The reaction to the post The 4 Responsibility of a Leader of Leaders generated some solid reaction – thus inspiring this sequel post of sorts based on additional thoughts and your comments. So how do you lead leaders? Here are a few more ways:
Challenge
Leaders of leaders need to be challenged. Give them a big piece of the ministry of they will find a place that will trust them with more. A great leader surrounds themselves with great leaders – and then gives them a chance to demonstrate it. If you are intimidated by good leadership around you, you’ll continually limit them to pacify your own insecurities. Set them free, challenge them even, and everyone wins.
Communicate
The leader must communicate. It should be first and last of their list of to do’s every day. Communicating involves what’s happening this week, but also talking through when things go wrong and you taking account for what happened and lead through how it’s not going to happen again. Communicating is also a big part of creating a compelling vision for everyone to follow.Champion
No one cares about your youth ministry more than you. Speak out, share and affirm what your leaders are doing with the larger church.Captain
The biggest thing a leader/pastor needs to do is be the captain. I’ve suffered in ministry when the leader refused to be in charge and when the leader let more charismatic people took the helm and drove the ministry into the rocks on the leaders’ watch. Being a captain also means you are the one creating vision and direction for the church. While others may man a wheel of the minsitry, having clear direction and course from the captain keeps the ship off sandbars and from straying off the path or going aimlessly in circles in the sea of uncertainty.Create Culture/Context
Leaders must create and/or nurture sustainable cultures in which the Gospel can be manifest in that leaders’ context/environment. Copying another leaders style, say from the West Coast, might not work as well in the East. Hopefully, the four things you’ve listed will accomplish this goal, but I bet it’s worthwhile to remind the leaders to examine the culture and context in which they serve. The correct placement of your passion with the world’s needs is critical to ministry.Model
Every leader of leaders should have chiseled abs and stunning features. I’m just messing, but seriously. I think on the flip-side or in complementing coaching we must lead by example. Our kids aren’t the only ones that watch what we do or the choices we make, in fact, sometimes the leaders we lead are more influenced by us than the kids are. They often take their leadership cues from us. I was talking with a missionary this past Sunday telling him about the various resources I was looking at for our youth ministry and staff and he said, “Well, whatever resources or curriculum you decide on, just remember that your life is the real curriculum teaching these kids and staff.” Wow.
Thanks to Matt Murphy, Rusty and Micah for these additional thoughts!
JG
