As I work with churches across the country, they all have one thing in common — they hire people they think will fit perfectly. In a short time, though, they discover they have made a big mistake. The person isn’t a good fit for the role.
Rodney Cox, the President and CEO of Ministry Insights, shared this story that highlights how we need to change the way we hire new leaders:
“Take a moment to do this simple exercise. First, grab a pen – I’m serious – grab a pen. Now that you have that pen in your hand, answer the following question: Why did you grab that pen with your dominant hand? What if I told you that it was predictable? And, if I asked you to do the same exercise 100 times, 99 out of 100 times you would grab the pen with your dominant hand.
“My brother was left-handed and my great-grandmother was from the old school. In her generation, people who were left-handed were considered to be of the devil. Every time my mom and dad left my brother and me at my grandmother’s house for an evening, we would normally have dinner in her home. My grandmother would spread the table and then cook our favorites. Everything would be wonderful until my bother would pick up his fork and start to eat. Inevitably, my brother would pick up his fork with his left hand. My grandmother would send my brother outside to pick a switch. She would then strip the switch and “switch” his legs. She would send him to bed without dinner.
“Just think about that for a moment! He was designed to eat with his left hand but was forced to leave that behind. How many of you think my brother looked forward to having dinner at my grandmother’s house?”
That’s exactly what happens in the case of hiring people. We try to find someone who will do the job like we would do the job. It’s more about how the task gets done. Instead, we should look at the bigger picture. We need to define what success looks like in the role and how that role supports the overall vision. Then we need to decide what strengths are needed in the job. All of that should happen before we start trying to hire someone for the job.
Ministry Insights has developed a free “Staffing Guide” that includes a step-by-step process for integrating their “Position Insights Profile” and the “Leading From Your Strengths Profile” into the your staffing process. The “Leading From Your Strengths Profile” is designed to take a snapshot of the strengths of an individual. When you link the two together, you have a process to hire and place the right people in the right positions.
Just so you know, I’m a firm believer in the profiles that Ministry Insights offers. The churches I’ve worked for use them in their hiring processes. I also use them when I’m hired in a consulting relationship with a church to do a staffing and structure review. They’re great tools to help you identify how God has wired someone up to fit a specific role on your ministry team.
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This is a sponsored post from the team at Ministry Insights. In addition to the Leading from Your Strengths profile, you may want to check out the 2011 Ministry Insights Equipping Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona coming this July.
