Hi Reader,
​
Happy Tuesday! This week's post explains how self-differentiation can help you lead teams that work well together. I hope you find it helpful.

AND, I have a special opportunity for those of you who celebrate Advent and are interested in leading a Advent study with a new digital tool. There's a lot involved, so I'm putting all of the information at the very bottom. Scroll down if you're interested.

How to Spot a Team Player

​Read on the Blog​

Great things can be accomplished when people work together. It is cliché, but the whole IS really greater than the sum of the parts. Knowing how to identify people who will work well on a team is essential to building effective teams.

Even more important, it’s critical for the leader to be a team player. So, as you consider these characteristics, ask yourself how well you stack up (If you read until the end, I’ll have a family systems take on all this).

Team players willingly give up something for the sake of the team.

This could be their time, an idea, power, resources or pride. When a team member sacrifices for the team, for the mission, it’s contagious. Other team members are more likely to do the same. When the leader does this, it becomes the norm.

Team players celebrate the success of others.

You know you have a team player when she is happy for the achievement of others. She knows that a co-worker’s success also contributes to the success of the organization, which is important to them.

People who are out for themselves resent the success of others. People who might be team players will be less so in low trust situations. A lack of trust will put them in survival mode, which will make them less generous and less team-oriented.

As a leader, you can model trust by trusting others and being trustworthy. You can also model celebrating the success of others. Whether it’s another colleague, church or organization, recognizing achievement for the common good lifts everybody up.

Team players don’t care who gets credit.

This is related to the other two. Team players are really all about the…well, team. They don’t care who gets the glory, as long as the team achieves its goals.

You can model this as a leader by not taking credit yourself. When you give credit to the team, and the individuals that comprise it, you are being a team player.

This is especially true when you do this with others. When people praise you as a leader, do you praise the team you work with? Do you lift up the names those who have done excellent work? This shows that you are a team player, as well.

This is where self-differentiation comes in. When you are functioning as a non-anxious presence, you are comfortable with our own role, without needing to take credit. You can be honestly happy for the success of others because you know that your own value is not defined in relation to others. You can remind yourself that the mission is foremost so if you have to sacrifice in some way, you are doing so for the greater good.

When it comes to team players, it takes one to know one.

Recommendations

This week's recommendations continue with the theme of effective teams.

​One Skill Most People Need to Improve to Gain Cooperation - Matt Norman. If you work with people, this is a must read. It shares four common mistakes and three helpful suggestions. Though it's not mentioned, this has self-differentiation written all over it.

​Team Members Over-Interpret the Actions of a New Leader - Admired Leadership. When you step into a new leadership role, being under the microscope actually creates an opportunity. This article explains how.

Podcast

Episode 303 of The Non-Anxious Leader Podcast, Family Systems Theory - A Practical Overview (Rebroadcast), is now available.

That's it for this week. Thanks for reading.

Peace,

Jack

P.S. If you are new to Two for Tuesday, you can read previous editions HERE.

P.P.S. If this was forwarded to you by a friend, you can subscribe here.

The Special Offer

I have been teaching online courses on BeADisciple.com for over a decade. During that time, I've gotten to know Steve Wilke who is the Executive Director of The Institute for Discipleship (IFD), which is BeADisiple's parent body. The IFD was named in honor of Steve's parents, Richard and Julia Wilke, who were the creators of Disciple Bible Study.

Steve emailed me recently with information about their new study app and an a generous offer to make it available for FREE to people who want to lead it. This would normally cost $44. I don't make any commission of affiliate fee on this. I'm sharing it because I'm a big believer in how God has used Steve over the years. Check it out for yourself.

An Unlikely Advent: Extraordinary People of the Christmas Story

If this Advent, you would like to invite some friends and/or family to join you from wherever they live in an Advent study, then consider An Unlikely Advent now available on the BeADisciple Study App. You can look at the study here: https://beadiscipleapp.com/unlikely-advent/ ( a nice size group would be 6 to 16).

Below you will find a gift code that will allow you lead the Advent study at no cost to you. Note: Participants will still need to pay $15 per person to access the study in the app.

Here is the information to proceed:

To redeem your leader code, you must use a browser (e.g., Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Edge) on your tablet or computer to register. If you need to use a smartphone, then be sure to use a browser and turn to landscape view. Step-by-Step video instructions can be found here.

1. Register on our website at app.BeADiscipleApp.com/register/.
2. Locate the verification email in your inbox or junk folder and tap to verify.
3. On the confirmation screen, select "Continue in Browser."
4. Log in.
5. Tap "Browse Studies" then tap on the Advent study.
6. Scroll as needed to select the Leader Package.
7. Follow the instructions in the purchase process.
8. Enter your Gift Code: NEWLEADER2024 on the My Purchase screen where indicated.
9. Download the mobile version of the BeADisciple Study App from The App Store or Google Play.
10. Log in on the mobile app or return to your browser to start your Leader Training!