Five Commitments of Great Teams
by Tom Goodman
December 9, 2010

In Gene Wilkes' book, Paul on Leadership (pp. 115-116), he describes the five factors that must be in place for ministry leaders to work well together.  The list of factors is an expansion of Patrick Lencioni's The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.  Wilkes said, "It has proven to be a valuable resource to help expose those unseen aspects of human behavior that prevent teams from functioning well."

Looking at these dysfunctions in unhealthy team relationships can provoke us to make the following commitments.  Each one serves as a basis for the next.  We have a number of leadership teams at Hillcrest.  Lead your own team through the following commitments:

We will trust one another.  Wilkes says, "I have found this to be a difficult step for some team members to take.  Trusting team members can shed tears together, and they can openly share their unguarded feelings with the group."

We will engage in unfiltered conflict around ideas.  According to Wilkes, "You can get red in the face over an idea if you trust those in the room will still honor you when the debate has ended."

We will commit to decisions and plans of action.  Wilkes: "Truly cohesive teams have fought through decisions, adopted viable plans, and commit to seeing them completed."

We will hold one another accountable for delivering against those plans.

We will focus on the achievement of collective results.  The point here is to keep the team's attention on what they are actually accomplishing.  In the end, sitting around a table making decisions is worthless if it isn't translated into action and concrete results.

We have many great leadership teams at Hillcrest.  You and your teams are the reason our church is both stable and progressing!  Keep up the great work!

--Tom

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