One of the mistakes I see in youth pastors, associates and assistants is their limited view of leadership from their subordinate position.

Some take the attitude of "hear nothing, see nothing, and speak nothing." The only problem with that is they do nothing! They are afraid to lead so they rely on their senior pastor to make simple decisions for them.

Obviously, that is not the way to help manage your church or youth group. Church leaders need to learn how to step up to the plate and begin to lead from the inside out.

What do I mean by that? Here are some thoughts to help assist and explain to you what it means to lead from the inside out.

1. Realize everything you do is a direct reflection on your leader and the organization. Learn to make good decisions!
2. You can only lead to the level your leader delegates. He delegates to you because he believes you can get the job done. Keep him informed but don't keep asking him questions. If you're going to make him make all the decisions, then why should he keep you around? LEAD!
3. Never seek to "outshine" your leader. This is an egotistical attitude that got Lucifer kicked out of heaven. Your goal is to make your leader shine by the things you do.
4. Think outside the box and your area of responsibility. You have to think and plan as though you were the leader of the organization, but then be willing to yield or submit to the leader's final decision.
5. The anointing on your life will operate and function under your pastor's anointing.
   
   For example, I worked for Pastor Brooks in Dallas for 10 years, then I went to work for Pastor Hagin in Tulsa for five years. Their ministry styles are completely different. After a short time of being in Tulsa I noticed that I was ministering differently. I was flowing and operating under the style and anointing of Pastor Hagin.

What challenges will you face when you lead from the inside out?

• Your vision should always be subject or submissive to your pastor's vision. There have been times over the years when I have had big ideas only to be vetoed by my pastor. Did he miss God? Oh, I would love to say he did, but reality is, it just didn't fit with the vision for the big picture of the church at that particular time.
• You can't always spend, buy, decide, change, or add the way you want to. While this can be frustrating at times, be thankful (on the other hand) that you don't have to carry the financial burden and responsibility of the organization either.
• It's easy to become "soft" and shy away from making the tough decisions because you don't have to. When that happens, your leadership skills are kept from developing to their fullest potential.

When it comes to responsibility and decision making, the demands on you may not be as great as they would be if you were the actual senior pastor or leader. However, it is important that you "train" to grow past this stage or you will never know how to lead once you are a senior leader.

In staff meetings I would always evaluate the various church, business, or people situations that arose and inwardly challenge myself with this question; "If I were the senior leader, how would I handle this situation? What would I decide?" Then I would watch and learn from my senior pastor.

What Are The Opportunities?
There are many opportunities in learning to lead from the inside out. Here are just a few:

1. You have the joys of leading but not the burden of carrying the organization.
2. You have success in your area of ministry based upon the senior leader's success. I compare it to "drafting" in car racing.
   
   Two to three cars together in a streamline can actually go faster than one. (My redneck buddies know what I'm talking about.) As I stream-line behind my pastor we both go further and have greater success. If I break off and attempt to do my own thing, wind and resistence will hinder me as well as the organization.
3. It is an environment to grow, learn, and flourish in.

Some people think that being an inside leader hinders your growth. I see the direct opposite. I call it the "Greenhouse Effect."

Your church or ministry organization is a sheltered environment that allows you to grow. Even though you are only an employee, per se, you don't have to face all of the affects of the ministry and church environment.

On numerous occasions my pastors "took the bullet" to protect me. You bet I was grateful. So go for it! Start leading from the inside out, and become the leader God (and your pastor) believes you can become!

Dean Hawk Ministries
All rights reserved. Used by permission.