The Long View

Instant Gratification is the order of the day,

but when it comes to developing tomorrow’s leaders, we aren’t going to get any instant gratification.  We aren’t going to see amazing results in hours.  We aren’t even going to see amazing results in days.  We have these young people for 4-6 years in our youth groups, and it will probably take every bit of that time to see results.  This isn’t like a paid advertisement where our gizmo does everything in ten seconds or less.

Experts tell us that Leadership is a lifelong journey. 

so why is it that we think a weekend retreat or a one-week conference is going to develop our young leaders?  Do we really believe that?  Why do we develop non-programs to teach young leaders and believe that we have done them a favor?  Is it us?  Are we seeing things wrong?     

Leadership Development is a lot of work.

I’m not going to deny it, I’m going to embrace it.  Does it mean another item on my plate?  Yeah, it does, but it’s an important item.  I believe very strongly that giving our students the opportunity to lead and to learn leadership is one of the most important things we can do for our young people.  

I’m Adopting a Long View

I’m spending my time putting together materials that will help you develop students over the long haul.  I’m not concerned with force-feeding them a leadership course in a weekend, I’m concerned with how these young people will fare over a lifetime of leading.  It’s a long haul, but so is leadership.  If leadership is a lifelong journey, let’s not short-change our students as we prepare them.  Let’s model the long view.  They’ll be in it for the long haul, and we should be, too.

Training Tomorrow’s Leaders Today,

Matt