4. People with a servant heart.
Sometimes all you need is a situational leader, someone willing to step up on a temporary basis. Situational leaders arise because of their willingness to serve. They know that even though they may not be the most qualified, they'll lead because, otherwise, needs will not be met. Their motivation is not because they enjoy leadership, but because they know that service pleases the Lord.
Situational leaders usually find the work tiring, and when the project is finished, they don't readily take on another leadership task.
5. People who take initiative.
Non-leaders are content to follow what others plan and rarely take initiative in relationships or tasks. If you see someone who is willing to take initiative to change something or to improve a situation, you have a motivated person who may be a potential leader. Place this person's name on your "undeveloped leaders" list.
Most leaders are not born with automatic leadership skills; they discover their leadership gifts over time. Those who discover their leadership gifts at a later age are usually unaware of their leadership potential. If others tell them they may have the gift of leadership, they may deny such a ridiculous idea, but with a successful leadership project or two, they can be convinced.
6. People who are reliable.
Look for people who have a track record of faithfulness and dependability, those who follow through. Undeveloped leaders are respected by those around them, even though their efforts may be haphazard due to inexperience.
Sometimes undeveloped leaders lack confidence to step forward, but their friends are willing to volunteer them! When my friend Mary and I began attending a new church, we saw an announcement about a meeting for those interested in how the church hires a pastor. Since we wanted to learn more about the church, Mary and I decided to attend the meeting anonymously and slip out later without being seen.
To our dismay, it turned out we were the only ones who attended—along with the senior pastor and chairman of the elder board! During the meeting, the pastor shared his dream of finding a leader to oversee the whole area of service ministries. I listened quietly, but Mary pointed to me and blurted out, "There she is!"
I would have never said anything, but today I am the leader of this ministry because of Mary. And it's my turn to do the same for others—point out new leaders. Finding and developing leaders is a challenging task. But for our ministries to be more effective, it's a task that we all must intentionally pursue.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Spotting New Leaders - Part 2/3
1. People already actively leading in ministry.
The most effective leaders are those who have been sharpened through experience. "Natural leaders" are easy to spot: they usually talk about leadership or ministry direction. The thought of impacting people gets them excited. They enjoy facing a challenge and empowering people to meet it.
Although natural leaders may already be quite involved, if the leadership opportunity is in an area they are passionate about or feel called to, they will be willing to lead and reprioritize their other commitments.
2. People who are leaders at their work, but not at church.
Sometimes those who are leaders do not realize the need for leadership within the church. They may be leaders in their career, but haven't stepped up to minister in the church.
Sometimes they mistakenly assume that only those with Bible degrees can be leaders, or that their skills are not needed, or that they are not called to serve. They need to have their misconceptions cleared up.
3. People with a passion.
The best leaders are those who have a passion for what they are doing. They are naturally motivated and their enthusiasm spreads to others. If you're trying to find a leader, find someone with a passion for that area. Not every passionate person is a leader, but passion is an indicator of a good place to start.
The most effective leaders are those who have been sharpened through experience. "Natural leaders" are easy to spot: they usually talk about leadership or ministry direction. The thought of impacting people gets them excited. They enjoy facing a challenge and empowering people to meet it.
Although natural leaders may already be quite involved, if the leadership opportunity is in an area they are passionate about or feel called to, they will be willing to lead and reprioritize their other commitments.
2. People who are leaders at their work, but not at church.
Sometimes those who are leaders do not realize the need for leadership within the church. They may be leaders in their career, but haven't stepped up to minister in the church.
Sometimes they mistakenly assume that only those with Bible degrees can be leaders, or that their skills are not needed, or that they are not called to serve. They need to have their misconceptions cleared up.
3. People with a passion.
The best leaders are those who have a passion for what they are doing. They are naturally motivated and their enthusiasm spreads to others. If you're trying to find a leader, find someone with a passion for that area. Not every passionate person is a leader, but passion is an indicator of a good place to start.
Spotting New Leaders - Part 1/3
[Leader's insight]
They may not step forward. Here's how to find the leaders you need.
by Angela Yee, Leadership guest columnist.
It's part of our calling as leaders to spot and cultivate other potential leaders to serve God and use the gifts given them. There's also a side benefit: we end up finding people for the many ministries that always seem to be in need of leaders! But how do we spot them?
Melissa stepped forward to coordinate a Vacation Bible School program at her church. The need was announced, and no one else offered, so Melissa took charge. In a small church, she was able to produce a program that tripled the number of children who attended. Because of her leadership, the majority of the adults in the church came to help, even though many of them had to take time off from work.
Afterward, Melissa returned to obscurity. She helped out with background tasks, but didn't step forward to coordinate any teams.
"Melissa," I said, "I really think you have a gift for leadership."
Melissa laughed. "Oh no," she said. "Not me."
"Why don't you think you are a leader? You coordinated VBS. You were on the church council. You've led Bible studies. You definitely are a leader."
"Oh, that stuff? Anyone can do that." Undeveloped leaders may have the gift, but they don't even realize it. Many, like Melissa, need a good nudge to enter into leadership, and stay there.
How do we spot new leaders?? Start with prayer. Ask God to bring you to the right people and to help them to be available. Then search. Where do you look?
They may not step forward. Here's how to find the leaders you need.
by Angela Yee, Leadership guest columnist.
It's part of our calling as leaders to spot and cultivate other potential leaders to serve God and use the gifts given them. There's also a side benefit: we end up finding people for the many ministries that always seem to be in need of leaders! But how do we spot them?
Melissa stepped forward to coordinate a Vacation Bible School program at her church. The need was announced, and no one else offered, so Melissa took charge. In a small church, she was able to produce a program that tripled the number of children who attended. Because of her leadership, the majority of the adults in the church came to help, even though many of them had to take time off from work.
Afterward, Melissa returned to obscurity. She helped out with background tasks, but didn't step forward to coordinate any teams.
"Melissa," I said, "I really think you have a gift for leadership."
Melissa laughed. "Oh no," she said. "Not me."
"Why don't you think you are a leader? You coordinated VBS. You were on the church council. You've led Bible studies. You definitely are a leader."
"Oh, that stuff? Anyone can do that." Undeveloped leaders may have the gift, but they don't even realize it. Many, like Melissa, need a good nudge to enter into leadership, and stay there.
How do we spot new leaders?? Start with prayer. Ask God to bring you to the right people and to help them to be available. Then search. Where do you look?
I bless you (watermark) by Dennis Jernigan
[A song Huili shared with me]
Huili, thanks for always remembering me wherever you may be :)
Verse 1
I bless you with joy and peace and love that won't let go,
I bless you with grace and faith, and fire in your soul.
I bless you with dreams and visions most men don't know of,
I bless you with a deeper knowledge of our Father's love.
Verse 2
I bless you with a heart of a warrior, grace to stand and fight,
I bless you with brothers who will stand right by your side.
And I bless you with courage 'til your battles have been won,
I bless you with the faith to hear your Father say, "Well done!"
Verse 3
I bless you with strength and power, grace through any trial,
I bless you with wisdom and with comfort in your smile.
I bless you with great adventures, journeys yet unknown.
I bless you with a heart gone wild because you are His own.
Chorus
I bless you with joy and laughter,
And I bless you with a steadfast faith;
I bless you with the hopes and the dreams that your heart goes after,
I bless you with amazing grace.
Huili, thanks for always remembering me wherever you may be :)
Verse 1
I bless you with joy and peace and love that won't let go,
I bless you with grace and faith, and fire in your soul.
I bless you with dreams and visions most men don't know of,
I bless you with a deeper knowledge of our Father's love.
Verse 2
I bless you with a heart of a warrior, grace to stand and fight,
I bless you with brothers who will stand right by your side.
And I bless you with courage 'til your battles have been won,
I bless you with the faith to hear your Father say, "Well done!"
Verse 3
I bless you with strength and power, grace through any trial,
I bless you with wisdom and with comfort in your smile.
I bless you with great adventures, journeys yet unknown.
I bless you with a heart gone wild because you are His own.
Chorus
I bless you with joy and laughter,
And I bless you with a steadfast faith;
I bless you with the hopes and the dreams that your heart goes after,
I bless you with amazing grace.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Yes, Ministry Leadership Is Complex - Part 4/4
4. The church has the highest calling.
We can no longer afford to leave people leaderless in the arena of the church. For the church ever to reach its redemptive, life-giving potential, it must be well led. It must be powerfully envisioned, strategically focused, and internally aligned. Members must be motivated; values must be established and enforced. Resources need to be leveraged.
May the church be the one place where people who come out of leaderless homes and schools and jobs and athletic teams discover, maybe for the first time in their lives, the excitement of being valued, of being included, of being told that they are indispensable for the achievement of a common vision.
These things are the business of leaders. Which is why Paul cried out in Romans 12:8, "Men and women, if you've been given the gift of leadership, for God's sake, lead." For the world's sake, lead. For the sake of lost people, lead.
We can no longer afford to leave people leaderless in the arena of the church. For the church ever to reach its redemptive, life-giving potential, it must be well led. It must be powerfully envisioned, strategically focused, and internally aligned. Members must be motivated; values must be established and enforced. Resources need to be leveraged.
May the church be the one place where people who come out of leaderless homes and schools and jobs and athletic teams discover, maybe for the first time in their lives, the excitement of being valued, of being included, of being told that they are indispensable for the achievement of a common vision.
These things are the business of leaders. Which is why Paul cried out in Romans 12:8, "Men and women, if you've been given the gift of leadership, for God's sake, lead." For the world's sake, lead. For the sake of lost people, lead.
Yes, Ministry Leadership Is Complex - Part 3/4
3. The church is utterly altruistic.
When leading a business, you can hire a bright, energetic, young employee and say, "Here's our vision. Here's your part in it. Here's your salary, your perks, your car, your phone, your fax, your computer, your secretary, your office, your vacation plan. If you work hard, in five or eight years we're going to make you a partner or invite you into the profit-sharing plan. Down the road, you'll probably make big money. There will be more perks, more time off. And when we sell this place in fifteen or twenty years, we're all going to walk away transcendently wealthy. Are you interested?"
Who wouldn't be?
But as church leaders, what do we tell prospective church members? "You're a depraved, degenerate sinner who's in trouble for all eternity unless you get squared away with Christ." (And that's the good news. We call it the gospel.)
Then we say, "We're going to ask you to commit five or six hours a week to service and two or three additional hours for training and discipleship. We're going to ask you to get in a small group where your character flaws are going to get exposed and chiseled at. We're going to ask you to come under the authority of the elders of the church and give a minimum of 10 percent of your money. Oh, yeah, you get no parking place, no reserved seats, no special privileges, no voting rights, no vacation or retirement program. You serve till you die. But trust us: God's going to make it right in eternity."
In church work, people must be motivated internally. The Scripture says unless the Lord builds the house, unless people have an internal want-to, leaders have no power, no leverage, no buttons to push.
When business people in our churches give free advice—how we should be doing it right—we need to say, with no malice, "It's not that easy, and it's not the same. It's apples and oranges."
When leading a business, you can hire a bright, energetic, young employee and say, "Here's our vision. Here's your part in it. Here's your salary, your perks, your car, your phone, your fax, your computer, your secretary, your office, your vacation plan. If you work hard, in five or eight years we're going to make you a partner or invite you into the profit-sharing plan. Down the road, you'll probably make big money. There will be more perks, more time off. And when we sell this place in fifteen or twenty years, we're all going to walk away transcendently wealthy. Are you interested?"
Who wouldn't be?
But as church leaders, what do we tell prospective church members? "You're a depraved, degenerate sinner who's in trouble for all eternity unless you get squared away with Christ." (And that's the good news. We call it the gospel.)
Then we say, "We're going to ask you to commit five or six hours a week to service and two or three additional hours for training and discipleship. We're going to ask you to get in a small group where your character flaws are going to get exposed and chiseled at. We're going to ask you to come under the authority of the elders of the church and give a minimum of 10 percent of your money. Oh, yeah, you get no parking place, no reserved seats, no special privileges, no voting rights, no vacation or retirement program. You serve till you die. But trust us: God's going to make it right in eternity."
In church work, people must be motivated internally. The Scripture says unless the Lord builds the house, unless people have an internal want-to, leaders have no power, no leverage, no buttons to push.
When business people in our churches give free advice—how we should be doing it right—we need to say, with no malice, "It's not that easy, and it's not the same. It's apples and oranges."
Yes, Ministry Leadership Is Complex - Part 2/4
2. The church is utterly voluntary.
But in the final analysis, we have little or no leverage, no real power over anybody we lead. At Willow Creek we've had people attend our services week after week, create trouble throughout the church, and tap every resource we have. Then, when they cross one too many lines and the elders bring correction or discipline, they bail out of the church or even sue.
To mobilize an utterly volunteer organization requires the highest kind of leadership. We cannot compel people; we must call them. One great writer about leadership says, "Most people are just waiting for someone to call them out so they can rise above their petty preoccupations."
I used to play on a park district touch football team led by Don Cousins, my associate pastor for 17 years. We played against construction workers who came after work, semi-inebriated, with the sole purpose of hurting people. In one game, my job was to try to sack the quarterback; I lined up across from a guy who was supposed to prevent me from doing that. I thought, I'm going to run right over the top of you. I was breathing hard, getting all pumped, when I looked up. This guy's eyes were bloodshot, and he was drooling. I thought, Maybe I'll just drop back in case the quarterback passes this time.
We were smaller than most of our opponents, but we won almost every game we played. Don Cousins led that team. At the end of the season, if we had said, "Anybody want to play next season under the leadership of Don Cousins?" every person in the league would have signed on.
But in the final analysis, we have little or no leverage, no real power over anybody we lead. At Willow Creek we've had people attend our services week after week, create trouble throughout the church, and tap every resource we have. Then, when they cross one too many lines and the elders bring correction or discipline, they bail out of the church or even sue.
To mobilize an utterly volunteer organization requires the highest kind of leadership. We cannot compel people; we must call them. One great writer about leadership says, "Most people are just waiting for someone to call them out so they can rise above their petty preoccupations."
I used to play on a park district touch football team led by Don Cousins, my associate pastor for 17 years. We played against construction workers who came after work, semi-inebriated, with the sole purpose of hurting people. In one game, my job was to try to sack the quarterback; I lined up across from a guy who was supposed to prevent me from doing that. I thought, I'm going to run right over the top of you. I was breathing hard, getting all pumped, when I looked up. This guy's eyes were bloodshot, and he was drooling. I thought, Maybe I'll just drop back in case the quarterback passes this time.
We were smaller than most of our opponents, but we won almost every game we played. Don Cousins led that team. At the end of the season, if we had said, "Anybody want to play next season under the leadership of Don Cousins?" every person in the league would have signed on.
Yes, Ministry Leadership Is Complex - Part 1/4
When business people offer free advice, we should say, "It's not that easy." by Bill Hybels, Leadership guest columnist
My friend runs a company with about 3,000 employees. He says he wants to relax after retirement and lead a church. He said, "It doesn't have to be a Willow Creek-sized church. Maybe just 7,000 or 8,000 with some growth potential." I told him that leading a church would ruin his retirement, because the church demands a higher and more complex form of leadership than business does. In fact, I believe the church is the most leadership-intensive enterprise in society.
I've been on both sides. Running a business is challenging, but the leader of a company has a clearly defined playing field and enormous leverage with his or her employees. The business leader delivers a product or service through paid staff who either get it done or get replaced.
Church leadership is far more complex than that. The redeeming and rebuilding of human lives is exceedingly more difficult than building widgets or delivering predictable services. Here's why:
1. Every life requires a custom mold.You don't stop the line in a factory every time a product comes down it. In church work, we're developing individual, custom-made lives. We stop the line for every life.
I've read books about Napoleon, de Gaulle, Eisenhower, MacArthur, Patton. They were all the great military leaders. I don't want to minimize their capabilities or the courage it takes to charge a hill in time of battle, but I've wondered, What would it be like for some of those leaders to have to work it out with deacons before they charged up a hill? How well would they do if they had to subject their plans to a vote involving the very people they're going to lead up the hill? How would the whole military system work if you took away the leadership leverage of the court-martial?
Anyone could build a church with that kind of leverage! I can hear the generals now: "Teach a Sunday school class or go to the brig." "You call that an offering? Give me fifty push-ups right now." That's leverage!
Saturday, November 03, 2007
Wait at the airport
I finally realised what flight I'm taking to Bangkok - Thai Air Asia.
Suppose to be a 3.05pm flight... and guess what, now the tie is 3.30pm, and why am I still blogging at this time? Because flight delayed -_-" I'm at the transit mall @ Changi Airport now.
This is the 2nd time I'm flying... haha, the last time I took a plane was when I was 5, and that was a flight to KL. I'm so proud of myself... I paid for my own air tickets and other expenses for this holiday.
Anyways, I'll be in Bangkok on the 3rd & 4th Novemeber. 5th - 11th, I'll be in Phuket. I'll be going to Hope Bangkok (Hope Place) for the first time, after hearing about them for 10 years of my Christian journey - It's like celebrating my 10th Anniversary with Jesus :) I will be attending their service on Sunday morning & 'Power of Praise' in the evening. Then I'll be attending LC in Phuket.
So long...
Boarding soon :)
[15 mins later]
Sa La Lah... Flight delayed till 4.50pm, I thought was 4.15pm -_-" Chey! I can actually attend the whole service one loh. I'm still in Singapore. Haha. Eh yer..
Suppose to be a 3.05pm flight... and guess what, now the tie is 3.30pm, and why am I still blogging at this time? Because flight delayed -_-" I'm at the transit mall @ Changi Airport now.
This is the 2nd time I'm flying... haha, the last time I took a plane was when I was 5, and that was a flight to KL. I'm so proud of myself... I paid for my own air tickets and other expenses for this holiday.
Anyways, I'll be in Bangkok on the 3rd & 4th Novemeber. 5th - 11th, I'll be in Phuket. I'll be going to Hope Bangkok (Hope Place) for the first time, after hearing about them for 10 years of my Christian journey - It's like celebrating my 10th Anniversary with Jesus :) I will be attending their service on Sunday morning & 'Power of Praise' in the evening. Then I'll be attending LC in Phuket.
So long...
Boarding soon :)
[15 mins later]
Sa La Lah... Flight delayed till 4.50pm, I thought was 4.15pm -_-" Chey! I can actually attend the whole service one loh. I'm still in Singapore. Haha. Eh yer..
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