Leadership Development

YES – WE ARE TALKING TO YOU!

In the 20^th Chapter of the Gospel of Matthew we read of a unique request from the mother of James and John, that they both be granted places of honor to the right and left of Jesus in his kingdom.  When the other ten apostles heard of this they become quite indignant.  Jesus’ admonition to His apostles lays the groundwork for servant leadership:

24 When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. 25 Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."  (NIV – emphasis added)

Many people immediately raise a red flag when they hear the word leadership.  Cast aside those notions and hear the words of Pastor and Teacher John Maxwell: “Leadership is influence – nothing more, nothing less – leadership is influence.” We would add to that “and everyone influences someone.”  We all have the ability to influence others if in no other way than how we live our lives.  The things we do often speak much louder than the things we say.  We all influence others, thus we all lead in some way.  We want to help you to lead like Jesus.

We offer several venues for developing and employing your leadership gifts.  Some are more intensive than others, but we are confident one of them is just right for you to realize your full potential as a servant leader.  What follows is a brief explanation of the classes offered.  Take a moment to read through them.  If you have questions, please contact John Edenfield ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) for additional information.  We’d love to hear from you.

THE EMERGING JOURNEY

The following quote from Pastor Eugene Peterson, author of The Message, sets the stage: "...in a culture in which there is enormous attention to leadership, it is essential that we take a long hard look at what is previous and foundational to leadership, namely, "followership" – following Jesus (Mark 1:17) ....Leadership that is not well grounded in followership–following Jesus–is dangerous to both the church and the world." The Emerging Journey is a set of experiences and relationships to guide you into a personal exploration of three primary questions in your life: Who is God? Who am I? What does God desire to do through me?

Let me explain the process.  We normally begin in September and run through late April, but we do take breaks for all the “normal school holidays.”  We meet once a week for two hour sessions to encourage accountable, safe relationships, thoughtful reflection, honest conversation, and prayer.

Like any college-level class, there is “homework.”  We hope you would spend 2-4 hours each week reading and prayerfully reflecting on the content presented in the manual, a book of the Bible, and the recommended text for each stage. You will also spend time reflecting on how what you are learning is shaping your own life and the lives of people you know.

There are four stages to The Emerging Journey – each one having a manual to guide you.  The basic curriculum materials have been prepared by VantagePoint3, an independent Christian leadership forum. There is also an additional reading requirement for each stage.  We have included those titles along with the stage names.

Stage 1: Biblical Foundations, includes Henri Nouwen’s In the Name of Jesus

Stage 2: Personal Foundations, includes David Benner’s The Gift of Being Yourself

Stage 3: Relational Foundations, includes Michael Card’s The Walk

Stage 4: Practical Foundations, includes Christian Reflections on the Leadership Challenge

THE EQUIPPING EXPERIENCE

For those who desire to go a little deeper into the practical aspects of servant leadership, we offer a second eight-month course of instruction.  Here we combine materials from VantagePoint3 with the EQUIP Leadership Development curriculum from our own North American Baptist Conference.

Just like the Emerging Journey, we normally begin in September and run through late April, once again with breaks for all the “normal school holidays.”  We too meet once a week for two hour sessions to encourage accountable, safe relationships, thoughtful reflection, honest conversation, and prayer.

And yes, there is “homework” with this curriculum as well. Again, we would hope you would spend 2-4 hours each week reading and prayerfully reflecting on the content presented in the curriculum materials and character studies from Scripture. You will also spend time reflecting on how you are able to apply what you are learning to serve within our church family.

Again, there are four stages to the Equipping Experience.  Stage titles with additional reading materials are as follows:

Stage 1: Direction, includes readings from Tom Marshall’s Understanding Leadership

Stage 2: Team, includes John Ortberg’s Everybody’s Normal Till You Get to Know Them

Stage 3: Strategy, includes readings from Tom Marshall’s Understanding Leadership

Stage 4: Process, includes readings from Tom Marshall’s Understanding Leadership

MAXIMIZING YOUR EFFECTIVENESS

For those desiring a shorter, less intensive, but still insightful and useful course on servant leadership, we also offer two 10-week Sunday morning classes (normally offered during the 11:30 AM period).  These two components use the NAB EQUIP Curriculum.  This curriculum relies upon the widely acclaimed work of John Maxwell and his Million Leader Mandate initiative. Although short in duration, each component addresses three areas crucial to servant leadership development: spiritual formation, skill formation and strategic formation.

Both of the components under the Maximizing Your Effectiveness umbrella make reference to the Divine Design Workshop, offered by our Equipping and Mobilizing Ministry. Although what we speak to below seems to us to be a natural and logical progression, we want to be clear of two things: these classes are not prerequisites for the Workshop nor is the Workshop a requirement to attend either class.

Maximizing Your Effectiveness: Learning to Lead

This component begins in September and runs through November (prior to Thanksgiving).  These ten sessions provide biblical leadership principles that are both timeless and universal.  This is a good primer for sticking your toe into the waters of servant leadership and an excellent first step to prepare for the Divine Design Workshop offered each January.  The next Learning to Lead component begins Sunday, September 11, 2011.  Check the QLBC bulletin for classroom location.  The topics of discussion are:

God’s Call for Us to Lead

The Heart of a Leader

Cultivating Your People Skills in Leadership

Delegating Tasks and Developing People

Leading When Times are Tough

Five Levels of Leadership

The Art of the Basin and the Bowl

The Life You Were Meant to Live

Principles for Getting the Job Done

Leadership and Personal Growth

Maximizing Your Effectiveness: Going Deeper

This class, also ten-weeks in length, begins in February and runs to mid-April.  This block of instruction is designed to take you deeper into solid Christian leadership principles and add both sound reasoning and resources to your leadership toolkit.  These classes also spend additional time in Scripture examining biblical characters, good and bad, to develop sound servant leader applications.  This class is an excellent “top off” for those completing the Divine Design Workshop.  The next Going Deeper component begins February 5, 2012. The topics of discussion are:

Today Can Be a Masterpiece

The Right to Have Followers

Are We Prepared for Relationships?

Are We Willing to Focus on Others?

The Myths of Leading from the Middle of an Organization

The Challenges the 360-Degree Leader Face

Change Your Thinking and Change Your Life

Failing Forward

Rethinking Failure

Become a Talent-Plus Person