3 Critical Skills Senior Leaders Need for the Future

by Carey Nieuwhof

As the saying goes, what got you here won't get you there. 

The skills that got you to where you are today in church leadership won't get you to where you want to be. And that's never been more true than it is now.  

Several new realities have combined to make this a deeply challenging season for church leaders - the rise of the "nones", deconstruction, culture wars, declining attendance, and pastoral stress and burnout at an all-time high. 

Add to that the rapid pace of change from AI and technology, and it's clear none of us were trained for this moment in seminary.

While the hope and healing the church brings has never been more needed, in order to thrive we need to develop 3 critical skills:

1. Emotional Health  

Emotional intelligence and spiritual health have been much-discussed topics in recent decades, and thankfully emotional health was brought to the forefront by leaders like Pete Scazzero. 

It's something long overdue for attention in the church.

Often, I fuse spiritual and emotional health, because you’re not really spiritually healthy if you’re not emotionally healthy. You could argue that you can be emotionally healthy without being spiritually healthy, but the inverse isn’t true. 

Sure, here's how I would generally define emotional health or emotional well-being:

Emotional health involves having an awareness of your emotions, being able to regulate strong emotional reactions, and maintaining control over behaviors influenced by emotions.

Emotionally healthy leaders are: 

• Self-aware - They’re able to identify and name the emotions they’re feeling.

• Emotionally regulated - They have techniques to keep emotions in check and avoid overreacting, such as through relaxation methods or reframing thoughts.

• Resilient - They have the ability to cope with and recover from difficult situations or setbacks without lasting psychological difficulties.

• Empathetic - They have the capacity to understand and share the feelings of others.

• Self-motivated - They use healthy emotions like enthusiasm and perseverance to work toward goals.

• Relationally healthy - They have the emotional intelligence to build and maintain positive relationships.

Overall, emotional health parallels the characteristics of spiritual health. As a skill, it creates emotional balance and equips people to navigate challenges while maintaining healthy relationships.

In eras of change, division, and despair, emotional health is indispensable for leaders and their churches. 

Why? Healthy leaders tend to produce healthy churches. Unhealthy leaders tend to produce unhealthy churches.

Spiritual and emotional health is a long journey, but available to anyone willing to do the hard work. 

Whatever you need - counseling, retreats, rehab - it's worth the investment. Because the cost of emotionally unhealthy leaders to the church and to peoples' faith is staggering.

2. Excellent Communication Skills

Thanks to social media, YouTube, and our hyper-connected world, your congregation hears more messages from more sources than ever before. 

They expect great communication from their church, too. 

Excellent communication skills doesn't mean being the best orator with a million followers. It simply means you can write clear, memorable sermons and deliver them effectively. You can be soft-spoken or a powerful speaker. It just means getting your message out clearly and consistently across all channels - Sunday morning, email, text, social, YouTube, etc.

You're doing ministry in a technologically-evolving world where communication skills are more critical than ever. 

My 4 Categories of Preaching can help understand how to preach memorable messages, and my course on preaching walks you through the entire process.

3. Digital Literacy  

You’re doing ministry in a technologically evolved and evolving world. With the rapid rise of AI, things are changing faster than ever.

Church leaders have been slow in adapting to technology, and it was COVID that finally forced church leaders to go online. 

But when buildings were open again, many church leaders quickly reverted (and continue to revert) to the old ways of being the church. Of note, Bridgetown Church announced that they’re stopping their livestream altogether. 

Obviously, the personal embodiment of ministry is critical, but to ignore digital ministry is to close the real front door to your church. 

To ignore technology as a church leader is like posting a disclaimer beneath the welcome sign on the front lawn of your church that reads, “Just kidding. We don’t really care if you ever come in here or not.”

Almost anyone who discovers your church today or in the future is going to do so online. 

If you push back by saying, “Well, what if their friend invites them?” Fair point. But I promise you that invited guest is going to check you out on social or visit your church website before they walk in the door.

Further, AI is going to fundamentally alter the landscape of life, relationships, romance, caregiving, and employment as we know it. 

I’m not saying you need to become a tech leader as a church leader, but I am saying that the longer you put your head in the sand, the more irrelevant you’ll become to people whose lives are being impacted daily by the issues you’re ignoring.

At a minimum, you need to be aware of what’s going on and have a team that’s figuring out how to embrace the new digital era of life and ministry. Otherwise, you’ll become irrelevant.

Relevance gives you permission to speak into the culture. The culture routinely ignores those it deems to be irrelevant. 

Conclusion

In this era of rapid cultural change and unique challenges facing church leaders, developing key skills in emotional health, communication, and digital literacy are critical for building a future-ready ministry. 

An eternal mission compels the church to be future-ready so the transformative power of God's truth can be experienced by all people in each changing season. 

Leaders who see the future can seize the future.