The right set of disciplines is essential to effective team leadership — in ministry and in every other field. One of these disciplines is the ability to listen.

You’ll never know the potential of your church, organization or team until you know the potential of the people.

To unlock the power of a team, leaders must first look internally. One trap many leaders fall into is failing to listen intentionally. Jesus modeled the power of listening throughout His ministry as He paid careful attention to the needs of those around Him. We must do the same as church leaders.

Unfortunately, many people fail to realize that hearing and vision work best together. This creates blind spots for leaders who attempt to cast vision without hearing people out. Listening begins with people. 

Listening Framework
The good news is leaders can cultivate listening, just as they develop other skills. With every step the organization takes, its leaders must intentionally pay attention.

At Southeastern University (SEU), we do this through a framework of listening. It’s the only way to capture the breadth and depth of our community. Consider the four areas we tune in to when listening to our people.

1. Listen for strengths. The goal is identifying your organization’s unique advantages. Your people will show you their potential.

Many leaders rush to bring change before they take the time to discover the potential of the organization. When I arrived as a presidential candidate at SEU, the faculty asked, “What is your vision for Southeastern?”

They were shocked to hear me say, “I don’t have a vision for Southeastern.”

When I explained that the first thing I would do is listen, they began to understand that it would be arrogant for me to assume that I had all the answers without even hearing the people. I wanted to hear their stories and concerns so I could understand the potential of the organization. We discover strengths when we pay attention to people’s passions and ideas. Through listening, God reveals the strength of your team.

2. Listen for potential pitfalls. Your people can save you time and money by helping you identify systematic issues that are continually damaging your organization.

While the people on your team or in your organization are great at sharing strengths, they may not be as good at telling you directly about the holes in your church or organization. A listening leader must ask. What do the people regularly criticize about the ministry, church or organization? Think about the repeated themes that you continue to hear.

3. Listen for innovation. Your people may surprise you by helping you discover new avenues of success for your organization.

Opportunities constantly open to your church or organization, even if you can’t see them. Most of the time, an opportunity has a name, works in a particular field and somehow has a connection to someone else in your organization. That is why, in many instances, the members of your team or organization can identify and take hold of an opportunity long before the leadership is aware of it.

Letting someone else find an avenue of success does not make you a weak leader — it makes you a listening leader. Learn to empower the people of your organization to identify these opportunities, and then listen to them when they alert you to a potential. This will increase your successes exponentially.

4. Listen to your demographic. The demographic is the environment around your church or organization. The people you serve will shape your growth. They can help you develop new curves of growth. Encouraging your team and organization to listen to your target demographic will determine your future.

A word of caution, though: Listening to the demographic will force you to make a choice. Will you respond and step out of your comfort zone? Or will you ignore what you hear?

At SEU, our team listened, and we heard loud and clear that nursing was in high demand. Students wanted to gain training to go serve in the medical sector. Developing a nursing degree would be a huge risk for our organization. We planned, prayed and acted in faith, and we decided to meet the need of the marketplace. And risk-taking decisions, like a nursing program, directly created the growth we have seen on our campus. 

The Bottom Line
The bottom line is that listening will determine the success and/or failure of your church or organization. The people of the organization have the potential either to set the organization on track or derail it from its destined purpose. When we listen to people, God will unveil the hidden narrative of the organization and shape the strategy of the future. When we listen intentionally and make ourselves available to change, we will be postured to succeed.

Do you want to know the potential of you organization? Start listening.

This article first appeared in the February-March 2016 issue of Influence magazine.