“The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime.”  ~ Babe Ruth

God created you to do great things for His Kingdom, but designed you in such a way that you can’t do them alone.  One is too small a number to do anything great…by God’s design.  No one has ever achieved anything great without the help and encouragement of others.  To be at our best, we need other people with complimentary gifts and abilities to complete us.  The Apostle Paul says it this way:

God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.  (1 Corinthians 12:6 NLT)

Paul expands this truth further by describing how all of us are supposed to function as individual members of the body of Christ.  We are a team; His team!  Teams are always at their best when each player is in the proper position and doing what they were designed to do.  For any team to be successful, they must be unified in purpose and moving in the same direction.  Paul lived this out with his team and we find mention of his team members throughout his letters.  Here is just one example:

Timothy, my fellow worker, sends you his greetings, as do Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my fellow Jews… Tertius… Gaius says hello to you. He is my host and also serves as host to the whole church. Erastus, the city treasurer, sends you his greetings, and so does our brother Quartus.  (Romans 16:21-23 NLT)

These are just some of the “key players” on Paul’s team.  You have key players on your team as well.  Recognize them and appreciate them as Paul does here, but most of all, be sure they are functioning as a team.  Pay attention to the strengths of each team member and make sure they are in their strength zone.  Much too often we have the right player; we just have them playing the wrong position.

It’s the leader’s responsibility to play the right players in the right positions and motivate them to do their best.  Cast vision often and remind your team of their mission so they stay unified in purpose and are supportive of each other.  Superstars who are not playing well together will never produce a winning team.  Team members must pull together and focus on team success over individual success. 

Let me encourage you to take time today as the leader to evaluate your team and explore how they might work better together.  Don’t be afraid to involve them in the process.  They will have more buy-in if you include them. Be sure to value each of your players and let them know that you want to add value to them.  Build a winning team and together, you will accomplish great things.