For the past seven years, I have helped support and develop leaders in Asia-Pacific, and I connect individually with national directors around Asia-Pacific. My purpose is to help them as they face the challenges of leading in their countries. I also work with groups of leaders. In September,120 younger leaders from 16 countries around Asia-Pacific will gather in Indonesia. This conference is part of our APEL (Asia-Pacific Emerging Leaders) leader development, which I’ve been focussing on throughout the year.
It’s all very exciting. I feel so privileged to work with all these people, helping them reflect and grow into the bigger versions of themselves that God is inviting them into.
These are some of the things I have learned about developing leaders in Asia-Pacific:
- Relationships are key
- Humility is foundational: it changes everything by its presence or its absence
- Developing a leader is good, developing a leadership community is better
- 70-20-10: Development happens from 70% on the job experience; 20% mentors and peers; 10% formal learning experiences
- There is a world of difference between teaching and learning. Just because I have shared information, there is no guarantee that a younger leader will absorb it into their way of being, doing, and seeing the world. Only when they do that can I be sure learning has occurred.
- Feedback is crucial
- No one knows Indonesia better than an Indonesian. My role in developing Indonesian leaders is to help them discover what I can never really know: the best way to lead in Indonesia (or any other culture)
- Leaders develop over a lengthy period of time, not over a two-hour seminar
- It really helps the younger leader to learn if the developer is also learning
I share with you my reflections on the role QUESTIONS have in helping people learn and grow:
In the book of Jonah, we read about how God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh and warn them of judgement. Instead, Jonah runs away to sea. A fish swallows him, but Jonah eventually warns the Ninevites—who repent. As a result of their repentance, God doesn’t judge them.
In Chapter 4 of the book of Jonah, we read about how Jonah was very set in his way of seeing things. He wanted the Ninevites to suffer destruction because of all the evil they had done to others. When God didn’t do this, Jonah became angry.
How did God respond to him? Not with a lecture or criticism. Rather, God gave Jonah an experience (a plant to give him shade) and asked him some questions.
Why did God do this? Because questions can be just as useful for the one who answers as the one who asks. In this case, I wonder if God posed the questions so that Jonah could answer, and in the process of answering, he could hear himself for the first time – and realise how selfish he was in comparison with the generosity of God.
There is something very powerful about hearing yourself say some things rather than hearing someone else lecture you about them. This is where the power of questions lies. By asking the right questions, you can guide others to reflect on their own ways of doing, being, and seeing. It’s a rewarding process that not only helps the individual grow but also strengthens the relationship between the developer and the younger leader. I encourage you to try this approach with your friends.
Glen Morris