The Biggest Mistake the Global Church Makes in Leader Development
Healthy Leaders | Issue 62
Welcome back to Healthy Leaders! In this issue, we identify the issue: a lack of identification.
Hello friends,
We’re glad you’re here with us again in the new year!
We closed out 2025 focusing on Christ-centered leader development — which has always been a focus for us, to be sure. He’s the foundation of everything we do! Our health as Christian leaders depends on our dependence on Him.
But our goal is not only to be healthy Christian leaders. It is also to build healthy leaders. And in order to build healthy leaders, we need to be strategic about building the right ones.
So… how exactly do we go about choosing the right ones?
Let’s dig into it.1
It’s striking to consider all of the resources poured into developing leaders across the globe, with little or no attention to determining their potential as future leaders! As Malcolm mentions, we don’t just need wonderful, faithful people, we need wonderful, faithful people who can lead.
Building the right people is an incredibly strategic choice, especially since most of us only have the time and resources to build one or two well! Exactly how we determine who the right person is will come in one of our future video teachings.
But here’s an example of what can happen when a high-potential leader is built.
One of the groups we worked with in recent years in India was made up of 24 young pastors whose focus was on building up youth. These emerging leaders were specifically gathered due to their high potential, and one in particular showcases what that means.
Pastor N is a passionate youth leader; young people are attracted to his commitment and purpose. His passion is only rivaled by that of his wife, who is actively involved in women’s ministry at the church with the same zeal. Together they make a strong team, building up young leaders who are now going on to plant churches in their own areas.
Because of the initial trainings he attended with us, Pastor N realized that the church he had recently been involved in planting was only running services, not transforming lives. He applied the ConneXions Model in that church, designing ways to move the people toward growth. Consequently, they were able to lay a strong and sure foundation for the church — a foundation that, in part, involved knowing which leaders to invest in heavily so they could assist in equipping the other members.
Pastor N said:
“Because of Building Healthy Leaders, I learned how to help people grow, understand their weaknesses and challenges, and understand how much time should be spent with which person. So we started making designs on those areas to build their capacity. Before that I never looked at it that way.”
Now, he meets regularly to fast and pray with the leaders he has built, keeping them accountable to the designs they have made for growth, and they spend time sharing, studying the Word of God, and interceding for each other.
All of his leaders were new converts in his ministry when they started in leadership. He identified their potential during their early service with him in the church, then trained them intentionally, praying all the while. As they were sent to pioneer new churches in new locations, he worked alongside them, constantly modeling and training, then handing over leadership to them when they were ready.
Pastor N continues to identify high-potential young men in his church with a calling for future leadership and high commitment to the Lord. Through the initial church he planted, he and his leaders have now planted two new churches with deep foundations and strong leaders. They have started five new prayer groups in hospitals and homes in the area. In one of these, four young men have come to the Lord — the firstfruits of many to come!
This is what comes of strategically identifying the right leaders to build: strong, healthy leaders who will go on to build strong, healthy leaders!
What about you?
At the turning of the year, it’s always a good idea to look back and look forward!
How has God worked in your life and ministry in 2025?
What are you praying He will do in 2026?
We’d love to hear your answers in the comments. We’ll join you in praising God for what He has done, and pray along with your vision for the new year!
Until next time, we’re with you!
— Chris
Recommended Resources
Model Brief: LeaderID
Video Course: Shaping a Culture of Generational Succession
Video Course: LeaderID: Identifying High-Potential Emerging Leaders
For more resources, visit our website.
As always, we’re so grateful to our friends at Fifty-Four Collective for helping us create these videos and for providing top-notch leader development online training. Check out what they’re doing!