Do pastors consider themselves leaders? What do their church members think? One national study said most pastors are not effective visionary or motivational leaders by classical definitions, but our research found that pastors (98%) see what they do as leadership, and their congregations agree. Only two percent of pastors in our study do not consider themselves leaders. Likewise, only six percent of congregants did not consider their pastors to be leaders, although 99 percent admit that their pastors possess some leadership skills.

These findings run contrary to conclusions made in 2002 by researcher George Barna, who claims less than two-thirds of pastors actually possess leadership skills.

Overall, three-fourths of pastors are confident in describing their leadership style:

1. Pastors who have been in ministry more than 20 years are more likely to know their leadership style (86% versus 65% under 20 years).
2. Pastors who lead a church of above average size (89% versus 65% under 200 worship attendance) are also more likely to know their leadership style.