Every team needs a set of values to guide the behavior of its members. These values are the small set of guiding principles that describe how the team functions while providing a unifying model of behavior.

At 7 City Church, we’ve selected three team values. We simply say, “We are servant leaders, team players, and hard workers.” We describe these team values like this:

• Servant Leaders — We lead with humility, integrity, and a heart to serve and develop people.
• Team Players — We maximize teamwork by being vision supporters, trust builders, and investing in healthy relationships.
• Hard Workers — We take initiative, wisely steward resources, continually grow and improve, and work in a healthy rhythm.

Whether it’s staff members, board members, or volunteers, our goal is to operate with these three values as the guide for how we live, lead, and serve.

However, it’s not enough to identify team values. Once these values are clear for any church or organization, we must then embrace three ongoing practices.

Model the Values

Leaders mentor by example, and team values play an essential part in that example. If you don’t model the way, you lose the moral authority to expect team members to practice what you preach.

Commentator Matthew Henry observed, “Those who teach by their doctrine must teach by their life, or else they pull down with one hand what they build up with the other.”

If leaders aren’t willing to model the values, there’s no point in having team values in the first place.

Mentor the Values

Team values are more than words on a paper or signs on a wall. They’re meant to shape our behaviors. Therefore, the leader carries a responsibility to not only model the values, but to mentor others in those values.

Mentoring can take various forms, but I recommend mentoring the values in three ways.

If leaders aren’t willing to model the values, there’s no point in having team values in the first place.

First, teach the values to your staff. I’ll often do this at the start of each year, reminding staff members of the values that guide our behavior and why they are essential to our health as a team.

Second, discuss the values in one-on-one meetings. If a team member is out of alignment with the values, my job as a leader is to make them aware of it. A one-on-one meeting is a great place to do this, allowing me to address the values gap and then describe the type of behavior that is aligned with the value. It also provides a space to hold team members accountable to make improvements.

Third, highlight the values in volunteer huddles. Each Sunday morning, we gather with our volunteers for a 15-minute huddle. During that huddle, we always highlight our vision or one of our team values. It’s a simple way of driving the values deep into the culture of our volunteer teams.

These simple strategies will help you mentor the values throughout the church. It helps in transitioning the values from words on a paper to behaviors in people.

Monitor the Values

As the leader, you set the tone for the culture of the church, organization, or department you lead. Part of setting the tone includes monitoring the values. Simply put, your job is to pay attention to two things: behaviors worth celebrating and gaps worth correcting.

First, when you see values being lived out among your teams, celebrate it. Say, “One of our team values is servant leadership, and last week I saw Erica model this value with excellence when she … .” Not only will you be affirming and encouraging Erica, but you’ll be giving other team members a tangible example of what it looks like to model a team value.

Second, when you see gaps in values among your team members, correct them. This shouldn’t be harsh or demeaning. Simply pull members aside, or address it in a one-on-one, and say, “Hey, could I offer you some coaching on something?” They’ll likely agree, and then you can say, “One of our team values is being a team player, but I noticed today you said … .”

Monitoring values doesn’t mean you’re the “values police,” but it does mean you’re the chief culture creator. Creating culture begins with modeling and mentoring values, but it also requires addressing gaps when they show up.