Leadership development is changing.  There have been several shifts over the past few years moving from centralized to decentralized, teacher based to mentor based, classroom to real life, linear to customized.  These changes demand that we look at the relevancy of our current leadership development efforts in the church.

In 1975, at 14 years old, when I was assigned to write a research paper I would go to the library and flip through encyclopedias and microfilm.  While those methods of research are still available today my 14 year old is much more efficient logging on to the internet and using Google or Ask Jeeves to research  her  topic. It’s faster, more efficient and the information is up to date.

In a day when there is a leadership deficit we must remain on the cutting edge of development methodologies.   Ram Charan, highlights this challenge in his book, Leaders at All Levels, when he says, “The first law of holes- when you’re in one, stop digging – tells us what to do: abandon our traditional leadership development practices.  Tinkering and fine tuning won’t solve the fundamental problem.  It’s time for a completely new approach to finding and developing the kinds of leaders businesses need.”

Are you frustrated with your leadership development efforts?  Perhaps it’s time for a change. This week I’ll be posting about The New Movements in Leadership Development and sharing how each applies to the church today.