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Speed of Unity: You'll Know It When You Feel It
The Speed of Unity is achievable when hearts, minds and bodies are perfectly in sync. Rob's principles and advice will challenge you and inspire you to fight for a new speed. This top speed is only achieved when people are intentionally invested in the success of the team, not just individual accomplishments. It starts with agreement, moves to vision and finishes with the Speed of Unity! Hang on. It's going to be a fast ride!
- GenresChristian
192 pages, Paperback
Published January 12, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 4, 2025
Could have used more practical steps to take towards unity, but overall loved the concept. It was too short!
February 2, 2022
This book was absolutely fantastic. I have never heard of the speed of unity but after reading this I now know I've seen it! A few things that I absolutely loved about this book...
1. It's very applicable. Even though this book is specifically geared towards church ministry teams I was able to think of numerous areas where this concept could also be applied. Businesses, families, and school situations are some that came to my mind.
2. Clear roadmap on how to get to the speed of unity . This book takes you through the process of getting to the speed of unity. Not only that but it also helps you define where your team's current state is and how to reach the speed of unity from there!
3. The journey isn't sugarcoated. I appreciate the fact that Rob Ketterling didn't sugarcoat the journey. He is honest about the fact that reaching the speed of unity takes time to reach and will have obstacles and difficulties along the way.
1. It's very applicable. Even though this book is specifically geared towards church ministry teams I was able to think of numerous areas where this concept could also be applied. Businesses, families, and school situations are some that came to my mind.
2. Clear roadmap on how to get to the speed of unity . This book takes you through the process of getting to the speed of unity. Not only that but it also helps you define where your team's current state is and how to reach the speed of unity from there!
3. The journey isn't sugarcoated. I appreciate the fact that Rob Ketterling didn't sugarcoat the journey. He is honest about the fact that reaching the speed of unity takes time to reach and will have obstacles and difficulties along the way.
January 18, 2024
Great book on leadership. I would describe this as leadership training from someone who has implemented Jesus‘s teachings on how to act around other people.
August 29, 2025
It's good to read a leadership book that comes from a faith-based perspective. I don't know if Pastor Ketterling is a good leader, but it's refreshing to hear from someone who has submitted himself to a higher power (i.e., Jesus) and who can refer to and rely on the best life resource manual (i.e., the Bible) for credible attitudes & approaches.
In ten fairly-lengthy chapters, Ketterling describes the leadership style he uses at River Valley, the multi-campus megachurch he pastors in the greater Minneapolis area; he attributes his team's success to what he calls "moving at the speed of unity." The first four chapters describe this paradigm (relying on the analogy of "gears" (as in sports cars or racing bikes)), the rest speak (in broad terms) of implementing and maintaining it. The strongest chapter is the first, where Kitterling briefly describes "unity;" the weakest is the eighth (which carries the subtitle of the book), "You'll Know It When You Feel It." In between, Ketterling reiterates the differences between organizations' operating "speeds," which becomes a bit of a tiresome analogy because he's not really talking about how fast or slow things happen but how effectively the leadership team functions.
Many of the best things about Ketterling's approach will be quite familiar to leaders & managers. Clearly, the better operating model is one that empowers its people; to do this (Ketterling repeatedly explains), team members need to behave and treat one another with an effective mix of courtesy, respect, strength, kindness, gentleness, patience, self-control, peace, joy & love. (Christians & other Bible-readers will recognize many of these as the characteristics the Apostle Paul called "the fruit of the Spirit." (Galatians 5:22-23)) Thus empowered, the team will learn to operate in freedom & strength, take appropriate chances, celebrate victories without ego and fix problems as a team & without blame or ridicule.
Appropriately, Ketterling argues that this requires a clear vision and complete understanding & buy-in. The team needs to be on the same page, not only with where they are right now but with where they're going. In one of his relatively rare Scripture references, Ketterling quotes from the book of Amos - “Can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction?” (Amos 3:3) - noting that it's necessary that the team's association with the leader's vision extend beyond simple "agreement." They need to be all-in.
These are all great points, and they're well-made.
The problems, however, are like the devil: They're in the details.
First: Ketterling mis-defines what an organization's "vision" is, and he uses "vision" & "goal" interchangeably. This isn't a nit-picky point; the two things are dramatically different, and it's important that any organization's leadership team - especially when they're empowered to operate with independent authority - understand and own the vision so they can establish and pursue interim goals that will help attain that vision. A quick scan of River Valley's website reveals that Ketterling (or someone on his team) understands what a real "vision" statement is, so one wonders why he got it wrong in the book. Ketterling's not a dumb guy, so there must be a reason for it.
Second: Ketterling offers very few examples of his process & methods. Instead, he writes in broad terms that results in him merely re-stating the main points over & over in virtually the same language. This is why the first chapter is the strongest: It defines Ketterling's process and does so quite well. After that, the rest of the book can be scanned. (And Chapter 8, "You'll Know It When You Feel It" can be skipped outright because Ketterling uses pages upon pages to say just that. This is more than annoying. If, after all of his success, Ketterling cannot give us specific behaviors & metrics that demonstrate why and how "unity" works, then he's either being lazy or just not paying attention.)
Most important: Ketterling's repeated descriptions of how leaders must be willing to "make the hard decision" (i.e., fire someone) suggest a startling lack of grace. Ketterling is a pastor, so he cannot be unfamiliar with the ideas of compassion & forgiveness, but his two descriptions of "hard decision" situations sound appalling. As noted, the book is very short on illustrations based on actual workplace activities, behaviors, corrections, functions, etc and how Ketterling's unity-based approach solves problems and improves performance. This can be understandable; he doesn't want to call attention to real people who have worked with him. He could create fables or parables that would "protect the guilty" (as it were), but he doesn't.
In the two "hard decision" stories he shares, he comes across as impatient & autocratic. The first is bad enough, but in the second, he describes a young lady on his team who was so distraught over a new reporting structure that she literally hid behind her hair; ultimately, she couldn't even bring herself to resign, instead meekly saying in a "barely audible" voice, "Please, just let me go." Nowhere in the telling does Ketterling relate what her problem was or that he even asked. He merely demanded that she apologize to the group for her behavior and, when she didn't, he fired her. Did it not occur to him that there was a distressing interpersonal problem between this woman and her new boss? Is Ketterling so obtuse that he didn't recognize her nearly hysterical anxiety? Again: Ketterling's not a dumb guy, so it's unlikely he missed something so apparent, but the story would have improved in the telling - as well as the leadership point he was making - if he'd given some indication.
All in all, "The Speed of Unity" is a good book, if a bit derivative & very repetitive. Neither the book nor the process are the be-all & end-all of leadership, but Ketterling's points are worth knowing and having on the shelf for future consultation.
In ten fairly-lengthy chapters, Ketterling describes the leadership style he uses at River Valley, the multi-campus megachurch he pastors in the greater Minneapolis area; he attributes his team's success to what he calls "moving at the speed of unity." The first four chapters describe this paradigm (relying on the analogy of "gears" (as in sports cars or racing bikes)), the rest speak (in broad terms) of implementing and maintaining it. The strongest chapter is the first, where Kitterling briefly describes "unity;" the weakest is the eighth (which carries the subtitle of the book), "You'll Know It When You Feel It." In between, Ketterling reiterates the differences between organizations' operating "speeds," which becomes a bit of a tiresome analogy because he's not really talking about how fast or slow things happen but how effectively the leadership team functions.
Many of the best things about Ketterling's approach will be quite familiar to leaders & managers. Clearly, the better operating model is one that empowers its people; to do this (Ketterling repeatedly explains), team members need to behave and treat one another with an effective mix of courtesy, respect, strength, kindness, gentleness, patience, self-control, peace, joy & love. (Christians & other Bible-readers will recognize many of these as the characteristics the Apostle Paul called "the fruit of the Spirit." (Galatians 5:22-23)) Thus empowered, the team will learn to operate in freedom & strength, take appropriate chances, celebrate victories without ego and fix problems as a team & without blame or ridicule.
Appropriately, Ketterling argues that this requires a clear vision and complete understanding & buy-in. The team needs to be on the same page, not only with where they are right now but with where they're going. In one of his relatively rare Scripture references, Ketterling quotes from the book of Amos - “Can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction?” (Amos 3:3) - noting that it's necessary that the team's association with the leader's vision extend beyond simple "agreement." They need to be all-in.
These are all great points, and they're well-made.
The problems, however, are like the devil: They're in the details.
First: Ketterling mis-defines what an organization's "vision" is, and he uses "vision" & "goal" interchangeably. This isn't a nit-picky point; the two things are dramatically different, and it's important that any organization's leadership team - especially when they're empowered to operate with independent authority - understand and own the vision so they can establish and pursue interim goals that will help attain that vision. A quick scan of River Valley's website reveals that Ketterling (or someone on his team) understands what a real "vision" statement is, so one wonders why he got it wrong in the book. Ketterling's not a dumb guy, so there must be a reason for it.
Second: Ketterling offers very few examples of his process & methods. Instead, he writes in broad terms that results in him merely re-stating the main points over & over in virtually the same language. This is why the first chapter is the strongest: It defines Ketterling's process and does so quite well. After that, the rest of the book can be scanned. (And Chapter 8, "You'll Know It When You Feel It" can be skipped outright because Ketterling uses pages upon pages to say just that. This is more than annoying. If, after all of his success, Ketterling cannot give us specific behaviors & metrics that demonstrate why and how "unity" works, then he's either being lazy or just not paying attention.)
Most important: Ketterling's repeated descriptions of how leaders must be willing to "make the hard decision" (i.e., fire someone) suggest a startling lack of grace. Ketterling is a pastor, so he cannot be unfamiliar with the ideas of compassion & forgiveness, but his two descriptions of "hard decision" situations sound appalling. As noted, the book is very short on illustrations based on actual workplace activities, behaviors, corrections, functions, etc and how Ketterling's unity-based approach solves problems and improves performance. This can be understandable; he doesn't want to call attention to real people who have worked with him. He could create fables or parables that would "protect the guilty" (as it were), but he doesn't.
In the two "hard decision" stories he shares, he comes across as impatient & autocratic. The first is bad enough, but in the second, he describes a young lady on his team who was so distraught over a new reporting structure that she literally hid behind her hair; ultimately, she couldn't even bring herself to resign, instead meekly saying in a "barely audible" voice, "Please, just let me go." Nowhere in the telling does Ketterling relate what her problem was or that he even asked. He merely demanded that she apologize to the group for her behavior and, when she didn't, he fired her. Did it not occur to him that there was a distressing interpersonal problem between this woman and her new boss? Is Ketterling so obtuse that he didn't recognize her nearly hysterical anxiety? Again: Ketterling's not a dumb guy, so it's unlikely he missed something so apparent, but the story would have improved in the telling - as well as the leadership point he was making - if he'd given some indication.
All in all, "The Speed of Unity" is a good book, if a bit derivative & very repetitive. Neither the book nor the process are the be-all & end-all of leadership, but Ketterling's points are worth knowing and having on the shelf for future consultation.
December 25, 2023
Extremely good book, really challenging yet exciting. If you are a part of a team or a leader this book is perfect! There is so much more to be accomplished when a team of people is moving at the speed of unity. Be a peacemaker! Do what it takes to be unified!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews