I'm always asking, "How can I add value to the person I lead?"
—John Maxwell

Investing in people is like investing in stocks. High risk can bring a huge return or a huge loss. The greatest leaders will help you the most—but they can also hurt you the most.

The best leader on my staff once took a hundred of our people and started a new church a few blocks away. The way he did it crushed me. Another staff member was accused of a moral failure. He told me he was innocent, and I defended him. I found out three months later that he had, in fact, committed sexual sin.

These weren't leaders left from some previous administration. I had identified their potential and poured my life into them. For months I told myself, I'm never going to let staff get close to me again. They'll never hurt me or lie to me again.

Then one day I realized, John, this is the dumbest thing you've ever done. When we embrace people and pour our lives into them, they'll sometimes hurt us. But the future of our ministry and ...