the importance of a team

We just had our monthly Leadership team meeting last night and I cannot stop thanking God for the team He has given me. We typically go for about an hour and 15 minutes; every meeting, without fail, it flies by! I have an eclectic group of people, some older than me, some younger than me, and a couple my age-ish, and yet we have so much fun together. There is a certain transparency and electricity that I could not have crafted if I tried to. We laugh hard with each other, pray vivaciously for one another, and care deeply for our students together. The longer I am with my team, the more I realize how essential and non-negotiable my three C's of leadership are (in regard to the leadership team). If I have piqued your curiosity, here they are (Adopted from Bill Hybels' Courageous Leadership):

1. Character. I cannot have a double-minded person in leadership or people who demonstrate little or no real spiritual/biblical depth. How can we expect those we lead to do something (serving God with all of our lives) if we ourselves are not? We are all a work in progress, and it is essential for leadership to progressively move toward God one step at a time.
2. Chemistry. If I don't like you or cannot get along with you, it's not going to work out. There must be a strong sense of comradory...PERIOD.
   
3. Commitment. If you don't show up to church, meetings, activities, etc., forget about it; you cannot be a leader. You either sell out to the vision of the ministry and show your support by showing up, OR just stay home.

I can proudly say that each of my leader's exhibit the three C's. Are they perfect? Heck NO!! And neither am I!!! But we are learning. You know it is a good thing when a member of my leadership team says to me, "I can honestly say that in all the years I have been on leadership, I like everyone on the team." That is a good starting point I think.