Leaders and change

Growing leaders grow churches. Growing leaders grow other people, especially other leaders. Growing leaders can expect greater opportunities to serve because they can be trusted with greater responsibilities. Growing leaders get to enjoy the joys of leading. Obviously, if these are true, each of us should seek to grow as leaders. Unfortunately, that is not always the case.

For some reason many ministers are not interested in personal growth. They are content to continue doing the same things they've done throughout their ministries. They never examine their leadership styles to determine if they remain effective. They still preach exactly like they did when they were trying to impress their preaching professor. They continue to operate with the same church structures they have always known without ever looking into other structures that might be more effective. When they retire their ministries look very much like it did when they began their ministry.

In order for growth to occur change is required, and many ministers are not too fond of change. It's kind of interesting because many of us talk about change from the pulpit, but the context is always in the church changing, not us. Maybe our congregations are not interested in changing because they never see any change in us or the way we approach ministry.

What needs to change for growth to occur? Basically...everything. The way we think about ministry, the way we go about ministry, and the way we lead. By saying everything has to change I am not necessarily saying that everything we are doing is wrong. I am saying that nearly everything we have been taught in the past about ministry can be improved upon.

An article in the Harvard Business Review has said that the skills learned while seeking a bachelor's degree used to provide enough basic training to last during our career. Today, that education is good for about five years. In other words, much of what we learn in college will be outdated before we pay off our student loans. I doubt that a seminary education has any greater shelf life. If we want to continue to grow as leaders and enjoy the most productive ministries we can we must be committed to lifelong learning that will allow us to grow as ministers and as human beings.

As we are exposed to new learnings we will have to make the decision about whether we are willing to change what we have been doing to be able to incorporate the new knowledge into our leadership. New information is only useful if it changes the way we function. Those changes will never be comfortable either to ourselves or those we lead, but they are necessary. And the bad news is that those new changes will soon have to be replaced again by newer knowledge and skills we acquire. Growth is a never-ending circle of making constant improvements in how we minister based on what we are continual learning.

If we are unwilling to do this we are not fully committed to God's call on our lives. If we are willing to only do the minimum required to get by we dishonor our calling and shortchange the people we have been called to serve. At the end of each year we should be able to look back and see areas in our leadership and ministry in which we have grown.

In closing, it must be admitted that change is never pleasant nor easy. It often creates pain both within ourselves and those we serve. There is always a risk in change, but it is a risk we must be willing to take if we want to remain effective in our calling. As painful as it might be to make the changes we need to make in our own leadership, there will come a day when we realize the pain was worth it.