Every leader of a growing organization asks this question. And though we know we need more leaders, few of us know how to create a culture of leadership development. This book recounts how Steve Murrell and Every Nation rediscovered four leadership multipliers that solved the leadership shortage of a growing church and global mission organization.
The principles and stories in these pages will help you identify leaders, develop current leaders, and multiply future leaders!
Steve is cofounder and president of Every Nation Churches & Ministries, a family of churches focused on church planting, campus ministry, and world mission.
Steve serves on the board of the Real LIFE Foundation, a Christian non-profit with the vision of seeing thousands of marginalized Filipino youth educated, gainfully employed, and uplifting their communities.
After living in the Philippines for twenty-four years, the Murrells now split their time between Manila and Nashville. Their three adult sons were born and raised in the Philippines and now reside in the United States.
When in Nashville, Steve serves on the Bethel Franklin leadership team.
That’s the Multiplication Challenge: how to multiply leaders at a rate that keeps pace with growth.
Before starting to read this book - I was expecting that this will be about multiplying the members of the church - rapid growth, x amount of Sunday services, etc. That it will plainly tell me how to grow exponentially - to deal with leadership shortage.
But I was wrong, Introduction sets that this book will not be just another book of How to grow in numbers - this is a book about producing quality leaders that will multiply and produce more quality leaders - ot’s making sure that we don’t just grow our weekly church attendance but moreso, grow small groups that keeps in touch directly with people - week in and week out. Small groups that will listen to each other. Groups that will study the Word together. Groups that will share the Gospel.
And in order to do this - the goal is to identify, develop, and multiply and make the small group members an intern so they too can build an do it the same way or even better. This is a great book! 5/5 will recommend! I have some favorite parts of the book - it was difficult to pick, as usual. ● How to Grow like a Leader ● Instruct ● Impartation How to Grow like a Leader Not all growth is healthy - We need to be careful of all the sudden fast growt we need to check and test the quality of leaders or members that we are producing - don’t do the microwave-ministry philosophy - But once we become leaders, it’s more important than ever that we continue to grow ourselves From Welch: Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others - while continuing to grow yourself.
Some of my favorite lines: “Slow is fast” Principle ● If our goal is strong and healthy leaders, we must slow down the process and resist the temptation to fast track our leadership training ● Have a lifelong leadership strategy 1. Calling ● Whether audible, it was always clear in Matthew 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” ● Jesus had already clearly called all His disciple - so that was enough for us Here’s the point: Whether you have a dramatic and mystical encounter, complete with voices and visions, or a mundane and not-so-supernatural burden for a campus or city, both can be valid calls from God. For me, the need is usually the call. 2. Compassion ● To grow in compassion toward people. We “can” love to study and teach — but it’s impossible to do this and aim for growth and not love on people. Jesus had many records of this love and compassion in the Bible. To see and feel the need, and to address it. ● Compassion opened blind eyes and softened a hard heart. Compassion will enable us to actually help them with the Gospel, rather than fearing, hating, or rejecting them. ● Leaders, no matter where they are on the leadership journey, must grow in their understanding of calling and in their ability to extend compassion to hurting people. ● Responding to God’s calling and having a heart of compassion toward. People forces leaders to grow and upgrade their ability to communicate God’s message. 3. Communication I was really able to relate on this part. ● Moses (Exodus 4) ● Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1) ● Ptr. Steve
My voice cracks and sometimes I get teary-eyed whenever I speak to or in groups and especially in the crowd — even though. I always imagine myself speaking on a stage like TedX and to start a podcast. To craft a message and deliver it. I write better than I speak, at least for now.
What I learned on this part is how vital communication is and that it is also considered a skill - that can be learned, honed, developed. “I’m more of a natural-born listener and observer.” While some are naturally born to get the crowd’s attention. I don’t consider myself as one - although I always dream of being one. “I was the shy one.” “Whatever speaking, teaching, and preaching skills I have acquired skills, not mystical gifts that magically appeared in my life.” “For me, learning to speak in public required discipline, practice, and feedback. I knew this area of my life needed to develop if I was to be the leader God called me to be, so I did everything in my ability to grow and become a better speaker.” “Aside from the preaching skills, the ability to communicate to a small group setting is a must!” It’s two different setting / skills / approach. Spoken communication, preaching, and teaching are different things to be developed as well.
Writing and Blogging I am a writer by heart and I bask in between quick reads, quotes, and books. I write/journal a lot. And when the internet became accessible - I started blogging. It’s like my own little space online. A platform. It’s really amazing to look back on writings - it reminds us of God’s faithfulness and His powers of transforming our lives. Social Media ● More than getting social in social media and use it to connect to people. ● The goal for me is to penetrate the algorithm with His Word. It was also one of my dream to have a Christian Magazine before, build a community, have an e-book, a physical copy, website, and connect with other believers around the world. “Leverage every channel to get that message to the right people.” “Get the message to the right people.” To commit myself “also” to continuous growth in my communication skills.
No matter who or where you are called to lead, your leadership calling will require that your communication skills constantly grow. Growing not only means getting better at speaking or writing, but also acquiring skills that are way outside of your comfort zone. 4. Character If our character is growing, everything else needed for effective leadership will grow accordingly. “To walk in a manner worthy of the calling.” - Ephesians 9:1-3 Aim for character traits that we’re connected to relational leadership. Character (noun) means a distinctive mark. ● A letter or symbol, peculiar quality or the sun of qualities. Character (verb) to engrave, to inscribe, to distinguish “Paul says that in order to have character, we must first experience and rejoice in suffering. If we avoid suffering or if we complain our way through suffering then character is not produced. James 1:2-4 In other words, if we ant to be “complete” and “lacking in nothing”, then we will need to endure trials and testing. If we avoid trials and tests, then we will not be complete and lack in nothing. In the same way, ... (p.73) Instruct Personally, I value wisdom. I value learning things. BUT, I don’t like catching myself doing what I learned the wrong or improper way. So, God made a way for me to understand that applied knowledge is better than wisdom, knowledge is power - when applied. To try and fail and try again. To fail fast. The “passion for learning”. To seek instruction. It is a long-term investment. They cannot steal what you know. Leverage your learning and expertise. Jesus valued instruction, do you? He seeks instruction. He sought and valued instruction.
He was a learner. He was a listener. He asks teachers. He sat humbly at the feet of established leaders. The top four resources of instruction. I love blogs/books/podcasts - I learned a lot from these. “We can find instruction and education in so many places.” 1. Classroom Instruction - a good place to learn. 2. Sunday Sermon - a good place of encountering God’s timely message. 3. Personal Study - Bereans the Word with all eagerness examining the Scriptures daily (Acts 17:11) To dig deep daily. It is like planting. Good books A good recommended book is one way for us to be study the Bible as well. It is like listening to people who have gone ahead of us - telling us stories about their encounter with God and some also make it informative and more organized. We cannot separate our communication of God’s Word from our participation in God’s work. We must live what we preach. We must walk the walk, not just talk the talk. If we want to preach it, we must be willing to do it. Impartation Impartation is a vital part of our leadership-development strategy. Impartation is taking someone under your wing and making them feel part of what you are doing. It is shared lives with intentionality. It requires close proximity because it transfers spiritual gifts and it makes us strong. Instruction and impartation work together to produce leaders who have sharp minds and strong hearts.
For me, it is an important thing to do as leaders - because after all, we ought to love one another and in doing so, we have to first impart and share our lives with these people and get to know them and that results for us loving them. This book was really helpful for me and reflective - it is like journeying with Pastor Steve when he answered the call to plant a church here in the Philippines and even a quick throw back to his experiences before he got here in Manila. It was as if linking one event to another and making it a beautiful picture of ups and downs. I realized as I attended the Victory Conference that God is indeed faithful. The journey was tough, and the calling as well - but God was always there through the years, with the people to guide us, for the leaders that will be raised by us, lives that will be changed and for the Gospel to be penetrated - for the Great Commission.
Jesus gave us the greatest example of how to make disciples and develop them to great leaders. These being non-flaky & profitable leaders who understand and hold the vision. This book encapsulates the leadership paradigm of not only Jesus, but also diverse biblical characters in a detailed form. The author desires for the reader to understand that a shortage of leaders is not to be the norm in the church or any institution for that matter. The leaders-to-be are amongst those being led, just waiting to be found and trained. The vision truly does not have to end in with one generation. No, it has the potential of traversing through generations.
I remember my first encounter with this book from way way back and didn't even bother to open it because the title itself was enough to made me feel anxious, "how can I even do that?" Years after, I encountered this book again and decided to give it a try and it took me a couple of months to read and digest this piece. Reading is easy, applying is the hard part. This book certainly helped me to shape my perspective about leadership and how should I go on about it. A must read.
I really enjoyed this book! It is super informative as well as practical for multiplying leaders and connect groups. The principles of this book are so well aligned to the Bible and explained to allow for greater understanding. Would recommend this book if you are a part of leadership in your church!
Amazing book for those who want to learn about leadership and also want to raise leadership. An amazing book on Leadership Development, Lordship and Discipleship.
It is a great book. Easy to read, but with great depth. Practical, but more importantly, biblical. My book is filled with highlights with all the things that I got from it but I think, the things that made such great impact to me were the real stories of leadership weaved in every chapter. Raising a leader is not easy, but it does not have to be complicated. After reading the book, I want to get off of my feet and apply what I learned. But I remembered, it’s just 1am in the morning. Reading the book made my heart beat more for the next generation. As Ptr. Steve said, “there is no joy greater than the joy of watching the next generation of spiritual leaders grow in their leadership capacity."
This book offers practical strategies for leaders who are facing a shortage of leadership talent within their organizations. The content is well-organized, easy to understand, and actionable. While the book has a Christian perspective, the principles and strategies outlined can be applied in any leadership context. Overall, I found this book to be a great read and highly recommend it to anyone looking to develop their leadership skills and address leadership shortages.
A challenging and inspiring book to help you look beyond yourself and your own generation as a leader. Steve Murrell not only writes eloquently about leadership but he lives it powerfully.