1. Together Embracing A Mission
BUILDING AN EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP
TE M
How to Build a Strong & Effective Team
INTRODUCTION TO SECOND MAIN SESSION
2. How to Build a Strong & Effective Team
The purpose of session two is to engage participants in understanding…
the five components that make a team strong.
how their participation on the leadership team will impact the team for good or bad, depending on the use of their unique opportunity to contribute toward their team’s goals.
The Team Loyalty Covenant tool will be shared during this session
Each team will participate in two exercise in which they will ‘conflict’ within the context of their team in deciding upon an agreed upon outcome.
Together Embracing A Mission
Together Experiencing A Ministry

2. Together Embracing A Mission - Together Experiencing A Ministry
BEING PART OF A WINNING TE M
Coaching questions…
What makes a team… a ‘TEAM?’
A team shares a common goal & continually works together towards reaching that end.
What is the common goal that brings your ‘TEAM’ together?
SLIDE TITLE:
BEING PART OF A WINNING TEAM
The purpose of this slide is to allow each church team to identify and affirm what the basis of a TEAM is. This is accomplished through asking three coaching questions.
INSERT 1 - What makes a team… a ‘TEAM?’
INSERT 2 – (ANSWER) A team shares a common goal & continually works together towards reaching that end.
INSERT 3 – What is the common goal that brings your ‘TEAM’ together? (Allow discussion around table)
INSERT 4 - Is your Board a group of elders or a team of elders? (Allow discussion around table)
Is your Board a group of elders or a team of elders?
Together Embracing A Mission - Together Experiencing A Ministry

3. Together Embracing A Mission - Together Experiencing A Ministry
BEING PART OF A WINNING TE M
God’s Purpose for us…
A Great Commission
Love the world and make disciples of all (Mt 28:19-20)
A Great Commandment
Love God completely and love others as you love yourself (Mt. 22:37)
The Process of become a Healthy Growing church…
TITLE SLIDE:
BEING PART OF A WINNING TEAM
The purpose of this slide is to set a biblical backdrop affirming the ‘common goals of the great commission/commandment’ that provides a context for church teams to function. The presentation of George Bullard’s quote related to the need for churches to develop a clearly defined purpose and strategy to achieve it also provides a framework and incentive for church teams to work together towards a specific goal.
INSERT 1 – God’s Purpose for us…
INSERT 2 - A Great Commission - Love the world and make disciples of all (Mt 28:19-20)
INSERT 3 - A Great Commandment - Love God completely and love others as you love yourself (Mk )
INSERT 4 - The Process of become a Healthy Growing church…
INSERT 5 - Develop a clearly defined purpose and a strategy to achieve it. (George Bullard)
While asking a general question (What is God’s purpose for this church) don’t prolong the opportunity for response – this is more of a teaching slide to set the framework for the importance of functioning as a team.
Develop a clearly defined purpose and a strategy to achieve it (George Bullard)
Together Embracing A Mission - Together Experiencing A Ministry

4. A House Divided Against Itself Will Fall (Luke 11:17)
Building Strength between Team Members
You’re only as strong as your weakest link
LACK OF…
Goal Focus
Trust
Conflict
Commit
Account
TITLE SLIDE:
Building Strength between Team Members
Teamwork ultimately comes down to practicing a small set of principles over a long period of time.
Success is not a matter of mastering subtle, sophisticated theory, but rather of embracing common sense with uncommon levels of discipline and persistence.
This slide is a presentation modeled after Lencioni’s book ‘The Five Dysfunctions of a Team’
This slide presents the model in a ‘positive’ manner (avoiding the ‘dysfunctional’ aspect in its central paradigm) You will spend most of this session on this slide – therefore take time to review the attached notes and plan your teaching accordingly. Extensive notes are included ( more notes than you will be able to use in a ‘practical presentation.’) from which you can form your own ‘teaching approach’
The entire model is hinged around promoting the orientation of a team as being GOAL FOCUSED
INSERT 1 – GOAL FOCUS (Each INSERT along the way finds its FULL meaning only when linked to the aspect of a team’s GOAL FOCUS)
The ultimate dysfunction of a team is the tendency of members to care about something other than the collective goals of the group.
A team that is not focused on results...
Stagnates/fails to grow
Rarely defeats challenges
Loses achievement-oriented employees
Encourages team members to focus on their own careers and individual goals
Is easily distracted
A team that focuses on collective results...
Retains achievement-oriented employees
Minimizes individualistic behavior
Enjoys success and suffers failure acutely
Benefits from individuals who subjugate their own goals/interests for the good of the team
Avoids distractions
INSERT 2 – TRUST
Trust is the confidence among team members that their peers’ intentions are good, and that there is no reason to be protective or careful around the group. This description stands in contrast to a more standard definition of trust, one that centers around the ability to predict a person’s behavior based on past experience. For instance, one might “trust” that a given teammate will produce high-quality work because he has always done so in the past. As desirable as this may be, it is not enough to represent the kind of trust that is characteristic of a great team. It requires team members to make themselves vulnerable to one another, and be confident that their respective vulnerabilities will not be used against them. The vulnerabilities I’m refer­ring to include weaknesses, skill deficiencies, interpersonal shortcomings, mistakes, and requests for help.
As “soft” as all of this might sound, it is only when team members are truly comfortable being exposed to one an­other that they begin to act without concern for protecting themselves. As a result, they can focus their energy and at­tention completely on the job at hand, rather than on being strategically disingenuous or political with one another.
Members of teams with an absence of trust...
Conceal their weaknesses and mistakes from one another
Hesitate to ask for help or provide constructive feedback
Hesitate to offer help outside their own areas of responsibility
Jump to conclusions about the intentions and aptitudes of others without attempting to clarify them
Fail to recognize and tap into one another's skills and experiences
Waste time and energy managing their behaviors for effect
Hold grudges
Dread meetings and find reasons to avoid spending time together
Members of trusting teams...
Admit weaknesses and mistakes
Ask for help
Accept questions and input about their areas of responsibility
Give one another the benefit of the doubt before arriving at a negative conclusion
Take risks in offering feedback and assistance
Appreciate and tap into one another's skills and experiences
Focus time and energy on important issues, not politics
Offer and accept apologies without hesitation
Look forward to meetings and other opportunities to work as a group
INSERT 3 – CONFLICT
All great relationships, the ones that last over time, require productive conflict in order to grow. This is true in marriage, parenthood, friendship, and even in the Church! It is important to distinguish productive ideological conflict from destructive fighting and interpersonal politics.
But teams that engage in productive conflict know that the only purpose is to produce the best possible solution in the shortest period of time. They discuss and resolve issues more quickly and completely than others, and they emerge from heated debates with no residual feelings or collateral damage, but with an eagerness and readiness to take on the next important issue. Ironically, teams that avoid healthy conflict often do so in order to avoid hurting team members' feelings, and then end up encouraging dangerous tension. Contrary to the notion that teams waste time and energy arguing, those that avoid conflict actually doom themselves to revisiting issues again and again without resolution.
Teams that fear conflict...
Have boring meetings
Create environments where back-channel politics and personal attacks thrive
Ignore controversial topics that are critical to team success
Fail to tap into all the opinions and perspectives of team members
Waste time and energy with posturing and interpersonal risk management
Teams that engage in conflict...
Have lively, interesting meetings
Extract and exploit the ideas of all team members
Solve real problems quickly
Minimize politics
Are comfortable putting critical topics on the table for discussion
INSERT 4 – COMMIT
In the context of a team, commitment is a function of two things: clarity and buy-in. Great teams make clear and timely decisions and move forward with complete buy-in from every member of the team, even those who voted against the decision.
They leave meetings confident that no one on the team is quietly harboring doubts about whether to support the actions agreed on.
Why would we not be committed?
The two greatest causes of the lack of commitment are.. the desire for consensus and the need for certainty.
In terms of consensus… reasonable human beings do not need to get their way in order to support a decision, but only need to know that their opinions have been heard and considered.
In terms of certainty… Great teams also pride themselves on being able to unite behind decisions and commit to clear courses of action even when there is little assurance about whether the decision is correct.
They also realize that it is better to make a decision boldly and be wrong-and then change direction with equal boldness-than it is to waffle.
A team that fails to commit...
Creates ambiguity among the team about direction and priorities
Watches windows of opportunity close due to excessive analysis and unnecessary delay
Breeds lack of confidence and fear of failure
Revisits discussions and decisions again and again
Encourages second-guessing among team members
A team that commits...
Creates clarity around direction and priorities
Aligns the entire team around common objectives
Develops an ability to learn from mistakes
Moves forward without hesitation
Changes direction without hesitation or guilt
To reinforce commitments made by the team…
REVIEW KEY DECISIONS MADE
At the end of a meeting, explicitly review the key decisions made during the meeting, and agree on what needs to be communicated to others about those decisions.
SET DEADLINES FOR ACTION
The worst enemy of a team that is susceptible to this dysfunction is ambiguity, and timing is one of the most critical factors that must be made clear.
Deadlines ensure that misalignment among team members is identified and addressed before the costs are too great.
INSERT 5 – ACCOUNT
Accountability is the willingness of team members to call their peers on performance commitments made to the team or behaviors exhibited that might hurt the team. The most effective and efficient means of maintaining high standards of per­formance on a team is peer pressure.
More than any policy or system, there is nothing like the fear of letting down respected teammates that motivates people to improve their performance.
A team that avoids accountability...
Creates resentment among team members who have different standards of performance
Encourages mediocrity
Misses deadlines and key deliverables
Places an undue burden on the team leader as the sole source of discipline
A team that holds one another accountable...
Ensures that poor performers feel pressure to improve
Identifies potential problems quickly by questioning one another's approaches without hesitation
Establishes respect among team members who are held to the same high standards
Avoids excessive bureaucracy around performance management and corrective action
Suggestions for Overcoming Avoidance of Accountability
Publication of Goals and Standards
Simple and Regular Progress Reviews
Team Rewards - as opposed to individual rewards
INSERT 6 – You’re only as strong as your weakest link
This statement causes leaders and teams to realize the are ‘linked’ together by the nature of calling themselves a team – but such a designation doesn’t mean they are functioning that way. The following inserts remind teams of the dangers through lacking in any of the key areas….
At this point you can either simply let the inserts role in one after another – or pause on each ‘lack of – outcome’ and teach on these points from the notes provided above under each LINK PRINCIPLE.
INSERT 7 – CLOUD – ‘LACK OF’
INSERT 8 – BOLT – ARROW – ‘PERSONAL FOCUS’ – STATUS AND EGO
INSERT 9 – BOLT – ARROW – ‘AVOID OPENNESS’
INSERT 10 – BOLT – ARROW – ‘ARTIFICIAL HARMONY’
INSERT 11 – BOLT – ARROW – ‘VAGUE DECISIONS’
INSERT 12 – BOLT – ARROW – ‘LOWER STANDARDS’
INSERT 13
We conclude this slide with a Scriptural verse that reinforces the principle of teamwork A House Divided Against Itself Will Fall (Luke 11:17)
INSERT 14
A follow up statement of conclusion is then provided. A Team Divided Within Itself Cannot Succeed
TEAM CONFLICT EXERCISES
Avoid Openness
Artificial Harmony
Vague Decisions
Lower Standards
Personal Focus Status/Ego
A House Divided Against Itself Will Fall (Luke 11:17)
A Team Divided Within Itself Cannot Succeed

5. Conflict within your Church context
As a team work through the following scenerio
Tomorrow, someone in your church will donate $25K with the following conditions:
The funds are to be used in only one ministry area that will ‘most effectively help the church reach its purpose.’
All funds must be spent by Dec 31/07
As a TEAM work through this opportunity, hearing from all team members before a decision is made & shared
SLIDE TITLE – HEALTHY CONFLICT
Now time for to bring the ability to ‘conflict in a healthy’ manner a little closer to home.
A scenario is provided on the slide that challenges each team to ‘conflict with each other’ based on their home church context.
Allow each team to feel the weight of the scenerio – observe the dynamics that go on around the table. Note on the slide the stipulation is that each team member must ‘be heard’ before a decision is made
Have each team report to the larger group what their TEAM decided to do with the donated funds.
Each team will report at the end of their lunch break what they’ve decided to do with the money!!

6. Influence on others Leadership Role OPTIONS Options What this meant
for Jesus
What this means
for us
Options
Leadership Role
Influence on others
TITLE SLIDE: THE SERVANT LEADERSHIP MODEL
In the context of the church, the leadership structure looks and acts very different from the world around us. In the world – the higher up in leadership you rise the more you expect those around you to serve your needs – but Jesus said ‘ If you want to be great in the Kingdom of God – you must learn to be the servant of all!’
It is important to realize that the higher one rises in the leadership of the church the more influence they have on those around them. (DIRECTIONAL ‘UP’ ARROWS APPEAR - INSERT 1) At each stage of this increase in leadership and influence… important choices and commitments have to be made in terms of OPTIONS. (INSERT 2) The choice related to options that face every leader is simple, yet profound: are you willing to release the options (‘rights’) at your disposal the higher you rise in leadership and influence.
Let’s look at it this way. When a visitor comes to your gatherings, they have lots of choices but aren’t in a place of leadership nor have influence over others.
Think of all options they have at their disposal…. They can come or not, they can be early or late, they can sit in the front or back, they can sing or not, they can leave early or stay late, they can… well the list goes on and on.
But each time they take on, even a small bit of involvement and leadership, (even being a greeter or whatever) they have to be willing to give up a few Options… As a greater – no longer can you arrive late or decide not to come at all.
COACHING QUESTION – As an elder or church leader – what options at your disposal have you had to ‘give up’ for the sake of Christ?
TEACHING MOMENT –
INSERT – What this meant for Jesus
Realize that Jesus had an option to consider when he sweat ‘drops of blood’ in the garden of Gethsemane – Not my Will But Your be Done was only spoken after the agony of counting the cost of accepting the ‘cup’ that Jesus was being asked to drink – to die a very painful, dreadful death through crucifixion.
INSERT – What this means for Us
In John 13 Jesus is washing the feet of the disciples and he comes to Peter – who pushed back and said NO Lord, you shall never wash my feet.
In leadership there are times when God wants to do something to us, or work through us and we want him to complete his work in us. Like Peter we rebel inside and say NO!! It is at times like these where we have to learn that in leadership we can never put the words NO and LORD side by side. Because when we do we are exposing the fact that He has confronted us with an option we don’t feel comfortable aligning our lives with.
Many teams find it helpful to covenant with each other in a structured way that allows them to affirm to each other what they are committing to by joining the leadership team. An example of such a TEAM LOYALTY COVENANT is provided on the next (and final) slide
OPTIONS

7. Team Loyalty Covenant
Consider the Team Loyalty Covenant Template on the district website under Church Effectiveness Tools.
TITLE SLIDE: TEAM LOYALTY COVENANT
A copy of the Team Loyalty Covenant form is in the Elder Training Workbook for consideration and discussion
Again… express the word TOGETHER with the last two inserts
INSERT 1 – Together Embracing A Mission
INSERT 2 – Together Experiencing A Ministry