Servant LeadershipSample

Servant Leaders Cultivate Teamwork

An essential aspect of work is the opportunity it provides for building relationships. Relationships are an absolutely critical component of work itself, going back to when Adam and Eve worked together in the Garden of Eden.

We all depend on one another’s work. This interdependence is not a weakness, but a gift from God.

In the book of Romans, Paul writes that though we have many “members” (parts), we belong to “one body.” He applies this to the work that each of us does in a particular role. “We have gifts that differ,” he notes, and when he names a few of them, we see that they are forms of work: prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhortation, generosity, leadership and compassion.

All of these roles are applicable to work outside the church. For example, prophecy—“to proclaim a divinely imparted message” or “to bring light to something that is hidden”[1] — is the ability to apply God’s word to dark situations, something desperately needed in every workplace. Ministry—with its cognate “administration”—is the ability to organize work so that it does in fact serve those it’s supposed to serve. Another term for ministry is “management.”

Servant leaders understand the value of each team member in his or her particular role, and nurture relationships between team members.

In an interview with Small Business School, Joseph Semprevivo, founder of Joseph’s Lite Cookies, describes his workplace this way:

“We're team-based, and in order to have a team, you have to have honesty, integrity and promise-keeping. People need to know that [they depend on] the person to their right and to their left … and our team members in the front office depend on the team members in the production facility. And I would not have a job if it wasn't for my team members in production. …So it’s a true partnership.”

Reflection

What are relationships like between team members in your workplace? Is there a step you can take to cultivate trust, teamwork and better relationships today?

Prayer

Father, teach me to see my co-workers as you see them. Bless our relationships so that by your grace you will be glorified through our teamwork.

[1] Gerhard Kittel, Gerhard Friedrich, and Geoffrey William Bromiley, eds., Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1985), 960.

Click to read more about gifts and teamwork in Romans 12 from the Theology of Work Bible Commentary .