Serve Your Way to the Top – 7 Lessons I Learned While Serving My Way onto a Church Staff

Lesson 5 – Grow Something

⁸This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” -John 15:8

This is probably one of the hardest lessons I learned and that I’m continually learning. To recognize that part of serving isn’t just showing up and doing what you’re told. It’s taking what you’re given and growing it. Making it better. Your ability to grow something will always result in your promotion. You’re inability to grow something will result in frustration and possibly demotion.

You won’t serve your way to the top just by showing up. You’ll serve your way to the top when you grow something.

So how can you grow the area you oversee?

1.) Get Coached - I’m a young leader – there is so much I don’t know it’s not even funny. To be honest, I don’t know a lot about how to grow an organization. So what do I do to make up for my incompetency? Surround myself with people who have grown something and ask them lots of questions. Experienced people will take your farther, faster.

2.) Steal Everything! – Don’t know what to do? Find out who is doing it well and steal their model! Steal their creative ideas! In time, you’ll be able to take others ideas and mold them with your own. Never stop coming up with creative ideas yourself, but never be afraid to copy someone or some organization that does it really well.

3.) Develop Potential Leaders - Find the potential leaders in your organization and develop them. When they’re ready – put them in charge of an area and help them grow it. To be honest, if you have the right leader, growth will take care of itself. Believe in people and let them go to grow!

What are some things you do to grow something in the areas you lead?

Serve Your Way to the Top – 7 Lessons I Learned While Serving My Way onto a Church Staff

Lesson 1 – Develop a Plan for Personal Growth

Give your complete attention to these matters. Throw yourself into your tasks so that everyone will see your progress.

-I Tim. 4:15

“The motivation behind personal growth: The conviction that you value yourself and that there is value in your dream.”

One of the best decisions I ever made was the decision to do something each day to intentionally grow in three areas:

1.) Grow in my Relationship with God- Nothing is more important than this. Without God, you can not do anything worth doing. Everyday I spend time with God, I get in the Word, and I listen to sermons.

2.) Grow in Leadership – If Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less, then we are all leaders in some aspect. I believe everyone should continually be doing something to grow in their leadership. There are tons of book and cd’s you can get your hands on. Perhaps the greatest thing you can do to grow as a leader is what Bill Hybels said, “Always be leading something.” – Nothing helps you grow like actually doing it!

3.) Grow in the Area of my Gifting and Passion - Want to know what you’re supposed to do in life? What are you passionate about and what are you good at? When you find those two – I promise it’s linked to your call. Once you find these two – give yourself to them. Do everything you can to grow in those areas.

Everyday I read, everyday I file, everyday I write, and I try somehow, to get mentored everyday.

If you don’t grow – you’ll go.

Do you have a plan for personal growth? What are you doing intentionally to grow?

This series I am starting came from an opportunity given to me by Pastor Larry Bettencourt. He puts on servant-leadership conferences for youth ministries around the nation.

He asked me to put together a lesson for youth ministry leaders. The lesson God gave me was, Serve Your Way to the Top - 7 Lessons I Learned While Serving my Way onto a Church Staff.I hope you’ll apply these principles in your own life.

These Lessons:

1.) Might Seem Like Common Sense – though we hear the same principles over and over again, we must always ask ourselves, I may know this, but am I doing it. It’s only in practice will these help you.

2.) Will Work Outside of the Church World – Though I learned these lessons serving at a church, if you’ll apply them in any arena, you’ll start to see yourself improving and climbing the ranks!

3.) Do Not Guarantee You’ll Get on Staff at Your Church – Though these were lessons I learned, the reason I am on staff is because God opened a door – PERIOD. These lessons will allow you to stand out, and as your faithful, God will open up doors and God will promote you. Trust Him for your future.

The 7 Lessons Are:

1.) Develop a Plan for Personal Growth

2.) Be Comfortable With Yourself

3.) Serve or Work as Though You Were on Staff

4.) Be a Great Number 2 – Become Indispensable

5.) Grow Something

6.) Recognize that Changed Lives, Not Popularity is what Matters

7.) You’re Not that Bad

I’ll break each of these lessons down over the next few days. My hope is that they’ll help you serve your way to the top wherever it is you are working or serving.