3 Things You Can Do Right Now To Develop Young Leaders

So, you don’t have time, money, or support to start a leadership development team?  Here’s three things you can do to develop leaders without having an actual “program.”

Model Leadership-Lead where others can see.   Invite emerging leaders to participate with you in everyday work like planning, phone calls, lesson prep, and all those other mundane things that add up to great leadership.  Invite them into your morning prayer time, meetings, and other places that they’ll get the feel for leadership and learn the process.  Best of all, it doesn’t take up much extra time, because you are already doing these things.

Disciple-We already know that the best Christian leaders are those that are Christ Centered.  When you put an emphasis on discipleship, you are investing not only in the spiritual maturity of those you teach, but helping emerging leaders see what Christ demands in a person whom He’ll use as a leader.

Mentor-All right, this one takes a little extra time, but short of an actual program, mentoring is probably the best way to develop individual leaders.  Take a young person under your wing and pour your life into them.  Don’t just use this as a time to teach about leadership, but show the emerging leader how to live a sustainable life in Christian Leadership.  A mentoring relationship may be the most influential relationship in an emerging leader’s life.

Not having the green light to start a leadership development program doesn’t mean you can’t develop young leaders.  There are plenty of opportunities; you just have to look for them.

Three Essentials When Pitching a Leadership Team

I’ve been thinking about how difficult it was to get a leadership development team off the ground when I first did that five years ago.  The hardest part, as I remember, was pitching the idea to the church.  I had to pitch it to our leadership board.  I had to pitch it to my pastor, and I had to pitch it to the youth.  I also had to pitch it to myself, but I hope you’ve done that already.  I broke two of the three suggestions below (plan and prepare) and I paid for it.  It cost me time, momentum, and ultimately support.  

If you are looking to set up a leadership development team in your church, school, for your homeschool association, or in a local civic organization, then the next few posts are going to be for you.  They’ll tell you why and how you should pitch the idea of a leadership development team in your particular setting.  In the meantime, there’s three things you should probably do no matter who you’re going to pitch to: Pray, prepare, and plan.

Pray

 I can’t emphasize this enough.  This whole process should be bathed in prayer.  Time in prayer should help work the other two out.  This whole thing belongs to God anyway, so it might be a good idea to consult Him about it.

Plan

You need a plan.  If you go at this haphazardly, you’re not going to get anywhere, and you’ll get there quickly.  Who are you going to talk to?  In what order?  Have you set up those meetings?  You get the picture.  Get a plan.

Prepare

Preparing is the second most important thing you’ll do as you pitch the idea of a leadership development team (next to prayer).  Do you know why you should have a leadership development team?  Most people will want to know that.  Do you know what your leadership development team will do?  Most people will want to know that.  Do you know what your leadership development team will cost?  That’s the 64,000 dollar question, now isn’t it?  Preparing for the pitch meeting means you can answer some of the questions that will inevitably come your way, and you look like you know what you’re talking about, even if you don’t.

Training Tomorrow’s Leaders Today,

Matt 

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

Leadership In the Line of Fire

A Tragic Example of Evil and Sin
My prayers go out to the families of those killed and wounded in Tuscon, Arizona on Saturday.  My prayers are also with every one of the wounded for their quick and complete recovery.  It rips me apart that human beings are capable of such atrocities.  I know we live in a fallen world, but unconceivable evil such as this I just can't get my head around.

It would seem, according to the news stories, that the gunman's intended target was Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.  If this is so (and we might not ever really know, given the unstable nature of the gunman), I think this might be a good opportunity for us to talk to our students about the dangerous side of leadership.  


A Teachable Moment
I know it might sound somewhat callous to do this right now, but I believe that this tradgedy can shed some light on the dangers of leadership and being in the public eye.  It might also be a good time to talk about how taking a stand for what you believe can be very costly to you and those you love.


 Irrespective of political stance, theology, point of view, or whatever, every leader attracts the wrong kind of attention at one point or another.  The more a leader is in the public eye, the more this is true.  Sometimes this puts the leader in danger and sometimes it doesn't, but negative attention is always a trial.    


We don't need to look any further than the Apostle Paul for examples of a leader whose life was constantly in danger.  Any of our elected officials can probably supply ample evidence of death threats, threats of violence, or just general weirdness from constituents that they'd rather avoid.  The danger is real and our students need to know that leadership isn't always rosy.


Even if out of reverence for the families of the victims and the tenuous situation of Rep. Giffords you decide not to use this example to talk about the possible dangers of public leadership, it is a discussion that needs to be had in your leadership team.  


If you need some help talking biblically about it, look to 2 Corinthians to see how Paul deals with threats to his well being.


I'm praying for everyone touched by this tragedy, and I'm praying for you, too:  that perhaps through this or another situation like this God will prepare our young leaders for the work ahead of them.


Training Tomorrow's Leaders Today,
Matt

Resolve To Grow

The Status Quo is the leader’s enemy.

We can never take for granted that the same thing that we’ve been doing is going to keep working, or that the newest methods are going to fall flat.  We can never be complacent with our level of expertise, knowledge, or wisdom.  

It’s very difficult to grow in the day-to-day of leading.

But we have to.  It’s hard to eek out time to read, reflect, and scrutinize what we do when we are in the middle of it, or when what we really want to do is take a day off or spend time with our loved ones.  

The hardest part of growing is changing.

When we read and reflect and do all those things that lead to growth, we have to have the courage to carry through.  Sometimes that leads into strange new territory.  Change is almost always scary.

We have to make time to grow.  

The rest of the world is going to continue to grow.  People around us are continuing to grow.  The organizations that we work for are continuing to grow.  We have to grow to.

This year I resolve to grow.  By the grace of God, I will make time to reflect, listen to God, read, and change where I need to.  I pray that God gives me the courage to change when He calls for it, and to go faithfully wherever He leads me.

Training Tomorrow’s Leaders Today

Matt

Resolve to Lead

Leading is an intentional act. 

 It takes making an effort that we don’t always want to make, and sometimes forget to make.  Either way, when we don’t lead, we turn into something that we don’t want to be, and something people don’t want to be around.

To lead in a Christian manner, you have to put others in front of yourself.  

You have to remember that not only are you not the most important thing going, but you are the least important thing going.  People are people, not “human resources.”

Being a Christian leader means realizing that people don’t work for you or follow you, but that you actually serve them; you work for them.  Being a servant isn’t easy, but it’s what God has called leaders to do.  

Maybe most importantly, being a Christian leader means being tuned in to God’s plan rather than your own.  This means that you don’t work the way the rest of the world does, you don’t view success the same, and you don’t treat your “resources” the same.  It’s a whole new paradigm to work and lead by, all powered by the Holy Spirit.

This year, I resolve to lead.  

I pray God gives me the courage and strength to put myself last and those I serve first; that He guides me in intentionality, and anchors my leadership in love.  

It is a great privilege to lead in God’s Kingdom.  It is an even greater responsibility.  I pray that this year God makes me worthy of the privilege and empowers me for the responsibility.

Training Tomorrow’s Leaders Today

Matt

Leadership Under the Christmas Tree

Do you have some last minute shopping to do for the young leader in your life?  

If so, I have a couple of suggestions that will not only make their Christmas merrier, but also help transform and develop their leadership as well.

1.  Strengthsfinder 2.0-I don't know if I even have to explain myself after all I've written about it.  If you know an emerging leader who hasn't read this book and taken this assessment yet, please buy this for them.  You can not underestimate how much it will affect them.

 2.  Mission Trip-A mission trip presents many opportunities for the expansion of leadership, and will also give emerging leaders the opportunity to share the gospel and serve others.  May I suggest not paying for the whole trip?  Raising money also helps building leadership, communication, and strategy skills.


3.  Tickets to the Conference of their choice-Conferences can be great fun and a great learning experience.  There might be a favorite speaker, preacher, or leader that an emerging leader would like to see.  These trips may be expensive, but they are a great way to learn and network with people just like your emerging leader.


4.  A wad of money for donation to the cause of their choice-Everyone likes to spend money, but we would be doing a lot better if we spent some money on other people.  Helping an emerging leader find and choose worthy causes is a great way to expand their horizons and give them the opportunity to make a real difference in a ministry or cause.  They might also find a place where they can volunteer their time, learning more leadership and serving others.

There are many choices when buying gifts for young leaders.  I'm not saying all of their gifts should be educational as well as fun, but it doesn't hurt to mix in a little leadership with the gifts under the tree this year. 


Merry Christmas,
Matt

What Distinguishes a Christian Leader?

What makes a Christian leader a Christian leader?  Is it a style?  Is it training?  Is it the kind of organization that the leader is running?  What should be the criterion by which we designate a leader to be "Christian?"

With hundreds of books on leadership hitting the shelf each year and just as many different methods of leadership, it's easy to get caught up in method when determining what makes a Christian leader.  Christ has a very distinctive method of leadership, one that is based in service and in power revealed through weakness.  However, even the "secular" world has co-opted these leadership methods and uses them with much success in the corporate, government, and not for profit realms.

Neither can we determine a Christian leader by the kind of organization that the Christian is heading.  There are Christian men and women in all realms of society, leading all sorts of ventures.  Likewise, I fear that there are many non-Christian people who are leaders in Christian organizations. 

Likewise, Christian and other leadership training is available to all people, regardless of their faith.  A good leader will peruse leadership material from all sources and incorporate that which works for them and for their organization.  The Christian leader will consider non-Christian sources of leadership, determine whether they are of God or not, and use them accordingly.

What then, distinguishes a Christian leader?  It is as simple as this:  The Holy Spirit.  The Christian leader is indeed a Christian, and therefore is guided, chastised by, and strengthened by the Holy Spirit.  This difference between a Christian leader and a non-Christian leader cannot be overemphasized.

God does not hold a specific training regimen for leaders, nor does He work the same in all leaders.  He calls, trains, and uses different leaders in different ways.  God's spirit which indwells us is manifested so many different ways.  The Holy Spirit gives Christian leadership a mysterious edge that you can never quite predict and a quality that makes it incomparable with regular leadership. 

This makes even the most unlikely person a leadership candidate, and makes normal models of leadership training and development irrelevant.  It means that instead of solely paying attention to a book or program of leadership development, Christian leaders must also discern the calling of the Holy Spirit on the lives of leaders and be open to His leading and prompting, no matter how much this leads us outside the realms of "normal" leadership or our zones of comfort and familiarity.

And while it is important to see and understand the Holy Spirit's place in Christian Leadership, let's not forget that the Holy Spirit also plays unknowable and mysterious roles in non-Christian leadership too.  The Holy Spirit factor in leadership and leadership development should not be overlooked, and those Christian leaders who do run the risk of being outside of the will of God and leading without the sustaining power of the Holy Spirit.

Training Tomorrow's Leaders Today,
Matt

Discontent

Tomorrow, or today, depending on when you read this, millions of people are going to the polls here in America.  According to most analysts, many of the people going are quite discontent with the state of things, and for the third time in as many National elections (2006, 2008, and now 2010) the makeup of our government is going to change largely out of a feeling of discontent (that's a pretty nice term seeing as some people are more fed up and angry than "discontent").


Now, this isn't some political hack piece.  I like politics as much as the next man, and maybe more, but I want to talk about discontent.  Discontent is one of those pieces of leadership that I think goes overlooked in many circles. 

We are told in the Bible to be content with what we have.  Not being content with what God is providing us can get us into sketchy spiritual territory.  I believe, however, that God has put into us a discontent with the state of the world that drives the Christian leader to act.

Why are you a Christian leader?  My bet is that some aspect of the world seemed wrong to you and you acted on it.  Discontent at work.  For centuries God's  people have seen the spiritual and physical poverty of foreign and domestic peoples and have entered the harvest.  Discontent at work.  This Ministry:  Next in Line, is the product of discontent with the way that young people are prepared for a life of Christian leadership.  Discontent at work.

God gives the Christian leader a holy discontentment with some aspect of the world and then calls that person into His work.  Think of Nehemiah, being told that the city of Jerusalem lay in ruins, a laughingstock to surrounding nations.  Nehemiah knew that this was less than optimal.  Soon, Nehemiah was supervising the rebuilding of the walls of the great city.

When we get down, or seem to lose our way, remember the discontentment that first brought you to where you are today.  Likewise, look for discontent among your students.  This is a first sign of leadership capability.  Listen to them, and offer them a path to "sooth" their discontent.  Tell them to listen to God and hear what He is calling them into.  Nourish holy discontent (not so people can complain, but so they can act.  Nothing points out a person who isn't a leader like a person who just wants to complain about the problem instead of going into the work to cure the problem).

Tomorrow, or today, watch what discontent does.  Pay close attention to what leaders are doing with that discontent.  Look and see what discontent is capable of.  Agree or not with the way that tomorrow's election goes, you have to see the beauty of what discontent can accomplish.  What more can it accomplish when a holy discontent is burning within the heart of a servant of God?

Training Tomorrow's Leaders Today,
Matt

"Radical" Leadership

Lately, I've noticed a jumble of books hitting the shelves that have to do with "radical" Christian living.  Personally, I think that they have to do with real Christian living, but that's another topic for another time.  Personally, I'm enjoying these books.  I just finished Crazy Love (for the 4th time), and am in the middle of David Platt's Radical. 

I know people are reading these books because they turn up in the Christian book section of Wal-Mart.  Only very popular Christian books turn up there. 

More than reading these books, I pray that people are convicted by them and are repenting.  My first romp through Crazy Love dropped me to my knees, and I've been in two other groups who have studied it now.  I know what a book like that can do to a person who has betrayed Christian ideals for the safety and comfort of our American lives.

What I also pray is that we are teaching these books to our kids; discussing them and doing what they prescribe.  I say this because I'm convinced that tomorrow's Christian leaders will live in the ways that are described in these books.  Tomorrow's Christian leaders will throw off the compromise that we have lived with between the world and our faith.  They will live in radical obedience to God and lead a movement of radical obedience to God.

I'm a student of history, so I don't believe that the things discussed in these books have never been discussed before, but I truly believe that we are faced with a time in which our technology and state of information overload are allowing more and more Christians to come into contact with the ideas that people like Chan and Platt are writing about. 

We have an opportunity, given our "new" awareness of the Christian life, to explore and integrate this teaching into our programs.  We have the opportunity to model this kind of life to our students and practice this kind of life with our students. 

Thank you, Francis Chan and David Platt, and all of those like you, for being the modern day prophets that we need, and for calling us back to the truth.  Now, for the rest of us, lets take that truth, live it, and teach it.

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

The Hardest Lessons

It's been a while since I blogged, and I feel I owe you some explanation.  The last few months have been one of transition for me, and have been extremely difficult.  There have been a lot of changes in my life, and a lot of difficult decisions that I've had to make.  Through it all though, I've learned some incredible leadership lessons, and am looking forward to finally getting back on track with blogging and Next in Line in general.
These last couple of months have shown me that the hardest things that a leader will face can't be completely prepared for.  As teachers, we can academically prepare our students for a lot of things, but our students will have to experience them to understand and learn from these experiences. 
Academically, we can teach our students how to make hard decisions; but they will never know the stress and pain that making them entails.  We can academically teach our students how to confront someone, even one of their closest friends, but we can't teach them how difficult it really is, or how much anguish there can be in confrontation. 
Only experience can teach these things, and they are lessons that will stick with them for the rest of their lives.  The hardest lessons learned are those that will be strongest in their minds throughout their lives.
Does this mean we shouldn't try to academically prepare them?  No, of course it doesn't.  By training students in the proper way to handle a situation such as confrontation or decision making, we can help them push through the emotional aspect and make the right decision, or confront in a loving and productive way.  We can and must continue to teach our students to do things correctly and in a Christ-honoring manner; however we can't expect them to fully understand some of these situations until they have gone through them themselves. 
Along with academically preparing them, we also have to let them get real experience in the leadership world.  By allowing our students to "get their hands dirty" we allow them to have some of these hard experiences early, where we can come alongside of them and help them through.  The earlier these hard lessons are learned, the more prepared our students will be for where God will put them in life.
Keep carrying on, and remember that the hardest lessons learned will also be some of the most important lessons learned.

Training Tomorrow's Leaders Today,
Matt

Mediocre

Is your ministry mediocre? Is your leadership development program so-so?


Remember this axiom: You can do nothing badly, and still do nothing well.

With the demands on our time; with the constant juggling between work, family, and recreation, I think we often find ourselves doing only what we have to in order to get by.

While there is nothing necessarily sinful in this, I think we can honestly agree that God has called us to be the best we can be at what He has called us to do. Mediocrity doesn’t cut it.

As we teach our leadership students, one of the things we need to impart is to do the best job they can in any given situation. If we work as unto the Lord, and God demands our best, than mediocrity cannot be tolerated.

This is a hard lesson to learn, and all sorts of other lessons can be tied up into it; such as time management, planning, work ethic, and stewardship. In the end, many times it comes down to how you model work in your own ministry. Your students, especially your leadership students, are going to pick up very quickly on your work habits.

Strive to be the best at what you do, and many times your students will follow you in that practice. Overburden yourself and start to dip into mediocrity, and you can also be assured that your students will see that as well.

Training Tomorrow’s Leaders Today,

Matt

Finding Your Value

I’ve learned a lot by watching teachers.


I have a deep respect for teachers that knows no bounds. I went to school for four years to become one ( I ended up one, just not like I figured).

One of the things that I was warned about during my college days was not to be the student’s friend. I never could figure this out until I got into the classroom and saw how this worked. If you were worried about being a friend to the student, you were often less of a teacher. It was a rare teacher that I saw or see today that can pull off being both to their students.

Thinking about this in terms of Youth Ministry, and especially in regards to leadership development, it occurs to me that we are brothers and sisters with our students. We love them, and often form friendships that last a lifetime with our students. So how can we be friends with our students, pour into their lives, and love them as brothers and sisters, yet still remain a teacher to them?

I think it all has to do with where you find your value as a human being. If you derive your value from the friendship of your students, then you’ll likely be a poor teacher. It’s more than being a friend to your student, at this point your self-image is caught up in it.

As Christians, we have to find our value in Christ. Personally, I don’t know any better identity to have than as a son or daughter of God. God created you, therefore you have intrinsic worth.

We are supposed to look to God for our value and worth as His creation, and not turn to his creation for that value.

That’s where we have to sit as youth leaders and as developers of young leaders. Most of the time, we can’t help but befriend the youth we work with, and well we should. But we should never derive our personal worth from being their friend. This leads to a bad motivation, less teaching, and a less than godly relationship.

Training Tomorrow’s Leaders Today,

Matt

What Others Say

Usually I think we’d say that we shouldn’t listen to what others say about us; “sticks and stones,” and all that tosh.


However, as we are raising up young leaders, sometimes it’s good to get out of your church box and bend an ear towards the community. You should know by know that many of our students put on their best when they are with us. Sometimes it’s hard to tell what progress is being made and what problems need to be addressed if you’re basing your analysis solely on how your students act when they are with you.

Listening to what others are saying about the leaders you are developing can be a humbling experience. It can be hard. You may hear some things that you don’t want to hear. You may also hear some things that cause you to praise God and rejoice.

The problem is, if you’re not listening you don’t know.

How long has it been since you had a chat with your student’s parents? What are they saying about your student? Are there problems? Are there victories? What areas do the parents see that needs work, especially when it comes to character?

Talk to teachers. School is a harsh place, and teachers have a unique insight that neither you nor their parents have. Ask the teachers about leadership qualities being displayed at school. Ask them about character issues and homework issues. Remember that many of the good work habits your students will form will take root (or won’t) in High School.

Talking to these other influences on your students has a great advantage: it draws other parties into the leadership development of the student. The parents (which I hope are already engaged) will be on the lookout for specific leadership and character markers, so will teachers.

Use all of this information as you coach your students. We are called to lead an integrated life, and our students will need help in doing that. We do them a disservice when we base their growth strictly on what we see. If we are truly committed to seeing these young people grow into Christian leaders, we’ll get other people’s input.

Training Tomorrow’s Leaders Today,

Matt

Character Weakness

Last time we looked at why we shouldn’t try to overcome weaknesses in the abilities and talents that God gave us. This time we’ll look at why we can’t take that same tact when it comes to weaknesses in our character.


Unlike talents, where there isn’t a prescribed set for any given individual, there is a handbook on character, and there is a very definite list of traits that God has given us to have. What that means is that when we have a deficiency in character you have to address it; and it must be changed.

Character weaknesses affect us unlike a talent weakness. God has given us talents to serve in certain places within His Kingdom. Character is something God wants everyone to have, and without it not only are we not obedient to Him, but no one is going to follow us, limiting what we can do for God’s Kingdom.

The thing about character weaknesses, though, is this: they are part and parcel of being a sinful human being. And that means that we can’t beat them on our own. It also means we all have them.

As we are leading in our organizations, and as we are raising up new leaders, we are going to have to identify and eradicate these weaknesses. Our obedience depends on it, our organizations are depending on it, and our students are depending on it.

Here’s a few pointers:

1. Identify your weaknesses. Chances are you probably are already well aware of where you fall short in the character arena, but you may also have some weaknesses that would blindside you. There are two ways that you can ascertain where character weakness has started choking the ministry life out of you:

a. A trusted peer-ask a trusted friend to gracefully share with you where they think you’re character might be coming up short. Prayerfully prepare for this, it’s not a fun experience. There will be times when you will have wished you didn’t ask.

b. Prayer-Pray that God would show you where your weaknesses are. He will, because He wants you to confess your sin and repent.

2. Set up better disciplines. From a knowledge of your own weaknesses, sometimes you can overcome them with discipline. There are some situations that you react badly to, and so you avoid those situations or through knowing about the weakness, control it. However, when you can’t take care of it(and that’s more than often the case)…

3. Pray. God will work with your character weaknesses. Through His word, prayer, and other spiritual disciplines He can and will change your life.

As we are bringing up the next generation of leaders, let them see this process in you. Be transparent with your students about your character weaknesses, and encourage them to do the same. Pray for each other. If your students are well versed in their own weaknesses before they allow them to screw up their ministries, they will be that much more prepared for leadership.



Training Tomorrow’s Leaders Today,

Matt

You're Wrong!

Yes, you are, and so am I. We’re wrong a lot, and if we’ll be honest with ourselves, we’re wrong more than we like to admit.


That is between you and God, but when you are working with youth and raising young leaders, you have other obligations as well.

The more you work with and around youth (or other people for that matter) the more often you’ll do or say something stupid around them. It’s not an “if” situation, but a “when.”

The question is, what do you do when you do screw up?

Let me give you an example from my own life. I recently took our leadership team to a local leadership conference. On the way home, I made a snarky comment about one of the hosts, who had been extremely rude to us.

The kids thought my comment was hilarious, but I immediately knew I was wrong for having said it, and that it had come out of my pride and hurt.

What to do?

On the next Sunday, during our weekly meeting, I apologized. They still thought it was funny, so I told them exactly why what I had said was wrong, why my pride was sinful, and how I am responsible for only my own actions, and not the actions of anyone else. I then asked their forgiveness.

By the time I was done, they knew it wasn’t funny anymore, and they learned a hard lesson about themselves, their reactions, and their leader.

When we screw up in front of our students, it is imperative that we explain to them what we did wrong, apologize, and ask their forgiveness. Not only is it the right thing to do, but it also provides a model for them to follow.

I could just have easily not said anything, let them think I was snarky and funny, and let everything go. This would have been easier for me, and not near as humiliating, but would have given those students who heard it the idea that comments like that are okay.

How often do you admit to your students that you are wrong? How do you handle those situations?

Training Tomorrow’s Leaders Today,

Matt

Embrace the Messy

How much control do you try to exert over your leadership development team?


I’m not talking about a kind of iron fist control that you’d find in a totalitarian government, I’m talking about how deeply planned you’re meetings are, how much we try to influence outcomes, and how hard we try to steer our lessons in a certain direction.

While each team is different, I have been finding lately that the more control I try to exert over activities of the leadership team, the less the team thrives. Most students need structure, and even welcome it, so why does more control equal less outcome?

I think it has to do with the very nature of leadership and leadership development. While some structure is necessary, the more structure we put into the system, the more it chokes the life out of our young leaders. Our students aren’t normal (whatever normal is), and being leaders, they don’t always operate under the same norms that we’d expect all students to. The more I work with young leaders, the more exceptions I find to developmental theory as explained in my many college classes on the subject.

Leadership development is messy. It happens in real time, and no lesson plan, no matter how good and how detailed, can take into account every student and their personality. No activity, no matter how well planned and what outcome it’s supposed to achieve, can fully take into account every student on your team.

What I’m trying to say is this: plan for the unexpected. Plan to get off-plan. Your lesson or conversation or activity may take your team in a direction that is totally unexpected, and may even seem like a waste to you. Don’t judge it too quickly. Don’t shut it down too quickly. Real growth can happen where you least expect it.

Control is comfortable, control is planned, and control is, well, controlled. Leadership development is messy. Embrace it.

Training Tomorrow’s Leaders Today,

Matt

Value in Struggle

Life is hard.


Even so, I bet the best “ah-ha” moments in your life have come through struggle. While we do gain much by learning principles in the spotless laboratory of the classroom, it can’t teach us the most important lessons. Life teaches those, and it’s not always a nice teacher.

When we work with youth, and as we develop young leaders, our relationship with them will often lead us to want to keep them from struggle in life.

Don’t.

There is great value in struggle. In many ways it’s so easy to supply the right answers, or give them the best choice to make, or to help them in the moment that they start to founder in the face of a monumental task.

Don’t.

As mean as it sounds, I can’t think of a worse thing to do. The lessons and clarity that come from struggle will endure long after your boring lectures and teaching have faded from their memory.

Instead, when push comes to shove, come along side of them. Encourage them. Pray with them. Let them know you’re there for them. But let them face the struggle, beat it or succumb to it, and then learn from it.

This can be as easy as letting there be some silent moments after you ask an important question, or not giving them the answer on that history homework. It might be something more involved, too, like not bailing them out when they don’t prepare for a lesson.

Now, don’t take this too far. I’m not talking about putting them in imminent danger. But don’t baby them, either. They’re learning; let them.

Not only will they learn more when you let them struggle, but in the long run, as they look back on their life and reflect on their most poignant lessons, they will thank you for not stepping in and giving them a safe way out.

Training Tomorrow’s Leaders Today,

Matt