second decade (3 of 3)
February 27, 2008
Even more lessons from my first 10 years of ministry that I’m taking with me into my second decade…
- Develop your team. Each person is responsible for their own personal growth and development, but it’s on your shoulders as a leader to provide as many opportunities for that as possible. Pour into your team through planned and unplanned development times. You won’t develop outwardly if you’re not developing inwardly.
- Let your team know they have freedom to fail. As leaders, we need to be quick to recognize how often we ourselves fail; that makes it easier to accept the failures of our team members. While giving people the freedom to make mistakes, let them know you expect them to learn from their failures. Coach them so that next time around, they don’t fail in the same way. Make new mistakes rather than repeating old ones.
- Don’t hold things with a closed fist. It’s all God’s anyway, and He can give it to whomever He wishes. Hold people, finances, possessions, and ideas with an open hand, ready to give when prompted. We’re called to be stewards, not owners.
- Maintain a teachable spirit. There are few things more distasteful in a leader than arrogance. Don’t think you know it all, because you don’t. Ask questions; listen intently; seek out opportunities to learn everyday. A humble leader is a learner.
- Burnout is real. Find ways to pull away from ministry work. Spend time with friends outside the ministry. Force yourself to unwind; take a physical, mental, and emotional break from your work. A burned-out leader no longer leads; she just maintains.
Really, the loved and coveted spot of first comment?! Dare I admit… I’ll go back up and read the post now, but I had to claim this spot :)
you’re so cool.
these 3 posts are jam packed full of amazing wisdom. i’ll have to keep these words accessible for reminders and lessons. thanks.
Ok. Scary. Don’t click on mezik’s link. It sent my computer into a virus scan mode. Don’t know if it was real or fake or what, but … whew.
Ok. Now to actually commenting about your post. It’s great! I loved these thoughts especially. (Out of the three, I mean.) SO good. So many leaders (as I said the first time … I think) never learn these. And they impact the people you lead so deeply. I respect you for remaining teachable and learning the hard to learn lessons. Kudos.
I like that.
Don’t hold things with a closed fist.
You’re wonderful.
love the “freedom to fail” one…. that might just help our drummer at church!
Don’t hold things with a closed fist…
One of my cousins-in-laws got a little chickie for Easter as a cute gift. So he held that chickie with a tight fist. You can imagine what happened. I should imagine that we squeeze the life out of people, ministries and projects when we hold on too hard.