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Effective Leaders
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What Wes Mills said about people having a different leadership capacity took a weight off my shoulders. In high school I was always told I could be a great leader. I was in a leadership role at a summer camp after that and had an awful experience. I then decided I was not equipped to be a leader – that I didn’t have the personality for it. But Now learning that being a leader means having influence and having the characteristics of spirituality, casting vision, understanding my strengths and weaknesses, and so on has helped me to see that I am a leader. And I am a leader with a smaller leadership capacity. I see the influence I have in small circles, so I know I can operate in leadership in that environment. But I would struggle to have influence over even a group of 30. The concept of leadership capacity helps me to not disqualify myself from leadership.
Because this concept if fairly new to me, I don’t see a way I can increase my leadership capacity presently. Possibly in the future, but I wouldn’t know what steps would be needed for that until I better understand being a leader in this stage of my life.
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Leadership capacity is something I did not understand for a long time. I believed that capacity was about discipline and determination alone and not actual limitations that are Biblical and healthy. As a result, I never stopped to ask myself “what is my leadership capacity” or “what is the capacity of those around me.” I have often been told I have a high leadership capacity; however, I think more often than not it is because I have pushed past my capacity into burnout in order to prove that to be true. The idea of a leadership capacity has been a very helpful thing for me to understand because it allows me to appreciate what I am able to give and what others are able to give in a healthy way without pushing each other’s boundaries or leading to disappointment because of false expectation. Nevertheless, I appreciate how Wes describes how to grow your leadership capacity where we can be honest about what we can handle, but we can continue to grow to take on more and increase our leadership ability.
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I think leadership capacity is something we don’t talk about enough. Biblically Jesus in calling all of us to be leaders, bringing the lost to Him. It is important to know that everyone is a leader, but it is also key to remember that nobody is perfect. some people may not have the capacity to be a great and strong leader to hundreds or thousands of people, and that is ok, maybe even a good thing. God is always going to push us to grow and excel in our contexts to be better ministers for him, but he is never going to send you in unprepared. That being said, with a reliance on the Holy Spirit we are able to lead well. If we aren’t ready for the step of leading in the hundreds or thousands, God isn’t going to push us or even want us to do that. we all have a personal capacity because everyone is different. We need to spend time with God to grow our capacity, taking time in devotions and worship. we need to dialogue with God, understand what he sees in us, and walk faithfully. a good practice is also to ask others how they might see God working in your life and listen to what others think you need to do to improve. Leadership is a gift I think God especially gives to all believers when we are saved. Our capacity grows with our mission.
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As someone who hates to admit they have limits, leadership capacity can be a hard thing to swallow. That being said it is important to look at our leadership skills and think, yes maybe I can lead 100 people but will I lead them as well as I would lead 10? I also believe some people are gifted to shoulder more or heavier leadership than others and thus for some 100 people feels hard but very much manageable where others stepping out and leading 10 will be already be challenging and that is okay. Both are equipped leaders but again have different capacities. I think it is always possible to increase you capacity as a leader especially if it is what God is calling you into. The first few steps I believe would be to ask the Lord to highlight areas of my life that need some work. I would also look at how I am currently leading myself and the capacity I currently lead and ask is this healthy? Am I being faithful and fruitful with what God has already given me? If I answer no to any of these questions obviously there is some work to be done to increase my capacity, if that is what He is asking of me.
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