1 QUOTE

“And Jesus appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons.”

- Mark 3:14-15

1 NOTE

Dr. Stephen Sample served as the 10th President of the University of Southern California. Under 20 years of Sample’s leadership, USC matured from a private university that held open enrollment in the fifth week of fall semester to Time Magazine and the Princeton Review’s ‘College of the Year.’ One major component of this incredible growth was Sample’s lieutenant model leadership structure. The term describes an officer who acts in place of a higher-ranking official. The word lieutenant literally translates from French as ‘place-holder’ (one who holds another's position). This was Sample’s term for his 14 direct reports that ran the university.

Christian leaders who finish well understand the importance of  selection and development of younger leaders. Most of us will never be the president of a major university, CEO of a company, or senior leader of a church or ministry organization. But the selection of lieutenants will make or break our leadership in our sphere of influence. I loved reading about Sample’s selection criteria for his lieutenants. For example, he always tried to hire from within. He was skeptical about outside leadership. The shortcomings and blemishes of the inside candidate are already well document. So he created a rule that an outside candidate must be at least two notches about the leading insider to be worthwhile risk. And in the event of tie, he would always choose the leader who was more well-read and more accomplished in their writing.

In our own ministry, Becky and I have adopted the simple criteria of the great mission leader Ray Bakke. He had a charming acronym to guide the selection process:

F - Faithful

A - Available

T - Teachable

SO - Sold out (for Jesus)

Is your ministry or organization selecting FATSOs for the next level of leadership?

1 QUESTION

What is your clear criteria for selecting leaders in your sphere of influence?

Until Next Tuesday,

John