On Monday, I wrote about the first two questions (click here to read if you missed it). Today, I’ll finish it up with the third question.
Just a refresher, when I walk into a room, I want to ask myself three questions. The first two are:
1) What needs to be done? (Awareness)
2) What can I do? (Willingness)
And that brings us to the third question.
3. who can i get to help?
The third question focuses on including others in what has been a very personal and individual process. The difference between people who can answer the first two questions and the people who can answer all three often comes down to an ability to lead others. But leading others is not an art form that few can master. Everyone has the potential to lead.
Leadership takes place when you see a need and you invite other people to meet the need, preferably with you. A quick google search of “definitions of leadership” will return more results than you might care to peruse, but the simple idea boils down to seeing a better future and bringing people along to join in the better future and help it happen. Leaders have an ability to see the “horizon of possibility”.
If Leadership is rooted in the first two questions, then it blossoms in the third. It is not enough to simply be able to assess a need and meet the need, but a successful leader will be able to include others in meeting the need.
I have been teaching these questions to a group of junior high and high school students since August. One of the easiest ways the three questions have found expression has been through setting chairs up on Wednesday nights before our service starts.
A few weeks ago, before anyone else had arrived, an 8th grader, who has not been included in the teaching of the 3 Questions, walks into the youth room and begins to set up chairs. Completely unprompted by me (and like a bum, I didn’t even help).
This student had been included by the others so many times, that he unknowingly answered the first two questions that night.
Leadership leads to movement
Inviting others to help accomplish a task is good, but it is not the end goal. Ultimately, we want to move people in a common direction.
As a father, I want to lead my family to faithfully serve God.
As a leader, I want to lead others to impact lives for the sake of the Gospel.
As a Youth Pastor, I want to lead students into a growing relationship with Christ, and in turn I want to lead those students to lead their peers.
Ultimately, however, the goal of leadership is to leverage influence to create forward movement.
As we work through the 3 Questions, we have to come to terms with where we want people to move. Never be satisfied by simply answering the questions, but be willing to evaluate where you’re going.
So, there you go. These questions have slowly started shaping the way I lead, the way I teach others to lead, and the way I interact with people around me. I will continue to unpack what these mean and what they look like, but this is all for now. Thanks for reading!
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Thought provoking. I read all three blogs today. I appreciate your thoughts. I’m going to begin using these three questions in my Celebrate Recovery small group…and the ripples continue. Thanks for being a blessing in my life.
That’s great! Thanks so much. Let me know how it goes. I’m still fleshing out so much with these questions and would love to hear your experience with them.
Insightful, thanks Wes. At the beginning of your third question I was thinking, this has got to move to those you are leading & you shared it well. Thanks for the insight & encouragement.