October 2, 2020

Leading leaders is one of the most challenging and rewarding parts of being a leader. This especially is true when church staff are working with volunteers, but it is equally important when Christian men and women working in the corporate world lead leaders with vision and integrity. The principles in this article are transferable in both the church staff setting and the corporate setting. For those in corporate life, you may not be able to publicly implement all of these simple principles but there are work arounds. For example, you may not be able to pray with a colleague in public, but you can pray for them or over lunch outside the office, pray with them one-on-one. 

"True leadership lies in guiding others to success--in ensuring that everyone is performing at their best, doing the work they are pledged to do and doing it well." --Bill Owens

As you think about how to constantly engage your leaders, here are four principles we need to remember and consider:

(1) Pray for them daily - this is an obvious one, for sure, but one that reminds us that in our prayer life, we need to keep the ones under our charge before our Lord. To not pray for those we are leading is to abandon them to our own opinions and whims. Prayer is not so much for those being led but for those leading them ones being led. Leading leaders requires wisdom and insight which can only be contextualized through consistent and meaningful time spent with God. 

(2) Contact them regularly - phone calls, texts or emails are great to stay in touch with your leaders, but also include personal meetings over breakfast, lunch or coffee. During these times you want to connect with them personally but also to share vision and ways they can grow as a leader. Time is a commodity you can never get back but will pay far greater dividends than skipping this step for mindless moments that reap nothing in return. Schedule your week so you can personally contact at least one person you are leading in a meaningful way.

(3) Resource them practically - find out what they need and make sure they have it. You are their resource person. Your leaders should not be looking for resources or looking very long. They may not even know what they need, but you can step in and find out through personal conversations. These resources may be books, podcasts, videos or articles. Put them onto people from which they can learn and grow as a leader.

(4) Train them diversely - every person learns at a different rate and with different methods. Find the way each person you are leading learns and then help them grow in that way. Training is not always done in a conference room but often is done in personal conversations about trying this or trying that. Training is also done through evaluation. Follow-up the least utilized resource for the leader. In follow-up evaluations, you can learn so much more about what went wrong and what went well. Here is where growth takes off!

Whether you are leading a church staff, a small organization or a major team in a Fortune 500 company, these principles are helpful for Christians leading well in the workplace. Use them and see your leaders transformed.

Share this post: