Student Leaders Grow Into Adult Leaders

No matter what church I visit, or what church leader I talk to, they will all tell me the same thing:  We need more leadership.  Whether it’s to run new ministries or to take over old ones as existing leaders move, burn out, or pass on, the church is constantly in need of new leadership.  

Where do these leaders come from?  Do they magically appear out of thin air?  Of course not.  New leaders are the product of God’s gifting and development.  Many churches are joining God in this process and have set up leadership development programs to help these emerging leaders grow and learn.

One place that we’re not always looking however, is in the ranks of our youth programs.  The fact is, when we don’t develop leadership within our youth we are missing out on the leadership of many young people that God has gifted and called.   I know that many church leaders are careful not to put too young a person into leadership positions, but the truth of the matter is that student leaders grow into adult leaders.  Before you know it your students are out of school and out of the youth group; ready and willing to lead.  

We need to develop the leadership of young people just as we need to develop other leaders in our church.  Youth may seem too young, too immature, or unwilling, but if we don’t start developing youth leaders, we are missing a great opportunity to invest in the future of our young people, and in the future of our churches.

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

Youth Leadership Resume: Integrity

Over the next week, I want to talk about three elements of character that are most important to a leader. As Christians, we find ourselves in a world that wouldn’t agree with most of our character traits. We seem weak to the world; we seem different. I think different is good, but all too often Christians, in an effort to fit in with the world and not be seen as an outsider, will adopt the world’s standards.


If young Christian leaders are going to have an impact in the world at large then they must remain different. We must be set apart. The three elements of character that I have picked to write about this week represent what I believe are the core aspects of leadership that set us apart.

The first character trait is Integrity. My dad was big on integrity, and I grew up hearing that word every day. Unfortunately, many people didn’t grow up with my dad.

Integrity, at its heart, means doing the right thing all the time, even when people aren’t looking. I think that last part is the most important, because it talks about more than behavior; it talks about attitude. I can follow the rules to a person’s face, and as soon as they turn around, dump all the rules out the window. That is a sure sign that I don’t have integrity. I’m following the rules because it gets me ahead. Integrity is when we do what’s right because it’s right.

In a world of situational ethics, instilling integrity in our kids isn’t easy. In fact, it’s an uphill battle. But it’s a battle worth having. In fact, it’s a must. People follow a person with integrity. They look up to them. They’ll follow them because people with integrity are so different.

We need different. I don’t want the status quo in charge anymore. If we’re going to raise up the next generation of leaders, let’s give them some tools to be different. Let’s show and teach them integrity.

Question: how are you teaching integrity to your students?

Training Tomorrow’s Leaders Today,

Matt

Haiti-Do Something

This week I'm going to put a pause to the normal leadership stuff and talk about ideas that have been coming in for helping the people of Haiti.  My prayer is that we can share some ideas and by communicating help the people of Haiti better.
My prayer in all of this is that the church rise up as one and flood the nation of Haiti with food, water, shelter, support, rebuilding effort, workers, and of course, the gospel.
One idea that came to me yesterday really caught my attention:  A benefit concert.  I expect that at anytime, the worldwide music community will start having benefit concerts for the people of Haiti.  Why can't we do the same?  Surely in your community there are some bands and a central location that you could use to put on a benefit concert. 
 As for me, I love the idea.  After talking with my leadership development team last night, we decided to start putting it together.  It's going to take some work.  In fact, it's going to take a lot of work.  But it's worth it.  I'll let you know what organization we will partner with to get the proceeds to Haiti. 
In the meantime, share some of your ideas with me.   Let me know what you're up to to help the people of Haiti, and how your leadership team is getting involved.

Training Tomorrow's Leaders Today,
Matt

Student Leadership and Haiti

Over the last couple of days, my heart has been breaking for the people of Haiti.  I cannot imagine the devastation, pain, and loss that they are going through.  There is only so much that pictures and news reports can convey. 
As I have been wrestling with my own response to this crisis, I was thinking that this situation would be a perfect opportunity to allow our leadership students to plan and execute some relief programs for the people of Haiti.  It is an opportunity for them to share the love of Christ with a devastated people and to learn and grow themselves.
I can't tell you how this is going to go, because we're just starting it.  My team is still deciding where the Lord will have us work, and how.  I will keep you updated on what we have decided to do, and how.  Like me you might be figuring out just what your response to this crisis will be.  Maybe you've decided to involve the leadership of your youth, or maybe your whole youth group (whatever the leadership team in my group decides to do will involve the whole group). 
Whatever the case may be, and whatever you've decided to do, I'd like to ask that we share those ideas with eachother as much as possible.  While this is a good opportunity for our students (and ourselves) to learn, the focus must be on the people of Haiti, and sharing the love of Christ with them.
I'm anxious to hear what you are doing, and eager to get started on our own projects for this ravaged people.

Training Tomorrow's Leaders Today,
Matt

Mini-Me Leadership

What kind of leaders are coming out of your leadership program?
This is a very important question. The purpose of leadership development is not to turn out clones of you. I can’t think of a more egocentric way to pollute the world. What the world does not need is another you. I’m sorry, but it’s true. What the world needs is a man or woman that God has created specially and specifically for their own task.
Let’s stop trying to turn out mini-me’s and let’s start partnering with God to help Him turn out the kind of leaders that He wants.
Our job as leadership developers is to work with and hone our students as individuals, allowing them each to become what God has intended them to become, not what you are. This is very difficult for some leaders to put into practice, because they are very familiar with what trained and honed them as leaders. Each of us are different though, and each of us are going to need a different “program” to train us as leaders.
Let me give you a good negative example. I am a reader. I read voraciously. I learn from reading, and I love it. Right now I am mentoring a young leader who is not a reader (not that they don’t read, but they don’t read like me; see how egocentric this can get?). At first, I tried to make them read. That didn’t work so well. When that didn’t work I found out what kind of a learner I was dealing with and began to teach to their strengths. That worked much better.
What this means for us is it’s not going to be easy to train new leaders. It’s hard, messy, and time-consuming. But nothing worth doing was ever easy.

Training Tomorrow’s Leaders Today,
Matt

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