In this episode, Dr. G reflects on one of the greatest challenges facing any leadership team: how to make decisions efficiently while preserving deep unity. Many organizations prefer a single, decisive leader who points in a direction and says, “Follow me.” Group leadership, on the other hand, can feel slow, messy, and difficult. But Dr. G believed that the Academic Dean’s Council could function with both shared authority and strong momentum — if they committed to the right values. To make group decision-making work, he established two essential practices. First, small decisions needed firm time limits. If an issue wasn’t worth extended discussion, the team had a few minutes to vote — and if they couldn’t, Dr. G would make the call and move on. Second, the council needed diversity of perspective without losing unity of commitment. Each member could speak openly, challenge freely, and vote differently, but once a decision was made, the entire council would stand behind it as one. This expectation of full unity after full honesty became one of the defining strengths of the Academic Dean’s Council. No matter how spirited the debate inside the room, when they walked out, they walked out in a straight line — committed, aligned, and ready to implement the decision together. For Dr. G, this wasn’t just good leadership practice; it was essential for safeguarding trust, morale, and effectiveness in the life of the school.

In This Video
• Why group leadership can be difficult — and why it’s worth it
• The two practices that made the Academic Dean’s Council effective
• How time limits prevented small decisions from slowing down progress
• Why unity after the vote was non-negotiable
• How honest disagreement strengthened, rather than threatened, the team

About This Series
This video is part of a collection celebrating the story, ministry, and legacy of Dr. Garry Friesen (Dr. G), honoring the heritage of Multnomah School of the Bible / Multnomah University and the continuing work God is doing through new ministries around the world. Videos are also available at https://www.youtube.com/@ABCMultnomah.

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The production of these videos was provided by the Multnomah Family Team, if you would like to help sponsor more videos like this, please contact us here.