Jesus used a small-group strategy to shape a generation of leaders. According to Mark 3, Jesus gathered his small group of twelve disciples "to be with him" and then to train them to do ministry.

Mark 3:13:19 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)

Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those He wanted, and they came to Him. He also appointed 12 - He also named them apostles - to be with Him, to send them out to preach, and to have authority to drive out demons.He appointed the Twelve: To Simon, He gave the name Peter; and to James the son of Zebedee,and to his brother John, He gave the name "Boanerges"(that is, "Sons of Thunder"); Andrew; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot,and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.

In Business Terms

People are not hired, paid, or rewarded for being balanced, whole human beings in their work environment. They're rewarded for being highly specialized and for being on someone else's agenda - the large company's agenda, the law firm's agenda, the client's requirements. A lot of people lose touch with the "me" underneath all the performing.

Management expert Peter Drucker once told me that's why people go to pubs. There, they discover what he calls the "third person." The first person is the work person - the role you are at work. The second person is the role you are when you walk in your home. The third person is who you are when not confined by those other two roles. Perhaps the church equivalent of a pub is a small group. There, in a group setting, you're able to be that person God designed you to be. You're not circumscribed by your roles as sales vice-president or parent.