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My Next Steps Update

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It’s been a while since I last updated you on what’s happening in my life. Though my family and I are still at NewSpring Church, I left the staff team about 10 weeks ago. Since then, Emily and I have been praying and talking a lot about our next steps. Here’s where we think we’re heading in this next season:

Connected to a Local Church – I can’t imagine not being connected to a local church. We need a place for our family to call home. I’m considering opportunities where I can serve on a ministry team in a part-time leadership capacity. At this point in my life, it would be difficult to write, teach and coach about leadership and ministry strategy in the Church without actually being engaged in ministry.

Coaching & Consulting – At the same time, I have a calling to encourage, equip and challenge church leaders. With that, I’ve taken steps in recent months to get more focused about coaching and consulting opportunities. It’s been a lot of fun. I’ve had a chance to connect with churches of all shapes and sizes throughout the country. Let me know if you’re interested in future coaching networks or consulting engagements.

Strategic Partnerships – As I’m connecting with growing churches, I’m also noticing some opportunities where I can help identify strategic next steps but I either don’t have the expertise or the time to fulfill specific needs. Because of that, I’ve developed partnerships with some great organizations to assist churches with areas like creative design, brand strategy, technology, executive recruiting, stewardship and facility design and construction.

Specifically, one of the areas that I frequently get requests for assistance is with recruiting and selecting staff leaders. I love helping churches define strategy and structure for health and growth, but I don’t have the time and expertise to handle all aspects of executive recruiting. That’s why I’ve developed a strategic partnership with William Vanderbloemen and the team at FaithSearch Partners. They’ve worked with churches from a variety of denominations and many sizes of congregations, ranging from 1,000 to 15,000 in attendance.

I love helping churches define their strategy and structure and then make sure they have the right people on the right seat on the bus. If that’s your church, I’d welcome the opportunity to talk more. Feel free to email me and let’s talk about how we can bring a team together to help you take your next steps.

It Takes 12 Months

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I just want to save you all the frustration right now. I’ve experienced it a few times in my life. I’ve watched others confirm it in their lives.

It takes 12 months in any new job to figure out the role.

I’m talking about leadership roles here. If you are a widget-fabricator, maybe it’s different for you. For those of us that transition into new leadership positions, though, it always takes a full year to find out what we were really hired to do.

In those 12 months, we get to figure out what the unspoken expectations are. We have the opportunity to determine how our uniqueness fits into the unique organization that now provides our paycheck. We have the chance to see how we relate and work beside the people on our team. It takes 12 months. Until then, we aren’t really adding true value. We’re just trying to survive.

This is why finding the right people before you offer the job is so important. This is why finding the right employer before accepting the job is so important. This is why keeping the right people in your organization is so important. Every time the position opens, we lose 12 months.

By the way, the corollary to this principle is that you can also hide for 12 months. That’s why I never really trust anyone that hops from job to job…even if it appears they’re moving up the career ladder. If they haven’t proven themselves in one organization for a period of time, I assume they never really made an impact.

That groan you just heard was from the guys on my team that just realized they still have several months to go.

Funny Staff Handbook Excerpts

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As promised before I left for my Thanksgiving trip, I’ve compiled a list of funny staff handbook guidelines. Here they are in no particular order:

  • “We actually have a policy about policies… The handbook is finally being revised right now, so much of the knuckleheadedness will be going away.” – Kirt
  • Male employees must wear a tie… Silk is the preferred fabric and the pattern should be conservative (no flying toasters, etc. nothing George Bush wouldn’t wear.)  Learn to tie an appropriate knot (avoid the “puggies”) and avoid loosening your top button—it usually shows that you didn’t buy the proper sized shirt. – Don
  • “About two years ago, we were calling a new Organist/Director of Music. We don’t have a personnel handbook, per se…..so the Music Committee took it upon themselves to draft a letter of agreement with the new hire. Among other things, he was directed to wear ‘dark slacks and socks’ on Sundays so as to ‘compliment his choir robe.’” – Rob
  • “My church copied their staff handbook from someone’s business. Only problem was that it gave all the employees Christmas Eve and Easter off.” – Jon

There you go. Feel free to share more. I particularly like the one on having Easter off.

Funny Staff Handbook Guidelines

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Everyone pull out your staff handbook. (You certainly know where it is don’t you?) I’m betting there are some guidelines in your staff handbook that at one time made a lot of sense but now seem a little ridiculous. They’re kind of like blue laws. In fact, some portions of your staff handbook probably sound down right funny.

I want to see those sections. Email me. Leave a comment here. I’ll compile the best of the worst in a post that will be published sometime after Thanksgiving.

I can’t wait to see what you have to share. This should be fun.

Hire Using the “I Like You” Test

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Last week one of the folks on my team was chatting with my wife, Emily. During the conversation, that staffer shared:

“I can tell Tony hired everyone on our team because we all get along so well.”

That’s encouraging for me to hear. Not to be too boastful, but it’s true. I get to work each day with a world-class team that has huge capacity. It’s a dream team. Here’s the best part — I actually enjoy hanging out with them as well. They’re fun!

You can have that kind of team as well, but you’ll have to work at it.

  • You’ll have to have tough conversations when you find that someone is in the wrong role or doesn’t have the right personality fit.
  • You’ll have to hire people using the “I Like You” test instead of just using the “Can You Perform the Job?” test.
  • You’ll have to be patient (it took me about 18 months) before you can bring the right people together.
  • You’ll have to dream big to attract big talent.
  • You’ll have to be intentional about scheduling “fun time” to complement the “work like maniacs” time.
  • You’ll have to give people the freedom to do their thing instead of just telling them where they can go.
  • You’ll have to be interested in things like their family, their health, their spiritual journey and not just their job performance.

You could have a dream team as well, but something tells me you’re too lazy, too afraid or not disciplined enough to make that happen.

Hope you feel challenged by that statement. You should be. Our mission is a big one, and you deserve a dream team to accomplish it.

It also makes ministry and life a lot more fun.

Perry Noble on “Resign Today” and More

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Earlier this afternoon, I interviewed Perry Noble. We discussed the recent “Resign Today” post on my blog. Then we hit other fun topics like the election results, hiring and NewSpring’s future. Here’s the interview in two parts.

What should I do with my life?

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We had a fun conversation this morning at our “check-in” meeting regarding yesterday’s “Resign Today” post. I don’t take credit for any of these thoughts. They come directly from the folks that work on my team.

  • Several of my staff explained that Perry’s challenge is certainly not how corporate America operates. In fact, one of my staff people said, “At one time there were 15 people working in my area and all 15 people didn’t like their job.” That’s just accepted in the marketplace.
  • 6 out of 8 people on my team were offered more money to stay in a corporate job they didn’t like…and their superiors knew they didn’t want to be in their job.
  • A couple of guys acknowledged poor job fit pollutes relationships with other people especially with co-workers and spouses. (I can speak from experience on this one. It’s part of my “killing cockroaches” story. When I’ve been discouraged by my job situation, it has impacted my marriage.)
  • One of the folks on my team said, “If this is how people in ministry are reacting, imagine how people working in the marketplace are wrestling with this issue.”
  • One of the guys said, generally speaking, people tend to “drop anchor and not move.” That’s true. Change, whether it’s healthy or not, is difficult. Another guy shared, “Finding God’s will usually involves us doing something rather than waiting for him to do something.”

While we’re on the topic of what we should all be doing with our lives, this morning I worked out a fun opportunity with the folks at Thomas Nelson. Five readers of my blog are going to receive a free copy of Marcus Buckingham’s new resource called The Truth About You. You have to earn it though.

I want to read the truth about you. Submit a comment to this post sharing one truth about your past. The more colorful the truth you share without lying, the more likely you are to win. I’ll select the top five truth-tellers who will receive a free copy of The Truth About You.

Can’t wait to hear your stories. And, don’t forget, you have to tell the truth.

Resign Today!

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Last Thursday our entire staff team gathered at the Greenville campus. I think we have just over 100 folks on our team now. That includes the folks from the Florence, Anderson, Greenville and the Internet campuses.

Our entire staff meets once a month. This time, we had a time of worship, prayer and teaching. Then our team ate barbecue together. It was a lot of fun.

During the teaching, though, Perry shared this challenge:

“If you’re not working your dream job, resign today.”

The day before he shared that with the staff, Perry asked a few of us if he should be that bold with that challenge. We encouraged him to lay it all out on the line. In fact, we decided in advance that we would provide a three-month severance package for any staff member who agreed to resign within 24 hours.

We want staff leaders that are passionate about the mission of NewSpring Church. We believe that what we are doing is critical to the lives of thousands of people. People’s eternities are at stake. There’s an urgency to our mission that requires a team that’s fully engaged in our cause.

  • We can’t afford to pay people to be bitter about their job situation.
  • We can’t afford to pay people to try to figure out what God wants them to do.
  • We can’t afford to pay people to wish they were someplace else doing something different.

As Perry suggested, you can go to Hardee’s and flip burgers (or Carl’s Jr. if you’re on the left coast) and get paid to do that, but we’re not going to pay you to do that at NewSpring.

This was a challenge for NewSpring staff, but I think it’s a challenge for any person in any job. If you’re not doing what you are created to do, you should resign today. If you aren’t passionate about what you are doing, you should resign today. If you can’t commit fully to the mission of your organization, you should resign today.

Any way you cut it, life is too short to just work for a paycheck. Figure out what God created you to do, and go do that.

Finding Talent

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I wish I had the time (and the brain) to come up with just a small percentage of the insightful thoughts that Seth Godin generates. Until that happens, chew on this quote from Seth from earlier today:

“…Organizations that work best with extraordinary talent are almost certainly not investing enough in finding and developing it. If marketing works so well that you spend a fortune on it, why aren’t you marketing your jobs? If talent is so important that you are betting the company on it, why aren’t you actually investing in finding and retaining that talent?”

What do you think? Does this principle apply to ministry organizations with either staff or volunteer roles? Have you noticed any non-profits that are doing this effectively?

Finding Mr. or Mrs. Right

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Curtis emailed me this morning asking me to blog about interviewing tips. I’m assuming it might be related to this job opening at Fellowship Technologies. I’ve shared some of my philosophy in the past. Here’s a snippet.

Just like with a marriage relationship, your business relationship is more likely to last because of the intangibles you’ll discover over time rather than the details you might find on someone’s resume. For a moment, forget about education, experience and skills, and answer these questions:

  • Does this person love our church (or organization)? Have they demonstrated that they fully embrace our mission, vision and values?
  • What motivates this person? Will they soar in the role I’m offering, or will it just become a job to earn a paycheck?
  • Does he or she want to continue to grow? Does she like to read? Does he take time to think? Does she make it a priority to dream and to create?
  • Is this person a leader? With a limited amount of money to invest in staff, I need someone who will help me multiply the ministry. Will this person help me do that?
  • Does this person have a track record of success? Do they have the potential to help the church (or organization) reach the next level?
  • Do I like this person? Does he or she have a fun personality? Am I going to enjoy spending fifty hours or more each week with this person? (This one is HUGE! Listen to your gut…that’s probably the Holy Spirit giving you direction.)

In my experience, when trying to find the best talent, these types of questions are far more important than learning whether or not someone has a big, fancy resume.

Here’s the rest of the article on Pastors.com.

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