Why Your Ministry Needs To Play More Basketball

In his book The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else In Business Patrick Lencioni uses an analogy that holds true in ministry.

If you want a healthy leadership team they need to function less like a golf team and more like a basketball one. Each individual on a golf team goes out and works on their own, while each member of a basketball team is interactive, interchangeable and interdependent.

Ask any great leader (Here are 31 quotes on teamwork) and they’ll tell you that many of their accomplishments occurred because of the men and women around them.

In my last post (Stop Limiting Your Capacity To Do More read it HERE) I talked about what you needed to do to find the right people. After you find them you need to be able to answer the question:

HOW DO I LEAD THEM?

In a different Patrick Lencioni book, The Ideal Team Player he shares that every member of your team should be:

• Humble
• Hungry
• Smart (Not intellectually but being effective at reading people)

If each member embraces these characteristics it will lead the team to deeper trust, creative collaboration and success. And while you want to find people who embody those characteristics it’s important that you cultivate them as a leader by:

MAKING A PERSONAL INVESTMENT IN EACH MEMBER TO INCREASE THEIR VALUE

Want your team to step it up? Show them that they matter. That happens by simply spending time with them and getting to know more about their:

• Family dynamics (i.e. are they the oldest or youngest?)
• Hobbies and interests. What refuels and energizes them?
• Goals and long term plans

By investing in them personally you’ll become aware of their limitations and strengths. This will help you put them in the right places so they can serve at full capacity.

A team that knows one another well builds trust and without trust you won’t get far.

PLAYING INTO THEIR STRENGTHS EVEN AT YOUR OWN EXPENSE

Your team has gifts and talents that will continuously bless your ministry. As the leader you need to play into those strengths by learning how to get out of the way. That means:

• Helping them identify their strengths with resources like the Meyers Briggs or Strength Finders
• Putting them in position where their gifts and strengths are utilized
• Giving them responsibility over a certain area of your ministry
• Sharing with them resources that will help their strengths grow

The more you invest into their strengths the more you will tap into their passions. When your team is passionate they will be committed to solving problems and helping you reach your goals.

UNAPOLOGETICALLY INVITING THEM INTO YOUR PASSIONS

Passion attracts passion. People want to follow someone who is passionate about fixing a problem, creating change and doing something big.

You can be that leader if you spend time identifying what you are passionate about and sharing it with your team. Explain to them why what you do matters. Share with them stories and experiences that have made a life of ministry worth it.

PRAYING WITH THEM AND FOR THEM

A team that prays together is one that is willing to be vulnerable. Vulnerability allows trust to form and as we’ve discussed trust is essential for a healthy team.

Whether it’s at a meeting or in your spare time pray with and for your team. Invite God into your lives and allow Him to bless them.

Building a healthy team is one of the many things I’ll be discussing in Monday’s (September 11th, 2017) Free Webinar: Small Groups From Scratch.

To sign up click HERE

Without a healthy team there is little we can do. In order for it to be interactive and collaborative the team needs a leader who is humble, hungry and smart.