A few weeks ago, one of our pastors in Asia asked me to speak to his ministry team about the concept of a ministry “leadership pipeline.” You may have heard this phrase before, which was popularized by business author Ram Charan in his 2000 book, The Leadership Pipeline

Today, I’ll share a few foundational principles that apply to Charan’s concept of building a leadership pipeline, and then we’ll look at 1 Timothy 4:12–16 to see what the apostle Paul had to say about building leadership teams. Here is my summary of Paul’s points: 

  1. Lead by example.
  2. Lead by preaching and teaching.
  3. Lead by your gift.
  4. Lead by your progress.