Why You Should Stop Comparing Candidates When Hiring 

Of all the difficult decisions leaders must make, hiring and firing are certainly toward the top.

Finding the best people for an open position is always challenging. Often we interview many people looking for that perfect fit. During the process, often two candidates rise to the top. When this happens, something dangerous is right around the corner:

The Personnel Comparison Trap.

In this NEW POST, I unpack the trap and give you some tips to avoid it when you are making your next hire.

3 Statements to Better Handle Unsolicited Advice

Does everyone seem to be a critic in your church?

I mean, how often do you hear, “Can I give you a little suggestion?”

I get it. I critique everything we do, as well. When you are a part of something, you want it to be great. When you serve and give to a church, you want your time and resources to be leveraged in the best way possible. Unfortunately, “great” is quite subjective.

I’m sure everyone means well. But hearing this week in and week out doesn’t do my heart well.

I use to respond with a simple “Thanks for your feedback. We’re working on that…” Sometimes that was true. Sometimes that was just an acceptable response. Sometimes that was a way more acceptable response that I wanted to give! Either way, it typically ended the conversation.

I’ve discovered a new and better approach. And it seems to be working.

In this NEW ARTICLE, I outline the three statements that me and the unsolicited advisor move forward together.

It will take you less than 5 minutes to read this in full.

You Are Necessary, Becuase Change is Needed

NEW ARTICLE: 2.5 Minute Read…

If you’re a leader, you are needed. 

Probably more than you even realize. I know you don’t need my validation, but humor me for a few minutes. I want to explain why you are required.

Some quick linguistic context first, though. Words matter, and at times, we inappropriately use words interchangeably. We tend to do this with leadership and management. Interestingly, much of what we consider “leadership” is just management. Forming budgets, organizing teams, administering programs, and paying bills, while important, aren’t leadership efforts. This is the stuff of management. Don’t get me wrong, management is critical to organizational success, but this isn’t leadership. It’s management. Management is the process of organizing and administering what exists.

Then what is leadership? I’m glad you asked.

Leadership is the act of creating what must exist.

Leaders innovate and conceive. Leaders look at where things are against where things could or should be and close the gap. Leaders start companies, redefine product lines, and introduce new ventures. Leaders move locations. They change models and institute new strategies. This is the dynamic of leadership. It’s the action of creating what needs to exist. 

Ultimately, leaders create internal change to meet the ongoing presence of any external evolution. Leaders exist because change is required. And change is necessary because the world around us never stagnates. No business, company, or church is immune to our changing world. Just ask Blockbuster, Kodak, or the defunct church down the street.

Change is unrelenting. In the words of Heraclitus, “the only constant in life is change.” There is no stopping the change external to us. As leaders, we choose to change with the times or get left behind – personally, professionally, and organizationally. That why your leadership is so necessary. That’s why understanding and embracing change leadership and transition management are vital to success. 

Take a moment and remove your management hat. How is your church, really? Are there things that need to change?

Let me give you some potential options I see floundering in many churches today:
– Your culture
– Your staff structure
– Your strategy
– Your model and methods
– Your vision
– Your digital and physical channel alignment
– Your volunteer recruitment, retainment, and engagement
– Your generosity stream
– Your engagement pathway
– Your guest experience 

You don’t have to change anything, of course. You can choose to manage what you have. In doing so, I fear that you will one day look back and realize the opportunity to change has passed. 

It might be time to take a long, hard look in the mirror and decide to engage some change. Your community, your congregation, and those following you will be grateful. Not initially, but eventually. 

3 Reasons You Should Learn From People Different Than You

LearningDifferentPeople

Here’s a questions I’m working through:

Does the breadth of your learning impact the depth of your learning?

I know… I think in tweets. But to say it a little less 140 character’ish: How much more could we learn by expanding the context of our education? And I don’t mean studying more people in your current industry. Granted, it’s not natural to study other industries and organizational leaders unlike us, but I think finding breadth could be a hidden ingredient to accelerated growth.

This idea hit me recently while at a conference. It was a great conference full of wonderful leaders – who I’ver heard from too many times to count. I saw an advertisement for another conference. Guess who was speaking? Basically the same people. Don’t get me wrong. I love and respect these leaders. They’re my mentors – some directly. But I wonder – does a homogenous learning community stunt growth at some point?

As a pastor, I primarily learn from other churches, church leaders, and church models. As a younger leader, that was a great place to start. Seeing other perspectives and approaches to church helped solidify how I wanted to create and lead a local church. There was great clarity found in watching those who were already doing it. Yet, the more comfortable I got as a leader in my church, the more critical I became of leaders in the church. I accidentally replaced learning with critiquing.

Of course, that’s not a healthy dynamic, but it is a natural progression. When we visit other organizations within our industry, we are hyper-critical of what we understand (or think we understand).

Unplugging the Microwave of Success

Have you heard the soundtrack to the hit broadway musical “Hamilton?” If you’ve seen the actual musical, just keep that to yourself — intentionally causing envy is tantamount to envy, itself.

The music is quite spectacular. And historically insightful, too. My kids are way more knowledgeable about the Founding Fathers due to our time in the car together. It makes me question everything about my school upbringing! Hip hop trumps note-taking all day long.

Production aside, Alexander Hamilton was quite an amazing guy. He accomplished much, including establishing one of the first banks in America, the Bank of New York. Here’s what made me take a step back while jamming along to the soundtrack — it took Hamilton seven years to establish the bank’s charter. I know, the local community bank went up in a months time, and that seemed like forever in today’s world, but think about that for a moment. Seven years. That’s a long time to focus on something. Anything.

A Much Better Way to Respond to Unsolicited Advice

Does everyone seem to be a critic in your church?

I mean, how often do you hear, “Can I give you just a small suggestion?”

I get it. I critique everything we do, as well. When you are a part of something, you want it to be great. When you serve and give to a church, you want your time and resources to be leveraged in the best way possible. Unfortunately, “great” is quite subjective. Every opinion is just that — an opinion. Good, bad, or terrible. Insert pithy quote about armpits and … you know the rest.

“The music is so loud.” “Too quiet.” “Too bassy.” “Not thumping enough.”
“The sermon is too long.” “Too short.” “Not helpful.” “TOO helpful (substitute convicting).”
“It’s too crowded.”
“Somebody sat in my seat.”
“There wasn’t enough … Scripture, songs, parking, coffee, snacks, blah, blah blah.”
“There was too much … Scripture, songs, parking, coffee, snacks, blah, blah blah.”

I’m sure everyone means well. But hearing this week in and week out doesn’t do my heart well.

I use to respond with a simple “Thanks for your feedback. We’re working on that…” Sometimes that was true. Sometimes that was just an acceptable response. Sometimes that was a way more acceptable response that I wanted to give! Either way, it typically ended the conversation.

After eight years of receiving unsolicited suggestions, though, I’ve decided on a new approach. And it seems to be working.

Do Labels Limit Potential?

Do you have a label maker in your workplace? Or maybe at home like I do? A small little printer with only one purpose in life: labels. My wife really loves label maker, which explains our pantry. She’s labeled every bin, which felt like overkill until I needed to distinguish between powdered sugar and all-purpose flour. A light dusting of flour on your pancakes isn’t a good as you probably imagine!

My wife isn’t alone in her love of labeling. People by nature love to label things. You have probably labeled something today — or many somethings. Not necessarily physically, but mentally. And that could be a good thing. Labels are helpful. And labels give context. A label describes what we know and what we can expect. Powdered sugar or flour. Black beans or green.

Here’s where labeling goes downhill. Unfortunately, as a leader, our propensity to label things often transfers to labeling people. We do it for the same reason as the bins in my pantry — labeling people gives us context. It helps us understand who people are and what we can expect. We label people through personality test, which is often helpful, as these types of tests give us context on how to best lead individuals individually. We label people’s roles though job descriptions and titles. Again, helpful for us and the person on the other end of the role. If we could stop the labeling there, maybe all would be fine. But we don’t. In fact, it’s as if we can’t. We love context too much to stop with personality characteristics and job descriptions.

Giving Yourself Some Growing Grace

If you are leading in any way, no doubt you are faced with potential personal growth opportunities. These opportunities come in various forms. Some are easy to understand while others are more complex. Some learnings are easier to implement than others. Unfortunately, the most difficult aspect of personal growth isn’t identifying the growth opportunity, but rather dealing with our implementation attempts and setbacks.

The Power of Proximity

Have you ever been passed over simply because you were not around when opportunity came?

Don’t feel bad—it’s the power of proximity, and it’s a normal function of organizational life. Those closest to the point leader often find themselves with the most opportunities. Not necessarily because they are the most talented, or the most capable, or even the best fit, but because they are there.

I’ll go ahead and say it for you: “That doesn’t seem fair.” It’s not, but neither is life, which doesn’t make anyone feel better, but nevertheless.

Obviously, there are some drawbacks to proximity, but for a driven, young leader, the advantages typically far outweigh the disadvantages. Young leaders want new challenges and opportunities. They want to learn through experienced and be coached on their performance. They want to better understand and contribute to the bigger picture, and there is no picture bigger than that carried by the point leader. Being near him or her matters.

Neutralizing Your Fear to Lead Change

What’s keeping you from making a change?

There are some things that are unchangeable—things outside of our control. But what about the stuff that we do control? What about the stuff that we can change. The places where we have autonomy or authority.

– You’re a business leader, and your primary product is slipping in market share. If something doesn’t change soon, you’ll be out of business. You know it. Your staff knows it. Your competition knows it.

– You’re a team leader, and your staff is growing complacent. Moral is low, people are beginning to leave, and you know something must change internally for the team to be a team once again. You’re the leader. You have the power to make a change.

– You’re a pastor or church leader. Things have grown stagnant in the congregation. People are still attending, but they aren’t engaging like before. They arrive late and leave early. New families are not showing up. You know something must change if you are going to reach the community again. You’re the leader. You know what’s wrong, and you believe you can fix it. You can make the shift. You can implement the change.

– You’re a parent, and you sense your influence is lessening because your relationship is slipping. Something needs to change. If it doesn’t transition soon, you fear the opportunity to change will be gone forever.

– In your personal life, some areas are a mess. That’s the best way to describe how you feel. Physically you are a mess. Emotionally a mess. Spiritually a mess. Maybe a habit needs to be put down, or a relationship needs to be ended. Change is necessary, and your know it.

What’s keeping you from making a change?

There are many reasons we resist changing what is actually under our control to change. In my life, there are three specific fears that have caused me to pause instead of pushing me to progress. If you’re a leader, you’ve probably experienced them, too.

1. Fear of failure.

We know the only failure is a failure to learn, but intellectually embracing a pithy statement is much easier than holding to it literally. Failure is such a strong deterrent for change that we often choose the status quo of apathy, mediocrity, and even small failure. That is nonsensical, but we do it every day, because even a huge possibility of success is no match for a slight possibility of failure.

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