What if starting a movement depended much less on what a catalyst does than is commonly assumed? And more with who the catalyst becomes? And what if the key is not working more but rather growing more? My global research on movement catalysts reveals new insights into catalysts’ personal growth and development. It proves an amazing connection between their personal growth over time and their ability to effectively catalyze a movement. Based on biblical principles, this blog will boost your motivation to become more intentional about your personal growth. Read on and be inspired to grow into the kind of person God uses to start movements. Be challenged to develop the full potential God put within you. And as a result, you’ll increase your ministry fruitfulness.
Are outstanding leaders born into greatness?
There is a widespread notion that Christian workers either have leadership skills or they don’t: great leaders are “born to greatness.” Such conviction creates a limited incentive for both individuals and ministry organizations to intentionally invest in personal development. However, over the past fifty years, a myriad of studies on leadership development has demonstrated that the traits and competencies of effective leaders are not exclusively innate. On the contrary, they can be significantly developed (Conger, 1992; Bass & Bass, 2008; Van Velsor, McCauley, & Ruderman, 2010). Unfortunately, this insight has not taken root among Christian workers. But if we want to see increasing ministry fruitfulness, we need to understand how leaders can develop their leadership over time.
This blog describes how effective catalysts develop their key traits and competencies. We start by looking at the personal growth of effective catalysts over time, as compared to the growth of non-catalysts.
Comparing the catalytic qualities of catalysts and non-catalysts
In our global research on effective catalysts, my team and I identified a set of 21 traits and competencies that all effective catalysts who have started a movement have in common. These are summarized in the following table. (A full description can be found in my new book, What Actually Starts Movements).
Table 1: The Traits and Competencies of Effective Catalysts
Personality Qualities | Spiritual Qualities | Social Influence Qualities |
Radical Learning | Hunger for God | Inspiring Personality |
Innovation | Listening to God | Inspiring Shared Vision |
Drive to Achieve | Evangelistic Zeal | Influencing Others' Beliefs |
Conscientiousness | Expectant Faith | Assertiveness |
Personal Agency | Deep Prayer | Transformational Disciple Making |
Persistence | Tangible Love | Empowering |
Agreeableness | Confidence in Local Disciples |
|
| Confidence in the Bible |
|
My team and I also wanted to know how catalytic traits and competencies develop over time. The graph below shows trend lines of the average collective ratings for all traits and competencies combined, for both effective catalysts and non-catalysts, measured against years in ministry.
Figure 1: The Development of Traits and Competencies in Comparison
Three important inferences can be drawn from this graph:
1) Effective catalysts start with an overall high level of the traits and competencies needed to catalyze a movement, and they continue to grow in these over their years in ministry.
2) Effective catalysts’ capacity to start a movement does not correlate with their ministry longevity. Some start a movement after they have been in ministry for fifty years, while others do so with very few years of ministry experience. Non-catalysts, in comparison, begin their ministry with a similar, but slightly lower, level of traits and competencies. They then exhibit a tendency to decrease in these over their years in ministry.
3) Both changes are gradual and relatively small in size, but taken together they produce a third significant insight. Although the level of traits and competencies of effective catalysts and non-catalysts start out fairly similar, they follow opposite trajectories in their personal development. Effective catalysts are set apart by an overall trend of ongoing personal development.
What distinguishes effective catalysts from non-catalysts is their ongoing personal development.
The development of effective catalysts
Next, we consider the striking fact that, for catalysts, all but two of the traits and competencies have no significant correlation with increasing years in ministry. This finding provides fascinating insight into how catalysts develop. Conventional wisdom would suggest that the longer pioneers remain in ministry, the more they grow and develop the traits and competencies needed for effectiveness. However, the stability of the vast majority of the catalysts’ traits and competencies over time suggests that ministry longevity alone is not an important factor in catalyzing a movement. Many of the traits and competencies related to starting movements are not limited to veteran workers.
This conclusion is confirmed by the varying ages of catalysts at the time when they catalyzed a movement, ranging from 21 to 76, with an average age of 44 years (both mean and median). These traits and competencies can be developed to a high degree, irrespective of age or experience. This is supported by a wider review of competence theory in broader literature. Many studies have shown that the key to developing these traits and competencies is not time—in this case the years of ministry experience or age—but rather the amount of the leader’s intentional effort to develop them. In sociology this is known as “deliberate practice” (Ericsson, Krampe, & Tesch-Roemer, 1993).
Non-catalysts’ shocking development
The results for the control group—pioneers who did not catalyze a movement—provide the disconcerting finding that six of the 21 traits and competencies have a negative correlation with years in ministry. That is, the self-scoring of those who have not catalyzed a movement decreases for these six qualities the longer they have been on their field of ministry.
Figure 2: Trait and Competency Development of Non-Catalysts
The declines are slow but nevertheless evident. This leads to a painful observation: Over years in ministry, the traits and competencies of Christian workers can not only plateau but can even decline. Since the decrease occurs only in those who have not catalyzed a movement, it is safe to conclude that a key quality of the effective catalysts is their capacity to maintain their cutting edge over years in ministry. Similar to a knife, repeated, prolonged use against hard surfaces tends to dull the edge. Therefore, its cutting edge must be maintained by repeated and intentional sharpening. Catalysts stand out in their intentional efforts to hone their personal traits and competencies through lifelong learning and personal development.
A New Testament foundation for the connection between growth and fruitfulness
A key reason Christian workers do not devote as much attention to their personal development as Paul and the other catalysts in the first Church is that many today tend to see “gifting” as static. They believe they’ve either received a particular gifting, or they haven’t. Some are more gifted than others. Note the passive voice—“are gifted.” This is quite telling. We often see “gifting” and “talent” as innate, whereas the New Testament puts us in the driver’s seat more than most of us believe, concerning development of our talents.
In the parable of the entrusted minas, Jesus challenges us to steward our talents and make the most of them (Matt. 25:14–30). We are fully responsible for our own personal growth. Paul urges us to “seek spiritual gifts” (1 Cor. 14:1), and to “fan into flame the gift of God which is in you!” (2 Tim. 1:6). All catalytic traits and competencies can be fanned into flame. They all can be developed further.
First, pay close attention to your own life. Second, pay close attention to your teaching ministry. Then you will save your hearers.
This is how Paul saw it—Paul, the movement catalyst par excellence and a key role model. He challenged those he mentored to make their personal growth a priority in their lives. Note the order in which Paul instructs Timothy: “Pay close attention to your life and your teaching; persevere in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Tim. 4:16 – csb). First, pay close attention to your own life. Second, pay close attention to your teaching ministry. Paul sets clear priorities: (1) your ongoing personal growth, then (2) your ministry.
Note the promise made to those who live with such priorities: “In doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers.” Paying attention to our own life and growth will first lead us to experience increasing redemption and wholeness, then lead to the same redemption and wholeness for those to whom we minister. Our personal growth will lead to the salvation of others. What a promise!
Practical implications
Leadership guru John C. Maxwell states: “Your leadership is determined by who you are.” Applying this to movement ministry means: Your movement outcomes are determined by who you are.
Starting a movement is not in our hands, but we are in charge of our growth to become the kinds of people God can use to start a movement.
Most traits and competencies of catalysts show no correlation at all with ministry longevity. They are not in any way limited to seasoned leaders, and can be developed at any age, even by ministry novices.
The traits and competencies of mission pioneers, sadly, can not only plateau but can also decline over years in ministry. Since the decrease occurs only among those who have not catalyzed a movement, we conclude that one quality of an effective catalyst is lifelong growth and radical learning.
These findings have significance for training and development. Since the catalytic traits and competencies don’t correlate with life maturity, any leader can work toward developing the traits and competencies necessary to catalyze a movement, irrespective of how long they have been in ministry. This fits with sociology’s paradigm of deliberate practice, that the determining factor for high-level performance is not the amount of time passed, but the amount of effort put into development. Effort here means a combination of training, mentoring, and the deliberate practice of the leader.
Starting a movement is not in our hands. But we are responsible for and in charge of our growth and development to become the kinds of people God can use to start a movement. I hope these findings will spur you on to renewed emphasis on the development of your catalytic qualities and so improve your ability to partner with God in catalyzing a movement.
You can learn more about the growth of effective catalysts in my upcoming book, What Actually Starts Movements, due to launch on May 28. Stay tuned on this channel for more pre-publication releases.
Self-coaching questions
You can use the following self-coaching questions for prayerful personal or team reflection:
Which of the points in this blog do I find challenging?
Looking back over my years in ministry, how would I draw a graph of my personal growth in these key traits and competencies?
How much of a priority has my personal growth in these areas been for me?
How could I become more intentional to engage in deliberate practice and further my growth in the catalytic qualities?
Toward action
I would love to hear back from you! What is your experience? Leave a comment below! If you prefer to private message me, you can use the contact form.
Learn more about the Best Practices of effective catalysts in my book Movement Catalysts. You can order your copy here.
If you found this blog helpful, who in your network would benefit from you sharing it with them?
Emanuel Prinz – Father’s Beloved & Movement Activist
References
Bass, Bernhard M. & Bass, Ruth R. 2008. The Bass Handbook of Leadership: Theory, Research, and Managerial Applications. New York: Free Press.
Conger, Jay A. 1992. Learning to Lead: The Art of Transforming Managers into Leaders. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Ericsson, K. Anders, Krampe, Ralf. T., & Tesch-Roemer, Clemens. 1993. “The Role of Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert Performance.” Psychological Review 100 (3): 363-404.
Van Velsor, Ellen, McCauley, Cynthia D., & Ruderman, Marian N. 2010. The Center for Creative Leadership Handbook of Leadership Development. 3rd edition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.