Team Leadership

I don’t like committees. Big groups of people rarely make the best decisions and often slow things down.

When I talk about leading as a team, I am NOT talking about ministry by committees.

On any good team, there is a head coach. Someone must be in charge. But if the coach is wise, he’ll build a team of coaches.

In any ministry, I suggest the following:

• One leader who is ultimately responsible for the direction of the ministry.
• Three to seven people who become some sort of a leadership team. (Two is not enough. Three drastically improves the dynamics. More than seven becomes bulky. For some reason, I like odd numbers.) This could be an advisory team, executive team, leadership team, directional team, or whatever suits your purposes.
• When possible, the people on the team should be a diversified group.
• Each person has an equal voice—but the leader reserves the right to make the final call. (On our team, it has been years since I have overridden the wisdom of the team. I still reserve the right at any time to make the hard call.)

More to come.

Thoughts?

Tags: Team Leadership

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Leading With a Team

If you want to see the potential of a church or ministry, don’t look at the charismatic leader up front. Look at the team the leader has assembled.

Most charismatic leaders can attract followers. It takes a humble leader to attract leaders.

Many pastors won’t build a team because of several reasons:

• Deep down they are insecure. These pastors are afraid someone else will get the spotlight. They will always be limited in their potential.
• They are full of pride. Some honestly believe that no one can do it as well as they can. Again, this leader has a ceiling that will limit him until he changes.
• They don’t see the value of a team. Because team ministry isn’t often practiced, too many pastors haven’t seen a good model.

This week we’ll talk about the values (and dangers) of leading with a team.

Have you been a part of an effective team?

Tags: Team Leadership

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