This past weekend, I took the eight young men in my mentoring group on a retreat. It was the kickoff to our 2012 season.

We went to Deer Run, a beautiful retreat center in the hills of middle Tennessee. The weather was absolutely gorgeous—mid-40s and plenty of sunshine.

Unity is the state of many acting as one. It is an attribute of highly effective teams, whether in marriage, business, church, or government. Without it, progress stops.

That’s why creating it—and preserving it—is so important. It is one of the most fundamental functions of leadership. But too often leaders are unclear in their understanding of unity.

What is innovation? Innovation is defined simply as “the act of introducing something new.” Innovators are not always right. They tend to have as many stories of failure as they do of success.

Still, I appreciate organizations that value innovation. They demonstrate the willingness to try new ways to share their message and ultimately get more of their products in the hands of consumers.

I first encountered Marcus Buckingham when I bought the book, Now, Discover Your Strengths and took the StrengthsFinder test. I found the premise revolutionary: the most effective method for motivating people is to build on their strengths rather than correcting their weaknesses.

We began using this assessment in our leadership training and staff development at Thomas Nelson. It was a major paradigm shift. It is much more empowering to focus on building people’s strengths rather than trying to improve their weaknesses.

Every successful leader wants to be a “game-changer.” If you’ve ever watched a televised sports event, you’ve no doubt heard commentators banter back-and-forth about key points in the game where “momentum shifted” in favor of the winner.

Regardless of what caused an unplanned momentum shift, it’s safe to say it usually occurs among the competitors themselves who are directly engaged on the “field of play.”

One of the most important parts of being an effective leader is building trust.

We have all had a boss that we did not respect. No matter how intelligent or charismatic, you knew that placing blind faith in him or her would be a mistake. You were always watching your back waiting for the sucker punch to come.

For the past few years we’ve been studying breakthrough teams in some of the world’s most respected firms including Pepsi Beverages Company, American Express, Texas Roadhouse and Zappos.com.

Predictably, we found that great teamwork is about such things as effective goal-setting, instilling performance measurements, and increasing trust levels; but it’s also about something much softer. Something surprising.

Most leaders periodically talk to their teams about how they value honesty and why they want more of it. This talk on honesty has become one of the classical management talks in the business world.

However, judging by their behavior, I have noticed that very few of these leaders actually encourage honesty. And I’m confident this doesn’t apply just for the leaders I know. It’s very easy to state that you want honesty from people; it’s much harder to create a culture that actually fosters it.

Holding a position of authority requires a keen understanding of how to use it effectively. Authority should be used for the good of the team. I worked for a Marriott hotel when I was nineteen-years-old. My job was to check every room service order before it was served to the guest and to help deliver the trays.

On a recent Catalyst Podcast, Andy Stanley said, “The best thing a leader can bring to his team is his energy” (quoting Bill Hybels). I agree. This has certainly been my experience.

While weak leaders blame their followers for a lack of alignment, strong leaders know that it is their responsibility to create it. Alignment doesn’t just happen. It is created.

As a leader, you have an effect on people. When you leave the room, people ether feel taller or smaller. This is an almost super-hero power, but, unfortunately, leaders are often unconscious of it.

The recession seems to be accelerating a drive toward simplicity. Many are realizing that complexity is inefficient and expensive. As a result, people are streamlining their lives, both personally and professionally. I know I am—and so is our company.

We are currently focused on eliminating complexity in four areas:

1. The number of meetings. We should be very careful about setting up routine meetings. Once they are in place, they are hard to eliminate—they seem to take on a life of their own. Every once in a while (perhaps annually) it is good to re-evaluate every standing meeting and ask five questions: