Are You Being Clear about Leadership Development Expectations?

“Developing leaders is what we do!”  It has to be stated that clearly for people to get it.  But stating it clearly is still not enough; you have to make decisions that give evidence that leadership development is a high value in your organization.I remember a key volunteer walked into my office one day and informed me that he wanted to apply for one of our staff positions.  Treating this opportunity as an informal interview I began to ask what he would do if he were to get the position.  He described how he would care, serve and love the people in that area of ministry.  What he said was good.  But the one thing I didn’t hear was how he would work through leaders and develop leaders for the expansion of the ministry.  It was obvious he had the mentality (and skills) of a doer rather than a developer.  So being straightforward with him I told him that his gifts and strengths added great value to our ministry, however for staff positions in our church we only hire people who are leader developers.  Leadership development will not stand strong as a value in your organization unless you take a strong stand for it in your organization.   Take Ram Charan’s counsel and write leadership development into the job description of every leader on your staff and key volunteer positions.   This type of clear expectations will begin to shape a culture of leadership development.