We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Derrick Hawkins a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Derrick, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
I learned resilience from failure. I made up my mind that failure was never an option for me. My resilience has been developed in moments of failure, disappointment, making bad decisions, and even frustration. There is something that failure produces that some moments of success without process never can. That is resilience! In my life, I came to a place in some of the most challenging moments. There are too many people depending on me for me to quit. At every turn of my life, I have had to keep fighting, and my determination was not to stop, making me who I am today.
Let’s take a slight detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you.
I am a Church Planter, Author, and Influencer. I was born and raised in the small city of Salisbury, North Carolina. I grew up in the home of my grandmother, father, and stepmother. I have been co-authoring a book called Welded: Forming Racial Bonds that Last. That book came out in November of 2020. I have also written articles in Charisma, Newsweek, and Christian Post. I’m the husband of my lovely wife Roshonda of 16 years, the father of six children and two grandsons. My family and I recently embarked on a new journey. On January 21, 2024, we will be planting a church in our hometown of Salisbury, North Carolina.
Promise City Church! It is a place for all people and all communities to experience the love of God. I told myself I would never plant a church, and now I find myself doing what I said I would never do. There is so much pain and hopelessness in the world and our city. So many people seek a place to belong and experience God’s love. People seek hope, and I believe that Promise City Church will be where the hopeless can find a home for the reader struggling to find hope, community, healing, and love. Promise City Church may be the place for you. In my own experience, I found myself seeking God and wondering if his love was unconditional with all the mistakes that I had made. Every day I wake up, I am reassured of his steadfast love for me. We would love for you to come and check us out in January.
Looking back, what were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks early in their journey regarding how they can best develop or improve on these?
Leadership, communication, and servitude are the three most essential skills that have impacted my journey.
Leadership, as John Maxwell defines it, is simply influence. The ability to impact someone’s life, decisions, or thinking is powerful. It can also be dangerous if you don’t have the right motives. So, to be a great leader, you must first be a great follower, Which leads to servitude living in a culture where servitude is seen as being less than, inadequate in value, and even demeaning. Anyone who has been allowed to lead has also to be willing to serve.
Lastly, communication has been a critical piece in my development. The individuals I lead must clarify what may be apparent to me—leading any organization, people, company, Etc. You have to communicate your expectations and vision with clarity and simplicity. These three areas have helped me in my ability to lead others as well as myself.
Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shout out for their role in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?
Pastor Jay Stewart, Darlene Allen, Nathan Smith, and John Hannah have been instrumental voices in my life. They have exposed me to leaders, books, and information that have challenged my leadership capacity and character. These qualities have helped me develop leadership skills that have impacted my leadership style and build successful organizations.
Contact Info:
- Website: Promise.Citychurch
- Instagram: Promisecity..church
- Facebook: Promise City Church
Image Credits
Sumo T.V. Wonder Blue Creative
