Matthew’s Question to Madison: What aspects of your leadership are you pondering the most these days?

One of my co-workers has a couch in his office, and it’s the best! A few weeks ago, I kicked my feet up and settled into the couch, and we talked about the concept of development. “My goal is to read a book a week,” he said. Um, excuse me? How do you manage that? His bookshelf is lined with books from all sorts of genres – faith, leadership, culture, sports, and youth just to name a few.

In the last two months, I’ve successfully read 1.5 books from his shelf, with another two on the go. That’s 1.5 books in about 8 weeks, and he’s probably already read 8 books. I have a long way to go!

This is not a blog about comparison, and it can’t be because he’s been renewing this goal for the past few years, so he’s more of a pro – I also just go through phases of loving reading and caring less for it.

But the point is that he cares a lot about development. He wants to keep learning and growing.

In the blog post last week, dad talked about the book Deep Mentoring (I haven’t read it yet), and the 4 phases through life. I’m in phase 2 – the preparation phase. These next few decades of my life will be all about development, which will include trying things to find where I’m at my best, having a variety of experiences that will stretch my character, and pursuing my faith in Christ to ensure the roots are going deeper and deeper.

My birthday was in May, and in the card I received from my boss, he made a comment about how, yes, there’s was lots to accomplish, but he’s more concerned about my own personal development.

It’s no wonder that this is the aspect of my leadership I’ve been thinking a lot about – everyone around me keeps talking about it!

Development goes two ways, and I’ve been thinking about both. First, what things do I need to do to make sure I’m always growing and learning and developing? And second, how do I lead others through development?

To answer the first question, I can only share what I’ve been doing during this season. I know it’s bound to change at some point, but here are a few things:

• My co-worker who reads a lot has inspired me to read more
• Listening to more podcasts (Ex. Carey Nieuwhof, Village Church, Ted Talks, Hidden Brain)
• Creating more time in the morning for a solid start to the day, and the routine includes working out, making a solid breakfast, and sitting on the deck to read and write and reflect and pray (and watch the construction trucks start their day)
• Having a daily check in with myself to see where I’m at – Am I feeling drained? When was the last time I just hung out with a friend(s)? Is there something I need to readjust going forward? Is there something that’s giving me lots of energy?

So far these things have been going pretty strong for the last month or two, and I notice I’m more mentally prepared and alive. More than just mentally, though – physically, emotionally, and spiritually as well.

I’m also noticing how these pieces of furthering my own development are greatly beneficial for my leadership. Which brings us to the second component – developing others.

Each summer, three post-secondary students are hired to run our community summer day camps, and I’ve had the privilege of overseeing their work for the past couple of summers. This summer we included a ‘team development’ component. For an hour or two a week, the four of us sit together and watch a talk (ranging in topics and speakers), and then we chat about it – what stood out for us, how we can apply it our personal lives and to the summer.

Some of the best and most honest conversations happen around the table during that time.

Those conversations have been critical for me to understand each of them better – what do they require so that they can work at their best? What do I need to do to ensure they get that?

So part of my development is learning to develop others.

A group of us are journeying towards a church plant beginning in September, and we’re putting heavy emphasis on raising up leaders in the church right from the start. I oversee the youth ministry, and I’ve been contemplating what it looks like to run a youth ministry that links fun, faith, and leadership together. I don’t have the answers yet, considering the youth ministry hasn’t officially started, but I do have ideas whirling in my mind as to what this could look like.

Tied in with this is training my brain to spot people’s strengths, and considering how they could be involved in advancing the Kingdom. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always come naturally for me, but recognizing it is the first step, right? But I know that a person who is more willing to put others down to raise themself up is no leader at all. I strive to be a leader that pulls at people’s strengths, and recognizes the potential in them – and when I see potential in youth particularly, I want to join in their journey of development, and encourage and challenge them along the way.

But it starts with my own development first. And it flows out from there.