The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham

LEADERSHIP

LESSONS | Teambuilding

Applying the Principles

Billy Graham built and energized his team and widely extended its

spirit. But how much of his approach can we apply to our own

unique challenges? As leaders, we face a huge variety of structures

and strictures, some conducive to teambuilding, some not. We can’t

always choose our leaders or our teammates, but we can raise effec-

tive followership to a high level, often despite difficult circumstances.

Whatever our leadership opportunities and limitations, the

spirit of teambuilding empowers and energizes.

Incorporate This Astounding Math
The remarkable math of teamwork challenges our usual cal-
culations. “One shall chase a thousand,” says the Bible, “and two
shall chase ten thousand.” G. K. Chesterton picked up on this in
his novel The Man Who Was Thursday.A policeman confronting evil
discovers an ally who tells him, “Two is not twice one; two is two
thousand times one.”
Whether leading a large enterprise or a small entity, teamwork
multiplies effectiveness. When members of a team are rightly
positioned and fully engaged, “mountains can be moved.” Many
leaders have drawn inspiration from sports teams that require
high spirits, intense concentration on the goal, and absolute deter-
mination to excel by stretching capacities to the limit.
But in any endeavor, those qualities
are rare. As in sports, some teammates
don’t live up to their potential, and
unexpected events can hobble team
performance. Based on their research,
the authors of Executive Teamswrote
about teams at the very top of organizations: “The composition of
the executive team virtually guarantees some of the team’s mem-
bers will fail... each member [plays] multiple, complex, and cen-
tral roles in concert with the CEO and with each other. That is

The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham

The test of an organization is

not genius. It is its capacity to

make common people achieve

uncommon performance.

PETER DRUCKER