L301: Lesson 5: Developing a Winning Team

Developing a Winning Team

Key Verse: “Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles.” Luke 6:12-13 (NKJV)

Purpose: The purpose of this lesson is to help the disciple/leader discover the basic principles involved in establishing a “winning team.”

Winning teams have leaders who operate with a TEAM concept.

God never calls one man or woman to do the work all alone.

One individual can never accomplish alone what a dedicated and highly motivated team of individuals can accomplish.

God always gives leaders a vision that is too big to accomplish without the involvement of others.

Winning leaders know that they must build a winning team to fulfill the vision given to them.

A winning team is composed of TEAM PLAYERS.

Team players are those who UNDERSTAND and OPERATE under the team concept.

Team players place the best interests of the team above their own.

Team players willingly submit RIGHTS and PRIVILEGES.

Team players believe that the value of the success of the team is greater than their own.

Team players are not satisfied with their own success until the team has experienced success.

Winning leaders know that “home grown” leaders are usually better team players than “free agents.” [Major League baseball teams draft players from two sources: 1) “farm teams” or Minor Leagues where character and talent can be scouted, developed, and tested and 2) from “free agents” who are independent talents who usually demonstrate more concern for their own success than for the future of the team.]

They know his HEART and he knows theirs.

They are more LOYAL.

They demonstrate a COMMITMENT to the team over their own agenda.

A winning team is composed of people who CARE for each other.

1 Corinthians 12:25 (NKJV) “The members should have the same care for one another.”

Care involves BONDING

No bonding, no building.

People often bond in relationship by spending time together outside the ministry context.

Bond intentionally by building relationships with those you do not know very well.

Care involves SUPPLYING.

Care involves HELPING.

Care involves SACRIFICING.

Care involves CONFRONTING.

Care involves COVERING.

A winning team understands their team PURPOSE.

Team members need to know how they “win.

In sports winning is a matter of scoring. The team with the most points wins. Everything else such as blocking, tackling, punting, passing, running, catching, coaching, etc. are tools to be used to accomplish this purpose.

In ministry our purpose is to do the will of God and to finish His works (John 4:34). Everything else is simply a means to that end.

When a team knows its team purpose, the ATTITUDE of the players about themselves and each other will automatically adjust.

Team members who do not know their team purpose will be ineffective as a team player and weaken the team.

A winning team COMMUNICATES with one another.

The strength of a team is found in their ability to accomplish more by working together than by working alone. To work with others, there must be communication.

The builders of Babel could not finish building because of an inability to communicate.

A lack of communication results in:

DISORGANIZATION.

Working without valuable INFORMATION.

Working AGAINST one another.

Leaving important work UNDONE.

DUPLICATION of work.

Leaders must create a threat-free environment where team members can communicate.

IDEAS

SUGGESTIONS

CRITICISMS

OBSERVATIONS

INFORMATION

PROGRESS

FAILURE

A winning team takes time to HUDDLE.

Regroup

Refocus

Get Direction

Listen

Change

Challenge

Rest

Encourage

A winning team GROWS as a team together.

They develop common shared EXPERIENCES.

They grow through times of INTERACTION.

Ways to grow together as a team:

Let veterans mentor rookies.

Learn from one another.

Train together.

Pray together.

Work on projects and assignments together.

Send delegations to conferences and seminars to learn and then share with the group.

A winning team knows how every member FITS together.

They recognize that everyone on the team is important.

They realize that every person is important but not every person will be treated the same.

Some people by nature of their character, gifts, and position will have more visible and active roles on the team. [Example: The quarterback, running back, or wide receiver on a football team will receive more attention than others on the team.]

Good leaders will use God-gifted people to enhance the performance of the team while not failing to give honor to those who are less visible but nonetheless important.

1 Corinthians 12:23 (NKJV) “And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor.”

They esteem one another as partners.

They recognize one another’s strengths and weaknesses.

They appreciate one another’s unique gifts and qualities.

They respect one another in the Lord.

They complement one another in their contribution.

They work together as a single unit.

They develop a team identity and personality.

A winning team works at maintaining HEALTHY relationships.

The team is only as strong as the WEAKEST relationship.

A healthy team identifies and solves problems in relationships quickly.

A winning team is the result of effective DELEGATION.

No one can do everything. Leaders are limited by TIME, LOCATION, ABILITY, and KNOWLEDGE. Delegation solves this problem.

Coaches understand their most important job is not to play the game, but to recruit, train, and empower their team.

“Delegation is the most important tool leaders have; it increases their individual productivity as well as the productivity of their department or organization. . .The other benefit of delegation is that it increases the initiative of the people within the organization because it gives them a chance to grow and accustom themselves to succeeding.” [John Maxwell, Developing the Leaders Around You, (Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, 1995)]

Nine reasons why some leaders fail to delegate [John Maxwell, Developing the leaders around you, (Thomas Nelson Publishing, Nashville, 1995)]

INSECURITY: The fear that others will think that delegating will mean shirking responsibility.

Lack of CONFIDENCE in others.

Lack of ability to TRAIN others.

Personal ENJOYMENT of the task.

HABIT.

Inability to FIND someone else to do it.

Reluctance caused by past FAILURES.

Lack of TIME to train someone else.

An “I CAN DO IT BEST” mind-set.

Principles of delegation

Determine your ROLE and RESPONSIBILITY as a leader.

Determine what you can DELEGATE to others.

Determine the QUALIFICATIONS for the job.

Determine the JOB DESCRIPTION. What do you want them to do? Write it down for your sake and theirs. It is unfair to expect others do a job that has not been defined.

Search for the right PERSON.

Pray and allow God to guide you. (Luke 6:12-13)

Prove (test) them first. Credibility, faithfulness, and integrity are the essentials of leadership. Do not give into pressure to delegate prematurely. This saves everyone a load of headaches, frustration, and embarrassment.

Are they committed?

Are they qualified?

Are they willing?

Are they able?

Are they faithful?

Are they teachable?

Are they accountable?

Are they a team player?

TRAIN them for the job.

Give them smaller TIME-LIMITED tasks at the beginning (day, week, month, etc.). This way you can evaluate their performance and still back out or slow down at the end of that time frame if they are not ready. This step alone will save you a lot of headaches and misunderstandings in the delicate proving time involved in delegation.

When they are proven, EMPOWER them to succeed. One of the most frustrating things delegated authorities deal with is to be given a job without the recognition, authority, and resources to carry it out.

Make them ACCOUNTABLE to report results and problems directly to you.

RECOGNIZE and CLARIFY their role before others.

Do not SABOTAGE the principle of delegated authority. Do not let people under them “jump rank” and bring things back to you. Do not re-assume the duties you delegated. Work with the person until they do the job right.

Realize that no matter how hard you try to choose the right people for the job, you will sometimes make a mistake. Keep delegating anyway.

Realize that the people whom you delegate will often make mistakes. Remember the mistakes you made.

A winning team maintains a mastery of the BASICS.

Many successful teams lose their edge when they begin to focus on new things and fail to be proficient at the basics.

Football basics: Blocking, tackling, passing, catching, etc.

Basketball basics: Dribbling, free shots, lay ups, passing, etc.

Christian basics: Prayer, Bible study, witness, discipleship, service, etc.

A winning team is always striving to IMPROVE themselves.

They do not keep their eyes on past VICTORIES but on the possibility of even greater ACCOMPLISHMENTS.

A winning team seeks to raise up the next winning team of TOMORROW.

They keep up a good “bench” of up-and-coming leaders who can:

Ease the load of front-line leaders

Give depth to the team

Replace existing leaders

Give flexibility of skill and talent

Give a break to existing leaders

Build on the team heritage

Add fresh insights for the next generation

A winning team is willing to PAY THE PRICE to win.