• Learning Leadership On the Job
Learning Leadership On the Job
Very few churches hire a Kidmin that is fully trained in Leadership. They expect you to grow in your leadership, while you are in the position. However, they expect you to have some training in place, so they do not have to fully training you in Leadership. So another way to say it, “they are willing to pay you to learn.” Leaning how to move your leadership skills along, while being employed as a Kidmin, is the issue. Why not decide to take seriously your issues with leadership, instead of working the same way for years, and expecting different results? Someone might become unhappy with your leadership style a get frustrated with you. Your leadership style and skills need to grow and mature as you do.
Here are some things you can do to improve and grow in your leadership skills.
- Read books on leadership and take it seriously.
- Attend leadership tracks when attending conventions and conferences.
- Take some leadership skill tests and get some help with interpreting them.
- Talk with other leaders about lessons they have learned about leadership.
- Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your own leadership style.
- Notice the leadership styles of others and try to discern what compliments them.
- Set small goals that can change or altar your leadership issues and skills.
- Attend Leadership Summit (Hybels) and other workshops that come to town.
- Become a student of your leadership style and how it relates to the leadership styles of other leaders.
- Search the Internet for leadership blogs. Find Kidmin who write about leadership.
- If you are an “all or nothing” kind of person, you will need to work farther ahead and break the projects down into smaller units to chip away at projects.
- If you are having trouble planning the program, the art of pre-thinking will help you to anticipate the steps to completion.
- If you are a procrastinator, work in drafts and short-term goals not expecting perfection in the beginning.
- If you are a “bottom-line person,” patience is needed with the process- oriented leader.
- If you are really impatient, you will learn patience from conflict and many trials.
- If you have trouble rethinking the same thoughts repeatedly, writing down your thoughts and they will stop recycling.
- If you are afraid of criticism, sorting out your decision process with a trusted person can really help your confidence.
- If you are a behind-the-scene type leader then you will need to work more in groups and resource leaders who will take the stage.
- If you are creative and think outside the box, you have to work with someone allows for this, but knows how to bring you back to focusing on what’s next.
- If you are a quick, decisive leader, you have to learn how to process others for ownership or you will be too far in front.
- If you are being criticized for your leadership style, it is best to quickly acknowledge it, apologize and ask if there is something you can do or learn that would make your leadership better. You must learn to be teachable from your critics—they have insights that might help you.
- If you are getting resistance, try working on your relationship with them. Maybe you need to understand their position more.
I recommend that you secure the book:
The Delicate Art of Dancing with Porcupines: Learning to Appreciate the Finer Points of Others, By Bob Phillips
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