5 Pillars Of A High-Performing Team

Earlier this week I had the privilege of attending the Courageous Pastors Conference.  This event was put on by Shawn Lovejoy and the teams at Courage To Lead and CourageousPastors.com.  They believe leaders need a real person with whom they can process complicated, real-time decisions.  Someone who’s been there.  Someone that’s willing to listen to the complicating variables and help them make good decisions.

Let me just say, a lot leaders were better equipped to make good decisions after this event.

One of the most impactful sessions I attended was Shawn’s breakout on the 5 Pillars of a Killer Team.  Much of this content is from his upcoming new book Building A Killer Team: Without Killing Yourself Or Your Team.  As you can see in the picture provided, the conference’s attendees received an advanced copy.  I highly recommend you preorder multiple copies for you and your staff by clicking HERE.

Shawn’s thoughts were so insightful that I want to share them with you.  There is so much to apply here and learn.

Opening Comments

1. “There’s a thin line between conviction and condemnation.”
2. “You need to be convicted.”
3. “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”
4. “You are not responsible with the team you don’t have. You are responsible for the team you do have.”
5. “You’ve got to have mutual devotion. You should only listen to people who love God, love the vision, and love you.”

5 Pillars Of A Killer Team

1. Fostering Togetherness  
   • “Raising a staff is like raising a family.”
   • “You won’t drift to community. You drift to isolation and silos.”
   • “Meetings is where your staff becomes a team.”
   • “There are 350,000 churches in American. 2/3s have never gotten over 200 people.  The reason is there’s only so much one man can do.”
   • “You don’t presume on growth. You prepare for church growth.”
   • “Church growth is not just the Holy Spirit’s job. He has always used people… He’s just looking for the right churches to trust them with.”
   • “Health proceeds growth.”
   • “Your responsibility right now is to get the team prepared.”
   • “Meetings are the playing field for a killer team.”
2. Recruit and Keep the Best Talent
   • “5-Star Recruits don’t have to promote themselves.”
   • “Your 2 and 3-Star talent will sign up on a volunteer recruitment card.”
   • “You’ve got to find 5-Star talent.”
   • “Successful coaches spend more time recruiting than on the X’s and O’s.”
   • “Objectively assess your talent.”
   • “Elite talent can’t stand being around poor talent.”
   • “Those on staff are paid to be good.  I don’t pay any doers. I pay developers.  The staff is the administers.  The crowd is the lay ministers.”
   • “The staff should not be panicked on Sundays.  This means they are under-prepared.”
3. Bolster Accountability
   • “If you don’t have clarity, you don’t have accountability.”
   • “At the next meeting, you review the decisions.” ***Note*** For more on effective meetings, see the items below.
   • “People self-identify their skills at this point. Pressure crushes rocks and creates diamonds.”
   • “Normalize the last 10% culture. The opposite of conflict is artificial harmony.”
4. Structure for Growth and Peace
   • “Have one-pizza teams. Any more than that and you don’t know the names of their kids.”
   • “You can manage 12-14 people. You can’t care for 12-14 people.”
   • “You should build the team like you’re one day going to leave it.”
   • “You’re best gift is not be available and accessible. It’s to be healthy.”
   • “Everybody should have one boss.”
5. Maintain Rhythms and Finish Lines
   • “41% of the American workforce thought about changing jobs last year. Probably those in your church have thought about changing churches.”
   • “You will be seriously reviewed (as an employee) if you don’t take your vacations and days off.”
   • “If you want your workplace to be a fun place, you (the leader) need to have fun first.”
   • “If you’re not happy now, you won’t be happy when the church is twice this size.”

What To Look For In Leaders and Potential Staff

• Character – Humility, Coachability, Teachability
• Capacity – Can they lead this church from their seat to the next level?
• Chemistry – Vision and relational.  Surround yourself with people who give you energy.
• Calling – Their willingness to pay the price.

Shawn noted that when one of these is really strong, we overlook everything else.  This is a mistake.  As he said, “I’ve never had a leader say that what took us down was someone’s strengths.  It’s always their blind spots.”

How To Have Effective Meetings

Shawn also provided some additional content on having effective meetings.  Check out his content below:

5 Purposes of Meetings

1. Community – The first thing you do in a meeting is relationships. Build margin heading into the meeting.  Have fun.
2. Communication – I want everyone in the meeting to come prepared three “Just so you knows….”
3. Collaboration – Find something that you can get input on from your team.
4. Coaching – Do debriefs. Make coaching normal.
5. Cheering On Each Other – Makes sure you are cheering everyone on. You have permission to coach them when you’ve loved them up.

4 Things You Need To Know In Meetings

1. What was decided?
2. Who is responsible? “We” and “Somebody” don’t have offices.
3. When is it due?
4. When will we talk about it again?

What is one thing you learned from Shawn which will help your team be more effective?

And once again, I can’t recommend enough you pre-order his book Building A Killer Team: Without Killing Yourself Or Your Team by clicking HERE.  This book may transform the way you lead and your team performs.

The Top 75 Leadership Quotes From 2021 Part 2 is my latest ebook.  For many entering a post-pandemic environment, leadership looks completely different than the pre-pandemic world.  People are more broken now. They are more uncertain. Fear and anxiousness are unwelcome constant companions. Cultures are more unhealthy. Relationships are more dysfunctional.  Hope seems to be in short supply.  Every day seems to bring a new hacking, natural disaster, or unexpected calamity.

Therefore, the fundamentals of leadership are more important than ever. The quotes in this book deal with the basics of leadership.  If you want to be the best leader you can possibly be, click HERE or on the image provided to download this FREE resource.  The lessons learned from last year, if applied, will sustain you for years to come.