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My First Book:
How to Hire the Right People
Posted in: Uncategorized by DannyTice on June 14, 2010
When I was in grade school we used to have field day every year. Field day was a day of competition including the 50-yard dash, tug-of-war, a relay race and the infamous bag race. The competition that intrigued me the most was the “three-legged race”. This challenge featured two people standing side by side with their inside legs tied together and then they proceeded to walk (or try to walk) in unison. To succeed in the three-legged race there had to be a measure of compatibility in height or stature. Success in the three-legged race also required determination to learn the gate and rhythm of your partner. Teams that succeeded in the three-legged race wrapped their arms around each other and focused on working together while less diligent teams tumbled to ground.
When it comes to working together in local churches these two elements are imperative as well; we need to focus as one. There is a great advantage to building a team that sticks together through thick and thin. Each key leader you add to your leadership team must share compatibility with you as the leader and with other members of the team. Ask these questions honestly and openly with potential team additions. Do you understand the vision and mission of our church? Obviously you as a leader must know the mission and objective of your church or you cannot evaluate their answer. As the Lead Pastor own the vision openly in the hiring process. Declare this is what we are; this is what we are trying to do. How does that sound to you? I often ask this question to potential staff members; what is your idea of the ideal church? What would your “dream church” look like? If they describe a church that bears no resemblance of your dream church shake hands, buy them lunch and keep looking. Pastors sometimes are so anxious to plug a staff hole they sometimes plug the hole with dynamite (not good!). There must be compatibility on church goals and church style. If you think you can reform or reshape a person’s core ministry dreams and passions I have a really nice unicorn I would like to sell you. People have a certain church blueprint in their head and if it doesn’t match yours and the blueprint of your team than you are not going to have a pleasant, nor fruitful, journey together. In the past I have added people to my team that didn’t share my true core values. I have sometimes hired people that share a common history with me (went to Bible College with me) or had incredible credentials (great education or training). History and credentials are not sufficient to make a good partnership. A lasting working relationship emerges out of a shared passion for a distinctive blueprint of ministry.
I look at my current staff after almost thirty years of ministry and see very strong people. These strong people debate and struggle through day to day ministry decisions. Our meetings are lively and filled with openness and varying ideas on many things. No one is threatened by this “iron sharpening iron” (Proverbs 27:17) approach to ministry. The reason is we are compatible on a common dream. There may be disagreements about how to get there but there is never a disagreement about where we are going. Our legs and hearts are tied together as we head toward the finish line.