It’s been said numerous times that teamwork makes the dream work. God will never give you a dream that doesn’t involve people. A dream that you can accomplish on your own is too small and not worth attempting. But it’s a big dream that requires all hands on deck. I love what Pastor Brian Houston says about the global movement that is taking place through his church. He says that Hillsong Church isn’t built on the gifts of the few, but on the sacrifice of the many. Wow! That’s exactly what a team is about.
Ever since we officially established our Core Leadership Team, we’ve seen a giant leap take place in our growth. That’s the amazing thing about working as a team. The fruit and effectiveness doesn’t grow by addition, but by multiplication. So does the effort. It’s been a joy and journey learning how to function and operate as a team.
If I’m honest though, working as a team isn’t my natural preference. Whenever there were school assignments, I was that one student who always preferred working alone because group projects required extra work. Now working as a team does demand more, but I’m learning that it’s worth it. Even God Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit work as a team. When He first created Adam, He chose to partner with Him to name the animals. If anyone could work alone, it’s God, but He Himself values teamwork and partnership. Apostle Paul writes that you and I are co-laborers with Christ (1 Corinthians 3:9).
As the director of our ministry, I’m learning how to create a culture that reflects the Kingdom of God and is also true of who we are. I’ve never been in a position of creating a team from scratch before, so I’m always in the process of learning and experimenting as we go. I wanted to share with you an inside look of how we function as a leadership team. We don’t have all the answers, but I believe we can learn from one another. Here are the 3 C’s of our Core Leadership Team.
COVENANT
The first core value of our leadership team is covenant. We wanted our team to become a family and I believe that only takes place with covenant. We are running together not because we agree on everything, but because we have committed to one another’s success. One of the first things we did as a team was not to take care of upcoming events or logistics, but to share our dreams. I wanted to be all-in on the dreams and promises of my team members as if they were my own. And that’s covenant. A contract says I’m in this for me, but covenant says I’m in this for you. Because of covenant, we are now free to risk, fail, and try again because there is no fear of loss of relationship. Instead we are empowered to take steps of faith because we know we have each other’s back.
COMMUNICATION
As a team we value brave and life-giving communication, both of which flow from covenant. Because of covenant, it allows there to be open and honest dialogue with one another. I don’t have to withhold questions or my doubts and fears or my input on anything because I know my relationship isn’t threatened by what I say. Some of the best conversations we’ve had as a team are in areas where we actually disagree. And because we value life-giving communication, we can say what we need to say because there’s honor and respect. We want to continually build one another up. The world is already filled with negativity and voices that bring us down. Our team is a safe place that will actually build one another up.
CELEBRATION
We want to be a team that knows how to celebrate well. It’s easy to just get lost in performance and in the responsibilities we have as a team. I know how prone I am to just put my head down and go from task to task. Often times people get burned out not because they haven’t prayed or read their Bible, but because it’s been too long since they’ve had fun. As a team, we want to be able to pause and take time to properly reflect and give thanks to God and celebrate accomplishments on the way. Whether it’s one another’s birthday or a huge milestone for our ministry, we want to have fun in all we do. If you look at the life of Jesus, He is someone who lived a purpose-filled life, but it was also full of fun. He goes on to say that there is a celebration in heaven when one person comes to repentance. In other words, heaven knows how to throw a party! Ministry is such a high honor and responsibility, that we want to do it while having fun. We take having fun and celebrating seriously.