How do you develop the leaders around you?
Every week I meet with three leaders on our team and we work through a specific aspect of leadership development. I thought it might be fun to broaden the learning group and hear from some of you.
I am a firm believer in taking what I’ve learned and pouring it into someone else. I continue to benefit from the generosity of other leaders in my life and here’s one way that I pass it on.
As I’m preparing for this time each week, I keep this structure in mind:
* Study It. What can I read or what can I listen to that will help me learn?
* Gather Information. Who can I talk to so that I can benefit from the experience of others on this topic?
* Get Personal. What reflection questions can I ask that will help apply what I’m learning?
* Discuss It. What can I talk about with others to get my questions answered, share what I’m learning, and gain accountability?
* Share It. How can I pass on what I’m learning?
Here’s what our lesson looked like a few weeks ago. I would love for you to listen to the talk and jump in and share your thoughts on this topic. Like I said, I think we could broaden our circle of learning if we’re willing to share what we think.
Lesson: High Performance Teams
1. Listen to Andy’s Leadership Podcast entitled: High Performance Teams.
2. What is your department’s problem to solve?
Answering this question for yourself will help you define the vision that you want to cast for your team. It will be your reason for rallying the troops. It will be your personal motivation in the face of opposition. It’s a great question to wrestle with.
3. Write out three statements that convey why you care about this problem.
If you are a leader who is learning to cast vision for others, taking the time to write out these statements will help you craft words that are rich with passion and emotion. If you don’t personally care about it, then why should I?
4. When was the last time that your team had unfiltered debate?
This is a question that you need to get honest about. Many leaders delude themselves into believing that the debate is unfiltered, when in reality the people around the table are saying what the leader wants to hear. Surround yourself with leaders who will challenge the process…who are not afraid to get into a heated discussion. Smart leaders who think for themselves, and can communicate their point of view are invaluable to you. Create a safe place for unfiltered debate.
5. What was the debate about?
If you truly have unfiltered debate, then there should easily be a discussion, disagreement, heated “passionate” exchange of words that you remember in the recent past. This would be a debate that got a little uncomfortable, a little fired up, and a little passionate. If you can’t remember an exchange like this, then you probably don’t invite unfiltered debate.
6. On a scale of 1-10 (1=poor/10=perfect listener), how do you rate yourself as a listener?
We talked about the importance of listening here. Good leaders LISTEN.
7. Why do you give yourself this rating?
I recommend that you ask a variety of people to give you honest feedback on this topic. You cannot afford to be in the dark on this topic. My personal experience is that most people, who are not good listeners, do not recognize this flaw in themselves. If you need to work on it, then part of this discussion needs to be your plan. Don’t let this one go, or it will cripple you as a leader.
We had a great discussion around this topic! Would love to hear your answers to the questions above.
February 4th, 2010 at 2:05 pm
Good stuff, thanks.
February 6th, 2010 at 2:11 pm
Kendra,
Could you share other topics that you have covered? Great stuff!
This is awesome!
February 6th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
Thank you Jenny. I hope this is something you can use! I’ll post more on these kinds of topics.
K
February 10th, 2010 at 8:26 am
Kendra, Thanks. I’d love to hear what your Family Ministry meetings look like- timing, structure, topics, etc. Peace, Adam
February 12th, 2010 at 2:42 am
Thanks Adam,
I’ll work at posting some of that stuff. Have you read the Meetings series that we did? http://insidenorthpoint.org/kids/2009/09/09/meetings-meetings-meetings-part-1/
But I can give more detail into our meetings for sure!
I’m in South Africa right now. It’s an amazing place.
Hope you are doing well.
K
February 12th, 2010 at 3:29 pm
I think sharing development plans/ideas would be great. My biggest challenge is time. I’m the only staff person on our children’s ministry leadership team, and our 3 environment directors already give a ton of time each week.
We meet monthly, but that is tactical and developmental all in one. We don’t have as much time for development as I would like.
February 13th, 2010 at 2:54 am
Hi Nick,
I can totally appreciate the time factor. I am constantly changing, evaluating, re-arranging development time. About twice a year a sit down with my calendar and plan it out. Here are a few things I’ve tried.
Choose a book and ask your team to read the book. Don’t go through the whole book, but pick 4 or 6 chapters and ask your team to show up or stay 30 min later for only 4-6 weeks and take one of the chapters you’ve assigned at a time. Do that twice a year.
Give them a CD to listen to once a quarter. Set aside time to talk about that CD.
Rotate who you meet with for development. Instead of meeting with all of your directors. Meet with 1 or 2 of them at an off time from your meeting for 4-6 weeks and then rotate to another director.
Schedule concentrated time once a quarter. Like a 1/2 day - give them a book, topic, talk to listen to, read, or research - then get away to talk about it.
Another great way to get development in is to connect it to something that’s coming - example: you want to plan an event for small groups of kids and leaders. Give them a creative book, or meet in an event venue and combine creative development & studying your target audience - with an actual project you want to work on.
Hope this helps! There are seasons where we go without any really specific development because we are to the top with work. But the bottom line is you will attract and keep better leaders if you make development a priority. I know on my team that if I don’t lead the charge on that, then the hustle and bustle of “Sunday is always coming” definitely over rides everything!
Have a great week!
K
February 18th, 2010 at 12:14 am
Hey Kendra,
Those are great ideas. We do some of that, but lately it has been pushed out by tactical/planning discussions. We just met tonight and we’re going to read through the Orange Leaders Handbook together over the next 6-8 months, while doing the “work” that comes with that handbook.
Your idea about rotating people is a great idea, and it made me think of inviting some people who aren’t on the team right now to a separate development group for a specified time period. Recruiting and developing our coach-level leaders is a huge focus right now and that could be a way to get at that differently.
Thanks!
Nick
February 18th, 2010 at 8:07 am
Nick,
Great idea to focus on your coach-level leadership! Great way to build and develop this team.
K
February 26th, 2010 at 11:52 am
Oooh. Unfiltered debate. That is really interesting. I can certainly see the health in this dynamic of a team. Thanks for the reminder and challenge. Inviting this kind of dynamic certainly requires a leader that is confident, assured and humble. Gut check time!
At what point does unfiltered debate cross over into something that isn’t healthy for a team, in your opinion? I have heard Bill Hybels talk about how he “calls foul” from time to time with his team. Do you have something like this in place or some other form of “ground rules” for your team?
February 26th, 2010 at 9:06 pm
Hi Craig,
There are definitely times when I redirect or shut down the debate. Unfiltered debate is just wasting time if it isn’t leading to a solution or in a useful direction. So if we’re just debating and discussing with no purpose, nothing constructive is coming out of it, then it’s time to move on. I definitely think if the debate is pointed at a person instead of a program, environment, solution, etc - then it’s not healthy. I also think if debate is heading towards harsh criticism, gossip, or venting anger - then it’s not helpful. I think it’s the leaders responsibility to keep debate moving in a helpful direction.
That’s my opinion!
K