Phil
Donna
Dustin
Andrew
Natalie
Alicia
Sheila
Tim
Amee
...and all the kids
We are Team Italy 1 and we've all been getting to know each other this week here in Kansas City at the Avant International Service Center.
Our 2 weeks of training have been organized around Patrick Lenzioni's book Five Dysfunctions of a Team.
The first dysfunction is a lack of trust. The most fundamental need on any team is trust between the members. It is the foundation upon which all of the other stuff happens.
So we've been doing activities to create it: sharing our life stories, defining our strengths, and pointing out potential weaknesses.
What's become clear to me is that we might have to change the name of the team from Team Italy I to Dream Team Italy I.
God has assembled such a wonderful variety of people; quality people that beautifully express their individual personalities.
Alicia might be introverted and accomodating but instead of coming across as a "wallflower" she comes across as a sweet personality that makes everyone feel good.
Dustin might be extroverted and attention seeking but instead of being intimidating he is the one who cracks jokes and keeps it positive.
Does that make sense?
Another team might have a good mix of personalities, but just having diversity doesn't mean that those personalities are being expressed in a way that compliments the whole team. Not so with Dream Team Italy 1.
On Monday we begin talking about the fear of conflict. ;- )
