Missed Opportunities

A church attender walking down the hallway passes the Student Pastor and says, “Hey I love what you’re doing with the Student ministry. Let me know if I can help.”   The Youth Pastor, in a hurry to get to his next responsibility smiles, accepts it as an encouragement and says, “Thank you."It never occurred to him to respond to the second part of this individual's comment: "Let me know if I can help.”Why was the first part acknowledged and the second part ignored? How often is an offer to help simply seen as a kindness rather than a serious proposition? Who’s fault is it the Student Pastor didn’t seize this opportunity?Could it be that the Student Pastor isn't totally to blame? What training did this novice staff member receive in the onboarding process that would help him with recruiting? What expectations has he been given regarding reproducing himself in other leaders? Is there an unspoken code that if you just get the job done that's what matters, regardless of who does the work?How has the organizational culture shaped his mentality that determined his response? Or the better question: What will the organizational culture do to change his mentality and, therefore, change his response to these types of opportunities in the future?Maybe the individual's comment “Let me know how I can help” was simply a kindness. But you’ll never know unless you’re bent toward seizing the opportunity of people development.What steps can you take this week to shape a mentality of development among your leaders?