DEVELOPING LEADERS:HOW TO DEVELOP LEADERS FOR THE MISSION Va l Gordon, with material b y R ic h Lamb The Leadership Styles Chart outlines four broad styles of leadership that are often needed in developing leaders. Typically as leaders we tend to lead out of one or two of the styles based on natural tendency and/or giftedness. The chart helps us see that using one style can limit the development of student and faculty leaders, because people need different things from us in their own leadership journeys. This article discusses ways to choose which styles are best in different situations. Take a look at the chart on 4.13. Notice the two axes: Task Focus and Relationship Focus. These create four main style combinations. Directing behavior, high task/low relationship This style is for students or faculty who are being invited into a leadership task or role. Your goal is to pitch what it is you are asking the person to do and to gauge their willingness to be involved. You are less concerned about ability at this point. Your focus is on the task and less on the relationship. Example: You are inviting Cherise to lead a Bible study. You are clear about what it will require on her end and what you are promising her with regard to training and support. INTRODUCTION ANALYSIS VISION LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT WORSHIP & PRAYER SMALL GROUPS LARGE GROUP NSO EVANGELISM Coaching behavior, high task/high relationship This style is for people who have agreed to a leadership role but are unable to do the role based on skill or ability. Your goal is to help them feel equipped do the role they have signed on to do. Example: Carlos has agreed to lead a Bible study but feels weak in the area of prepping scripture. You coach him in this specific role. You might prep the first passage and go through it together, highlighting why you asked the questions you did. You might look at scripture passage together and then come up with questions for the study, re-working or editing Carlos’s questions so that he begins to understand why some questions tend to “work” better than others. You might teach him the inductive OIA model (observe, interpret, apply). You might have him prep a couple studies alone and go over it with you. Sometimes we assume that an eager leader is ready to lead, and we might be tempted to skip the coaching step. We make the mistake of moving to supporting or delegating behavior at this stage. We are grateful that people are willing to lead and we send them off to lead before they are ready. 4.10 Supporting behavior, low task/high relationship This style is for those who know how to do the task they have signed on for, but they do not feel confident in their ability. Your goal is to help them believe they can do it. Example: Lea is able to prep her own passage but still wants to meet with you to have you check it. Your goal is to help her have confidence in her ability to lead without your help. You might process what she is afraid of, or you might remind her of how she has done this before, and/or you might pray with her that God would increase her faith in what he is able to do through her. What you might be tempted to do is continue helping Lea prep passages— that is, revert back to coaching behavior. This is not necessary or ideal, because what is needed for people to grow is to lead out on their own. Delegating behavior, low task/low relationship This style is for those who are willing and able to do the task or role. Your goal is to entrust the responsibility to them. Example: Stephan preps his own passages each week with little or no guidance or support from you because he feels confident in his ability and is eager to take on the role. Three simple steps in using the leadership styles chart INTRODUCTION ANALYSIS VISION LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT WORSHIP & PRAYER SMALL GROUPS LARGE GROUP NSO EVANGELISM 1. Identify the task 2. Identify the follower’s ability to do the task 3. Identify the leadership style to match the follower’s need. Implications of the chart (from Sketches of Leadership #10: Leadership Styles, by Rich Lamb) • No single leadership style is best for every person, or for every person all the time. Every leader who trains others must have the capability to lead in all four types of styles. • The same follower can be in quadrant four in one area (capably taking responsibility) and in quadrant one in another area (needing close direction and hands-on guidance) at the same time. • Timescales vary. The training process can take years, months, a few days, or 90 minutes, depending on the context. • The follower(s) can be an individual or a team. Different team members may be ready for leadership styles from us that are different from what others on the same team need. 4.11 • We must understand our own preferred style of leadership, and find ways to benefit from our tendencies without stunting the growth of people or teams we lead. Using the Leadership Styles Chart INTRODUCTION ANALYSIS We ask leaders to do a lot of tasks, and if we have a large number of leaders, it may feel overwhelming to think about the leadership styles chart for every leader and every task. The key is to match the leadership styles with the learners in any given situation so that the person or team develops. VISION Here are some suggestions to making the leadership styles chart more user-friendly LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT 1. Your leadership team: Pick a few key tasks you would like them to get a handle on over the course of a semester or year and use the four leadership styles in your planning process. 2. The key students or faculty you are mentoring: use the chart to help you get a sense of how you could have influence in their lives over the next semester or year. 3. Problem-solving: Pick up the chart when you are aware that a leader is not fulfilling the agreed-on role or task. The styles chart will help you discern what went wrong because it encourages different questions: Was the leader willing? Did he or she or you think they were able to do the task and they were not? Does the student know what to do but does not feel released or empowered to lead? WORSHIP & PRAYER SMALL GROUPS LARGE GROUP NSO EVANGELISM Using the Leadership Styles Chart can help us in our planning and approach to student and faculty leaders and allow better training with more flexibility to take place. The leaders will end up feeling trusted and empowered to lead at the levels most appropriate to them. 4.12 LEADERSHIP STYLES FOR LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT Task Focus Leader’s relationship with the follower is a crucial component of task focus and accomplishment Follower participates in defining direction and significantly accomplishes the task. Leader defines direction and is significantly involved in accomplishing the task. 3. Supporting Behavior The leader supports and encourages the follower’s lead toward progress and accomplishment of the task. 2. Coaching Behavior The leader explains choices and decisions and provides opportunity for clarification. Leader: Disengaging the task but relationally available. Relationship Foc us Follower: Able but unwilling or insecure. participating, encouraging, collaborating, committing Leader’s relationship with the follower is not a crucial component of the accomplishment of the task 4. Delegating Behavior The leader entrusts responsibility for both the plans and their implementation toward the accomplishment of the task. Leader: Engaging on the task and relationally available. Follower: Unable but willing or confident. selling, explaining, clarifying, persuading INTRODUCTION ANALYSIS VISION LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT WORSHIP & PRAYER SMALL GROUPS LARGE GROUP NSO 1. Directing Behavior The leader makes clear invitation into the task / goal and provides specific instructions regarding its accomplishment. Leader: Disengaged on the task and relationally more distant. Leader: Inviting, but clear. Follower: Able, willing and confident. Follower: Unable and unwilling or insecure. observing, monitoring, fufilling telling, guideing, established EVANGELISM 4.13