When I was 21 years old, I was the sole worship leader at a 600-member church. I had barely graduated college, and I found myself a young leader—the youngest pastor in the organization. Needless to say, there was a steep learning curve.
I learned quite a bit in the first few years of being a young leader, but seven lessons particularly stood out to me. Hopefully you can learn from my mistakes and all the pain points I experienced.
1. People will question your motives.
I constantly had people coming up to me sharing dreams and visions “God gave them” for me. Yeah, right. “I dreamed you were in the middle of a room, wearing a crown, asking people to worship you.” Basically, the lady was accusing me of arrogance. It hurt a lot. She didn’t know my motives, but that didn’t stop her from questioning me as a young leader. You can’t let this sort of stuff keep you from moving forward.
2. Everyone is an “expert”.
As a worship leader, every musician who ran across my path had “opened for Stryper” or produced concerts for the premier bar in our city. I was at first tempted to take all of their suggestions and critiques. Pretty soon I found out their expertise didn’t necessarily mean anything. Just because someone claims they’re an expert doesn’t mean they are.
3. You don’t get a “pass” for being a young leader.
You’ll still have to deal with tough situations that require real leadership. One of my musicians, a 15 year-old girl, had a Myspace page with photos of her in her swimsuit. One of the mothers in the church had seen her page and called me up—suggesting I remove her from the band because the photos were inappropriate for a “leader” to have on their page. I had to make a tough decision. It didn’t matter that I was only a few years older than her. (She was a swimmer at her school. I gave her a pass on the photos.)
4. Your youth can be an asset.
If you’re willing to reach out to older generations from a place of humility, you’ll find some of your greatest cheerleaders. I thought the older folks in our church would resist me leading them into worship. But they actually loved my youthful enthusiasm. They even celebrated when I tried new and creative things. The key was befriending them and accepting their wisdom in my life.
5. You will feel insecure.
I felt massively insecure. I knew I wasn’t there just because my dad was the pastor, but that didn’t make it easier to accept the fact that I deserved to be where I was. More than that, I was worried about what others thought of me as a young leader too. (I was sure they thought it was all nepotism.)
6. Insecurity is your enemy.
Insecurity causes young leaders to do dumb things if they let it. Insecurity can manifest in arrogance and brashness, or it can manifest in bashfulness and false modesty. Neither of those are beneficial for a leader. You’ll be insecure, but you need to be confident in your calling. Be nice, be humble, but be confident.
7. You will get better at it.
You haven’t arrived as a leader just because you’re in a position of power. Every young leader needs to see that there’s more ahead. You’ll advance in position. But more than that, you’ll grow into your current position. You might be slightly under-qualified, but you’ll get better.
You’ll also make mistakes. You’ll do embarrassing things that seem like good ideas at the time. But you’ll get better.
Young leaders have opportunities no other leaders have. Embrace your youth and let it become an asset for you. There’s more ahead of you if you steward this gift of leadership well.
So that’s what I learned from being a young leader. What lessons have you learned either in the past or currently? I’d love to hear your feedback in a comment below!
