Develop Your Leadership Effectiveness (5)

Life-long learners constantly cycle through a developmental process to sharpen their leadership skills. It may be intuitive or it may be intentional. But the 6 steps they follow are real:

LEARN-EMPOWER-ASSESS-DECIDE-EVALUATE-REVIEW

The fifth step in the leadership developmental process is EVALUATE: know how and when to evaluate the performance of the team as well as the individual members of the team to ensure the vision, the goals and the team member’s contributions are on track.

 Here are 6 things you can do to keep your team members on track:

1. Point out the difference between the present situation and agreed upon expectations
2. Describe specifically the negative impact of the individual’s performance
3. Ask the person for their view of the situation
4. Ask the individual for ideas on how the situation could be corrected, and then add your own if necessary
5. Agree on action plan for improvement and a date for follow-up
6. Express confidence that the individual can correct the situation

 
Monitoring the effectiveness of teamwork is also important. Effective leaders are aware of relationship strength and limitations amongst their team. Helping build positive relationships is a key responsibility for any leader.

Evaluating is an important step in the Leadership Development Process. But Evaluating in itself is not enough. In fact, going to a workshop, listening to a podcast or even receiving a degree in leadership does not guarantee a person can lead. I’ve found that many people have knowledge but lack the experience of actually leading a team. Applying the knowledge and learning from success, as well as failure is critical in the developmental process.

The next step in the journey to develop as a leader is REVIEW: review the progress, people and success of a project. I will address this in the next blog.

Colin is the Director 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

Related Resources

• Leadership: Skill Builder Booklet – Ministry Specific Resource (PDF)