Guiding your leadership team in a look at God’s Word and a short time of prayer says several things.

1. My relationship with God is a top priority.  This sends a clear signal to your team that you are in a relationship with God. You care about what God has to say in His Word, you want to study it often, and you want to demonstrate that you are bringing the tasks ahead of you to Him.
2. I want us to follow God together.  I am concerned about your spiritual/inner life. I was at a Bible study last year, that was providing some wonderful Biblical insight. Near the end of one meeting, one of the women began crying, relating that something very painful and disruptive had happened in her life two weeks earlier. Without any appropriate time to share this information, she had felt pressured to “keep smiling and fake it”, so as not to disrupt the flow of the study. Your team members are coming from their own stressful, complicated circumstances. Giving them a chance to share their concerns and then leading them to God’s throne can be healthy and loving. (If this time gets too long perhaps you can have one or two people share each day, instead of the entire team).
3. You follow Christ’s example. You are modeling Christian leadership to your team. Imagine that the men and women on your team will emulate Christ when they move into a higher levels of leadership. We do often lead as we have been led. Spending time looking into God’s Word, listening, praying– these are marks of Christian leadership. Don’t be afraid to try new things, or even fail in front of your team. “We tried something new last week, that didn’t work very well. I want us to ….” Even demonstrating how to fail well can be a wonderful lesson.

Don’t just make your “Christian effort” during devotion time. This should go without saying, but coaching, praying, encouraging, even loving confrontation should happen throughout your time with your team. Spending time in God’s Word, and in prayer, is a wonderful way to begin each work day, and it sends multiple important messages to your staff. Do you read Scripture and spend prayer time with your team? If so, when and how?