Aligning Heartbeats: Leadership That Goes Beyond Systems
Building team structures matters. Systems matter. Clear communication flows matter. I appreciate every tool we can use to build strong teams and leadership. But at the centre of it all, my priority as a leader isn’t just to impart heart. It’s to hear heart.
I want to hear the heartbeat of the leaders around me. And if their heartbeat is out of sync with mine, or mine with theirs, then the real work begins: alignment. Not cloning. Not forcing expression. Alignment. Because leadership isn’t about everyone doing things the same way. Expression will differ. Methods will differ. But the heartbeat can still run in rhythm.
Brother Hagin used to talk about the mountain of faith, and how there are many different sides to that mountain. The height is the same, but the view varies.. Leadership is exactly like that. Sometimes we think we know the one route God must use. But even Moses — with all his encounters — needed Jethro to come along and say, “You need help. You can’t carry this alone.”
That reminder sits with me. My pastoral strength is developing, my leadership is developing, and I’m always refining. That means the heartbeat behind what I carry and the heartbeat behind what someone else carries might look different on the outside. But if the goal and the Spirit behind it are aligned, then the expression can be wildly different without threatening unity.
Sometimes the hardest thing to recognise is this: the person under you is aiming at the same vision you are, just approaching it from another angle. And yes — sometimes that angle is messy, risky, or needs correction. But that’s part of the journey.
Training Leaders Without Suffocating Them
I remember being trained at McDonald’s (don’t judge me, it was character building). The rule was simple: show them, help them, stand by them. You correct often, but not constantly. You intervene only when what they’re doing will actually ruin the product.
If a new person accidentally used the quarter-pounder ketchup gun on a regular hamburger, the whole thing turned into a red crime scene. You stop that. But most mistakes? They correct themselves. They feel it. They learn.
Leadership is the same. You supervise, but you don’t smother. You guide, but you don’t micromanage. You train them to hear the Holy Ghost for themselves because a leadership team must reflect the same Spirit-led life you preach to the church. If you tell your congregation to be led by the Spirit but your leadership model forces imitation, something’s broken.
Finding the Right Fit
Sometimes you pick the wrong person for the right job. Sometimes you pick the right person for the wrong job. And sometimes a person you didn’t even want on your team becomes the most natural fit. That’s leadership reality. You find out who’s called, who’s willing, who’s teachable, and who’s simply passing through.
I’m a big believer in giving leaders goals. Not to police them, but to give them something to grow toward. You can’t develop a team without letting them do real work and without giving them space to become who they are meant to be — even if that means learning through messy mistakes.
These are just my thoughts today. Leadership isn’t clean or linear. It’s heartbeats learning to run in rhythm toward God’s vision — even when the steps look different.
✍️ Andy
