Sam had discovered that there were people and leaders all over India who had gifts, and he found that if he could empower them, encourage them and make them successful, then Jesus’ mission would be accomplished at a completely different level of productivity.
He mentored leaders who in turn mentored other leaders who in turn did the same for many others. Sam Stephens is a hero maker!
Hero-Making Practices
It was the leadership of Jesus and meeting people like Sam Stephens that led me to look closer at the practices of hero makers.
This resulted in a closer study of the gospels, reflection on my own experience and assembling a think tank of multiplying leaders. The findings were included in a new book by me and Warren Bird, Hero Maker: The Five Essential Practices of Leaders Who Multiply Leaders.
The following are the top five practices of these hero makers:
1. Multiplication Thinking
This is a shift in thinking, and if you want a quick slogan for this practice, it’s “Think it!”
You move from thinking that the best way to maximize ministry is through your own efforts to understanding that it is through developing the leadership of others. We see this in the life of Jesus in Acts 1:8. When Jesus casts a vision for taking the gospel to the ends of the earth, he tells his followers, “You will be my witnesses,” to explain that he is going to do it through them.
Jesus didn’t think the mission was going to happen just though him during his time on this earth; he thought it would happen through others who would equip others who would equip still others.
Jesus practiced multiplication thinking.
To help you easily implement this practice, I will give you a simple tool called a “dream napkin” and challenge you to multiply your impact by 100x. This simple exercise will push you and those you are mentoring into multiplication thinking and into realizing that the only way you can maximize ministry is through developing others.
2. Permission Giving
This is a shift in seeing, and if you want a quick slogan for this practice, it’s “See it!”
You will take the focus off your leadership and begin to see the leadership potential in the people all around you.
Since you see the people around you as leaders in development, you will begin to lead with a yes and give them permission to fully engage in the mission. We see this in the life of Jesus when he says to a group of ragtag working-class fellows, “Come, follow me” (Matt. 4:19). They never expected a rabbi to see them worth teaching and leading. But Jesus saw in them a group that could change the world.
To help you easily implement this practice, I will give you a simple tool called an “I C N U conversation.” This simple tool will show you how you can help others see potential in themselves they never saw before, and in so doing, you will give them permission to reach their full God-given potential.
