The ability to communicate effectively and appropriately is one of the most essential components of quality new church leadership. Research reveals that 41% of people identified poor communication as the top mistake of their leaders. Specifically, leaders are perceived to fail in five primary ways:
- To provide adequate feedback, praise, and redirection (82%)
- To listen to or involve others in church processes (81%)
- To use a leadership style that is appropriate to the person, task, or situation (76%)
- To set and articulate clear ministry goals and objectives (76%)
- To properly equip and develop team members (59%)
In order to be an optimal leader of your church planting team, you would be well served to develop your skills in three key areas:
- Performance management skills: allocate enough time to adequately lead your people, set clear ministry expectations, corporately and personally celebrate progress in fulfilling the vision, exercise the courage to provide honest feedback when team performance is lacking
- Partnering skills: monitor continually the competence and motivational levels of your team, be more directive when circumstances are rather chaotic, disrupted or beset with disequilibrium (normally 20% of the time or less), be more facilitative in providing leadership by example as a means of encouraging and empowering your team to function, grow, and achieve (normally 80% of the time or more)
- Interpersonal skills: communicate with sensitivity, accuracy, and timeliness, listen actively, and make extra effort to disciple your team holistically with special focus on the spiritual, emotional, and relational dimensions
God-honoring new church leaders dare not charge ahead assuming everyone will follow, understand, and contribute. A highly dominant, “command-and-control” leadership style will seldom build and sustain the morale and sense of ownership of your team. As is often said and accurately so, everything rises or falls on leadership.
