Empowering Leaders – Part 2

Tuesday, I gave tip #1 on empowering leaders in today’s fast paced world.  If you haven’t read it, read it before this post.  I talked about a simple and effective way to resource all your team members, regardless of their level of comittment.

In today’s post, I will focus on how to empower key leaders, which will require a good amount of your time and energy.

TIP #2 – Focus on Key Leaders

Once creating a plan of empowering all team members, the next step is to focus on key leaders.  First, it is important to identify them.  They are the people who are most enthusiastic about serving and most willing to help.  They are the leaders you give large amounts of responsibility too.  You know who they are.  Write their names down on a sheet of paper. 

Once identified, the second step is to spend time thinking/praying of potential areas of growth for each leader.  What do they need the most help with?  Teaching a large group lesson, administrative skills, recruiting other team members, etc.  You might even ask them what they struggle with most or in what area they need improvement.  Write down a few ideas for each key leader.

Thirdly, empower each key leader through a one on one relationship.  The basic idea is to build strong relationships with you key leaders.  Get to know them on a personal level.  Identify their strengths and weaknesses.  Maybe you have lunch with each leader once a month.  Have their family over your house for dinner every so often.  Give them opportunities to maximize their strengths and improve their weaknesses.  Identify their specific spiritual gifts and give them new opportunities in those areas.  Delegate big leadership roles to them.  Afterwards, spend time recapping the experience.  Praise the positives and talk about the areas of improvement.  Get to know your key leaders and empower them one on one.

Lastly, look for specific resources for each key leader.  Read books about leadership, preteen ministry and children’s ministry.  Go to conferences.  Read K! Magazine and Children’s Ministry.  Listen to conference workshops on CD’s.  As you come across something you think might be helpful for a specific leader, give it to them.  Hand them the book, give them the CD, copy the article in K! Magazine, give them the new website you found, take key leaders to a Children’s Ministry Conference, etc.  Don’t just absorb all the learning experiences yourself, but share them with your key leaders.

Once you begin focusing on key leaders, you’re on the way to building a dream team that will change the world!