5 Ways to Grow and Develop your Church Staff

There’s one area of my leadership role that always has me feeling a little guilty. I’m guessing you feel the same way about it. It’s leadership development.

It is me or does it just feel like there’s never time for this? I have my to-do list and then all the extra work that pops up during the week and then at the end of the week I think:

“Ugh. What am I doing to help my team grow and achieve?”

As leaders, we know that it’s our responsibility to help our people grow but the how and why of this responsibility is elusive.

Developing others has been a journey for me. I wouldn’t say I’ve got this nailed but I have learned a few things. Here are a few ideas for growing in your role of leadership development.

1. Schedule It

I was recently talking with my boss about my frustrations with how it’s tough to get to leadership development with everything else that’s going on. He responded with a question:

“Where do you have leadership development scheduled?”

This was definitely a “duh” moment. The truth is, I didn’t have leadership development scheduled.

Don’t get me wrong, I have one-on-ones with my direct reports and team meetings scheduled but I did not have time scheduled for thinking about what my people need or time to watch film of my teachers so I can offer helpful critiques.

The point is that you will not get to leadership development until you schedule leadership development. And so, if you are a leader of people, it’s time to put leadership development on your weekly calendar.

2. Ask About It

Leadership development is something that everyone wants and appreciates. In fact, investing in your people can be a determining factor in whether or not they’ll stick around for the long-haul. People want to be a part of an organization that believes in them and is willing to invest in them.

One of the best things we can do as leaders is ask our people how we can help them grow. Is there a specific skill they want to develop? Is there a professional weakness they want to shore up?

If you’re at a loss on how to develop your people, asking where they want help is a great place to start.

3. Provide Opportunities

Here’s the thing, theoretical knowledge doesn’t it cut it when it comes to ministry skills. For example, understanding how to preach well is not the same thing as being able to preach well. We all know this right?

My point is this: If you want to develop the skills of your people, you need to invite them into the work. This requires relaxing control a bit and becoming a coach. In my experience, there really can’t be develop without on the job experience.

For more on letting go and providing opportunities to others, check out our previous article on how not to be a micromanager.

4. Constant Feedback

It’s one thing to give someone an opportunity to preach. It’s another thing entirely to give them an opportunity to preach and then give them feedback afterward.

Why?

Because then they’ll know what worked and what didn’t.

Clear and actionable feedback is a crucial component to leadership development. In fact, it’s next to impossible to develop anyone without feedback. In the traditional business management model, we would save feedback for an annual or possibly a bi-annual review. In my experience, this is next to worthless.

What I have found valuable is providing clear and actionable feedback at every one-on-one meeting. Why? Because it comes in smaller and more manageable doses and it is part of an ongoing conversation. So, if you want to grow in leadership development, I would encourage you to begin offering small doses of clear and actionable feedback at every one-on-one meeting. Pick one area of growth and stick with it.

For more on the power of feedback, take a look at how our church works to constantly improve.

5. Focus on the Teachable

Here’s the thing though. Not everyone appreciates feedback right? Some people get mad and defensive. Then what do you do?

I think there are only two options here:

1. You aren’t giving feedback very well
2. The person isn’t teachable.

If the problem is your feedback, I might suggest reading "Thanks for the Feedback".

If the problem is the person isn't teachable, well, I would suggest that you focus leadership development on the people who are teachable. You will quite literally be wasting your time trying to develop someone who isn’t interesting in growing and changing. It is one of the most frustrating spaces in leadership.

In my opinion, this lack of humility is a huge deal. A lack of teachablity is an absolute deal-breaker for us because it is a growth blocker. We don’t hire people who aren’t teachable because, as a church, we desire to be tenacious about growing and developing. If you find yourself trying to develop someone who isn’t interesting in growing, you really only have two options. You can accept their level of skill or you can remove them. Many leaders hold out for a third option that simply doesn’t exist.

My point? Focus on those who want to grow! These individuals are gold. They will respond to your input and direction and the sky is the limit with them. There is no substitute for humility and teachability.

Wrap Up

Leadership develop is one of those areas of leadership that always seems to land on the backburner. If you’re tired of feeling guilty about it, there are a couple strategies open to you.

Schedule it! Ask your people what they need. Invite others into the work. Start providing regular feedback and focus on the teachable.

I believe a few months of this approach will significantly improve leadership development in your church. If you have any additional thoughts on how to develop leaders in your church, I'd love to hear them. Just leave a comment below.