elementum

Before you name the role — name what you've seen in the person.

Not "you're great." Not "we'd love to have you more involved."

What have you actually observed? What specific thing have you watched them do that made you think: that's the kind of person I want leading with me?

That's the move most leaders skip when they're building a team.

And it's the move that changes everything — because it shifts the invitation from a recruitment to a calling. The person isn't being asked to fill a gap. They're being told that someone has been paying attention. That there's a reason it's them, specifically.

When someone knows why you're asking, the invitation carries weight it couldn't have any other way.

Drop a 🙌 if someone did this for you — and it changed the way you said yes.

Most ministry leaders skip straight to the role.

Here's what they miss — and why it matters.

The four moves of a real invitation don't just increase the chances someone says yes. They change the kind of yes you get.

A yes that comes from someone who knows exactly what they're stepping into, who feels genuinely called rather than recruited, and who knows you'll be in it with them — that's a yes that lasts.

Swipe through all four moves. Save it for your next conversation.

Here's something we see all the time working with leaders: you're not behind. You're just out of order.

We talk about it as upper room and lower room. Upper room is your leaders. Lower room is everything people see, the programs, the events, the Sunday stuff. Most of us build the lower room first, more events, more programs, before the leaders can actually hold what we're building.

Ministry moves through six stages, and each one needs different work. What Stage 0 needs is starting something simple. What Stage 5 needs is letting go of what you built. Working hard on the wrong stage isn't progress. It's exhaustion pointed in the wrong direction.

So, what actually needs your attention right now?

Comment STAGE, and we'll tell you.

Save this for the next time you feel behind. Send it to a leader who's about to burn out doing all the right things at the wrong time.

Attendance tells you who showed up. It doesn't tell you who's being formed.

Two ministries can post the exact same numbers and be doing completely different work underneath — one building depth, the other building dependency on a good show.

Here's what's actually worth watching instead:

→ Initiative — are people moving from receiving to doing, without being asked?
→ Depth of conversation — are the questions people bring you getting more honest over time?
→ Multiplication — are people reproducing this in someone else, or only consuming it?

None of these show up on a normal dashboard. You have to actually pay attention to people to see them.

Want to go deeper on this? Free training waiting for you in the Training Room — link in bio.