“Father, help me focus on my strengths and trust others to fill the gaps of my weaknesses”
Every leader knows the skills in which they excel. They also are aware of those tasks that they maintain a certain level of competence along with those duties they struggle in accomplishing. In my experience there are "want to’s" and the "have to’s" of leadership. The "want to’s" energize a leader and the "have to’s" zap the leader’s creativity and time. The quicker a leader can find those around them that will fill the gaps of their weaknesses, the more effective they will be in achieving God’s mission.
How does a leader find and keep those around them that fill the gaps? Here are a few ideas:
1. Know yourself - Embrace a sober view of your strengths and your weaknesses. Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton in their book, Now, Discovering Your Strengths, define strengths as “consistent, near perfect performance in an activity” (pg. 25). They define a weakness as “anything that gets in the way of excellent performance” (pg. 148). The authors suggest that strengths are made up of talents, knowledge and skills. Talents are your naturally recurring patterns of thought, feeling, or behavior. Knowledge consists of the facts and lessons learned. Skills are the steps of an activity (pg. 29). I would add spiritual gifts to the mix. A spiritual gift is a God-given ability to serve and build up the body of Christ, which each believer possesses at the point of salvation. (I Corinthians 7:7; 12:7, 11; I Peter 4:10)
Here is a chart to get you started:
2. Pray specifically for leaders with those gifts you need - We have not because we ask not. Jesus said these powerful words, “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." (Matthew 9:38 NIV) Developing a prayer list of workers, both volunteers and staff, that are needed to better impact the harvest is essential. Praying through membership lists, uncovering the talents, identifying the gifts and passions of your people is crucial.
3. Invest in potential leaders - Partnerships are only going to be built through a clear investment of time. We do not have partnerships because too many times we are unwilling to pour ourselves into the lives of those around us.
4. Trust those leaders that you are developing - Don’t empower anyone you cannot trust whole- heartedly. Leaders who live under the scope of suspicion will never perform to their potential and will always be looking for away out. Suspicion is like a cankerworm that slowly eats away at relationships.
5. Honor those that serve well - Honoring leaders appropriately is one of the keys to keeping good leaders around you. Honor their unique contributions, their sacrifices, and their loyalty. The Apostle Paul was great at honoring his fellow workers in the gospel (Philippians 2:19-30; Romans 16:1-23).
Great leaders are known by the people who surround them. People of like passion, convictions and vision but people with unique and different skill sets which complement the leader. Who are you surrounding yourself with? Are they helping you advance the mission or are they distracting and constantly derailing you from achieving God's mission?
Solomon wrote, "Like an archer who wounds at random is he who hires a fool or any passer-by."
Proverbs 26:10
Let us have the courage to understand ourselves and to get the right people around us.
Next time: “Father, bless me with life long partners who will keep me on mission.”
Excerpt from Gary's book: NextSteps for Leading a Missional Church
Join Gary "live" at an upcoming "NextSteps Workshop" - August 27-28th, 2009
