The challenge of developing leaders (1)

There is a two-fold challenge in developing leaders: (1) Emerging leaders many times want to take the lead before they’re actually ready. (2) Potential leaders can only become mature leaders when they’re permitted to develop and exercise their initiative. How does this happen? Through good timing! Paul wrote, “Never be in a hurry about appointing a church leader” (1 Timothy 5:22 NLT). Again he wrote, “An elder must not be a new believer, because he might become proud, and the devil would cause him to fall” (1 Timothy 3:6 NLT). So here is the challenge: if you rush the timing, you bypass the growth process, but if you delay leaders when they’re ready to move, you inhibit their growth. Something that can help you execute the timing concern is identifying whether your mentality is one of lack or abundance. If you think you only have an inadequate amount of resources and a restricted number of opportunities, then you may hesitate to let your leaders take risks – because you may believe the organization will be unable to recover from mistakes. But if you think opportunities are unlimited and God’s resources are renewable and infinite, you will be more inclined to take risks and have faith in your ability to recover. Think about this: how did you become a leader? Through experience and making mistakes – right? That’s how others become leaders too! Pulitzer Prize-winning author Garry Wills said this about levels of leaders: “Leaders have a say in what they are being led to. A leader who neglects that soon finds himself without followers.” Bottom line: it takes a secure leader to let others participate in the process.