5 Ways To Build A Healthy Team

Guest post by Keith Cote of Lead222 | Wheaton, Illinois

Do you have enough leaders to accomplish what you are trying to do? Do you have too many small group leaders? Do you have to turn away leaders because you have nothing for them to do?

This article originally appeared in the Strategic Ministry-themed YLO97

Your team could probably use more leaders in key positions so you can reach more and lead more. This is illustrated in Scripture when Jesus said, “the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” (Matthew 9:37-38) You may experience this problem as you look at your teams and ministries. You can see the potential, but there is not enough time or people to reach a place of unlimited impact!

Recruiting enough leaders — and more importantly, the right leaders — may seem daunting, but it is possible. Here are a few things to consider when you start to think about finding more leaders:

1. Pray. Ask God for His wisdom and guidance. When Jesus addressed this problem in Matthew, His first piece of advice was to pray: “Ask The Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.”

2. Prepare. Be ready for leaders when they say yes! Don’t be like the guy who prayed for rain but never brought his umbrella with him. Have a plan in place for plugging new leaders into your ministry.

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3. Promote. Share the need and the vision, challenge people to take the steps needed to be part of the team.

4. Pursue. Recruit in places you have not tried before: go to parents, university students, and empty nesters. If you only pursue people in one place, you will only get people from that place.

5. Provide. A healthy and impactful environment will be your most effective tool for recruiting. Create a team that people hear about and want to be apart of. Maintain that environment through your leadership. A great place to start building into your team is by asking yourself and those on your team these questions:

• How am I wired? Ministry isn’t a solo act. Figure out your gifts, passions, and personal style. This will allow you to be an effective member of a team working toward the same goal.
• What is my role? Clearly understand what success means for your role on the team. This helps you to understand how you fit into the bigger mission of the ministry and church.
• Does it fit? You need to ask this question of every new opportunity that comes your way. Determine if the role fits your schedule and season of life. Be honest with yourself and make sure you do not try to push through a role in ministry that is too large for you to handle.
• Am I supplied for success? Do you have the information, training, and care to flourish in the role you’re being asked to fill? If you aren’t properly supplied, your potential for Kingdom impact can be limited.
• Does this matter? Ministry is hard; when those moments come—and they will—when you ask yourself this question, the answer has to be more than “yes.” When asking “Does this matter?”, we need to see the faces and remember the stories of life change. That is what makes the effort worthwhile: lives changed!

If you pay attention to these areas, you will be on your way to having enough workers for the harvest. You will have plenty of healthy and effective leaders, gifted in the right areas, and positioned in the right places for the right reasons to help your ministry and church have unlimited impact.

Each edition of YLO includes articles to encourage you in your student ministry