At TGC's 2021 National Conference, Trevin Wax taught on the importance of being a multi-directional leader and how to have a heightened awareness of problems your flock may encounter.

Wax defines multi-directional leadership as “a manner of leadership grounded in the unshakable conviction that all the truth revealed in Scripture must be deployed for the good of God’s people.”

The pursuit of this type of leadership can be difficult as it requires dexterity and vision to protect the flock from all sides. Wax warns against being a one-directional leader who fights alone and allows the culture to set the agenda for what's addressed to the flock, and he says healthy leadership is about “speaking the right word in the right moment to the right people.”

Wax gives four ways pastors and church leaders can apply a sensitivity to being multi-directional:

1. Delight in Scripture.

2. Listen carefully to people who sound various alarms, and discern if they're valid.

3. Know yourself and the dangers to which you're susceptible.

4. Know your people and their tendencies and leanings.