Leadership — How to Make Ministry Experience Matter in Any Job

Muncie Fellows
Muncie Fellows
Published in
4 min readApr 23, 2019

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By Jeff Eads, Co-Executive Director of Muncie Fellows

Part 6 of 9 of a series about workplace competencies. Read Part 1 here.

Transferable Skill #5- Leadership

Leadership: Leverage the strengths of others to achieve common goals, and use interpersonal skills to coach and develop others. The individual is able to assess and manage his/her emotions and those of others; use empathetic skills to guide and motivate; and organize, prioritize, and delegate work.
(Source)

Leadership is often misunderstood. We tend to hold up some caricature of a leader and then decide if we want to be that. More times than not, the answer is no. If you are reading about personality types, there always seems to be one type that is more of that dominate, up-front kind of person. The image for that person seems to always be in a power suit and tie and standing behind a podium. The caricatures of the other personalities are more interesting to the majority of people (because only a fraction of the population likes standing behind a podium). The artist with their paintbrush, the adventurer with their hiking boots and backpack, the investigator with their spy kit. Name most any personality test and there are similar images.

The tragic downside is that it implies artists, adventures, investigators, etc. aren’t or can’t be leaders. This is absolutely not true. I like NACE’s description above because it debunks some of that nonsense. It describes leadership as being able to foster the strengths in others and organize in such a way that they thrive in their strengths. All of this being done with empathy and emotional intelligence.

Not surprisingly, the results of the research that NACE has done line up with the worldview that scripture teaches. The scriptural examples of leadership have included the understanding that everyone has been given gifts (1 Cor. 12:7), that leadership is not about stature (1 Samuel 16), that we are to have lives that build into others (2 Tim. 2:2 ), that we are to be people of humility putting others first (Phil. 2:3–4), and that we are to do so with emotional intelligence (Numbers 20). There are loads of leadership lessons throughout scripture; rich passages like the fruit of the spirit in Galatians 5, or simply looking at the life of the one we call our leader, King Jesus. Humility. Integrity. Investing in others through relationship. Empathy. Delegation. (He gave the ultimate example of turning His organization over to those He raised up.) I could go on and on.

When students come into my office, and they have a student organization listed on their resume, I always ask what their role was in the organization. I often get the answer, “I was just a member.” We could spend a long time unpacking this answer. But let me just make a couple of observations.

Positions in organizations come with titles. These positions are limited, not everyone gets one, they are often taken by upperclassmen, and they are usually by a vote which is out of your control. But roles in organizations are almost entirely in your hands. For instance, when I ask students, “What do you mean you were a ‘member’ of the XYZ Club?” They will often say something like this, “I just attend some meetings to listen to speakers. I joined because I knew it would look good on my resume.” What an employer hears in that is, “I am a spectator.” But they are not looking for spectators. Having XYZ Club on your resume is only helpful if you have gained something or contributed something. And, this doesn’t mean you need a title. The answer could have just as easily been,

“As a member, I show up early to help the officers set up the room, which also gives me the opportunity to greet guests as they arrive. I specifically like to focus on first-time attendees to help them feel welcome. In addition, I invite others from my residence hall and classes, so that they can also benefit from our programs. In the future, I would like to have an official position in the club, but right now I am establishing myself as a leader by serving those around me.”

In that answer, I hear emotional intelligence, motivation, interpersonal skills, common goals, servanthood, prioritization, time management and organization….I hear leadership.

The world needs more leaders that display the servant leadership qualities of Jesus. Who better to offer this than those who hold to His teachings?

If your club happens to be a student ministry, this all still applies.

In addition to the “club” aspect, student ministries also often have summer leadership training programs, leadership retreats, conferences, and spring break experiences. These are all great places to develop as a leader. They are not categorically different from other clubs on campus as it relates to what employers need. In fact, most campus ministries are more robust because their advisors/mentors are seasoned leaders and are far more engaged with the group. You need to learn how to talk about your leadership experiences in ways that relate to the jobs you are seeking. By this, I mean tone down the insider language and talk about the transferable aspects of what you have done. See previous posts in this series for more examples of this.

The world needs more leaders that display the servant leadership qualities of Jesus. Who better to offer this than those who hold to His teachings?

Muncie Fellow is now accepting applications for Fall 2019. Apply Now!

Have questions or just want to learn more? Contact us here.

We’re also looking for community partners and employers who can support Muncie Fellows. Visit munciefellows.com for more info!

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Muncie Fellows
Muncie Fellows

Inviting recent college graduates to explore what it means to live out faith in every area of life.