Seeing the Potential in Others

“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.  

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