Christian Leadership Foundations 6 - TeamSample

TEAM-BUILDING SKILLS

Leadership Devotion

This reading focuses on dealing with someone in the church family who has messed things up. We are to restore them gently without excusing what they have done. We are to be humble about this, knowing we are no better than the Christian who has fallen. Just because we haven't made that mistake doesn't mean we should feel superior. This is wise advice, and if you have the opportunity to support someone who has failed in a big way and is genuinely repentant, I hope you will do what Paul says.

Underlying what Paul advises the church are some principles that are particularly relevant to building a team. Let's explore them briefly.

First, team members support each other (6:2). In a working group, the members work together and communicate, but in a real team, they stand with each other, care for each other and "carry each other's burdens." If one struggles, the whole team gets behind them. If one succeeds, the entire team cheers them on. Team members are like the three musketeers: "All for one and one for all." This requires a lot of love and trust between the team members.

Second, when team members fail, the team seeks to restore them, not punish them (6:1). Paul isn't talking here about minor mistakes that occur all the time. He is referring to dreadful blunders that could rule a person out of their ministry, which may force a period of exclusion from the team. The team keeps loving, despite their hurt and disappointment, and gently restores whenever possible.

Third, team members remain humble despite their own achievements or the failures of others (6:3-4). Humility is an essential ingredient of good team members. If you're not humble, you will push your agenda, criticize other team members, and undermine the team's unity. It's team achievements that count far more than individual successes.

Fourth, team members find contentment in doing their job well. There seems to be a contradiction in this reading. We are to "carry each other's burdens" (6:2), and we are to "carry our own load" (6:5). That is a lot of carrying, but it's true. We should not be so concerned with what others in the team are doing that we shirk our responsibilities. We are accountable to God for what he has called us to contribute. We give it our best shot, which brings satisfaction (6:4).

To Contemplate

Are you better at carrying the load of others or carrying your own load? What is God saying to you?

Leadership Reflection

Numerous leadership skills assist the effective and productive functioning of a real team. Many of these skills take a lifetime to develop, so you have plenty of time to work on them. Here are some of the foundational leadership qualities/skills that team-building requires.

1. Commitment to team. You will not be able to build Team if you are not committed to working in team. Many leaders say they want to build team, but actually, they want to run a working group with the team members enthusiastically supporting their directions and plans. There are certainly times when a working group is the best option, especially when working with an inexperienced group, but real team involves sharing responsibility and providing direction together. It means wanting the team to flourish more than your own leadership and success. That's costly. If you can't trust and believe in others, you will not build a real team.

2. Giving up absolute control. I guess this is a subset of commitment to team, but it is vital, so I want to reinforce it. Working in team requires the leader to give up absolute control of the agenda. This calls for openness and vulnerability. It involves recognizing that you don't have all the answers. You must believe that together the team is best able to set directions and make decisions. This means that on occasions, you will not get your way. The team will choose a course contrary to your wishes. In other words, you will lose. If you are a wise and influential leader, this will not always happen, but it will occur, and it will be an indication of the health and strength of the team. A team that always does what the official leader wants is not a true team. A team leader has to lose absolute control.

3. Setting a compelling direction. The leader still needs to set the direction for the team's work. This direction can be imposed by the hierarchy or discerned after wide consultation, but in the end, the team's direction is the leader's responsibility. Teams don't work well if team members have different ideas of what they should be doing. Teams need to be aligned around direction and values. A clear, challenging, compelling direction will motivate the team and enable them to use all their gifts and resources productively to pursue the vision. It also provides a yardstick of how well the team is doing. Ultimately, team is not about good relationships (though these will be vital) but about achieving a faith vision together.

4. Building shared values. A team is held together by three things. The first is their commitment to team, the second is their compelling vision, and the third is their shared values. While there will be a wide diversity of personalities, approaches, and values in a healthy team, members must share the common values that knit them together. The leader's role is to discern, express, and constantly reinforce these shared values. This is particularly important when a team is being established and new members (who may have different values) join the team.

God's ideal is a healthy, unified team in which everyone pulls their weight, all members appreciate their own gifts and the gifts of the other team members, and all are committed to the values and goals of the team. No matter how skilled you are as a team leader, this can be difficult to achieve. Just look at the churches in the New Testament. There were not too many that looked like the team I described above. Even Jesus' team didn't look like this too often. Not before Pentecost anyway.

I don't want to set the bar too high. You are fortunate if you are part of such an empowering team, but for Christian leaders, the biblical goal of real team is always our goal as we lead groups of people.