Fifteen Leadership Lessons I have Tried to Live and Lead By
I recently completed a year of coaching with a pastor. We met each month and addressed a variety of issues including several topics related to his particular circumstances. In this particular case, we met via Zoom since he lives over three hours each day. As we concluded, I wanted to share some leadership lessons from my ministry through the years. I started with the idea of developing ten lessons and ended up with fifteen. I wanted to share those with you and will be glad to expand on any of them if you call, email, or text me with your questions. In addition, if you know of a ministry leader that would benefit from meeting every month or two with and experienced leader, have them contact me to discuss the possibilities. Perhaps that would benefit you personally. In any case, enjoy my top fifteen leadership lessons from forty-two years of ministry leadership.
Guard your character.
Pour into your family first. Marriage and Children. They are more important than your position.
Ride on both rails of leadership. Personal Spiritual Growth and Leadership Skills Development.
Be a people person, even if you are not. Build Relationships.
Be responsive (though resolution may be delayed).
Develop priorities and boundaries.
Manage your time. Have a system.
Be a person of continuous improvement.
Know your strengths and weaknesses. Work on both.
(If you have a supervisor) know their passions and priorities. Lead from where you are.
Build a reputation for “getting the job done” and “being trusted to do it.”
Spend time with other strong, godly leaders. Take the initiative to be around them. Proverbs 13:20 The one who walks with the wise will become wise, but a companion of fools will suffer harm.
Make the best use of your time but never be above the mundane ministry tasks. (Example. Setting up tables and chairs is not the best use of my time, but I am willing to do it when needed without complaint.)
Make development of leaders a priority. Enlist and train others. The key task of leadership is to develop leaders.
At the end of a ministry, leave well and sprint across the finish line.
