I have talked quite often in organizations where I've led about the importance of identifying your "first team," and the difference it makes in how you lead. Recently I was asked if I could clearly explain the difference between a "first team" and other teams, and why it matters.

Amy Anderson has the kind of experience that gives her a unique and trusted perspective in the church world. With 12 years of experience as the Executive Director of Weekend Services at Eagle Brook Church, Amy was part of the leadership team that grew the church from one location of 3,000 to six campuses of over 20,000.

Imagine a job where scores, sometimes hundreds, even thousands of people come to hear you talk. They sit quietly in rows, and for the most part no one says a word while you share your wisdom. For 20 or 30 or even 45 minutes, no one speaks over you, no one asks questions, no one challenges you—it is your stage and the spotlight is on.

We were lucky enough to have Dan Reiland join us for Session 14 of the LeadingSmart Executive Pastor Coaching Network, and it was a valuable time where Dan discussed how to make teams strong and keep them healthy.

Asking questions may be one of the least talked about secret weapons of a great leader. In fact, I believe it may be one of the most undeveloped skills in leadership. Most churches are filled with leaders who are professional communicators. Pastors are paid to talk.

We started off our first Session in 2022 with Raul Palacios, the Executive Pastor at Church by the Glades in South Florida. Raul spoke on the importance of self-awareness in our role of Executive Pastors. Sometimes it can feel like there is a startling lack of emotional intelligence across our ministry teams, and Raul dug in with our Members to uncover how to strengthen our self-awareness.

Moving from Texas to join the staff at Willow Creek in the midst of a global pandemic in early 2020 was something I didn't see coming. We really sensed a clear "call" to jump into the fire and help rebuild a struggling church that had meant so much to us over the previous three decades.

In this coaching session, we were joined by Warren Bird, the Vice President of Research and Equipping at the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA). My big takeaways were talking through the surprising ways Covid affected churches across the country, and discussing the anticipated (but not realized) major drop in giving.

Life is too short to spend any more time working in an environment where only one brain is required. I decided a few years ago I would finish my career working on collaborative teams, where voices are heard and encouraged, where ideas are welcome, where the unique gifting of each team member is valued and developed.

When Covid arrived in March 2020, many church leaders were cautioned to begin preparing for an economic disaster. As churches began to shutter, many wondered how they would stay afloat amidst the pandemic. I wanted to learn more about what these past 18 months have taught us - was there an economic disaster? How did churches respond?

I was at the Global Leadership Summit when I heard Craig Groeschel say that because of Covid, “A lot of you find yourselves leading through the dip.” I heard that and said loudly, “I didn’t find myself leading through the dip. I freaking signed-up for the dip!”

There are many leaders within our congregations who have a wealth of knowledge and experience, and there are younger leaders yearning for mentorship. I was curious to learn how we as church leaders could best serve these high-capacity folks within our congregation and steward their insight.

Healthy leaders never stop learning from others, regardless of how successful they get. They may not be able to sit through 100% of every conference they speak at, but when you look at the routine of their life—they know they still have much to learn. Healthy leaders exercise the humility that it takes to be a keynote speaker one day, and sit in the front row taking notes the next.

Often, businesses are built to solve the founder’s problem, and Casey Caston founded Marriage365 in response to the difficulty of navigating a healthy marriage and leading a ministry. Originally, Marriage365 was not aimed at couples in ministry, but over time, they have evolved to serve couples both in and out of the church.

Our brains naturally create a narrative about the behavior of others. When something bad happens—someone cuts us off in traffic, a friend stops reaching out, a coworker takes credit for our work—we instantly assume negative things about the other person. We assume we know his motivation, and we often ascribe ill intent with no real facts.

Recently, I had a great conversation with Krisha Beuhler, VP of Human Resources at BELAY, where we talked about BELAY’s approach to remote and hybrid leadership. They are not only a virtual staffing company—they have been fully remote as a staff since their inception in 2010.

Nobody's perfect. But let’s do everything we can to have men and women of integrity leading our organizations.

I’ve had some great bosses. I’ve also had some really unhealthy bosses. If you work for the same person very long, you’ll find sometimes they are very healthy, and other seasons when they are stressed and unhealthy. I’m sure the same could be said of me.

My longtime friend and mentor, Jack Hamilton joined us to “remind us about some things that you already know,” like Peter in 2 Peter.

Kadi Cole is the founder of Kadi Cole & Company, a leadership development company specializing in equipping individuals and organizations. We sat down for a virtual interview to discuss how to develop female leaders.