TEAM LEADERSHIP
The ability to effectively work together in unity as members of a leadership team to assess, plan, manage, instruct, evaluate and make decisions.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Team leadership means that you don’t just have an overall leader but that together a team of people has all the gifts and skills necessary to lead and fulfill the greater vision and mission. Each of the members of the leadership team has specific roles to play in leading, directing, deciding, planning and doing. By collaborating together they are able to fulfill the overall objectives of the team.
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.Ephesians 4:11-12
Skilled Characteristics
Servant
Sees one’s role as a servant of the team
Equality
Equally values all members of the team
Teams
Functions and make decisions as a leadership team
Delegates
Shares/delegates leadership roles and responsibilities to other members of the leadership team
Asks
Asks for input and feedback from the team concerning important decisions and plans
Open
Encourages team decision making, whenever possible
Balance
Ensures there is a balance of apostolic, prophetic, administrative, and pastoral giftings on the leadership team
“One of the most important leadership lessons is realizing that you are not the most important or the most intelligent person in the room at all times.”
– Mario Batali
Unskilled Characteristics
Orders
Prefers to give orders rather than receive them
Expects
Expects to be served by the team rather than serve them
Protective
Withholds resources and information from the team
Titles
Uses status and title to force one’s own agenda
Closed
Doesn’t ask for input/feedback from the team
Hierarchical
Doesn’t form a leadership team or believe in sharing leadership responsibilities with others
Self
Doesn’t look for opportunities to give leadership roles and responsibilities to others on the team
“Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders.”
– Tom Peters
Causes of Weakness
Understanding
Lack of understanding of how to function as a leadership team
Loner
Loner/cowboy – prefers to be the one and only person in charge, making all decisions
Arrogant
Thinks too highly of one’s self, education, intellect, skills, and abilities – de-valuing the knowledge, experience and skills of others
Competitive
Has a strong desire to always win or be better than others – can not share the glory or credit for accomplishments
Defensive
Is too prideful to admit mistakes or to receive critical feedback or to receive correction from others
Impatient
Impatient listening to and considering the ideas, questions or concerns of others
Power
Placing a high value on having a level of power, authority, control and/or influence over others
Communication
Poor interpersonal skills – difficultly getting along with others
Negotiation
Poor negotiation skills – failure to consider the thoughts, ideas and needs of others
Self
Self-centered – focused on one’s own needs or goals but not on the needs or goals of others
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
– Unknown
Advice
Review the simple application steps below and choose 1 or 2 things you can do to spur yourself on to further growth.
Multiply
MULTIPLY: Remember that one of your goals in life should be to multiply yourself as a leader. One day you will be gone. What will be left of your ministry? How will your ministry continue if there aren’t capable, experienced leaders already mentored, trained, and ready to lead forward? Leaving behind a leadership legacy is really only possible if you let others share with you in the role of leadership. If you find that you are the only one ‘leading’ in your ministry, it is probably a indication that you are not sharing leadership, empowering others, nor multiplying yourself. Think future, think multiplication, and think shared, team leadership.
Balance Giftings
BALANCE LEADERSHIP GIFTINGS: Strong leadership requires several giftings such as: prophetic, apostolic, pastoral and administrative. Rarely does one leader possess all of these gifts in sufficient measure. Most leaders find that they are strong in one or two of these gifts only. As you build your team or leadership team, assess which of these leadership giftings your team already has and which it still needs. Make sure that you have a good balance of these leadership gifts on your team. Each is critical in its own unique way.
Clarify
CLARIFY VISION, PURPOSE, VALUES AND GOALS: In order for team leadership to work well, it requires that everyone on the team shares a clear commitment and passion for the overall vision, mission, values and goals of the team. If you haven’t already done so, make sure to define these things right away, with the input of your team. Identify creative ways to continuously keep the vision, mission, values and goals at the forefront of everyone’s minds from week to week, and month to month. Make sure that all plans and decisions are made as a team with your vision, mission, values and goals in mind. It helps keep everyone focused on the same thing and keeps everyone in unity.
Define Roles
DEFINE ROLES: Identify all of the leadership roles and responsibilities that may exist for your team. Write it down as a list. In the next column write down what kind of skills or giftings would be required to fulfill each role or responsibility well. In the third column, identify names of people on your team who have the skills and giftings necessary to fill each role or responsibility. In addition, think about what interests and passions each team member has and what roles and responsibilities would most interest them or help them to reach their personal goals and further develop themselves as leaders. Defining roles like this can be a great team activity, allowing everyone to give input, be heard, and feel valued.
Pray
PRAY: Pray together as as leadership team as often as possible. Pray before, during and after all meetings, when planning together, and when making decisions. Ask for God’s direction, wisdom, and strategy. And ask God to help everyone have open hearts to hear from Him, to listen to one another, and to be open to new ways of thinking or doing things.
Practice Appreciation
PRACTICE APPRECIATION: As often as possible, make an intentional effort to encourage one another (both formally and informally) by expressing thanks for each other and by expressing appreciation for specific contributions people have made. Simply appreciate people for who God made them to be. Team members need to feel appreciated, listened to, valued, cared for, included and fulfilled.
Decide Together
DECIDE TOGETHER: Whenever possible, make important decisions as a team. Discuss everyone’s input, ideas, and concerns. Make the decision making process clear, pray together, explain what was considered, what was decided, and why. And thank everyone for their contributions.