Either:
* They fail
* Nothing changes
* They shine
Do you harness the greatest power in your organization? The best assets of your church, business or non-profit never appear on your balance sheet.
There is one incredibly important characteristic of a successful team or organization. It is inherent and cannot be trained or programmed. With this trait a team can weather the storms of life together. When this is an attribute of an organization, regardless of the struggles it encounters, the vision can be accomplished.
Titles to me are too specific. They seem to indicate a defined area of focus. I realize some people need that for clarity, but I prefer a job description to a title. I like for a person to understand the goals and objectives for the position, and even more than that, the overall vision of the organization and for them to realize how they are part of the organization’s success. That is hard to capture in a specific job title.
Taylor, one of my 18 year-old son Nate’s best friends, is going to Wheaton University this fall. I am excited that he will be an hour away from Nate who will be at Moody Bible College. I wrote a blog about their friendship a couple months ago. Read that post HERE. I had coffee this morning with Taylor, because he is leaving this weekend for an extended and unusual college orientation.
Leaders should not use individuality as an excuse for inadequacy. Excellence should be a standard for all leaders. There are key leadership principles, especially Biblical principles that no leader can ignore, but the goal should never be to carbon copy another’s leadership style. Just as every individual is unique in his or her personality, every leader will have uniqueness in his or her leadership style. Great leaders figure out the style that works best for them to produce the greatest results.
I decided my 18 year-old son’s latest post was important enough to steal it from him. I only wish I had written this first. Great thoughts. Nate has led in our student worship area for the last couple years and done an amazing job. Our church is going to miss him this fall as he begins his college days at Moody Bible College in Chicago. You can follow Nate’s thoughts at his blog Moons from Burma.
Strengths Finder 2.0 has proven already to be a great tool for my leadership. We are going to use this instrument with our staff in the coming months. I have been using Myers-Briggs Type Instrument for years and still plan to, but this is now another tool I plan to use to help build a healthy team.
In my pursuit for consistent improvement in my own life I am opening myself up to new approach. I will attempt to ask more questions to keep people accountable. I will visit people’s offices more frequently. I will eat more lunches with my staff. I will do a better job of tracking individual progress. It is not a matter of trust but a matter of recognizing the responsibility that I have been given and the individuality of the people I lead.
One of the most damaging expressions in a team environment is the phrase “that’s not my job” or “that’s not my area of responsibility”. Thankfully I have never heard that said at Grace Community Church. Sadly it is far too common in organizations that claim to be a team environment. I talk with people on staffs frequently who feel they are on an island by themselves within the organization and no one ever helps them think through a problem, recruit volunteers for their area, or lend a hand during crunch times.