I don’t know about you, but I want to get better as a leader. If everything rises and falls on leadership, the best way to grow my youth ministry is to grow as a leader.
Simply put, if we don’t learn to lead well we will minister small. Not necessarily in numbers, but definitely in impact.
There are many ways we can grow as leaders, but what are some steps we can take to get better tomorrow? If you want to grow your leadership in a way that will have an immediate impact, take these three steps.
3 Steps to Better Leadership
1) Invest in People
The best way to love those you lead is to invest in them. Investing is never easy though. It requires effort and doing without now for the promise of a return in the future. It works the same way in leadership.
Few leaders will take the time to properly invest in their team. Why? Because it takes time and is difficult. Investing in young leaders is always more difficult than doing things yourself, but it’s always worth it!
“The best way to love those you lead is to invest in them.”
The crazy thing is we know the importance of leadership investment. We’ve experienced the lack of it in our own lives. Most youth workers long for a mentor to invest in them, although few experience this reality.
I spent over a decade in youth ministry looking for someone to invest in me. It never came, and it felt like I was responsible for my own development with no help.
The good news is I scratched and clawed to develop as a leader. The bad news is it stunk! It was a lonely road that I don’t wish on anyone.
This is precisely why I started ymLead, to make sure no youth worker has to walk the journey alone. I know how it feels when no one invests in you, so I’ve decided to make sure those I lead don’t have to experience it.
Investing in people means showing them the way and doing whatever it takes to help them get there. When you invest in your team, they will run through a brick wall for you. Not only that, but they will accomplish more than you ever could on your own.
Your leadership reach will be determined by who you invest in. Invest wisely and often for maximum ministry impact. If you want to become a better leader, start investing in those around you!
“Your leadership reach will be determined by who you invest in.”
2) Start With Why
Great leaders start with why. Their teams never wonder why they are doing what they’re doing because the vision is clear. They don’t lack motivation because starting with why lights the fire of motivation.
As Simon Sinek writes in his book Start With Why, people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it. The same is true in youth ministry. Your pastor, parents, and students won’t buy into what your ministry does, but the why behind it.
This is what separates great youth workers from average ones. The best youth workers start with why. Every time they cast vision, they start with why they are doing it rather than what they are doing.
If clarity is kindness, be kind to those you minister to by starting with why. The best way to get people to buy into your vision is to clarify the why and give them something to rally behind.
Want to lead better? Start tomorrow by starting with why.
3) Default to Grace
Great leaders default to grace. As a matter in fact, so do great youth ministries. Every leader must decide what their default response to challenges will be: grace or correction.
Leaders who default to grace are for people, while those who default to correction want to fix people. Your choice is important because the people around you will mess up let you down. Especially in youth ministry.
“Leaders who default to grace are for people, while those who default to correction want to fix people.“
Your most spiritually mature students will make mistakes. The parents who are most for you will at some point oppose you. Even your best volunteers will step into stupid at some point. If your default is grace, it can be a pivotal moment in their faith journey. If your default is correction it will limit the long term faith conversation.
Everyone will make mistakes. Moreover, we also all desire grace. Leaders need to correct, discipline, and provide accountability, but what if these things came on the heels of grace? Great leaders know when to provide correction but always lead with grace.
Defaulting to grace will help build a culture of honesty, honor, and loyalty in your youth ministry. So if you want to step up your leadership game, default to grace!
“Great leaders know when to provide correction, but always lead with grace.”
The odds are you want to get better as a leader, and if you’re like me, you want to see results quickly. So, if you want to lead better starting tomorrow: invest in people, start with why, and default to grace.
Which step is the first step you need to take? Which step is the most difficult?
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