You Can’t Do It by Yourself
by Ircel Harrison
One of the most hopeful signs I have seen during the past 14 months of pandemic has been the way that teams—church staff teams, denominational teams, leadership teams—have stepped up to address the challenges. Although much of what they attempted was not in their job descriptions, they found ways to adapt, learn, and create.
I was reminded of the quote by Edwin Catmull of Pixar in Creativity, Inc.: “If you give a good idea to a mediocre team, they will screw it up. If you give a mediocre idea to a brilliant team, they will either fix it or throw it away and come up with something better.” Good teams have taken lemons and made lemonade from them.
As we lead our organizations in the coming days, we will be even more dependent on team members who will dig deep and try things they have never done before. This will be threatening to some and will require leaders who can encourage, empower, and coach team members.
In Are You Ready?—Leading in a World of Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity, I point out that this is a great opportunity for leaders to call out the best in their teams. What can a leader do?
Lead with humanity and empathy.
The key word I am hearing both from business and spiritual leaders is connection. Recognize the needs of your team and invest time with them, listening and asking questions. This communicates your trust in them and helps to call forth their strengths.
Reinforce your organization’s narrative.
The COVID-19 crisis has helped us to remember an important aspect of our mission: the church is the people not the building. This is an insight that reminds us that we are the people of God regardless of when, where, and how we meet. This is a valuable part of our narrative. Help your team understand their key role in living this out. We can survive without buildings, but we can both survive and prosper with committed people including staff leaders.
Inspire others to grow from this experience.
A crisis is an opportunity to learn new skills, to take risks, to emerge stronger on the other side. In so doing, we can learn from one another. We are on a journey that stretches us, and we are doing it together. Help your team to have a learning mindset.
At the heart of a successful change are two things: spiritual and relational vitality. Just as Jesus explained in Matthew 22:36-40, we are to love God and love our neighbor--vertical and horizontal relationships. Both are needed during this time of change. Failure to nurture both can lead us down the wrong path. Let’s invest in each other.