How to Build the Optimal Team, Jesus-Style
You’ve heard it said that teamwork makes the dream work. High-performing teams are an incredible asset to any organization, but sometimes, developing those teams can be a challenge.
Over the years of leading various teams, I’ve concluded that a servant leader should have no more than nine to twelve direct reports. I think nine to ten is optimal, and beyond that you start getting stretched thin and can’t develop the close relationships you need to be an effective servant leader.
When a team is too large, it becomes really difficult to build personal relationships, while a team that is too small can experience awkward dynamics and skills gaps. Even Jesus, who is God, only chose twelve disciples to lead, teach, and pour into (His team, if you will). I believe we should follow Jesus’ model in building and developing our teams, be it in business or ministry. Let’s look at a few of the principles He modeled for us.
Jesus prayed to God the Father before He chose His team.
Jesus knew the importance of building a strong team, made up of varying backgrounds, abilities and even personalities. He thought about and prayed to God the Father about each of the twelve people, seeking God’s will, before He put them on His team. We should do the same. Leaders should pray for discernment in finding the right people, with the right skills and experiences, for the right time.
“One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also designated apostles” (Luke 6:12-13).
Jesus had a purpose for each Apostle He picked for His team. Peter would be the rock on which the Church would be built (Matthew 16:18). Jesus even had a reason to pick Judas, who would later betray Jesus, which was all part of God’s plan for our salvation. The “perfect” team will not necessarily be made up of obvious choices and best resumes. Jesus picked a diverse team of very common and untrained people. The Apostle named Simon the Zealot was an anti-Roman revolutionary who (along with the other Jewish Apostles who hated Rome and its taxes and oppression of the Jews) would have initially thought ill of the Apostle Matthew, who was a tax collector aligned with Rome before following Jesus. Ask God to lead you in building your team with the right people with the skills and experiences that will bring different perspectives to every challenge facing the team. There will be varying levels of success, and even some disappointments from time to time, however, in every case, it will foster learning and growth opportunities for the team, if you each have deep respect and trust for one another.
Jesus was intentional about mentoring and encouraging His team.
Jesus made sure the Apostles knew His business. He communicated to them the things they needed to know and demonstrated trust in them. Jesus told His disciples, “The knowledge of the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven has been given to you, but not to them” (Matthew 13:11).
Jesus wanted people on His team who would follow Him so He could teach them and model for them how He wanted them to live and operate, and then He sent them out to lead others in the same way. He also made it clear that they were set apart. “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know His master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything I learned from My Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15).
Jesus spent quality time with His team and poured Himself into them. He was their teacher, but they also got to observe Him every day in various circumstances. He taught with both words and actions. Jesus had a personal relationship with each of them that included knowledge of their family situations, their strengths and insecurities. He developed a sense of what they needed for their spiritual and personal growth, and provided the support and encouragement for their growth.
Jesus gave stretch goals and assignments.
Stretch goals and assignments can grow a person’s skills, confidence and often their perseverance as well, because they may at first appear to be beyond reach or their capability. For me, stretch goals and assignments force me to rely on God — which is the best thing I could ever do. And with God, nothing is impossible.
Remember when Jesus commanded Peter to fulfill a seemingly impossible task to walk on water? Or how about the seemingly impossible mission that we call the Great Commission? Or the calling to live by the Godly standards of the Sermon on the Mount?
To translate this to everyday terms, we should assign tasks and roles that allow team members to grow and take on additional responsibilities. This can motivate them because it shows that you feel they’re valuable and competent, and ready for more responsibility. They might be intimidated at first, but with your support and encouragement, stretch goals and assignments can yield remarkable results. It is up to you as their leader to be there for them to encourage them and keep them from failing.
Jesus gave His team both a shared mission and a common goal.
The overall commonality of any team’s vision, mission and goal is what keeps an organization heading in the right direction together. The disciples’ shared mission was the Great Commission. Their common goal was to be witnesses empowered by the Holy Spirit. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
The Great Commission is more than just witnessing to the lost and making disciples—as important as those things are. The Apostles were also concerned with the endgame – changing people’s eternity.
In building His team of twelve Apostles, Jesus made working together to build the Kingdom of God an essential part of the Christian faith, and a critical responsibility of all Christians. He modeled servant leadership for us, from how He chose to build His team to how committed He was to them, how He cared about them and how He trained developed and commissioned His team to proceed with His mission of building the Church after He ascended to the right hand of the Father. We can learn from His example as we go about the business of building our own productive and successful teams, be they in business, ministry, sports, or in our personal lives.
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