3 Ways to Help Transition Great Volunteers into Great Leaders

Recently, I read an insightful blog post from Scott Edinger about helping team members become great leaders. His thoughts were geared toward the business world, but I think they make sense to churches too. I’ve taken some of the things Scott said and applied them to our context. Article here

It happens all the time…You have a member of your church who is an awesome volunteer so you ask them to be a leader of a ministry, and they struggle…

They were a phenomenal volunteer but not a great leader.

Michael Jordan is the greatest player in the history of the NBA. After his career, he transitioned into a General Manager and become known around the league as a terrible front office leader.

How could Michael Jordan be the best ever as a player but be so poor at leading and managing a team playing the same game?

Allstar “do-ers” don’t make great leaders.

They are uniquely different roles we should be aware of when promoting or hiring people on your team.

Here are 3 keys to helping your great producers turn into great leaders:

1. Allow them to lead before they are THE leader

Give them a chance to lead a project without the title. See how they handle delegation, communication and conflict.

This gives you an opportunity to see how they handle themselves and how a team responds to their leadership.

2. Equip them with resources and coaching

A lot of leaders live by the sink or swim model, “If they swim they can hack it.”

While this may work with some highly driven people, it’s not ideal. Make sure you make available training and learning opportunities for them.

Our Propel Conference is a great opportunity for your staff to learn from 12 experts in church leadership. The event is this week but you get all the sessions as a download as well.

Makes for great staff training sessions. Register Here