As a spiritual leader, you’re in the people business. Your job is to build big people who in turn build strong organizations. Strong means more than size; it means high quality, health, and vitality. Spiritual leaders, far more than their non- spiritual counterparts, elevate the development of people over the building of organizations, knowing that when they take care of the part, the whole will be healthy. Failing to develop the part, the whole stands less of a chance of being productive over the long haul. Keeping that in the forefront of your thinking and planning becomes a challenge; the natural leader part of you will want to elevate the organization over the individual.
Matching people to roles according to their gifts is essential. The purpose of an organization is to maximize the strengths of people and minimize their weaknesses. By harnessing the abilities and talents of people, you’ll create a synergistic effect. An effective leader is a matchmaker who marries people and roles. There are no wrong people, just wrong positions. The leader’s job is to help people succeed. The best chance of this is by placing them in positions that unleash their talents. Don’t worry about working on a weakness, unless it sabotages a strength.
Mere aptitude tests can fall short in unveiling strengths. Here is a brief list of organizational quotients to assess and observe:
IQ (Intelligence Quotient): Spiritual leaders sometimes underestimate the role of IQ. This is pretty much a God-given factor. It does not reflect education, but rather a capacity to process information. Put low-IQ people in demanding situations and you’ll overwhelm them, stressing them out and frustrating others. Place people with higher IQs in simple roles and you’ll bore them to death.
AQ (Attitude Quotient): Attitude is contagious, so make sure you place high-AQ people in places where they can infect others with their positive energy. Low-AQ people are negative, pessimistic, and melancholy in nature, so try to keep them away from where their attitudes will adversely affect other people and decision making.
RQ (Resource Quotient): First analyze the type of resources a person has: time, talent, or treasure. Especially in volunteer organizations, time and treasure factors become as big as talent issues. People who have talents but limited time must be used strategically. People with treasures but little time can provide needed capital to fund projects.
PQ (People Quotient): High-PQ people are good relationally. They shine among others. Place these people in front-end customer service roles. They’ll make your organization appear better than it is. Low-PQ people are good behind the scenes, where they won’t bore, offend, or alienate others. Use their other gifts, but keep them out of public or team-leading venues.
MQ (Maturity Quotient): Emotional and spiritual maturity provide great stability within people. Decision makers, mentors, and influencers need a certain level of consistency, insight, and discernment. Talented people lacking maturity are attractive, but they can be organizational kindling, starting unnecessary fires and making messes.
EQ (Energy Quotient): There are turtles and there are rabbits. You can’t do a lot about energy levels. Don’t overwhelm turtles or you’ll lose them. Conversely, let the rabbits run, but put measures in place to ensure accuracy and completeness. Provide them with plenty of things to do and don’t team them up with turtles and therefore frustrate them. High EQs can handle a lot on their plates and thrive on busyness.
CQ (Commitment Quotient): CQ is the key to unlock the other quotients. The greatest frustration for any leader is to have people with high quotients who lack motivation and commitment. Low-CQ people will hold back, while high-CQ people will go the extra mile. One of the primary tasks of spiritual leaders is to raise the level of commitment among followers and potential followers.
Once you’ve assessed a person’s quotients, matching the person to the role becomes the final task. The better you are at matching strengths with organizational needs, the more effective you will be. If people flounder in the roles you’ve assigned them, assume first that you’ve failed.
The most effective leaders:
- Know the strengths of their people
- Match these strengths with organizational roles
- Don’t worry about weaknesses (unless they deplete strengths).
Alan Nelson is pastor of Scottsdale (AZ) Family Church and author of Spirituality & Leadership (NavPress, 2002). This excerpt used by permission. All rights reserved. For copies of the book, call 800-366-7788.
Copyright © 2002 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal.Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.
