Do You Want to Grow Leaders?

I’ll never forget being thrown into the fire as a young leader. When I had to end the employment of the first person…then the second, as a 20 year old, I was overwhelmed with the weight of those decisions, even though I knew they were the right ones to make. Telling someone they no longer have a job is excruciatingly painful. I’m thankful for the people who walked through them with me, but I’m also glad they allowed me to experience that weight of leadership for myself.

The best leadership principles I’ve learned didn’t come from a book. They didn’t come from my master’s degree in leadership or my seminary master’s. They came while doing. They came while making the mistakes, making the decisions, living the stress of leadership.

Do you want to grow as a leader?

Expose yourself to more tension…more risk…more experience than you think you can handle.

Stretch yourself.

In the tension of stretching is where we learn best.

Do you want to grow leaders around you?

Expose them to more tension…more risk…more experience than they think they can handle.

Stretch them.

In the tension of stretching is where we learn best.

Yes, you’ll need to help them. You’ll need to be there for them, just as you’ll need people there for you, but the reality is we learn best through failure, triumphs, setbacks, victories, disappointments… When you give people real responsibility and authority, even if they don’t feel completely ready, they have a better opportunity to learn and grow.

Experience…good and bad shapes us as a leader. The bigger the experience…the more we grow.

Experience takes us miles ahead in leadership. Getting through something that’s hard and making it to the other side, builds our leadership aptitude.

Are you currently being stretched? What are you learning?