In my career as a business leader responsible for the development and performance of those who work for me, I have learned and tried to emulate leadership principles that seem to be the most effective. In my experience, there are no bad teams, only bad leaders. Leaders must keep their ego in check. They must embrace simplicity and communicate the mission with clarity. To be effective, leaders must not only prioritize various activities, but also execute each of them well.

I have also learned that leadership is not always one thing or another. There is a spectrum and sometimes contradictions. While leaders do lead, they must also be willing to follow. They must remain calm when under stress, but not be robotic. Aggressive, but not overbearing. They must be brave, but not reckless. Successful leaders have a competitive spirit, but are also gracious losers. There are times leaders must be quiet, but never completely silent. Additionally, leaders should be humble, but not passive.

After all, if no one is following you, are you really a leader?
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Not surprisingly, these leadership principles in business are also effective for me as a leader in Youth Bible Quizzing.

Have you ​ever wondered how the Memory Verses are chosen for each season? For the longest time I had assumed there was some ancient World Bible Quiz Association parchment of pre-selected memory verses that all the member denominations were contractually obligated to follow. But now that I’ve been around long enough to see the same books come around at least 3 times, I’m noticing that each season’s memory verses are not the same as they were 8 years prior.
 
So what gives? Sure, we recently changed from NIV 1984 to NIV 2011, but that doesn’t explain how we went from 85 single memory verses in 1993 to a mixture of Singles and Multiples covering 116 verses in 2001! Important Bible verses are still important Bible verses, amirite?
 
Fortunately for all of us, Teen Bible Quizzing is a vibrant ministry! Over the years rules are changed, new types of questions are introduced, and the memory verses change each cycle. This keeps Bible Quizzing fresh and aligned with the changing dynamics and aptitudes of today’s youth.
 
Peeking behind the curtain, it turns out the majority of the Nazarene Bible Quizzing memory verse selection process begins in the very capable hands of one person – Karl Tabor.
 
Here is Karl’s story and how he chooses the memory verses that are considered for each season:

Having been involved with Teen Bible Quizzing for two decades now *shudder*, I thought I had a firm understanding of the fundamental structure and shifting trends within this wonderful ministry.

But what I have since discovered is that - for some things – I simply didn’t know that I didn’t know. 

Earlier this year, I invited subscribers to this blog to participate in a survey about their local Bible Quizzing ministry. As an amateur statistician, even I knew this would not be a scientific study and it would have a large margin of error. Of the estimated 3,000 Teen Bible Quizzers and Quiz Leaders in the U.S., my sampling method would only capture those Quizzers and Quiz Leaders who are subscribers of this blog.

“So, what is the margin of error?”, your inner geek asks. “16%”, my inner geek replies. But I wasn't necessarily looking for precision of values. Rather, I was looking for patterns of evidence.

​Here are the results to the survey questions and how they either fundamentally changed or affirmed my assumptions:

​I’ve been around quizzing virtually my entire life, and the most common problem I see with my fellow quizzers is mid-season burnout. For some reason, after all the holidays, quizzers start to drop out one by one. And for those of us who don’t drop out completely, mostly our averages drop because we don’t study as much.

​If I were to ask all the quizzers who experienced the infamous burnout what happened, I imagine the majority of them would say either, “I don’t have the time anymore!” or, “I got bored.” If you really want to be involved in this program and excel in it, then you need to do something about this burnout. There’s only so much your coach can do for you!

Congratulations! You are in charge of a quiz team. This is part 2 of a two-part series designed to help you get your program off the ground. If you haven't checked out the first post in this series, you can find it here.

As you read your job description you will see one reoccurring word: MOTIVATOR.  Without a doubt, your most important task is to always be a motivator.  You need to be a motivator in three areas:

1. Teens
   
2. Coaches/Volunteers
   
3. Your Church
   

In the last post, we focused on how you can motivate your teens. In this post, we will focus on motivating your Coaches/Volunteers and your church.

First, let me tell you congratulations!  God has entrusted you to help young people write His Word on their hearts, even in the midst of today's busy, trying times. With that in mind, this is not a job to be taken lightly.  Let's take a look at what this job entails. 

As you read your job description you will see one reoccurring word: MOTIVATOR.  Without a doubt, your most important task is to constantly find ways to motivate others.  You need to be a motivator in the following three areas:

1. Teens
2. Coaches/Volunteers
3. Your Church

This post - and the next - will take a more in-depth look at how you can be successful in these key areas.  In this post we will focus on motivating your Teens: