How to Identify and Train Emerging Leaders

Disciple-making movements do not stall for lack of people. They stall for lack of leaders who can make more leaders. The good news is that Jesus showed us how to find and form them, and it does not require a seminary or a hiring process. You identify emerging leaders by their character and fruit, not their charisma, and you train them the way Jesus did: by taking them with you into real ministry until they can do it, and train someone else to do it too.

Every multiplying work eventually hits the same ceiling. It is not a shortage of people, buildings, or money. It is a shortage of leaders, and more precisely, a shortage of leaders who can make more leaders. Jesus faced the same reality with a whole world to reach and about three years to do it, and his answer was not to work harder himself. It was to identify and train a handful of emerging leaders who would carry it on. That is still the answer, and the way he did it is something any believer can learn.

Start where Jesus started: in prayer

Before Jesus chose the Twelve, he did something we usually skip. He prayed all night.

One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles.

Luke 6:12-13

Identifying leaders is first a matter of prayer, not talent scouting. The people God is raising up are often not the obvious ones, and only he sees the heart. So before you start assessing anyone, ask the Lord of the harvest to show you the workers he is already preparing (Luke 10:2). Leaders are discerned on your knees before they are developed in the field.

Look for FAT: faithful, available, teachable

When you do look, look at character and fruit, not charisma. The most gifted communicator in the room is not necessarily the leader God is raising up. Jesus chose fishermen and a tax collector, not the polished and credentialed. A simple, time-tested filter is FAT: faithful, available, and teachable.

Notice that all three are about character, not ability. Skills can be trained. Character is the soil everything else grows in, which is why the New Testament lists mostly character when it describes church leaders (1 Timothy 3, Titus 1). Look for the faithful, available, and teachable, and you will rarely go wrong, even when they are rough around the edges.

How Jesus trained leaders: by taking them with him

Once Jesus identified them, he did not send the Twelve to a classroom. He took them with him. Leadership was caught in shared ministry, exactly the way multiplication always works: you cannot give away what you do not possess. He modeled the ministry while they watched, let them assist, sent them out to try while he stayed close, and then released them to do it and train others. That is the MAWL pattern.

This is why real leadership training is slow and relational and cannot be rushed through a course. You are not transferring information. You are reproducing a life. For the fuller path of walking someone from new believer to trainer of others, see how to train disciples, and for a close look at how Jesus did exactly this in the Gospel of Mark, see Jesus the leader.

Aim past the leader to the next leader

Here is the aim that keeps this from stopping with one good leader. You are not training a leader. You are training a leader who trains leaders. Paul named four generations in one verse for a reason.

And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.

2 Timothy 2:2

So from the beginning, put the expectation in front of every emerging leader: your job is not just to lead, but to raise up someone who will lead after you and beyond you. A leader who only leads adds. A leader who makes leaders multiplies.

TAKE THE NEXT STEP

Leaders trained only in classrooms can explain ministry they have never done, which is exactly the kind of leader a movement cannot reproduce.

A lab is where emerging leaders are formed the way Jesus formed them: by doing real ministry alongside someone, not by sitting through more content.

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Guard against the shortcuts

Because leaders are the bottleneck, we are tempted to manufacture them quickly, and every shortcut backfires. Do not promote the gifted-but-unproven just because they are impressive; charisma without character wounds people. Do not train only in the classroom; you will produce leaders who can explain ministry they have never done. And do not hold the reins so long that no one ever actually leads. Model, assist, watch, and then genuinely leave, which is a hard skill of its own (see how to step back without abandoning new leaders).

Listen to why the leaders you need are rarely recruited into a vision, but drawn out by shared work until they recognize the calling in themselves.

Frequently asked questions

How do you identify an emerging leader?

You identify emerging leaders first in prayer, asking God to show you the workers he is preparing, since only he sees the heart (Luke 6:12-13, Luke 10:2). Then you look at character and fruit rather than charisma, using a simple filter: faithful, available, and teachable. The faithful person is reliable with small things and with people, the available person makes room to be trained, and the teachable person receives correction and acts on it. Gifted communicators are not always the leaders God is raising up; look for proven character, even in unlikely people.

How did Jesus train leaders?

Jesus trained leaders by taking them with him into real ministry, not by teaching them in a classroom. He modeled the work while they watched, let them assist, sent them out to practice while he stayed close to correct and encourage, and then released them to lead and to train others. This is the MAWL pattern: model, assist, watch, leave. Leadership was caught through participation over time, because you cannot reproduce a life through information alone. He always aimed past the leader in front of him to the leaders they would raise up next.

What does FAT stand for in leadership?

FAT stands for faithful, available, and teachable, a simple filter for spotting people God is raising up as leaders. Faithful means reliable and trustworthy with small things and with people. Available means willing to be interrupted and to make room to be trained. Teachable means open to correction and quick to act on it. All three are about character rather than talent, because skills can be trained but character is the soil everything else grows in. A faithful, available, teachable person with ordinary gifts will usually outgrow a gifted person who cannot be told anything.

Where to go next

Raising up leaders is one of the four rhythms of multiplying disciples and churches. Go deeper into the training path with how to train disciples, study the master with Jesus the leader, and learn the hardest part of the process in how to step back without abandoning new leaders. Then pray for one name, and take them with you this week.