{"id":22030,"date":"1996-10-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1996-10-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/1996\/10\/01\/potential-around-you-2\/"},"modified":"1996-10-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"1996-10-01T00:00:00","slug":"potential-around-you-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/potential-around-you-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Potential Around You"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nEvery pastor knows the feeling. You need to be at the hospital, in the study,\nand at home-at the same time. If I could just clone myself,<\/em> we think.\nWhile that’s not yet an option, it is<\/em> possible to multiply our\neffectiveness by finding and equipping others to take on leadership roles\nthat we currently shoulder alone.<\/p>\n\n

\nAs a pastor for twenty-six years, John Maxwell has felt the frustration and\njoy of developing leaders. Last year, he resigned from Skyline Wesleyan Church\nin Lemon Grove, California, to develop leaders full-time through his institute,\ninjoy, Inc. Maxwell’s books include Developing the Leader within You<\/em>\nand Developing the Leaders around You<\/em>; he also publishes a monthly\ntape series called INJOY<\/em> Life Club<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n

\nLeadership<\/em> assistant editor Ed Rowell and photographer Bill Youngblood\nspent an afternoon with Maxwell to learn more about the art of developing\nleaders.\n<\/p>\n\n

What makes developing leaders so hard?<\/p>\n

\nMaxwell:<\/strong> It’s tough from the start, because people willing to be developed\nare pretty scarce. When you do find them, they’re usually already overcommitted\nin other arenas of life.<\/p>\n\n

\nOn top of that, it’s tough to build a team with leaders. You can’t herd cats,\nand you can’t herd leaders. They are strong-willed and usually have their\nown agenda.<\/p>\n\n

\nThen, if all this weren’t enough, strong leaders are hard to keep. They will\nbe continually enticed with other opportunities that appear to be more exciting\nand meaningful.\n<\/p>\n\n

How do you handle the pain of losing good leaders?<\/p>\n

\nInvesting in people is like investing in stocks. High risk can bring a huge\nreturn or a huge loss. The greatest leaders will help you the most but can\nalso hurt you the most.<\/p>\n\n

\nThe best leader on my staff once took a hundred people and started a new\nchurch just a few blocks away. The way he did it crushed me.<\/p>\n\n

\nAnother staff member was accused of a moral failure. He told me he was innocent,\nand I defended him. I found out three months later that he had in fact committed\nsexual sin.<\/p>\n\n

\nThese weren’t leaders left from some previous administration. I had identified\ntheir potential and poured my life into them.<\/p>\n\n

\nFor months, I told myself, I’m never going to let staff get close to me\nagain. They’ll never hurt me or lie to me again.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

\nThen one day I realized, John, this is the dumbest thing you’ve ever\ndone.<\/em> When we embrace people and pour our lives into them, they’ll sometimes\nhurt us. But the future of our ministry and our churches depends on developing\nothers to lead.<\/p>\n\n

When did you realize the importance of developing leaders?<\/p>\n

\nIn my first church. When I went to Hilliham, Indiana, you could count the\npeople on one hand. Over several years, I worked night and day, and the church\ngrew to over three hundred. I really thought I had done something, not realizing\nthat my self-reliance would break me.<\/p>\n\n

\nWhen I left that church, attendance dropped from three hundred to less than\none hundred in just a few months. I realized I had failed. I had not prepared\nothers to lead. I vowed, This will never happen again.<\/em>\n<\/p>\n\n

Tell about a time you saw a leader develop.<\/p>\n

\nI think of Dan Reiland. While Dan was a member at Skyline, he felt called\nto ministry, and he went to seminary. He came back for a year of internship\non our staff. Dan is smart, highly task-oriented, but also melancholic and\nnon-relational.<\/p>\n\n

\nHis first week on the job, he walked right past me and seven or eight other\npeople in the lobby. He never said hello or acknowledged our presence. With\nhis briefcase in hand, face forward, he headed for his office, work on his\nmind. I thought, He didn’t even see us.<\/em><\/p>\n

\nSo I followed him into his office and said, “Dan, you just passed by your\nwork.”<\/p>\n\n

\n“What do you mean?”<\/p>\n\n

\n“We were standing in the lobby, and you walked right by without speaking.”<\/p>\n\n

\n“Man, I’d like to talk, but I’ve got work to do.”<\/p>\n\n

\n“These people are<\/em> our work, Dan,” I said. “We’re in the people business.”<\/p>\n\n

\nWhat I love about Dan is that he saw a need to change, so he did. I began\nto teach people skills to him. After five years, this person who had few\npeople skills became my executive pastor and did nothing but<\/em> people\ndevelopment and oversight. He came with me to injoy, and he told me the other\nday that 140 people are coming to his house for Memorial Day. He has become\nthe Pied Piper.\n<\/p>\n\n

\nWhy is it that not every leader develops that well?<\/p>\n

\nIt may have been my fault on many occasions. I liken it to\nan elevator ride, with the destination being the tenth floor. When we get\nto the third floor, some say, “This is my floor, I’m getting off.”<\/p>\n\n

\nMy tendency in the earlier years was to get off with them: “Let’s take some\nstairs. We don’t need to get on the elevator. Let’s go just a little bit\nhigher.”<\/p>\n\n

\nMy wife, Margaret, finally said, “John, you have to let others determine\nwhat level they want to live on.” That wasn’t easy for me, because I think\ngrowth is life.\n<\/p>\n\n

How do you approach a potential leader?<\/p>\n

\nI’ve always asked them to become my prayer partner for at least a year. That\ngives us time to get to know each other’s hearts.<\/p>\n\n

\nIn addition, our board members at Skyline were asked to mentor a potential\nleader, their replacement, during the last of their three years in office.<\/p>\n\n

\nOn the front end of these relationships, we ask, “Are you willing to reproduce\nother leaders if I invest in developing you?” This perpetuates the culture\nof leadership development and weeds out people who probably wouldn’t have\ndeveloped anyway.\n<\/p>\n\n

How do you develop a person who has a heart for God but no leadership\nskills?<\/p>\n

\nProvide on-the-job training. If people have the character qualifications,\nthey just need to learn how to maximize their efforts. We worry too much\nabout position and titles. I teach: “Wherever you’re working, whatever\norganization you serve, start adding value to people and begin to gain their\nrespect. They will champion you.”<\/p>\n\n

\nWhen you understand that leadership is influence instead of position, that\nchanges everything. You don’t strive to be a leader; you strive to add value\nto people, and they’ll let you be the leader.<\/p>\n\n

What do you do with the person who has great influence but little spiritual\ndepth?<\/p>\n

\nA gifted business leader once told me, “Monday through Saturday I’m challenged\nto the limit. I’m taking risks, I’m making deep commitments in my business.\nBut when I go to church, I’m never challenged or asked to make deep commitments.\nI’m never asked to take a risk.”<\/p>\n\n

\nThat grieves me. Most churches have some wonderful leaders who are nominal\nspiritually because they’ve never been challenged. Yet it’s easier to bring\npeople around spiritually than it is to raise them up in leadership.<\/p>\n\n

\nPeople like that, though, must be developed on the side. They can’t be put\nimmediately into leadership in the church; you never compromise the spiritual\nintegrity of the congregation. I’d pour my life into such a leader by praying\nwith him, teaching him to pray Scripture, getting him involved in some\naccountability group.<\/p>\n\n

\nI also love to use a great leader as my adviser. I’ve asked business people,\n“You’re good at finances, so would you advise me?” As we relate, they get\na heart for the things I have a heart for. Then, as they begin to show spiritual\nleadership, I put them over some project with a specific deadline-maybe looking\nfor land for the church or planning a men’s retreat. Then I watch how they\ninteract.\n<\/p>\n\n

At what point would you ask that person to serve on a board or committee?<\/p>\n

\nWith many leaders, I never got them on boards and committees. They can’t\noperate within the confines of that kind of structure. That’s not their world.\n<\/p>\n\n

What prevents pastors and high-octane lay leaders from connecting with\neach other?<\/p>\n

\nThe pastor looks at the leader and thinks, He’s got a company and a big\nbudget. I have this little church and one part-time secretary. <\/em>But the\nbusiness person looks at the pastor’s world and thinks, He’s been to seminary.\nHe knows Greek and Hebrew. I could never achieve that level of spirituality,\nthat godly focus.<\/em> So intimidation goes both ways.\n<\/p>\n\n

Can a pastor who doesn’t feel like a strong leader develop others to be leaders?<\/p>\n

\nYes, if<\/em> the pastor is secure in turning over leadership to others,\nand if the pastor is willing to develop also. Any pastor who recognizes the\nimportance of leadership can develop his or her skills. I’d suggest pulling\ntogether the gifted leaders in your church and letting them<\/em> recruit\nand develop potential leaders. But that requires tremendous security within\nthe pastor.\n<\/p>\n\n

How do you foster loyalty from the congregation’s leaders?<\/p>\n

\nI prefer to talk about respect instead of loyalty, because you won’t be loyal\nto a person if you don’t respect her or him.<\/p>\n\n

\nIn my dad’s day, the pastor got loyalty because he was the pastor. These\ndays, people will not be loyal to anyone unless they respect the person and\nknow the leader respects them.<\/p>\n\n

\nPeople give loyalty when they can say, “I’m a better person because of that\nleader.” As a leader, I’m always asking, How can I add value to the person\nI lead?<\/em> I advise pastors not to go to a new church and ask, “Who’s going\nto help me?” Instead, look around, find out who the leaders are, and ask,\n“How can I add value to them?”\n<\/p>\n\n

How, specifically, do you add value to someone’s life?<\/p>\n

\nPart of it comes from asking people to be part of a great vision.\nHaving a cause worth dying for is the greatest reason to live. That is enhanced\nwhen you treat people as your greatest asset. We all believe that when we\nmeet people; it’s a little tougher to believe after we’ve worked with them\na while and seen their weaknesses.<\/p>\n\n

\nAdding value comes from listening to people. If I know their heart, then\nI know exactly where to add value. I develop the part of themselves they\nwant to see developed, not what I happen to need at the time. This prevents\nme from using people.<\/p>\n\n

\nOr I ask, “What is their unique contribution?” Then I equip people according\nto their gifts and desires.<\/p>\n\n

\nOur new marketing manager for injoy is a young man named Kevin. Kevin brings\nsome excellent skills from the business world. For the next several months,\nhe’s traveling with me and getting to know my heart while I get to know his.\nI’m putting all the leadership material I can find in front of him, and he’s\ndigesting it as quickly as I can provide it.\n<\/p>\n\n

How can a pastor in a new church assess the existing\nleadership?<\/p>\n

\nI don’t have a right to make changes in leadership until I’ve given the present\nleaders my best shot. I’ve had many people I would have written off after\nthe first month who later became tremendous assets.<\/p>\n\n

\nI urge pastors to give themselves six months to assess their leadership’s\npotential for personal growth. You play the hand you’ve been dealt. You’ll\nfind some people have a lot of potential, some have little. With the first\ngroup, you pour yourself into them. With the other people, you figure out\nwhere their influence lies and identify other ways they could minister.<\/p>\n\n

\nIn my first church, one man was highly critical of me. I went to him and\nsaid, “I’m sorry if I’ve done something wrong.” I thought we’d hug and everything\nwould be fine. I hugged him, but he didn’t hug me.<\/p>\n\n

\nI didn’t confront him or initiate any kind of change, and the next week he\nwas after me again. He was not the kind of person I needed on my leadership\nteam.\n<\/p>\n\n

How do you know how much power to give to various leaders?<\/p>\n

\nThe real question is, Am I ready to give up power? The only people who can\nempower others are people who can easily give up power. And I can give up\npower easily only when I realize there is an unlimited supply available to\nme.<\/p>\n\n

\nIf this is the only paper clip I think I’m ever going to have, I’m not going\nto give it to you; I need it. But if I know we’ve got 10,000 paper clips\nin the supply closet, I’m going to say, “Want a paper clip? Have a whole\nbox.”<\/p>\n\n

Are most strong leaders driven?<\/p>\n

\nI don’t think so. There was a time when I was driven. I was too impatient,\ntoo goal-oriented. Today, I would say I’m a passionate leader. I think there’s\na world of difference.<\/p>\n\n

\nDrivenness is trying to prove something to someone, seeking approval for\nsomething. Drivenness focuses on the goal; passion savors the journey as\nmuch as the destination. Drivenness usually depends on the attention of others;\npassion has a spiritual nature to it. Driven people burn out. Passionate\npeople never do.\n<\/p>\n\n

Even passionate leaders tire, though. How do you deal with the inevitable\nfatigue of ministry?<\/p>\n

\nFor years I didn’t.\n<\/p>\n\n

You just ignored it?<\/p>\n

\nI used to think it was the price you paid for working for God. I no longer\nbelieve the most spiritual people build the biggest churches or work the\nhardest. Fatigue is no indication of spiritual maturity. My motivation for\nadmitting and dealing with fatigue comes from knowing how vulnerable it makes\nme to sin and error.\n<\/p>\n\n

In a relatively short period of time, several of this country’s most\nvisible pastors stepped out of pastoral ministry: Ogilvie, Swindoll, Galloway,\nJohn Maxwell. Why did you leave Skyline?<\/p>\n

\nNot long after I came to Skyline, I was in Jackson, Mississippi, leading\na conference, and a guy said, “We wish you’d give us ongoing leadership\ntraining.”<\/p>\n\n

\nI said, “Well, if I did a tape each month on leadership, how many of you\nwould join the club?”<\/p>\n\n

\nThirty-seven people raised their hands. I wrote down their names and said,\n“Okay, I’ll go home and teach my staff. We’ll put it on tape. I’ll send it\nto you.”<\/p>\n\n

\nThat’s how the INJOY Life Club started. Dick Peterson, an\nIBM executive and member of our church, said, “I’ve got a\nheart for pastors. I’ll help.” He put a tape duplicator in his garage and\na computer in his bedroom, and this thing just exploded.<\/p>\n\n

\nAbout five years ago, one of my trustees sat down and said, “John, you’re\ngoing to have to make a choice.”<\/p>\n\n

\nI said, “No I don’t. I love both the church and INJOY. I’ve\ngot to do both.”<\/p>\n\n

\nHe said, “We support you, but we believe there’s going to be a time when\nyou will have to choose.”<\/p>\n\n

\nFour years later, I finished a conference in Cincinnati where over a thousand\nkids came forward to answer the call of full-time ministry. I sat down at\nthe end of that service and thought, This is life. This is what I was\nborn to do.<\/em><\/p>\n

\nGoing back to my hotel that night, I finally said, I can no longer do\nboth.<\/em><\/p>\n

\nI walked into the house when I got home and said, “Margaret, I can’t do both.”<\/p>\n

\nShe said, “Do you realize in the twenty-five years we’ve been married, I’ve\nnever heard you say ‘I can’t do this’?”<\/p>\n\n

\nI began to cry. “But, Margaret, I can’t do this. I have too much on me. I’m\nnot good enough, fast enough, big enough, or smart enough.” For the rest\nof my life, I’ll be focused on multiplying leaders.\n<\/p>\n\n

How has your philosophy of developing leaders changed over the\nyears?<\/p>\n

\nI used to think I could lead anybody. But I found out there are some people\nI can’t lead. Some people are unleadable.<\/p>\n\n

\nI thought leadership meant I always came out on top. I had to win every issue.\nThat’s a narrow view of leadership.<\/p>\n\n

\nAnd I used to think anybody could be a leader if he really got committed.\nThat’s pretty naive. There are a lot of people who don’t want<\/em> to be\na leader.<\/p>\n\n\n

What is the role of prayer in developing leaders?<\/p>\n

\nEverywhere I’ve served, I’ve prayed for God to send me leaders to build his\nchurch. For fourteen years, at least once every month or so, I’d meet someone\nvisiting Skyline for the first time. We’d introduce ourselves. Then God would\nspeak to me and say, John, there’s one.<\/em> That was the most humbling\nthing in life because I didn’t do one thing to bring that person in.<\/p>\n\n

\nAfter I resigned, I was with about seventy-five church leaders one night\nfor a farewell dinner. I got up and said, “All my life I’ve prayed for leaders.\nLet me tell how God answered those prayers with you.”<\/p>\n\n

\nThen I went around the room, telling each one about the time I met them,\nwhen God revealed, “There’s one.”<\/p>\n\n

\nBy the time I was done, we were all bawling. Someone said, “How could you\nremember meeting everyone in a church this size?”<\/p>\n\n

\nI replied, “I don’t remember meeting every person. I remember meeting\nyou<\/em> because you were one of those people I prayed God would lead into\nmy life.”<\/p>\n\n

\nIf you pray for leaders; if you have a heart to develop, lead, and empower\npeople; if you’ve got a God-given vision, God will give according to your\nheart’s desires.\n<\/p>\n\n

1996 by Christianity Today\/LEADERSHIP, journal.<\/p>\n\n

\nLast Updated: October 7, 1996<\/em>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every pastor knows the feeling. You need to be at the hospital, in the study, and at home-at the same time. If I could just clone myself, we think. 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