Having experienced good and bad leadership teams in my ministry, I wanted to study the common characteristics of healthy leadership teams to figure out why the good teams were good and how to keep them that way. I knew the theological principles and the Scriptural qualifications, but I also knew that relational dynamics contribute to team health, too.

One session I served with has been described as “eight good men who couldn’t get along.” I would have trusted any of them to help us navigate a family crisis, but as a group, something didn’t work. And if something more was needed to make a good team, I wanted to figure out what it was. 

In 2020, I wrote my dissertation, and about halfway through the task I thought, “Boy, I could use a break when this is over.” I planned to scale back my schedule temporarily, maybe use some vacation time and gear up for the next phase of ministry. Instead, I got COVID-19. I don’t mean that I actually got the virus; I just mean that instead of a break, I got the multi-faceted challenge that was the pandemic. 

Over the course of that multi-faceted challenge, I questioned most of the principles I thought I had learned about teamwork and leadership as a pastor at a mid-sized Reformed church. I interviewed godly men and read countless books. I discovered that healthy leadership teams share common characteristics.

When it comes to elders, many sessions are unhealthy in their own unique ways. But the elder boards who enjoy healthy working relationships tend to do so because of one common characteristic: trust. Where trust is present, everything works better. When it is in low supply, everything grinds to a halt. 

Here are seven lessons I learned on the importance of trust:

First, God taught me that trust is hard-earned and absolutely essential.  Stephen Covey talks about the “low-trust tax” on an organization’s effectiveness. A lack of trust among leaders brings any momentum to a halt. Peter Senge talks about individuals with an IQ of 120 collectively having an IQ of 63. We’ve all seen it, but maybe we’ve never thought about it long enough to remember how valuable a commodity trust is in relationships. 

Second, God taught me that trust does not equal freedom from conflict. And conflict is not always bad. In fact, Patrick Lencioni developed a “continuum” for it. He believes passionate conflict about important ideas is essential for good teams, as long as they avoid mean-spirited personal attacks. Trust facilitates healthy conflict and disagreement. It enables you to have your ideas challenged without it feeling like a personal attack. 

Third, God taught me that silent agreement isn’t always agreement. Sometimes, it’s “artificial harmony” or apathy. There are leadership teams who may not have conflict, but they also may not enjoy universal agreement and trust. It might be a lack of trust and a desire not to rock the boat. 

Fourth, God taught me that trust allows true debate to happen. If I trust you, I’ll think the best of you and listen to your idea, even if it differs from my own. Lencioni writes, “When there is trust, conflict becomes nothing but the pursuit of truth, an attempt to find the best possible answer.”

Fifth, God taught me that consensus is the goal, but it shouldn’t be forced. To hear elders of healthy churches explain this dynamic was a delight. They said that consensus was the goal for their decisions, viewed it as necessary for their health, and believed delaying decisions to achieve it proved worthwhile. They even spoke of a qualified consensus as sometimes necessary, with some element of agreeing to disagree to support the majority without consensus. 

As I wrote in my dissertation: “Consensus decisions were described as goals and necessities, which were often achieved, though sometimes slowly. Even when full consensus was not achieved, most elders said the decision-making process allowed the group to retain its overall unity and mutual respect. … During Session meetings, vigorous debate can be encouraged; once the meetings are over, unity and submission to the will of the body is the rule.” 

Sixth, God taught me that politics are inevitable in life and in ministry. I’m not talking about governmental politics, and I’m not talking about nastiness. Tasha Chapman, Bob Burns, and Donald Guthrie argue for a helpful, neutral definition of politics as the ability to influence others to achieve your goals, which can be used for good or ill. In other words, they aren’t naïve about the latter, but they are hopeful about the former. Even Lencioni, who uses politics very negatively in many of his books, extols the virtues of smart and savvy team members, which simply sounds like using political influence for good in an honorable way. 

Seventh, God taught me that a leader must model proper vulnerability to build trust. If the leader of the team refuses to admit error or celebrate the ideas of others, the rest of the team will likely follow the same pattern. Trust is built by acknowledging the giftedness and contributions of every team member, not just yourself. 

One of the greatest blessings God can give to a church is a group of godly men who seek the Lord and trust each other. When you enjoy healthy team dynamics, you end up with what Covey called “the high-trust dividend” instead of the low-trust tax. 

Of course, there’s much more that could be said about the role of trust in teams. It’s an intangible dynamic that impacts churches in very tangible ways. When it is present, you look forward to meetings and conversations. Pray for your elders not only to have wisdom in making decisions for Christ’s church but for developing trust as they labor together. 

Matt Giesman is senior pastor of Forestgate Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado.