What Kind of Team Members Does a Pastor Need?

As a pastor/leader, what kind of people do you surround yourself with? What kind of leadership team is needed to accomplish the Great Commission in a community of faith?

After years of working with successful teams, and teams that failed, let me offer the following suggestions:

1. An Awesome Team Member ALWAYS Tells The Truth. You might consider invoking the following rule; nothing but the raw, honest, painful truth about ANYTHING that is being discussed in a leadership team meeting. As a leader YOU must make sure to do all that you can to create this type of environment. You MUST invite conflict. It does create tension … but this is how the best decisions are made. If the leader shares an idea and it is not good, he needs to know. If a team member is not truthful, he/she should be removed form the team. Life is too short to waste time and effort by being surrounded with people who avoid the truth.
2. An Awesome Team Member ALWAYS Respects Everyone Else On The Team.
   Respect is absolutely necessary. I am convinced that the only reason that I am where I am in life is because of the favor and blessing of God, NEITHER of which I deserve. So, the leader deserves no more respect than any other member of the team. The leader must respect the team, the team must respect the leader, and the team must respect one another. If you have members on your team that you cannot respect for some reason, they should be removed from the team. You must love and listen to every team member. When they speak, you must listen. God has used them to fire you up, inspire you, teach you and humble you. If there is disrespect among the team members, the team will always drift toward dysfunction.
3. An Awesome Staff Member Is Always Loyal. Loyalty is the highest on my list. The team must have one another's back. Now let me be very clear … the team should never conceal any type of sin and disguise it as “being loyal.” That, to me, is overriding a Biblical mandate with a desire for comfort. But, when someone else comes to a team member and tries to talk smack about someone else on the team, it should never be tolerated! That should not be put up with - ever. –we don’t put up with that–EVER. Trust is ESSENTIAL for a team to achieve its maximum potential. You can’t sit around a table with people who you believe are going to go out of the room and bash you to their friends and co-workers. Any team member guilty of being disloyal to the leader or any other member of the team must be removed immediately. Behind closed doors anyone should be free to say anything to anyone … but when the team walks out of that room, they must do so with one vision …and do not allow people to take your eyes off of it.
4. An Awesome Team Member Never Seeks To Do The Minimum. If you have someone on your team who is constantly trying to get out of work (or who wants a divine marching band to play for him/her every time they seemingly go above and beyond) – WATCH OUT! Every team member must have a divine Call and a passion for that calling. When a project comes along, and gets assigned to someone on the team, it cannot be half-way done. God expects and deserves no less than our very best. Good team members make things happen. They are part of the solution, not part of the problem. Take time to make sure that God’s work is done with EXCELLENCE. Jesus Christ did not change the world with half-hearted, lazy, self seeking people whose biggest desire was to play solitaire on their computer! He turned the world upside down with men and women who were willing to go wherever and do whatever He asked of them … and He’s still seeking the same type of people today.