Field Day

Today, I'm doing something I've never done before.  I'm going to talk to the offices of two senators.  I'm taking two youth to our local senator's offices for IJM and we're going to have a little chatty-chat about human trafficking.

I'm doing this for a couple of reasons.  First, human trafficking is one of my hot-button issues and tends to be pretty important to the young people that I teach.  Second, this is a wonderful opportunity for the leadership team to actually do something that can make a difference in so many lives.  Our leadership students need this kind of experience. 

In this case, it was one of our leadership students that became aware of this opportunity because of her past dealings with IJM.  There's a bill that's going through the Senate concerning human trafficking, and of course, senators need prompting and briefing about these sort of things, so we volunteered.

Participating in these kinds of activities now can very well wet your student's appetites for their entire lives.  I doubt that the students will forget what happens today, one way or the other.  It will mean even more to them because the idea didn't originate with me, but with them.

Now, some of you might not want to involve your students in politics like this, but I assure you there are lots of ways different activities that your students can do that will increase their leadership skills without visiting the offices of the local politicians.  Here's a couple of things I've found about these sort of trips that really help cement them into the minds of students:

1.  Make it important.  If your students feel that what they are doing isn't important, the activity isn't likely to have much impact.  Even if your students can't see the importance of what you are doing, it is our responsiblity to show them how important what we're doing is.  Students want to do important things.  They want to be involved.  Give them that opportunity.

2.  Give them ownership.  This opportunity didn't come from one of my sources, it came from a student's source.  It means more to them that way.  As much as I'd like to talk a lot today, I'm not going to.  My students are taking the lead.  They are coming up with the agenda and the talking points.  They will lead the meeting.

3.  Debrief.  Luckily, we have time between our two visits to talk about how the first one went and what we can do to improve the second meeting.  Make sure you are thoroughly debriefing your activities.  I've found that the real learning takes place after the activity as we all sit down and digest what we did.

4.  Make it Fun.  After we're done, we're going to go have coffee at one of our favorite coffee shops and just chill out for a while.  These kind of activities can be wonderful times to strengthen your relationships with your students.

Training Tomorrow's Leaders Today,
Matt

Explosions of Worship

This morning at Desperation Church, our worship pastor talked about the Spirit of God filling us to such an extent that we just exploded in worship to our God and King.  I had never heard this analogy before, and like so many other things, this got me to thinking about leadership.
My worship pastor talked about glorifying God in explosions of worship.  He prayed that there would be explosions of worship all over the world.  It was simple and beautiful, yet so poignant that I have been thinking about it all day.

So I began to think to myself:  "What is it that we want to see out of the next generation of leadership?" 
The answer?  I want to see explosions of worship in leadership positions all over society.

It's true that if we explode in worship people will see and be drawn to God.  It's also true that if we have godly leaders living lives of worship in positions of leadership throughout society, people will see and be drawn to God.

This is what God wants.  This is what I want.  It's why Next in Line Ministries exists.  It's why we do what we do.  It's why I write this blog, and why the board of  Next in Line works their tails off to help raise new leaders.  We believe that Christian leadership througout society witnesses of Christ, honors God with just and true decisions, and changes society at it's core by leading like Christ.

Just as our worship pastor prayed today, I also pray tonight:  Father, raise up a generation of leaders that live for you.  Fill them with Your spirit that they may burst in explosions of worship to You.  May their every action, their every word, and their every interaction be fueled and guided by love for You and others.  May they be a light in the darkness, a constant witness for You, and a guide to those who need it.  In Christ's Name, amen.

Training Tomorrow's Leaders Today,
Matt

Sometimes You Just Need to Keep Your Mouth Shut

It's not easy for me, but the art of keeping your mouth shut is just as important as knowing how and when to speak.  A lot of leadership literature today hinges on communication, and I don't mean to denigrate communication, but sometimes it's better just to keep your mouth shut.

A lot of leaders feel they need to add something to every conversation.  Please kick this impulse in the teeth.  There are many times that people just want you to listen.  There are many times that you need to just listen. 

Learn before you speak. 

Though you may have something to add to the conversation, always having something to add to the conversation will get you a reputation that you don't want.

Equally important to a leader as speaking is listening.  Communication without understanding doesn't happen.  That's miscommunication; and if we feel the need to talk more than we listen, miscommunication is exactly what we're going to have.

As leaders, we are expected to be charismatic, witty, charming folks that liven up all conversation with our intellect, wisdom, and anecdotes.  We can do those things to.  There is a time and a place for that.  More than that, though, is the need to understand before being understood.  If we truly serve the people we lead, our job is to listen to them more than we talk at them. 

In all honesty the more we listen and understand other people, the more poignant and guided can our words be.  Hastily speaking we miss important aspects of a situation, or have a less than full understanding of a person.  A leader can't afford misunderstanding; sometimes there's only one opportunity to lead correctly and wisely.  

I'm not suggesting a prohibition on talking, but I am suggesting that we not only learn to listen better, but find ways to teach our leadership students to listen more carefully and thoroughly.  Doing so will be a long haul, because listening to others without interjecting our own opinion and beliefs is not an art that is being taught by today's culture. 

Your overtures into this disicipline are going to need to be planned, intentional, and plentiful. We are constantly encouraged to give our view on something, no matter how little of it we know, and so as teachers we will have to be contantly vigilant to expunge that tendency in our students as much as we can. 

Remember, a servant listens, and then acts.  It is a tyrant that dominates a conversation or a debate without understanding the situation or the person.

Learn to listen.  Listen.  Model listening.  Raise listeners.

Training Tomorrow's Leaders Today,
Matt