5 Reasons I Would Never Hire You

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5 Reasons I Would Never Hire You

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to hire a lot of people. Student Ministry Pastors, Campus Pastors, Children’s Pastors, Worship Pastors, Executive level roles and Administrative roles. I’ve run the searches myself and used an Executive Search Firm. I’ve even had the opportunity as a consultant to help other churches find their right next hire. Hire the right person and the whole team benefits. When you invite the right person to join your team not only is there is an infusion of new talent, but also new ideas, fresh eyes, and a new well of experiences to go to. One new hire can make the entire team better. On the other hand, hire the wrong person and you can pay a price you weren’t prepared to pay. While at first pass this post may come off as negative, the goal I can assure you, is to be helpful. I’ve had to say no to more people than I’ve said yes to. My hope is that this post will help move you in the direction where you’d hear me, or someone else, say yes to you in the near future.

1. Attitude

Your attitude is more valuable than your aptitude. You can learn skills, and talent can be developed, but attitude is one of those things you either have or you don’t. I want you to come in and help make the team better, and a bad attitude or critical spirit never makes the team better.

2. Track Record

I’m not all that impressed by big talkers. Sales pitches usually don’t work on me. So don’t try and impress me and sell me on what you’re going to do. Show me what you’ve done. And while it doesn’t necessarily need to be “big,” it does needs to have been done well and there needs to be a track record of progressive responsibility. Over and over and over again…all throughout the Bible when people who have been faithful with the little they’re given, they are then are given an opportunity to be faithful with more.

3. Creative Problem Solving

Please don’t think that when you finally arrive in a large church that you’ll finally have the resources you wish you had in a smaller church you were serving in. Like a lot of things, resource challenges often scale. You need to have a proven track record of resourcefulness. Instead of being frustrated at resource challenges or other potential issues learn to live on the solution side of every problem. Develop an eye for opportunity and improvement not a critical spirit that tears people and ministries down.

4. High E.Q.

You’ve got to demonstrate a high level of emotional intelligence if you’re going to be very successful in ministry over the long haul. Relationships are both the glue and the grease that make work happen in the workplace. And at the end of the day if you don’t like to and don’t want to be around people, you’re going to have a pretty tough time in local church ministry.

5. I Actually Like You

This may seem like the shallowest one on the list, but it may just be the most important factor in any hire. The reason why is chemistry and culture. While I’m not paying you to be my friend, friendship is an incredibly high value on my team. You see if I can’t picture you getting along with the team and me, if I can’t picture hanging out with you, if you don’t have a similar DNA to the team your joining then chances are you don’t belong on the team.

Photo Credit: Jeffrey Simms Photography via Compfight cc

Posted in Staffing

A Large Multisite Church in Phoenix is Hiring a Preteen Pastor

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

I’m pleased to announce a new Staff Search. Sun Valley Community Church, the church I have the honor of serving at, is beginning a national search for a Preteen Pastor to lead the ministry to 5th & 6th grade students on our Gilbert Campus. Sun Valley began as a church plant in 1990 in Chandler, Arizona. Over the years Sun Valley has grown into a large mult-site church in the Phoenix metro area. Currently there are three campuses located in Gilbert, Tempe and Casa Grande with a total weekend attendance of over 5,000 people. Sun Valley was recently named by Outreach Magazine as one of the top 10 fastest growing churches in America. The Gilbert Campus is the original and largest campus with well over 3,500 in weekly average attendance. Sun Valley was recently featured in a new book by Leadership Network about church mergers: Better Together: Making Church Mergers Work. To learn more about that story click here Part-1 and Part-2.

Interested in learning more? Continue reading below:

Posted in Staffing

5 Reasons I Would Hire You

Sunday, April 13, 2014

One of the most enjoyable things I get to do is to recruit and on-board new team members. Hire the right person and the whole team benefits. When you invite the right person to join your team not only is there an infusion of new talent, but also new ideas, fresh eyes, and a new well of experiences to go to. One new hire can literally improve the performance of the entire team. Below are five characteristics that I’m looking for when I’m hiring someone or helping churches make the next right hire. I’m not sure if these are what most high-powered companies, or even what most churches are looking for in their next hires. But if they’re not, they’re making a big mistake.

1. Attitude

Attitude is more valuable than aptitude every day of the week. Skills can be learned and talent can be developed, but attitude is one of those things you either have or you don’t. You can give someone all of the necessary tools to do their job, an incredible work environment and a strong organizational culture to work within. But if they don’t have the right attitude they’ll fail every time, and worse they’ll take the whole team down with them.

2. Track Record

Don’t try and impress me and sell me on what you’re going to do. Don’t start talking with me about theory and all the ideas that you learned about in the classroom. Show me what you’ve done. And while it doesn’t necessarily need to be “big,” it does needs to have been done well. Over and over and over again…all throughout the Bible when people have been faithful with a little they’re given an opportunity to be faithful with more. Real leadership is never appointed, it’s always recognized. Show me.

3. Creative Problem Solving

In church-world you’re not going to have a lot of financial, facility, or staffing resources to throw at problems. Which means you’re going to have to get creative. You’re going to have to be flexible, nimble and live on the solution side of problems. It doesn’t take a lot of talent to point out what’s wrong, just about anyone can do that. But it takes a resourceful leader to come up with creative solutions and move things forward.

4. High E.Q.

At the end of the day if you don’t like and don’t want to be around people, you’re going to have a pretty tough time in local church ministry. Relationships are both the glue and the grease that make work happen in the workplace. You’ve got to demonstrate a high level of emotional intelligence if you’re going to be very successful in ministry over the long haul. Follow this link if you’re interested in learning more about developing your E.Q.

5. I Actually Like You

This may sound like the shallowest one on the list, but it may just be the most important factor in any hire. The reason why is culture. Your church has a culture and if you’ve been there for a while then chances are you are leading through the filter of you church’s culture. If you can’t see yourself getting along with the potential hire, wanting to hang out with them, if they don’t have a similar DNA to the team their joining then chances are, they don’t belong on the team.

Posted in Staffing

You Are Who You Hire

Sunday, March 23, 2014

As a kid I can remember being coerced into eating my broccoli with phrases like, “you are what you eat.” Well…that and a lot of melted cheese. And while that’s true when it comes to eating healthy, the principle also holds true when it comes to who you hire. If you lead long enough and well enough than eventually you are going to have to hire and fire people on your team. Hiring a new team member is a powerful and often overlooked moment in many churches and organizations. It’s an opportunity for an infusion of new talent, new ideas, if done well it challenges the status qua, and you inherit a brand new library of experiences to learn from. A hire that’s done well raises the water line for the entire team.

The reason that a new hire is so powerful and pivotal is because people lead out of who they are and the organization or church always takes on the personality of the leader. In other words, you are who you hire. No matter what their skill set, abilities, experiences or personality is; people always lead through the filter of their unique identity. That’s why these next two statements are so important.

Hire from the inside when you like what you already have.

If you like the culture of what you already have in your church or organization, if you like the direction things are going and you want to keep going that way then hire from within. Because people who are on the inside already get your culture, the way you do things, and the direction you’re going.

Hire from the outside when you want to change what you have.

If you are ready for a change in culture, direction, way of doing things, an upgrade in talent or a new skill set is needed in your church or organization then it’s time to hire from the outside. Because if the people inside were going to lead it there they would already be doing it.

People lead out of who they are, and if they’re not who you are, or who you want to be, then don’t hire them. Because you are who you hire.

Posted in Staffing

5 Articles that will Help You Make Vision Real

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Thank you for making February a great month here at Helping Churches Make Vision Real! It’s fun to be a part of the interaction on social media and hear about how helpful the content has been. So, thank you for connecting with me through the content on this blog! You made these the top 5 Posts from this last month. If you missed out on any of them, here they are all in one place for your convenience!

#1 How 2nd Chair Leaders Lead Up

In working with leaders around the country one of the most frequently asked questions that I hear is, “How do I lead up?” In other words, second chair leaders are asking, “How do I support my leader while influencing them at the same time?” Below are six methods that the best second chair leaders I’ve met utilize to “lead up.”

#2 How to Convince Your Sr. Pastor to Join a Small Group

One of the most common points of frustration I hear from church leaders around the country is, “My Senior Pastor wants Small Groups to be a big deal at our church, but they won’t be in a Small Group themselves.” And the natural follow up question that’s asked right after that statement, “How do I get my Senior Pastor to be in a Small Group?” In an attempt to answer that question, here are a couple of steps you can take to help convince your Sr. Pastor that they need to be in a Small Group.

#3 How to Lead Through Crisis

If you lead long enough eventually you’re going to find yourself leading through a crisis, and it’s at this moment that leadership is needed most. Even an average leader looks great when momentum is on their side and things are going well. But a crisis or downturn has a way of revealing the true identity of a leader. Great leaders lean into crisis because they intuitively understand that crisis is an opportunity for change and could be their greatest leadership moment. In the consulting work I do with The UnStuck Group often times it’s the pain of a crisis or downturn that helps churches realize that they’re stuck and motivates them to seek help. Pain often times can be a great motivator for change. While crisis is a window of opportunity for incredible leadership moments, the approach you take to leading through crisis matters.

#4 A Large Multisite Church in Phoenix is Hiring a High School Pastor

I’m pleased to announce a new Staff Search. Sun Valley Community Church, is beginning a search for a High School Pastor to serve on our Tempe Campus. Sun Valley began as a church plant in 1990 in Chandler, Arizona. Over the years Sun Valley has grown into a large mult-site church in the Phoenix metro area. Currently there are three campuses located in Gilbert, Tempe and Casa Grande with a total weekend attendance of over 5,000 people. Sun Valley was recently named by Outreach Magazine as one of the top 10 fastest growing churches in America. The Tempe Campus is the result of a merger in October of 2011 with Bethany Community Church. In the merger Sun Valley acquired a 16-acre, 8 building campus with over 100,000 sq. ft. under roof. Since the merger the campus has doubled in attendance and at present attendance is over 1,000. When fully utilized the campus capacity will accommodate 7,000 people. Sun Valley was recently featured in a new book by Leadership Network about church mergers: Better Together: Making Church Mergers Work. To learn more about that story click here Part-1 and Part-2.

#5 Why the Church Wins When the Church Staff are in a Small Group

I talk to church leaders all the time who bring up how lonely they feel in leadership. My response? You’re as lonely as you want to be. Yes, relationships are risky. Any time you entrust your heart with others there’s a chance that it won’t be handled well. And I understand that church leaders often feel pressure to perform and live up to unrealistic expectations of perfection. But if the church staff chooses to shrink back from vulnerability and authenticity in relationship with others then you’ll build a culture of superficial pretending in your church. That’s why when the church staff takes the risk and jumps into a small group bible study the whole church wins!

Posted in Leadership

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