Think Wide! Go Deep!

At EQUIP’s recent Leadership Summit in Pebble Beach, California, our founder, John Maxwell, introduced “THINK WIDE! GO DEEP!” as the ministry’s new two-fold global initiative for the next five years! The new initiative is being built in the wake of the success we experienced with the Million Leaders Mandate which was launched in 2003.

Here’s some background to the THINK WIDE! GO DEEP! initiative:

THINK WIDE! - The United Nations claims just over 200 member nations. Presently, EQUIP is providing leadership training in 127 of these nations. EQUIP’s commitment is to take our field-tested and proven leadership development strategies into every nation on the earth by 2015 through conferences, partnerships and technology.

In short, when you and I think of EQUIP over the next five years, we need to THINK WIDE – to think about the all nations (including the 75 to go) where we need to come alongside and train, resource and encourage Christian leaders. In reality, we believe this is a very do-able objective given the large number of partners we have across the world. Of these 75 remaining nations, most are “neighbor nations” next to countries where EQUIP training already exists. Our present strategic partnerships, combined with the hunger for leadership training in the remaining 75 nations, makes THINK WIDE! a workable strategy, even in the most difficult of national or global economies. The table is set – EQUIP now has to be intentional to get Christian leadership training to every nation by 2015.

In addition, when we think about EQUIP in the next five years, we need to think about the importance of going deep!

GO DEEP! – As a consequence of training over 3 million Christian leaders around the world, EQUIP has witnessed the emergence of some top-level Christian leaders who want to go deeper in their leadership development. These are leaders who are growing in influence in their own regions of the world and are committed to servant-leadership and the development of others.

“Going Deep” begins with every Associate Trainer. Volume One lays the foundation, then in Volume Two each Associate Trainer in conjunction with their Country Coordinator/Site Coordinator is to find 3 or 4 people in training who the Associate Trainer can mentor over the next 3 years. Around Notebook 3 or 4, at least one of the mentee’s should be co-teaching with the Associate Trainer. The goal is to have the teaching totally done by nationals by the end of Volume Two, Notebook 5. This mentorship will allow the AT to “go deep” with the highest capacity leader under their development.

Another part of the GO DEEP! strategy is to recruit the top 75 leaders from various regions around the world and invite them to a week-long, one-time-per-year, in-depth, training environment at what we are calling EQUIP Leadership Academies. Our goal, between 2010 and 2015, is to have these academies operating annually in ten different cities around the world. John Maxwell has said he hopes the top-level leaders in attendance at these EQUIP academies would become “leadership missionaries” back to their own nations and regions.

These top-level leaders will be taught by some of EQUIP’s most seasoned and passionate trainers who understand and live out leadership every day.

John Maxwell has personally selected the subjects of the week-long EQUIP Leadership Academies. They include ethics, family, personal walk with God, soul-winning, equipping, team-building, personal finances, stewardship, relationship skills, vision-casting, and communication. The classes will be in-depth and we will use existing training facilities and dormitories available to EQUIP by many of our worldwide partners.

The THINK WIDE! GO DEEP! global initiative is really a continuation in EQUIP’s mission to train Christian leaders not only in their skills, but in their walk with God.

THINK WIDE! GO DEEP! keeps EQUIP focused on the mandate of getting Christian leaders trained and resourced in every nation, but it also challenges us to take leaders who desire to go deeper in their leadership and increase their capacity. When these leaders are equipped at the kind of level our academies will provide, they will return to their circles of influence and multiply themselves over and over again!

And, why are we doing all of this? To fulfill the Great Commission of Jesus Christ!

So, when you’re thinking and praying about EQUIP in the early parts of 2010, please do this: THINK WIDE! GO DEEP!

John Hull
President/CEO

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