I’ve said it for years, “Leadership development is best done in the context of relationships”. I honestly believe if we neglect the “be with” element of leadership development we will not be effective at developing high quality leaders.  Why?  Because we can teach someone a leadership principle in a class setting and lodge it in their mind.  But it’s only through relationship with another leader they get to see that principle lived out in real life leadership.

I’ve heard it said that “leadership is better caught than taught”.  Each time I watch a seasoned leader live out a critical leadership principle I have the opportunity to process what that would look like in my own leadership.  Paul told Timothy “imitate me as I imitate Christ”  You cannot imitate what you do not see. Modeling is one of the most essential yet overlooked ingredents in leadership development.  And the only way to have a model is to “BE WITH” a leader you can learn from.

Who will you invite to “be with”, observe and learn from your leadership this year?

Leadership Network announces LeadiaTM, a powerful new mobile application that changes the way church leaders read, grow and learn.. Combining concise ideas with practical application, LeadiaTM utilizes dynamic embedded media and integrated social networking to take leadership learning to a whole new level.. The free application will be available from leadia.tv as well as on the iTunes app store beginning Sept 27th

Greg Ligon, Vice President and Publisher for Leadership Network, states this new tool is birthed out of the organization’s desire to continue to engage the churches they serve through peer-to-peer learning. “We’re always looking for ways that innovative church leaders can connect and learn collaboratively. This new app is going to provide a powerful tool to bring this interactivity to a level we’ve never achieved before.”

Leadership Network identified a demand for compelling content that maxed out at 8,000-10,000 words – ideas you can experience and put into practice in 100 minutes or less.“There are some ideas that are important, that need to get out more quickly than a traditional publishing cycle might allow for,” Ligon explains. “We also have room for fresh ideas that might not require a full book.”

Highlights of LeadiaTM:
• An interactive growth experience for leaders from Leadership Network.
• Practical and innovative ideas.
• Dynamic media brings you video from the author you are reading and links to a wide variety of additional resources.

Within the container application, users can peruse free content, as well as regularly updated featured content referred to as “experiences” available for $5.99 each through in-app purchasing. It will work on Apple’s iPhone and iPad platforms, with an Android version in development.

Users can interact with other leaders experiencing the same LeadiaTM volume, view their comments and take the conversation further, even sharing thoughts and ideas in their
favorite social media outlet directly from the application.

The four initial experiences available at launch will be:
• Game Changer: 5 Essential Ingredients of an Effective Care Strategy by Scott Wilson, Senior Pastor of The Oaks Fellowship, Dallas, Texas.
• Building a Leadership Development Culture by Mac Lake, Chief Launch Officer of The Launch Network, Atlanta, Georgia.
• Fighting Through A Disconnect by Dr. Stacy L. Spencer, Senior Pastor of New Direction Christian Church, Memphis, Tennessee.
• Flux: 4 Paths to the Future by Will Mancini, CEO and Founder at Auxano, Houston, TX.

Believing that meaningful conversations and connections can change the world, Leadership Network seeks to help leaders of innovation navigate the future by exploring new ideas together. Through collaborative meetings and processes these leaders map future possibilities and challenge one another to action that leads to results in their unique contexts. Leadership Network helps leaders move from ideas, to implementation to impact.

More information can be found at leadia.tv and leadnet.org.

Leadia Promo from Todd Rhoades on Vimeo.

Years ago when I used to lead teacher-training sessions the first principle I would drive into their thinking was, “Teaching isn’t talking, listening isn’t learning.”  We make a fatal mistake in leadership development when our only approach to development is dumping a bunch of information on learners.  Dumping information doesn’t necessarily equate to transformation.  Yet many organizations use an informational rather than a transformational approach to developing leaders. Here are some of the big differences between the two.

• Informational tells the learner about principles they need to know.  Transformational teaches people to behave in new ways by challenging them to put principles into practice.
• Informational dumps knowledge.  Transformational develops competencies
• Informational is one-way communication. Transformational is a two-way dialogue
• Informational uses the science of teaching.  Transformational uses the art of facilitation
• Informational follows a linear pathway.  Transformational customizes learning based on the learners present situation and needs
• Informational the instructor uses a structured, highly controlled lesson plan.  Transformational the instructor allows freedom and flexibility in the lesson plan
• Informational puts a priority on content.  Transformational puts priority on behavioral change

Organizations invest hours upon hours in leadership development.  Make sure your investment is producing the transformation you desire.

Each year I get several guys who email or call and ask if I would consider mentoring them.  The fact that they took the initiative to even ask always makes me want to say “Yes”, however I can only commit to so many people at one time so I frequently have to decline their request.  Because I’ve experienced the impact of mentoring on my own life I believe deeply that every young leader needs someone who will pour into them and coach them in life and leadership. But asking someone to mentor you can be an awkward appeal.  So here are a few things I’ve learned over the years that may make it easier for you to ask AND make it more likely the seasoned leader will agree to your request.

• Let them know why your have chosen them as a potential mentor.  Sometimes people want to spend time with a leader because of their position, not because of their person.  If someone just wants to hang with me because of my title I’m less likely to say “yes”.  But if they indicate there is something in my character or competencies they aspire to imitate then it let’s me know they have been watching and see something they feel is worthy to learn and emulate.
• Share your dream.  What do you want to be? What do you want to accomplish with the next season of your life?  What difference do you want to make in the community or in the lives of people around you?  You have to let the potential mentor know why it would be worth their time to invest in you.  Usually when they hear your dream they feel honored to be a part of investing in your future success.  I said yes to someone recently simply because he sold me on the exponential impact he was going to have on leaders all across his state.
• Share some of the specific things you want to learn from them.  Typically you ask someone because you see specific things you want to learn from them.  Make sure you define those things and then express those things when you make the request.  For example: The way they treat their wife, how they manage their staff, how they deal with conflict, how they manage their personal character, etc.
• Suggest a time period for the mentoring relationship.  Too often leaders start off in a mentoring relationship without defining the length of the commitment.  This can led to an awkward ending rather than a natural closure to the relationship.  So ask for a 6 month, 8 month or 12 month commitment to the relationship.  Ultimately that’s the mentor’s decision but let them know you’re only looking for a short term not a life long commitment.
• Finally acknowledge that their time is valuable. Let them know that you’ll always come fully prepared and always do any assignments to the best of your ability. Then let them know that you fully intend on turning around and passing along what you learn to others that will follow you.

On occasion I will have someone I’m mentoring say, “What can I do for you?”  I always tell them the same thing; “The best way you can honor me is to put into practice the things God teaches you through our relationship.”  Asking someone to mentor you is a huge investment on their part, so do all you can to honor them from start to finish.

Over the past 5 weeks I’ve been posting video training sessions for ministry coaches.  In this final installment I share how to deal with that difficult leadership responsibility of confronting others.   We look at Galatians 6 and identify three questions we must ask before we confront.   I hope you’ve enjoyed these sessions and found them helpful in your own leadership.  Please feel free to copy the embed codes and use freely in your own organization.

Courageous Leadership from Seacoast Church on Vimeo.

When someone first steps into leadership what should they focus on learning?  There are dozens of possibilities.  As a mentor I don’t want to frustrate a new leader by having them focus on things that are too advanced or even too simple.  However, it’s important that I provide a Learning Pathway that makes sense and helps them progress in their ability to lead at the next level.  One of the exercises we did as a leadership team while I was at Seacoast was to identify the competencies we felt were most important at each level of our leadership pipeline.  Below you will find what we came up with.  Also if you click HERE (Leading Others Mentoring Guide) you can download a sample of one of the Leadership Greenhouse Guides we developed for our leaders to mentor their leaders.

The list for your organization will be different than ours, so I encourage you to gather your Lead team, identify the levels of your leadership pipeline and then define the competencies that are most important to you for each level.  This is a great exercise that will force your team to decide what leadership behaviors are most important in your origination.  You’ll also discover this list will provide a framework not only for training but for hiring, promoting and evaluating employees.  Just remember when you sit down to develop the list it will take more than one meeting.  Don’t rush it, going through the process is just as valuable as having the final list of core competencies.

LEADING YOURSELF

• Managing Your Time
• Setting Personal Goals
• Improving Personal Communication
• Managing Your Personal Resources
• Dealing with Conflict
• Leading with Your Strengths
• Submitting to Authority

LEADING OTHERS

• Casting Vision
• Managing Others’ Goals
• Recruiting Volunteers
• Giving Soul Care
• Practicing 360 Communication
• Resolving Conflict
• Aligning People

LEADING LEADERS

• Evaluating
• Motivating Others
• Managing Budgets
• Team Building
• Decision Making
• Leading Meetings
• Applying Situational Leadership

LEADING DEPARTMENTS

• Persevering in Difficulties
• Evaluating Systems
• Building Morale
• Employee Engagement
• Hiring, Firing and Repositioning Talent
• Mentoring Leaders
• Focusing

 LEADING ORGANIZATIONS

• Establishing Organizational Value
• Forecasting the Future
• Managing the Leadership Pipeline
• Taking Risks
• Inspiring Others
• Succession Planning
• Practicing Execution

A huddle is a gathering of a smaller group of leaders who meet for shared learning.  This could be a meeting of a small team, a segment of a department or a small group of leaders that serve under a coach.  Peer to peer learning is recognized as one of the most effective means of sustained learning at any age level and especially in adults.  However this method is frequently overlooked or underutilized by most organizations.

In the huddle environment leaders celebrate recent victories, discuss common challenges and share helpful insights that develop their leadership.  There is no better opportunity to share the collective wisdom of the leaders on your team or department than in a huddle.

If you’ve never used huddles in your organization here are two I’ve used in the past that you can download and give a try:  Leading with Intentionality AND Caring for the Soul of Your Leaders.

Happy Huddling!

Giving feedback to your leaders can sometimes be intimidating both for the coach and the leader.  In this session you’ll learn 4 keys to help you give constructive feedback to your leaders.  To view the previous training sessions click on the following links:  Session 1, Session 2, Session 3

Monitoring Ministry Quality from Seacoast Church on Vimeo.

“Developing leaders is what we do!”  It has to be stated that clearly for people to get it.  But stating it clearly is still not enough; you have to make decisions that give evidence that leadership development is a high value in your organization.

I remember a key volunteer walked into my office one day and informed me that he wanted to apply for one of our staff positions.  Treating this opportunity as an informal interview I began to ask what he would do if he were to get the position.  He described how he would care, serve and love the people in that area of ministry.  What he said was good.  But the one thing I didn’t hear was how he would work through leaders and develop leaders for the expansion of the ministry.  It was obvious he had the mentality (and skills) of a doer rather than a developer.  So being straightforward with him I told him that his gifts and strengths added great value to our ministry, however for staff positions in our church we only hire people who are leader developers.  Leadership development will not stand strong as a value in your organization unless you take a strong stand for it in your organization.   Take Ram Charan’s counsel and write leadership development into the job description of every leader on your staff and key volunteer positions.   This type of clear expectations will begin to shape a culture of leadership development.

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been posting training sessions for ministry coaches.  Session 1 we looked at The Heart of a Coach.  Session 2 covered how to do a One on One coaching session.  Now in session three I talk about how to lead a coaches huddle.  Huddles are nothing new, however the biggest complaint you’ll hear is “nobody wants to come to my huddle”.  I totally agree, no one wants to come if it adds no value to the leader.  However I’ve watched coaches over the years who’ve created meaningful, highly interactive, huddles that added great value to their leaders.  Success and sustainability are all in the execution.   If you do huddles poorly leaders will not attend.  If you do them well they will love you for making the investment.

Group Huddles from Seacoast Church on Vimeo.