Only empowered people can reach their full potential. When a leader cannot or will not empower others, they create barriers within the organization that employees cannot overcome. If the obstacles remain long enough, employees give up or move to another organization where they can fully develop their potential. If you want to be a successful leader, you must become an enabler and empowerer. Theodore Roosevelt recognized that "the best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it."
The truth is that the only way to make yourself indispensable is to make yourself dispensable. In other words: when a leader is able to continually empower others and help them develop to the point where they are capable of taking over their work, the leader becomes so valuable to the organization that they become indispensable.
Barnabas and Paul.
Barnabas was definitely a people-builder. It seems as though he never let an opportunity pass to add value to others, and his greatest single contribution in terms of empowering others is his interaction with Paul.
1. He believed in Paul before anyone else did.
It is easy to voice an opinion about a controversial person or a controversial issue after other leaders have already pledged their support. It is something else entirely to stand up and speak before anyone else does. That is exactly what Barnabas did. He did not wait until the apostles endorsed Paul before he believed in him. Rather, he believed in Paul while Peter and the others still feared him.
To be an encouraging leader, you must be willing to take a risk on people. You must look for the potential in them and encourage them to believe in themselves. And that can be risky, because they might not come through. But when they do, the payoff can be enormous. You may be responsible for inspiring a new leader to accomplish things they never thought possible. And leaders never forget the first person who believed in them.
2. He vouched for Paul's leadership qualities to other leaders.
Scripture tells us that Barnabas took Paul with him to the apostles. And he explained to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus at Damascus (Acts 9:27).
Acts 9:27 But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.
What must that scene in Jerusalem have looked like? When Paul arrived in the city, the apostles learned that he was claiming to be a follower of Christ. They must have taken it for a trick. This was the same man who had approved of the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr.
Barnabas must have shown up at one of the apostles' gatherings with Paul in tow. No doubt an uncomfortable silence fell over the meeting as people recognized who Barnabas's companion was. And then Barnabas told Paul's story. Paul did not need to say a word. All the believers knew Barnabas. They knew his reputation, his integrity. That was all it took. The church had accepted Paul.
Acts 9:28 And he was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem.
One of the best things a leader can do is sing the praises of their people to others. When they do good work, the leader tells everyone. The leader is especially careful to praise them in front of their friends and family. But the leader also brings them before other leaders, helping them make connections and strengthen their credibility.
3. He enabled Paul to reach his full potential.
The relationship between Barnabas and Paul did not end in Jerusalem. After Barnabas's support allowed Paul to move about freely in Jerusalem, teach people, and debate the truth of Scripture, it did not take long before Paul became an enemy to unbelievers. The apostles sent him back to Tarsus for his own safety. But when Barnabas was later commissioned to help the church in Antioch, he sought out Paul and made him his companion. That is how Paul was able to accept his first "assignment" as a leader, which led to Paul working together with Barnabas as a missionary - the role God had destined him for.
An empowering leader must do more than simply believe in up-and-coming leaders. They must take steps to help them become the leaders they have the potential to be. They must invest in them to enable them to give their best.
Empowering people requires personal investment. It requires energy and time. But it is worth the price. When a leader does it right, they will have the privilege of watching someone rise to a higher level. And as an added bonus, by empowering others they make the organization more powerful.
Acts 9:26-28
26 And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple.
27 But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.
28 And he was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem.