Diagnosis: The Leaders in Your System

Once you’ve gathered the basic information about the groups in your system, it’s time to find out a little more, to look more closely at the leaders themselves.  And as I mentioned in the first article in this series, there is a purpose to this step.  From your diagnosis you’ll learn a lot about how to help your leaders and what needs to happen next in the development of your system.

There are several components in diagnosing the leaders in your system.

• How did they begin as a leader?  Were they chosen at a connection?  Did they volunteer as a host initially?  Were they developed as an apprentice and then help launch a new group?  Were they a member in a group and then took over as a leader after a previous leader stepped down?  As you can see, there are a number of ways that a person might have ended up as a leader.  Can you see how understanding the path they’re on might be important to know?
• Do they see themselves as a leader/shepherd of their group?  Or do they see themselves as simply a host (someone who just opens their home and turns on the DVD player?
• Are they open to being discipled or developed?
• Do they have an active  connection with a coach in your system?  Do they have a “name only” connection with a coach?  Have they rejected a previous coaching assignment?
• Do they see themselves and their group as an extension of the ministry of your church?  Or would they describe themselves as “not really affiliated with your church?”
• Do they actively participate in leader training/encouragement events?
• Does their group participate when there is a church-wide study or alignment?
• Do they actively follow up when a potential new member expresses interest in their group?
• Do they do everything for their group?  Or are they actively sharing leadership with other members?
• Do they lead every session?  Or are they rotating the facilitation among their members?
• Does the group always meet at the leader’s home?  Or are they rotating their meeting place?

These are the basic questions I use in developing an understanding of the leaders in my system.  You may have others.  The key is to actively develop a better understanding of the leaders who are building the members in your groups.

You can read the next article in this series, How To Diagnose the Coaches in Your System, right here.