Page 157 - The Bible On Leadership

Team Development 143

pany’s executives. ‘‘It’s about proficiency in team building . . . We talk
about strategy, how we’re going to win, who’s going to do what—all
of which is applicable to the business itself. The point is to get people
19
thinking of the team and how to achieve concrete objectives.’’ Like
King David and his ‘‘mighty men,’’ Talent Fusion holds a business
meeting right after the game, when all are hot, sweaty, and enthused.
It’s a great way to break down barriers and increase team commitment.
But sometimes a leader must give more than gold and silver to get
people to act as team. He may have to give up something even more
precious—his office. George Colony, CEO of Forrester Research, an
Internet research firm, thought his people would work more coopera-
tively if he took them out of their offices and formed a ‘‘pod’’ in the
central computer room. At first, the response was anything but ‘‘team-
like.’’
‘‘Everyone screamed,’’ says a bemused Colony. So he moved out of
his plush office and into the pod also. ‘‘That new team lit the company
on fire,’’ he enthuses. ‘‘We shared our tears and our fears, and at the
end of the year, we danced on our desks to celebrate our success . . .
It’s like being in a squad of eight or ten people in the military. You get
20
so you’re willing to die for the guy next to you.’’ We don’t know
whether Colony consulted the Book of Nehemiah (where men were
willing to die next to each other to rebuild a wall) or had any knowl-
edge of David’s mingling with his ‘‘mighty men,’’ but in moving out
of his office, he certainly was following their principles of team-build-
ing: Give of yourself and put yourself out there with the troops.
But the me does not become the we without some painful individual
sacrifices. The disciples were asked to give up their fathers and mothers,
as well as any permanent physical home, to follow Jesus: ‘‘Foxes have
holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place
to lay his head.’’ (Matt. 8:20) Whoever wanted to be on Jesus’ team
had to give up a lot.
A. G. Edwards has been a successful brokerage firm for 100 years.
They have accomplished this through a team approach very unlike the
typical ‘‘me first’’ attitude at most brokerage firms. Taking a page from
Phil Jackson and King David, Corporate Vice President Greg Hutch-