Recruit the Team

At the last Protege Huddle of the 2009-2010 class, I shared some final thoughts on leadership. One thing I encouraged: when embarking on a new adventure, always ask yourself who else needs to be on the boat.

Yesterday, I blogged that leadership can be lonely. There are seasons, situations, and decisions that feel very isolated. But in general, it's best to lead in teams.

It’s always more fun with others. Whether I am traveling, ministering, strategizing, developing curriculum—whatever-- I ask myself who else needs to be a part of the process. If you are going on a hospital visit, take someone with you. If you are preparing for a small group lesson, have someone help. If you are developing new ministry opportunities, do it in a team.

Here are some of the questions I ask when determining who else needs to be a part of the process:

• Who can bring something to the process?-- A skill, a sense of discernment, maturity, experience, momentum?

• Who can learn something from the process?-- Maybe there is someone who cannot necessarily contribute much, but being a part of the process would be a discipleship experience for them. And I'm often surprised that these people have the potential to contribute more than I would have dreamed.

• Who can bring someone else into the process?-- Who can bring others in? This is helpful when you are developing new strategies or programs with a vision to "sell." Who are the influencers that can own and cast vision and bring others on board?