The following questions are common ones we are asked when we are training leaders in various nations. These questions have to do with getting started in the process of training at least twenty-five other leaders as part of the Million Leader Mandate covenant.
1. Can I train less than twenty-five people?
2. How do I choose people to train?
3. How will I measure the results?
4. What can I do if I am not in the senior leadership position, but I have the leadership vision?
5. How do I get the notebooks for training my people?
6. If I train twenty-five people, can I get more notebooks to train more people?
7. How do I create a mentoring group for training?
8. How do I challenge people to be a part of this training group?
9. What if some of my members quit coming to the training?
10. Should women be trained to be leaders?
11. Can I copy these materials myself?
12. Can I use my own illustrations?
13. How do I form an accountability group and what is the responsibility of each member?
14. Should I train all of my people together or divide them up?
15. What do I do with my leaders once they are trained?
1. Can I train less than twenty-five people?
We allow you to begin training less than twenty-five people, but our mandated goal is that by the end of three years, you will find a full twenty-five other leaders to participate in the training. Perhaps you can challenge your group to begin training their own group of leaders, in order to get a total of twenty-five leaders.
2. How do I choose people to train?
When selecting leaders to train, we suggest you form some criteria. When mentoring young people with little experience, look for these qualities in them:
F - Faithful (They keep commitments when they make them)
A - Available (They have the time to meet with you)
I - Initiative (They aren't waiting for something to happen, but go after it)
T - Teachable (They can learn from you)
H - Hungry (They are passionate about personal growth)
When selecting experienced leaders to train, look for these qualities:
G - Gifted (They have obvious gifts; perhaps even public gifts)
I - Influential (They have influence among the people they work with)
F - Fruitful (They bear fruit and get results when they work)
T - Trustworthy (They possess integrity and character)
S - Serving (They are already serving in some area before you ask them)
3. How will I measure the results?
When you teach the Million Leader Mandate notebooks, you will want to evaluate how well your group of leaders is growing. We suggest you use the criteria we find in the book of Ezra. Ezra was a priest who had his priorities straight. In Ezra 7:10, we read that he practiced truth in this order:
- He Studied It
(Ask yourself: Do they study and understand the material?)
- He Practiced It
(Ask yourself: Do they apply the material to their life?)
- He Passed It On
(Ask yourself: Do they teach the material to others?)
The real test of any leader is this: can they reproduce other leaders? The success of the Million Leaders Mandate lies with spiritual multiplication. We need every leader to not only practice effective leadership, but to mentor others in the principles. This is our contribution to fulfilling the Great Commission.
4. What can I do if I am not in the senior leadership position, but I have the leadership vision?
We suggest the following steps:
- First, learn from David's attitude before he became king of ancient Israel. When Saul chased him in the mountains, David remained submissive to the authority of his king. He didn't take Saul's life, but possessed a heart of service and a respect for his authority.
- Second, try to meet with your senior leader to build relationship and to share your heart to develop leaders. Communicate that you fully support his leadership, but that you want to help extend the ministry by building more leaders.
- Third, model what you want to see happen. Why not begin on a small scale, and begin mentoring a few young leaders. Unless this is seen as insubordinate to your senior leader, we suggest you begin small and be an example of what could happen if the entire organization began to embrace this vision.
5. How do I get the notebooks for training my people?
In order to receive notebooks, you should contact your national coordinator. Their contact numbers are available on this website. We want to work through the teams of people we have established, so we can keep track of those who are participating in the initiative.
6. If I train twenty-five people, can I get more notebooks to train more people?
We supply notebooks to those who commit to train 25 other leaders. Here are two possible solutions for those who commit to train more than 25: (1) you may contact your national coordinator. They may have extra copies for your country. (2) if the national coordinator does not have any extra notebooks, we suggest you make quality copies. We would never want the lack of notebooks to keep you from training leaders.
7. How do I create a mentoring group for training?
Here are some steps we suggest for beginning a training group:
- Pray that you will own the vision for mentoring other leaders.
- Select a group of potential or present leaders from your circle of influence.
- Challenge them at an initial meeting with the vision of leadership training.
- Spend the first meeting or two covering your expectations and goals.
- Cast vision to them for practicing and reproducing leadership in others.
- Ask for commitment. They must be committed to participate and grow.
- Be prepared and set goals (points of application) for each meeting.
- Discuss and apply the leadership lessons together.
- Evaluate and launch them to find their own leaders to train.
- How often should we meet?
The frequency of meeting together may vary, depending on the time constraints you have. Some groups meet every week, and discuss one leadership lesson each week for an entire month. Others meet once a month, and cover one lesson during that month. Still others meet every other month, and cover two lessons in that meeting. The important point to remember is this: leadership development is not merely an event but it is a process. We must help them build leadership principles into their lives over time. It requires repetition. If all we experience is events then we will get excited, but our lives may never permanently change. Consider this truth:
EVENTS
- Encourage decisions
- Motivate people
- Are usually about a big group
- Challenge people
- Are a calendar issue
- Become a catalyst
- Are easy
PROCESS
- Encourages development
- Matures people
- Is usually about a small group
- Changes people
- Is a consistency issue
- Becomes a culture
- Is difficult
8. How do I challenge people to be a part of this training group?
We suggest you communicate a clear vision for leadership development to the people you want to train. Enable them to see the benefits of being equipped as a leader. Then, if possible, sit down and talk to each person who will be part of the group you will train. Challenge them personally to pursue growth and spiritual multiplication. You don't even have to use the word mentor if it is intimidating to you. Just ask them if they want to be part of a group of leaders who want to increase their skills and capacity to lead and influence others. Lay out the commitment to them. Let them know this training is a serious commitment. Allow them the time to pray about it before they respond to you. Once they do, be sure to get a confirmation from them if they plan to join you.
9. What if some of my members quit coming to the training?
Sometimes, a few of the leaders in the training groups will become weary or busy during the months you are training them. It is human nature. If they quit coming to the training, plan a time to meet with them one-to-one. As you meet, communicate that you are sorry they have not been able to keep the commitment to attend the training. If possible, assume some responsibility and let them know you are obviously asking more of them than they are able to do. Give them a chance to either leave the group gracefully, or to commit themselves in a new way to be part of the training. Clarify the commitment again, then let them respond.
10. Should women be trained to be leaders?
Churches around the world have a variety of perspectives on this issue. We believe you should defer to your church denomination and seek their counsel on this issue. Some are comfortable equipping women to lead only in certain areas of ministry, while others are comfortable with women leading anywhere. In any case, we certainly believe women have been gifted in leadership, just as men are. Those spiritual gifts are distributed as the Holy Spirit desires (Romans 12:6-8). In Galatians we learn that in Christ Jesus, there is no distinction between male and female (Galatians 3:28). The key is to work within the context of your church and to not cause division.
If you are a woman, we believe you offer a different leadership perspective than a man does, and can add value to a ministry based on your individual gifts and personality. The church needs both men and women using their gifts to advance the cause of Christ. Everyone should learn to be the best leader they can be.
11. Can I copy these materials myself?
Yes, you can copy the Million Leaders Mandate materials. Before you do, be sure of two things. First, be sure there are not additional manuals with the national coordinator in your country. Use those first. Second, if you do copy materials, be sure the copier you use is the best quality copier available. These materials represent EQUIP, Dr. John Maxwell, you, and most importantly, Jesus Christ.
12. Can I use my own illustrations?
Yes, yes, yes. We want you to use your own, personal illustrations when you teach the leadership material. This will make the training even more effective. We suggest you insert two illustrations per lesson, just to let your group know you have interacted with the principles in each lesson. It is good if you share some of your failures as well as successes. Keep in mind, it is preferred that you keep the biblical illustrations in the material, since the leaders you train will definitely share the Scriptures in common with you and the rest of the group. But definitely use illustrations from your own life. Stories provide pictures of how the truths can be applied. People need a principle for their head and a picture for their heart.
13. How do I form an accountability group and what is the responsibility of each member?
Accountability groups are helpful because they provide ongoing encouragement, support and correction to leaders. These accountability groups are formed to help leaders keep their commitments to God and to each other, on a weekly basis. If you are training a group of leaders on a monthly basis, you may want to encourage the group to divide into groups of two or three, and meet in between your monthly training events.
If you choose to do this, be sure and establish boundaries for members. Accountability groups should meet as often as the people in the group need to be reminded and encouraged. Some young people need a meeting each week; others might only need a meeting twice a month. Sometimes a simple telephone call can provide accountability for leaders, rather than a face-to-face meeting.
If you participate in an accountability group, we suggest each member share their testimony of how they came to Christ, how they received a call from God and other personal points of interest. Then, provide the rest of the group with a list of questions that need to be asked at each meeting. These questions should be formed around the weak areas of your life. For instance, some leaders need their group to ask them questions about their thought life; about spending enough time with their family; or keeping their personal walk with God a priority. This kind of prayer support and care become very helpful in each person's life.
14. Should I train all of my people together or divide them up?
This answer is up to you. We will only provide some guidelines to help you make the decision. We believe life-change happens best in small groups, where members can share struggles and victories in a safe place where no one is judged or criticized. So, if you are training a large group of leaders, you may want to find ways to divide the group up, which provides for more interaction. Some may choose to train in a large group, then allow their members to meet in smaller accountability groups in between the large group training times. Others may want to do the training in a smaller setting, so that discussion occurs more frequently. The goal is to experience a good atmosphere for learning leadership, whatever size group you have.
15. What do I do with my leaders once they are trained?
Once you have finished training your leaders, we believe you should celebrate! However, you must communicate to those leaders that their leadership journey has only just begun. They must now practice the principles and reproduce the principles in others.
We will often say to the leaders we train: We have failed in training you if you do not go out and multiply these truths in other leaders. It sounds harsh but it's the truth. We believe this is the acid test of any leader -- can they reproduce another leader? All leaders should be mentoring other leaders. When Jesus' disciples were finished meeting with Him, what did He tell them? He said: Now you must go make disciples (Matthew 28:19). Success without a successor is a failure. We suggest you help your group select their own people to train, and help them get started at their first meeting, if necessary. Make sure they have copies of the Million Leaders Mandate notebook for their trainees and understand the vision to multiply Christ-like, servant leaders around the world.
Questions will continue to be posted as they come up.
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