A sound structure begins with a solid foundation. When my husband wants to know if a house has been built well, he looks for signs. The most important sign is the roof lines of the house. If they are straight and there are no bows or dips, he is confident it has a good foundation.

Organizations are no different. There are signs that can be observed when they have been well built and a solid foundation has been laid. One of the ways to detect this is to look at how the members in the organization conduct themselves. In the book The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni, he states that the foundation of a healthy organization is characterized by trust.

His definition of trust is what he calls “vulnerability-based trust.” Lencioni states, “This is what happens when members get to a point where they are completely comfortable being transparent, honest, and naked with one another…”

Some of the comments he says, that may be heard in an organization where this kind of trust exists, would be: “I screwed up,” “ I need help,” “Your idea is better than mine”, “I wish I could learn to do that as well as you do,” and even, “I’m sorry.” And he notes at the heart of this kind of trust is… “a willingness of people to abandon their pride and their fear, to sacrifice their egos for the collective good of the team.”

This kind of trust sounds like it would take years to accomplish, but it doesn’t. Time is not the deciding factor when it comes to trust. “It is courage.” He notes this kind of trust can be learned by a new team or one that has been practicing in a less than healthy atmosphere for many years. Trust is something that can be obtained in a short amount of time if it is an intentional priority by those who are in leadership. Of course, there will be struggles to work through and new practices to learn, but it will be well worth it for the sake of the health of the entire organization.

If courage is the deterring factor in building trust and laying a solid healthy foundation, then it need not be a lacking commodity in the Teen Challenge community. Our founder, David Wilkerson, was exemplary when it came to courage. He dared to step out in faith and obey God.

What does the foundation of your Teen Challenge community look like? Is there an area that needs to be adjusted when it comes to a healthy foundation? If so, what courageous step are you willing to take to help that adjustment begin?