One of the courses I teach at Santa Clara University is titled “Leadership as Vocation.” I teach this class for a simple, fundamental reason: leadership is a true vocation—and one we must take seriously.
When I first started as a young parish youth minister I was in it purely for the teens. I loved working with young people—their energy, enthusiasm, and passion were contagious, and they were just fun to be around. (I still believe that’s true today, and I will always be a youth minister at heart!)
However, I learned an enduring lesson in those first few years. If I was going to be a successful minister—one who could effectively evangelize young people and help them experience God in their lives—I needed to do more than just love teenagers.
I needed to lead.
I needed to articulate a vision.
I needed to identify, equip, and develop other leaders.
Early on, it was easy to fall into the trap of thinking that simply hanging out with teenagers was all a good youth ministry needed from me.
I was wrong.
While I recognized some natural leadership traits in myself, I also realized I had a massive amount to learn when it came to working with people—especially adults. I had so much to learn about what it actually takes to lead effectively. That realization set me on a path of personal growth that hasn’t stopped for over 25 years.
Back then, though, I didn’t know where to begin. I knew I wanted to lead, and I knew I had some core strengths, but I lacked a starting point.
Early in my career, I encountered the author and speaker John C. Maxwell, who knocked me out of my leadership fog with a single line: “The first person you lead is yourself.”
Mind blown. 🤯 (Yes, I’m breaking my own rule and using an emoji here—if my blogging platform lets me get away with it, I’m taking it!)
So, what did that mean for me in practice? How was I going to learn to lead? I started with three simple daily and yearly habits:
- Read every day for 30 minutes on the topic of leadership and ministry.
- Attend workshops and trainings that supported my ministry at least four times a year.
- Seek out people smarter than me (which was most people!) and learn directly from them.
That’s it. That’s where I started.
Over the years, the habits have stayed largely the same, even as the media have shifted. I now listen to podcasts and audiobooks regularly as well as read book, attend online webinars alongside in-person events, and continue learning from incredible people (often through hosting my podcast, Called to Lead).
This is precisely where I begin my course on leadership as a vocation. The first person you have to lead is yourself. If you refuse to lead yourself, you have no business trying to lead others in ministry.
It’s straight talk, but it’s the truth.
How are you leading yourself today? And what are you doing to grow and learn every single day?
