Mini-Series
Last week we named the gap.
Today I want to talk about what closes it. Not the general answer — “work harder” — the specific things that would actually move this team from where it is to what it could become.
Read this passage slowly.
Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
1 Corinthians 12:12,27 — NIVLet that sit for a second before you move.
Each one of you is a part of it. The body functions at its capacity when every part is functioning at its capacity. The gap between where a team is and what it could become almost always traces back to specific parts that aren’t yet at their full contribution.
Closing the gap requires three things. First: the specific behaviors that are missing or inconsistent need to be named and committed to. Not general improvement — the specific things. The accountability conversation that isn’t happening. The extra preparation that some people are doing and some aren’t. The role that is being filled at partial capacity.
Second: the trust level needs to increase. Most teams perform below their potential not because they lack individual talent but because the trust between individuals hasn’t reached the level that makes full collective performance possible. Trust is built in specific ways — through kept promises, through honest conversation, through the consistent demonstration that each person is for the team and not just for themselves.
Third: the vision needs to be owned by the team, not just held by the coaches. The team that is pursuing a vision because the coach articulated it is less powerful than the team that has made the vision its own. The gap closes faster when every person in the room wants the same thing and understands their specific contribution to getting there.
The gap closes when the specific missing behaviors are named, the trust increases, and the vision is owned by the team rather than just held by the coaches.
What is your specific contribution to closing the gap? Not the team’s general commitment — your specific role in building what we named last week.
Individual ownership of the collective goal. The personal specific is more powerful than the general.
Name your specific contribution. Commit to it. Build it.
This session assumes the gap naming from session one. The building conversation is most productive when the specific gap has been honestly identified.