Strong Teams for Sustainable Organisational and Personal Growth and Impact (Part 1 of 3)

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By Dzikamai Bere

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Part 1 of the Presentation prepared for the 2024 NANGO Directors Summer Retreat

Nyanga, 2024

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1.0 Introduction

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“Teamwork makes the dream work.” John C. Maxwell

Many years ago, when I was still in the periphery of leadership, each time I heard of the term ‘teambuilding’, what came into my mind was that annual trip that you take as a team to some place where you will play games and have fun and laugh. I imagined this was something that happens once in a while, most likely off site, facilitated by an expert guest.

Fast forward, I have gained a few more years in the heart of civic leadership, and I now have a different perspective.

Here is the thing. The work that we do as non-profits, is activism. But when we develop our activism into organized communities and entities, it goes beyond mere activism. It is civic leadership. It is movement building – bringing more people together who care about their community and are willing to take strategic action to advance the causes they care about. It is community building. Now you listen to this language and some words stand out, and they are essentially about bringing people together.

The logic was perfectly described by Mother Teresa: “I can?do things you cannot,?you?can?do things?I?cannot;?together we can do great things.”

The magic is perfectly captured by John C. Maxwell. “Teamwork makes the dream work.”

This is the logic that is at the foundation of building great effective teams for strong enduring and effective movements.

But the team that we speak of things space, are not generic teams. These teams within the civic leadership space – the non-profits who exist not for dollars and cents but for the common good. And these teams, I believe must be built differently. This is because at the heart of it all, civic leadership is a labour of love. Human rights work is a labour of love. Humanitarian work is the labour of love. We do this because we care. We cannot do this work to the very best if love was not at the centre of it all.

In this reflection, I will share a few things. Maybe tips, maybe lessons, maybe principles, maybe strategies for building effective teams to drive the dream, and make our movements or organisations strong, enduring and more effective.

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2.0? Key Strategies and Principles

?2.1 Who do people say that I am - The language that defines a winning team

A few days ago, I welcomed a colleague Bhekinkosi CAPSI who was recording a podcast on our work at ZimRights as part of the Zim-Alliance. Before we started, Bheki had gone through our website and had noted the different titles that refer to my position. One is National Director but when he opened the website page on the Secretariat, it was written ‘Team leader.’ So he asked me what this was about? Different titles, one person. Well, we live in a country where our President is the Commander in Chief of the armed forces, the first Secretary of the ruling party, the Chancellor of all State Universities, the Chairperson of SADC and the first farmer of all farmers, a Constitutional Lawyer and Constitutionalist, a Death Penalty Abolitionist, and the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe. Bhekhi should not have been surprised by this phenomena. Of course, we laugh about this. We are told, not so sure how true this story is that during the time previous dispensation a journalist lost his job after missing one of the titles during NewsHour. Well. We digress. I explained to Bheki that ZimRights has many faces. It may be true in some of your organisations. ZimRights has a public face which is a social movement, the membership movement that is governed by a constitution. That Constitution gives me a title and that title is National Director – it is statutory and I don’t have power there. All I do is take instructions and give advise. That same Constitution which creates this social movement called ZimRights, establishes a small professional secretariat that supports the movement in technical matters like strategy, programming and financial management. This is the Secretariat that I lead. Here, I have some bit of power and according to the leadership culture that I wanted to introduce in this space, I chose to go by Team Leader.? This is because I don’t want to direct anyone. I want to lead and still remain part of the team.?

I explained this to Bheki and he asked me, ‘Does it matter?’

Langauge matters, and Jesus agrees with me. There is an amazing civil leadership dialogue that took place many years ago in a place called Caesarea Philippi between Jesus and his disciples. We are privileged to have gotten hold of this treasure of a dialogue because it is recorded in Matthew 16: 13 – 20. In this dialogue, Jesus asks, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” There are different responses. Then he asks, “Who do you say that I am.” The acceptable answer there was, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” At this moment, if you read the story, and you are as imaginative as I am, you will see a shift in the facial expressions of Jesus as he goes into a deep statutory conversation about his identity and his authority, commissioning Peter for leadership and giving him authority. Very deep and I think it became very quiet in the space. Jesus closes this session by telling them not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

But now we shift the dialogue to John 15:15 where Jesus says, “I do not call you servants any longer, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you [My] friends, because I have revealed to you everything that I have heard from My Father.”

Somewhere else, Jesus calls them ‘brothers.’

What we learn from these conversations is that language matters in teambuilding. For me, Jesus established his title ‘Messiah’ in his full authority and yet chose not to carry it around. What he carried around was a different title, ‘friend’, ‘brother’, ‘teacher’.?

Saint Augustine, the great philosopher, when he was the Bishop of Hippo, well respected with full authority, he addressed the people, his community and said the following words.?

“What I am to you, frightens me. But what I am with you, consoles me.”

To them, he was a bishop, exercising power over. And that frightened him because it elevated him above the team. But what he was with them was a member of the community, exercising power with them. And that was beautiful.?

As the team leader, you are the glue that brings the team together.

The language you choose to use can bring them together and make them feel that they are an important part of the mission, or it can alienate them and make them feel they are less and that others are more important. This is why I never want to use the term ‘employee’ because it does not convey that message. I use ‘team member’. I know, with an employee mentality, you give your bare minimum, in return for a small salary. But as a team player, you wanna make your best contribution. ?You wanna lead, even if you don’t have a title.

As a collective, again there is a language that you must choose and be deliberate about it. Thanks to the wisdom of Steve Hobbs, at ZimRights we call ourselves a tribe. This is deep. It is almost a spirituality. There are bonds that brings us together, the ties that bind and they keep us together, so that together, we can do great things.?

But don’t forget that you are the glue.?

In the book, the 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player, John C. Maxwell writes, "Leadership is not about titles, positions, or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another. And when it comes to teams, the leader is the emotional glue that holds the team together."

The title you use can bring you closer to the team, to lead with permission, to build relationships that define your excellence. Or the title you choose can separate you from the team and put you in a place where you use your position to lead. And John Maxwell teaches us in five levels of leadership that ‘position’ is the lowest level leadership. Those who lead with position get the bare minimum from their teams. But relationships unlock limitless potential in a team and it’s impact grows.

Who do people say that you are? The answer to that question can tell us how far your team can go.

Simple Steps to Implement Language that Defines a Winning Team?

a.???? Choose Empowering Titles: Instead of using titles that imply hierarchy or control, opt for ones that promote collaboration and equality, such as "Team Leader" or "Team Member".

b.??? Foster a Culture of Inclusivity: Use language that makes everyone feel valued and important, avoiding terms that might alienate or marginalize certain team members.

c.???? Lead by Example: Demonstrate the behaviors and values you want your team to embody, showing that leadership is not just about titles, but about influencing and empowering others.

d.??? Cultivate a Shared Identity: Develop a language that reflects your team's shared purpose and values, such as calling yourselves a "tribe" or "community," to foster a sense of belonging and unity.?

By implementing these strategies, you can create a positive and inclusive team culture that unlocks limitless potential and grows impact.