Validating a thought…empower your key team
Every week in my children’s ministry we have our key team, that is our service oversights and key leaders, fill in ‘Service Evaluations’ with their team where they sit down as a team and write out what went well and what needs to improve as well as which kids and leaders were awesome that day!!! This is a great concept but many leaders hold their thoughts back because it takes time to do this and what is anyone actually reading my thoughts anyway. So…
This week one of my AMAZING leaders Kieran Short, who’s role is to action these thoughts, started emailing the entire key team from his age group (only 6 or 7 people) with what came through on these forms and what changes we are making to improve this. The brilliant thing is even if it isn’t the right time to action an idea the person who presented it still feels like it was valued enough to be considered. Also when, like most thoughts, they are outworked, the team leader who suggested it immediately feels valued and empowered to take OUR ministry forward. It gives them ownership and I promise you they will only step up as leaders because of it.
Now, does this mean you, as the leader, have to spend your time running around fixing the problems your claritin generics team raise? No, of course not! If it is not the right timing then be strong and tell the team where you ARE going, but it places value on them for having the idea in the first place and empowers all your key team to action the outworking of the plan.
Thus ends the lesson.
