evaluating employees.  Just remember when you sit down to develop the list it will take more than one meeting.  Don’t rush it, going through the process is just as valuable as having the final list of core competencies.

LEADING YOURSELF

• Managing Your Time
• Setting Personal Goals
• Improving Personal Communication
• Managing Your Personal Resources
• Dealing with Conflict
• Leading with Your Strengths
• Submitting to Authority

LEADING OTHERS

• Casting Vision
• Managing Others’ Goals
• Recruiting Volunteers
• Giving Soul Care
• Practicing 360 Communication
• Resolving Conflict
• Aligning People

LEADING LEADERS

• Evaluating
• Motivating Others
• Managing Budgets
• Team Building
• Decision Making
• Leading Meetings
• Applying Situational Leadership

LEADING DEPARTMENTS

• Persevering in Difficulties
• Evaluating Systems
• Building Morale
• Employee Engagement
• Hiring, Firing and Repositioning Talent
• Mentoring Leaders
• Focusing

 LEADING ORGANIZATIONS

• Establishing Organizational Value
• Forecasting the Future
• Managing the Leadership Pipeline
• Taking Risks
• Inspiring Others
• Succession Planning
• Practicing Execution

If you would like help in building a fully functional leadership pipeline at your church with Mac Lake, let us know.

Read more from Mac here.

Tags: Leadership Engine, Mac Lake, Staff, Staff Development

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Are Your Young Leaders Getting Reps?

by: Mac Lake

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Are the young leaders in your organization getting the reps they need to truly sharpen their leadership skills? Coaches understand the importance of their players getting reps in practice.  In baseball each player gets time in the batting cage to get swings at the plate.  In basketball each player spends countless hours shooting multiple free throws.  In football each player runs through the same play over and over again to ensure they know their assignment.  It’s these reps during practice that give each player a higher probability of doing well in the game.

What areas do your young leaders need reps?

• Communication – find various platforms inside and outside organization to give your young communicators the opportunity to get more speaking reps.
• Decision making – put your young leaders in meetings where significant decisions are being made, allow them to have a voice, share their opinion and exercise their decision-making muscles.
• Leading teams – give your young leaders an assignment to lead a task force or project team.  Allow them to get the practice of getting results through others.
• Developing leaders – Challenge your young leaders to identify, recruit and train up new potential leaders. Ask them on a regular basis who they’re raising up and what that individuals next step is in their development.

Giving them reps accomplishes three things for these young leaders

• It develops their competencies
• It strengthens their confidence
• It enhances their credibility

What’s your next step and getting your young leaders more reps?

Tags: Leadership Development, Mac Lake, Staff Development

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Pay the Price for Growth

by: Mac Lake

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I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who doesn’t have a desire to grow. We know that growth increases our sense of joy and contentment. It increases our self-confidence and sharpens decision making.    And it produces a depth of wisdom and understanding that impact the quality of our relationships.  With all these benefits who wouldn’t want to grow?

The problem isn’t the lack of desire, it’s the lack of discipline.  Typically most people don’t grow until they are forced to by tragedy, loss or pressure. When life is good, or at least tolerable, it’s easy to put our personal development on hold.  The truth is growth always requires surrender and sacrifice.  If I want to grow in my relationship with Christ I must surrender the will of my flesh to pursue the desires of the Spirit .  If I want to grow as a leader I must sacrifice having an abundance of leisure time for the sake of having adequate learning time.  When I refuse to surrender or sacrifice I won’t have the margin to grow to my greatest potential.  Solomon wrote in Proverbs 23:23, “Buy… wisdom, instruction and understanding.” Solomon is implying that  growth is never free, we must exchange something we value for wisdom, instruction and understanding. Growth will always cost you something: time, money, energy, pain or greater humility.  And the funny thing is when you pay the price you value it even more.

What do you need to give up in order to grow up?

Read more from Mac here.

Tags: Leadership Development, Leadership Engine, Mac Lake

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12 Leadership Competencies to LAUNCH Your Church

by: Mac Lake

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Churches Multiplying Churches

LAUNCH helps local churches form area networks to identify, train, and send out new leaders. These cooperative efforts, called Hubs, consist of multiple churches committed to a holistic approach of leadership development. Our process is not built on cookie-cutter programs but rather on personal relationships, nurturing 12 Leadership Competencies in the church-planter.  LAUNCH partners and planters are working together to multiply impact and transform communities.

The 12 Leadership Competencies

As LAUNCH was first forming, we interviewed a host of church planters, indentifying the common denominators among a variety of healthy leaders. In pinpointing key traits, we endeavored to reverse-engineer the success of a healthy plant. While fully acknowledging that the “success” of a church is ultimately in God’s hands, we also recognize that as leaders we have been entrusted with the responsibility of being faithful stewards of His calling. Too many “good guys” with noble intentions, solid theology, and popular ministry models flounder. The need is too great to not be fully prepared for the task. So, with this in mind, we took our research and boiled it down to the 12 LAUNCH Leadership Competencies. We teach leadership competencies rather than a specific church-planting model because most church plants seem to fail not because of the model but because of poor leadership. The competencies are:

1. Identify and confirm a passionate sense of calling
2. Master the discipline of leading yourself
3. Cast a clear and compelling vision
4. Lead from a bold faith that takes prayerful risks
5. Identify the needs of your community and develop a specific strategy to meet them
6. Effectively raise and manage money
7. Develop measurable systems and structures to fulfill your vision
8. Identify key leaders to execute the vision
9. Think strategically and execute for results
10. Empower leaders to execute the vision
11. Evaluate your values and integrate them into the DNA of your church
12. Persevere through difficulty in order to get to the next level

To learn more about LAUNCH, go here.

To read more from Mac, go here.

Tags: Church Planting, Leadership Engine, Mac Lake

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