Natural Leadership Development

I have been thinking about and having conversations around Leadership development of late. These realities have been challenging my thinking:

• Leaders can't be recruited from the platform. We have to challenge them one-on-one.
• Leaders won't be fulfilled performing tasks. We need to give them responsibility.
• Leaders don't follow doers. We need to make sure they're connected to another strong leader.
• Leaders don't want to be micromanaged. We have to eliminate the tendency to control the process and, instead, hold people accountable for the outcomes.
• Leaders won't commit to ambiguity. We need to offer a clear vision. (And, it better be big.)
• Leaders don't just show up. We have to be intentional about leadership development.

John Maxwell challenged us in The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership with this statement:

"When a leader can't or won't empower others, he creates barriers within the organization that people cannot overcome. If the barriers remain long enough, then the people give up, or they move on to another organization where they can maximize their potential."

He went on to explain, "Only secure leaders give power to others." In other words, failure to empower other leaders is a sign of insecurity.

This stuff is smacking me right between the eyes. Where are my limitations and insecurities limiting the leaders around me? What changes do I need to make to empower new leaders? How does our ministry need to change in order to improve leadership development?

Where is Your Attention?

Do you have the ability to focus your mind on what you want, when you want?

It is often said that our most precious commodity is time. I disagree. Because the experience of time is relative, I do not find it an adequate measurement tool. Rather, I propose that our most precious commodity is our attention. We only have so much attention to give at any given moment, and so our question becomes, to whom and to what should I devote it?

Unfortunately, for most people including myself, the ability to control one’s own attention is severely underdeveloped. As a result, I frequently find that my mind races off, following various thoughts as they arise. Perhaps you may identify with the following experience – I was reading the other day and came to the end of a page only to realize that I had no idea of I had just read because I was not paying attention (and so, frustratingly, has to re-read the entire page). What a strange experience!

If you can recall such a time you’ll realise - you were reading, but your attention was decidedly absent. Where did it go? If you were not controlling your own attention, do you know who or what was? This is something worth contemplating. The undisciplined mind is a noisy and busy mind. Sometimes we can see evidence of this mind in outward behaviour such as quick speech, the inability to sit still, or the constant need to rush from one thing to another. The most common incarnation of this type in organizations today is the person who has to respond to every ping from their Blackberry (not unlike Pavlov's dogs). However, just as often, the only evidence of an undisciplined mind is the feeling that another person is not really listening to us. Perhaps you have noticed this in others - they appear to be paying attention, but you don't get the sense that they really are. Or, perhaps you have noticed how your own mind wanders when in conversation with others.

Left untrained, our minds will often repeat the same collection of thoughts over and over again, sometimes for years. When we have not practiced mental discipline to tame what has been referred to as our "wild horse mind," we find ourselves in a state of constant distraction, unable to be fully present to any situation - regardless of where we find ourselves. For example, we may be on vacation, but if our attention is back at work, then time away from the office has not been sufficient to provide that much needed holiday. Without applying mental discipline to direct our own attention, our mind is consumed with thoughts, making it difficult, if not impossible, to notice what is actually happening - in a conversation, in a meeting, or during a presentation or important negotiation. The cost of this lack of attention can never be fully known; however, I believe it is greater than we can possibly imagine.

Try This:
For one week, pay attention to the thoughts you think most often. Notice all the things you say to yourself about what is happening and what it means to you. Simply bring awareness to where you currently invest your most precious commodity - your attention. At the end of the week, answer the following questions:
- What are the thoughts I think most often?
- Which thoughts are useful to myself and others?
- Which ones are not?
- How can I more effectively focus my attention next week?

How Do You Measure Up?

Think about someone whom you consider to be a very good leader. What is it about this person that has earned them this status? Perhaps they are very inspirational, personable or visionary. Maybe they are pillars of virtue, incredibly creative or exceptionally encouraging of others. They might be strategic thinkers. These are all important leadership qualities, but are they appropriate measures?

I suggest that leadership has only one real measurement …the organisational outcomes it produces. In other words, how do others behave differently because of your leadership? Do they work harder; do they work on the right things; do they learn and grow; do they also lead? I believe that there is a lot of emphasis particularly in the leadership development field on what leaders do and not on what they create. Perhaps we should take our eyes off the leader and instead look at the impact they have on their organisation.

It is only appropriate that we be able to help leaders conduct a check up on their effectiveness. I find the following questions particularly useful for organisational leaders in assessing their impact.

Key Organisational Outcomes

1. Alignment – Are all the arrows going in the same direction?
2. Engagement – Does everyone bring their best talents and efforts to work everyday?
3. Retention – Do people stay through the good times and bad?
4. Innovation – Is there a constant supply of ideas, change an improvement?
5. Spiritual Health – Is everyone connected and in tune spiritually?
6. Collaboration – Does important work get completed with no one person taking credit?
7. Talent – Is the organisation known for exceptional talent and development?
8. Productivity – Are people 2-3 times as effective as those in competing organisations?
9. Agility – Do people thrive on change?
10. Responsiveness – Does the organization live ahead of the curve?
11. Pervasive Leadership – Is there extraordinary leadership throughout the organisation?

Leading today's organisations is extremely challenging, and we all come at this role with our unique personalities, talents and experiences. I would encourage you to put your sights on the most meaningful organisation outcomes and seek to find your own best road to get there. How do you believe that the International Training Alliance (ITA) and LMC measure up?

Making An Impact With Your Audience

Last Sunday I was sitting in a pew at Southside International Church during the sermon. This is pretty unusual because as the Pastor I am usually the preacher. Today was different and I was about to be greatly blessed and encouraged. The speaker was Rev Dang Pham. Dang and his wife are C&MA missionaries to Cambodia . They head up the ministry of New Hope which reaches out to the 1.5 million Vietnamese refugees who are amongst the poorest of the poor in the Khmer Kingdom . Dang was a former jet pilot with the South Vietnamese Air Force. He was imprisoned for three years after the fall of Vietnam in 1975. With his family he later escaped to Australia where they were sponsored by a rural Baptist Church . It was in this small town that an Aussie pastor led the family to Christ. After nine months they moved to Sydney where Dang undertook theological studies. He joined a C&MA church and after retirement he and his wife offered themselves for missionary service, leaving behind four single adult sons. In March this year Dang took the Leadership Matters Course in Bangkok . This is where my encouragement came. As I listened to this man for whom English is not his mother tongue, I could hardly contain myself as he delivered a near perfect thirteen minute talk which he had developed during the LMC. His “you modules” gained the immediate attention of his hearers, the cultural modules were gripping, his “is it worth it all” module came through loud and clear and his “nuts and bolts’ module clearly described the ministry of New Hope. Two others in the congregation who had taken LMC courses caught my eye and with big grins gave me the “thumbs up”.

From listening to Dang I was encouraged to realize again that LMC is truly making an impact. Missionaries can share their story in a concise and relevant way that really makes an impact on their hearers. I am all fired up again. I want to keep raising up leaders as long as I have health and my Lord allows me to continue this life-changing ministry.

Roger Lang
ITA Trainer