youth leadership

Mar 04 2014

Developing F.A.T. Leaders – Part 2

In my last post I wrote about the importance of being able to develop leaders rather than relying on finding experienced leaders. In a small community like ours, the resource pool of experienced leaders is pretty shallow. To build effective leadership teams for your organization you must rely on your ability to develop new leaders. To that end, I introduced the FAT test for leadership candidates.

“FAT” is an acronym that stands for Faithful, Available, and Teachable, the three core character qualities to look for in a leadership candidate. Last time I covered “Faithful.” In this post I will address “Available” and “Teachable.”

A is for “Available.” Once you have determined that a candidate is faithful, you next must determine if they are available to be part of your leadership team. There is an old adage in business that says, “if you want something done give it to a busy person.” While there is some truth to that, there is such a thing as being too busy.

In our society we have a tendency to become over committed. We get involved in too many things to the point that we cannot give our best to any of them. You want a leader who has balance in their life. It is okay to be busy, but is their life in balance? When asking if a leadership candidate is available what you are looking for is if they have the time required in their schedule to do an effective job at the leadership position for which you are considering them, without adversely impacting balance in the other areas of their life? A person who is over committed or out of balance may be a great leader for a time, but sooner or later their life is going to unravel and it will impact their work.

On the flip side, if a person is not involved in anything and they have a lot of available time, you have to wonder why? Are they available because no one else wants them? Availability is sometimes easy to spot and other times it requires your gut instincts. Just be honest with yourself. It is easy to fall in love with a candidate and let your heart rule your head in the availability question. Make sure the candidate has the availability necessary to focus on the training and leadership responsibilities required for the job.

Finally, T is for “Teachable.” Confidence in an admirable quality for a leader, but with that confidence must be a humility that says, “I may be good, but I can always be better.” A leader must have a teachable spirit. They must be willing to learn new ways of doing things. They must be willing to learn ways to improve their leadership skills, communications skills, and even learn the way business is done around here. Bringing their own ideas to the party is great, but a leadership candidate must be willing to learn from everyone around them, regardless of where they fall on the org chart. True leaders are life-long learners.

If a candidate does not display a teachable spirit, move on. As the old saying goes, “Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and it annoys the pig.” Trying to make a leader out of someone who is not teachable is like trying to teach a pig to sing. It is a waste of your time.

If you are having a hard time finding qualified leaders for your organization it may be time to start developing your own. Start with giving candidates the FAT test. If they are FAT, you are well on your way to having the best qualified leaders your organization has ever had.

Feb 26 2014

Developing F.A.T. Leaders

I love living in a small community. The pace of life is laid back, the people are friendly, and there is more of a sense of community. That does not mean that we are without our problems and stresses, however. There is a lack of privacy as everyone seems to know everyone else’s business, having to drive longer distances for shopping and entertainment choices, and a smaller pool of human resources to draw upon for businesses and civic organizations to name a few. That smaller human resource pool can pose a real leadership challenge.

Leaders in larger communities have an easier time finding people who already have leadership qualities and experience. As a result, leaders in larger communities may not need to be as skilled in leadership development as leaders in smaller communities. For those of us living in a small community, it is imperative that we become experts at leadership development because there simply are not enough experienced leaders to draw from. Leadership development is extremely important yet it is a skill that is often neglected or missing from a leader’s toolbox.

It has been my experience in small town living that far too often leadership teams are chosen using the “breathing and willing” method. If a person is breathing and willing to help they are put into leadership positions whether they are qualified or not. No leadership training is provided, it is sink or swim. As a result, the organization experiences a constant turnover of leaders as new leaders take off like rockets only to burn out after two or three years as they hit the lid of their leadership ability.

Another method used in selecting leaders, especially in churches and civic organizations, is the “longevity” method. Whoever has lived in the community or been part of the organization the longest is put into a position of leadership, as if longevity somehow automatically qualifies a person for leadership.

Whether you are trying to build a management team for a Fortune 500 company, leaders for a small town civic group, or developing student leaders in your school, there are some basic principles of leadership development that all leaders can learn and benefit from. Building strong leaders begins with selecting strong leadership candidates. To do that I recommend using the “FAT” test.

“FAT” is an acronym that stands for three core character qualities to look for in a leadership candidate. Before investing your time and energy in developing a leader ask yourself, “Are they FAT?”

F stands for Faithful. Is this person faithful? Do they follow through when they say they will do something? Can you trust their word? Is this the type of person who, when they say they will do something, you are confident that it will get done, or do you have to constantly keep on them to finish the task?

Leaders must be people you can trust. They must follow through on their commitments. If you cannot answer a confident “yes” to the question, “Are they faithful?” then stop right there. Do not even consider a person for leadership unless you are confident in their faithfulness. You will save yourself and your organization a lot of trouble and heart ache if you move on to someone else. Faithfulness is a prerequisite to good leadership.

In my next post I will address the other two characteristics of the FAT test. They are “available” and “teachable.”