It is important to understand from the beginning, as disciples begin to multiply, that the movement will only be as strong as the leaders who are developed from those disciples.
These 7 Principles for Developing Leaders are adapted from Cindy Anderson's excellent post:
1. Develop close relationships and community with your most fruitful leaders.
Relationships of trust and influence mean you must invest time. Jesus spent a lot of time walking from town to town with his disciples. They lived together, fished together, walked everywhere together, ate together, and ministered together. In these informal times, they drew close to one another. They could ask the Master anything, complain to Him, share with Him, etc.
2. Invest in potential leaders as people, not only as multipliers.
Many times those you are discipling will have personal issues they need help with. Financial pressures, marital stresses, and other things will surface. They will need attention from you. As you walk with them in character and life development you will grow strong leaders for the future.
3. Give responsibility and authority.
One of my mentors says, “Responsibility is the fertilizer used to develop leaders.” Start small and increasingly give more responsibility to those you are developing. Give them the responsibility to organize prayer times, local outreaches, lead meetings, etc. Many leaders like to give work but no authority. Don’t be that kind of leader! Give both. Trust them, evaluate, and walk with them when they make mistakes.
4. Regular gatherings for practical Just-In-Time training.
Most growing movements set aside regular time to gather the faithful and fruitful leaders they are mentoring. They invest in them intentionally and help them solve problems. These leaders bond with one another, encouraging, and praying for each other.
5. Coaching is essential.
Developing a coaching network within the movement can catalyze multiplication. Both one-on-one and group coaching sessions help them solve their own problems, take action steps, and make plans. Then, the coach needs to hold them accountable for what they decided to do. This friendly accountability must be practiced at every level in the movements.
6. Help leaders with evaluation, analysis and planning.
As things grow, new issues will surface. Developing leaders will need your help. They may not have the ability on their own to do a detailed evaluation, analysis, and planning. Come alongside them to understand how to track growth. Then look at those growth charts or data, and draw conclusions. As you regularly do this, they will learn how to do the same.
7. Keep stretching them with new assignments.
As leaders grow and develop, they will need to be given more responsibility. Keep working yourself out of a job as the main trainer. Take them with you to train people who want to partner and let them teach there. Open doors for them to do what you are doing. Train them in financial responsibilities and decisions. Keep stretching them until you are no longer needed, except to encourage, pray, and champion them.
Take the Long View
Leadership development is a critical task for those who want to grow a movement. It starts right away. Don’t wait until they are ready. Don’t wait until it feels right. Begin to develop leaders early in the process.
When you only have a handful of believers you are training, it can seem like a distant future to think about leadership development. Take the long view. Look down the road a few years and dream about what God wants to do. If those things happened, what kind of leaders would you need to have in place?
Start working now to develop leadership skills, attitudes, and character within those God has given you. Pray much, be intentional, and believe for God to raise them up.
