Mark Twain once said that when he was a child, he couldn't believe how little his parents knew. Yet, when he became a man, he was amazed at how much they'd learned. The older I get in youth ministry, the more I realize I have a lot more to learn.
I've found in youth ministry it's extrememly difficult to relate to the students without being relevant to them. I had a student one time send me a message on Facebook. He was letting me know that he appreciated the fact that his "peeps think you're legit." If you just had to ask someone else what that sentence meant, guess what - you've got a lot more to learn, too!
I periodically run a segment in Youth Staff e-Mails I call "Velcro". The whole purpose is to share some leadership concepts that I'm working on, learning, have learned or have even just been introduced to, with the leaders around me. I've shared on the blog once before in this vein, and I thought that I'd share again something that I'm learning and honing in my leadership. I call it "Leading From the On-deck Circle".
As I was reading in one of the blogs that I follow, I was reminded of something that's so important for all of us to understand: in order to be a great leader, we first have to be great followers!
One of the things that I enjoy doing, though I must admit I have much room to improve in, is equipping people to be leaders. In e-Mails that I send out to the Youth Staff volunteers who serve students with me, I've created a section entitled, "Velcro". In it I share leadership principles that "make leaders stick" (pun intended!); princples that I'm learning, or have been reminded of through blogs I read, other Pastors I talk to, etc. Once and a while, I plan on sharing some of these same thoughts here, because I believe that, no matter what we do, these principles are applicable to all of us.
John Maxwell defines leadership as "Influence. Nothing more, nothing less." That's a pretty succinct definition. At the same time, some people ask, "How do I gain influence with others?" It's simple: influence is commanded, not demanded; it's earned, not taken. Let me explain.
As a Youth Pastor, I have the privilege of reaching out to students and the Youth Staff members on a regular basis. The main purpose that I seek to gain their trust and influence is to that I can help guide them and influence them for eternity's sake. They then, in turn, can influence others for eternity's sake.
This is how I gain influence in their lives: consistency, dependability, genuine care and concern and support - in both good times and bad. You see, it can be downright intimidating thinking about how you might gain influence in someone's life. But, when you strip it down to it's barest essentials, it's simply earning someone's trust.
An easy way to determine how you might gain someone's trust (and earn influence in their lives) is to ask yourself this question: "Who do I allow to have influence in my life, and why do I allow it?" Often times, answering that one simple question is enough to let us see how we can become a trustworthy and influential person in others' lives, for the sake of eternity.
