Team Leadership

Introduction

We are often tempted to make leadership all about a single person and them make the mistake of elevating that leader on a pedestal with unrealistic expectations. Now, while we do need to admit that the success of most organizations does depend on quality of its leadership, that does not tell us the whole story. Organizations, churches, and movements throughout history owe much to leadership but also only succeed when teams work together in harmony. Behind every innovation, every breakthrough, every transformation is not just a solitary leader, but a collective of contributing individuals.

The Leadership Climate is Changing

Moving forward, organization hierarchy is growing increasingly unpopular. As a leader, you need to understand that equality and an opportunity to contribute are core values of Generation Z. People want to be involved in every level of leadership, not just the bottom. What may have worked for ministry and leadership in the 50's simply isn't going to work today. Look for ways to flatten organizational structures and welcome young people to build something for themselves.

Interdependence is not always bad thing. While our society often celebrates independence and autonomy, we all need to rely on one another sometimes. Our organizations and churches are the same way. Everything we build is going to be accomplished by teams, not by people working silo-ed by themselves. Single, authoritative leaders that control everything will slowly start to be replaced by networks and teams working interdependently.

What Is More Important?

At your next team meeting, ask what is most important to your organization: leaders or teams. Notice what trends come up. Are different areas of your organization thinking differently about things? What might you need to work on? Anything you may need to re-frame or redefine.

Consider conducting a sort of "interdependence audit" both in your professional life and in your personal life. Ask "How dependent have I been on others?" When you start to assess your accomplishments throughout life, you will start to see the army of other people that helped you get to where you are at. When we look honestly at ourselves, we tend to notice that we are rarely successful by ourselves, but only truly succeed when we rely on the help of others.

Recommended Resources:

The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle