Teams That Thrive: Five Disciplines of Collaborative Church Leadership
Overview
2015 Readers' Choice Award Winner
Outreach Magazine's Resources of the Year
It's increasingly clear that leadership should be shared—for the good of any organization and for the good of the leader. Many churches have begun to share key leadership duties, but don't know how to take their leadership team to the point where it thrives. Others seriously need a new approach to leadership: pastors are tired, congregations are stuck, and meanwhile the work never lets up.
But what does it actually mean to do leadership well as a team? How can it be done in a way that avoids frustration and burnout? How does team leadership best equip the staff and bless a congregation? What do the top church teams do to actually thrive together?
Researchers and practitioners Ryan Hartwig and Warren Bird have discovered churches of various sizes and traditions throughout the United States who have learned to thrive under healthy team leadership. Using actual church examples, they present their discoveries here, culminating in five disciplines that, if implemented, can enable your team to thrive. The result? A coaching tool for senior leadership teams that enables struggling teams to thrive, and resources teams doing well to do their work even better.
- Provides a tool that will help assess strengths and weaknessess
- Offers good examples to help readers learn the disciplines of thriving teams
- Serves as a strategy for how a group can move forward into the future as a thriving team that advances the mission of Jesus
Part I: Why Read a Book about Leadership Teams?
- Myths We Believe: How Many of These Did You Think Were True?
- Your Vantage Point: How Is Your Church Being Led Right Now?
- Expert commentator: Jim Tomberlin
Part II: Why Do Leadership Teams Make Sense?
- The Bible Speaks: Scriptural Foundations for Senior Leadership Teams
- Expert commentator: Matt Carter
- Passing Fad or Here to Stay: Ten Practical Reasons for Senior Leadership Teams
- Expert commentator: David Fletcher
Part III: How Well Is Your Team Thriving?
- Reality Check: Eight Common Reasons Teams Fail
- Expert commentator: Geoff Surratt
- Our Survey Says: The Collaborative Disciplines of Teams That Thrive
- Expert commentator: Ed Stetzer
Part IV: What Are the Collaborative Disciplines of Teams that Thrive?
- Discipline 1: Focus on Purpose, the Invisible Leader of Your Team
- Expert commentator: Will Mancini
- Discipline 2: Leverage Differences in Team Membership
- Expert commentator: Morgan McKenna
- Discipline 3: Rely on Inspiration More than Control to Lead
- Expert commentator: Crawford Loritts
- Discipline 4: Intentionally Structure Your Decision Making
- Section 1: Collaborating While Seeking God?s Voice
- Expert commentator: Ron Edmondson
- Discipline 4: Intentionally Structure Your Decision Making
- Section 2: Collaborating in the Midst of Conflict
- Expert commentator: Tony Morgan
- Discipline 5: Build a Culture of Continuous Collaboration
- Expert commentator: Jenni Catron
Part V: What?s Your Best Next Step?
- Six Ways to Avoid Sabotaging Your Team
- Expert commentator: Sam Chand
- Catalyze Your Team?s Growth
- Expert commentator: Mark DeYmaz
Top Highlights
“For good or bad, leadership teams shape the culture, direct the mission, establish the vision and model the values of your church.” (Page 33)
“Rely on inspiration more than control to lead. Outstanding teams prioritize leadership through relationship-based inspiration rather than role-based giving of directives.” (Page 86)
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“Third, GCLTs willingly defer to and serve others for the sake of the mission, rather than controlling others for the sake of their mission.” (Page 54) |
“Christianity is unique among major religions in presenting one God who eternally exists and functions as a divine team.” (Page 44)
“The more you can clearly identify who provides actual leadership at your church, the better you can explore” (Page 28)
At Saddleback we've shared leadership from the beginning. While it's not always been easy, it's absolutely been worth it. This insightful book, with its strong research, real-life stories and practical how-tos, makes it easier for you to build a strong, thriving senior leadership team.
--Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church and author of The Purpose Driven Life and The Purpose Driven Church
As someone who is passionate about helping teams become more productive and healthy, I strongly recommend Teams That Thrive. It draws out best practices and principles from hundreds of leadership teams, pulls together top marketplace research and then illustrates them with stories from churches at every level. I encourage you not to simply read it yourself, but to read it and work through it with your team. It will make you better. It will help you thrive.
--Larry Osborne, pastor of North Coast Church and author of Sticky Teams
In Teams That Thrive, Ryan and Warren provide the church with valuable insight from research rooted in biblical principles to create a picture of team leadership that is sound and scriptural. Whether your church is two hundred or two thousand, whether your team is two or twenty-five, this book will be an essential resource.
--Ed Stetzer, LifeWay Research, www.edstetzer.com
- Title: Teams That Thrive: Five Disciplines of Collaborative Church Leadership
- Authors: Warren Bird, Ryan T. Hartwig
- Publisher: IVP
- Print Publication Date: 2015
- Logos Release Date: 2015
- Era: era:contemporary
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
- Subjects: Christian leadership; Religion › Christian Ministry--Pastoral Resources; Teams in the workplace
- ISBNs: 9780830897575, 9780830841196, 0830897577, 0830841199
- Resource ID: LLS:9780830897575
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-03-06T20:51:51Z