In Small Group Training, we learn about being a "faith-oriented" leader. The essential element to becoming faith-oriented is leading with the heart. A small group leader must love God, love group members, and love self as well. One of the important keys to being an outstanding leader of a small group is exhibiting a servant's heart—a passion for those the Lord has brought around you and your leadership team. So how can you create that kind of passion in the relationships within your small group? This passion is driven by shared values and defined goals.
Everything begins with the leader's values. Kouzes and Posner write, "Commitment flows from personal values." People will not put their heart into things they don't believe in. In fact, people tend to show great commitment to the things they believe in most. Look at the way people fill out their NCAA Basketball Tournament Brackets! We stress in Basic Training the importance of sharing your values with your group members. They need to know what motivates the group leader. Are they, the group members, important to the leader? Do they have value in the eyes and heart of the leader? A great key to effective group leadership is examining and having shared values within a small group. Leaders all stand for something. Leaders may be passionate about Bible knowledge. They may be people who seek to better understand end times. They may be people who love deep and articulate study. Group members need to know where they fit in the picture.
Here is a very important truth—clarity of values is the energy that makes the difference in a group member's commitment to the group. If your group members do not know your heart and passions, they may be unwilling to perform the tasks ...
