the    sides

This was the roundtable discussion I led at Oasis.

Grab an index card and write down for me…

2-3 books you’ve read in the last year that fed your soul (Doesn’t have to be religious)
2-3 places/experiences you’ve visited that have been meaningful for you
2-3 new people you’ve met that you’ve learned something from or just like being around

Pick 1 of those things you wrote down and tell us all a little about it.

What does this exercise have to do with leader development?

The most significant leader development class we take in our lives are the books we read, the places we visit, and the people we do life with. If you’re not expanding in these areas, you aren’t developing as a person.

When you start looking at potential leaders, what are the baseline qualifications you have?

Responsive, Available, Faithful, Teachable.

Don’t have to be moral, super Christians. Don’t have to have solid theology. Don’t have to know what God’s voice sounds like. We can model and teach those things. Some people will disqualify themselves from being a leader just by the pace of life they lead.

Got a person that is borderline? Start with the glaring weaknesses, don’t ignore them. Risk early, set the temp of the relationship early.

What does a developed leader look like?
If you have a hard time answer that question, you will not develop leaders. If you don’t have a clear picture of what you are aiming for, you’ll never hit the target. If you can’t communicate where you are going or what you want in 30 seconds or less - you don’t know what you are doing and you won’t develop leaders…you’re developing followers.

Know and communicate their story of what Jesus has done and is doing in their life.
Know and use their spiritual gift.
Serving in some ministry, some way.
Able to feed themselves first-hand spiritually.
Are doing life in community, authentically.
Are taking someone else on this journey with them.

How do you do this? What materials to use?
Nothing will ever replace life on life, grind it out discipleship. Early morning coffees, late night pizzas, lunches, trips, common books, sweaty, messy discipleship. Doesn’t matter so much WHAT you use but how you use it. Do you use it with those targets in your sites?

Doing this with a team…
Get a map and start looking for field trips you can take that are within a 2 hour drive of your house. Might be a museum, state park, lake, historic site, factory tour (New Belgium Brewery). Then take 1 day a month and start hitting these places. Take some one with you, a volunteer, a leader student. Then write about what you learned and saw. I have a blog, that’s where I put my stuff.

Examples:
Downtown Lunch Club
The Ski Crew (Danny, Toby, Steve)