Unlocking leaders in a pandemic
In addition to an overuse of the word “unprecedented”, the COVID-19 pandemic has created an unusual environment in which to disciple leaders. Most – probably all – Christian organisations and churches face a leadership shortage given the grand size of their ambitions. And this is a good thing. Imagine being part of a community with small dreams! As a result, we all feel the challenge of not having enough leaders or wanting leaders with more capacity.
What would happen if we shifted our focus from recruiting more leaders to discipling leaders to unlock capacity? Might we then also solve for building more leaders? So how do we spot a leader who has potential to grow?
I have been reading through 1 Samuel. I noticed that God starts people on their leadership journey well before they step into their public leadership role. We know that God selects David for his heart and his willingness to follow God’s Word.
David is anointed by God to lead well before he is publicly acknowledged in the role. He spends many hours playing the lyre to help Saul with his depressed state. On several occasions, Saul throws his spear at David, and later he sends people to kill him. Talk about awkward. I wonder how David learned about navigating complex relationships with patience during these times. Saul felt such jealousy towards David, yet David’s best friend was Saul’s son, and David’s wife was Saul’s daughter. Family dinner parties must have been pretty interesting. How did he develop the relational savvy to win trust?
I wonder how he turned to God when things were ambiguous and a way forward was not clear. Some days he had to make life-and-death decisions. Needing to step out in faith and wait for God to act all at the same time.
1 Samuel reminds us that it is God who is shaping leaders. It is our job to spot what God is doing and disciple those emerging leaders. However, selecting the right leaders to disciple can be tricky. The main mistake I see organisations make in this area is selecting leaders to disciple because of their effectiveness and technical skill.
Wait. What? Here is what I mean. A great schoolteacher does not necessarily make a great head of department. In a church, a great Bible study leader does necessarily not make a great home group system coordinator. Having good technical skills does not mean someone can manage increased complexity and ambiguity and solve complex problems.
So how do we spot someone who has capacity that can be unlocked? Can they take on more responsibility in a context that is new to them? Typically, the more responsibility someone has, the more important it is that they are able to:
o Deal with increased complexity – either relationally or in a system
o Solve problems they have not seen before
o Learn and adapt all aspects of themselves – their heart, their hands and their mind.
At the Christian Leadership Framework, we use the following capabilities to discern if a leader may have capacity to succeed in a new context with greater complexity:
o Is self-aware – Is he/she aware of personal strengths, weaknesses, gifts, motivators and preferences through a combination of feedback and self-reflection?
o Is repentant: Does she/he actively work to transform her/himself through repentance, reflection and learning?
o Is courageous – Does he/she rise to whatever challenge God has presented him/her with, saying and doing what needs to be said and done?
o Manages ambiguity – Can she/he operate effectively when things are not clear or certain?
o Manages relationships – Does he/she relate openly and warmly to a range of people?
During this pandemic there have been plenty of people who have stepped up in the face of ambiguity. If they have demonstrated all or most of the above, they are probably ready to take on a greater challenge. Why not have a coaching conversation to see how you can reshape their responsibilities so they can take on a more complex leadership role?
