One of the most important truths I have learned from Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church is the concept that each of us has a unique God-given “SHAPE” or design. The word SHAPE is in all caps because it is an acronym. The letters in shape stand for: S-spiritual gift(s); H-heart (or passion); A-abilities; P-personality; and E-experiences. As leaders we need to know our SHAPE in order to lead effectively. Let’s take a brief look at each component of the SHAPE acronym.
S-spiritual gift(s). In order to have a spiritual gift or gifts one must be a follower of Jesus Christ. Once we have trusted Jesus as Savior and Lord and been “born again” to use Jesus’ terminology, His Spirit lives in us. The rebirth of which Jesus spoke is a spiritual birth, and it comes with spiritual gifts. The Apostle Paul lists a number of spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12. The key for this brief summary is to recognize that each of us has one or more spiritual gifts that we may use to increase our effectiveness as leaders. One of the spiritual gifts is the gift of leadership. While leadership skills may be learned, a person with the spiritual gift of leadership will have God’s ability to lead in his or her life, which will raise the leadership capacity and potential greatly. In the same way, the spiritual gift of compassion will cause a leader to be able to empathize with those she is leading, and that is boon to leadership.
H-heart (or passion). God gives each of us a heart or passion for certain types of people, or certain realities. For example, I have a heart for people who don’t yet know Jesus as Savior and Lord. One of the greatest opportunities in life to me, is the opportunity to speak with someone who has not heard of Jesus, or who has not trusted Him as Savior and Lord. Some folks have a heart for orphans, others for the elderly, others for pursuing justice for the poor. Whatever your God-given passion, when you exercise it in your life, you will have more commitment and persistence to lead in that area.
A-abilities. God has given each of us natural abilities. Some of us are good with spatial relationships. Others are good with mechanical processes, while still others are good with math, or grammar, or other academic endeavors. Some of us have natural physical abilities such as good hand-eye coordination, or the ability to run or jump. While many may discount these natural abilities, God uses them in our lives to enhance our leadership. Over the years, I have had the opportunity to use my carpentry skills on many occasions, both for my family, and in the various churches I have served. During construction projects at the various churches I’ve served, my knowledge and skill in construction processes has allowed me to interact with contractors and sub-contractors in meaningful ways that have allowed for better outcomes in those projects. Your natural skills and abilities will give you a richer capacity to lead as you use them effectively
P-personality. No two people have identical personalities. While each of us is primarily an extrovert or an introvert, the level of our extroversion or introversion lies on a spectrum from extreme extroversion at the one end, to extreme introversion at the other. Many other facets of personality have been identified and studied. Knowing our basic personality “type,” can help us lead more effectively in many ways. For example, I am an outgoing extrovert who tends to process the world around me intuitively and I respond best in non-structured environments. What that means is I’m a great idea person, but not such a great follow-through person. Therefore, in calling staff at New Life, particularly when we called an Executive Pastor, we called a person with a much more concrete view of life, who excels in process and follow through. Pastor Barry has been a great blessing to us in the relatively brief time he has been with us, because his personality compliments mine, and several other of our staff members who are helped by his more structured approach to life.
E-experiences. We all have countless experiences in life that can help us to become better leaders if we let them. Some of those experiences were quite painful. Others filled us with joy. Training experiences have enhanced our skills in various areas. Even the leadership experiences we’ve already been through inform how we lead today. It’s been said that God never wastes an experience in our lives, so we must not. What that means is sometimes things happen in life that hurt us deeply. We may not understand why we must endure such things in the moment, but down the road we find that the experience strengthened us to face another difficult situation, or prepared us to come alongside another person who is facing a similar difficulty.
In order for our SHAPE to help us be more effective leaders, we must first study ourselves to understand our shape. Once we know who we are, we need to let our strengths “lead.” In other words, if I worked really hard for the rest of my life to become better organized and to develop better follow through, I might one day become adequate in those areas. Far better for me to exercise my spiritual gift of leadership in casting vision for New Life, in training leaders and complementing my gifts with those of others who have strengths in areas of my weakness. At the end of the day, each of us must be willing to do whatever it takes to lead in our lives, but the more time we spend in leading in areas outside of our SHAPE, the less effective we will be. Our goal ought to be to surround ourselves with teams of folks who complement us and whom we complement with our SHAPE. In that way we will move the organization, company or church forward far more effectively than by seeking to do everything well.
Here’s to leading better by living out our SHAPE–today!