We get asked questions pretty regularly on Facebook, and at our respective twitter feeds (@ToddAdkins and @BarnabasPiper). And since we have sharp listeners many of the questions are excellent, so we decided to take the best and turn them into a podcast! In fact we had so many that we will do two episodes of listener questions. Keep an eye out for the second coming in a few weeks. We were joined by Jenni Catron and answered the following listener questions.

* How can a natural follower develop leadership skills?

* How can a strong leader find contentment when being led by a poor leader?

* How do you get high school students (or other young people) to step up and lead? There seems to be reluctance.

* What is the best advice for a leader to remain teachable.

* How do you resume or continue leading after experiencing failure?

BEST QUOTES

“How a natural follower can develop leadership skills is responsibility and respect.”

“You want to make sure that it’s easy, obvious, and strategic that you got put in this position.”

“All of us should be natural followers in that we should be able to submit to the authority over us.”

“Leadership starts with relational influence.”

“Just because you’re a natural follower doesn’t mean you won’t be a significant leader.”

“Even if you work for a hack you must show respect.”

“As a follower I don’t know everything my leader is dealing with.”

“If you think you’re a strong leader and you’re not you will be very resentful of people you have no business being resentful of.”

“Be careful that you actually are a strong leader and you don’t just have a strong personality.”

“If you are a volunteer you are already a leader compared to the rest of the population in student ministry.”

“Young leaders don’t know they’re leaders. Your job is to help them figure out what they’re skilled at.”

“Affirmation is a big deal because insecurity leads to quitting.”

“Surround yourself with people who are going to give you real feedback.”

“If you’re the kind of leader who can’t be questioned you’re going to end up doing questionable things.”

“Leaders are learners; you can’t separate the two.”

“Is there a healthy framework I can have to deal with criticism?”

“Humility says ‘I don’t know everything.’ Curiosity says ‘what don’t I know?’”

“You have to get out beyond where you’re comfortable.”

“‘What if . . .’ is a big question for leaders.”

“Be honest about your failures. Be really forthright with the team of people you lead.”

“Bouncing back from failure is easier if you lead with a style that’s about something more than yourself.”

“If you’re leading you will fail.”

“Part of being a leader is imperfection.”

“A character failure creates an issue of trust.”

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Creativity Inc. – Ed Catmull

Surviving a Moral Failure on a Church Staff – Rainer on Leadership Podcast