Resist the temptation to control all issues, but through careful evaluation and preparedness, empower your teammates at the right time for unequivocal success and growth.īe prepared to receive comments from team members regarding any issue. Putting others first is always a struggle and can be especially difficult when in a leadership position.5 Yet, our Lord shows His servant heart continually throughout Scripture and today as He deals graciously with us. Becoming mission conscious helps teams evaluate clearly and choose wisely when it comes to job placement (Would you want your eye serving the job of the foot?)4 All of these qualities lead to a results orientation. A team must focus on the whole body, not just the individual (reminder of 1 Cor. The overall team attitude should be to support each other without suspicion (which only leads to distrust within the team). In keeping the ‘main thing the main thing,’ a few boundaries should be considered:ġ. Perception of teammates as collaborators, not competitors when the mission is on the line. 3 The author of Proverbs would delight in a little competition, so long as the bottom line vision and mission is kept in the team’s foresight. In the case of Kobe Bryant, even the janitor, who keeps the crowd enthusiastic by his service of the facilities, should receive praise! (Who would want to go to a game and sit among loads of trash?) Would the absence of fans ruin home court advantage for Kobe? Although this mentality probably will not manifest itself in our culture soon, we can begin the process within our own teams. Team leaders should honor those who make the team stronger, even if they aren’t the star players. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.”2 But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. “On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. In 1 Corinthians 12, we see Paul writing about teams, specifically the need a team has for all of its members:
Would Kobe Bryant be as good as he is today without good competition against which to practice daily? The American culture has a way of idolizing those who score the points, but where did those point-scorers refine that God-given ability? This in mind, what need is there for so many players on the team? They are needed to sharpen the iron in practice and for team support during the competition. The optimum number of players on a basketball team is around twelve people, yet when we watch college or NBA games, we rarely see all twelve get in the game. Just as iron can shape, mold and sharpen another piece of iron to a fine degree, so a person can shape and mold those within his reach to their betterment. This simile refers specifically to the molding and shaping of the character of a person. What kind of team are we talking about here? I believe this form of leadership can work with any team, including families, people within the workplace, and most definitely the church. God speaks to us in Proverbs 27:17 saying, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”Ī closer look at this passage suggests much more than just a word to the wise for blacksmiths. Moreover, leadership such as this can actually inspire an overarching theme of humility within the team. Perhaps that is why it is called “special”!1Īs a team leader, is it possible to encourage competition amongst team members and still maintain the big picture focus exemplified by the story above? The benefits of leadership that encourages competition instead of squelching it far outweigh the bad. In a race made for individual glory, the racers had made themselves into a team. They picked him up, consoled him, and then together, all nine of them finished the race. Then, a strange thing happened. The rest of the runners, hearing his cries, turned to see that he was lying on the track. They slowed their pace and one by one, they stopped, turned around, and went back to the fallen runner. His frustration totally overcame him, and he burst into tears and began to sob loudly. He quickly got up and gave his all to catch up with the others, but once again fell. As the gun fired, the racers sprinted toward the finish line, but one of the runners fell down. Some time ago in Seattle, Washington, nine finalists were poised at the starting line of a 400- meter race. Their hard work had paid off and each planned to do his best and hoped to win the medal for first place.
0 kommentar(er)
