Customized Leadership Development Tool

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the changes taking place with leadership development.  One of those changes is Customized Learning plans.  Well, last week I was meeting with a sharp young worship leader who wants to develop his leadership skills.  During our meeting time we went through the following steps to develop a customized development tool he can use for himself and his team. 

1. Identify a Key Job Responsibility
2. Create a list of no more than seven competencies (skills) that are necessary to do that responsibility well
3. Have the learner rank themselves 1-5 on each competency
4. Choose one area to work on and create a 30 day growth plan
5. Follow-up and share your progress

This young man chose the responsiblity of Leading a Worship Band.  Here is the customized tool we developed for that particular responsiblity. 1  Read each sentence below and rank yourself on each of the competencies.SCALE:  1 = I don’t have a clue  2 = I know a little bit  3 = I have some experience  4 = I’m fairly confident  5 = I do this really wellLeading a Band requires the following competencies… rank yourself 1-5 on each.

• Dynamic of Worship  – The leader understands the rhythm, focus and dynamics of each song in order to maximize that particular songs message
• Confrontation  - The leader brings correction or adjustment to each team members attitude and performance
• Connect with team – The leader connects with team members by communicating and relating to them outside of church services
• Spiritual leadership – The leader brings spiritual insights and encouragement to the team and serves as a model for spiritual leadership.
• Encouragement – The leader helps each team member understand and maximize the strengths they bring to the team.
• Communication – The leader communicates clearly before rehearsal by informing members of service details in advance and during rehearsal by addressing each team member in a way that brings clarity and understanding.
• Servant Leadership – The leader models servant leadership by serving each member of the team with humility and kindness.
• Time management – The leader will effectively manage rehearsal time by starting and ending on time as well as sufficiently covering all songs according to the need of the band members.

2  Next work with your mentor or learning group to choose one area you will focus on over the next 30 days. 3 Write down 3-4 next steps you can take to help you develop that particular competency. Use the following to help prompt your thinking about your next steps:

• I will read...
• I will meet with...
• I will Google search...
• I will do...
• I will listen to...
• I will observe...
• I will go...

4 Meet again within 30 days with your partner or mentor and share your progress as well as what you have learned.  I would recommend discussing the following questions:

• What next steps did you take?
• How well did you do?
• What would you do differently?
• What did you learn?

Who are you personally developing?  Create your a customized growth tool by following the steps listed above. Give it a try over the next 30 days and see what happens.