All hires cost money, and more money than we often realize. Not only is there the cost of the salary and benefits, but there is the cost of the office, the onboarding, and the expenses related to the role. Because the cost of hiring people to join a team, financially-minded people can wisely caution leaders…
Leadership Development
4 Ways to Avoid Being a Distracted Leader
An effective leader is a focused leader. A distracted leader greatly limits his or her effectiveness. Instead of leveraging influence, intellect, and inspiration towards a great purpose, a distracted leader divides resources across a plethora of priorities. A distracted leader commonly diffuses attention and focus and chases too many goals. Distractions can come masked as…
7 Indications That Fear is Hampering Your Leadership
In the book of Proverbs God gives His people a collection of wise sayings on living life skillfully. One of those sayings contrasts trusting the Lord with fearing other people. The fear of mankind is a snare but the one who trusts the Lord is protected (Proverbs 29:25). We are commanded to fear the Lord….
3 Common Blind Spots in Leaders
One of my mentors, Brad Waggoner, has regularly quipped, “Most people struggle with self-awareness, so why would I think I am somehow different from everyone else?” He is right. Everyone struggles with self-awareness to a degree, and we are foolish if we think we are immune. Our lack of self-awareness in life and leadership is…
The Shared Values of Leadership Development by Todd Adkins
So how do you develop people? Through skills and style of training. You must identify core competencies required for every leadership level of your pipeline. For example, a small group leader and a parking team leader should be equipped in conflict management. Core competencies are universal, but skills also include role-specific skills unique to each ministry area.
3 Reasons Leaders Are Wise to Recognize Their Weaknesses
When a basketball player attempts to do too much on the court, the person is called a “ball hog” or chided for playing “hero ball.” Being a ball hog looks like not trusting your teammates, taking impossible shots instead of giving the ball to a teammate for a much easier one, and insisting that everything…
3 Marks of Humility in Leadership
We tend to despise pride in others and we recognize its destructive power. The Scripture teaches us that pride goes before destruction and haughty eyes before a fall. We long to serve with leaders who are humble, and we are wise to walk in humility ourselves. But what does humility in leadership look like? Here…
4 Types of Managers (and the Most Effective at Developing a Team)
Peter Drucker once stated that leaders are responsible for future leadership. In other words, one of the essential roles of a leader is to develop other leaders. Of course, not all leaders place a high value on investing in others, and even among those leaders who are committed to developing others, different approaches are utilized….
3 Essentials in Christian Leadership Development
When I was a freshman in college, I served a local church as a youth pastor. I was growing in my faith and eager to pour into teenagers. The church was Southside Baptist Church and the pastor was Jerry Key. It was a small church with about 100 people and a handful of kids in…
2 Dumb Ways Leaders Deal With Their Weaknesses
Just as all leaders have areas of strength, all leaders also have areas of weakness. There is no such thing as an omni-competent leader. But what should a leader do with his or her weaknesses? Books have been written and speeches have been given encouraging leaders to focus on their strengths, to leverage what they…