Desired Attributes in a Strategic Leadership Team

By Dr. Tracy Jaggers

July 29, 2015

The 14 desired attributes in a strategic leadership team.

1. The catalyst. Someone must be the initiator of the process and the plan.
2. The outsider - someone new; someone without a long history in the church body; someone distantly removed from any politics or division. Joel Allen Barker asks, “What kind of person is a paradigm shifter?” He states simply, “an outsider”[1] An outsider has a clearer perspective on the situation and he/she is not overwhelmed with the grief of the problem.
3. The problem-solver - a person who can organize the people to follow the Lord’s leadership. The problem solver sees the probabilities for obstacles and/or barriers and plans a way around them.
4. The visionary - a visionary sees what others cannot yet see. Even the outsider, mentioned earlier, must be sympathetic to the need for growth and health and envision their part in developing a solution.
5. The motivator. A team member who can speak with confidence, and rally the troops with his/her words, is likely to find that the team is being followed by an eager crowd.
6. The persuader. A selfless persuader can influence a church, to press outward toward the world in need, rather than being inwardly–focused. The selfless persuader is a prize to any group or congregation.
7. The risk-taker. Every great leader will face a certain level of risk to accomplish what they knew was absolutely essential to the cause. Jesus is the ultimate example of this attribute.
8. An empathizer. A restoration leader who cares deeply for the people, enough to join them in their pain and their struggle back to productivity, and ultimately to restoration and revival is a leader who will endear himself to the people he serves.
9. A persevering leader. Perseverance is steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. It is the character trait that compels one to struggle through failures, difficulties or opposition to achieve one’s desired outcome or goals. [2] Leaders of change, innovation, creativity, and vision may be misunderstood by some, but a team leader - who perseveres, refuses to throw in the towel, or run to a greener field - can help a church bounce back from the brink of death.
10. A planner. Each time a barrier presents itself, the planner prayerfully prepares a plan to keep the work on track and reiterates the goal to be attained.
11. A recruiter - one who can recruit workers with a vision and a plan to accomplish the goals. Restoration is a team effort. There must be a leader who can recruit the congregation to buy into the renewal plan for the process to be effective and maintainable. Without the team environment, renewal would be similar to a coach without any players on the court or field; the game will never be effective.
12. The organizer. This team member makes sure all the resources are present, gives specific assignments so the group is confident concerning their task, and observes and evaluates the effectiveness of the assignments. Organization will not eliminate difficulties, but it can provide multiple options to each barrier.
13. The delegator. He does not accomplish the task in his own power. Michael McCutcheon speaking wisely in favor of the need for delegation, quotes J. Oswald Sanders by saying, “To insist on doing things oneself because it will be done better is not only a shortsighted policy but may be evidence of an unwarranted conceit.”[3]
14. A person of prayer. Being a person of prayer demonstrates an interdependence on the subject of one’s faith.

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Jesus’ leadership reaction to His followers was: “But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary [harassed] and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd [leader, guide]” (Matthew 9:36).  Biblical leadership is absolutely essential to restoration and church health.

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[1] Malphurs, Pouring New Wine into Old Wineskins, 71.

[2] The New Oxford American Dictionary, s.v. “Perseverance.”

[3] Michael McCutcheon, Rebuilding God’s People: Strategies for Revitalizing Declining Churches (Camp Hill, Christian Publications, 1993), 36.