As a Christian leader—regardless of what type of ministry—you know you need to be intentionally developing and training new leaders. They won’t just show up ready to go, and the future of the ministry depends on it. But it can feel overwhelming to consider all the components that go into effective leadership development. Even if you knew it all, how would you have time to incorporate all that is needed for their learning?
3 Essential Facets in Leadership Training
- Initial training: How do you give them enough of the very basics in order to get started?
- On-the-job training: How do you provide ongoing support for them to learn while doing?
- Stretch training: How do you provide just the right level of challenge to develop them in new areas or with new skills?
Initial training
The most important part of this phase is to keep it brief. Christian leaders are almost uniformly tempted to cram as much content in at the beginning as possible, not realizing that most of it will be immediately forgotten. The most common mistake is to provide just-in-case training—everything you think they might need to know—which is almost immediately forgotten. Consider only the basics the person needs to get started with the task at hand. If they will be leading a group, brainstorm a few main things they need to know at the beginning and have a conversation going over those with them. Other items will come up on an as-needed basis.
One-on-one conversations are virtually always more effective than classes for initial training. Plus they allow you to tailor the content a bit more for someone depending on their experience and starting point. If you must do initial training in groups, keep the groups small and interactive. And never, never assume that once you’ve run someone through a training process that they are developed and done. This is only the very beginning stage.
On-the-job training
This middle part is actually the crux of training. On-the-job training is where the learning really happens. Yet surprisingly, this is one of the most-neglected stages of training. Make absolutely sure you don’t engage in train-and-drop: you went through a class, now you’re on your own in ministry. Once people engage in ministry is when they will start running into barriers. And when they run into barriers is where the real learning happens. Assign every new leader a coach or mentor of some kind who walks alongside them through this active ministry process. If you provide this kind of relational support, you’ll have to recruit far fewer leaders over the long term because more of your trainees will last. (Consider the example of first-year teachers: those with a coach to help them navigate the challenges had a much higher retention rate for the following year.)
Stretch training
Effective stretch training requires assessing where they are, and listening to where they want to go. Not everyone needs to be trained in every area. How does God want to use THIS particular person? Consider their gifts, their skills, their capacity. The best way to do this is through personal observation and interaction. You can use surveys, assessments, and inventories, but only as the starting point of a conversation. A few assessments I use include the Effective Leadership Profile, the DiSC Inventory, and Strengths-Finders. However, even when they may point to areas in need of development, you’ll need to consider whether that is something the Holy Spirit is calling that person toward. It’s always a conversation.
And once you’ve had that conversation, consider both stretch and support. Tie them together with someone for support so they don’t have to go it alone. Then give the person a small assignment. Just enough to stretch them, but not enough to break them. Afterwards, come together to debrief. Find out how the experience was for them, how they felt, what they sensed from the Spirit, where they want to grow more. With each conversation, re-evaluate and re-plan for a next assignment that is more on-target or takes them further in an area where they want to grow.
3 Distinctions for Effective Leadership Training
Keep it relational
One of the most important things you can do in training new leaders is to keep each stage of the process as relational—and as non-programmatic—as possible. Of course it’s important to get the job done and do the actual ministry in order to accomplish results. It’s equally important to value the person and come alongside of them in their journey to develop, support, and invest in them. Thus, a strongly relational approach as you come along side them is critical.
Keep it individual-centered
Not all leaders are the same, and not all of them have the same goals. Some may need and want to grow a new skill. Others may want to capitalize on their gifts and strengths. How do you know whether you should encourage them to branch out or not? Help them assess what skills they need in order to do what God has called them to do. Essentially, people need enough skills to not shoot themselves in the foot when trying to meet their goal. A new worship leader may never be a manager—maybe he’s not gifted for it and also not interested in it. Yet he needs to become at least adequate enough to lead his team effectively. He’ll never oversee dozens, but he needs to mobilize some people and get them on board with his vision.
Consider each person’s individual goals and then determine what skills they will need in order to meet those goals. Maybe someone needs some basic time-management skills in order to be effective as they focus on their strengths. Too much of a weakness in one area can sometimes endanger—or even wipe out—strengths in another area. Create small assignments that provide people with a taste of success in new areas where they may not have much confidence.
Listen to the Spirit
The goal of leadership training is not to churn out a bunch of leaders that look identical and have exactly the same skill sets. Walk alongside people to listen to the Spirit with them for what their leadership in the Kingdom of God might look like. Remember, it’s not just you assessing what they need, but encouraging them to listen to the Spirit for themselves to see what they are hearing they might need.
The leader of a prayer team will need different strengths than the person running church finances. But there will still be some surprises along the way. Be sure to leave room for them. We have a God who seems to specialize in the unexpected.
Resources
Leadership Skills Guides – Pastoral ministry requires competence in organization, communication, team building, and many other practical personal skills. This set of guides was designed to help you develop the skills your budding leader needs. With this set of downloadable lessons in 37 essential leadership skills in your pocket you are prepared to train in real time as the need arises.
Photo by Tobias Mrzyk on Unsplash