I recently sat down with all of our worship leaders here at NewSpring Church for two hours…it was seriously an amazing series of conversations.
At one point, Lee McDerment, our worship leader at the Anderson campus asked me, “What are some things all of us need to keep in mind as we lead teams.” I gave a decent answer … but after I got back to my office I began to write my thoughts down … and here are eight things I believe that every leader needs to keep in mind when leading a team.
#1 – You will never effectively motivate someone with feelings of guilt
I’ve made that mistake as a leader before, thinking if I could just get someone to feel bad they would do a better job … WRONG! No one has ever brought about significant change in the world because guilt propelled them to do so. AND … if a leader finds himself always motivating by guilt … he will also soon find himself without anyone to lead. NO ONE likes going on a guilt trip.
#2 – People don’t respond to need – they respond to vision
When a leader talks about a need, some people will respond. BUT, when a leader can cast a compelling vision about what SHOULD BE – and with God’s grace and our participation, WOULD BE – CHANGE HAPPENS! Many times a team leader will drift off course – NOT because they are lazy and/or pathetic, but because maybe they have forgotten why they do what they do – and a shot of vision will cure that every time.
#3 – A person cannot be held accountable for unspoken expectations
Another mistake I’ve made in the past as a leader is assuming people could read my mind and so when they didn’t do what I thought should have been done I would get angry with them. After some very confusing looks and some really tough conversations I began to realize that I was expecting things out of people that I hadn’t clearly explained! Our job as leaders is to give clear, realistic expectations and then resource the people to make those things happen.
#4 – Keep short accounts
The Bible says in Ephesians 4:26-27 that we are to not let the sun go down on us while we are angry. In other words, we should act with URGENCY when it comes to conflict among the teams we lead. Unresolved conflict is like cancer that begins to eat away at the body. It must be dealt with OR its destruction will bring about death. Many leaders RUN FROM conflict because it is uncomfortable, but I’ve learned the hard way that we must embrace a little discomfort now or A LOT of it in the future!
#5 – Don’t be afraid to set high standards
One of the problems I’ve discovered when it comes to leadership in the Church is that some people are perfectly fine with setting the bar of excellence really low ... and then allowing the people they lead to crawl under it. I know leaders who literally fear that if they set high standards that people will get offended. However, the thing I’ve learned around here at NewSpring is if we DON’T set high standards people do not feel challenged … which leads to boredom! (BTW … I said “high standards,” not “unrealistic ones!”)
#6 – Beware of the all-star
One of the things that cripples any team is when it has an all star who believes ministry simply cannot take place without them. And when a leader begins to believe that about an individual on the team then they will often fear what might happen if the all-star left rather than what would happen if the presence of God left!!! Every “star player” who truly has an intimate walk with God understands that it’s the TEAMWORK that makes the DREAMWORK – period.
#7 – Each team member is a human being
The leader who views the team he leads as people who are assembled to do what he wants them to do – and that’s it – sucks as a leader! A leader MUST care about the people he leads and NOT just the tasks they perform. If a team member sees themselves as merely a tool in the leaders hand rather than a valued team member … they will soon be looking to join another team.
#8 – Ask questions
One of the biggest mistakes a leader can make is assuming that they have to have the answer to every question that comes their way. (BTW … NO leader is that good!) One of the things I am realizing more and more is how incredibly gifted and talented the people around me are … and over the past several years I’ve asked this question in so many meetings when someone presents an issue to me, “So, what do you think we should do?” Often times the person already has the solution planned out … which saves me (and everyone else on the team) all kinds of time and energy! The reason God blesses a leader with a team is so that leader can harness the collective wisdom of everyone involved and make the best decision.
Besides … people ARE going to share their opinion somewhere … a leader might as well be the first to hear it … because it can save a lot of problems in the future.
One more thing … the only reasons a leader might not ask questions is because he is insecure (thinks doing so will show weakness), full of pride (thinks he is better than everyone else) or fear (because he knows the answer he is going to hear from the team is the right one – but not the one he prefers!)
I’m not a pastor, I’m a production supervisor at a large machine tool company and a Coach on my son’s basketball teams.
Team building is a specialty of mine.
A few observations…
Vision isn’t just important, it’s vital.
Developing a vision for a team and effectively communicating it and enrolling the right people into it IS leadership to me.
Set high standards and clear expectations, yes…then hold people accountable to the commitments they make regarding a project. I prefer people to step up for jobs and then own them. And most will push to see if they are going to be held accountable or allowed to slide through assignments.
It’s human nature.
If I’m firm, fair and consistent with following up, the team will keep the momentum.
If not, the project will die.
Treat team members as human beings, ...yes.
To me that means learning about and understanding their strengths and weaknesses. What do they bring to the team and when do I have THEM take the lead? Everybody should feel the heat/thrill of leading meetings, developing ideas, or running a fast break. I need to be able to move the chess pieces around and then step aside and watch them run with the ball. And, if it goes sideways, use that as a teachable moment. Pick them up, dust them off and compassionately walk them through the decisions made and let them see where the mistakes were made and how to correct them.
“What could you have done differently?”
Ask questions?
Absolutely…and then LISTEN attentively.
Your vision should be big enough to allowing some improvisation on the method of getting there.
Agendas are made to be broken.
Go with the flow of ideas that come from your team members and check your ego at the door.
The team is greater than the sum of its parts…and that includes the leader!
You’re really just the facillitator to the process of problem solving.
When teams find their solution and contribute to the process, they get so fired up you may find yourself reigning them back in.
That’s motivation!
That’s what jumped out at me as I read your work.
Hope this finds you well and leading from the heart!
Rick Roman
Comment by Rick Roman - Sep 07, 2009 @ 11:11 A