7 Things Great KidMin Leaders Actually Do

Leadership in KidMin isn't about where you sit. It's about what you do.

It's easy to associate leadership with a title.

Kids Pastor. Children's Director. KidMin Coordinator. Team Lead. Small Group Leader.

But some of the greatest leaders in your Kids Ministry may never have a title at all.

They're the person who sees a first-time family standing awkwardly in the hallway and walks over to help. They're the leader who notices another volunteer struggling and jumps in. They're the person who takes ownership instead of waiting to be asked.

Ryan T. Hartwig and Warren Bird, authors of Teams That Thrive, make an important observation about healthy teams: great leadership isn't defined only by someone's position on the organizational chart. Leadership is demonstrated by what people actually do.

That principle has huge implications for KidMin.

We don't just need more volunteers. We need to develop more leaders.

Here are seven things great KidMin leaders actually do.

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1. Great Leaders Create an Environment Where Others Can Win

You can't force a team to be great.

But you can create an environment where greatness can grow.

Think about your Sunday morning.

• Does everyone know where they're supposed to be?
• Do they know what they're responsible for?
• Are supplies ready?
• Is communication clear?
• Does everyone understand what a win looks like?

Sometimes we blame volunteers for problems that are actually system problems.

If leaders constantly seem confused, frustrated, or unprepared, don't immediately assume you have the wrong people. Look at the structure you've given them.

Great KidMin leaders remove unnecessary obstacles so their people can focus on what matters most: ministering to kids and families.

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2. Great Leaders Keep the WHY in Front of the Team

Your team needs more than a schedule.

They need a mission.

It's easy for KidMin to become about filling classrooms, finding volunteers, preparing crafts, printing curriculum, checking kids in, cleaning toys, and surviving Sunday.

But none of those things are the ultimate reason we do this.

We want kids to know Jesus.

Your volunteers need to hear that constantly.

Don't just tell someone: "I need you in the 3-year-old room Sunday."

Help them understand: "There are children walking into that room Sunday who have an opportunity to experience the love of Jesus through you."

That's different.

Schedules tell people where to go. Vision reminds people why it matters.

Great KidMin leaders continually point the team toward the North Star.

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3. Great Leaders Put the Right People in the Right Places

Sometimes our recruiting strategy is pretty simple: we have a hole, find a human. If they have a pulse and passed the background check, they're IN!

But filling positions isn't the same thing as building a team.

People have different gifts.

• One leader may be incredible at welcoming nervous first-time families.
• Another may be phenomenal leading games.
• Another connects incredibly well with elementary boys.
• Another is patient enough to spend an hour loving babies in the nursery.
• Another is a natural leader who can eventually lead other leaders.

Great KidMin leadership isn't simply about finding more people. It's about discovering people's strengths and helping them find the right place to use them.

Don't just fill positions. Position people to succeed.

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4. Great Leaders Turn Vision Into Goals

Vision without action eventually becomes a slogan.

"We want to reach families!" Awesome. How?

"We want to build an amazing volunteer culture!" Great. What are you going to do about it?

Strong KidMin teams take big vision and turn it into specific goals.

Instead of...	Try...
"We need more leaders."	"We're going to recruit and onboard 10 new leaders in the next 60 days."
"We need better follow-up."	"Every first-time family will receive personal follow-up within 48 hours."
"We need to appreciate our team more."	"Every leader will receive meaningful appreciation from us at least once a month."

Goals give vision somewhere to go.

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5. Great Leaders Protect the Priorities

KidMin can become incredibly busy.

Events. Curriculum. Decorations. Meetings. Social media. Volunteer schedules. Theme Sundays. Parent communication. Fall Festival. Christmas. VBS.

And suddenly you're doing 47 things halfway instead of five things really well.

Great leaders understand something important: everything cannot be a priority.

Determine what matters most in your ministry and relentlessly protect it. Ask yourself: Does this help us accomplish our mission? If the answer is no, maybe it's something you don't need to keep doing.

Sometimes leadership isn't deciding what your ministry should start doing. Sometimes leadership is having the courage to decide what your ministry should stop doing.

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6. Great Leaders Let Other People Lead

This one can be difficult — especially when you know you can do something faster yourself.

You can teach the lesson. You can lead the huddle. You can handle check-in. You can solve the problem. You can organize the event.

But if you always do everything because you're the best person to do it, eventually you've created a ministry that cannot function without you.

That's not leadership development. That's dependency.

Give people real responsibility. Let them make decisions. Let them solve problems. Let them try something differently than you would. And yes — occasionally let them fail.

You cannot develop leaders while controlling everything.

Our responsibility isn't merely to accomplish ministry. It's to develop people who can accomplish ministry too.

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7. Great Leaders Still Do Real Work

Delegation doesn't mean disappearing.

The best KidMin leaders aren't standing in the hallway holding a coffee while everyone else does the ministry. They're willing to jump in.

Stack chairs. Clean up Goldfish crackers. Talk with parents. Hold a crying toddler. Carry supplies. Lead a game. Help at check-in. Pray with a volunteer.

Great leaders don't ask people to do things they believe are beneath them.

Your team is watching you. They notice what you celebrate. They notice how you treat people. They notice whether you show up prepared. They notice whether you keep your word. And they definitely notice whether you're willing to serve.

Leadership is caught as much as it is taught.

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Stop Building a Volunteer List. Start Building Leaders.

Imagine what could happen if everyone on your KidMin team began seeing themselves as a leader.

Not because they had a title. Not because they were on staff. Not because someone gave them an office.

But because they understood that leadership is influence, ownership, and responsibility.

The nursery volunteer can lead. The check-in volunteer can lead. The small group leader can lead. The teenager serving in elementary can lead.

Your job isn't to be the only leader in your Kids Ministry. Your job is to create more leaders.

That's how healthy ministries grow. That's how teams become stronger. And that's how ministry becomes bigger than one person.

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At Coaching KidMin, we believe healthy Kids Ministries are built by healthy, equipped leaders.

Equip your team. Empower your leaders. Impact the next generation.

That's the win.

Ready to go deeper? Join us at The KidMin Presser — live on Zoom every Sunday at 7PM EST — or grab The KidMin Playbook and start building the ministry your kids deserve.