In my blog reading I came across this quote:
"First figure out your partners, then figure out what ideas to pursue. The most important thing isn't the market you target, the product you develop or the financing, but the founding team. Starting a company is like scaling an unclimbed face - you don't know what the mountain will throw at you, so you must pick the right partners, who share your values, on whom you can depend, and who can adapt." Jim Collins, author of Good to Great as quoted in Fortune (February 19, 2007)
(The quote came from Tony Morgan who I think is one of the sharpest dudes in creative ministry today.)
"First figure out your partners, then figure out what ideas to pursue. The most important thing isn't the market you target, the product you develop or the financing, but the founding team. Starting a company is like scaling an unclimbed face - you don't know what the mountain will throw at you, so you must pick the right partners, who share your values, on whom you can depend, and who can adapt." Jim Collins, author of Good to Great as quoted in Fortune (February 19, 2007)
(The quote came from Tony Morgan who I think is one of the sharpest dudes in creative ministry today.)
Jim Collins is not a Christian, but what he has to say in his book will bless you, shock you and give you tons of juice for your leadership journey. This quote in particular reminds me of many of the thoughts from Christian leadership guru John Maxwell about partnership and teams.
I am so blessed to have a team that I serve with. They are awesome. They are lay people with huge heart and commitment. Yes, they were hand picked because of their desire to serve God through the local church and for their commitment to this new thing God birthed through our dreaming and asking. These men and women are the team that make things happen and are indespinible to the work of The Community Fellowship. It takes everyone in the church to get the mission accomplshed and to head God's direction. But this team makes that possible for me.
What does God say about team (in a minute we will come back to the quote from Collins)?
Philippians 2:3-4 (nlt) --- Don't be selfish; don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.
1 Peter 4:10 (nlt) --- God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.
1 Corinthians 3:18 (nlt) --- The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work.
Paul often talked about the people who worked with him. He would send them on a special journey to complete a specific task. The disciples were made up of people with varied skills making them a team with huge influence and power. The church MUST learn the same. The business world has learned, and our team is learning as well.
The only problem I have with Collins quote is that we must first have an awesome foundation of relationship with God. That links us together and gives us vision and passion for the journey and direction for what the team needs to accomplish. Here are my thoughts from the quote above for us to think about as I close:
1. Do everything you can to build the team (each person has a part in building team and playing as a team member).
2. Share your values and buy into what your leader or coach sees before you see it.
3. Shore up your commitments to one another on the team and build each other up.
4. Make sure your team mates can depend on you. Always build the team up to others.
Every one of us is part of a team or maybe several teams. We have a huge role to play to make them successful, If we don't do our part, everyone will suffer. I continue to study spiritual gifts for a study we are doing at church. My study supports these thoughts big time and give me great confidence that our team is a gift from God.
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