In his book The Leadership Pipeline, Ram Charan identifies the primary reason leadership development efforts fail within organizations. It is a bold claim to suggest a single overarching cause for the failure of these programs, but Charan points to a specific culprit: leaders are trained for their current positions rather than their future responsibilities. When learning is confined to a person’s present role, they remain ill-prepared for the next level of leadership. Addressing this gap is essential for any organization looking to overcome leadership development failures.
The solution is to intentionally develop individuals for the roles they will inhabit tomorrow. By preparing leaders for future transitions, they acquire advanced skills that enhance their current performance while building a foundation for long-term success. This dual-benefit approach is key to effectively developing emerging leaders in ministry, ensuring they are equipped for the specific challenges that lie ahead.
To overcome the biggest reason leadership development initiatives fail, leaders must adopt a forward-thinking strategy. One effective method is to focus on activating gifts and calling, which aligns an individual’s unique strengths with the future needs of the organization.
1. Expand the Scope of Your Vision.
When an organization or ministry has a large vision, a picture of how they can serve people in the future, new leaders are going to be absolutely essential. A big vision requires leadership development, inviting people into new and expanded roles that will push the mission forward. A small vision requires merely filling positions and keeping the status quo. If you set a bigger scope you will find yourself in the position where leaders must be developed.
2. Look for New Opportunities.
As new opportunities arise for the ministry or organization, those new opportunities are often incredible places to offer leaders new responsibilities that will grow them. The new opportunities are not only good for the organization, but they are also good for the development of the people who get asked to run after those opportunities. I had an HR executive tell me once that all of his research convinced him that 70% of leadership development comes through experiences. Books and conferences and training seminars can help, but it is most often the work that develops you.
3. Invite Younger Leaders to Play Important Roles Now.
Younger leaders have a lot to offer right now, not in the future, but right now. They are often ready to be given a shot, an opportunity to lead something significant. Should they prove faithful first? Absolutely. But when they do prove themselves faithful, entrust them with more. Don’t let age be what stops you from entrusting the faithful with more responsibility. In my last three roles (executive pastor, senior vice president, and now senior pastor), I have placed leaders in their twenties on my lead/management team. Not only because the team benefits from their insight and intensity, but because we must always keep handing responsibilities to younger leaders.
This article originally appeared on EricGeiger.com and is reposted here by permission.