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.

The effective leader will profoundly affect the lives of their teammates. Read Luke 6:12-19.

Early in His public ministry Jesus selected a small team that He would invest in to develop as the church’s first leaders. In just a few short years from these verses in Luke 6, Jesus would delegate all the authority of His kingdom’s work to them. In less than one generation, this small group chosen by Jesus progressed from ignorant laborers to bold spiritual leaders in what is now the largest organization in the world. This all happened because Jesus, the Son of God, chose to invest the majority of His time with a few men, only 12, not 1,200 or 12,000 but 12. Jesus mentored these 12 and set an example that more time with less people can equal greater impact.

Skilled leaders not only look at past performance, but also at potential when choosing their team. Read Luke 5:10-11 and 27-28.

In the early stages of Jesus’ public ministry He selected individuals for a team that He would mentor and entrust the ministry to when He finished His assignment from God and returned to heaven. Since Jesus knew His time on earth would be limited, prevailing wisdom would say that He should choose religious leaders who had previous training and background and a proven track record or maybe business people well respected in the religious community who had the ability to successfully raise funds and get wheels under Jesus’ vision.

Effective leaders select specific team members very carefully and for specific reasons. Read Mark 2:14-17.

It could be argued that Jesus formed the most effective team in human history. He chose 12 individuals that He dedicated three years of His life to mentor. These 12 individuals, after only a few years with Jesus, took His message to the known world and even now, 2,000 years later, Christianity is still changing individuals and changing the world.

Mentors commit themselves to training their team. Read Matthew 17:14-21.

Jesus disciples had been with Him continuously for almost three years observing Him instruct the crowds and heal the sick. As their understanding grew Jesus had given the disciples leadership assignments. At times the disciples were very effective but at other times Jesus assessed their work and held them accountable. John Maxwell’s notes in The Maxwell Leadership Bible give some insight into mentoring when a team falls short of expectations: