Throughout the 1990s, Southwest Airlines emerged as a major disruptor to the airline industry. By bucking conventional practices, not just operationally but in how they build and established their team culture, they were able to grab a huge market share and expand rapidly across the country.
Many other airlines endeavored, with varying levels of success, to try and copy what Southwest had done and attempt to launch their own line of budget-friendly service. However, a book I read recently, “The Southwest Airlines Way” chronicled these efforts and showed why other companies were deficient in their own versions.
The team will never reach its full potential if the members feel they’re just cogs in a big machine.
Undertaken as a research study over a period of several years and released in the early 2000s, the book attempted to distill down what worked so well behind the scenes at Southwest and explain why other airlines were unsuccessful in simply trying to copy-and-paste the procedures they thought would be successful. Essentially, these other companies thought that the key was just certain procedures, equipment, and protocols that led to success.
Underneath the business principles at Southwest, the author describes a culture heavy on “relational coordination” that became the foundation of how they were able to grow so quickly and become so successful.
Perhaps like the competing airlines, we as technicians sometimes see ourselves the same way. If we have certain processes in place, certain gear, or even an effective Planning Center flow, we feel we can also build healthy and effective teams that can excel in what they’re doing week in and week out.
Team culture has to start from the top down
However, maybe we should look at our environments more like Southwest and realize that a healthy relational foundation is critical for the visible systems and practices to ultimately work effectively.
In the book, the author outlined 10 practices for building high-performing relationships as evident in how Southwest functioned as a company. While some focus on aspects that are specific to their industry, there are five that offer a direct correlation to our work in ministry. If we are able to focus on these, we too can build high-performing teams that are able to achieve new levels of success.
Lead with credibility and caring.
Team culture has to start from the top down. And I as a leader must walk the walk, even more than I talk the talk.
I may not naturally be a people person, but I have to realize that ministry is a people-first business. And if I’m not able to invest in my team relationally and individually, then there’s no hope for us having a healthy relational culture. Instead, it will just be a group of disparate individuals who come together for a couple of hours a week to perform some duties and then go home.
As I lead my team, I earn my credibility by my actions backing up what I say. I can’t say we’re a team if we don’t act like one. I can’t say that we’re a “family” that “does life together” if we don’t actually do those things. I can’t even say I care about everyone as individuals if I don’t take the time to get to know about them, their lives, and their families.
Plus, I have to be able to do it with a modicum of caring and sensitivity. Many of us techies consider ourselves as non-people people and introverts. We may be more task- and productivity-focused and we may lack certain elements of sensitivity, compassion, and empathy. If that’s the case, I can’t just use that as an excuse and not attempt to improve. Instead, I need to ask the Holy Spirit for guidance on how I can grow in this area. I also need to surround myself with people who have the gifts I aspire to emulate and, if necessary, I can ask them to help “pastor” our team for a season while I learn how to do those things. The team will never reach its full potential if the members feel they’re just cogs in a big machine.
Bridge the work/family divide.
What worked so well at Southwest was how the company wanted the employees’ families to feel that, even though they weren’t on staff, they were still part of the team and their support at home was critical to the company’s success.
We can’t just hire or promote people based on technical competence.
In ministry, we should see it the same way. Spouses and kids often get the short end of the stick due to long days and late nights of event prep and execution. If we don’t put intentional effort into adding value to people’s families, then feelings of cynicism towards ministry will emerge and resentment will blossom due to the church taking a family member away from everyone else.
Many of us are workaholics and/or perfectionists by nature. We probably spend more time at the office by our own choosing than we should. It’s critical that my family knows that instead of choosing to be in the office, I’m actually setting boundaries, putting work aside, and choosing to go home to be with them.
If I feel overwhelmed by my workload, I need to have a conversation with my boss about resetting boundaries and expectations so my family doesn’t get the short end of the stick. And if I’m leading others, I need to ensure that I’m helping them set healthy parameters so they can invest in their family as a priority.
When busy seasons are approaching, allow grace with work schedules so people can fill up all of the necessary relational “gas tanks” of themselves and their families so they have enough fuel to get through the busy season. And after it ends, provide some downtime so everyone can fuel back up.
With my volunteers, invite their families to be part of team activities or even (if appropriate) hang out with the team in the tech booth between or after services so they can continue to feel like they’re part of the ministry.
Behind every successful man is a surprised mother-in-law (ha!). But behind every successful tech team is a healthy support system that encourages their loved one to be part of the team. Do whatever you can to build this sort of relational environment.
Hire and train for relational competence.
Southwest knew that if it wanted to extend the company’s culture perpetually through generations of new hires, it needed to onboard people who weren’t just good at their craft, but also understood the importance of relational values.
It’s easy in a tech role to simply plug in people who are great doers that can execute tasks at a high level. After all, without the gear functioning and without the transitions being executed, there are no services.
Mistakes are a basis for learning and growing, not for trying to elbow my way higher on the hierarchy.
But we can’t just hire or promote people based on technical competence. With certain roles on the team comes an increase in influence and responsibilities. We must make sure that people in those influential roles are “culture carriers” who are also able to focus on relationships and people equity above all.
It doesn’t matter if someone is talented if they’re a jerk. It doesn’t matter how skilled they are if they point fingers. It doesn’t matter how long their resume is if they don’t possess humility.
I can always train people on how to improve their competence and hone their craft. However, having someone with an innate sense of relational competence provides a critical foundation that which everything else can be built upon.
Use conflicts to build relationships.
Conflict can be a scary thought. We can envision it sometimes as being an awkward or angry thing. But at its core, it just means that people see things differently. Those differences can either be the source of a wedge in their relationship or the source of a bridge.
Do I get upset or defensive when others around me see things differently? Do I become aggressive, labeling their viewpoint as “wrong” for not being like mine?
Or do I use this as an opportunity to ask questions, learn, and grow? Can it be a chance to spend time with that person to learn more about their perspective so I can have a better appreciation for their viewpoints? Could that even be a chance for me to become aware of any blind spots I have in my own life and work on addressing them?
Paul points out in 1 Corinthians that we are all different parts of the same body, and we all need each other’s unique differences (and strengths) to strengthen the body and help it achieve its maximum potential. So instead of dismissing other’s differences, I should lean into them. God made them that way on purpose, and it’s an opportunity for me to improve myself too, but only if I’m open-minded about it.
Avoid finger-pointing.
When things go wrong (and they will!), I have a choice. I can point fingers, play the blame game, and fall into an “us versus them” mentality to protect myself, or I can jump in to help solve the issue, regardless of who caused it, and display a willingness to own my part of the mistake.
In a corporate airline environment, when a delay happens, it costs the company money. Nobody wants to get blamed for the issue, so it can be easy for teammates to blame others for the delay. But at Southwest, their focus become less about identifying who caused the problem and more about how we can work together as a team to find a solution.
Are we like that in ministry? I think sometimes it’s a struggle. We blame the worship leader for changing the setlist after we’ve finished rehearsal. We blame the vocalist for moving off her lighting mark or for holding the mic wrong. We blame the other ministries for not giving us information about their event so we could build the graphics on time. We blame the pastor for not sending us his notes until the last minute.
And on and on.
But how often am I proactively engaged in trying to solve the problem? Maybe I need to design my systems and workflows to have more flexibility involved so we can adjust more quickly to last-minute changes. Maybe I need to proactively approach those on other teams to ask questions ahead of time, knowing their propensity for waiting until the last minute. Maybe I need to be more willing to own my part of a problem (regardless of how significant my role was) so that others see me as a cooperative teammate and less of an adversary.
If stuff hits the fan, I will probably want others to have my back and help me out, right? So wouldn’t I want to model that for others and focus more on the relationship than the problem itself?
Mistakes are a basis for learning and growing, not for trying to elbow my way higher on the hierarchy.
In closing, in the two decades since the book was published, Southwest has further cemented itself as an industry leader. Are its practices successful? Sure. But its success wouldn’t have been possible without the foundation of a healthy relational culture being developed behind the scenes.
Am I building a team that will last the same way? Are we focused on just getting stuff done, or are we investing in relational coordination internally and with other teams to ensure that we’re strengthening our internal bonds?
