Generational Leadership
Recently my son Davin and I went to Kentucky for a ministry trip. He has his permit so I had him drive two hours of the trip. He is doing great as we move toward him getting his license.
This is a transitional moment in our family as my son is getting more responsibility in becoming a man.
This brings changes to our family as dynamics are shifting and my leadership and connection to him is coming from a different angle.
I have to think of generational leadership in a new way.
If I don’t prepare him, talk to him, train him, empower him, and lead him, he will be behind and searching for someone else to do these things. But this is my role so I have to do it.
Generational leadership looks ahead and prepares those we lead to thrive in their purpose.
To do this we must think beyond ourselves and think about them. We must share knowledge, delegate responsibilities, give trust, and let them grow.
When it comes to our kids this is what we want, but a lot of times it’s not what we do.
When it comes to church, this is what we want, but too many times it’s not what we do.
Too many transitions fail and as a result, churches suffer. How we lead generationally matters and when it’s done right, the church thrives and is healthy. Conversely when it’s done wrong, churches whither and are unhealthy.
This is NOT the heart of God.
Everything rises and falls on leadership.
So, we need to think ahead and be generational leaders.
The Bible tells us our focus and how we should be leading toward transitions.
“11. Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.”
Ephesians 4:11-12
Notice that leadership gifts in the church are to equip others to do God’s work. We can’t do it all, which means we must share knowledge, delegate responsibilities, give trust, and let them grow.
The question is, how do we do this?
1st – Delegate responsibilities.
When we delegate responsibilities we develop leaders. When we delegate tasks, we develop followers.
This is a big deal because responsibility means we empower them to make decisions. Inevitably, this will cause us to let go or keep control. When we choose to let go, we will empower them to do things in a way that’s different from us. When this happens what will we do?
When we build a team, we must give responsibilities and empower them to carry it out. This is huge when it comes to generational leadership. We cannot control everything and be a generational leader. We must delegate and let go so they can thrive.
Someday, my son, Davin will drive by himself and I have to let him do it. So I train him now with responsibility, teaching him, and empowering him to know how to make the right decisions. As I do, he will be prepared to move forward.
This is what we do in church leadership. We train with responsibility, teaching, and empowering, for others to know how to make the right decisions.
Are you giving tasks or responsibilities?
2nd – We give boundaries.
Boundaries with responsibilities give safety and the ability to grow by incremental steps. We all need boundaries. This helps keep us focused, safe, and accountable.
When we think of generational leadership we think of giving boundaries with responsibility, giving clarity of what we are asking them to do, and giving others the chance to do it. This is how we help people know how to make decisions and become an effective leader.
Teaching someone how to do a skill is needed, but teaching someone how to decide with that skill is even more important.
This is where responsibilities with boundaries help and it’s needed in our leadership development.
We must empower new leaders who know how to do it, know what to do, and can keep learning new things.
This comes from our leadership and seeing them up to thrive. This is generational leadership.
When you delegate responsibility, are you giving boundaries?
I want my son to be a successful man as he develops. God wants His church to be successful as they move forward generationally. Now is the time to be a generational leader!
We earn a living by what we get. We leave a legacy by what we give!
God bless you and the best is yet to come,
PD
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