Lesson 10: Team Building

► Discuss the following statement. What does it mean? Is it true? Why is it important? Nothing significant was ever achieved by a person acting alone.

► What is a team?

A team is not just a group of followers. A team is a group that is united by a big goal, common values, cooperation, and accepted leadership.

Start thinking about who your team is. The team is not the whole church. The team is not only people in official positions.

Teams have more resources, ideas, and energy than an individual. Teams maximize a person’s strengths and protect his weaknesses. The leader should make sure that people have the right responsibilities and positions so that their strengths have maximum effectiveness and their weaknesses are minimized.

[1]Teams provide several perspectives on how to respond to a situation. Woodrow Wilson, former President of the United States, said, “We should not only use all the brains we have, but all that we can borrow.”

If your goals can be achieved by you alone, your goals are small. Large goals require a good team with good leadership. The larger the goal, the better the team must be.

John Maxwell uses the illustration of mountain climbing to describe the need for a strong team. He calls it the principle of Mount Everest.[2] As the challenge gets greater, the need for teamwork becomes greater.

To achieve a great dream, you must have a great team. A “dream team” is creative, united, flexible, motivated, complementary, determined, and experienced.

The team must be appropriate to the dream. It is unrealistic to say that a team can accomplish something great if it is not a great team. You must develop the team and develop an appropriate dream to achieve. You should work on team development before developing a dream.

A team is not strong just because it has strong individuals. Individual talent will not make a team great until the members cooperate. A team is a group that is united by a big goal, common values, cooperation, and accepted leadership.

• If the members have their own goals that interfere with the goal of the team, the team will not be strong.

• If the members hold differing values, the team cannot be strong long-term.

• If the team members do not cooperate to compensate for individual weaknesses, the team is not strong.

• If conflict exists between the members because they do not follow the same authority, the team is not strong.

Self-interest is a problem when members do not submit their own interests to the goals of the team. Self-interest causes envy and selfish pursuit of position. It also causes unhealthy competition between members.

Some styles of leadership will not build a team. If a leader simply wants help with his goals, works alone so well that other people’s efforts don’t seem needed, or always makes decisions so that discussion is unnecessary, he will not build a team.

The Apostle Paul used the illustration of the physical body to describe the unity of the church in 1 Corinthians 12. He talked about how each member should have a right understanding of their role. Each should be what they were designed to be and not feel that they are inferior to others who have a different role. Each should value the other members for what they contribute. It is hurtful to the efforts of the team when individual members believe they can achieve the team goals without help from anyone else.

The strength of a chain is only as great as the strength of its weakest link. Likewise, a team’s strength is limited by its weakest member.

Each member of the team has a role that affects the work of the other members. If a member is failing in his role, he lessens the effectiveness of every other member by failing to do the work that helps them. The ability of a fast worker has no value if he must wait for a person who is slow.

In most organizations, there are several people in unique positions. Each one does a job that is necessary for the others. If he does not do his job well, everyone is affected. The problem cannot be solved by simply adding more people to help because others cannot do the job for him.

If a person cannot fulfill the responsibilities of his position

• Other team members cannot perform as well.
• Other team members begin to resent the weak link.
• The team loses confidence in the leader because he fails to correct the problem.
• The team lowers its expectations of what it can accomplish.

A person who is a weak link in the team must be moved to a different position so that he does not limit the team.

Some kinds of work can be done by people who do not have specific roles. In those cases, the principle of the weakest link does not apply. For example, if you are trying to push a truck that is stuck in the mud, all the helpers can push together, and the strongest one is not limited by the weakest one. A similar situation would be harvesting a field. Slow people do not hinder the fast people; and if you need more help, you can add more people.

The principle of the weakest link applies to situations where individuals fill necessary roles.

When a bottle or jug full of liquid is turned over, the liquid does not immediately fall out. The flow is limited by the size of the neck. Similarly, in many organizations there are activities and programs that are slowed down because they must wait for a certain person to do his job.

An illustration of a bottleneck in a work team: If several bricklayers are waiting for a man to mix mortar, no one can work because he is slow.

► What other kinds of work can you think of that could illustrate the bottleneck?

[1]When a piece of spoiled fruit is put into a basket with other pieces of fruit, the other pieces will soon spoil. This phenomenon illustrates the effects of attitudes. Good attitudes and bad attitudes affect others, but bad attitudes have the largest effect.

When recruiting a team member, look for attitude more than ability. A person with the right attitude can possibly be trained and motivated, but a person with a bad attitude cannot. Don’t recruit a person with a bad attitude and think that you can change him. A person on the team who has a bad attitude must be removed if he does not change.

Recognizing the Habitual Troublemaker

Troublemakers try to gain respect and a sense of importance by attacking people in leadership (not just the top leader). They may choose one person to attack repeatedly. They are destructive to individuals and organizations. The leader must learn to recognize them and protect others from them. A troublemaker may cause some of your best helpers to quit.

Characteristics of a troublemaker:

• He has a record of previous destruction.
• He is currently doing damage.
• He refers to anonymous allies when he complains.
• He criticizes the previous leader while praising the new one.
• He seems to befriend the new leader quickly.
• He praises you too much.
• He likes to catch people in errors.
• He has never stayed with a church or institution long.
• He lies.
• He is aggressive and can be vicious.
• He likes to show his money.
• He will do unchristian things for his cause.
• He goes by his own agenda and cannot be accountable.
• He likes to provoke others to anger or frustration.
• He talks about his difficult past that made him strong.
• He resents any disagreement.

Absalom was a son of King David. He was handsome and popular in the nation. When people came to the capital with problems, he said, “Oh that I were judge in the land! Then every man with a dispute or cause might come to me, and I would give him justice” (2 Samuel 15:3-4). People began to feel that everything would be better if Absalom were king.

Absalom could have used his abilities to help the king solve problems. Instead, he caused disloyalty. Because the king did not arrange a system for knowing and solving the problems of his people, there was an opportunity for someone to cause disloyalty. Every leader should make sure that people have a good way to communicate their concerns.

Thousands of men joined Absalom’s rebellion, even some of David’s close friends. Absalom was willing for people to die for his ambition. His priority was not the benefit of the people but his own status.

A sports team has many more players than the number that play in a game. Coaches replace players during a game to bring in different abilities and to let their best players rest. The bench includes players who are available to play. Some of them are young players who are still developing.

An organization must continually work to extend the team. There should be young leaders in development. There should be people with special abilities coming onto the team.

The “bench” in an organization is like the bench for a sports team. Often, the people on the bench are less experienced and are developing. The organization’s bench includes people with additional specializations. The bench shows the future of the team.

Don’t just fill the necessary positions of the team. Keep building the extended team. Look for people who show potential and commitment. Let them help. If they do well, give them responsibilities.

► What are some ways to extend the team for a local church? Describe a role and a type of person that could be added to the “bench.”

A good team will attract good members. Consider the kind of people who are attracted to your team. Who is joining? Who is leaving? The changes show whether your team is getting stronger or weaker.

Team members help for a variety of reasons—including personal connection with others, good will, fervency for the cause, and the desire to do something important.

Look for passion when recruiting, rather than assuming that you can motivate passion later. Earlier, we studied the Level 5 leader. This is a person who has ambition for the institution to succeed and is not selfishly motivated. The leader should have this ambition and should look for others who share it.

Ask for the opinions of people who can help the team. Listen to them, invite them to participate, delegate responsibility to them, and then expand their roles.

For everything you do, ask yourself, “Who could help me?” Develop and depend on a small group of people who have abilities and a special relationship with you.

► How would you describe a conversation between a leader and a potential team member? How can the leader get his interest?

When recruiting for a position, consider what kind of person the position needs. Maxwell described these opposite types of people:[1]

John Maxwell teaches that leaders should invest in their teams in these ways:[1]

1. Make the decision to build a team—this starts the investment.

2. Gather the best team possible—this raises the potential.

3. Pay the price to develop the team—this ensures growth.

4. Do things together as a team—this creates community.

5. Empower members with responsibility and authority—this builds leaders.

6. Give credit for success to the team—this lifts morale.

7. Watch to make sure the investment is paying off—this brings accountability.

8. Create new opportunities—this stretches the team’s abilities.

9. Provide what team members need to succeed—this gains the best results.

The leader should consider what kind of leadership and supervision each team member needs. John Maxwell says:

• The enthusiastic beginner needs direction.
• The disillusioned learner needs coaching.
• The cautious completer needs support.
• The self-reliant achiever needs responsibility.[1]

The leader should always share credit for the team’s accomplishments. The people who share the success will be motivated to do their best.

When representing the team to outsiders, the leader should not blame team members for failures of the team. The leader should take the blame, recognizing that he could have been a more effective leader. If he protects the team members, they will be loyal to him.

► How do you expect to change your goals or actions because of this lesson?

1. Nothing significant was ever achieved by a person acting alone.

2. A team is a group that is united by a big goal, common values, cooperation, and accepted leadership.

3. You should work on team development before developing a dream.

4. A team member’s attitude is more important than his abilities.

5. An organization must continually work to extend the team.

1. Write a paragraph summarizing a life-changing concept from this lesson. Explain why it is important. What good can it do? What harm could result from not knowing it?

2. Explain how you will apply the principles of this lesson to your own life. How does this lesson change your goals? How do you plan to change your actions?

3. Memorize the Five Summary Statements for Lesson 10. Be prepared to write them from memory at the beginning of the next class session.