Until one holds a deep conviction to develop younger or emerging leaders, leadership development will not happen. Conviction is necessary.
How do you know if you have a conviction?
If you can imagine leading without developing leaders, then leadership development is not a conviction. Think about it: preachers who are convicted that the Word must be central in their messages could not imagine preaching sermons without the Scripture. To them, it would not even be preaching. Business leaders who are convicted that marketing or finance is an important discipline within their business would never consider leading without those disciplines. The principle applies to leadership development too; if there is conviction, leaders find a way to ensure developing leaders happens.
Two common challenges to developing a conviction for leadership development are the pressures surrounding the leader and the idolatry within the leader.
1. The pressures surrounding the leader
If conviction for development within the leader is not greater than the pressures around the leader, leadership development will not happen. The pressure of the immediate, the inbox, and the interruptions are always there to pull us away from the task of developing leaders. The pressures of today pull leaders away from the task of developing others, because accomplishing a task today can feel more fruitful than investing time in someone for the future.
Of all people, Christians should have a conviction to develop others. Our Savior gave us the commission to develop others, and we are part of a long legacy of the faith being passed from one generation to the next.
2. The idolatry within the leader
If the leader finds worth in his or her role, leadership development will not happen. One of the reasons leaders struggle to develop others is fear of loss of identity. If a leader’s greatest identity is the position or the prominence that comes with the position, then developing others could threaten the leader’s identity, as someone else could be perceived as being better for the role. It takes conviction to overwhelm insecurity—conviction that leadership development must happen.
Christians struggle with idolatry too, and the way to combat it is to rejoice more in what Christ has done for us than in what we do for Him or for others. If we don’t combat idolatry of our roles with reminders of our ultimate identity, then we will lose the motivation to develop others. If, however, we are in awe of Christ’s rescue of us, we are free to develop others and enjoy being part of their success.
