Once in awhile I come across someone with a lot of leadership potential but they are hesitant to grow because they were previously “hurt” by another leader who offered to help them grow in their leadership abilities but failed to give them the time and support they needed to reach their potential.

When dealing with a situation like this, you need to acknowledge the past hurt and take the time to process it with them.  Assure them that your words will remain in confidence and it is not your intent to “bad-mouth” anyone but to recognize their pain and understand how hard it must be to trust someone again.

As you build trust and friendship with this person learn the power of saying, “I’m so sorry,” for the things that you had nothing to do with.  The essence of Calvary was that Jesus took a rap He didn’t deserve and He said, “I’m sorry” for something He didn’t have to say “sorry” for.  I think, as Christian leaders, one of the most powerful things all of us can do is at different points in our life, look at people in the Body of Christ who have been wounded, whether fairly or unfairly by other people in the Body, especially people in leadership and say, “I’m so sorry,” on behalf of people that will probably never say it or maybe not even realize that they needed to say it.  Hearing those words make it real to people.