One of the greatest gifts you can give an up and coming leader is the gift of credibility. Young leaders haven’t had time to earn a reputation, build a high degree of trust among followers or develop their levels of competency. But as a leader that’s a few years ahead of them you have earned trust, respect and credibility among your followers. So why not deposit a few of your credibility bucks into their leadership bank account?
Jesus did this with disciples in Luke 6:13, “He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles.”
Did you notice that Jesus selected his twelve right in front of all his other disciples? By doing so He was elevating these twelve, validating them and putting some of his credibility in their leadership account. This would automatically give his newly appointed apostles some credibility even though they had not totally earned it yet. Don’t minimize the power your words and actions have when you validate young leaders publically.
Who are the sharp young leaders trying to pave their way in your organization? What can you do this week to give them some of your credibility?
I appreciate this post. I love investing in others, but I think you illustrate it well when you use terminology like “deposit a few of your credibility bucks into their leadership bank account”. The truth is that truly investing in other leaders requires taking a risk of reputation on them. It means having patience with them as they learn. It means being willing to correct them in love. It is sometimes easier just to do it yourself or only hire for experience. Sometimes, however, you sacrifice heart.