Unleashing the Hidden Potential of Your Student Leaders

Today, I'm linking up with Kate Motaung's Five Minute Friday. The rules: Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.

This week's prompt: Hidden.

I have this expression I use around my student leaders: “You have a lot of potential.”

It drives my student leaders a little batty.

As adolescents, student leaders want desperately to believe they've arrived. They want to believe they know how to do it all, including lead. They think they're infallible.

In truth, student leaders haven't arrived, they're on the journey. (Aren't we all?)

Student leaders don't know how to do everything (but then again, neither do I). But the best student leaders are willing to learn. The best ones are willing to try. The best ones are willing to take risks, even if they fail.

Student leaders aren't infallible. They're actually prone to mistakes. When they fail, they often fail big.

But, boy, do student leaders have untapped, oftentimes hidden potential.

Student leaders have the hidden potential to serve like Jesus did. They have the potential to become servant leaders who look out for the needs of others before their own.

Student leaders have the hidden potential to learn. Don't be fooled by the word student. By definition, student actually means someone who studies something. Student leaders can grasp tricky concepts; they can ponder important questions.

Student leaders have the hidden potential to welcome; to look out for those on the margins of your ministry even at the expense of time with their own friends.

And if someone is willing to invest in them, student leaders have the not-so-hidden potential to become great leaders; the kind of leaders who will change their schools, churches, and communities. In short, they have the potential to be the kinds of leaders who will change our world.

For more on student leadership, pre-order my new book, Unleashing the Hidden Potential of Your Student Leaders, which will be released in the Spring, 2017!