“Discipleship Uncomplicated”, The 8 Principles of Disciple Making by Dr. Warren Haynes
Principle 8 – Multiply Leaders – Empower Rapid Advance (part 6)
I had to get to know this guy and find out his secret. How could a guy like that grow something like this? I was thoroughly impressed and intrigued. So I made a point to get some one-on-one time with him. I asked him what he thought contributed to his success. He said, basically, “Every leader needs people on his or her bench. Three deep on every leadership bench.” It was his practice when he passed a leader in the congregation to ask them, “Tell me, who’s on your bench?” He expected his leaders to be developing three other people all the time. He said that if after a number of inquiries, a leader continued to have no one on his/her bench, that person didn’t stay in leadership position.
I learned two valuable lessons from that ordinary looking man who was an extraordinary leader. First, always have at least three people on my leadership development bench, and ensure that every leader in my ministry or organization has people on his or her bench. Second, you get what you inspect, not what you expect. I went home inspired to start building a ministry bench and to start inspecting the results. My only regret is, I wish I had started sooner. If you want to develop leaders and reach new people, start recruiting a bench and start inspecting results. Who’s on your bench?
