9 KEYS TO BUILDING GREAT TEAMS

There are so many articles on team building and there’s so much we could say about building great teams. But here are just a few thoughts of mine, when it comes to creating and growing teams, to build the church.

Culture Four Times More Than Vision.

I tell our key team that we need to speak about culture four times more than vision because anyone can have a vision, but not everyone has the culture to reach that end. The culture is the type of person, team or church we are, and whether that culture will reach the vision. We need to spend more time forming who we are. Should we cast vision? Yes! All the time!! Casting vision is a key ingredient in creating culture, because we conform to the image that is before us. But vision alone will only be a frustration to your team if you are not shaping the culture and exampling the kind of culture, along with modelling the kind of person, that will reach that vision. And remember, culture is caught more than taught, so we must constantly example it more than we speak about it.

Celebrate and Release the Unique Grace on Each Person’s Life.

Our job as leaders is to release the unique grace and calling on each person. Each person that walks through the doors of our churches has something that God has given them, which no one else can bring. Our church looks different the moment that a new person steps through the doors or joins the team. My job as the leader is to dig up that grace—sometimes its obvious, other times it isn’t—but regardless, a leader’s job is to bring that to the surface and release it for the benefit of their life and the Kingdom.

Value the Humans Around You More than You Did Yesterday.

So often we don’t see the creative genius around us because we have over-defined our vision or our direction, when the way to that vision may in fact be slightly different and better, because God has brought along a person who has the answer locked up in them. Faith in others is the key to unlocking the call upon their life. Also, as teams spend time together we can take them for granted, but this is dangerous. There is probably more in your current team than you realize, it’s just that they have only risen to the level that we currently value them.

Consistent Team Gatherings.

The first Wednesday of every month is our Team and Leadership night, and this never changes over the course of the whole year. Every month we prioritize the worship of Jesus together, along with the investment, empowerment, and uniting of our hearts for the vision of Jesus Christ. Many churches obviously do this but the key for us has been planning the whole year out in advance, and setting Team Night at the same time and night every month—this makes Team Night a fixed thing in our calendar. It has never been easy with venues in NYC but God always comes through and it has created such momentum in our church.

Sow Instead of Stress.

Leading and building teams is such a privilege, but it can be stressful. It’s easy to form habits of worry and anxiety about team when we get disappointed or let down. But like a good farmer, instead of stressing about the lack of harvest, we need to get out into the field again and get our hands dirty ,doing the work of sowing into people’s lives. If we sow the right things, we will get the right outcomes. If we have fallen into the trap of stressing more than sowing when issues arise, then we need to begin to reverse this personal culture by bringing encouragement and life back into our conversations with our team. Let’s not underestimate the seeds in our hands. Sow the gospel into the middle of every issue and watch Christ’s Kingdom emerge out of every problem we face.

Blank Canvas.

Be clear on the role you are giving someone. Don’t over-define for them how to achieve the result; leave room for the genius of the person to rise. Give them all the tools they need to succeed. Sometimes we can paint the picture for people and then say "copy this”. But this instantly limits the potential of what the team could achieve for the Kingdom. Create blank spaces of potential and opportunity.

Vulnerable but Secure.

Leadership is not about hiding our weakness but rather being secure even though we have weaknesses. Being vulnerable doesn’t mean sharing all our struggles but it does mean staying human. Teams that have a leader they can relate to will be healthier every day of the week. But we should never mix up vulnerability for insecurity. If left unchecked, insecure leaders will, in the end, implode their own vision all by themselves. In Christ we are and can be truly secure in our leadership.

As We Grow We Need to Be More Organized, not Less.

With a bit of success can come a level of laziness but we must fight this urge, because the larger the team we have, the more clarity and organization will be needed. Organization doesn’t mean putting more things on people’s schedules, although that does happen as the church grows; but it actually means protecting and serving your team so they stay healthy and sustainable over long periods of time. The more organized we are as leaders in planning things out for the team, the more they can plan and be prepared. This also builds trust and confidence as well in our team, and it examples the culture that we would desire from them when it comes to being on team.

More Fathering and Mothering, less CEO-ing.

The team’s job is to create family. Church does have organizational elements to it but it isn’t meant to be an organization, it is meant to be a family. So the team’s goal is to build the family of God, the church. Therefore the team must be a family! We have many CEOs but not many fathers. While it’s good to be a driven leader, I know my role is to father people and help create an atmosphere and culture of family. People that want a large and growing church get scared of that word “family” because it sounds small. But God’s idea of family is massive—just ask Abraham. If we example fathering to the team, the team will create family. A welcoming, loving, embracing, authentic, healthy, growing, alive, powerful family of God, called the church, will influence our neighborhoods, towns, cities, regions, countries and world for the glory of our Heavenly Father.

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Josh Kelsey

Lead Pastor C3 Brooklyn

Josh & Georgie Kelsey pastor C3 Brooklyn – a local church for the people of NYC, pioneered in 2013. What began as a humble dream and prayer has grown to now include hundreds of people gathering every Sunday to worship in three locations, Williamsburg, Downtown Manhattan and Bushwick, as well as meeting weekly for dinner parties across Brooklyn, Manhattan, Bronx and Queens. Through their compelling ministry and creativity, achieved through a predominately volunteer team, C3 Brooklyn is helping people all across NYC discover Jesus. We asked Josh for his tips on gathering team to reach this generation. Josh will be sharing more together with Lead Pastor of C3 Toronto Sam Picken at their Presence Masterclass ‘Contemporary Church: Building momentum and lessons from church planting’.

@jkelsey

www.c3brooklyn.com