The Piggy Principle

We were in the middle of staff meeting yesterday, and one of my colleagues made a great comment about how our teams worked so well together. He was giving them praise for operating on the "we" principle rather than focused on themselves. He went on about how it was "we" this, "we that," etc.

All of this got me thinking about how well we work together at Meadow Heights Church. It really is a team effort. I think we have applied what I'll call the "Piggy Principle." The Piggy Principle is founded on the belief that it is "we, we, we" all the way. We're bringing the team concept home.

5 Things I've Noticed About the Piggy Principle:

(1) While it is a team effort, the leader sets the pace for team. This might be from our Lead Pastor to the staff, or from a ministry leader to their team, but the leader always sets the pace.
(2) Teams will never rise any further than the leader is willing to lead. I've seen many teams that were held back by a weak leader. Ministry rises and falls on the backs of the leader.
(3) Leaders are learners. When we stop breathing in the Bible, stop listening to others wiser than ourselves, and stop reading, we fail to learn. When you stop learning, you'll stop leading effectively.
(4) Leadership is about building relationships. The reason our teams work so well together is that ultimately they have trust for the leaders. This respect has been built on a foundation of relationship. You have to build into your teams and spend time relationally with them.
(5) When change is needed or conflict occurs, the leader has to make a decision. That means the team has to realize that we're all in this together. There are no victims on a healthy team.

None of this operates without the guiding principles of Jesus Himself. All of what we try to do and accomplish at Meadow Heights is based upon God's Word. And of course none of this would be possible without the ultimate leadership of God.