[featured_image]My friend Lonnie Pacelli developed The Amazon Shorts Leadership Made Simple Series to provide easy to understand, prescriptive advice for anyone who is put in a position to lead others. Each article in the series has “helpful nuggets which will make a team want to follow you.”
He has provided three distinct categories on leadership – Planning, Process, and People – all of which work together to support effective business leadership everyday.
In The Leadership Greenhouse, he begins:
You can be a great leader in your own right and can possess many of the most valued attributes which make leaders great. However, if you aren’t taking responsibility to grow future leaders for your organization then you’re simply not fulfilling one of your core responsibilities as a leader, which is to keep the leadership pipeline full of great future leaders.
As many church planters focus on starting groups, starting services and starting ministries, they largely depend on recruiting leaders to help them. Their ability to recruit qualified spiritual leaders is often a limiting factor in effectively launching a new church.
In examining Jesus’ approach to launching the Church, He didn’t start with finding a meeting place or recruiting great leaders. He focused on raising up leaders from the harvest. In fact, before completing His mission by dying on the cross and rising from the dead, Jesus spent three years investing in the intentional development of leaders. He realized that one of His core leadership responsibilities as The Chief Shepherd of The Church was to “keep the leadership pipeline full of great future leaders.”
If church planters and pastors are going to lead effectively, they must invest significant time in leadership development – just like Jesus.
What can you discover about raising leaders from Lonnie’s article?
5 Principles to Develop Your Leadership Greenhouse
I am convinced that some are born to lead and some are not; and if you’re not a born leader then the act of leadership will be a very difficult road to drive on. Even born leaders, though, need cultivation to help mold and shape the leadership attributes that are most desired in a leader. Great leaders understand this and create leadership greenhouses where they can grow great leaders.
1. Look for great basic tools.
Look beyond day-in and day-out functions. Look at the skills and character attributes necessary to deliver results.
2. Provide for a wide range of experience.
Build as broad an experience base as possible for your leaders. Develop them through a wide-variety of on-the-job experiences.
3. Prune arrogance and other bad behaviors.
Help them identify both positive and negative attributes. Use 360-degree feedback. Watch for signs of egomania. Provide an environment to improve the good traits and prune the bad.
4. View failure as part of the learning process.
“True leaders accept accountability for failures, vigorously learn from their failures, and do their best to ensure it doesn’t happen again.” Be supportive, but not parental.
5. Be willing to recognize that your magnificent flower has turned into a weed.
Sometimes the person you are grooming for leadership doesn’t work out. “You need to address the issue no matter how uncomfortable the situation.” If they don’t fit in a leadership role, help them find where they do fit.
Go to amazon.com to purchase the full article:
The Leadership Greenhouse – How Great Leaders Grow Great Leaders.
I hope Lonnie’s lessons on developing leaders will help you by triggering insights you can apply in your leadership greenhouse.
What is your process of developing spiritual leaders?
Who are you developing for spiritual leadership in your church plant?
How will you keep your leadership pipeline full?
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