Larry Kreider and Merle Shenk on Teamwork: Three Roles of a Team

Larry Kreider and Merle Shenk discuss the three key roles essential for a successful team. Drawing from their own experiences, they share valuable steps for identifying team roles and honoring each member. Tune in for practical insights and spiritual principles to help you grow as a leader.

Roles of a leadership team:

1. There is always a primary leader
2. There are the supportive team leaders
3. There are the team players
4. Sometimes there is also a fourth role: that of an external advisor who is brought in for a specific purpose to speak into the team.

Highlights:

• As a supportive leader, ensure you’re genuinely backing your team leader and honoring their role.
• As a team player, recognize that your role is vital in supporting both fellow leaders and the primary leader. To do these roles well, it’s essential to honor and respect those we serve.
• If you are the primary leader, value the team members God has given you and find those external advisors who can be trusted to give insights that you need as you lead the team.
• Each role needs to be honored and blessed.
• Recognize that your role changes in different environments and with different teams. Understanding this will help you serve and honor the leaders there.
• As a primary leader, you will often find that the team will help with the timing of when to work out new vision and ideas.
• Your team needs to know that they are valued. And we value those who are different to our own perspective. Even though you can’t take all of the input people say or contribute, often there is something you can take away—a piece that was really needed—that can contribute to the whole.
• Build security and value in your teams by communicating how everyone’s contribution is valued. As you build together as a team, you’ll see that God has given each person some part to make it work.
• Acts 15
• Each of us needs to find our security in Christ and not in what we do, how successful we are, or from the roles we serve on a team. Our security and identity are from Christ.

Related Resources:

• Straight Talk to Leaders by Larry Kreider, Lester Zimmerman, Sam Smucker, and Barry Wissler
• The Biblical Role of Elders for Today’s Church by Larry Kreider, Ron Myer, Steve Prokopchak, Brian Sauder

For more information about Larry Kreider, his books, daily devotionals, small group resources, or other teachings, visit larrykreider.com.