Insights from in and around the association
UBA Voices
We're Intentionally Getting Smaller—And Here's Why
You probably have heard it said, “UBA is the largest association in SBC life.” Virtually every time I’m introduced, that statement accompanies my name like it’s a flattering extension of my title. There’s nothing wrong with being big. But when Hurricane Harvey happened in 2017, our inability to reach several of the 550 churches on our roll begged the question: who are the churches of UBA really?
Understanding Your Team Can Make You Better
The apostle Paul believed that diversity is a key to effectiveness in the body of Christ. In I Corinthians 12, he makes clear that diversity is not only essential to the body of Christ, it is by the direct design of the Holy Spirit. This type of diversity is also essential to the effective working of a team. The various team roles as identified in R. Meredith Belbin’s works are helpful to understanding how diversity can be both strengthening and frustrating in the team setting.
Does Your Team Fail Well?
Teams are going to fail. That failure can be devastating, disheartening, or frightening. It is also inevitable. If you are committed to innovation and take on God-sized tasks, you are sometimes going to fail in a particular initiative. As painful as it may be, the failure in itself is unimportant in the grand scheme of things. God’s purposes will not be ultimately thwarted. What you learn from that failure is what is important. Here are some important considerations.
5 Key Elements at the Core of an Effective Team
How many licks to the center to a Tootsie Pop? No matter how hard various cartoon creatures have tried, they have all failed to slowly make to the candy center. Because it's the center—that tootsie roll (or bubble gum) core—that everyone loves. It's that core that makes a Tootsie Pop what it is. Otherwise, it's just another run-of-the-mill lollipop. Likewise, there are certain elements that make an effective team: diversity, trust, competence, empowerment, and dialogue.
What's the Foundation of a Team?
I haven’t always been a big fan of teams. My perception of teams was what is commonly known as the 80/20 rule—20% of the people are doing 80% of the work. I generally equated “team” with “committee” and saw both as sterile ground for finding solutions and fertile forums for discord. It was not until I arrived at UBA in 1990 that I encountered a learning culture that differentiated between a group of people on task and a truly high performance team.
Lead Smarter, Not Harder
Over the years, I have often heard the phrase, “It’s quicker if I just do it myself.” But is that really true when it comes to leadership? The problem with this approach is that it does not take the long view. It saves time only in the short term. You accomplished in a few seconds or a minute or two what it might have taken you half an hour or more to train someone else to do, but you have trapped yourself. Can we use those extra minutes to invest a bigger opportunity?
What Does "Better Together" Really Look Like?
In an age where we're easily divided into camps, churches must fight to remember our common purpose. We must make an effort to be counter-cultural, not only in what we believe but also in the way we live it out. At UBA, we're proud to have several examples of churches doing innovative collaboration, pooling resources, and working together to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ. Here are just a few of those stories:
Work for Those Who Work for You
Leadership is a learned skill. Much of the learning takes place experientially, but books can also provide valuable learning. Since reading Steven B. Sample's The Contrarian's Guide to Leadership, "Work for Those Who Work For You" (Chapter 8) has become a guiding leadership principle for me. More than 20 years after first encountering Sample’s work, I still have 2 green sticky notes marking pages in that chapter. On one, I wrote ”service” and on the other “access.” They are reminders that help me even today.
"Associating" is a Team Sport
Over the coming months and years, UBA is going to focus intensely on what it means to play as a team. We believe that churches are better together, and we’re going to put that in practice in ways we haven’t in the past. This is why.