Someone from outside our organization asked me recently about the leaders we hire at Granger. I may not share the exact same view on this as the other pastors I work with, but I thought you might be interested in my response. Here’s what I said:

Let me say this up front: the reason the leaders on my team are so successful in their roles is because they first love Jesus and, in a very close second, they love our ministry. I believe, that’s the key to any successful ministry hire…especially in a leadership role. The person has to love the church. And, that’s why we typically try to hire people from the inside–people who already attend and serve at our church. We already know the stuff that’s hard to measure. We’ve had a chance to witness their faith journey. We’ve seen how they interact with others. We know their passion for what they do and their heart for the ministry. Frankly, I think it’s all these variables that don’t show up on a resume that really determine the success of someone’s role on the team.

Regarding skills, there are probably some basic skills and experiences that are required for any position. You probably know those better than I do. Here’s why I hire the leaders I hire though. I don’t hire them to do the role. I hire them to:

  • Champion the mission, vision and values of our church
  • Build teams with staff and primarily with volunteers
  • Manage significant projects
  • Model loyalty to the pastoral leadership team
  • Bring the right resources together on the right projects
  • Think strategically about systems especially as it relates to helping people connect to our ministry
  • Learn what the best marketplace leaders are doing and help us implement similar strategies to reach people for Jesus
  • Help us operate and get our message out as if we’re a church of 12,000 rather than a church of 6,000

And, this may just be me, but I love working with leaders that are confident about who they are and what they need to do, yet they are humble about who they are and what they get to do. I’m looking for that perfect balance. The leaders I work with need to have the confidence to push back when they don’t agree with a direction we’re taking. That’s a good thing. But, by the same token, I need to have complete confidence that he or she trusts the leadership. Even in instances where ultimately there’s disagreement (hopefully that’s rare), the leaders on my team will be in the trenches championing where we’re going next. Again, that’s a part of someone’s character that doesn’t show up on a resume.

What do you think? Am I hiring the right leaders? What am I missing?

If you’re curious to hear more about who we hire at Granger, that’s the topic of our newest episode of the Simply Strategic Show this week. I’ll let you know as soon as that episode is available.

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