Category: In the Trenches

3 Shifts to Make to Unlock Your Leadership Growth, Part 1

How have you grown in your leadership capacity over the past month? The past six months? The past year?

Growth isn’t always immediately noticeable. But I really hope you can look back at the past twelve months and point out how you have grown.

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How have you grown in your leadership capacity over the past month? The past six months? The past year?

Growth isn’t always immediately noticeable. But I really hope you can look back at the past twelve months and point out how you have grown. Maybe you added an arrow to your quiver, like moving conversations from surface to something more using intentional questions. Maybe you’ve spent more time pouring into someone. Maybe you’ve swung for the fences and learned something along the way.

Whether you can answer the questions above or not, I want to share with you the first of four shifts you can make to help unlock your leadership growth. Collectively, these shifts may not produce immediate results, but as you learn to lean into them, I think in time you’ll begin to see the benefit.

Here we go.

1. Learning is a continuing process.

Recently, I had a conversation with a former student and reflected on life after seminary. It took me quite a few years for me to decide I wasn’t done learning, but when I did, something started to happen.

Instead of relying on things I had learned, I started to pull from things I was learning. I know it’s a subtle shift, but hear me out. Instead of tapping into a well that was potentially growing stagnant, I started to tap into a well that was producing.

How do you learn best? Reading? Listening? Watching? Do you prefer a live workshop? What about an online masterclass? A YouTube deep dive? We live in an age where we have no excuse not to learn!

For the longest time I’ve identified myself as an auditory learner. My early days on a tractor taught me to appreciate the power of an audiobook over music (might make a good Lessons from the Farm post). But lately, I’m starting to realize how reading a book unleashes creativity in me. I can miss a lot when I listen to something (just ask my wife!), but a different part of me engages when I read the words on a page.

What’s your attitude about learning? What’s the last book you read that challenged you? What was the topic? I love a good Harry Bosch novel, but Mac Lake highlighted an itch I’ve been trying to scratch for the past year!

If you’re ready to unlock some leadership growth, embrace the reality that learning is a continuing process. So get started!

Make These Three Decisions Today To Unlock Your Leadership

We all face an abundance of decisions during the day. Some of those are as simple as what to wear, what to eat, when to eat and so on. But some decisions take a little more intentionality and thought.

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We all face an abundance of decisions during the day. Some of those are as simple as what to wear, what to eat, when to eat and so on. But some decisions take a little more intentionality and thought.

Today I would like to share with you a simple framework to help you unlock your leadership throughout your day. These are not the end all questions, but they do put us in a place where we are willing to meet the needs that arise around us.

  1. Is This A Situation Where I Need To Be First? Sometimes we meet an opportunity and find ourselves waiting for the response of others. But what if you need to be first? Be the first to send the text or email, to make the phone call, to start the conversation, to acknowledge the problem, or to meet the need? Sometimes leadership is as simple as making the first move and letting people around us respond accordingly. Where do you need to be first today?
  2. Is This A Situation Where I Need To Be Second? A few years back I was shown this video, and it has stuck with me. Every leader needs someone who will respond to their leadership. That includes people with whom you work. Maybe the best leadership move you can make today is to be the first person to go second, thus validating an idea or project. Where do you need to be second today?
  3. Is This A Situation Where I Need To Be Last? I am the type of person who hates to leave, so I always find myself hanging around to the end. But being last isn’t just waiting, it’s serving until the end. Be the last person working, the last person making effort or progress. Being last means you’re setting the tone for what finishing really looks like.

My theory is you do one, maybe two, of these really well. Maybe you like to take charge, or maybe you naturally respond to the leadership of someone else. Great. I’m glad you know that about yourself.

Now, push yourself a little further. Unlock your leadership and push yourself to work on the others. Which of these decisions does not come naturally, and how can you lean into that decision today?

The 2nd Question You Need to Answer for Leadership Growth

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Last October we had some work done on one of our flower beds. The bushes that were in the planter box were too big and breaking the box, so we had them taken out and replaced with some different plants.

Now, the fact that I can’t tell you what the plants were reveals a shortcoming in my master plan for beautifying my house, and conveniently enough, gives us a framework for today’s post. Funny how that works, right?

Last week I wrote about the first question you need to answer for leadership growth: “is the desired result worth the effort?”

For our planter box, the desired result (keeping the roots of bushes from destroying the box) was worth the effort. But I never asked the next question: am I willing to do what’s necessary to help the replacement plants grow?

The result? I arrive home most days and hope my new plants are just dormant and not dead. But they’re probably dead. I wasn’t willing to consider the effort it would take on my part to make sure the plants grew, which was a pretty low bar.

The same is true in our leadership journeys. Once we decide if the desired result is worth the effort, we stare face to face with the next question: Am I willing to grow as a leader?

This seems simple enough, but the reality is the two questions go hand in hand. Asking one without the other will only provide partial results – your planter box will be saved (1st question) but your new plants will die, OR you won’t actually do anything because you’re willing, but didn’t exert the effort.

Once again, ultimately the decision belongs to you. How will you answer?

4 Surprising Insights for Growth

All in all, I was grateful for a day to reflect. I’ve not arrived as a leader, and I’m okay with that. But I’m trying to grow.

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Last week I was supposed to be gone, but my trip got cancelled. So, I was faced with a decision: do I pick up the things I handed off, or do I go about my day being present, but not filling my normal roles? I chose the latter, and learned a few things.

Before I share some of the insights I gleaned, I think it will be beneficial for you to know where my head’s at currently. I’ve been in ministry for coming up on 19 years. The last 5 or so have seen a significant shift in my approach to ministry. And it’s no coincidence that I’ve been blogging for 5 years!

The shift I’ve made is rather simple: how can I intentionally train and empower others to grow in their leadership influence.

I’ve done this a few ways. I’ve written 470+ blog posts over the past 5 years that served as real time reflections of issues I was facing, as well as observations of things I believe to be leadership principles. I’ve started intentionally meeting with people for the purpose of mutual growth–reading through books together, watching video series, covering leadership principles, etc. I’ve taught teenagers to ask and answer the 3 Questions, and held them accountable in the process.

All that to say, I’m trying to shift to more of an equipper of leaders around me.

So, the Sunday I was present but had planned to be gone, helped give me some perspective on four things:

  1. The things I think won’t get done without me, will actually get done without me. I’ll be considerable more specific than usual, but on a Sunday morning, I tend to stress out about setup. Our ministry is in a season where we are essentially a portable ministry, so setup is a major part of what we do, and we have very little time to do it (10-12 minutes, generally speaking). I made the hard decision not to help with setup (something I lead every week), and things still got set up. People knew the need and felt the responsibility to meet the need, so they met the need. Key takeaway: Be more intentional about encouraging others to take the lead in setup, freeing me up to focus more on connecting.
  2. We have a good flow. I’m a routine guy, so when I can have a routine and work the routine, I feel good. That also means when I’m not the one up front, the routine is still known and understood. I really like the way we’ve structured our teaching model, and think it helps others when they’ve seen the routine and understand the routine. Key takeaway: continue to maximize the routine, but be willing to change it up when necessary.
  3. We have incredible leaders. The adults who work with students are great. It was a low adult Sunday due to a holiday weekend, but the ones who showed up were fully engaged and ready to make a difference. More than that, our student leaders, for the most part, get it and are willing to step up when given the opportunity.
  4. There’s still room to grow. I don’t think I could miss a month without a hitch, and I don’t know if that should even be my goal. But, there’s still room to grow. There are still people to train, there are still people to empower, there are still needs to be met. We are not there. Key takeaway: keep pouring into those around me.

All in all, I was grateful for a day to reflect. I’ve not arrived as a leader, and I’m okay with that. But I’m trying to grow.

Now, think about your arena of influence. If you were scheduled to be gone and were able to be a fly on the wall, what might you learn? Do you think you’d be pleased or disappointed? Are you holding on to things because you think no one else will do them? Do you need to make adjustments so confusion is minimized? Take a minute to reflect on how you might grow as a leader, and how you can lead those around you to do the same.

You Can Do This

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Leadership can be difficult.

Knowing what to say and when to say it.

Knowing what to do and when to do it.

Knowing who to recruit and how to ask.

Knowing when to speak and when to stay silent.

Knowing when to correct and when to encourage.

Knowing when to navigate a season and when to change.

If you’re trying to expand your leadership influence, you likely resonate with at least one of these. And that’s perfectly natural.

Regardless of the tension you’re navigating, or the season you’re walking through, let me offer this: hang in there. You can do this.

The call to leadership is a call to growth-both of ourselves and of those we lead.

But growth takes time.

Be intentional. Be faithful. Move forward at a steady pace and you’ll be amazed at how you can grow.

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