TEAMWORK
I remember him well—my high school baseball coach, Robert Turnberger. He paid money to a sports reporter to spell his name correctly. In 1962, our team won the South Jersey Region 2 title under Coach T’s leadership. The school board nixed our going to state for some unknown reason. We knew we were the best and wanted to prove it
The ‘Hounds weren’t a mass collection of superstar athletes. The only “star” on the team was the team. Coach took what he had and built us into a winning unit. Everything we did we did as a team. We played as a team on the field and teamed together off the field.
We were a team and we were successful.
When servant leadership becomes your life, you discover leadership is a team effort, not a one-man show. No one person is as strong or as smart as all of us together. SERVANT LEADERS COMMIT THEMSELVES TO BUILDING AN EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP TEAM WITH A SHARED VISION, PURPOSE, AND METHODS.
Vision may be initiated by an individual (a pastor, coach, president, supervisor, manager) but vision is best fulfilled by a team which shares the vision. A leader’s vision is only as good as the team that fulfills it. Coach T shared a clear and compelling vision for us to be the best team in South Jersey in 1962 and we were. All of us bought into his vision and fulfilled it
God believes in teamwork.
The Trinity is a team: Father, Son, Holy Spirit
Exodus 18: Moses’ division of labor
The 12 Apostles
The Missionary Teams of Paul and Barnabas, Paul and Silas, Barnabas and John Mark.
Paul established leadership teams of elders and deacons after he planted churches.
How wise are Solomon’s words to servant leaders: “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up.” Ecclesiastes 4: 9, 10.
SERVANT LEADERS DO ONLY WHAT THEY CAN DO AND THEY SERVE OTHERS TO HELP THEM DO WHAT ONLY THEY CAN DO.
Peter Drucker wrote:
“Effective leaders never say ‘I.’ They don’t think ‘I’. They think ‘we’; they think ‘team.’ They understand their job is to make the team function. They accept the responsibility and don’t sidestep it, but ‘we’ gets the credit.”
Coach T. would agree. So would the ‘Hounds. Do You?
Fred Campbell lives in Ovilla, Texas, just south of Dallas. He pastored two independent Bible churches for 40 years. Currently, he is the president of Living Grace Ministries, a ministry committed to helping churches develop servant leaders, following the model of the Lord Jesus. Fred has traveled to 29 countries and 15 states to lead the workshop. He received his ThM from Dallas Theological Seminary and his D Min from Phoenix Seminary. Fred is married to Carolyn and has a married son and two grandchildren. His web site iswww.livinggraceministries,com and his email is fred@livingraceministries.com
