Jesus Style Leadership 4 - Sent & TeamSýnishorn

Dealing with Internal Conflict

Leadership Lesson

The greatest threats to team effectiveness will come from internal conflict.

Read Nehemiah 5:1-13

Comment

The Jews were facing an economic crisis. This problem had preceded Nehemiah’s time, but the effort and sacrifice of the rebuilding program (and perhaps the fact that they were working so closely together) exacerbated the issues. The team was crumbling because some faced hardships and others took advantage of their difficulties. Internal conflict was destroying the unity of the team. These were not petty squabbles but deep divisions in the team. The best teams face plenty of conflict. As we have seen, when people with different personalities and different priorities work side by side, tension is inevitable. Weak teams pretend that everything is fine, but strong teams bring the conflict out into the open and deal with it. That’s what Nehemiah did here. The conflict had probably been simmering for years, but Nehemiah knew that it had to be resolved if the team was to continue to work well together. Real team unity comes through dealing with conflict not avoiding it. Nehemiah’s approach brought strong unity and saved the team. A conflict that could have destroyed the team became a source of great growth and blessing (5:13).

Prayer

Dealing with internal team problems takes great wisdom, Lord. Some team members are lazy and others work too hard. Some are too confrontational and others too obliging. Some push too hard for their way and others have no opinions. Some are overconfident and others are insecure. Please forgive my judging, but I’m being honest. They’re all so different. You led a team like this on earth so please give us wisdom together as we deal with the conflicts as they emerge.

Personal Reflection

Write down a conflict that your team has faced (or perhaps not faced). How did you work it through? Did the team end up stronger or weaker?