Let’s look at how investing in the first of those foundations, (Shared Goals & Roles) can help you bridge generational differences and advance your ministry.

1. Shared Goals: Clarifying that you can’t win independently

It’s no news flash that your goals define the “win” for your organization and help you move forward, but if you want to be better together and unlock the extra gear that synergy brings, you need the kind of goals that require collaboration.

Together is better for many reasons, but it is almost always harder.

Together is better for many reasons, but it is almost always harder. So, if people (especially the high-achieving and talented sort) can be successful on their own, they will always try to be. It’s simply more efficient and controllable to be independent, and it’s less risky than depending on someone else. To overcome this tendency, identify trophies that cannot be won without interdependence. Set shared goals that make independent paths and heroic individual efforts insufficient. When everyone has the same finish line in mind and knows they can’t reach it alone, it’s easier to bridge generational differences and come together as a team.

2. Shared Goals: Begging the right problems

In the messy world of ministry, good leadership isn’t about finding the right solutions as much as it is about picking the right problems. There will always be problems to solve when you have high standards or purpose to do meaningful things. The goal is not to rise to them all, but to pick the ones that will illuminate the best things and lead your organization in the right direction over time.

Make it so that no one can win unless everyone wins.

If you’re experiencing tension between team members or generations, it’s tempting to reframe expectations or interactions to dodge the drama by facilitating more independent work, but that’s the wrong problem. Solving it might alleviate the immediate tension, but it will systematize the underlying deficits in trust and true interdependence. Instead, pick the deeper problem and reframe your goals to require more interdependence. Make it so that no one can win unless everyone wins.

This path takes courage because it’s likely to create more of a problem in the short term as participants find they cannot simply “play nicely” and avoid whatever prevents them from genuinely valuing or relying on others. However, it’s the right problem to have because it begs the right question. Answering it won’t just buy you time, it will move you forward, make you better together, and advance the capacity and impact of your team overall.

3. Shared Goals: Unifying in disagreement

Two underlying biases make blending generational contributions difficult: 1) Progress is Powerful: (i.e. new things are better than old ones), and 2) Tried is True: (i.e. proven things are better than promised ones).  When we’re young most of us hold to the first of these, and we prefer new things, and solutions that are more progressive. When we are older, we prize the second and tend to value the familiar things that have already served us well. These biases are often unrealized but serve as the go-to test for best practices and good decisions for those that hold them. As a result, younger and older team members can be equally committed to the Lord and the ministry but at odds about how to honor either of them best. They can find themselves arguing unproductively or marginalizing one another’s wisdom and contributions.

Surprisingly, it’s not the arguing itself that’s so damaging to synergy. High performing teams can be surprisingly boisterous collaborations. Instead, it's the lack of a common goal. With no shared arbiter for disagreement, it’s every-man-for-himself and differences of opinion quickly become battlelines.

When you provide a clear and common target for everyone’s aim or identify how you will recognize the right choice or a good decision, you create a shared goal. This goal becomes the arbiter for future disagreement. With allegiance to this common reference point, people can disagree and still be together in the process. The shared goal harnesses the value of different perspectives in the service of common ends. It also transforms distracting or destructive argument into powerful and collaborative problem-solving.

4. Shared Goals: Targeting the partnership as well as the product.

When Google wanted to figure out how to build high-performing teams, they took up the question in true Google fashion by crunching massive amounts of data about the composition and experience of their own teams (Project Aristotle). I think they hoped to discover a secret recipe that would enable them to assemble the perfect players for a potent team, but the study found no magic formula to follow. It revealed something far more valuable. The secret to high-performing teams was not the nature of the members themselves but rather what happened between them in their work.

High-performing teams were consistently distinguished by unusual degrees of interdependence, and by the members’ ability and propensity to trust, empower, and rely on one another. If you want to maximize the potential of your ministry team, take this to heart and make sure the shared goals you set are not solely focused on your ministry outcomes and external impact.

Better Together!

Instead, set meaningful goals for the team itself, and for the group processes and culture within your organization. This establishes interpersonal trust and collaborative skills as top targets, bona-fide priorities and job requirements rather than merely icing on the cake or pleasant aspirations. It frames teambuilding as an on-task behavior and helps members justify the real time and effort it takes to be better together.

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Dr. Andrew Johnston strengthens leaders and teams in ministry, corporate, military, and government contexts. He’s a member of Christian Leadership Alliance’s Advisory Council and a sought-after speaker, educator, consultant, and coach. You can find out more about his work or download resources at DrAndrewJohnston.com.

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