Will they follow me?

A leader's worst nightmare is to have nobody following.  Yet, I have seen this happen time and time again when it comes to developing, communicating and implementing strategy.  In my last post I underscored the importance of getting maximum buy-in at all stages of developing a strategy, and it's even important to get buy-in about the need for a strategy before that!  Here are some of the methods for doing so. 

Pledging Meeting

Before beginning the process of developing a strategy, it is sometimes necessary to get your people to buy-in to the need of one.  This, in itself, can be something of a task, especially if some of your people feel that they’re "doing just fine, thank you very much". 

It is important to paint a picture of the reasons for the need for a strategy; to give time and space for outlining recent trends, the size of the task of reaching the unsaved and the capacity for delivering compassionate care.  In many cases it will be necessary to quantify decline and project where that will end up if there is not a change of direction.  

Near the conclusion of this process, but before you actually begin the development of the strategy, you could consider having a pledging session. 

During the session, corps members place an anonymous, unsigned, sealed envelope on the holiness table during a time of prayerful reflection.   

The envelope will contain a commitment slip offering a few alternatives for them to tick boxes.  They may be something like:

 ð       I pledge to help discover God’s vision for our corps 

 ð       I am not yet ready to help discover God’s vision for our corps  

 ð       I do not believe that we need to discover God's vision for our corps

This will also help the leader to confirm his informal estimate that he has sufficient buy-in to continue the visioning exercise. 

Prayer Commitments

Get people who are part of the corps to commit to praying for the development of the strategy, and particularly to seek God’s direction for the corps. Ask them to feed through their answers to pray to you, so that they can be considered for collation into the strategy document. 

Informal conversations

This is an effective way of getting ideas and input in the early stages, and can be quite effective because, generally, people are more forthcoming in casual conversations than they are in formal processes such as interviews and surveys. 

There are some important things to be aware of, though.

1.    You don’t have to talk to everyone, but you do have to get a big enough sample for it to be representative (a typical corps is too small for sample sizing calculations to be useful, so it’s down to gut feel for this) and you have to make it known that anyone can take the initiative to talk to you in this way. 

2.    Make sure you get a diverse range of ages, interests, gender, etc. 

3.    Make sure you include the people who are generally opposed to change, to your leadership, or that you find generally difficult to deal with.  Miss them out now at your own peril later.  

A Survey

Surveys can be a bit wooden and limited in usefulness, but if you already have the beginnings of where you might be going, they are a helpful in sorting out Option A from Options B, C or D and at the very least provide another tool for engaging people in the process. 

Workshops

Workshops are, by far, my favourite tool for moving a group towards consensus.   The back and forth in the room has the power to draw on bucket loads of dynamics that dealing with individuals in one-on-one discussions cannot.  These dynamics can be brought into play to bring members of the group closer to agreeing on a vision statement that they are reasonably happy with.  Sometimes it might get heated, and at other times it might be moving or laughter filled, but it is all grist for the mill and moves you closer to the goal.    (Of course, as a leader you have to have the confidence and skills to be able to manage the dynamics in the room, but if you don’t feel confident, it’s quite OK to ask an outside facilitator to do so.)

It is often good to go into the workshop phase with an early draft on the understanding that it can be totally dismantled by the group if they choose too (It never is, but they need to know they have the right to do so.)

Circulate Final Draft

The final draft, which should be almost set in concrete, should be sent around to the stakeholders to get their final comments before taking it to your board to get official sign-off.

Board Sign-Off

Whatever level of board you work with (corps council, divisional), make sure you get a good understanding of the content and the implications.  At this stage you may even have to appear over-cautious in spelling everything out, especially those aspects that will appear negative to some people; “So you understand, Bandmaster, that this means downsizing the band by 50%, right?”  If people have surprises further down the track, it will always be your fault and never their own! 

Now you are ready to communicate the strategy and start implementing it.  These will be the subject of my next post.  

How to choose your future

It is easy to think that the future is thrust upon and we have little control over how it will turn out.  But this is only partly true. A vision, linked to a strategic plan can define what we want our future to look like, and how to get there.  

The key words here are “we” and “our”.  The task of the leader is to lead her people into agreement on their vision (what they want for the section, corps, region or division) and the strategy (the overarching plan of how to get there), so she must engage as many as possible in the development process. 

The vision and strategy are not made up of the the pet-subjects of one person or even a small group of people.  Every stakeholder should be invited to take part in the conversation.  Collectively you are trying to understand what the Spirit of God is saying to the whole group and no one has the monopoly on that!  So a process of prayer, sharing ideas and discussion will lead to the development of the best vision and the strategy.  

But before beginning the process, there are two fundamentals that must be in place. 

Fundamental #1: High-level* buy-in on the Mission Objectives

First of all it is essential that you have a concise statement of the mission objectives and strong buy-in from the stakeholders.  The mission objectives are the raison d'etre for the group.

A corps may adopt the territorial mission objectives, in fact I believe it is best if it does (more on that in a future blog perhaps), or it may develop its own, but they must be congruent with those of the broader organisation, and preferably a local expression of them. 

(For examples of mission objectives go to: http://www.salvationarmy.org.tw/sa/modules/tadnews/index.php?nsn=33, and http://www.salvationarmy.org.au/en/Who-We-Are/vision-and-mission/. )

The mission objectives will form the overarching framework for the vision and the strategy.  In other words, they will be fleshing out the mission objectives over the next few (I suggest three to five) years. 

Fundamental #2: Almost the whole group buying-in on the need for a vision and strategy 

The second stage is to get your group members to buy-in to the need to a vision and strategy.  This requires some work on the leader’s part.  She needs to research and prepare material that shows progress (or lack thereof) in recent years, and “sell’ the idea that a focused approach is required to achieve those things that matter.  She will probably draw on some of the many scriptural injunctions for visionary thinking and behaviour. 

And then . . .

Only after we have established that there is general agreement that a vision and strategic plan are required and that they should be based on the mission objectives, can we begin work.  Essentially, the role of the leader is to ask the question, “What do we have to do to successfully carry out the mission objectives?” 

Key questions that can drive this conversation might be: 

• What does God want us to do over the next five years?
• What will our preferred future look like?
• What do we have to do to meet the needs of the mission?
• What do we have to stop doing in order to have time and resources to do meet the needs of the mission?
• How will we know when we have been successful?

The overall goal of the vision and strategy development process, is to collect a mish-mash of ideas, organise them into something that will work for the group, and get buy-in for a final version of the vision and strategy.  So I am going to make the methods of achieving these things the focus of my next post.  After that, I will explain about communicating the strategy and implementing the strategy, two critical elements for it to work.  Stay tuned!

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*A note about buy-in:  For anything new, you will never get 100% buy-in.  There will always be those that are keen from the beginning, hungry for change, the radicals.  There will be those somewhere in the middle that will range from ready for change if it appears to be well thought-through (the progressive)  to being persuadable if there is a high chance of success (conservatives).  And there are the traditional, who will resist all things new, no matter how good they are.  

So the take-home message is high-level buy-in in the early stages of a project in reality means about 2/3 to 3/4 of your group, but for something like well-established mission objectives it should be much higher – around 90% or more.  

What's so different about Impact?

 Many consulting companies claim to have solutions for NGOs and business, so why has The Salvation Army in Taiwan partnered with Impact? 

Impact is a newly formed “profit for purpose” business dedicated to enhancing the effectiveness, health and capacity of NGOs in Taiwan.   Impact’s Director, Steve Parker, says, “There is a lot of pressure on the not-for-profit sector to be increasingly smarter, efficient and more accountable.  There is a need for development and I believe that Impact can play a significant part in that.” 

As a primary partner of the Taiwan branch of one of the world’s leading NGOs (The Salvation Army) Impact has to capacity to leverage skills and competencies from around the NGO world.  Using these resources, as well as those of its own in-house team, Impact offers NGOs skills development assistance so that they can better fulfil their mission.

Impact is linking NGOs with potential funders too.  “We are helping the NGO sector to create income streams through businesses, fundraising and special events.” said Parker. 

But that’s not all Impact is doing.  Impact is able to represent NGOs, to be their voice, in contexts where they less able to do so themselves, such as in the business community, with governments and with potential funders. 

 Steven Parker, Impact’s Director, brings to the role a diverse set of skills from both the commercial and NGO worlds.  Having been in senior management in both of these areas he is well placed to understand the needs of both NGO’s and of their corporate sponsors.  And, being an Australian who has lived for nineteen plus years in Taiwan gives him a good understanding of the local and international environment. 

Along with many in the non-profit sector, Parker recognises that the social programme and policy environment in Taiwan has potential for growth, and will be one of the many voices calling for development in this area. 

When asked what is meant by a “profit for purpose” business, Parker said, "Our business is not based on maximising profits for shareholders.  Of course, we have to be viable, but we balance that with other, broader, goals; like building up the NGO sector.  As well as that, all the profits we make, beyond those needed to operate the business, are donated back into the not-for-profit sector". 

If you are an NGO looking for ways to develop capacity or a business looking for ways to develop your philanthropy programme, I think it could be well worth your while giving Steven Parker a call.  

Steven Parker’s phone number:  +886 988 061725

Email:  stevenparker@taiwanimpact.com 

Breaking the Creativity Drought

When an organisation is getting on in years, it can be prone to some stuck thinking styles.  Add this to some national or local cultures that are somewhat conservative and you have all the ingredients for a creativity drought. 

How can the creativity drought be broken? 

Brainstorming is a technique for getting great creative ideas out of a group of people who, for one reason or another, are not known for their creativity.  

Rarely practiced at its best, even in more progressive settings, brainstorming is the first stage of an ideas generation process.  It can be the start of:   

• Finding solutions to difficult problems,
• Stretching beyond small thinking,
• Overcoming “stuckness”, and
• Getting buy-in to new approaches.

 The process in a nutshell

1.    Ideas are generated,

2.    Ideas are sorted, categorised and refined, 

3.    The relative merit of each is assessed,

4.    A viable way forward is developed. 

The psychological environment must be safe

However, many brainstorming sessions do not reach their full potential because one or more of the crucial principles are not adhered to.  For a brainstorming session to work well, the following “group rules” have to be enforced: 

1.    There are no bad ideas, 

2.    Everyone in the room is encouraged to share, regardless of age, position, level of expertise or seniority,

3.    All ideas are received with gratitude and affirmation,

4.    No one is put down for an idea that isn’t so good.

The rules of engagement

For brainstorming to work effectively, the facilitator must create the right psychological environment from the beginning.  Here’s how:

1.    Announce the group rules (as above) before the session begins and get commitment from everyone in the room. 

2.    Enforce the group rules as the meeting progresses, being ready (even seeking out the opportunity) to quickly jump on someone who breaks one of the group rules.

3.    Ask key questions to get ideas flowing.

4.    If there is a degree of “stuckness”, it is often because people cannot see beyond their immediate experience, so try an obtuse line of questioning such as placing the problem in a colony on Mars, or asking how we would sabotage our project if we were the opposition.  Once the discussion becomes fluid, draw out some principles and bring the discussion to the concrete. 

5.    If there is a greater degree of stuckness, ask obscure questions with multiple choice questions. Get members of the group to justify their answers. (Should the rocket to Mars be petrol-powered, nuclear-powered, or powered by oxygen fuel?  Why?) 

6.    Once you get going, record all the input from around the room, giving it equal value at first.  All ideas are considered worthy.  None are rejected, even if they seem unsuitable.  No rejection, criticism or ridicule of ideas is countenanced.  All ideas are written up so they are visible to all (whiteboard, butcher’s paper).

7.    Begin to focus in on those solutions that seem to be the most viable to the group. 

8.    These can be sorted, categorised, and shaped into a solution or range of possible solutions. 

Absolute stuckness requires the removal of an elephant (or person) in the room

If, after going through approaches 3 to 5 above, there is still stuckness in the room, you will probably have a good feel for what might be causing it. 

This is where a great deal of sensitivity is called for.  Whatever you do could go either way and you might end up with an outstanding failure or resounding success.  You may decide to name the elephant in the room.  (“Clearly there is a lot of reticence in the group.  May I ask what it’s about?  Is it because there is still some tension about the huge mistake that costs thousands of dollars last week?”)

Allow the group to give this some time, but not too much, then try to extract a commitment from each one to put aside their feelings on the issue for the rest of the session. 

However, by far the most frequent reason that people do not speak up is because it is counter to the organisational culture and there is someone in the room who would (they perceive) disapprove and bring about consequences.  He is usually (though not always) one of the management team. 

In this case, I call a five minute break, during which I privately explain to the manager what is going on and ask him to leave.  When the meeting reconvenes, I simply say that he had to leave and won’t be able to continue with the session.  Usually, the atmosphere in the room changes dramatically. Everyone understands that you will report to management team, but they know that it will only be about the outcome of the meeting, not what individual members said.  They are confident they cannot be picked off (as is prone to happen in some dysfunctional stuck workplaces). 

Changing the world one brainstorm at a time

If brainstorming is practised widely at frontline and middle management levels in a stuck organisation, it can be an important tool in the armoury for changing the nature of the stuck organisation from the bottom up.  In the long run, rational managers cannot resist the overwhelming force of quality ideas and grass-roots opinion based in practical experience from the frontline.    

(Picture: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net)

Emotional safety of the team - It's your job, Leader!

In an online chat group recently I suggested that part of the leader’s role is to create an emotionally safe team environment, and was quite surprised to read an opinion attempting to debunk my statement.  

Could a thinking leader doubt that it is part of her role to create emotional safety for her team?  The correlation between an unhappy workforce and loss of productivity is a given, so how does emotional safety feed into this equation?  Besides, what is an emotionally safe environment for a team?  

Perhaps it’s easier to start with what it isn’t.  

What an emotionally safe environment doesn’t have:  

• The threat of humiliation for expressing opinions and ideas, 
• Name-calling or ridiculing, 
• Back-stabbing, 
• A blame culture, 
• Dummy spits, 
• Manipulative behaviours.

What an emotionally safe environment does have:  

• Valuing and protecting of the dignity of the team members,
• Cooperation, 
• Consistent, fair and transparent performance management, 
• team members who listen to each other,
• Interactions that are respectful, even during conflict.

How does a team get to be like this?  
  
Teams like this do not just happen.  They get this way because the leader manages the team culture.   In fact leaders of emotionally safe teams are (usually intuitively) doing a combination of three things . . . 

1. Modelling behaviours that promote emotional safety,  
2. Censuring behaviours that are destructive to the effectiveness of the team and the people in it, 
3. Rewarding behaviours that are constructive to the effectiveness of the team and the people in it. 

Modelling behaviours that promote emotional safety

There are many things that a leader can do to model the promotion of emotional safety, but three of the most critical areas are performance management, conduct in meetings, and casual interactions. 

When objectivity, calmness and the willingness to listen are the characteristics of a disciplinary encounter, team members emerge from it far more robust and able to lift their game than if they have received an irrational battering of their self-esteem.  When the leader lacks objectivity, has an angry outburst and does not listen to what the team member has to say in his defence, the scene is set for disquiet, discontent and gossiping.

In meetings, the leader's tight control of her own and the other members’ behaviour, allowing no dummy-spits, hobby horses, grandstanding and overbearing stances creates an environment in which members becoming increasingly ready to propose ideas and express opinions.  On the other hand, allowing these things to happen, make the team meetings a negative space that everyone will dread.  

When the leader is in touch with each member of the team’s work, the pressure of their workload, the challenges they face, the victories they celebrate, and she communicates her concern and appreciation, she is modelling a behaviour that team members can adopt with each other.  When she doesn’t do these things, the absence can lead to team members feeling unappreciated and undervalued.  

Censuring behaviours that are destructive and rewarding behaviours that are constructive

Not all conflict is destructive, but I still find myself being surprised by the number of people I encounter who cannot argue constructively.  Here are some the characteristics of a destructive argument.

An argument that is destructive is one in which:

• The issues get lost in extreme emotional overlay, 
• The antagonists are not open to a compromise resolution, 
• There are elements such as name-calling, ridicule and recruiting others into the conflict.

The leader of the emotionally safe team will not only arbitrate the dispute, but censure behaviours that are destructive.  She will challenge the dummy-spits and other inappropriate behaviours and she will encourage and affirm behaviours that deal with the conflict in mature and helpful ways.  

She will reward: 

• Argument that is calm, rational and linear, 
• Respect of the antagonists for one another, even though they may be deeply divided on an issue, 
• Antagonists who listen to each other's point of view,
• Willingness to seek a compromise situation.  

A safe emotional environment means that people are not tense and anxious about their workplace relationships.  They can focus on the work of the team.  They have no vested interest in being secretive, detached or non-cooperative.  In short, they function better as individuals and as a team.  

(Photo: www.freedigitalphotos.net)

Statistics and Meetings: How boring!

At training events, I often make jokes based on humankind’s dislike of statistics and meetings and I always get a laugh.   Why?  Because the hatred of statistics and meetings is multi-cultural and almost universal. 

Although we claim it’s because they’re boring, I suspect the real reason is because they reveal the true facts about our performance and effectiveness.  If we fear that we’re not up to speed, we prefer to keep it hidden!

But statistics and meetings are two of the leader’s most important tools for keeping his team accountable.  They’re tools to get the job done. 

Not all meetings are equal

Having said that, not all meetings are effective as accountability tools.  Indeed, some never have the intention of being so.  Others try to be but fail. So what are the elements of a good accountability meeting? 

What a good accountability meeting looks like

Effective accountability meetings will have most of the following elements. 

ü  It will take place on a regular basis (Most of mine are fortnightly),

ü  Each meeting will be followed up with a list of action points, with deadlines and the person responsible,

ü  Everyone will get a copy of the action points within a day or so of the meeting,

ü  The list of action points forms the basis of the discussion for the next meeting, with new items added to the list as they arise,

I have found that, with these simple elements in place, nearly all of the action points will be completed by the deadline. 

How it works psychologically: Social sanctions and social rewards

Most people want to appear professional and effective in the workplace.  However, if they turn up to a meeting and their allocated task has not been done, they experience some embarrassment (a social sanction).  The desire to be regarded as effective on one hand and to avoid the social sanction (often unspoken) associated with not “pulling your weight” on the other, are often enough to keep performance on track. 

On the positive, when they are able to sit in a meeting declaring that they have met their responsibility, the achievement is acknowledged, at least implicitly, (social reward) and they feel a degree of satisfaction.

(Having said all that, some people are naturally less responsive to the feelings and opinions of others - known as poor self-monitors - and these may need extra nudging by the team leader.)

Dealing with delays and poor performance

Delays in completion of tasks sometimes occur due to genuine reasons outside the control of the team member.  Then it is the responsibility of the leader to:

1.    Discern the real reasons from the excuses, and then

2.    Give direction on how to proceed under the changed (behind schedule) circumstances. 

Keep it safe

Whatever the case, it is important that the leader maintains an emotionally safe environment in the meetings, even when he has to tell off members of the team.  This means allowing only objectivity and solution-focused behaviours from everyone in the team, and not allowing blame-shifting and name-calling.  It is about rewarding behaviours that enhance team cohesion and good performance and censuring behaviours that are harmful to cohesion and performance. 

We’re about people not numbers!

Despite humankind’s aversion to statistics (with the possible exception of social work professors) they really do help us to get the job done. 

In the human services field (and especially the spiritual nurture field) we hate to reduce our work to numbers because it seems to be debasing our clients or pastoral flock.  But a simple and easily-collected set of statistics, while not telling the whole story, can provide indicators of growth or decline, effectiveness or ineffectiveness, success or failure.  These indicators can provide the beginning of the conversation for rectifying a problem or recognising good performance. 

The numbers that we collect should be simple, as few as possible, and easily understood.  Further, they should be set next to the benchmark expectation for each number.

Here are some examples that have value in the real world of human services: 

For	Example of Numbers	Benchmark
Case Workers	percentage of time spent in contact with clients	60%
	Reduced drug use in clients	30%1
	Improved social functioning	70%1
	Improved familial connection	50%1
Social Workers	Clients in Caseload	20 – 25 clients2
	Outgoing referrals	71
	Incoming referrals	31
Corps officers	Number of persons attending Sunday meeting	10% growth pa
	New soldiers and adherents	10% growth pa

¹These are not real figures, but are for illustrative purposes only.  They vary according to the nature of the client group, aims of the service, etc.

²This is based on the worker seeing each client once a week.

How it works psychologically

Recognition and achievement are the two greatest workplace motivators.  By making a clear statement about what performance is sought the team member understands how she may achieve both recognition and achievement.  She will put less time, creativity and energy into activities that do not support the goals and more time, creativity and energy into activities that will.  The old adage, “You get what you measure” really is true.

But wait, there’s more!

If you still hate statistics and meetings, then let me throw in the complimentary steak knives . . .

The synergy of using both regular meetings and numbers to keep people accountable is very powerful.  When your team member is looking toward the next meeting and she knows that she has met the benchmarks she feels confident, strong and effective (which she is)! 

Even the negative is positive with good simple accountability tools

Of course it’s not always sweetness and light.  There are times when the leader is going to have to address poor performance.  It’s so much easier when he can point to the numbers and the lists of action points and say clearly and concisely, “This is what we expected, this is how we explained it, and this is where you let us down.”

Even performance management becomes easier with good statistics and meetings.    

8 Excuses for not Developing Leaders

In the last post we looked at some of the ways that leaders rationalise not developing other leaders, focusing on one of the most common excuses, the mistaken belief that they are too busy to train up leaders.  

But this is not the only “reason” that leaders use to justify to themselves and others, why developing leaders is not a good idea. 

1. They will see the inner workings of what I do and will find out I’m not as good as I look.
2. They may turn out to be better than me.
3. They may want to take over my job.
4. I must have exclusivity of some things to demonstrate my higher status as the “the boss”.
5. I don’t have time for training others.
6. Only ordained ministers can do what I do.
7. My congregation members are all too busy to take on leadership roles.
8. They won’t be able to do it well enough.   

 Excuse #6:  Only ordained ministers can do what I do

           

Yeah right!  The Church in some parts of the world is conditioned to (falsely) regard ministers as a special breed apart that has the exclusive rights to preaching and certain other tasks. 

This is more about feeding egos (of the leaders) than it is nurturing souls.  There is nothing in the Bible that indicates that officers or pastors are in a class above the rest of Christians.  They do not have the divine right to carry out certain duties that others cannot.  In fact the opposite is true.  According to the New Testament writers, all Christians form the “royal priesthood of all believers” (1 Peter 2:9), are expected to preach (1 Tim 4:13, 1 Tim 5:17, 2 Tim 4:2), and to exercise a variety of other ministry gifts including prophesying, teaching, encouraging and leadership (Romans 12:6-8). 

If an officer is not developing these gifts and abilities in the people around him, he may be standing in the way of the Holy Spirit. 

Excuse #7:  My congregation members are all too busy to take on leadership roles

There may or may not be some truth to this.  Only an honest chat and an accurate assessment of their capacity to give their time will answer that.  Having said that, I have observed that often the people who give the most time are those that have the least of it.  I have seen this time and time again in corps, churches, service clubs, sports clubs and community groups across several cultures.  Perhaps, at least for some people, this is more a question of commitment to serve than it is time.  It seems that the old adage “If you want a job done ask a busy person” has some truth to it.

Excuse #8:  They won’t be able to do it well enough

Again, an informed assessment of their skills and background will answer this question, notwithstanding the propensity of some leaders to expect the least, to be Theory X thinkers. 

Here’s how

So, here's how to get started choosing and training your leaders. 

Identify the potential leaders in your corps and work alongside them, try them out to ascertain their capacity.  Do people respond to their leadership?  Have they got “the goods” spiritually speaking?  Do they have the capacity to learn new skills and the underpinning knowledge required?   Can other leaders in the corps respect them as peers and appreciate their potential?  Don’t announce your intention to develop them as a leader just yet.  Wait until you are sure before doing so. 

When you appoint a soldier to a local officer* position introduce her to the idea that this is a leadership position, one that will carry extra responsibilities, not just those immediately linked to their specialist role.  Each and every local officer should be able to lead, preach and pastor. 

From the very beginning of her local officership, let her know that you will coach and train her in the skills of leadership.  Teach her how to preach (Discover Leadership posts "Public Speaking - Making it Look Easy 1-7" can form the basis of a ready-to-use training course, and this post will give you a great training model that you can use to teach your people how to preach, lead meetings and to pastor to people.)

In your own leadership, model the leadership behaviours you want your trainee to emulate, and explain the principles of what you are doing from time to time.

Give your new leader opportunities to practice these activities under you supervision, and provide feedback afterwards.  Be clear, concise and constructive.  Do not expect perfection, but look for (and reward) continual improvement. 

Finally, appoint her to take over one day when you are going to be absent.  Don’t wait for the day when she is 100% perfect. (Were you 100% perfect when you did your first preach?  I doubt it!) don't wait for the day when she is 100% confident.  Get her started.  

Spend some time helping her get ready for the big day.  Assist her with practical and spiritual preparation.  Provide the opportunity for debrief afterwards. If you have someone who can observe her and give objective feedback ask them to do so.  

Depending on the experience and spiritual maturity of the trainee, you could have her fully up-to-speed within one to two years.  

Developing leadership skills in people around you will produce a cadre of people who can deputise whenever you are away, can support you to carry the burden of leadership and who will collectively be a much richer and capable local officership team. 

*Local Officer = A lay leader in The Salvation Army, somewhat akin to a deacon or elder in other churches or NCO in the military.  It is a volunteer (unpaid) position.