By Carey Nieuwhof
The vast majority of churches and leaders run like a mom and pop grocery store; they do it all themselves. Compare that to a supermarket where there are levels of leadership and structure for scalability. I want to examine seven things that leaders who multiply leaders know and do.
-
I am not the body of Christ.
We can’t do it all as we lead the church. We all have different gifts that contribute to the body of Christ. Our job, as Paul examines in Ephesians 4, is to lead others in such a way that they utilize their unique gifts.
-
I never reproduce who I want to be.
In your mind, there’s the version you think you are and then there’s the reality of who you are. You never reproduce the idealized version of yourself. You will reproduce who you are. If you want to reproduce better leaders, you must become a better leader yourself.
-
For is much better than from.
Effective leaders focus on what leaders can do for their team, not what they can get from their team. In one-on-one meetings when leaders and staff, I’ve learned to spend the first half of the meeting asking how they’re doing before we discuss what they’re doing. I want to develop them as Christ followers and be that voice that says, “Hey, what do you need to thrive and how can I help with that?”
-
It’s okay to play favorites.
By default, we do the opposite of what we should. You likely spent 80 percent of your time with leaders who give you 20 percent of your results. Instead, why don’t you spend 80 percent of your time with people who give you 80 percent of your results?
-
Our culture either makes us or breaks us.
Every church has a culture, and if you don’t know what your church’s culture is, by default, you have a bad one. We evaluated culture at our church and asked “who?” not “what?” This helped us to discover our values and create a healthier church culture.
-
High capacity people love being around high capacity people.
Like attracts like and keeps like. Excellence attracts excellence and keeps excellence. Help connect high capacity leaders to one another so they feel like they belong and what they do matters.
-
Non-financial currencies are the best currencies.
How do you attract and keep non-paid volunteers and leaders? Pay them with gratitude. Give them your undivided focus and show appreciate for what they do. Show respect. People gravitate toward where they feel valued most. Value, love, pray for, encourage, trust, and empower them. By doing so, you create a culture where people want to be serving.
Adapted from Pipeline: Recruit, Develop, Repeat. Check out Carey’s session and others on Ministry Grid.
