In all the years I have had the privilege of leading people, both in business and in ministry there have been some values I have held strongly. Recently in the process of creating a training school I’ve looked more closely at some of these values, as part of defining who we are as a school and what our unique training approach is. I have had the awesome privilege of studying leadership from a kingdom perspective, during 3 years at Bethel School of Ministry. I have also coached and mentored mature kingdom leaders. It’s exciting to see fresh revelations of kingdom leadership, which create empowering cultures in action. Cultures which raise up world changing leaders and give organisations practical tools to apply new kingdom truths.
Here are just 3 key leadership values I want to share which I have designed into my new training programme, which activate leaders into fresh kingdom leadership approaches. I hope it will inspire some fresh ideas into your own leadership style.
Key 1 – A Fresh Approach to Presenting
Some research was carried out in the 50’s on several groups of people who were taught according to the diagram’s methods. A week later they were tested on how much information they had retained, the results of which are shown in the diagram.
The pyramid shows that simply hearing information and not being given the chance to see a demo, to discuss or practically apply it, does not enable the best learning. More recent studies on the way our brains work verify much of what this pyramid shows. Dr Caroline Leaf talks about how we must daily read and apply new truths in order to form new habits. Studies also show that after learning something new, receiving regular coaching afterwards increases the learning and retention to well over the 50% mark. Coaching people through the real life application both in and outside of the classroom brings amazing results!
So all you leaders that teach or send people onto courses, how well does the format of the training fit into the base of the pyramid? We have a rule about our training courses, that a minimum of 50% of the content must be participative. People seem to enjoy this style immensely.
Can you imagine training that minimizes ‘lecture’ and instead develops the biggest part of the teaching around discussion and practical experience? Think about Jesus’ style with the disciples and how he again and again practically activated them.
From my experience this is why coaching has helped so many people I work with. Also why the fresh approach to lead people through an actual personal experience, which is participative, has bought significant breakthroughs (many times in areas where they have been stuck for years!). Another observation is that years later they remember what happened and enjoy the benefits because they had a personal experience in which they were the key participant.
Key 2 – Honouring the Heart
The second key leadership value which I want to share is the importance of helping people you lead to connect with their heart. Unfortunately we live in a society where ‘logic’ is king, where ‘success’ is interpreted as financial affluence and where fear is forever present. Many people disapprove of leading anyone to go after lofty ideals or a vision that seems impossible. The problem is that these ideas are usually the ones that are closest to people’s hearts. I see many people’s potential to change the world, locked down because of fear that has gripped them. They may have been convinced to follow a path of safety or an ‘easy path’ to survival. We see some fearless risk taking culture changing individuals step out, but this seems to be the exception rather than the rule. As kingdom leaders, we have to be different. Jesus said we would do greater works than he (John 14:12). How can we help activate those we lead into ‘greater works’? I believe one of the biggest most important keys is learning to draw out their hearts (see Prov 20:5)
The hearts of those we lead and what some would call their ‘lofty ideals’, hold the keys to their greater potential. God created each of us to desire to change the world. The key is that each and every one of us has a heart to change a particular unique part of the world. Imagine each and every person you lead is a world changer, and your job is to draw out from them their heart and vision and help activate them into what only they can do. The process is as important as the destination, and honouring their hearts in the way they go about changing the world is as important as drawing out the deepest part of their hearts in the first place.
Key 3 – Co-leading with Holy Spirit
The last point for today is about leading others to connect with God. As a coach I passionately believe that the solutions that people seek are often within them. Coaching helps facilitate finding answers. But, there is always more! God is always talking to us. We just have to tune in to hear him. In leading others, one of the most powerful things you can do is to park your own opinion and what you feel you want to give someone and tap into Holy Spirit to lead the conversation. This is something I call ‘prophetic coaching’ or ‘supernatural coaching’. It’s powerful, quick, loads of fun and gets to the heart of the matter in minutes. This along with taking those you lead into a direct encounter with Holy Spirit to hear for themselves revelation and insight is perhaps the best form of kingdom leadership that exists!
If you are interested in experiencing some of these techniques and learning how to adopt some fresh approaches to your leadership, contact us and check out our forthcoming online and Saturday training school.