3 Ways to Grow as a Leader in Your Organization

Posted on by Dave Simiele

Are you wondering if someone is ever going to tap you on the shoulder to start leading at a higher level in your organization? Maybe it’s that new project at the office or the next major job for your department? Stop waiting for someone to ask for your help, start leading today. Too many leaders lay in waiting for someone to tap them on the shoulder, but growing leaders are quick to offer assistance. Consider this your shoulder tap, stop waiting and start leading today.

Growing leaders see problems as opportunities and desire to help offer solutions to obstacles before ever being asked. If your manager or department leader hasn’t tapped you on the shoulder yet, it doesn’t mean they don’t think you can lead. Trust me.

Here are three ways to grow as a leader in your church or business:

1. Write Down Your Ideas
The ideas in your head are only ideas until you write them down. Write down everything that comes to mind and flesh them out as much as possible. Remember to start with the original project in mind so that your end result is a helpful concept. Keep writing until there is nothing left and then edit your thoughts carefully. Review and clarify your notes, consider if you have any truly valuable ideas. Don’t be surprised if after writing all your thoughts down, you realize that you have nothing valuable to offer, it happens. More often than not, you’ll discover one or two major solutions that could help your team. Develop your ideas into measurable action steps with clear targets. Take the additional effort to craft a draft an outline, budget or timeline to implement the concepts you plan on presenting to your boss. If time allows, share your thoughts with a coworker for constructive feedback or additional ideas before you make your presentation. Once you have your final thoughts ready, take the next step and set up a meeting with your supervisor.

2. Schedule a Meeting
Now that you’ve got those helpful ideas clearly defined, schedule a brief meeting with your director. In your request for a meeting, make sure you explicitly tell them why you want to meet and what you would like to discuss. Let them know what you’ve been thinking about and that you might have some ideas that could help. Leaders are not looking for more meetings, but every leader is looking to hear from someone with initiative and drive to help strengthen the organization. Put all your cards on the table in the meeting and ask more questions. The quality of questions will reveal the depth of your understanding around the project. A simple rule to keep in mind is this – ask more questions and make fewer statements. Remember, you don’t know everything your leader knows about the issues at hand. It is your job to share ideas, explore possible solutions, and trust your leadership to make the best decision possible. Once you have shared your thoughts, take it one step further.

3. Offer to Help
Close the meeting by offering to assist, but be prepared to help in a different way than you suggested. Your willingness to think critically and provide assistance will reveal your heart to serve. Remember, your leader knows variables about the project that are beyond your scope of knowledge, and that’s okay. Of course, they may need time to process your concepts, or worse; they may reject every idea you presented but don’t take that response personally. As a growing leader, it’s your job to seek ways to offer help and to develop your critical thinking skills. It’s not your job to make every decision in your organization, but it’s your responsibility to offer assistance where you think you can help.

Don’t wait to be shoulder-tapped, start growing as a leader today. Develop your critical thinking skills, learn to ask great questions, and don’t be afraid to offer your assistance. Your ideas just might change the trajectory of the entire project or your seat on the bus.

“Everything rises and falls on leadership.” John C. Maxwell

The Greatest Gift Leaders Bring To Their Team

Posted on by Dave Simiele

As campus pastors, we have many responsibilities: leading teams, recruiting high-capacity volunteers, embodying the vision of our senior leaders, and protecting the culture of our church to name a few. I’ve heard it said that the greatest gift a leader can bring to their team is their personal energy but I must be honest, I don’t agree with that statement. Energy, while important, doesn’t always win and with the help of a Redbull, it can be easily manufactured. The greatest gift you can give to your team is not your energy, it’s the health of your soul.

Talking about soul health is not always popular these days. Campus pastors want to talk about the size of their campus or discuss ways to get people to fall in love with the “preacher on the screen”. Rarely do I hear campus pastors discuss topics beyond the metrics of multisite like spiritual, emotional and physical health. I’m thankful for the voices in my life that dig deeper into the condition of my soul. Recently I was encouraged to read Peter Scazzero’s “The Emotionally Healthy Leader.” I’ll be honest; the book was a difficult read. Not because I could understand the content I was reading, but the content of the book was reading me. If you’re leading in any capacity, church life or not, I encourage you to pick up Peter’s book and start reading it today.

The health of your soul is your responsibility. No one else can make your soul healthier, and to be honest, most of the time we don’t slow down enough to examine our soul health. We have to take matters into our own hands and lead ourselves first. Self-leadership always precedes team leadership.

After reading his book, I’m focusing on the following three areas of soul health in my life:

Spiritual Health
As a leader within the church, our passion for the Lord must always trump our passion for greater leadership and influence. In ministry, it’s easy to work so hard for Christ that we forget to walk with him. Our desire to lead ends up choking our desire to be simply with Christ. In his book, Scazzero talks about slowing down for loving union and how we must practice the spiritual disciplines of silence, Sabbath and scripture meditation. Do you have a regular rhythm of slowing down and communing with Christ? The health of your soul depends on it.

“You can’t live at warp speed without warping your soul.” Peter Scazzero

Emotional Health
Our emotional health is directly connected to the health of our souls. Emotionally healthy pastors manage their emotions in meetings and settings where unhealthy pastors don’t. Irritability in ministry or any walk of life is a sign that your soul lacks health and vibrancy. You cannot separate the health of your soul from the health of your attitude. When your soul is healthy, your response is healthy. How are you in meetings? How is your response? Spending time developing your emotional health will radically change the way you respond to whatever life or ministry throws at you.

“Spiritual deficits typically reveal themselves in too much activity.” Peter Scazzero

Physical Health
Scazzero doesn’t talk much about physical health in his book, but I believe this topic is also directly connected to the condition of our souls. We cannot effectively lead within our organization if we are continually sluggish and exhausted. I meet a lot of leaders who look and sound tired all the time. Who is responsible? I don’t think it is the church fault; we can only blame the individual. Just as no one else can make us spiritually healthy, no one else can make us physically healthy either. Make better food choices, get to bed early on Saturday nights, add regular exercise to your schedule, and drink more water. Sounds simple, I know, but few leaders do it.

The condition of your soul is your responsibility. It is also the greatest gift you can bring to your teams. As you intentionally care for your spiritual, emotional, and physical health, you model soul care for your team and everyone wins.

In what ways do you measure soul health? Who can hold you accountable for these things?