Leadership takes intentionality! Some of us lead naturally, but even a natural leader needs to hone and discover the best of themselves. I have been leading a Sports Ministry program at Shepard Church for almost 15 years and has had me share of ups and downs through growing and developing my own leadership style.
Leadership takes intentionality! Some of us lead naturally, but even a natural leader needs to hone and discover the best of themselves. I’ve been leading a Sports Ministry program for almost 15 years and have had my share of ups and downs through growing and developing my own leadership style.
In any sports ministry, whether you’re the head boss dude or someone within organization, leadership is something in which we should all seek growth. Even though it is the key word and theme of this whole article, please don’t confuse the term leadership with something you can harness and put in a box. Leadership is a moving target and something that takes time to grasp.
Even today, you are a different person than you were yesterday, and tomorrow your leadership will hopefully be stronger than today. The action of taking time to read this article is, in and of itself, is actually a part of leadership, and I pray it blesses you and helps you along your journey in sports ministry leadership.
I’m going to share the top five tips I’ve gained through the years of growing the sports ministry program (Shepherd Sports) at Shepherd Church from zero participants in 2005 to running close to 4,000 participants a year over the last decade. The lessons I’ve learned range from staffing, programing, facilities, and a bunch of obscure leadership lessons.
Through all of the hiccups and obstacles you’ll face when running a sports ministry of any size, the most valuable thing I can share is intentional leadership. This puts the focus on honoring God and serving others and keeps your greatest efforts directed on a ministry-first focus.
1. Be Intentional
In order for any ministry or business to be successful there has to have good leadership, and at the top of what makes a person a good leader is their ability to be intentional. Going through your ministry with no purpose or plan will leave you ineffective and, I imagine, with a stagnant program. Leadership requires intentionality within every area of your sports ministry—from the facilities, to the staff, from the programing and to those who participate. This leadership trait of being intentional will not only help grow you, but also shows those that work alongside you or who serve in your program that you care.
The ability to be intentional will look different for each of us. For me, as a natural optimist, it often was hard to ask the hard questions in my early days of sports ministry. I would sit with staff or volunteers and we would only discuss the positives. We would dream and look forward to what’s next. Over time I had to become intentional to ask the tough questions. How did we do? What needs help? How can we be better? How can I be better?
Being intentional goes way beyond the sports we’re organizing or facilitating, and if done right, it should help us focus on the value of cultivating deeper relationships with those we are leading. After all, connecting with others should be at the top of any sports ministry’s list. I have found that the benefits are twofold with regard to leadership: First, through connection I have gained a better understanding of myself. Second, it has heightened my awareness of what my ministry needs.
2. Find Your Weakness
Before we leave the idea of intentionality, we must take stock of our own leadership weaknesses. I used to have a calendar reminder pop up once a week to remind me to make rounds through our other church offices. I had a nice cozy office in our gym, and it was a perfect environment for any introvert to hibernate.
My weakness here was the inability to connect with the rest of the staff, and I was a new staff person, and the only person (at the time) in charge of a new ministry no one knew anything about. These weekly trips through the other ministry departments really helped grow me as a leader.
Getting out of my comfort zone and being intentional with making small talk with our church staff has ultimately benefited me as a leader. Through the connections I made with our staff, it has ultimately helped me garner the support of so many. Looking back, this act of trying to grow myself actually helped push our sports ministry to a new level. It helped me gain buy-in from the church staff and helped to stretch me as a person and leader.
Beyond a personality trait you might recognize in yourself, you might also have areas in your job description that you excel at and others that make you want to quit. We don’t need to spend time seeking your weaknesses; I bet you already have something in mind. We all do! My encouragement is to do something about it.
Our human nature is to seek the quick fix. Just like refining your game or coaching strategies, it’s going to take time and practice. Take time every day to read, listen and seek tools to grow you in these areas. Some of these may be more difficult than others, but being intentional with your weaknesses will ultimately strengthen your leadership.
3. Cast the Vision
Growing in our leadership skills should be an everyday thought and action. As we go beyond the topic leadership and intentionality, you must clarify your direction. Where is your ministry going? As leaders we need clear, united direction where your staff and your volunteers and sports ministry participants are all heading toward the same vision.
I love sharing about this, because many of us—myself included— sometimes just go with the flow, moving along with whatever happens next. Casting vision is essential for buy-in and, eventually, growth within any organization. A leader must get out of the weeds. Think of looking out of an airplane window, looking down on your organization. Where are you going? Who needs helps? What road blocks lay ahead?
We need to sit down and map out where you want to be. These can be numbers goals, financial goals, volunteer-driven goals. Whatever it is for you and your ministry, we need to have direction in moving everyone within our ministry or team towards that clear goal. Make sure your weekly, monthly, or yearly goals all lead to the main thing.
A good leader has a pulse on their ministry, and this should allow them insights that only they fully understand. Pray about and spend time planning and strategies wherever God is leading.
For me, I always start with our purpose and work from there. That one goal in our sports ministry program is outreach and trying to draw people into a relationship with Jesus. I work backwards from there and focus on the intentional things that are going to help us successfully meet the mission of the ministry. Once the goal is clear, it needs to be communicated. You can be creative with this but keep the vision in front of everyone, all the time.
4. Invest in Your Volunteers
Most ministries, if not all, are rely on the help of volunteers. If you’re running a ministry without volunteers, I want to talk to you… You’re either some type of superhero, or it’s time to get you out of your comfort zone.
I had been running Shepherd Sports for a few years, and I had just hired a part-time admin. However, things were growing way faster than I could run. This was a great problem to have, which actually forced me to really invest in my volunteers. We went from one night of adult basketball to three. Chris and Bryan were my guys. They had been playing in our leagues since the beginning. With the expansion, I started seeking more time with these two. Taking then to lunch, having them help with more responsibilities within our men’s basketball leagues.
Then, BAM!!! I sprung it on them. “You are both going to be in charge of your own league.”
They handled it like champs, and our leagues today would not be where they are today without the years that Chris and Bryan voluntarily ran those leagues until we were able to hire more staff. Did I grow those leagues? Not really. What I did was is invest in these two guys. I spent time with them, shared vision with them, and ultimately invited them to take part in something that was bigger than the three of us.
As humans, we can only handle so many friends and people around us with whom we can have influence. At some point our margins become too thin, and we get weighed down. This is also true for our ministries. We need to not only lead those on our teams, within our locker rooms, or at our church… but also build up others to become leaders.
Our lives, our churches, and our sports ministry programs will thrive when those at the top pour into and create leaders in all of us.
5. The Power of Invitation
This is one of the greatest things I share with young people getting into ministry. We think we can do it all ourselves—get up early and stay up late and do everything in between.
I had someone playing in coed softball leagues for several years when I finally asked him if he would consider stepping into a volunteer role. He was shocked. He had no idea the ministry needed help. For him and most of our participants, we were doing a good job.
To most people, it’s going to appear that everything is running smoothly. I love that it looked good on the outside, but I was drowning and needed help. We definitely want to be viewed as a first-class program; however, that appearance can cause the person wanting to get involved to believe they aren’t needed or wanted.
Don’t be afraid to invite someone into your world—your ministry and all the things God is trying to do through you as a leader. Be intentional in cultivating the relationships, setting goals, and inviting people to be part of your story. The natural thought is to do it all ourselves and reap all the benefits. However, we are so much greater together than we could ever be alone or apart.
It has been said, “If your dream only requires you to make it happen, you’re not dreaming big enough.”
Even after all these years of practicing the “Power of Invitation,” I still get nervous about asking someone to help. I don’t know if it’s fear of rejection or the thought they might mess up the program. But just about every time I ask, I am met with a great joy and enthusiasm about getting involved. I encourage you to be discerning and selective about who you invite, but be intentional about acknowledging the areas you need help.
Get outside yourself and start inviting people to be a part of something that can be and should be so much bigger than us.
