Toward a Common Language of Empowerment

Centuries ago, when God wanted to sabotage a building misguided building project he multiplied the number of language: the result was a once unified team disbanding leaving the project undone.

There were times during the course of our church campus relocation that multiple languages threatened to block our goal of having a well decorated, kid-friendly children’s ministry space. The language barrier we face wasn’t one that hiring an interpreter would overcome. We weren’t struggling to pass ideas from English to Spanish. My hybrid team of Sunday School Teachers and contractors and interior decorators found ourselves wrestling to agree over the meaning of a few handfuls of words.

Take the two syllable word “color.” My mind immediately went to the deep blues and purples on the walls of several large-church children’s ministries inspired by Disney. That same word “color” evoke more subdued images in the decorators mind. While my mind when to the Magic Kingdom, theirs went to the Mall and colors inspired by Pottery Barn and Old Navy.

I quickly found myself at a disadvantage trying to communicate my vision with these team members; My color vocabulary was limited to those hues represented my box of eight crayons. They insisted on speaking over my head with words like “ecru”, “straw”, and “brick.” I was fairly certain that these are not colors at all, but the buildings material used by the three pigs: This, a further reason not to trust their input.

Then there’s the word “design.” In the minds of my Sunday School teachers this word is code for toys and furniture that are developmentally appropriate and safe. Ask any of the decorators what “design” meant and they’d use phrases like “European-”, “focal point”, or “eye-lines.” The teachers instinctively arranged the furniture for maximum functionality. The decorators biased toward grouping the furniture in ways that pleased the eye.

The word “safety” became a point of contention. While wicker baskets made more better design but

The process of harmonizing these two lexicons of values and priorities was difficult. Early on the process, tensions occasionally flared. Team members clung to their “dialects” early on and talked past each other.

And which camp was correct?

The truth be told, each camp added a needed perspective to the process. The team members with design experience gave us a unique look that makes visiting families take notice and that captures the imagination of the children who enter the wing. The perspective of the Sunday School Teachers and Coaches ensured that the classrooms were safe and functional.

Why does this story matter? It was an ad hoc team that I won’t experience again for several years until we decide to give the kid’s wing a face lift.

The experience reminded me that every team I lead is filled with people with diverse perspectives. More importantly, it’s the diverse strengths in the room that are behind the diverse perspectives. The Apostle Paul informed us that every believer was equipped with a supernaturally energy, a gift, that is to be used benefit the body of Christ. However, Karl Marx reminded us that our personal assets act as a filter that alters how we perceive reality when he said “When you have a hammer all you see is nails.”

What does that mean for our teams?

Those with the gift of leadership walk into a team meeting and see followers.

Exhorters look at the team and see people needing challenged and correcting.

Those with mercy gifts see people needing affirmed and healed.

And those with hospitality gifts are focused offering warmers for coffee.

All these difference of perspective and that’s just how the team members view each other. Just wait until the team members start sharing how they view the leadership challenge that they’ve been invited to tackle.

Marcus Buckingham offers a solution with his phrase “a common language of empowerment.” Buckingham points out that it’s not enough for each team member to know her or her own strengths. Teams come closer to achieving optimal performance when each member is aware of what their partners are bringing to the table. Communication between team members increase when there’s mutual appreciation and understanding of the diverse gifts represented at the table.

How can you go about this?

Consider having each member of your team take my “Lead the Way God Made You” leadership test. (Click on the book cover in the right hand column. You only need to purchase one copy. The test is “Ok to Copy.” Then over coffee allow each person to discuss his or her own unique leadership voice and what he or she believes they are able to add to the team. You’ll launch a discussion your team will refer to often as they negotiate their differences.

By the way, my children’s ministry wing has plenty of ecru, brick, and straw paint in the murals, along with apple green, and a host of other color names I can’t recall.
And I love it.