This is part four in a series on leadership. Previous posts are:
1. Leadership: Ask Yourself, Who Would I Want to Follow?
2. Four Essential Qualities of Leadership
3. Leadership and Conviction

No matter how smart or determined a person is, you simply can’t follow them unless they possess certain skills in the area you need to be led.

A productivity guru must be able to manage tasks and time. A wilderness guide must be able to find the way. A pastor must be able to care for a church and communicate God’s Word.

These examples underscore the importance of a leader’s competence in his or her leadership area. Area-specific competence is a non-negotiable because competence builds trust, and trust is at the foundation of leadership.

It’s that simple. People won’t follow you unless they trust you. And they won’t trust you unless you have certain core competencies.

When it comes to leadership and competence, there are at least three things you should do.

1. Identify the core competencies in your area of leadership.

By core competencies, I mean the skills without which your leadership will completely fall apart.

As a pastor, my core competencies must be the area of communication (to teach the Bible) and administration (to organize the church to fulfill its purpose). (This is straight from the Bible, 1 Timothy 3:2, 4-5.) These competencies, in turn, require other supporting competencies, such as sermon preparation, time management, interpersonal skills, and a basic understanding of finances and management.

What are the core competencies in your area of leadership? The sooner you identify these, the better.

2. Constantly improve in those areas.

Stagnancy is never an option for a leader. A leader must be committed to moving forward and growing in his or her competencies.

The good news is that in the age of the internet, you hardly lack for resources. The challenge lies in identifying the best resources and developing the discipline to incorporate them. Get familiar with the experts in your area of leadership. Study them, and see how you can implement their ideas and insights to improve your practices.

Most importantly, be open to others’ critique and evaluation. Your growth as a leader will be stunted unless you give the people closest to you the confidence they need to provide honest feedback.

3. Train others to be competent in those areas as well.

Good leaders never selfishly horde competencies: they believe everyone is better off when others develop the competencies they themselves have.

It’s a bit like parents delighting to see their children learn to walk. To begin with, it means the parents won’t have to carry their kids around everywhere. It means the parents will have the joy of seeing the kids run and play. It might even mean that one day, the child will carry the parent. And the parent is OK with that.

Good leaders don’t begrudge others’ competencies; instead, they cultivate those competencies. Are you training others to develop those core competencies?

Decision-Making: The One Non-Negotiable Competency

Regardless of your unique area of leadership, there is one competency you must have: the ability to make the right decisions.

And decision-making is such an important skill that I plan to devote an entire post to it next time.