Next In Line Leadership: December 2009

Monday, December 28, 2009

Blog Hiatus

I'll be taking a short blog hiatus this week. Just wanted to let you know, so you don't expect any content this week. I'll be back next week, revived, energized, and ready to talk some leadership!

Training Tommorrow's Leaders Today,
Matt

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Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Next In Line Leadership Reads of the Week

Monday, December 21, 2009

Credibility ≠ Likability

I heard one of my professors say this a while back, and it made me think quite a bit. Deep down, we all have this need to be liked. Well, unless we’re sociopathic. Unfortunately, many of us need this so much that we let it get in the way of our teaching. This is not good.
For just a minute, examine yourself and ask yourself if this is what you do. Would you rather be liked, seen as a friend, or teach the hard lesson and be seen as a jerk for a week?
In the long term, of course, the answer is “I want to be both.” I think we can have both, but not always at the same time. Don’t misread what I’m saying. You want likability too. You won’t do much for the cause of Christ by being a jerk-face. But there will be times when you’ll have to choose between the two, and that’s what I’m talking about here.
Sometimes it is demanded of us that we do the right thing, say the right thing, even if our student isn’t going to like it, or us, for a while because of it.
Their future and their godliness is more important than whether they like what we have to say, or us. Sometimes we have to bite the bullet, say or do the hard thing, and let the chips fall where they will. They may not speak to you for a couple of weeks, but in the end, when they “come to themselves” they will realize that you said what you did, or did what you did, for their benefit. You’ve just established credibility.
Whether they realize it or not, you need credibility with your students. They will know when you’re softballing it for them. Hardballing might not get you any friendly texts that week, but in the long run you’ll establish yourself as someone who truly cares.
This principle might be even more difficult in a leadership team, where you are probably closer knit. However, here more than in youth group this principle is so important. Softballing doesn’t help anybody. We’re messing with the future, and God has called us to raise up these leaders. Credibility is imperative. Say the hard things. Your leaders should be able to take it. When it comes time for a yearly review, don’t hold back. Be real, be truthful.
Credibility will allow you to build leaders.
Question: Are You Choosing Likability Over Credibility? How Do You Balance The Two?

Training Tomorrow’s Leaders Today,
Matt

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Developing Principles

Leaders lead from their principles. Principles are like the big filter that all information goes through in your brain. Information is processed through them, and a person’s behavior is processed through them.
When it comes to leaders and leading, we want those principles to be Christ-Centered. Consider Jesus’ saying about the eye being the lamp of the body (Matthew 6:22-23). Jesus is saying that whatever is at the center of your life is going to dictate how you behave and what you think. This is a scary thought when you really sit down and consider it.
If we try to lead from anything other than Christ, we may become leaders, but to what end? The answer of course is ourselves, our fame, our fortune, etc. As we seek to raise a new generation of leaders, we have to impart Christ-honoring principles in everything we do.
There are so many ways that the world offers to do leadership, and some of them might even make sense to us. However, if we can’t find a Biblical parallel, we had probably better stay away from it. Our students need to be inundated with Biblical leadership principles, and not those of the world. There are plenty of worldly leaders out there who are not the salt and light of the earth.
The next generation of leaders will have to be different. They will have to be Biblical. They will have to be relevant. Here’s a few thoughts on training them to be these things:
1. Train your students with Biblical Leadership Principles. Make sure that anything that you encounter from a secular source can be corroborated with scripture. This usually isn’t as hard as it sounds, but you’d be surprised what doesn’t pass the smell test.
2. Give your students opportunity to practice leading in Biblical ways. Establishing principles isn’t just about learning them, it’s about doing them. See James 1:22
3. Model Biblical leadership for them. Always lead in a Biblical manner. Monkey see monkey do.
4. Don’t always assume you have to move on and teach something exciting. If we don’t instill Biblical principles in our students, we haven’t succeeded.
5. Long after the fancy “tip of the day” stuff is long forgotten, if you’ve given your students a bedrock of Christian Leadership Principles, your young people will still lead out of them. That is where we have to spend our time.
Question: What is the Best Way You Have Found To Instill Christian Leadership Principles?

Training Tomorrow’s Leaders Today,
Matt

Monday, December 14, 2009

Don't Pretend It's Working

Have you ever become so stretched in your personal and professional life that you let things slide? Of course you probably have, and so have I. Many times we become so busy, and therefore caught up, that we will let programs or curriculum continue long after they have stopped being effective.
When our consciousness begins to nag at us about it, we justify ourselves by thinking that maybe the students can glean something from it, no matter how terrible it is. This is not good thinking, so think again.
If we continue using a program or curriculum that isn’t working, our students will not so slowly lose respect for us. Here’s why:
1. They know it’s not working, and they know you know that it’s not working. You’re not fooling anyone.
2. If you use something that isn’t working, they are going to assume that you don’t care. And if you don’t care, neither do they.
3. You aren’t modeling responsible leadership when you allow a failing program or curriculum to continue. You aren’t being a leader, and they know it.
Don’t turn a blind eye when things aren’t working. It only aggravates the problem. Be responsible, be the leader, and set things right. Walk your leadership students through why you are changing things up. Help them to understand the process and the reason. They will learn a lot more from that process than they will if you let a dying program linger.
Question: Have You Ever Found Yourself Nursing an Ailing Program? How Did You Finally Put Things Right?
Training Tomorrow’s Leaders Today,
Matt

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Reads of the Week

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

The Young Leader's Prayer Life

One of the problems I have been seeing as I develop young leaders is the complete lack of or at least seriously deficient prayer life of young people. This is partly my fault, as a Youth Leader it’s obvious that I have been deficient in teaching and modeling this area of spiritual disciplines. But it runs a lot deeper than just my youth group, and I’m willing to bet that if you’re honest with yourself about you and your students, your prayer life and that of your group leaves something to be desired.
My friend Jerry Powell has been reminding me lately just how important a leaders prayer life is. I couldn’t agree more, but I think that often as leaders we struggle with our own prayer life so much that we also neglect to train our students in prayer and show them just how important prayer is to a leader.
So how important is prayer?
Well, Paul says to “pray without ceasing,” so it must be pretty important. On a practical level, prayer is so important that we can’t live without it. Praying shows a reliance on God for all things. It shows more than just a list of things we want; it signifies that we know where all things come from.
So much of the bible is devoted to prayer. We have plenty of biblical role models if we want to study prayer.
I think our first step is to get our prayer lives in order. Once our lives are in order, then we can begin to speak into the lives of our students about prayer.
So how do we teach our students the importance of a prayerful attitude and life?
1. Model it for them. There’s no better way to help them develop a prayerful attitude and life than by modeling it for them.
2. Show them the Bible. Show your students how important prayer is in the Bible. Show them biblical characters and how and when they prayed. Do studies on the prayers of Paul.
3. Assign accountability partners. Let your students remind each other about the need to pray.
4. Remind them. Use social media and texting to remind your students to pray. Keep a weekly prayer list for your group.
5. Give them Practice. Have your students pray every time you meet. They will get used to it. Remember, many times behavior changes attitudes.
In the Trenches,
Matt

Monday, December 7, 2009

Leadership Lessons from Tiger Woods

When “Saturday Night Live” does a Parody of your misdeeds, you know you’re newsworthy. Unfortunately for Tiger Woods, it’s no laughing matter, and it shouldn’t be a laughing matter to any leader who pays attention to the missteps of those in the public eye.
Tiger Wood’s fall from grace carries with it a poignant message to all of us who are leaders. Mr. Woods may be the best golfer who has lived, and he has definitely done a lot for the sport in the way of racial reconciliation, but all this means squat in the face of the news last week that his family life isn’t what everyone thought it was.
I have heard many people (especially in the talk radio industry) asking why Tiger’s indiscretions should matter in the face of his talents. This is a good question, and one that needs to be asked by all leaders. We have seen what happens to Christian leaders when they make mistakes: generally speaking, they lose their ministries. Now, I’m not comparing the work of ministry leaders and Tiger Woods, but what I am saying is that the same principal that has the nation giving a collective sigh of betrayal over Tiger is the one that will sink any leader that betrays the trust of their followers.
Mr. Woods may have never claimed to be a paragon of virtue, but people have invested in him emotionally. They don’t just see him as a golfer. Golfing is just what brought him into the limelight. Now, he’s a role model, a guy you see on the television selling you goods. He’s become a household name, and a certain amount of trust and emotional investment go into that. Unfortunately, it’s that very trust that people feel has now been violated. Even though they didn’t know Tiger Woods apart from his public persona, the masses thought they did. Thus his fall has been great.
If Tiger Woods, who plays golf and appears in a few commercials, takes this kind of fall when he screws up; how much greater will the fall of a Christian leader be? People don’t just emotionally invest in us, they invest their lives and the lives of their families. We are with them in their greatest moments of joy, and in their moments of greatest sorrow. We share life with them. Further, as leaders we guide them, give them advice, and do so in the name of God.
If a fan of Tiger Woods involves themselves emotionally, those who follow us intertwine their lives with us. To these people, a moral failing like Mr. Woods’ isn’t just a news headline, it’s a horrible violation of trust and family that tears them apart.
Now, obviously we fail and fail badly, but I think the difference between Mr. Woods and us is what we do with that sin. He obviously tried to hide it. And it came out in the worst way. This says something about the merits of transparency, but that is another post for another day.
In the meantime, let’s remember that those people we serve wrap their lives up in ours, and it is our God-given responsibility to shepherd them well. We owe them more than to play with their trust or hide our failings from them; and if we do, we shouldn’t be surprised when we end up the butt of a joke on “Saturday Night Live,” or worse.
In the Trenches,
Matt

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

What Motivates You?

What motivates you to run a leadership development team? I was thinking about motivation this last week, and I asked myself this question.
My motivation comes from many quarters. I love teenagers, and want them to have the best of options as they go into life. My motivation also comes from a general dissatisfaction with the status quo in Christian leadership. By raising up a new generation of leaders, the status quo can be broken. I also feel very strongly about giving the next generation ALL of the tools they need to lead in a manner that is honoring to Christ.
What motivates you?
Is it an intense love for your students and their future?
Is it a way to take some of the work off of you in the youth ministry?
Whatever motivates us will eventually become known, so you had better be honest with yourself right now. You know that you’re students are more discerning than we’d like to think. They smell a phony a mile out.
Being up front about our motivation will help them understand the way you teach and why you teach.
By the way, find out what motivates your students as well. Why are they on the leadership team?
By working to eliminate greed, self-centeredness, and laziness from our motivation, we teach better and become more effective. When we eliminate these traits from our student’s perspectives, we turn out better leaders.

In the Trenches,
Matt

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