My wife and I live right across from the High School and it’s football field. We don’t have to leave the house to hear the play by play on Friday night, we just turn off the radio.
Saturday morning, we were greeted to a new sound coming from the football field: a young person announcing a little-league football game. I stepped out onto the front porch to listen for a few minutes, and it was true.
The school, or little league program; whichever it was, had the foresight to let an interested young person announce a little league game. No doubt that this young person was elated at the opportunity, and from his voice you could tell he was having a great time. The opportunity also allowed this young person some on-the-job training that could very well sprout into a lifelong passion and career.
We should learn from this little league game. We need to hand off as many opportunities to our leadership students as we can. They will no doubt be excited (and nervous) about the opportunities, and it is great training for larger ministry in the future. The opportunity we offer them also just might spark a passion that they didn’t know they had, leading to a lifetime of service to our Savior.
Don’t pass off responsibilities that you should be taking care of; this isn’t the reason to have a leadership team. The school probably wouldn’t let that same young person announce the high school game on Friday night. But, after about five years of experience gained in little league, and then maybe Junior High and junior varsity games, that young man might be ready to tackle a Friday Night.
We need to be very intentional about the opportunities we give our leadership students. Let’s get them into practice.
Practice makes perfect.
In the Trenches,
Matt
Showing posts with label experience. Show all posts
Showing posts with label experience. Show all posts
Monday, November 30, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
The Crisis Point
What is a Crisis Point, and how can we use them to develop young leaders?
For our sake, the Crisis point is anytime our students are faced with a decision whose outcome causes them to grow spiritually, or to maintain the status quo in their walk with Christ. It can be a point for change in behavior, or thinking. Our students may go through many crisis points every day. Their decision at these points has tremendous effect on their lives, their spiritual growth, and their leadership.
Many educators and counselors use Crisis Points in their education and therapy to bring a person to the point of a decision based on learning and experiences. Others, instead of facilitating the experiences, look to use them as they come up naturally in life. Whatever side of that coin you fall on, I think these points are crucial in leadership development. These practices can also be used to train leaders. Here’s what I’m thinking:
1. Crisis Points reflect a time of possible growth in our student’s lives. We should be standing with them, counseling with them, helping them out in any way we can, but we should never make the decision for them. Doing so decisively kills any chance of growth the student may have.
2. Many times, a crisis point and its decision will necessitate a drastic change in lifestyle for the decision maker. Some students won’t make the decision because of the security or safety that could be lost. As we see our students at these crossroads, help them through fears that they may have. Don’t sugarcoat the options, but help them face fear as a believer should: in faith.
3. As leadership developers, we can often create Crisis Points for growing our leaders, or giving them the opportunity to grow, with our lessons and especially our activities. Examples of this can include giving people the opportunity to lead a group for the first time, or coaching an individual who needs to make a change in their lifestyle. We have to be careful not to manipulate our students into making a decision we want them to make, but to always allow the student to make a decision and grow on their own.
Crisis Points are very important times in our lives, and they don’t stop when adolescence ends. We need to help our students identify these times as we come alongside them and help them through.
How do you use Crisis Points to help develop leadership in students?
In the Trenches,
Matt
For our sake, the Crisis point is anytime our students are faced with a decision whose outcome causes them to grow spiritually, or to maintain the status quo in their walk with Christ. It can be a point for change in behavior, or thinking. Our students may go through many crisis points every day. Their decision at these points has tremendous effect on their lives, their spiritual growth, and their leadership.
Many educators and counselors use Crisis Points in their education and therapy to bring a person to the point of a decision based on learning and experiences. Others, instead of facilitating the experiences, look to use them as they come up naturally in life. Whatever side of that coin you fall on, I think these points are crucial in leadership development. These practices can also be used to train leaders. Here’s what I’m thinking:
1. Crisis Points reflect a time of possible growth in our student’s lives. We should be standing with them, counseling with them, helping them out in any way we can, but we should never make the decision for them. Doing so decisively kills any chance of growth the student may have.
2. Many times, a crisis point and its decision will necessitate a drastic change in lifestyle for the decision maker. Some students won’t make the decision because of the security or safety that could be lost. As we see our students at these crossroads, help them through fears that they may have. Don’t sugarcoat the options, but help them face fear as a believer should: in faith.
3. As leadership developers, we can often create Crisis Points for growing our leaders, or giving them the opportunity to grow, with our lessons and especially our activities. Examples of this can include giving people the opportunity to lead a group for the first time, or coaching an individual who needs to make a change in their lifestyle. We have to be careful not to manipulate our students into making a decision we want them to make, but to always allow the student to make a decision and grow on their own.
Crisis Points are very important times in our lives, and they don’t stop when adolescence ends. We need to help our students identify these times as we come alongside them and help them through.
How do you use Crisis Points to help develop leadership in students?
In the Trenches,
Matt
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