You feel like you are taking a lot on lately. In fact, too much for one person to handle. You have volunteers around you and you need them to step up. You need leaders, but don’t know where to find them.
The answer is to empower those around you. Empower them by investing in them to become leaders. And that takes more than just saying:
“OK, here you go, you are the leader.”
You need to equip them with the right tools and opportunities. You need to:
EMPOWER THEM WITH LEVELS OF RESPONSIBILITY
As you know, leadership is overwhelming. Help them ease in by slowing increasing responsibility. Develop steps and take them from:
- Doing a task to Owning it
- Owning the task to Coordinating others who are responsible
- Coordinating to Managing
- Managing people to Leading and Investing in them
What that exactly looks like depends on the ministry. Break it down and move them through the process.
EMPOWER THEM WITH THE FREEDOM TO FAIL
People who are afraid to fail will always play it safe. While you don’t want to encourage failure, empower them to take the risks.
And when they do mess up, come alongside of them. Remind them of the learning and growing opportunities.
EMPOWER THEM WITH VISION
One of the best ways to empower your team is through vision. Make it clear and memorable so that they can embrace it. Share it often and break down why it’s important.
When your volunteers own the vision, they’ll start thinking outside the box. They won’t be afraid to take risks and they’ll challenge you to grow as a leader too.
EMPOWER THEM WITH GOD
While vision is key to growing leaders, their relationship with God is imperative. Set them up for success by connecting them with resources that will help them grow.
Help them form a small group or Bible study. Pray with them before and after programs. When your leaders are growing as disciples, it’s going to be easier to grow next generation ones.
An important part of your role as a leader is to invest in the men and women serving alongside of you. In return, they will empower you to do this for the long haul.
