By Linson Daniel
This was an interesting year for me. My leadership was really stretched.
I went from planting new chapters to planting new areas for InterVarsity/USA in North Texas and Oklahoma. Four years ago, my team started as one area with 390 students in 7 chapters. It has since grown to become 707 students in 16 chapters. Now, my area has multiplied into three new areas each with its own area director.
I’ve reflected back on the past four years to figure out which steps nurtured the apostolic impulse needed to generate this growth. As a leader, you can help foster apostolic impulse in every team member! I’ve distilled it down to these three steps:
STEP #1: CULTIVATE AN ABUNDANCE MINDSET
Abundance is the breeding ground for growth. Abundance leads to confidence and risk-taking. Scarcity is the opposite of abundance. Scarcity leads to self-preservation, fear, and doubt.
Ironically, abundance and scarcity have nothing to do with how much you actually possess. It is a mentality! I’ve seen super-talented people act like they don’t have the skills to succeed. Conversely, I’ve seen the mediocre strive for significance and succeed.
As a leader, remember you have control of this mentality. Cultivate an abundance mentality on your team. Be positive. Be generous. Be thankful. Believe unapologetically that God will provide. Be sacrificial. It’s incredible — your team will take risks, sacrifice, and reach new places when they believe in God’s abundance.
STEP #2: MAKE “THE EDGE” DESIRABLE
The edge is an important place. The edge is the place that expansion happens. It is where the Kingdom grows into new territory. It is where light pierces into darkness. When your team embraces the edge, you will spark apostolic impulse!
As a leader, you must talk about the edge often. Frame it in terms of influence, experimentation, and growth. Take your team to visit the edge often. Host meetings there. Eagerly and prayerfully expect your team members to have their hearts break for these new places. Hire people that will go to the edge with boldness. Anytime you gather together, share stories of the edge.
Making the edge a desirable place to serve will spark some level of apostolic impulse in every team member!
STEP #3: MODEL THE DISCIPLINE OF SELF-LEADERSHIP
Apostolic teams tend to become highly entrepreneurial. This means that members need to learn to lead themselves and not wait on their respective supervisors (namely, you). Self-Leadership is critical in order to maintain apostolic impulse. The interesting thing about self-leadership is that it must be modeled, not trained.
As a leader, you must develop the discipline of self-leaderhsip. A few examples of this is as follows:
- Say “no” to opportunities that do not align with your mission
- Discover your strengths and develop them on your own time
- Seek out mentors and practitioners to grow and deepen your skills
- Read books about your niche, your strengths, and your industry
- Practice reflection and rest so you can continue surging forward
As your team grows in self leadership, you can all make more time to get to new places. Thankfully, a great by-product of self-leadership is that you multiply influence. You will be able to promote people into new positions more quickly. Your team will enjoy the culture of mission and development simultaneously. This creates sustainable apostolic activity.
I have faithfully applied these three steps during the past four years. It has developed a fun, bold, apostolic team that loves to see new people and places reached for the Kingdom. This team has fostered unprecedented growth and multiplication in North Texas and Oklahoma. God’s Kingdom continues to expand — I pray that you will be a leader that joins in God’s mission by developing apostolic impulse in your team.
Question: Do you have any additional tips or ideas on how to help your team develop apostolic characteristics?
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