I don’t know about you but a challenge of my ministry is to get my students to carry out their plans.

When we have our weekly planning meetings, my students are full of passion and great ideas, but as the semester goes by their passion seems to be forgotten. I’m not sure if they think someone else will make the event happen or if it will happen on its own.  For all I know, they may expect me to make every event miraculously happen.

This is the fine line that I walk.

We, as the church, are to prepare these students for leadership.

We are to equip, encourage and enable them to grow as leaders for the world and for the ministry.

We give them opportunities over and over again, but what do we do when they drop the ball? Do we do the task for them or do we let them fail? If they do fail, who does that failure reflect? Them? Our ministry? Me?

Failure is a part of life, and it is something that younger generations have to learn to deal with.

At what costs, however?

How do you know what to let them fail at or when to step in and help?

How do we motivate them to follow through to finish their tasks?

If we always step in, we are not teaching them anything. This is the heart of the problem.

Too many people are stepping in for them, making excuses for them, or finishing the task. I have actually heard students say, “I came up with the idea now, we need to find some one else to do it”.

All of us are dreamers.

We just need to get someone on our team who has the skills to follow through with ideas (or help us carry it out).  We need all types of people in leadership (my ministry especially needs more doers than thinkers), but I start to question whether this new, vibrant and upcoming generation can overcome its follow through frustrations?

Have they been allowed to do this in other areas and places?

Will they ever learn to be true activators?

How do we equip, encourage and enable them for true leadership?

These are questions that I keep asking myself over and over, and I still have yet to find an answer.

[ Back to LEADing LEADers Homepage ]

================

Sherry Smedshammer is serving in her eighth year as the Director of the Wesley Foundation at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, IL. She is the mom of two little girls (Harper, 5 and Quinn,1) and wife to Todd. She can be reached umwesley@siu.edu