4 Ways To Develop Your Leadership Bench

One of my favorite leadership blogs is by Scott Williams over at BigIsTheNewSmall.com.  Last week I saw a post titled “11 Key Attributes of Great Leadership.”  It’s worth your time if you missed it.  One of the 11 attiributes was a “spirit of development.”  Scott wrote: “Develop other leaders; without leadership development, the pipeline of leadership is halted.”  Boy, is that ever true!

Each year, I talk over with the Elders what my major areas of focus are going to be.  I love getting input from them and from the other pastors as to where they think my time, energy, and focus would best be spent. One of my goals for 2015 is developing Southview’s “leadership bench.” If we are not continually developing new leaders, we’re going to pay the price down the road.

This is a lesson I thought I had down, but as with most things, if you don’t stay focused, you can lose sight of the important by allowing the urgent to crowd it out.  Over the last few years, I have not been as diligent as I should have been, and we’ve seen fewer leaders stepping up – because we’ve been investing less in new and emerging leaders!  This is one of my major focus areas this year (and every year from now on) – I want to make sure Southview has a strong leadership bench.  Leadership matters, and if I’m not investing in and developing new leaders for tomorrow, it’s possible we won’t have the leaders we need when we need them.

I think leadership development should be done with a 5-10 year view in mind.  What kind of leaders do I want to see engaged in our church’s leadership 5 years from now? 10 years from now?  That’s the kind I need to start developing and investing in today.  And it doesn’t just happen – it takes intentional effort and focus (kind of a recurrent theme on this blog, isn’t it?).

Here are four ways you can begin to develop your leadership bench.

1. Reach out to new and emerging leaders.

Send an email, fire off a text, pick up the phone, or walk across the room – you take the initiative.  Let them know you see leadership potential in them and you want to help them grow.  If they’re not interested, no harm no foul – but don’t wait for them to walk up to you.

2. Provide leadership development opportunities.

At Southview this year, we’re providing two leadership development conferences – the Leadercast and the Global Leadership Summit.  Each of these simulcast conferences feature outstanding speakers who will help leaders get better and grow.  I’m going to invite as many potential and emerging leaders as I can.

3. Gather potential leaders into a small group.

This summer, I’ll be leading a small group for potential and emerging leaders called IMPACT.  This group is designed to be a safe place where we can discuss leadership challenges, grow in our own leadership, and learn from one another. I create a syllabus for each group based on who’s involved, using videos, books, articles, and other resources. It’s one of my favorite things to do all year.

4. Provide potential leaders with resources to help them grow.

I try to keep books and other resources on hand to give to potential and emerging leaders. If I find a book particularly helpful, I’ll use it with the IMPACT small group or put it in the hands of a new leader so we can discuss it once they read it.  This has proven to be invaluable over the years as it gives our leadership shared language, principles, and understanding.

If you’re not currently thinking through the leadership development process for your organization, today’s a great day to start.  And if I can help you, just ask.

How are you being intentional in your organization’s leadership development process?