WELCOME TO: The Auckland Deaf Christian Fellowship LEADERSHIP TRAINING: Part 2 Rev Sandra Gibbons Auckland Deaf Christian Fellowship

Leadership Training Course Auckland Deaf Christian Fellowship Leadership Training Course Tutor: Rev Sandra Gibbons B.Min, PG.DipEd(Guidance Studies), Cert Min, Cert Clinical Pastoral Education  

Let’s Start

Exploring Leadership: Teamwork

Sometimes we are not sure if people will accept us. Don’t be afraid to take a leap of faith. You have nothing to lose but fear itself. Sometimes we feel that we are not good enough to lead other people. Sometimes we feel afraid of what it would mean. Sometimes we are not sure if people will accept us. This is true of everyone – leaders are people who do it anyway!

We don’t have to be perfect to be leaders – just willing to do God’s work, and willing to work with other people.

Looking at one of the first leaders in the Bible, and he didn’t want to be a leader!

Early in the Bible, in the time of Moses, we have a picture of what a good leader should be like. Moses lead God’s people out of Egypt taking them to the land God had promised them. But for many years they stayed in the desert and Moses was responsible for leading them and making every decision on his own. When his father in law, Jethro, came to visit Moses, he was concerned Moses was doing too much.

Jethro watched what Moses was doing and told Moses that he was not leading people in the best way. Jethro told him he was doing too much and should have more people helping him, so that he did not have to do everything himself. So Moses took Jethro’s advice and found people to help him. You can look at this true story in Exodus (the second book of the Bible) chapter 18 verses 13 – 27.

The lesson Moses learnt from his father in law is a lesson we need to learn too. We cannot do all the work or make all the decisions on our own. That is why we have committees and different groups. Leading is about team work, sharing!

Here are some different ways of leading, some are better than others:

What happens in the ADCF Some leadership styles: What happens in the ADCF now Not enough leadership Too bossy Easy going/no real leadership style: No actual leadership. People become confused about what to do. Autocratic (Bossy ) Leadership style: Tells people to do what they are told. Democratic (sharing) leadership style: Allows people to help make the decisions, which are agreed by leaders. What other styles are there? Lets look:

This leadership style has one person who is seen as more important and above other people. It is a traditional model. (This can be a ‘bossy’ style)

Leading from the front to try to show the right way: but be careful; you may lose your followers when they lose energy and enthusiasm! (Can be ‘bossy’)

This leader is trying to do everything them self This leader is trying to do everything them self. You can see this is going to end in badly

Leading from within the group Leading from within the group. Friendly, trying to lead people through encouragement, but it can be hard work. (Can seem to lack leadership)

Leadership as team work Leadership as team work. Sharing the work and making decisions together so that the work is done by the group, not just one person.

What is your style? Servant New Approach Knows themselves Able to look at issues from the outside Looks at the big goals Different & new ideas Does what needs to be done, not just ‘talk’ Creative Brings new skills Excellent behaviour Encourage- ment Ideas for doing things differently Caring Servant Know & understands themselves Puts other people first Works in a team Helps other people to learn Supports people Has energy to care for other people Thinks about what will happen to others

"A leader lives with people to know their problems. A leader lives with God in order to [help] solve them."  --John C. Maxwell

When we lead, we must remember that we are doing this for God, not for ourselves. God has given us gifts to do the work, and we are called to serve God’s people. We must never think the people are less important than we are.

Team Leadership

This picture seems almost impossible to read This picture seems almost impossible to read. There is a reason for that: it shows us that sometimes what needs to be done seems to be almost impossible, beyond what we can do or understand. The same as it was for Moses. What does this picture say? ‘It always seems impossible until it is done’. What does this mean? It means that when we look at something that needs to be done, same as Moses, the work seems

too much. What needs to happen. Planning or making goals, etc too much. What needs to happen? Planning or making goals, etc. making sure everything is done, people are given the right work and nothing is forgotten. the work can seem almost impossible. But if we take one step at a time, and work together, what seems impossible is broken down into small steps which are possible. Then amazingly, all the work that looked impossible to start with is done! Just like it was for Moses.

Building a

What does ‘team leadership’ mean What does ‘team leadership’ mean? It means a group of people, working together, but using different skills, to help lead a group of people in the best possible way. Moses learnt how to do this.

Successful groups need to have

When we share leadership with other people in a team, we Share our different skills and abilities: together, we are able to do more than one person can. We are able to bring different experiences and understanding into the team. People have different ideas, skills and strengths that help the team work more successfully.

BENEFITS OF TEAM LEADERSHIP: Planning and putting ideas and goals into practice becomes shared, and often brings better ideas than if only one person was doing it. We do not have to use up as much energy if we are a team, we work together. Don’t have to worry about not having all the skills and abilities to do the job. Other people will be able to help, and have strengths we don’t have.

LEADERSHIP TEAM Team Leaders: Help and support Help people to do their best. LEADERSHIP TEAM Planning Do what is right

All of us have things we can do well and things we are not very good at. That is why working in a team is best. The same was true for Moses, and like Moses, we can share our skills. No one can do it all on their own! But when we share the load, everything can be done.

Working together

Have Christ like behaviour Keeping people involved & informed We need to use: Working Together in Leadership Planning And goals Improving skills Have Christ like behaviour Getting ideas Be Honest and upright Keeping people involved & informed OUR SKILLS AND GIFTS ARE SHARED Communication: the most important part!

Now that we know what team leadership is, How do we do it? Where do we start? Who is responsible for what? Here is a diagram that may help. Start at the bottom and work up. The part with the widest area needs most work, the top part needs less, but every part is important!

THE WAY TO DO TEAM WORK Start here 6. Keep checking to make sure the team is working to the goals and plans that have been approved by the group/church. THE WAY TO DO TEAM WORK After everyone has a chance to talk, the team get together to make the final choices, remembering what has been said Don’t leave it up to everyone else on the Leadership team 5. Get involved 4. Leadership decide and agree on a goal. The leaders are there for the church, not the other way around 3. Have a meeting to understand and listen to people’s suggestions about what has been decided. Start here 2. The Team tell/Inform the group (church) & make sure everyone understands the goals & plans and helps to make decisions before the meeting 1. The Leadership Team gets together to decide what needs to be done

If EVERYONE is moving forward together Then Success Takes care of ITSELF

the Body of Christ, the church. Each of us has a special gift to use in the Body of Christ, the church.

When we work together, we don’t have to be afraid that we will get worn down by the pressure and burdens of leadership.

Team leadership:

God calls each one of us to help care for God’s family. In a group of team leaders we do not have to do everything on our own!!

Working together brings

Teamwork: sharing knowledge, experience and skills.

Ephesians 4 says: God works by using all of us, and lives in all of us. Christ has generously divided out his gifts to us.

Christ chose some of us to be apostles, prophets, missionaries, pastors and teachers, so that his people would learn to serve and his body would grow strong. This will continue until we are united by our faith and by our understanding of the Son of God.

We don’t have to be perfect to be leaders – just willing to do God’s work, and to work with other people.

REVIEW Questions to think about: Who helped Moses change his leadership style into a team leadership group? How many different styles of leadership have we talked about? Which one do you prefer and why? What is team leadership? Name 3 things about team leadership that you think are helpful. What does a team leader need to do? name 5 things the leadership group need to try to make happen to improve the leadership of the church.