Building an Effective Team: Part I

Early in my former consulting practice, a friend convinced me I needed to hire a salesperson. Although I questioned whether I could afford a salesperson, weeks later, I hired Steve.

The first call Steve went with me on was to a company that I knew desperately needed our help. But I had never closed the deal.

That day, Steve told the prospect. “I’m not leaving until you sign a contract. You know you need us, and we can’t continue to let you flounder.”

On multiple occasions, I had asked this company to hire us, but without success. Steve, on the other hand, saw that they had a need we could fill and sincerely wanted what was best for them and for us.

Steve’s sales skills and gifts wouldn’t allow him to leave them without providing them the help they needed, even if they needed some pressure applied. We left the meeting elated with a contract in hand, and our new customer received the help they needed to return their business to profitability.

1 Corinthians 12:4 teaches, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.”

I realized that day that God could have given me the gift of sales, but He didn’t. Each one of us has unique gifts directly from God.

If God gave each of us the same gifts, at least one of us would be unnecessary. Instead, God purposely selected unique gifts for every one of us. These gifts, blended together into a team, can result in incredible results.

When we try to wear all the hats in a business as just one person, we will struggle to succeed. To build an effective team add those people to your team who have God-given gifts and strengths where you have weaknesses.

When the team works together, each using their own unique gifts, you will marvel at what God accomplishes.

Questions for Reflection

• What talents does your company need? In what areas could your business grow? What skills would be most useful to make that happen? What do you already have?
• Who in your company could be developed to fill in the gaps? How might you help train them? What conferences or further school could they use? Would financially backing your employee’s professional development be possible? How would that develop your business?