LEARN-EMPOWER-ASSESS-DECIDE-EVALUATE-REVIEW

Life-long learners constantly cycle through a developmental process to sharpen their leadership skills. It may be intuitive or it may be intentional. But the 6 steps are real: LEARN-EMPOWER-ASSESS-DECIDE-EVALUATE-REVIEW.

John was struggling. He served as a volunteer organizing various mission events, with amazing results.  But then he was asked to lead the Global Outreach Ministry for his church. 

He was flattered, excited – but overwhelmed.

  • How was he going to lead?
  • Who was he leading?
  • And most important, where was he supposed to start?

That’s when we met.

Too often, people are put into leadership positions without the tools, skills or understanding required to lead. What normally happens to people is that they either pursue help OR they die! The death of a vision leads to the death of a leader. Worse yet, the leader becomes frustrated, apathetic and disinterested in everything to do with the “church”.

Back to John, after he brought me up to speed, I asked him some questions and as he reflected – he began to calm down. John shared his heart for missions, and for the Global Outreach Ministry.

  • He had a vision.
  • He had ideas of what he didn’t want – essentially he did NOT want to work alone!
  • He DID want to become more effective at helping others lead essential areas of the Global Outreach Ministry.

As a leader, one thing you must ask is – Where do I begin?

Here are three questions I asked John:

  1. What are your strengths?
  2. What essential skills are necessary?
  3. Who do you need?

John had recently completed an assessment that the entire church staff was asked to take. We discussed the strengths he brought to a team. And then identified some areas he did not enjoy, what he lacked and potential blind spots. Finally, we identified what it would take for his team to be successful and who would be good to have on his team.

John is in the process of:

  • Learning who he is as a leader.
  • Learning about the various roles he needs to fill on his team.
  • Learning who he could approach as potential members of his team.

Learning is an important step in the Leadership Development Process. But Learning in itself is not enough. In fact, going to a workshop, listening to a podcast or even receiving a degree in leadership does not guarantee a person can lead. I’ve found that many people have knowledge but lack the experience of actually leading a team. Applying the knowledge and learning from success as well as failure is critical in the development process.

Questions for your reflection:

  1. Who are you developing?
  2. How are you helping them learn about themselves and the people on their team?
  3. What possibilities are there for them to take the next step forward?

The next step in the journey to develop as a leader is – Empower. Empower team members to help them clarify “whats next”. This is where we will pick-up next week.

Learn about the 2019 Collectives.  Each Collective will engage you in the 6 Step Leadership Development process above.

Related Leadership Development Resource:

 

 

 

 

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