Choosing your team

Lets assume for a minute that you have an amazing ministry and people are more than willing to join your team; either by seeking you out or by simple invitation. If this is the case you will find yourself in a position to be selective about team members. You will want to choose team members who are going to be fulfilled by working with your team and who you can pour into. There are four attributes you can use to help with this selection.
Attitude: most important is the attitude of your team members. Very often, attitude is the only choice we have. Even when you have no control over a situation, you can still choose your attitude. Choose team members who have a good, positive and encouraging attitude and can muster this attitude even in a bad situation.
Alignment: you will want team members who are aligned with your mission, vision and leadership. This is sometimes a little challenging to discern up front because it takes time for people to catch your vision and adjust to your leadership style. Alignment is an attribute you will want to monitor in your team and address when team members lose alignment.
Affinity: there should be some natural chemistry in your team members. This attribute is to often put second to skill. It is more important to have a team of strong players who can play together than it is to have a team of superstars. Superstars very often don’t play well with others. A team which can work together will accomplish exponentially more that the best group of superstar who won’t work together as a team.
Aptitude: You don’t always need people with a ton of experience. Successful companies know this, they spend significant amounts of money recruiting and training good, unproven people. The trick is identifying aptitude; the ability to learn what must be learned to be a part of the mission. Obviously, this will require you to work on developing the talent in your team, but this is why you exist as a team leader!
Choosing and developing your team is one of the most important thing you do as a leader; take the time to do it well.