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As
we noted earlier, without a vision the people will perish. But likewise, without
the right people, the vision will perish. Having the right people around you is
the fifth key component to the execution of your vision. On any given day, the
people you surround yourself with can be your greatest assets or your biggest
liabilities. First,
you need to stop thinking in terms of employees and begin thinking of teams. You
are building a team, aren't you? Not just employees who report to you or
volunteers who shuffle papers, but a team of passionate workers who have a common
goal: to see the vision become reality. The
primary quality of any successful team is commitment to a common goal. Without
this commitment, each person simply performs as an individual. But when individuals
share a common commitment to the same goal, the team develops synergy — becoming
much stronger than the sum of its parts. As Joe Paterno, Penn State's legendary
football coach, would say, "When a team outgrows individual performance and
learns team confidence, excellence becomes a reality."1 PYRAMID
OR FLAT LINE? The
typical organizational chart — be it of a for-profit organization, nonprofit
corporation, school, or church — is shaped more or less like a pyramid. The
CEO/president/pastor sits at the top, with descending levels of managers and workers
making up the lower levels. In this model, the person at the top makes a decision,
and the work is carried out by those at various levels below. Ideas generated
by someone at the very bottom of the pyramid rarely are heard by those at the
top, no matter how good the idea is. Teamwork
is more like a flat line. There is still a leader — the person with the vision
— but the entire team is empowered to help execute the vision. In the typical
structure, each person is individually accountable for his or her tasks. But in
a team structure, each person is accountable to one another. Synergy develops,
allowing the group to accomplish more than the individuals can when operating
independently. In a team, anyone can share an idea-which, in turn, often sparks
additional ideas. The
first step you must take as the visionary is to stop thinking like an old-fashioned
boss. Instead of issuing orders to be carried out by those below you, you need
to coordinate a team of thinking teammates, working together to solve problems
and advance your vision. The team leader is a motivator, continually casting the
vision before those who will help bring it to pass. Some of the ways a team leader
successfully leads the team include: - clearly
articulating the organization's mission;
- clearly
articulating the team's mission as it relates to the overall organization;
- assuring
that communication flows freely in all directions;
- assessing
the strengths and weaknesses of each team member (the wise leader then uses the
strength of each team member while avoiding assigning him or her tasks that will
play to his or her weaknesses); and
- continually
motivating the team to keep moving toward their goal, especially through the inevitable
tough times.
GOOFUS
OR GALLANT? You
do not have a team if you are still looking over every shoulder, approving every
purchase order, editing every memo, and dissecting every discussion. Team leaders
are not micromanagers — they must learn to let go, even knowing that mistakes
will be made. If your teammates are not given the latitude to make mistakes, they
will never accomplish great things. Remember
the characters Goofus and Gallant, two very opposite boys in the old Highlights
magazines you read at the doctor's office when you were young? Think of Goofus
as a traditional boss and Gallant as an enlightened team leader. - Goofus
tells his employees: "Do this." Gallant says: "Let's work on this
together."
- Goofus
threatens. Gallant encourages.
- Goofus
thinks work should be hard. Gallant thinks work should be fun.
- Goofus
says: "Do it because I'm the boss and I said so." Gallant says: "Perhaps
there is a better way to do this. Do you have any ideas?"
- Goofus
says: "That's not the way we do it here." Gallant says: "I never
would have thought of that. Great) job!"
- Teams
are led by Gallant, not Goofus. So don't be a Goofus.
DO
YOU WANT THREES OR EIGHTS FOLLOWING YOU? One
of the most common complaints we hear from pastors and business leaders is the
inability to hire and retain a great staff. This problem goes far beyond offering
comparable pay and a fun environment to work in. The problem is not with the staff.
The problem is with the leader. Wait!
Don't stop reading yet. Hear us out. Before
you point your finger at "disloyal" staff members, take a good look
in the mirror. On a scale of ten, where do you land as a leader? If you are a
six, be assured that an eight is not going to follow you, at least not for very
long. Threes will follow you, but there is only so much a three can give you.
Before you try to staff your team with eights, nines, and tens, you may have to
work to raise your own level on the scale. Not
everyone wants to be a leader. Many very good and valuable workers simply want
to be team players. But they know what they want in the way of a leader. We spell
it out as ASH. Authenticity A
stands for authentic. Your outside must match your inside. Your walk must line
up with your talk. You can call this authenticity or integrity or transparency.
The deeper we go into the twenty-first century, the more important authenticity
becomes. Cynicism among the "followers" both in the church and corporate
America is at an all-time high. Sex scandals, financial improprieties, ethical
illusions, and misuse of power — to name a few — have given leaders
a bad name inside and outside the church. One
of the biggest enemies of authenticity is arrogance — the attitude that you
have arrived. None of us knows everything. We all can still learn from others.
When you stop learning, you stop becoming a leader that the best people want to
follow. In order to become and then remain authentic toward those you work with,
as a leader you'll need three people in your life: - a
coach to tell you what you are supposed to be doing
-
a counselor with whom you can discuss your feelings
- a
choreographer who can show you how what you are doing is being perceived by your
stakeholders
Self-Awareness S
stands for self-awareness. You need to have a clear understanding of what makes
you the person you are. This is "standing naked in front of the mirror"
time. What are your strengths? (We all like this part.) What are your weak areas?
(We like to skip this part.) Then develop a plan that helps you relate to your
teammates in light of your strengths and weaknesses. This
is a difficult, but necessary, assessment. None of us likes to have our weaknesses
exposed. My (Kirbyjon) wife had one of "those" talks with me several
years ago. Usually she calls me "honey" or "baby." This time
she called me "Kirbyjon." She
said, "Kirbyjon, you are a workaholic." Now, I didn't take that well
at all. Me? A workaholic? There
was a reason my wife's comment stuck on me. It's the same reason a coat sticks
on a hook that protrudes from the wall. If there is no hook, and you throw your
coat against the wall, it falls freely to the floor. But if there's a hook sticking
out from the wall and your coat hits that wall, it will hang there. When someone
close to you — maybe even yourself — reveals a flaw or weakness in you,
and it sticks, be assured there is a hook. Find
a way to address the weakness in order to be a stronger leader. Humility H
is for humility. When your authenticity and self-awareness are out of alignment,
you can't walk in humility. Humility is seeing yourself as you truly are-not more,
not less. It is the realization that there is a God, and you are not Him. If
you don't walk humbly before your teammates, the best ones will leave you. The
worst ones will follow you. And the rest will simply play the system as a way
to draw a paycheck. That's not a team, it's just a way for unmotivated people
to spend their working hours. No
one person has it all. Some of us are visionaries. Others are strategists. It
is vital that visionaries surround themselves with those who can implement the
vision. (For a detailed discussion of building your dream team, see chapter 20.) Remember,
without the best people around you, your vision will remain simply an unfulfilled
dream. If you want your vision to become reality, surround yourself with the best. ___________________ Excerpted
from Entreprenurial Faith by Kirbyjon Caldwell and Walt Kallestad with
Paul Sorensen, ©2004. Reprinted with permission from WaterBrook Press, Colorado
Springs, CO. Click
here to learn more about this and other resourses. ___________________ 1.
Arthur Pell, The Complete Idiot's GUide to Team Building (Indianapolis,
IN: Alpha, 1999). _______________ Kirbyjon
Caldwell is pastor of Windsor United Methodist Church in Houston, TX. Walt
Kallestad is senior pastor of Community Church of Joy in suburband Phoenix, AZ. | 