Over the years I have consulted with a large number of churches and Christian organisations on the area of leadership. It has been interesting work because understanding leadership is not a simple straight forward exercise. Let me suggest it is easier to understand leadership if we divide it into three key components.
Characteristics –
Leaders need to be engaged in spiritual transformation, authentic relationships and sacrificial service. Our character is shaped as we lovingly obey Jesus, listening to the Spirit and step forward into the challenges of authentic missional living.
Process –
Tthough some people may be “born leaders”, people are rarely born good leaders. Becoming a good leader is something that must be developed. Effective leaders don’t fall from heaven; they are grown on earth. The best way to develop as a leader is to follow a set process. Here is an example from Dr. Jon Warner:
The eleven key stages for Developing Effective Leaders:
- Know yourself
- Understand your team
- Assess team capabilities
- Agree on leadership ground rules
- Provide directional clarity
- Set tangible goals and targets
- Lead by example
- Take measured risks
- Appraise team performance
- Recognise and celebrate success
- Invite feedback and adjust style
Competencies
Leaders need specific knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform ‘critical functions’ or tasks in a defined setting. Although there are different views about what constitutes leadership effectiveness, it is possible to name the key competencies which most good leaders will draw from to a greater or lesser extent. One leadership assessment tool, the Leadership Effectiveness Profile (LEP), was developed by Dr. Jon Warner and is based on extensive research conducted in the UK, US and Australia. The LEP is a paper based or online assessment that measures behaviors in eight core competencies:
- Emotional Intelligence
- Directional Clarity
- Change Orchestration
- Reciprocal Communication
- Contextual Thinking
- Creative Assimilation
- People Enablement
- Driving Persistence
Each of these competencies is carefully defined in the LEP. Here’s an example of how one competency is defined and measured in the LEP.
Definition:
Directional Clarity looks at the ability to identify a credible destination and indicate how to get there in a straightforward and simple way. This category asks the question, “How clearly, credibly and unequivocally do you point the way for people to want to travel with you and to stay on track?”
Behaviors for Directional Clarity:
- Believes that people’s energy needs a clear direction in which to flow;
- Generates a clear personal vision of what the future could be;
- Can explain a mission or purpose in the most basic or simple terms;
- Believes that every goal needs a measurement system …
- And so on (there are 12 underpinning behaviors for each competency).
Insights Gained
By participating in the LEP (self-rating) individuals gain clear insight into how they stack up against the 8 competencies and each of the behaviors associated with a given competency and they know where improvement is needed. Detailed interpretative text is provided in the report. These assessments are great for development planning or as a pre-training activity to get participants thinking about their skills and skill gaps.
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@resourcezone.com.au
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