For a good number of years I have believed that one of the greatest needs in our churches is a intentional leadership plan and pathway. Some of the ideas we are using to develop leaders is not working as we would like. Here is Mac Lake sharing five reasons why you are not getting the leaders you would like to have.
Originally posted by Mac Lake on Eric Geiger’s blog site
Five reasons you’re not getting the leadership development results you want
You’re spending time, money, and manpower trying to develop leaders in your organization, or maybe you aren’t doing any of these things at all. Either way. your leadership pipeline remains dry and devoid of any new potential leaders. Why aren’t you getting the results you want? Here are five potential problems you should consider as you evaluate your efforts.
1. You’re trying to develop leaders fast.
We want leadership development to be fast, easy, and linear. But the truth is leadership development is slow, messy, and customized to the learner. True development takes time. When we rush development, we shortcut the process and don’t get the results we’re looking for.
2. You’re not using a reproducible model.
If you survey your staff, you’ll likely discover that each is using different processes to develop leaders. Left to their own, they had to come up with something. So they did, and now there are varying levels of success across the organization. But no one has ever stopped long enough to ask, “What are the best practices for developing leaders in our industry?” I’d recommend you communicate, coordinate, collaborate, and develop a reproducible model you can use across all areas.
3. You’re building your development on the shoulders of one person.
We love it when there’s one person in our organization that’s a leadership development machine. It comes natural to them. They’re passionate about it and there’s a constant outpouring of new leaders coming up behind them. This outpouring is a huge benefit to an organization until that person leaves. Building a culture of leadership development requires building an army of leadership developers in your organization.
4. Your training isn’t adding value to your leaders.
I hear this comment all the time, “We tried getting our leaders together for development, but they stopped showing up over time.” Listen carefully: People will attend things that add value to their lives. Stop blaming them for not showing up and take a look at what you’re delivering. Was it boring? Was it irrelevant? Was it all lecture oriented? Did it violate adult learning principles? Could they apply the principles in their leadership at home, at work, and in ministry? Make it valuable, and they won’t want to miss it.
5. Your training is not accessible.
Leaders today need options. Offering training at one time in one location is restrictive and prevents people from participating. Leadership development will have broader impact when it’s delivered anytime, at any place, and at the pace of your learners. This delivery means less control and will require more leaders willing to invest themselves in reproducing new leaders. But with new tools such as Ministry Grid, accessibility to leadership development increases exponentially.
If you’re not getting the results you want, then take time, evaluate, and make adjustments. Allowing your leadership pipeline to remain dry is damaging the future impact of your mission.
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