Strengthening Your Team

It is not always easy to know what to do for leadership trainings. Training is a must and train leaders will only strengthen your team. One thing to remember, everyone on the team has different learning styles. Many even think of training as a waste of time. As a leader of leaders of leaders, I push back on the idea of "training being a waste of time." Training does a few things for the leader and the individuals who attend the leadership training opportunities.

1. Motivates the team to have more empathy and emotional intelligence
2. Gives direction and leaders stay engaged
3. Leaders can make better decisions
4. Helps bring clarity on how to move forward
5. Leaders move on and training helps with succession planning

 

As you are training, here are some ways that you can help you when coming up with trainings.  

 

1. Grow as a team

 

Give people the opportunity to grow in connection with others. Read books together, listen to podcasts, even watch training videos and discuss them with the team. Learning is an adventure and as leaders we should all be taking opportunities to grow in our strengths and weaknesses. This is a great way to strike up conversations with your team leaders and members on the fly.

 

2. Encourage peer-to-peer training

 

It is important to allow other leaders to have an opportunity to train their peers. I know that this is not everyone's favorite thing to do but the point is not to be the smartest person in the room. Lean into others and what they have to say, even if it is your peer. When you as the leader of leaders allows for new leaders to train the team can make better decisions, fill knowledge gaps, and create an internal knowledge base which in turn helps the success of the overall team. The team is only as good as its weakest member.

 

3. Use digital training

 

With the new normal, online training is no longer an up and coming thing
. Churches and schools are now making a shift to hybrid teaching. This has allowed for opportunities like self-directed learning, learn at your own pace, and even taking ownership of the learning process. As leaders this can be a benefit to you because you have the peace of mind knowing that your leaders are still being trained. This could be training emails, live or prerecorded trainings, even short texts can be a way to train.

 

4. Mentoring the Greenhorns

 

I think everyone who is in leadership should have a mentor. Someone who you can bounce ideas and ask questions of. As an up and coming leader this helps in the navigation process of a new area of ministry. No one should ever feel like they are in a sink or swim situation. New leaders need someone who will come along side them and walk with them as long as they need it. Think about the people who are on your teams now and start training them to mentor the greenhorns. We were never meant to do ministry alone.

 

5. Build leader confidence

 

If you want to build confidence in your leaders use the training option of roleplay. This will allow your leaders to broaden their leadership skills and also help them to think on their feet. Roleplaying in a controlled and safe environment builds trust on the team and gives the leaders time to try new things. When you do these kind of trainings you will want to make sure that you do the following: give the scenario, assign roles, give time for the team to put something together, act out the scenario, then allow for debrief and takeaways.