Team Leadership
Pastors function as leaders in many ways - casting vision, making tough decisions, and inspiring the masses to greater things. One area that I see pastors struggle is in the ability to lead teams.
Leading teams is a skill that is built over time. It involves abilities that go beyond motivating.
It requires a combination of humility and ego strength.
Humility because no team ever always agrees. There will be times that the “wisdom of the crowd” is better than the wisdom of the single leader. It takes the ability to put your personal pride aside to acknowledge that your idea was bettered by another person. That humility is what wins over a staff team.
Your ego strength is tested when you have to go against your team, and for reasons that you may not be at liberty to explain. Every logical conclusion may point against you - but you know what you must do. This will make you look foolish to those around you, and it may be that the full picture is never disclosed. You have to be able to stand strong even when your team thinks you are making the wrong call.
I have seen many pastors take the exact opposite approach to leading their teams over the years. They make the popular decisions to make others happy, even when they know it is not in the best interest of the church.
Even more often, I see pastors who are threatened by others and refuse to listen or change their minds.
Team leadership is vital to having an effective church. What are you doing to build your abilities to lead your team?
