Setting the Bar, and Getting Passed Up.
Let’s start with a simple and basic leadership principle: That a follower very rarely, if ever, passes the leader in their own competency, skill, endeavor, etc… This is a tried and true principle that is proven over and over. There is this leadership ceiling if you will, a ceiling that caps off at an individual leader’s ability and leadership capacity, that disallows a follow to break past.
If you’re a fan of the work of Jim Collins, this has a lot to do with the principle of attraction. If you’re a 8+ leader, you will attract other leaders that are similar to your leadership capacity, but rarely would you attract a 9+ leader, and very rarely would you ever grow a leader past your own capacity.
What does this mean for student ministries; their pastors, and volunteer leadership? It means that if you are a 8+ leader and are not growing towards a 9, then you are stuck; unable to produce anything above where you are at.
This is not inherently bad, after all, an 8+ leader is doing pretty good. However, it is also not good. A lack of growth means that one day, a student or leader with 9+ potential will pass you up. Maybe there is one of them in your ministry today. You never really know. But you do know that there is a natural spiritual progression that needs to occur in the life of a leader.
We are not looking for 9+ leaders and students out there, but we are looking for those that are growing and who want to grow; those that want to set the bar high and yet make it attainable. Are you stuck? Are you satisfied? Are you capping off the growth of those that follow you? These are questions all genuine leaders must wrestle with in order to be excellent; a real 10!
