Larry Osborne is a pastor of a thriving church in California who has written a number of books about leadership. The one I read most recently was Sticky Teams. The sub-title says it all “Keeping Your Leadership Team and Staff on the Same Page. Whether you’re a church leader or a business leader, the principles Osborne presents are worth reading, remembering and implementing. Having served as a leader in churches for more than three decades, I found myself nodding my head with most of what I read, either because I had done what Osborne suggested to my benefit, or had not done it to not only my detriment, but the detriment of the teams on which I served.
The overall premise of Osborne’s book is that the one thing we cannot leave to chance in leading a team is “the unity factor.” Osborne recognized from early challenges as a leader that when everyone is not on the same page it’s incredibly challenge to get anywhere. If we’re leaders then by definition our task is to move people forward, but if those we’re called or paid to lead don’t buy into the direction, or don’t believe we have their best interests at heart, or believe what the team is doing is meaningful, there’s not much chance of success. Even when all those things are in alignment, we still aren’t guaranteed we’ll have unity, because many times the policies, processes and procedures we’ve inherited or developed get in the way.
The book is packed with helpful information about how to get people in unity, and how to overcome the come roadblocks to unity and teamwork. Yet, the most helpful aspect of the book for me was the sports analogy Osborne used to demonstrate the difference in staffing as an organization grows. While he was talking primarily about leading churches, the concept has application in business as well from what I’ve experienced over the years. Osborne points out that when a church first starts out, or has a small number of participants, the leader/pastor is like a “track star.” The track star has a great deal of independence, and his or her effort has a great deal to do with the outcome.
When the track star succeeds in moving the organization forward to the point that it needs additional paid leadership, it morphs into a new type of organization, one where “golfing buddies,” are the new model. Golfing buddies play the sport together. The spend time in the talking together in their golf cart or as they walk from shot to shot. After the game, they often go to the course bar or restaurant for more time together. It’s a matter of “playing the game you like best with the people you like best.” When a couple of leaders join their love of each other with skills and commitment to their cause, the work is fun and the organization moves forward.
The next stage is when the church/organization becomes mid-sized and needs additional staff. The model moves to basketball at this point. Every basketball team needs a couple of star players, and some role players. Each must know his or her role and play it effectively for the team to succeed. When things aren’t going well the coach calls a time-out and all the players look at him and each other, and make adjustments. No longer does every teammate need to be a “best buddy,” but esprit de corps is needed for continued success. The team realizes that when everyone plays their role, everyone wins. The challenge is if two or three of the “players” have moved to this level from being at the golfing buddy stage, some of the fun and intimacy is lost, and a bit of specialization starts to take place.
Finally, when the organization grows to being large, in the church world somewhere between 500-800 participants, the “team” needs to become a football team. More and more specialization is needed and now everyone may not know what everyone is doing. In fact, in order for the team to win, the “defense” needs to be huddling up with their coach when the offense is on the field. The quarterback doesn’t mind that the defense isn’t watching him play. He just wants the defense to stop the other team’s quarterback.
As I read these analogies, I realized how true they are. Having moved through each of these stages over the sixteen years since we planted New Life, I see why we’ve hit some of the bumps we’ve hit, and how we can move effectively to becoming a very large church, even though we’re located in a rural area. We need to play football instead of basketball. We need to understand that everyone in leadership doesn’t need to know everything that everyone else is doing, but each of us must have the same goal, and understand what our role is in order for the team to win.
Whether you’ve ever been an athlete, I hope the analogy helps you see where you are as a leader right now, and where you need to move in order to become more effective and move your team forward. It’s so important not to play golf, if you’ve become a basketball team, or basketball if you’re becoming a football team. Where are you in your leadership right now, and what do you need to do to take the next step toward being what your are and becoming what lies ahead? That’s a vital question, and one I’ve been investing time answering over the past couple days since completing Sticky Teams. It’s a book well worth the investment for you, if you’re looking for how to lead more effectively in a team environment.
Here’s to leading better by investing time and energy in making your team better–today!