There seems to be a shortage today of leaders who reproduce leaders. Why? I’m sure there are many reasons but here is one for consideration.
When Cindy and I had our first child it was quite a celebration. Cindy wanted nothing more than to be a momma, but in the first five years of our marriage she miscarried two babies. So on June 21, 1990 when our first son Brandon was born phone lines across the country lit up like crazy. Within hours family and friends everywhere were celebrating with us. There were cards, balloons, presents, meals, and people coming to visit from miles away. All to celebrate the birth of our son.
Thinking back to that day makes me wonder…how do we respond when a current leader reproduces a new leader? Are we celebrating this enough or are we taking the development of new leaders for granted?
Typically we need new leaders, we develop new leaders, we place new leaders…THE END. What about celebrating the reproduction of new leaders? Maybe this is a missing ingredient in our leadership development process. Someone has said, “What gets celebrated gets replicated.” My guess is more people would start to reproduce themselves if we simply took the time to celebrate the development of new leaders.
How would it impact your organization’s culture if you began to celebrate the reproduction of leaders?
Nice thoughts Mac. I guess one of the issues is when do you know you’ve replicated a new leader.
Mac, what are some things you guys do to celebrate those reproducing leaders?
One of the reasons I wrote the post is we don’t do good enough with this. We have all staff once a month and celebrate it there some. At the small group directors meeting I will have them share about raising up new leaders so we can celebrate that…that is monthly as well. I just asked one of our admins to notify me each week of new leaders who have been developed so I can start sending a personal note to the mentor and new leader.
nice post, Mac
Greg–
i think you know you’ve replicated a new leader when the leader can lead on his own, others will follow, and he’s met whatever criteria you’ve set up for him (competencies).
Think of Moses commissioning Joshua before the people “so they would obey him.” But competencies, or benchmarks, have to be in place so you can measure progress. To me, a clear sign has been when volunteers begin to go to my new leaders instead of me. That means he/she is competent, the people trust him/her, and i’ve made a good handoff.
Like teaching a kid to ride a bike, you know they’re ready when you’re hands are off the bike and the kid is riding steadily with more and more confidence.
Ben–
At The Journey, we’ve been pretty terrible at celebrating wins…including new leaders. But I’m lately trying to do something informal and formal both. Staff meetings cover both…there’s some informality to it as we just hangout and connect. However, much like Joshua and Moses, there’s a commissioning in front of the staff and prayer for the person in their new role. On other levels, we do something similar in whatever group it may be.
Would love to hear what others think about all this and what they’re doing.
jd