“Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out
workers into his harvest field." (Matthew 9:38)
One of the most important tasks of a leader is to
identify potential new leaders. If a
church or organization is to grow, finding new leaders is critical. Church leadership is about how we behave,
communicate and manage – while leading people toward a shared goal. And ministry leadership is responsible for
influencing how work gets accomplished.
Equally vital is the quality of leaders being discovered.
Effective leaders have certain traits
and characteristics that affect how they interact with others. If you want to have a culture which
reproduces leaders, then you will want to continue reading this Post.
But, where do you find these people who can be future
servant leaders?
Jesus did spend time directly in ministry, but a huge
amount of His time was spent seeking out, investing in, and training new
workers that would be the foundation of the Church. In human terms, this effort may not have made
sense to us, but as we look back over the past two millennium we see the true
power of sending others out.
Jesus prepared His disciples and a larger group that
would form the nucleus of the Church through very regular activities. And it’s clear that this was always His goal. As you serve in your community, do you have
that same perspective? Are you seeking opportunities to raise others up
for service? Are you looking for those
that might be powerful witnesses in your community and engaging them? What would your outreach look like if this was
the main objective every day?
You might be a mentor to someone. Maybe you would seek to serve on a team rather
than by yourself. Who knows? The key is to make investing in others part of
your life of service.
The following are characteristics I look for in leaders that I hope to
develop or with whom I want to work:
Concern/Love for others
You can’t lead people effectively if you don’t genuinely
love people. I’ve seen people in positions
who have great power, but they don’t appear to love others. These leaders often produce followers—if only
seeking a paycheck—but they never reproduce leaders.
Not a complainer
Frankly speaking, leadership runs into complainers
regardless of what we do. A positive
attitude will get my attention every time.
Excellence in following
I find this to be important. I try to follow people I lead, because there
are times they know more than I do. Someone
who isn’t willing to follow is seldom ready to lead. I look for a servant attitude and a
willingness to do what needs to be done for the benefit of others.
Reliability
Leadership is about trust. And trust is developed over time and
consistency by doing what you said you would do. I always look for people with this quality.
Interest
The people with a passion for the church or organization
often make great leaders. You can train
someone to lead, but you can’t easily train them to have interest.
Good character
Character counts.
Not perfection. Not flawless. But, good character is necessary to be
trusted on a team. Integrity, honesty
and a humble desire to always be improving as a person, this is the kind of
character I want to see in a person.
Potential
God always saw potential in others that they themselves
couldn’t see. I try to see the potential
in others.
Confidence
Leaders must have confidence. Not being prideful, but a genuine willingness
to lead through the hard times—to do what others are not willing to do.
People skills
This goes without saying, but you can’t lead people if
you can’t communicate with people. You
don’t have to be the life of the party, but you do have to be able to engage
people and make them feel a part of things.
These are the traits I focus on when choosing potential
leaders.
Can God change your life?
God has made it possible for you
to know Him, and experience an amazing
change in your own life.
change in your own life.
Discover how you can find peace
with God.
