Building Leaders:
3 Things To Remember When Raising Others Up
One of my passions is raising up young leaders, helping them to find not only their vocational gifts but their God-given gifts in ministry as well. I’ve had the honor to help bring up many young leaders in and out of the tech realm, so many of whom have gone on to great things. They will be far better leaders that I could ever hope to be.
The double-edged sword of raising up leaders to leave and lead is that, well… they may actually leave! After all, the goal of pouring into them shouldn’t be to keep them, but to send them out. We all want to build a team of others who not only can work with us, but can go out and apply the things we’ve taught them to lead others as well.
So to help you you raise up the leaders in your ministry, I want to share just a few things to keep in mind about the work of building leaders.
1. Don’t buy into the myth.
The “myth” of raising up leaders is that you can accomplish it in bulk. There are so many leadership books out there that will lead you to believe if you’re not pouring into and raising up twenty people to greatness right now, then somehow you are a failure. But the truth is that even Jesus only had 12 close followers during His ministry on Earth, and even he focused much of his true energy on three—Peter, John, and James.
One true leader I raised up at my church ended up as my ATD for almost five years. Personality and gifting wise, Marvin is the polar opposite of me, but he shares my passion for building and shaping young leaders. One of the benefits of focusing on only a select few is that it makes the process more intentional. This intentionality will produce both results and passion in the person you’re leading closely.
2. Partner with others.
Partnering with others to raise up leaders is a must. It really does take a village to raise up great leaders. Simply put, you can’t do it alone. Young leaders are being influenced (both positively and negatively) by everyone they come in contact with in one way or another. By intentionally partnering with other influencers in that person’s life, you can build a community to impact that young leader more than you ever could on your own.
3. Don’t miss the results.
Results will be easy to spot. One of the best ways to know if you’re really making an impact in raising up this leader is to see if they are doing the same. Are they pouring into other potential leaders as you pour into them? Over time, it becomes contagious; they can’t help but do it, and that is the whole point.
The legacy of building leaders is that they will go on to greater things and influence way more people than you or I will ever have the opportunity to in our ministries. But by pouring into them before sending them out, we’re leaving a little mark on the lives of all those they come into contact with. The leadership DNA that is imprinted on Marvin and many others like him can be traced back to those in my life who have impacted me. Men like Ken Robertson, Stan Endicott, Bill Richardson, Pete Tessitore, Dave Burdett, and Jim Lisby, just to name a few, have had an enormous impact on my life. And because of that, through me they have an impact on those that I influence everyday. That is their legacy, and as leaders, we get the chance to leave the same one.