5 Things Young Leaders Need from Older Leaders
by Steve RopeR
In both churches and denominational offices, discussions are increasing around the topic of developing young leaders. In some cases, the concern isn’t as much about developing young leaders as it is about finding and retaining them. The healthy church cannot exist as only the province of either generational extreme, the old or the young. Neither can those who are called to be leaders of the church ignore resource deficits that may profoundly affect the ongoing viability of the church or fellowship, whether financial, vision or human. The systemic nature of church means that all those critical resources that create the foundation for ongoing mission are inextricably intertwined.
In their study (“The Connected Generation”), in partnership with World Vision, Barna Research validates some of the church’s intuitive concerns with research. They uncover a very real anxiety among young adults about leadership within society. “Four out of five affirm--and nearly half strongly affirm--that ‘society is facing a crisis of leadership because there are not enough good leaders right now’ (82%).” That anxiety over a perceived leadership crisis is in juxtaposition to a lack of young adults in leadership. “One in five selected family as their only sphere of leadership.” “Three in 10 young adults do not now (8%) or have never (22%) considered themselves to be a leader...” Only 9% of 15,369 respondents (age 18-35) considered themselves leaders in their church/faith community.
The discipleship model of the New Testament is one that presupposes the investment of the mature into the lives of the less mature. The act of giving away influence and taking up influence are both integral parts of a process that is intended to be life-long. It is critical that those of us already on the “way of Jesus” not make it a solitary pilgrimage. If there is indeed a crisis of leadership within the church, it may well be because those of us who presently lead have not wrestled hard enough with how best to give away that which has become precious to us, choosing instead to trust structures and processes that have served us well in the past. It may be that in our new VUCA world (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) a new paradigm of intentionality is required. The processes and structures have not lost their value but may require our personal investment to retain their effectiveness. Rather than add to the perceived crisis, how might we be a part of creating a culture that creates the right conditions for another to pick up the responsibilities of leading?
This is a complex issue with the possibility of many nuanced answers depending upon your context. However, to begin the conversation, I would like to provide 5 simple, pragmatic suggestions for moving this culture forward within the life of your church or organization.
1. Young leaders need to be asked to lead. Our “expectations” that others will lead are not enough. Inexperienced leaders do not innately believe in their potential or value as a potential leader and unlike their predecessors many young adults do not automatically seek affirmation from institutional affiliations. We need to help them discover their leadership can make a difference.
2. Young leaders must be allowed to fail. This means young leaders must actually be allowed to lead. There is no substitute for the crucible of failure when consequences are real. We live in a world today that is quick to “move on,” rather than invest in redeeming a failure. When the inevitable happens, someone needs to be present in their life to make it a teachable moment. Leadership is risky. Those of us already possessing the callouses of experience must be willing to put ourselves “on the line,” for them to have the breathing room to learn from their mistakes.
3. Young leaders understand responsibilities but not always leadership. That may be part of the reason some of us have difficulty recruiting young leaders, because we form our conversation around responsibility rather than the capacity to effect change. Young leaders need someone “in their corner” to help them develop a higher view of what they are called to rather than simply the tasks on their job description. According to John Maxwell’s “5 Levels of Leadership”, positional leadership is the lowest form of leadership. Just because you convince someone to take a position doesn’t mean they will lead effectively… or at all. While it may be true that good leaders “get things done,” what is often not understood is that really good leaders “get things done” by investing in building up others. The best way for an inexperienced leader to learn is to be mentored well.
4. Young leaders need to feel valued as a person and not just for what they can do. Commitment and loyalty are desirable qualities in a leader, but these qualities are “trust based.” It’s difficult to give your best effort from a defensive or protective posture. Their relationship to a church or organization must come from a sense of community rather than obligation.
5. Young leaders need help discovering the gratification found in working to replace themselves. Working to be “unnecessary” is counter-intuitive for most of us but especially for those just beginning their leadership journey. This is not simply “dumping” tasks on someone else who can’t say no. Rather, it is doing the hard work of building another person up. Businesses have long understood this while churches have struggled with the concept. Anecdotally, within a large business (over 6000 employees) in my region of Southeast Tennessee, one of the first conversations new executives are expected to have with their supervisor is around the topic of succession planning. “Who will you invest in, in a significant way, to lead?” For Young Leaders to discover this, they need to have it modeled for them by mature Pastors, managers, and supervisors. The most effective leaders are valuable but not needed.