The LEADS System
A team that leads itself is built one step at a time.
LEADS is a Christian leadership system: five steps, rooted in Scripture, that move a team from waiting on the leader to sharing the lead.
Listen
Earn
Allow
Delegate
Share
The Idea
Every team member is a leader.
Most teams are organized around one person who decides. That person becomes the limit on how fast the team can move and how much the team can carry.
LEADS removes the limit by developing leadership in everyone, in a deliberate order, until the people closest to the work make the decisions about that work.
Character First
The five steps rest on who the leader is.
Inside matches outside
“Rend your hearts and not your garments” (Joel 2:13, ESV). A team can tell when the words and the life do not match.
Heart before rulebook
Rules produce compliance. A changed heart produces commitment (Deut. 6:5-6).
Entrusted, not owned
The people on your team belong to God before they report to you (1 Pet. 5:2-3).
The LEADS Path
Five steps, taken in order.
Each one makes the next possible.
01 / Listen
Listen and communicate
“Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak.”James 1:19
What you do
Set how, when, and where your team shares information. Ask before you tell.
Working when
Nobody on the team is surprised by a decision that affects them.
02 / Earn
Earn trust
“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much.”Luke 16:10
What you do
Keep your word, welcome bad news, and learn how each person works best.
Working when
Problems reach you early, from the people closest to them.
03 / Allow
Allow autonomy
“The Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two.”Luke 10:1
What you do
State the outcome and step back from the method.
Working when
The work holds the same standard whether or not you are present.
04 / Delegate
Delegate authority
“Look for able men from all the people … and place such men over the people.”Exodus 18:21
What you do
Hand over decisions along with the information needed to make them well.
Working when
Each person can name the decisions that are theirs to make.
05 / Share
Share leadership
“What you have heard from me … entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.”2 Timothy 2:2
What you do
Let others lead meetings, projects, and goals.
Working when
The team holds one another accountable without waiting for you.
Skip a step and the next one will not hold. Authority handed to a team that lacks trust rarely becomes ownership.
Tools for the Path
Three tools you can use this week.
Four checks before you give advice
Presence: do I understand what this person is facing? Blame: am I oversimplifying the cause? Humility: what do I not know? Motive: is this about them or about me? Job’s friends skipped all four.
Three questions before you walk in
What expectations may shape this conversation? What posture will help me listen? Who can I ask if I am unsure?
The four-generation test
Paul taught Timothy, who taught faithful people, who taught others (2 Tim. 2:2). Leadership is unfinished until the people you developed are developing someone else.
What the System Builds
Three pillars. Eleven building blocks.
Under the five steps sit 11 building blocks. Each is a skill your team can learn and a part of the LEADS Team Assessment.
Develop People
Capability comes first. Your people gain the skills and knowledge to make good decisions, and you gain the skills to lead a team that makes them.
- Skills for leading modern teams
- Team capability matched to the work
Shape Culture
People do their best work for a team they belong to and are trusted by. LEADS builds that trust on purpose, not by accident.
- Effective communication
- Knowing how personalities fit together
- Trust and autonomy
- Empowerment
- A culture of community
Design Organizations
Ownership needs a frame. Clear structure, a short list of standard tools, and measures the team owns make success repeatable.
- One team wherever people sit
- A standard set of tools
- Key measures
- Shared leadership and self-government
Measure as You Go
A team cannot own what the team cannot see.
LEADS turns long-range goals into short-cycle measures the team sets and tracks together, so progress is visible at every step and success stops depending on who is watching.
How a Team Installs LEADS
Three phases, then the cycle repeats.
Train
Leaders and team members learn the five steps and agree how the team will communicate.
Operate
The team sets structure and measures together and runs the same way wherever people work.
Build culture
Trust, autonomy, and shared leadership take hold through daily practice.
Then the cycle repeats. Teams change, and the work of leading together is never finished.
The Pattern in Scripture
Five steps. One old pattern.
LEADS did not invent these steps. Each one appears in Scripture long before any leadership book.
The early church
When a complaint arose, the apostles listened, named the problem openly, and let the congregation choose seven leaders to resolve the matter (Acts 6:1-7).
David and Nathan
The Lord chose David for his heart, not his stature. When David failed, Nathan told him the truth, and David answered with confession (1 Sam. 16:7; 2 Sam. 12:1-13).
Jesus and the seventy-two
Jesus trained His followers, then sent them out in pairs to do the work themselves and report back (Luke 10:1-20).
Jethro and Moses
Moses judged every case alone until Jethro told him the load was too heavy. Capable, trustworthy people were given real authority (Exod. 18:13-26).
Moses and Joshua
Moses prepared his successor for years, then commissioned Joshua before the whole congregation so the people would not be left without a leader (Num. 27:15-23).
Developing the Next Leader
Every leader develops the next one.
Share leadership is complete when the people you lead can develop leaders of their own. The process has four stages.
Observe
Watch for character before talent. Look for the people who serve others and keep their word when nobody is checking.
Equip
Give the skills, the information, and the practice the role requires.
Empower
Hand over real authority along with your trust, and stay close enough to coach.
Commission
Send the new leader out in front of the team, so everyone knows who now holds the decision.
Then each new leader repeats the process with someone else.
Where LEADS Comes From
Rooted in Scripture, research, and experience.
LEADS was developed by Dr. Jake Necessary. The system works for teams in one office, teams spread across the world, and every arrangement in between.
The pattern is in the Bible
Jethro taught Moses to share the load. Jesus trained twelve and sent them out. LEADS follows a pattern far older than any study.
Doctoral research
Doctoral research asked one question: what makes a team perform when the leader cannot be in the room? The findings matched the pattern.
36+ years of practice
The steps were tested over 36+ years of leading technology teams, from a submarine crew to the executive level.
5
steps in the LEADS Path
11
organizational building blocks
3
strategic pillars
36+
years of technology leadership experience
Where is your team on the path?
Fifteen statements. Five minutes. A score for each step.
Bring LEADS to your organization →