Young Life team leaders are the an amazing asset to any Young Life area ministry. They help bring leadership, spiritual depth and model ministry to other leaders on their teams. They become the face of Young Life at a school.
Who are team leaders? Young Life team leaders are student staff, teacher staff, volunteer adults, or others who are invested at a high level in Young Life. They can be paid or volunteer. They can be college aged or in their 60’s. They are the future of Young Life in our mission. Not, all will go on full time Young Life staff, but great team leader training will prepare them how to lead, a skill more people in our culture need to have.
What to look for in a Young Life team leader? Finding the right team leaders, is key in the success of your Young Life area ministry. They may not always be the best leader on your team. You will see below the three things I use to find great team leaders in our area Young Life ministry. The most spiritually deep person on your team, may not be the best team leader. Don’t take your best leader with kids and automatically make them a team leader if they don’t have the the other qualities below.
- Spiritual Depth. Our team leaders need to be walking very close to Jesus. When we have team leaders that are not walking close to Jesus, other members on the team may not respect them. Do they have the insights to help other leaders on their team with their Club talks and Campaigner lessons? Do other leaders got to them about personal questions of faith and spiritual questions kids may have?
- Relationships with kids. They need to have great relationships with kids. They need to be able to model out successful ministry to other members on their teams. Are they one of the best leaders on the team with kids? Are they a model of ministry to younger or new leaders on the leadership team?
- Leadership capabilities. This is the one you need to have maybe before the other two above. Are they willing to have hard conversations about ministry with members on their team? Are they willing to go to the school, when no one else on their team can go? Are they willing to create relationships with kids and give them away to another leader on their team? Are they teachable?
Successful team leaders need ALL THREE of these attributes above. If you don’t have someone with all three, wait to find the right person that has all three.
What is your plan for training team leaders? This is the time of the year to start thinking about who will be your team leaders next fall. Young Life team leaders need to be trained well. This means before they start as team leaders and as they are going as team leaders.
Download our Young Life Team Leader training materials here:
- Team Leader Training Guide – Focuses 1-6 (print version)
- Team Leader Training Guide – Focuses 1-6 (interactive version)
Let us know what you think. We would love to hear from you, leave a comment.
YL Digital 