Building the Right Church Team

Sorry it has been so long since I posted a blog, but with the holiday and trying to get  some things done around the house… posting a blog was last on the to-do list.  Anyway, continuing in our Servant Leadership Series, we will discuss one of the most important strategic leadership characteristics… Recruiting.  Why Recruiting?

If you were to look at my profile on LinkedIn, you would find that recruiting has been a significant portion of my career both as a manager and then as an actual recruiter.  Of course, recruiting has a special importance to me, but if you are a successful leader, then you can attest to the strength that recruiting can bring to your overall strategic initiatives.

Let me make one point of clarification to be sure we are on the same page when discussing recruiting.  Recruiting is not simply hiring a warm body to fill a chair or hiring someone who seems the best out of all of those who applied to your posting on a website.  Recruiting is hiring the best of the best… sometimes, actually oftentimes, strategically.  Let’s look at how Jesus did it.

As a former recruiter, one of the behaviors managers displayed that really got under my skin was the idea of the “perfect candidate” residing in this box called a job description.  True, as a rule, you need to be sure you are hiring off of a job description for consistency and legal compliance, however, with that said, sometimes it is alright to go outside of the box.  I know, I am sounding like an HR Professional who is sitting on the fence… but this is one of those subjects I like to “play in the gray.”

Let’s look at Christ’s recruiting strategy.  The job description he was recruiting for was somewhat of a skeleton.  As a disciple, he would be looking for someone who was Jewish (OK, Christ did not have to comply with the EEOC, but nonetheless, it was a qualifier for him), outgoing, knew some of the Jewish history, willing to go on little or no salary, had some faith, and a couple of other ancillary qualifiers.  In Christ’s day, it would have made sense to begin recruiting out of the temple or from other religious hot spots, however, Christ worked outside of the box.

In Matthew 4, we find Jesus walking along the Sea of Galilee.  Some may have called him crazy for beginning his hunt for talent in such a place, but Christ knew something that others didn’t about the job description.  He knew that for a disciple, one of the most important of traits for them to have was the ability to hunt and gather.  This would not be something you would find in a person who simply “preached at” others.  He also wanted someone who knew what it meant to “cling to” a hope for life with everything you have.  Perhaps someone who knew what real work was and knew how to deal with the unexpected situations, but still had the ability to sit in awe of wonder.  What type of Pharisee would have those characteristics?  Why would Jesus even go after those type when fishermen know what it is like to be at the mercy of something greater than you, all the while, still trying to keep your focus on the task at hand.  They knew the fear and awe of awesome power that had the ability to restore and destroy.  The fishermen had passion and zeal.  They were an all or nothing sort of bunch.

These are the men Christ strategically chose to carry out his mission.  Did they meet all of the qualifications immediately?  Of course not.  Christ took three years out to train them, walk alongside them, and serve as a mentor.  He taught them great things, but never shrunk from disciplining them.  He taught them both through words and example how to lead others.  Christ saw in these fishermen what we would not see… potential.

True recruiting is strategic, but more importantly it is an investment.  Sure, if you are looking for a great salesperson, the ideal situation would be to participate in “corporate thieving” and snatch them from a competitor.  In fact, that is smart business.  Although I have participated in this type of strategy in the past, I would like to get you to take a moment to consider a different thought.  How much more could you get from someone who has all of the potential and willingness, but maybe not all of the qualifications?  Could you not gain more from investing in this type of a candidate than simply getting someone who would jump from one ship to yours?  Chances are, they would most likely jump from your ship to another ship before too long.  So what am I getting at?

Very simply put, if you are looking for a dynamic executive pastor, chances are, you would want someone who had a degree in ministry, etc.  I would daresay a number of more than qualified candidates would be looked over without such a qualification being met.  I hate to be coy, but let’s use the old phrase, “What would Jesus do?”

If we were to use Matthew 4 as an example, I would imagine (humbly) that Christ would look within the church community for someone who had great organization and administrative skills.  Someone who was bold and not afraid of following through in tough times, but also someone who had a passion for the Gospel.  This person would not have to be a Martin Luther, just someone who knew how to witness, but more importantly, how to be a Christian Leader.

Using this example, there may be someone in your church right now who is retiring from a senior level position within a corporation or has recently sold their business.  They have all the right stuff, but just don’t have the ministry degree.  What would most churches do?  They’d pass him over.  What would Jesus do?   Well, I would see Jesus play not only on words, but play more on the person’s strengths and then mentor them through the rest.  Remember, Peter was not the brightest bulb in the basket, but Christ chose to take him from being a simple fisherman to a fisher of men.  Looking at Peter’s record,  I would think he fit the part.

Usually, when you take this type of an approach, you not only have the rare opportunity to develop someone in the ways you chose, but also have the wonderful gift of loyalty.  As a recruiter,  I can personally attest to just how many candidates I tried to recruit away from competitors who would not even speak with me out of loyalty to their company.  Most of the time, when I was able to speak with them, I found the company’s investment in the candidate’s success to be a common story.  Looking at Matthew 4 and the rest of the Gospel, I would have to believe that it also suggest loyalty as a result of investment.

We will be discussing recruiting in a couple more blogs forthcoming.  We will look at recruiting alongside of mentoring in the Servant Leadership Series.  What have been some of your successes using this type of a strategy?

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About the Writer:

Trent Cotton has spent a number of years in management and business consulting. After spending some time in the field, he joined the HR department, beginning in recruiting and eventually serving as the Department Head of HR for one of the major lines of business. With such a varied background, he works to bring all of these together to help churches and other Christian organizations incorporate some common business practices into their ministries to enable them to better serve the Kingdom. He currently works for SourcePointe, an HR Outsourcing Agency while continuing to own and operate Christian Management Consulting as a ministry. In his free time, he also writes a lot on Church Development as a Church Consultant.