The Multiplication Effect: Building a Leadership Pipeline that Solves Your Leadership Shortage

by Mac Lake

Do you wish you had more qualified, committed, and mission-oriented leaders in your church to share the ministry workload? Do you have a passion for cultivating the God-given leadership gifts in others?

Most pastors say that the need to identify and develop leaders is critical to the health and growth of their church, yet most churches do not have an intentional plan for doing this. In The Multiplication Effect, Mac Lake reveals his practical, biblical, and proven strategy for addressing this leadership shortage and equipping future leaders to fulfill their kingdom mission.

In this book, Mac Lake will help you:


Identify potential leaders using unique training modules
Equip and disciple leaders at every level of their leadership journey
Empower leaders to multiply themselves by developing other leaders
Inspired by the greatest leadership example of all, Lake writes, “Jesus was a master of leadership development who saw something in people and then patiently walked with them to transform their spirit and their skills.”

 

Learn how to lead like Jesus and create a culture of multiplying leaders to expand God’s work in your community and beyond

Genres: Leadership, Faith, Business

224 pages, Paperback

First published February 4, 2020

Reviews

[Kase Griswold · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lake outlines how to set up a leadership development system the only way it can truly work: by being intentional through relationships as you walk alongside other to help them know Jesus more, thus encouraging them to help others know Jesus more.

If I could give this 6 stars, I would!

[Natalie Crane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kinda long winded in the beginning. Has good content and direction for church leaders but could have been more concise and practical.

[Brooke Johnson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m rating this a 1 star solely based on how much I ENJOYED reading it. Unfortunately, this book is not written for enjoyment but rather for practical advice and improvement. It offered solid information, strategy, and implementation tactics for recruiting and developing leaders - but it was incredibly long winded. I think the whole book could be reduced to a 10 page pamphlet and remain just as effective and informative

[Colin Michaelis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am working my way through some books on leadership development in a church or ministry context. Mac Lake has a well-thought out structure, culture, and people-oriented approach to leadership development. As he says, “It’s not a win when you produce a leader. It’s a win when the newly developed leader produces a leader.” And that’s the core belief in his systematic approach - multiplication rather than addition. Much as we do with effective disciple-making, it is disciples making disciples who make disciples.

I have a in-built aversion to blindly following any system. But as Lake says, “Please understand that programs don’t develop leaders, leaders develop leaders….The Magic bullet is you.” That goes a long way to addressing my concern about a formulaic methodology.

This is a very help and practical start to understanding how to grow leaders for ministry.

[Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really good book to read. I appreciate the perspective on leadership that is shared in this book and the things they identify on training up new leaders with in the church. The section of chapters focused on the culture of leadership within the church were my favorite. The thoughts shared are very different than what you see most churches doing these days. If you are in church leadership, I think this book is worth the read.

[Dan Mingo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book. I believe overall the practicality of what Mac introduces would help any ministry develop leaders. I would love to see how this applies to specific ministries as well. If you want to learn to equip others this book will show you how.

[Maddy Haase · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a take on Leadership Development and how a church can best support their congregants. Leadership is not about filling a space but developing people into the people God has created.

[Miranda Baise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Felt a lot like he was trying to convince you you need this but not telling you practical steps?? Idk

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lake details how to develop a Leadership Pipeline that produces leaders who reproduce leaders. While the concept is sound, it could have been presented in significantly fewer pages. As Lake himself notes, this isn't a formulaic approach, making some of the provided details seem frivolous and less helpful. This is even more apparent when considering leadership pipelines in diverse contexts such as other financial and cultural contexts. It's a decent read but would benefit from more conciseness. A section exploring case studies across different contexts could be interesting and add practical value.

[Clair Culberson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was alright, but I didn’t realize on the outset that I am not the intended audience. This book was written strictly for church staff/leadership, which I am not. For that reason, it really didn’t apply to me. Intended audience aside, there was some really good content, but you had to tease it out between the repetitiveness and the constant mention of how most churches and church leadership do not have a leadership pipeline. I also did not appreciate the throw away comment that if the suggestions given in the book do not work for you, then it is your fault that you are letting Satan work in your life…

[Nathan Pullman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dude, everyone should go read this book right now! If you're leading a church, read it! If you're a principal of a school, read it! If you own a cafe or small business please read it!

This book gives an incredibly practical teaching on building a leadership pipeline which at the same time, which I just realised right now, it teaches you the content in the way that he teaches you to teach it!

[Kate Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mac Lake does a great job of casting vision for how leadership development should look in a church. People are not just filling a space/role, but you are developing them into who God designed them to be through relationships. He emphasizes that multiplication should be the primary goal, not just addition.

“Programs don’t develop leaders, leaders develop leaders”

[Gershom Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book comprehensively taught me leadership in such a great way

Awesome reading, and application which is easy to comprehend and implement. I believe that all leaders should have this as a must read

[Travis Agnew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lake's book on leadership development is a practical gift to churches. We typically deal in the abstract, but this book lays out some specific things you can do to start discipleship in a leadership context.

[Jim Clark · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was about 150 pages too long. Too much repetition without additional meat made this book tedious. The author could have written a 50 pages (that would have been generous) PDF download of the material and saved some ink. Great concepts... just too much fluff in the book.

[David Ludwig · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book lives up to the title and walks you through the steps needed to develop a leadership pipeline. Mac Lake shares examples and provides free downloads on his website to help you get started. Good read!

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super practical and encouraging book that walks through HOW to develop leaders. Definitely will think about principles here (training should look like the leadership setting; teachers teach teachers; think about how to scale)!

[Danny Theurer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Practical and incredibly easy to read, Lake lays out a simple roadmap for producing a development-focused church. Although I would’ve loved an expanded section on level-specific competencies, this book remains a right place to begin their turn in the right direction. Excellent work!

[Jon Major · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book on building leaders at every step and every level that is needed. It starts with laying out the vision and the time frame to make it work. I loved the examples the author gave and how to get everyone on the team speaking the same way.

[Debby Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gave some insight for structuring an org chart/oversight chart. And how to implement for the long-term health of the church.

[Andy Ardern · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book on developing and multiplying church leaders. Really helpful in explaining the leadership pipeline model. I think it may be worth getting the print copy than just listening to the audio.

[Daniel Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super practical. Definitely taking ideas from this and beginning to implement them this week!

[Brandon Hair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book on leadership development and raising people up to higher levels of leadership in your organization.

[Nathan Deck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! It’s the leadership pipeline translated for churches.

[Christine Gustin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Practical, biblical, convicting and inspiring. Highly recommend—not just for church staff, but also for lay leaders!

[Anna Webb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compulsory reading for ministry leaders. Simple but essential

[Caleb Garnett · Rating 3 out of 5]

All right book, I just wish he had made things a bit more concrete for people like me who really need that.

[Anna Robertson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great for practical tips on volunteer recruitment, training and retention.