I’m at Rethink Leadership Conference in Atlanta, which has been like drinking from a fire hose of leadership wisdom. The fourth session was on team, which is always a challenge in a growing church and one that I really appreciated. Here are some highlights:

• Everybody around the table needs to be known and recognized for what they bring.
• One of the best things that everyone can do on a team for the lead pastor is get good at leading up.
• It is important to know what is the lead pastor’s passions in the local church to know how best to help him.
• Influence matters far more than position.
• What someone grows up is very different than what someone walks into.

• The most important thing you will bring to your team is your soul.
• The reason teams break up is the inner stuff, not the skill stuff.
• Great gifts will take a leader to a level, but an absence of strong soul and character won’t keep you there.
• Hell is not just a destination but can be a diagnosis of where your soul is today.
• A good or rotten soul never stays to itself.
• Do people want to be around you because of your soul?
• What is running your life at any given moment is your soul. -Dallas Willard

• What are the convictions about leadership that are evident to the people who are entrusted to your care?
• Why do people work?
• Why do we lead?
• Where are you taking the people you lead? How do you think about the people you lead?
• A leader needs to take people to a daring destination with the humility to serve them along the journey.
• A leader needs to choose to lead people to a daring destination.
• Taking people to a bold destination is serving them well.
• A leader must choose to love the people they lead.
• A leader has to deliver results.
• No one wants to hear your convictions about leadership if they don’t work.