Leaders are in a unique position to help their team develop their own leadership skills and reach their full potential. Read Luke 10:1-24.

Jesus was in the final year of His earthly ministry and according to Luke 9:51, “As the time approached for Him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.” In order to maximize the number of people He would talk to about the kingdom of heaven as He traveled to Jerusalem He “…appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of Him to every town and place where He was about to go.” These 72 were to “Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘the kingdom of God is near’” (10:9). Jesus used their assignment to develop the leadership skills of His teammates.

There are times when a leader should make a special investment of time and energy in a few leaders with extraordinary potential to prepare them for special assignments. Read Luke 9:28-36.

Jesus had chosen twelve of His followers to closely mentor, but within the twelve He had three that He trained for special leadership positions. On several occasions Jesus pulled three of His team, James, John and Peter, aside for special input. The Bible does not tell us what “extra” leadership trait Jesus saw in them, but His actions indicate that He felt they would eventually be the leaders of the leaders.

In every leader’s sphere of influence there will be those loosely attached to the leader, those affected directly by the leader’s influence, those who answer directly to the leader, and those few the leader grooms for additional responsibility and greater leadership positions. There is always a possibility that selecting a few from your team for special training could cause envy or some other form of discontent on the team, but it has been my experience that in most cases the potential demonstrated by these few leaders is not only obvious to me but to all their teammates. Deserving leaders receiving special training is much different than favoritism in the eyes of their teammates.

John Maxwell in The Maxwell Leadership Bible writes on this topic in “The Law of the Inner Circle: Jesus Prepared Men to Represent Him”:

Jesus, the ultimate trainer and mentor, did things this way to prepare some key players for future leadership. Watch how He did it:

Jesus….

• Selected a group of key men (v. 28)
• Took them to a special place (v. 28)
• Spent time praying with them (vv. 28, 29)
• Shared an unusual experience with them (vv. 32, 33)
• Invested special time speaking with them (vv. 34, 35)
• Gave them a secret history with Him that prepared them for the future (v. 36)

Have you identified those on your team that have the potential to become the leader of leaders? Are you actively mentoring them to achieve their full leadership potential? Even on a team of leaders hand selected by Jesus there were three that Jesus selected for an “inner circle” to “lead the leaders.” Wise leaders pay attention to Jesus’ actions and examples for developing an effective team.

Exodus 18:25 Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens.

Generosity is a desirable core truth for any leader. Read Luke 9:10-17.

Jesus’ message and His ability to heal people from sickness and disease attracted crowds. There were times when Jesus teaching was so captivating the crowds demanded more by simply refusing to leave. At one point, He had approximately 5,000 people follow Him into a deserted place. As evening drew near, Jesus’ disciples came to Him and asked Him to send the crowds away so they could find food and lodging in surrounding villages. Jesus simply told His team to give them something to eat.

The effective leader will establish clear guidelines, and then delegate both responsibility and authority to their team. Read Luke 9:1-6, 10.

Jesus had several hundred very dedicated followers. Many of them traveled with Him wherever He went, cared for His needs, and gave Him financial support. From among these several hundred, Jesus selected twelve individuals, who we know today as Apostles, for more in depth mentoring and special assignments. As part of the training of the twelve He gave them some on-the-job training. He sent them out on a mission to go from village to village to preach the gospel and confirm their authority to do so by healing the sick and casting out demons.

Healthy alliances allow leaders to multiply their time and expand their influence beyond what they could accomplish on their own. Read Luke 8:38-39.

Jesus healed a man who had been possessed by a demon for years. Prior to his healing, the demon distorted the man’s mind until he withdrew from society, lived naked in a graveyard among the tombs and was often arrested for unspecified crimes. He was a total outcast who had no friends, no support system and no hope. When Jesus commanded the demons to leave the man, his life was radically altered. The first report of the man after his healing was “…they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind” (V. 35).