Leadership Development Training

Good leadership in any team or ministry is more important than ever in today’s fast-changing world. However, most leaders are not “born” to be effective nor do they have an “innate” ability to lead, but with a little focus, they are “made” or developed over time in order to make the best possible contribution. If this is the case, the question then becomes

“In what leadership development training should we ideally invest?”

Most ministry leadership training is focused on showing people how to do a specific job whereas quality leadership training focuses on the core content of leadership and then what is the best vehicle we should use to deliver it.

In this article we will be looking at the core content side of this question.

Competencies versus Style

Although there are many ways to categorise leadership development, one popular way to do this is to separate it into the two big headings of leadership style and leadership competencies. Leadership style relies heavily on the way that leaders relate to other people and essentially on how they communicate in a range of situations. It is also concerned with the degree to which leaders can change or ‘flex’ their style when circumstances require a new or different approach.

Although style is undoubtedly important, the ability of leader’s to ‘flex’ successfully often rests on the skills that they have available in their ‘toolbox’. For this reason a competencies-based leadership development approach may be the best way to put together a structured training process.

“What competencies should we include in our leadership development training?”

There is no single answer to this question but, as the chart below indicates, one approach that we can take, which has widespread application in many settings, is to ‘cluster’ competencies into the four areas shown.

Let’s look at these four clusters in a little more detail.

Starting with the first cluster at the bottom right above ‘Functional knowledge’, there is a range of competencies which relate to what any leader knows about the ministry of which he or she is a part. This will of course vary by ministry type but in general, any leader in any role should have a basic knowledge of what the other roles in the wider ministry do, so as to ensure that effective and intelligent cooperation or teamwork can occur when it’s called for. Perhaps most important in this cluster of ministry competencies is Resource Allocation and this is therefore often given the greatest focus in this quadrant in terms of training, however many of the others often runs a close second. The order depends on the leadership role.

In the next cluster at the bottom left of the chart above is ‘Personal awareness’ or what some call self-awareness. The simple idea here is that no leader can manage others until they can understand and manage themselves. In this category there is a range of competencies which must be either already relatively well-mastered or should be developed further. Some of these (such as ethics or emotional intelligence for example) are not necessarily easy to train in or possible to develop quickly. However, these are often foundational skills which will provide a stable foundation upon which other skills can be learned at a later stage.

In the next cluster ‘Interpersonal skills’, there is a range of competencies which cover how a leader relates to other people, either one-on-one or one to many. Communication skill (including the capacity to listen) is perhaps the most critical or foundational competency here but leadership development training also pays very high attention to both coaching ability and teamwork/collaboration. In general, considerably more time should be invested by a ministry in training and developing the competencies.

In the final cluster, “Creative/Change Ability”, there is a range of competencies which relate to how a leader manages situations which call for a creative approach and/or the ability to deal with change (both small and large in scale). The ability to think critically and strategically is often a key here, as well as the capacity to evolve a compelling vision. The leader needs to learn and manage the resultant journey to be travelled with good project skills and the ability to analyse and solve problems as they arise.

Summary

Leadership development training can take many forms and is usually best delivered by conducting a proper training needs analysis exercise for the intended recipients. However, in broad terms, early thought needs to be given to whether to focus on leadership style training or leadership competency development.

In the latter, which is often the best foundational approach to take; this article has proposed a four-quadrant model which clusters competencies into the areas of Functional knowledge, Personal awareness, Interpersonal skills and Creative/change ability. The competencies under each of these cluster headings provides a useful starting point to create  a leadership development approach that can help all ministry leaders to be better able to cope with the many situations they encounter.

 
Colin is the Director of ResourceZone International. He has 30 years of ministry experience as a pastor, college lecturer and consultant/coach to consultants, denominational leaders and local church pastors. He can be reached at info@resourcezoneinternational.com

Related Resources

• Leadership Effectiveness Profile – Ministry Specific Resource (PDF)
• Management Effectiveness Profile (PDF)
• Leadership: Skill Builder Booklet – Ministry Specific Resource (PDF)
• Leadership Competency Wheel: Training Handout (PDF)
• Leadership Effectiveness Profile Facilitators Guide- Ministry Specific Resource (PDF)