When You Miss Leading People (and Find a New Way)

For the past sixteen years, most of my roles at work have been in leadership. I was used to leading teams—coaching people, setting direction, carrying responsibility for results.

When our family moved to a new state, I stepped into a different kind of role: coordinator. It was still leadership, but it felt different. Instead of leading people directly, I was mostly leading processes—tracking details, keeping things moving, making sure nothing fell through the cracks.

The work was good and important, but something in me missed pouring into people. I started asking, “How can I still invest in others while staying in my lane?”

One opportunity showed up in the form of a young guy on our team.

One Real Story From Work

There’s a particular task in our department that not everyone loves. It’s detailed and repetitive, and there are many different ways to approach it. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you can easily go down the wrong path—prolonging the repair and pulling out expensive equipment that’s actually working just fine.

But this young team member kept volunteering for it. Any time that task came up, he was the first to raise his hand.

I noticed.

Over time it became clear he wasn’t just being nice; he genuinely had an interest in that part of the job. So I pulled him aside and said something like, “You seem to really care about how this is done. What would you think about working together to build a process for our department—and maybe use it to train new employees?”

His eyes lit up, but he also looked a little nervous. We agreed to meet for fifteen minutes each day. The plan was simple: he would explain his process; I would help capture it on paper.

At our very first meeting, he pulled out a small notebook. Inside were pages of handwritten notes—every call he’d taken for this task, every step he’d tried, every adjustment he’d made until it finally worked smoothly. He had been quietly building a process on his own long before I said anything.

I was impressed.

As we met, he kept saying, “I’ve never done anything like this before.” Each time, I reminded him, “You’re not doing it alone. I’m here to help you every step of the way.”

We recently finished the first draft of the process. It’s solid. But the best part wasn’t the document—it was the look on his face. You could see the sense of accomplishment, the pride in having generated something that will help the whole team and new hires who come after him. I can’t wait to see him present it for the first time.

One Key Principle From God’s Word

This week’s reflections have focused on leaders who notice, make room, and use their strength to lift others. Philippians 2:4 says, “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.”

In my coordinator role, it would have been easy to focus only on getting the task done and keeping my own workload under control. But leadership isn’t just about what I produce; it’s about who I notice. That young team member was quietly serving on the “edges of the room,” faithfully taking on an unglamorous assignment.

Romans 15:1 says that those who are strong ought to shoulder the burdens of those who are still growing, not just “go our own sweet way.” In this situation, my strength wasn’t that I knew his task better than he did. My strength was experience with building processes and presenting ideas. His strength was hands‑on knowledge and initiative. As God works within both of us, He can guide us to combine those strengths in a way that benefits the whole department.

Honest Reflections From a Coordinator’s Desk

Walking through this reminded me of a few things:

• Leadership titles can change, but the call to build people doesn’t. Moving from “leader of people” to “leader of processes” felt like a step away from what I love. This experience showed me there are always people to notice and invest in, no matter what’s on my business card.
• People are often further along than we realize. Before our first meeting, I assumed we’d be building the process from scratch. Instead, he opened that notebook and showed me pages of work he’d already put in. He didn’t need me to be the hero; he needed someone to draw out what was already there and help shape it.
• Offering your strength to lift others re‑energizes you. I went into this thinking I was doing him a favor. In reality, it stirred something in me. Seeing his confidence grow reminded me why I enjoy leadership in the first place: helping other people discover what they can do.

Even in a process‑heavy role, God can work within us to encourage, guide, and to strengthen the people around us.

One Simple Step for This Week

To build hearts, homes, and leaders where you are, try this:

Look for one person quietly doing good work—and help them take a next step.

1. Notice consistent interest or effort.
   Pay attention to the person who keeps showing up, volunteering, or taking care of a task well—at work, at church, or at home.
2. Show a genuine interest by asking a question.
   Try, “You seem to have a real feel for this—how do you approach it?” or “Would you walk me through how you do that?”
3. Offer support that matches your strengths.
   Maybe you can help them organize their ideas, give feedback on something they’re building, practice a presentation, or simply encourage them to share their approach with others.
4. Form a small opportunity.
   Look for a way they can use what they’re good at to serve more broadly—a short demo for the team, a walkthrough for a new volunteer, or a chance to teach a sibling or classmate.

Those quiet choices—to notice, to ask, to support, and to open a door—are how ordinary days become growth moments. Over time, they shape workplaces, homes, and teams where people don’t just complete tasks; they grow into the kind of leaders who are ready to strengthen others too.