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A Flourishing Culture: Growing Leaders
Issue #419, March 25, 2026
When leaders grow other leaders, the people flourish and the organization thrives. The primary work of every serving leader is to intentionally grow others. Jesus demonstrated this by empowering His twelve disciples.
1 When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick (Luke 9:1-2, NIV).
As Jesus sent out the twelve, He shifted His focus from doing the work to equipping others to carry it forward. In doing so, He demonstrated how growing others produces flourishing.
Growing leaders brings flourishing by sharing power.
Jesus “gave them power and authority.” His mindset was not simply to use His power and authority, but to share it with those who followed Him. He shared both power and authority. He gave the disciples both the capacity to do accomplish the task (power) and the legitimate permission to act on His behalf (authority). Prior to this passage, He spent time training them and demonstrating how to do the tasks He would ask them to do. Now He gave them permission to go and implement what they had learned.
Some leaders seek to gain power and authority for themselves. But serving leaders deliberately distribute both so that others can grow and contribute. Some leaders help others grow their capacity, but don’t provide a place for them to use what they’ve learned. But serving leaders share both power and authority.
Growing leaders brings flourishing by stretching capacity.
Jesus “sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.” He had demonstrated preaching and healing to them; now He asks them to go and practice! This was undoubtedly a stretching experience for the disciples. They might have wondered as they headed out, “Can I really do this?” But the confidence of Jesus in them provided the impetus for them to rise up and do what He asked. Great leaders look for opportunities to stretch the capacity of those on their team. They evaluate where each person is at and what assignment would appropriately build their capacity. Then they assign responsibilities that builds capacity and confidence on their team.
Some leaders fear that increasing responsibilities of those they lead will result in mistakes and failures. So they keep people at the same level. But serving leaders see potential in every individual and provide them with growth opportunities that will stretch their capacity and build a stronger team. They recognize that mistakes and failures are a necessary part of the growth process.
Growing leaders brings flourishing by scaling the mission.
By sending out the twelve Jesus began to scale His mission. When Jesus preached and healed His impact was limited to the places He could physically reach. But when He sent out six teams of disciples He was effectively fulfilling His mission in many locations, ultimately reaching many more people and places than He could have done alone. He recognized that if He didn’t grow His team, the work would stop when He was gone. But with a strong team empowered and prepared to do the work His impact would spread far beyond His physical presence.
Some leaders try to increase results by working harder and faster. But serving leaders invest in the growth of their team and slowly build the capacity to scale their mission and multiply their impact.
For further reflection and discussion:
- Reflect on your own leadership journey in relation to this element of growing leaders. On a scale of 1-10 (10 is perfect) how would you rate your own leadership? How much of my time actually goes to developing people on my team? What portion of my time should I be spending on developing others?
- How quickly do I share power and authority in my leadership? When I equip others, do I also find ways to give them platforms to use their new skills?
- How much do I believe in the potential of those I lead? How does that impact my leadership with them?
- Think about the people on your team. Identify one person that is ready for a growth opportunity. Who is the person, what new responsibility are they ready to take and when will you do any needed training and empowering for this to happen?
- In addition to the scripture used in this issue, reflect on the following verses from the life of Jesus: Matthew 10:1-15, 14:16, 16:19, 21:1-3, 26:38-41, 28:18-20; Mark 6:7-13; Luke 6:12, 9:1-6, 22:8-13; John 20:21-23 and 21:15-17. What additional insights do you find?
Until next time, yours on the journey,
Jon Byler
If you want a document containing all six issues of this series, click here.
*Note: This series is based on The LeadersServe Culture™ which is designed to help people flourish and organizations thrive. This happens when leaders serve. The LeadersServe Culture™ training provides an in depth look at each of these elements with practical exercises to clarify, communicate, and cultivate each one into the life of your organization. For more information about how this model could be used in your organization, see www.LeadersServe.com or email: Jon.Byler@LeadersServe.com |
