Leadership is always a temporary assignment—always. It is a temporary assignment because leaders do not ultimately own the teams, ministries, or organizations that they lead. They simply steward what the Lord has entrusted to their care for a season. Wise leaders embrace the temporal reality of leading, and they prepare the ministry for the future….
Leadership Development
Leadership Development Is Part of Discipleship
Often ministry leaders will ask, “What do you do for discipleship?” and then a few moments later ask, “What do you do for leadership development?”—as if the two are mutually exclusive. This is a grave mistake. While it may be helpful to view leadership development as advanced discipleship or as a subset of discipleship, it…
Links for Leaders 4/10/15
Nearly all of us are called to lead in some form or fashion in our lives, whether thats at work, at home, or otherwise. But for those of us who have a sort of “senior leadership” role, there are some abilities we need to work toward. Ron Edmondson is helpful as usual with these seven…
4 Reasons to Believe in Young Leaders
For a long time, I was the young leader. I took my first role on a church staff just before I turned 19. When I moved to Cincinnati to serve as student pastor, I flew into the airport and was too young to rent a car. I moved to Miami to serve as executive pastor…
3 Reasons (Some) Churches Don’t Value Equipping
The biblical model for local church ministry is not that pastors would “do ministry” but that they would “equip others for ministry” (Ephesians 4:11-13). Sadly, many churches do not recognize or act on the assignment God has given pastors. For example, peruse the typical job descriptions churches give for their pastors. In many churches, you…
3 Reasons (Some) Pastors Don’t Equip
The role of pastor is divinely designed to prepare others for ministry, not to perform all the duties in ministry. Pastors are not called to “do ministry” but to “equip believers” to minister to one another (Ephesians 4:11-13). Yet some pastors prefer to hoard ministry to themselves rather than equip others. Some pastors are like…
3 Small Ways to Initiate “Roving Leadership”
Last week, I blogged about two common hindrances to empowering others: insecure leaders and unhealthy expectations. Great leaders empower others. They practice entrusting responsibility and authority to others, to people Max Depree described as “roving leaders,” who transcend title and make great things happen. Instead of leading and executing everything, wise and biblically motivated leaders…
Bringing Great Leaders to Your Team
Every organization wants to have a high level team, a group made up of people who are the best at their respective jobs and passionate about the same ideals. But wanting that kind of team is one thing, and hiring it is entirely more challenging. Brad Lomenick, president of Catalyst and author of The Catalyst Leader, shares 10…
Serving Is Greatness
One of the reasons bondservants chose to stay with their master was because life was so much better in the master’s care. Perhaps sometimes bondservants would reflect on how life was before. They could remember how miserable the nights were hoping someone would let them stay in their home. They could recall how painful it…