NCC Leadership Training Environments

I want to do a 2-part series on our approach to leadership training at NCC. Today, I will begin by describing our primary leadership training environments.

1. Leadership 101- This 3-hour class is required for anyone who wants to lead a small group or ministry. We cover the basics of leadership and discipleship, our philosophy and structure for small groups, our discipleship map, and our vision of Be One, Make One, For One. It's just the bare bones to help someone get started.

2. NCC Small Group Leader Playbook- We give this resource to every person who comes to Leadership 101. We have discovered that you can talk until you are blue in the face about navigating conflict and dealing with difficult people, but until a leader is actually faced with that situation in real time, the information means nothing. So we give them the Playbook so that they will have useful information right at their fingertips.

3. Annual Leadership Retreat- Every year, we take every leader away for two days and pump them full of vision, encouragement, and leadership training. We have high octane worship and we unveil the theme for the year. And we pick up the tab.

4. Semester Leadership Summits- Each semester, we meet with all of our small group and ministry leaders at the Semester Summit. We worship, Pastor Mark shares vision, and a staff pastor teaches on a leadership topic. It's also an opportunity to get everyone on the same page and geared up to go into a new semester. The summits have become an important part of our rhythm.

5. Zone Leaders- Every small group leader is supported and served by a Zone Leader. Zone Leaders meet with their teams of small group leaders monthly, and they meet with individual leaders as appropriate. Most of the hands-on training happens here as leaders learn from one another and Zone Leaders navigate their people through the hurdles of small group leadership.

6. ZoneGathering.com- We have created an online environment, www.zonegathering.com, for our small group leaders to get a daily shot of leadership adrenaline. The ZoneGathering is a place for leaders to learn and share ideas.

Tomorrow, I will talk about how to make training environments worthwhile and fun. We've probably learned more about what not to do than what we should do. But it's helpful to learn from the mistakes of others!