Leadership Development Plan.

Hey, this is Tim Pratt Jr. and I want to welcome you to the Student of Life Podcast. Listen, we're going to get into so many transferable truths throughout the content of these episodes that I believe God is going to use to help you apply, because he's going to reveal what's already been there the entire time.

Enjoy.

Yo, what's up? So this is Tim Pratt Jr., I'm your host of the Student Life Podcast, and we're going to talk about leadership development. Or more so why leadership development is important. Uh, so we're not going to get into like a foundational text, although we might point to some passages of scripture, uh, but we're not— like I said, we're not going to get into a foundational, uh, more so verse in this episode. And I want to jump right into this one, pretty much like always. I want to jump right into this one, uh, so just kind of back up, give you some context. Um, so within the context of the local church, you know, I'm an associate pastor, and you know, one of the things I love to focus on, I usually, you know, focus on the operations and ministries, development of it, trying to bring actual, you know, really solid discipleship and leadership development plans to the local church. And, you know, one day, or as of what I'm trying to do now, is expand and do that in multiple ministries, kind of being like the coach, the leader of leaders or coaches of coaches in the context of the ministry. Place. Uh, in the secular, I'm a senior Agile delivery manager. What does that mean? You know, you look up Scrum Master, Senior Scrum Master, Agile coach, Agile leader, technology Agile, you know, technology leader or whatever. Not a technology leader in the context of like SVPs or anything like that, but more so just a servant leader to software development teams, Scrum teams. So I just encourage you to look that up if you want more context, but In a nutshell, it's basically, uh, helping software development teams deliver value, uh, being the glue, being kind of the, the engine behind that. You have a lot of smart people, a lot of intelligent people, but at the same time, people have to be continuously developed. We're continuously evolving, uh, we're getting better and better. We're in the knowledge age, you can learn anything, but we still have to kind of have like leadership development tracks because leadership is different than being an individual contributor. When you step into leadership, you're taking the responsibility of saying, I am going to lead people, I'm going to help, uh, make people become better at what they do, versus just, you know, kind of in this for myself, uh, and at the team level. So one of the things I love about that I just recently picked up is the Go and See, uh, theme from— I believe it's, uh, Les Large-Scale Scrum Lists, and it's basically where managers are like— dev managers are taking the role of more of a teacher. They're not really managing the team, but they're helping develop and coach and mentor and guide other developers that's up under them. So all of that being said, I don't want to bore you, bore you with all of that, but it's something that I really feel like we can take and see in the context of Ministry Marketplace or just across the board. And so one of the things that we first have to get into and understand that it isn't easy, but it's worth it if it's done right. It isn't easy, but it's worth it. It isn't easy, but it's worth it, and it has to be done right. As leaders, we should all have a leadership development plan for the people that we're leading. Like, even if— now, I'm not saying you have to sit and write 100% of that. You know, one thing I love about, uh, my leader in, in the context of where I work, 360, it was a, like, a collaborative effort. Like, every quarter I want you to kind of show me what you're trying to learn. What are you striving at? Like, what is something that you can probably learn easily? Then what would be like a stretch thing, you know, just throughout the year, uh, that's like, man, if I learn this, this would be really, really good, but I might have to chip away at it over the year. But then we kind of have those quarterly still challenging things, uh, and then we might have something on there that, you know, we can easily just go sign up and and do a training. So, uh, we have to have a leadership development. I believe if you are responsible for leading even just one, or especially multiple people, do you have these people on leadership development tracks? Because keep in mind, this is going to— it should trickle down. So as a leader, it's like, hey, we're going to come up, because going back to that positioning people well, I want to help develop you as a leader. And we're always growing because we're always evolving. I don't believe there's not a leader out there that's still not being coached that can say, I've arrived and I don't need any more training, I don't need any more development. Although we're in the information age, people still have to be developed. So it is— it's not easy, but it's worth it. And it has to be done right. It has to be done right in the context of your organization, has to be done right in the context of your leadership and that person. Another thing is, is that, you know, we look— going back to— we live in this knowledge age society, but we cannot take a microwave approach when it comes to this. It has to be that oven, oven-baked approach. Everything we wanted right now, an instant, because, you know, basically someone thinks because they go look at a video where it could have took this person 20 years to arrive at this 10-minute conclusion in this video, we think just because we look at the video now, we know how to go apply it in the context of our life. But just because, like, that's like me doing a bunch of research about football. Like, I know every position. I know how quarterbacks think. I know how, uh, think. I know how the, the linemen, you know, I know how running backs, receivers, I know the offensive line supposed to work. I know how coaches supposed to coach. I know about— I, I, this is all I do is I'm just consumed. I watch video after video. But there's a different story if you put me on the field. Not even just with the NFL, you put me in a competitive college, even a competitive high school team. And let's see, can I go and demonstrate it in real time? And a lot of times it's like, you know, like, or if I go to an advanced trainer, the best trainer in the world, and he says, okay man, 3 days, I can turn you— I have trained Patrick Mahomes, I put these greats through this training, and they go benefit from it right away. But then here I am, I kind of, you know, I play for fun or whatever, basketball, whatever you want to do. And you know, you can say LeBron or whatever in basketball, whatever. And they say, I want you to go through my 3-day count. And I go out there, but it doesn't stop there. I have to go take that information and continue to apply it, continue to try to learn from it, continue to say, okay, I tried to apply this, it didn't work, this context is different, oh, let me tweak this. I have to take that oven approach. It's not an, oh, let me throw you in the microwave and come out and you're ready. It's, it's not that. And I believe sometimes we fall prisoner for that in the context of, like I say, this whole microwave approach, because we live in a knowledge age because everything is a click away. There are a lot of things that you still have to know. And what I mean by know, you have to know it in the context of actually doing it, not just know it from a theoretical standpoint, but a practical, practical application. And this is very important because when it comes to it, a lot of times these first two things, if we don't do this right, we really stop developing leaders. The right way. And when we stop developing leaders, you stop the growth of your organization, you stop the growth of your ministry that you're responsible for stewarding over through the Power of God, you stop your small business, you stop, uh, you even put a cap on your kids. If you're a coach of a team, if you stop developing people, not just leaders, but just stop developing people, you shut down your growth. Because it's basically saying, I've arrived and there's nothing else more to learn, there's nothing else to do, even if this is just simply a sharpening the saw. It's nothing else for me to do. So we have to really be cognizant as a leader. This is why having a leadership development or discipleship plan is very important, very important, because when you stop it, you stop growth. And one of the things that we have to understand— this is more of a— this could probably be applied in the marketplace as well, but especially in the ministry— teaching and preaching the gospel, teaching and preaching the gospel without mentorship and discipleship, it will not achieve anything. So if you're having one-on-ones, yeah, that's good. If you're having one-on-ones, you're doing like a lot of teaching— I'm not gonna use the term preaching, but if you don't like a lot of teaching and I'm having these conversations but you don't switch over to more of a mentorship by the relationship discipleship thing, it won't achieve anything. Because that's like me meeting with my leader once a month or once a week, even for 30 minutes, 45 minutes, or an hour, and all they do is boom boom boom, hit me with a bunch of bullets points and we talk and we go back and forth, most of the time I'm going to be so busy that am I really on a plan to help me model that and get better? Now, a lot of people are self-driven learners, meaning they really take that, you know, serious. I do believe, without being cocky or anything like that, I believe I'm one of those people that I'm like, okay, I really try to take it and I try to focus and grow. And there's a lot of people like that, but also a lot of people are like, man, okay, good, this is good, just like sermons. Or messages, whatever you want to call them. We hear them in the moment, it's great, but are we taking that and truly trying to apply to our day-to-day life? Because Derrick Daniels, you know, he was— I was, I was listening to him on one thing, he was dealing with speaking, and he was saying, man, most of the time he's like, I know most of the messages I preach, by time next Sunday gets here, they're not going to remember none of it. By the end of the month, if I start preaching the first Sunday, by the fourth Sunday, that message is probably like in the faded background of their heart because it's just information to them. Then you have people that is transformational because they're trying to truly apply it. I might not be quoting word for word, but that's, that's a lot of truth. And I heard other pastors say— Chris Hodges, uh, of the church in Alabama, he was like, man, most of the time I know that people don't remember what I preached 2 Sundays ago. They can't tell me what I preached 2 Sundays ago at all, but they can tell me about something that they really love in their life. Like, if you ask them right now about a game at the first of the season and how it went, they probably can't tell you great detail, but they still can tell you the substance of the game, especially if they are a true fan or team. Somebody can tell you about games from 20 years ago because it's that embedded in them, because this is— that's how much it's plugged into them. And so we got— we have to understand that this teaching and preaching, sometimes we get like, why am I doing discipleship and mentorship? It's not— if it's not a plan that goes along, how do you have a, a measurement to— because you can go back and look at that leadership, you can go back and look at that leadership development plan or discipleship plan and say, okay, this is where I see progress, this is where I don't. We have something, uh, that we're sticking to. I, I literally can go back and point to like, you have been on the plan and this is where you truly should be around, or are you exceeding, are you ahead of the plan, are you behind? This is what helps us engage and figure out— we can't keep saying like, oh, I don't have the right team, I don't have the right leaders. Put them on a leadership development plan? And this is not a performance, this is just truly to help them grow. Or are they even— are they willing to grow? So we, we have to understand this. We, we have to truly understand this as leaders. And it's something that truly is really, really near and dear to my heart, uh, like I say, especially in ministry, but even in the marketplace. And, and, and you're starting to see it really take off. You know, it's a lot of conferences, a lot of coaches out there And I might do another up-to-date episode on why you need a coach. That might be the next one. Uh, that's what's in my spirit— why you truly need a leadership coach in your ministry, in your organization, or just a coach in general that specializes in the area that you're trying to grow in, whether it's health transformation or whatever. But why you need a coach— I don't want to keep it just specific to leadership, but in the context of this episode, we're talking about leadership. So that might be the next episode coming soon. Uh, but this is the good news about it. It can be developed. You can sit down. It is plenty of information out there, going back to coaches or other leaders or other pastors on it. You can develop your leadership plan.

It—

you, you can do it. It's not easy, but it's worth it. As I said earlier, it is not easy, but it is truly worth it. You can develop it, but you have to put the time in it. You do, because the job is never finished. When you are looking at people, like I said, like we said earlier, once you stop growing— I mean, once you stop leading, once you stop developing leaders, people stop growing. But if we have that mindset that it's not finished, if it's not finished, like, hey man, that, like, as long as you're active, as long as you're on this God-given earth, you know, in your good health, good mind, we're going to keep developing you. So this leadership development plan or, or discipleship plan, as leaders, we really have to spend some time because true Truthfully, as a leader, John C. Maxwell says it all. John C. Maxwell says like this, and I've heard it through Scrum, on the, uh, Scrum things and all of that. We should be leading ourselves out of a job. Meaning that, okay, I'm not saying, oh, let they— they're gonna fire you, or, you know, saying something like that, or, oh no, there's no need to come up and, you know, do a pass or come in here with this. No, it's more so saying so it can help you spend more time in the areas that matters most. Like, as a pastor, uh, as an associate pastor, if I was right now saying, okay, hey Tim, you're going to focus on this group and doing this, and I know I want to be— I know this takes a lot of vision, a lot of strategy, I need to be joining the hip, I need to be having conversations— then I need to help coach and develop and put people on a plan. Because if I have to get in there and start doing the job for people, continuously being pulled in because I don't know if I have the right team and I don't know if I'm positioning people well, I don't have any measurements, I don't have any tools, then it's going to take me more and more from basically sitting at the certain tables. Now I'm not talking about prestigious or anything, I'm just talking about sitting at certain tables to help move what I need to move forward or help advance what I need to help advance by the grace of God. Because I'm spending more time in the trenches. I don't know. Now I'm not saying leaders shouldn't roll up their sleeve and get in the trenches, that's not what I'm saying. But if— what I'm trying to say is that if my leader right now had to come in and continuously do my job roll up her sleeves and do my job all the time. And I'm continuing to put, I can't figure, I can't problem solve, I can't coach, I can't facilitate. There is no reason for me to be there. Now, there might be a times where I say, hey, I need you, I'm over this. And she's like, so let me roll up my sleeves and help you power through this because of what you're trying to get. That's different. And if she was like, oh no, that, that, that's above me, I don't go back, I don't do Scrum stuff anymore. I'm not saying that. But I'm talking about a continuous pull, she would not be effective in her role. And just imagine she's responsible for 7 people and 3 or 4 other people are doing it. So we have to really examine and zone in and say, you know, what do I need leadership to look at in the context of what I'm over? And it's going to look different. You have people that are very charismatic leaders, you have people that are very strict leaders, micromanagers. So It does— like, it's not going to look the same across the board. It's going to look based on how the personality, how that person is wired. I have worked for leaders that are kind of like really hands-off, like, I'm gonna give you some guardrails and you figure it out, you do you. I have been under leaders that want to know every little thing that I do, and I have been under leaders that truly are just like— I'm like, I don't even know how you got in this seat. Like, so, and I don't mean that in a bad way, but it's like they have taught me everything not to do. And I've probably only been under one person like that, maybe two, early. Like, this not necessarily in a professional setting, but more so like when I was like first coming up, like, uh, like, literally, like, I'm talking about like coming up, like, high school and, um, early college entry jobs. But I have literally like, man, okay, I have learned everything. And I have seen it from other leaders I haven't necessarily reported to, but it's like, okay, I also— I'm still learning I'm learning what not to do. So it is very important, once again, if you are a leader and you are not, you know, coaching people, you're not helping teach people, you're not helping remove impediments and roadblocks for them, if you're not creating a discipleship plan, you have really big issues because you have nothing to really show you if I'm truly developing this person. Because everybody's not going to take responsibility for their own self-development. Self-development is huge, self-awareness is huge. But as a leader, you have to ensure that. And I guarantee you, if you do it for just 3 months— I would say more so 6 months, go 2 quarters— but if you just try it for 3 months, and if you don't know what to do, if you lost, hey, contact us, man. Contact me, and we will come in and help you put together a leadership development plan. Like, this is truthfully what I love to do. I mean, it's something I live in every day. I, I love and then I would love to have conversations and work with your organization or your local church. Like, I'm talking about eventually getting to the whole full sweep of not highway robbing you, just like really teaching you like, hey, this is, you know, how you want to approach this so you can get the full potential out of everybody. Because if someone is in a leadership seat, they need to be developed, they need to be coached well.

Because if they're not, and if it's not consistent, I'm telling you right now, you are not going to get anywhere in your responsibility to grow, not just in a spiritual or maturity standpoint, but other people. Other people should get to know who you really are.

So I just want you to think about that and remember that it's not easy, but it's worth it if it's done right.

Hey, what's up? I want to thank you for taking the time to listen to the Student of Life podcast today. If this content has impacted you in any kind of way, please take some time to share it on your social media feeds. And also, if you want to connect with me or just learn more about me, go over to www.timothypratt.org. Once again, thanks.