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How to Tell if A New Volunteer is Truly a Leader (Or Simply a Doer)

How To Tell If A New Volunteer Is Truly A Leader (Or Simply A Doer)

By Carey Nieuwhof on Oct 13, 2023

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"I recently surveyed 1400 small and mid-sized church pastors to find out what they struggle with most as their church grows. They overwhelmingly identified developing leaders as their top challenge."

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Tags: leadership, Church Growth, Volunteer, church ministry, obstacles to growth, Barriers to Growth, Growing a Church, Leaders vs Doers, Leadership (view more) (view less)

I recently surveyed 1400 small and mid-sized church pastors to find out what they struggle with most as their church grows.

They overwhelmingly identified developing leaders as their top challenge.

Don’t get me wrong, there were many more issues (I address the big eight in my new course, Breaking 200 Without Breaking You, which releases September 19th. You can sign up for the course waitlist here.)

That said, identifying and developing leaders was the most significant barrier pastors felt in moving their church past the 200 attendance barrier, a barrier 85% of all churches never pass.

And, of course, leadership development means you need to master the more sophisticated art of volunteer development. Every growing church recruits volunteers at least 50-100 times as often as they hire staff.

There Are Two Kinds of Volunteers

There are essentially two kinds of volunteers: leaders and doers.

Leaders gladly rise to a challenge and can take others with them. Doers, on the other hand, prefer to do what you tell them and little more.

Effective churches build teams of leaders, not just teams of doers.

So many church leaders told me they felt like they have a volunteer core of doers and hardly any leaders. Or at least if there are leaders present, they can’t seem to find them.

Why is it so important to make this shift from doers to leaders?

Because doing doesn’t scale. Leadership does.

If you really want to reach the full potential of your mission, developing a culture of leadership will take you there in a sustainable way.

You will always need doers, but you’ll also need a solid group of leaders in place to lead and manage the doers.

Which raises a big question: How can you tell if a new volunteer is a leader or a doer?

Here are 5 ways to tell whether the volunteer you’re looking at is truly a leader, not just a doer.

1. Look To See If They Have Followers

Simply put, leaders have followers. Doers, not so much.

Look beyond your church to see whether a new volunteer functions like a leader in the community or more like a doer.

Maybe they’re not leading at your church, but they’re leading somewhere. A leader might be running a shift at the local coffee shop and doing it well.

Or your new volunteer may be a mom who is pretty much running her neighborhood—the play groups, the book clubs. She’s a leader.

Maybe your new volunteer is a young adult running a small business or a music studio.

Bottom line, if in some context somewhere, they’re leading something, already, they’re probably a leader and they already have people following them.

If they’re leading well in their life and they believe in your mission, there’s a good chance that they are going to lead well in your church.

2. Study Their Influence

The simplest definition of leadership I know is from John Maxwell: leadership is influence.

Influence doesn’t depend on position. You don’t have to be at the top of an org chart to have influence. In fact, if the only influence you have comes from your title, you’re not a leader.

Conversely, there are interns who cultivate tremendous influence in organizations because they’re so great at what they do and have figured out how to lead others.

Watch for the influence people have both in your church (everyone listens when she talks) and in the community.

It’s a sign they may be a leader, not a doer.

Conversely, people who don’t naturally cultivate influence won’t necessarily gain any influence just because you put them in charge.

3. See If They Make Things Happen

Doers respond to what’s happening. Leaders make things happen.

Doers can take direction and execute someone else’s vision, but they will require energy and follow-up that a leader doesn’t require.

A leader is a catalyst— creating change, momentum, and progress. You want to build your teams around people who make things happen.

4. Watch How They Respond to Responsibility

Leaders love responsibility. Doers get overwhelmed by it.

Often church leaders are hesitant to give volunteers real responsibility and authority. We’re worried they’ll think it’s too much, because, after all, we tell ourselves, ‘they’re just a volunteer.’

But paradoxically, true leaders are energized by responsibility. They love a challenge.

You’ll find a leader constantly asking, “What else can I do?” Even better, a leader will proactively pursue more responsibility.

To be fair, jumping into responsibility and challenge can be a sign of dysfunctional behavior. Usually, it’s not. But occasionally, it is. Here are 6 signs that will tell you whether the eager volunteer you’re talking to is toxic.

Still, healthy leaders rise to the occasion. It’s the way God made them.

5. Give Them a Challenge

Finally, leaders love a challenge. Doers don’t.

In the same way doers get overwhelmed by responsibility, they find a challenge to be too much.

When you have a big vision for something new and you cast that vision to a leader, true leaders will be energized and excited.

They’ll even add their own ideas and begin envisioning whom they’ll invite along with them.

Leaders with significant gifting love significant challenges. So give people a big challenge and see who steps up (and who doesn’t). That will show you where the leaders are.

Carey Nieuwhof (website: CareyNieuwhof.com)

View all articles by Carey Nieuwhof

In addition to serving as Lead Pastor at Connexus Community Church north of Toronto Canada, Carey Nieuwhof speaks at conferences and churches throughout North America on leadership, family, parenting and personal renewal.