Teams are the most valuable resource that is ever entrusted to you. I have been blessed to work with some amazing teams in my life, and likewise on some teams that just didn?t quite have what it took to find success.
As a leader, we all find ourselves in different seasons. When I moved to Cross Point about six years ago, the team that was in place was one part-time and three full-time employees. They were super close and had great chemistry. When I left a few weeks ago, we had grown our little family from three and half to 24! Starting at Real Life in Orlando, I join a team that is over twenty people. Both opportunities are exciting, but very different.
Regardless of whether you have a team of 50 or 1 volunteer, there are a few things that remain the same. These first three steps will get you on the right path to growing your creative team.
Get Vision
As a leader, our first responsibility is to cast vision for where our team is going. Then we have to develop talent to get there. If you don?t have a vision for your ministry, that should be the first thing you do. Start praying and seeking God on what your team should accomplish.[quote]As a leader, our first responsibility is to cast vision for where our team is going.[/quote]
Assess What You Have
Once your vision is clear, you should then assess your talent. What do you have? Do you have the pieces necessary to get where God has called you to go? This is painful, because a lot of times ? actually, most of the time ? we identify that we don?t necessarily have everything we need to reach our vision.
One of the questions I hear young leaders ask is: ?Who should I add to my team first? A designer, a video person, a project manager?? The truth is, you should add to the area that is holding you back and keeping you from accomplishing the next step toward your vision. How each team is built is different in function, but the successful ones are the teams that, when given opportunity, lean in and shore up the areas where they are most weak.
Protect the Individuals
The biggest thing as a leader who is building a team is to remember that each artist is unique. You can treat them all fairly, but you will not be able to treat them all the same. The greatest teams I have been privileged to serve with become a family, not a team. Family is built intentionally. It is built by caring about the artist, protecting them, and giving them a safe place to create. Then it takes time invested in each individual. Just like any relationship that matters to you, you should find out how to communicate well with each person on your team, whether volunteer or full-time paid employee. Great teams are built over time with love, grace, time and intentionality. They can?t be microwaved.[quote]You can treat all artists?all fairly, but you will not be able to treat them all the same.[/quote]
As a leader, you have to care as much about the person as you do about the art they are creating or the job function that they are facilitating. People matter and they are the difference. When we work with creative stuff, we have a responsibility to make sure we take care of people so that the art can flow. Build a great team; build it with care and intention. Build it with people you want to be with, that have talent, and who can rally around a shared vision. Then sit back and enjoy the depth of family that makes remarkable teams special!
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