“The single biggest way to impact an organization is to focus on leadership development. There is almost no limit to the potential of an organization that recruits good people, raises them up as leaders and continually develops them.” ~ John C Maxwell
There is a huge difference between addition and multiplication. Adding followers to your cause is a good thing but multiplying leaders for your cause is so much better. When you add followers, you simply grow in numbers. When you multiply leaders, you grow in both capacity and consistency. When you multiply leaders who multiply leaders, you gain limitless potential.
Getting bigger isn’t always better. If the growth of your followers outpaces the development of your leadership capacity, you will drift from your purpose and values. Without the right leadership in place, fast growing organizations often face confusion and chaos. This is the common fallout of undisciplined growth. It’s the leader’s responsibility to prepare for growth by building leadership capacity.
By intentionally multiplying and developing leaders, you create capacity for healthy and sustainable growth. Having enough well trained leaders is foundational for maintaining your culture and staying on course with your mission. Always develop leaders ahead of your growth so they are already in place and ready when the growth occurs. Practicing this discipline will help you avoid chaos and bring more clarity and consistency to your team through all the challenges of growing to the next level.
Your process for multiplying leaders must be very purposefully framed by your vision, mission and values. Leaders who work together towards clearly defined goals and are guided by core values bring stability to an organization that is essential for its healthy growth. Growing by simply adding to your numbers can only result in local and limited growth. Sustainable growth comes from having the foresight to develop leaders who are unified and well prepared to carry out your mission. Multiplying these kinds of capable leaders creates the potential for unlimited growth.
Multiplying leaders will increase your capacity and move your organization from “local and limited” to “global and generational”. This is why the early church leaders made multiplying leaders their priority.
I left you on the island of Crete so you could complete our work there and appoint elders in each town as I instructed you. (Titus 1:5 NLT)
The early church leaders knew that they needed leaders of character aligned in their values and beliefs in order to sustain healthy growth and build capacity. These leaders laid the groundwork for the cause of Christ to become a global and generational movement. Every time a group of new believers emerged during the Paul’s missionary journeys, He would seek out capable leaders that he could equip and appoint to lead.
Every organization needs three things in order to be successful: the right people, the right resources and the leadership capacity to grow. Take time today to evaluate the leadership development strategy of your organization. How are you intentionally multiplying leaders?