How Young Christian Leaders Can Lead Through Others
- Andy Hodgson
- May 28
- 4 min read
The Hard Truth About Christian Leadership: Why Real Impact Starts With You
If you’re a young Christian leader, one of the biggest questions you’ll eventually face is this: how do you stop doing everything yourself and start leading through other people well?
It sounds simple, but it isn’t. Leading through others—especially other leaders—takes far more than passion, good intentions, or a strong vision. It takes maturity, self-awareness, trust, and the ability to build people instead of just managing tasks.
Maybe you’re already serving on a team.
Maybe you’re leading volunteers, discipling younger believers, or trying to build a ministry in a church that needs more healthy leaders. Or maybe you’re wondering whether this even matters in your context.
It does matter.
Because if the future of the Church depends largely on raising up leaders who can multiply rather than merely maintain, then learning to work through others is not optional—it’s essential.
Before we talk about skills, we need to be honest about the current leadership reality. Research often shows a major gap between how leaders see themselves and how the people around them actually experience their leadership.
In 2016, a McKinsey & Company study revealed a shocking disconnect: while 77% of leaders rated themselves as inspiring and good role models, a Gallup study from the same year found that 82% of employees view their leaders as fundamentally uninspiring.
Why does that disconnect exist?
Often, leadership effectiveness is easier to assume than it is to measure honestly.
Unfortunately, this isn't just a corporate problem; it seems to be the exact same reality in our churches and Christian organisations. Research on disciple-making released by Exponential in 2020 showed that leaders consistently overestimate the outcomes they are achieving and the effect they are having.
In short, many leaders think they are doing a lot better than they actually are.
The Call for Collaboration
In the Western Church, we are facing a declining number of churches alongside an increasing need for leaders. We no longer have the luxury of operating in silos or refusing to work with other churches in our area. If we truly want to see God's Kingdom come in our communities, we have to break down these barriers and learn to collaborate.
One of the ironies in church life is that the leaders we hesitate to partner with inside Christian spaces are often the very people we would gladly stand beside in a secular workplace. In those environments, secondary differences tend to fade quickly. What matters is whether we are willing to get in the trenches together, live out our faith, and serve people well.
So what does this mean for leading through other leaders?
It Starts with Leading Yourself
So, how do we bridge the gap between the leaders we think we are and the collaborative leaders we need to be?
As leadership pioneer Peter Drucker famously said, "You cannot manage other people unless you manage yourself first".
"You cannot manage other people unless you manage yourself first."
In other words, you must "Become what you want to multiply". Effective leadership progresses through a clear path: it starts with self-awareness and self-leadership, which then equips you to successfully lead people, and ultimately leads to organisational leadership.
Self-leadership becomes the foundation for people leadership.
And people leadership becomes the foundation for leading teams, ministries, organisations, and other leaders.
That is why healthy leadership development usually moves in three directions: self-awareness and self-leadership, people awareness and people leadership, and then organisational awareness and organisational leadership.
To develop your capacity to work effectively through other leaders, you need to cultivate three essential characteristics:
For Christians, these qualities should sound familiar because they are visible in the life and leadership of Jesus. At the same time, some of these words—especially mindfulness—can feel unfamiliar or loaded, so they are worth defining carefully.
1. Mindfulness (A Kingdom Lens) Mindfulness is both a practice and a state of mind, defined as paying attention in the present moment with a clear, calm, and focused mind. For the Christian leader, this is deeply connected to spiritual practices, rhythms, and habits that build an awareness of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These practices help us focus on how God is working in us, through us, and throughout creation, allowing us to make wise choices and view our tasks through a Kingdom lens.
2. Selflessness (Servant Leadership) Selflessness means getting out of your own way—and the way of the people you are collaborating with. It is letting go of self-importance so that the God-given gifts of your team can be empowered and flow naturally. This aligns perfectly with Jesus' commands to treat others as you want to be treated, the biblical concept that the least will be first, and the ultimate model of servant leadership.
3. Compassion (Moving Forward Together) Compassion involves having positive intentions for others, often demonstrated through supportive actions. While empathy alone might cause a leader to get stuck in the emotions of a situation, compassion balances empathy with the bigger vision. It allows you to keep moving forward toward your desired outcome, but doing so alongside others at the pace they need.
A Final Challenge for Young Christian Leaders:
If you want to become a more collaborative leader, don’t just collect leadership tips. Take an honest look at your current patterns.
Where are you leading from insecurity, control, or self-protection?
Where is the Holy Spirit inviting you to grow in awareness, humility, courage, or trust?
The future of Christian leadership will not be built by platform-driven personalities who need to control everything. It will be built by leaders who know how to lead themselves, empower others, and collaborate for the sake of the Kingdom.
The future of Christian leadership will not be built by platform-driven personalities who need to control everything. It will be built by leaders who know how to lead themselves, empower others, and collaborate for the sake of the Kingdom.
Your Next Step
Take a moment to honestly and humbly reflect on the leader you currently are.
Are you truly as inspiring as you think you are?
What skills, habits, or competencies is the Holy Spirit inviting you to develop today so you can better collaborate for His mission and glory?
*note: this blog was adapted from the introduction of our leadership competency module 'The Min of a Leader - L3 Collaboration'. If you would like to explore more about these leadership competency modules, please click HERE.
This article was written and created by Andrew Hodgson ©2026
Published by The Emerging Leaders Program, 2026
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