Legitimizers…

This is a chapter from my unpublished book, The Cowboy Way of Leadership. I would love to hear your reaction…

Number 57 was a crook horn cow owned by my Aunt Neta.  When we worked her cows, Number 57 always made her way to the front of the line.  She was an old cow who had been to the pens many times; she knew the way and the drill.  With her in the lead, the cowboy’s job was easy.  In fact, we had to play catch up.  More than once, Number 57 had the cows in the pens waiting for us!

One year, Number 57 was bitten by a rattlesnake and died.  The next time we worked cows at Aunt Neta’s, it was a disaster.  There was no one to show the way.

Most groups and most organizations have a “lead cow.”  We call them “Legitimizers.”  These are people who give guidance and permission to go in a specific direction.

John Maxwell tells a about a legitimizer named Claude.  Claude was a member of John’s first church.  He had been there long before John became pastor; he would be there long after John left.  John quickly learned that if he wanted something done, he needed to first suggest it to Claude.  If it was a good idea, Claude would take the lead.  If it was a bad idea (and every leader has some!), Claude would re-shape the idea to make it a good one, or help it die a quiet death.

Every leader depends on the legitmizers.  It may be an executive assistant who has been with the company before you were born but knows where all the bodies are buried.  It may be the “number two” man who has outlasted three “number one” men.  It may be a senior volunteer.  It may be the board member who gives the most money to your organization.  It may be your best customer.  They are out there, and they can make your leadership look brilliant or inept.  One good lead cow is worth about three cowboys!

Discovering Legitimizers

Most legitimizers are never titled that way.  You have to discover them.  Pay attention to who speaks and shuts off debate.  Listen to people talk about who is most admired in your company.  Watch the spheres of influence – who hangs out outside of your work; who gathers in the break room; which class socializes on a monthly basis. 

When I consult with organizations, my initial workshop always includes these questions:

1. “Who are the five most influential people in this organization?”

2. “Who are five people who think they are would be listed as influential, but aren’t on the list?”

I want to know who really influences the way people think.  I want to know who thinks they do, but really is an irritant.  This helps me not listen to the “squeakiest wheel” who turns everyone else off.  I learn to pay attention to people who have real influence.

Relating to Legitimizers

True legitimizers have an allegiance to the organization and its people.  If, as a leader, you have pure motives of wanting to help the organization and its people, you are on the same side as the legitimizers. 

Spend time with legitimizers.  Ask them what they like in the organization.  Ask them what they think needs to be changed.  Ask what they hope to see happen. 

Run ideas by them.  Ask them about positives and negatives.  If you don’t receive much input back, it’s probably a sign they have doubts and are not sure how you will receive the truth.  Mine for the truth!   My goal is to have a face-to-face conversation with every legitimizer in our church at least once a year. 

If a legitimizer has a crisis, I want to be present for them.  This is my way of demonstrating I care about them not just for what they can do for me or the organization; but for them as a person. 

When the Legitimizers say “No”

I’ve seen leaders get in trouble because they assumed anyone who disagreed with an idea was an enemy.  To disagree is not to oppose.

Our staff was trying to fix some issues with our Sunday morning schedule.  We brought our proposal to our legitmizers, who unanimously gave us a “thumbs down.”  Their rationale was it was too much change for too many people.

Some of the staff members had harsh reactions.  Time was needed to let things settle.  About three months later, we got major pushback on another, smaller initiative.  It turned out the church was unsettled and felt like the staff was pushing too hard.  The legitimizers knew what we didn’t. 

If a legitimizer says “no,” assume it is for a good reason.  Find out the reason!

One of the strangest things about legitimizers:  Sometimes they may say “no” but still give permission for you to do what you want.  Legitimizers can be thought of as “gatekeepers;” they may tell you are going in the wrong direction, but they still open the gate for you to go.  They may not support you, but as long as they don’t oppose you, you can make progress.

The Value of a Legitimizer

After I had been pastor for three years, our church voted to re-locate.  A friend told me that the only thing harder on a church than relocation was the discovery that the pastor was having a homosexual affair!  We succeeded, largely because a key legitimizer, Miss Jo, the matriarch of the church, decided relocating was the right decision.  When leaders of an opposition movement approached her about being part of a movement to buy the old building and start a new church.  She replied, “I’ve already paid for this old building once.  I’m not going to pay for it again!”  She persuaded other key legitimizers not to form an opposition movement, but to wait and see how things turned out.  They did wait, we gained momentum, and we gathered the support of almost all of the legitimizers over the next three years.

Before the move was completed, however, Miss Jo was killed in an accident.  It was a terrible blow to me personally – and to the church.  We lost one of our key legitimizers.  There was no one there to say, “I’ve been through this before.  It will be okay.  Just follow me.”

You may walk into an organization that has lost a key legitimizer.  Or your predecessor may have driven out previous legitimizers.  Or your headquarters may have shifted people around so quickly, no legitmizers can be found.  If you can’t find the legitimizer you need, the leaders have to do more careful work.  No one in the herd is helping you. 

In this case, you, as the leader, can draft some temporary people who have the potential to be legitimizers.  Give them a chance to have some influence.  Let them lead a group and get a win under their belt.  See if they can become the person others look to.  If they grow to that level, great.  If they don’t, seek out another person who might be a legitimizer.

I consulted with a church that had experienced rapid growth and had recently purchased a new building.  But the growth was slowing and giving was not keeping up with the need.  When I met with the church leaders, I discovered that two key legitimizers had stepped down because of health.  Another key legitimizer had been transferred.  When church leaders were asked to name the most influential people in the church, they could only name people on the church staff payroll.  There was no one left to help the church find its way and assure people things would be alright.

Jesus and Legitimizers

This worked a little different for Jesus.  He called His legitimizers “disciples.”  Their purpose?  They were witnesses to everything He had done.  They could say, “We saw this.  It happened.  You can trust us.”

When the Jesus movement started, these disciples spent time teaching people about Jesus.  As the movement spread, they were able to make decisions about expanding the movement beyond Jerusalem because Jesus had told them this was His intent.[i]  When conflict arose in the early church about whether non-Jews should follow the same rules as Jews, the disciples again acted as legitimizers and laid out both freedoms and expectations.[ii]

Did Jesus need them?  Probably not.  But He chose to work through human influencers.  They led the way into the pens.  They led the way to the future.

The Final Big thought:  One good lead cow equals three good cowboys.

[i] Acts 11:17-18

[ii] Acts 15:1-29

Courage...

Politicians often declare themselves to be courageous leaders.  Saying you are courageous and being courageous are two different things.

I define courage as willingness to move toward the mess.  The courageous soldier runs toward the mess of battle; the courageous parent has the conversation with their drunk, underage son or daughter; the courageous business leader rejects profit for principle; and the courageous pastor leads a church to face the messiness of reality.

Courage is not picking an insignificant issue and making it a hill on which to die; courage keeps the main thing the main thing.  Courage is not overcoming fear; courage is moving toward your fear, recognizing a mess that must be confronted.  Courage is not following the cheers of the crowd; courage in action is often greeted with silence.

Courage means speaking the last ten percent.  How often do we stop just short of the plain truth that needs to be heard for fear of hurting people’s feelings?  Yet it is in the last ten percent that truth necessary for change emerges.

Why aren’t more people courageous?  We want people to like us, to approve of us.  To be courageous is to know disapproval will come.  If you lead, you cannot make everyone happy.  Courage means you must be dedicated to the mission.  You will incur losses, or as one leader called them, casualties. In church world, casualties are people who leave your church because they cannot accommodate the change required to fix the messiness.  If you are a leader who cares about people, it hurts to lose people you invest in and have done life with. 

Many leaders fear setting up a group who will fight and oppose them.  They believe if they appease instead of lead, these people will eventually drop their opposition.  This never happens.  Never.  When Churchill was in the darkest days of World War II, he faced opposition from members of his own party.  Churchill courageously stuck to his mission: defeat Nazi Germany in the face of internal opposition. 

Leaders face five common issues that require courage.  The first is the courage to address leaders or volunteers under them who are not performing, who are no longer effective, or who were bad hires.  Many leaders hope poor performers will improve over time.  They do not.  In my years of supervising and developing dozens of leaders, poor performers never get better on their own.  Often an employee is with an organization for years and has a constituency of his or her own.  You may need to build alliances and devise a strategy to help that person find a better setting to serve, but have the courage to move toward the messiness, not away from it.

The second common issue leaders face is to have the courage to define reality.  Many businesses and churches are in denial about their reality.  As Lyle Schaller famously said, many churches are perfectly positioned in the event time reverses and it becomes 1950 again.  I knew of one church that was frustrated by their inability to grow.  When I consulted with the pastor, I pointed out the obvious: They had a worship space for 400 and parking for 250.  Their average attendance was - you guessed it – 250.  Have the courage to define reality.

A third common issue leaders face is the courage to call for change.  Healthy organizations grow and change.  I do not run the family ranch the way my stepfather did.  In the twenty years since he ran things, the world changed.  We can’t just throw fertilizer and oil on the trees.  Now, we have to be much wiser about how to apply nutrients and sprays.  Leaders must have the courage to make the compelling case of why the organization can no longer stay where it is and must relocate to where it should be.

A fourth common issue that calls for courage is admitting your mistakes.  As Craig Groeschel says, “People would rather follow a leader who is always real, than a leader that is always right.”  Nobody gets it right all the time.  Be courageous enough to quickly own your mistakes.  Admit to your leadership you made a wrong hire.  Admit an initiative failed.  Admitting failure increases trust instead of diminishing it.

A final common issue that calls for courage is to hold to your mission, values, and vision when you are pressured to modify or abandon them.  People both inside and outside your organization will want to add to or take away from your mission.  It takes courage to face the opposition and say, “No.  We have agreed this is what we are committed to; this is what we value; this is our preferred vision of the future.”  Rick Warren said, “Never surrender your church to the whiners.”  I would modify that to say, “Never surrender your mission, values, and vision to someone else’s agenda.”

Without the courage of the leader, organizations do not thrive.  Maybe that is why God repeatedly says, “Do not be afraid and do not let your hearts be troubled.  Believe in me.”  Faith feeds courage.

Many Communicate, Few Connect…

“Many Communicate, Few Connect” is a takeoff from the title of a John Maxwell book.  It is a reminder to every leader that your job is not just to communicate; it is to make sure you connect.

There are two important dynamics to remember.  The first is based on the work of Paul Ricoeur.  In every communication event, there is:

The Communicator -> the Perceived Communicator -> The Perceived or Intended Receiver -> the Receiver. 

The communicator is who you really are.  The perceived communicator is who people perceive you to be.  As a preacher, I must remember every time I get up to speak, people have assumptions about who I am.  People with a limited church background often assume I will be hostile and angry because that is their perception of preachers. 

The perceived or intended receiver is the communicator’s assumption about his audience.  The preacher might assume that everyone in the congregation wants to know the meaning of the Greek.  The real receiver of the message might simply want the pastor or leader to get to the bottom line.

This first dynamic is real to me because communication is part of my role as the Lead Pastor of a church.  But every leader has to deal with this.  A CEO who perceives the employees of the company are eager to view a 15-minute video each week might be surprised that the real employees stop listening after 3 minutes. 

The second dynamic has been known since Aristotle.  Communication involves the head (information), the heart (emotion), and the feet (action).  Many leaders assume the communication problem in their organization is a lack of information.  In fact, people are drowning in information.  We notice that after two announcements in a worship service, people check out.  Information conveyed that is not received is not communication.  Andy Stanley provides a helpful guideline: Go for clarity, not comprehensiveness. 

Communication needs to touch the heart.  A few people are gifted to do this with magisterial language that is half prose and half poetry.  Winston Churchill and John F. Kennedy were masters of this form.  Churchill: “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat…;” JFK: “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”

The best way to touch the heart is through stories.  Ronald Reagan was perhaps the best presidential communicator after JFK.  He told stories that touched the heart.

One of our staff members regularly challenges me to make sure my sermons have a clear action item: “What are you asking them to do?  Pray? Give? Get involved? Ponder? Repent?”  I’ve sat through sermons that were Biblically sound, inspiring, but lacked a clear call to do something.

The best leaders communicate in a way to touch the head, the heart, and call people to action.  One CEO wrote a weekly email that had three bullet points of information (head), an inspirational story (heart), and a specific call to excellent customer service, such as “Make someone’s day today – smile (feet).”  It was widely read, as opposed to the CEO who wrote five prose paragraphs giving information.   That email often was not opened.

Remember, every leader communicates, but not every leader connects.  Be the leader that connects.

The Day After the Big Day

Two of the organizations I am involved with recently had “Big Days,” even though the big days were very different.

At church the big day was Easter.  For most churches – the one I serve included – Easter is the highest attended Sunday of the year.  For that reason alone, it is a big day.  On Easter we do our best to bring our “A” game.  This Easter, to be honest, I think we did.  The worship music was great, the message seemed to connect, and we had many people show up after the service asking for prayer and seeking spiritual conversations.

I bet your organization has “Big Days” that are calendar events.  I recently consulted with an organization that derives 40% of its revenue from a week-long festival it sponsors.  That is not a “Big Day;” that’s a “Big Week!”  In processing this with them, they confessed that after their “Big Week” they were all exhausted.

I get that.  I take a nap every Easter afternoon.  But unlikely some churches I know, we do not give the whole staff the day off after Easter.  If you are in retail, don’t close the store the day after the big sale.  The Day after the “Big Day” is the day to follow up, evaluate, and plan for the next “Big Day.”

Maybe you can’t do all three the day after the “Big Day.”  But above all else, do the follow up. If you are a church, call every first-time guest who came Easter.  Write the thank you notes the day after the “Big Day” to the people who made it happen.  Celebrate with your team the wins.  Gather the stories that made the “Big Day” sparkle.

Don’t put off the evaluation.  Did you meet your goals?  Why or why not?  It surprises me that so many businesses rush head long into the next thing, they never evaluate.  Evaluation has a rapid expiration date.  The little details that make a difference fade quickly.  Be sure to write the details down. 

The best time to plan next year’s “Big Day” is within two weeks of this year’s “Big Day.”  The plan doesn’t have to be comprehensive but start while memories of what worked and what didn’t are fresh.  Don’t assume because something was good this year, it will be just as good next year.  Add value to the good things; kill what didn’t work.

The other organization that I serve is our family ranch.  We had a very different type of “Big Day.”  Ironically, on Easter week we got the report on our late oranges.  They were picked and we got paid.  I saw the data on how many boxes of fruit we picked, the sugar levels, and the price we got.  Thanks to a freeze last year and a hurricane, the crop was dismal.  This “Big Day” was a bitter disappointment.  I thought we would pick more fruit than last year, even with the natural disasters. 

When you face this kind of “Big Day” news, you have to ask, “What am I supposed to learn from this?”  What I learned was rehabilitating the ranch’s orange groves has not yet taken hold.  I learned other ranch enterprises will need to support the citrus operation for another year or two.  I learned the grove that looks terrible actually produces as much fruit as the grove that looks the best – go figure. 

Some “Big Days” are like that:  It is the day you learn where you are and where you need to go.

The “Big Day” really isn’t over until you have followed up.  Otherwise you miss half the value of the “Big Day.”

Unequal Relationships

“Your relationship with another person is not the same relationship he or she has with you.”  I heard Andy Stanley say this in his recent message series, “The Weight of Your Words.”  I wish had heard it decades earlier.  It explains so much of my life, my frustrations in friendships, and my frustrations as a leader.

The truth of Andy’s statement is obvious when we think about our relationships with our parents and with our children.  These are not relationships of equals.  Most of us start our marriages by believing we can be equal partners.  The truth is I don’t want my wife to be my husband and she certainly doesn’t want me to be her wife.  We try to keep power dynamics out of our marriage, but we have a different relationship to each other.

I have been in several relationship triads.  Three of us were close friends, but there are times when I felt like the third wheel. Our relationships were not the same.  The other two in the triad had been friends longer and had more shared experiences; I was the newcomer they let in, but was always having to hear about experiences they had before I knew them.

In the first church I served that had staff, I thought we were a team and I would be first among equals.  It took me about fifteen years to learn that would never be the case.  As the pastor, I was the leader.  I often felt left out of the social moments on staff retreats.  I would walk into a room for a meeting and the laughter would stop.  I was not one of the guys.

I made the dynamic worse by trying to be “one of the guys.”  I would cut up and joke, and then get mad when everyone wanted to keep joking around and I was ready to be serious.  That was my fault. I didn’t help matters by getting mad when the staff didn’t respond to my agenda swings.

Our executive pastor reminds me my words weigh more than anyone else’s on the team.  I might make a sarcastic comment in some attempt to be funny, not realizing I just wounded someone.  A flippant idea might be taken seriously when I meant for people to simply think about this as a possibility and report back if it feasible. 

I often see this with Student Pastors.  They want to be “Buddies” with the kids they lead.  If a person takes this approach, they will fail.  Students need leadership.  Yes, you have relate to the kids, but kids can sniff out a phony faster than a pig can find a strawberry.  A student pastor’s relationship with his or her students is not the same as their relationship with him.

Edwin Friedman reminds leaders they are different than the people they lead.  He calls this “the self-differentiated leader.”  You do not depend on others for your sense of self.  You cannot expect others to understand what it is truly like to sit in your chair.

Jesus understood this.  When James and John asked to sit at his right and his left when he came into his Kingdom, Jesus responded, “You do not know what you are asking.  Can you drink from the cup I am about to drink from.”  They responded, “We can.”  Jesus, maybe with a smile on his face, said, “You will, but to be seated at my right and my left is for my Father to decide.”  I think that was Jesus’ way of saying, “ You will experience the thrill and pain of leadership, and it won’t be like you think.”

If you are a leader, own it.  Your relationship with the people you lead is not the relationship they have with you.

Leadership Lessons from the Surgery…

I had knee surgery two weeks ago.  I’m progressing well, thanks to a good surgeon and good physical therapists. 

I’ve thought about my orthopedic surgeon and what he taught me about time management.  Prior to my surgery, I was given a list of instructions and what I needed to take care of prior to surgery.  During my pre-surgery visit, the surgeon sat down and explained what the surgery would entail, what recovery would like, and answered my questions.  He was giving information that only he could give.

The day of my surgery, I met with the usual round of nurses, anesthesiologists, and aides.  Then my surgeon came in, spoke words of encouragement, marked which knee would be replaced, and prayed with me (a very kind gesture).  Then I was wheeled into the operating room.  One man was mopping the floor, which I was glad to see!  Nothing discourages you like the bone fragments from the last surgery.  The nurse was getting me up on the operating table, the anesthesiologist was giving me my spinal block, and then… I don’t remember a thing until I woke up in the recovery room.  I was glad the spinal tap worked!

The recovery room nurse’s job was to tell me to move my toes.  It’s a weird feeling to have toes, to see them, and not be able to move them.  Eventually I was able to wiggle them and get up to my room.

So what Leadership Lessons did I learn?  First, good leaders prepare people for what they will face.  No one likes surprises.  People are more likely to trust a leader who tells them what’s ahead.  Even more, good leaders assure people they have been through this before.  I could tell this was not the first rodeo for my team.

What if it is your first rodeo?  That’s when you “rent” an expert.  When our church decided to relocate, I was 38 years old and had never been through anything like a complete relocation.  But a relocation consultant was recommended to me.  He had consulted with 30 churches about relocation.  He came in for a weekend, then stayed with us through the design and move in stages.  People trusted his experience and in time, came to trust me.

Second, a good leader has a good team.  While the surgeon was important, so was the transport guy, the shave guy (don’t ask), the guy mopping the operating room floor, and all the rest.  Imagine if the surgeon had to do all these things!  A good leader makes sure his team knows their role, trains them in their role, and then gives them room to do their jobs.  The surgeon was not checking behind the team; he trusted them to do their jobs and they honored his trust.

Finally, I admired my surgeon’s time management.  He was focused on doing what he did best.  What he did best was surgery (and I was glad).  It made me rethink my schedule.  What am I doing out of guilt?  What am I doing that someone else could do better?  Where can I add the most value to our church? 

Every leader needs a “stop doing” list.  You may not be able to stop doing everything at once, but you need to have goals of what to stop doing and a timeline to shoot for.

My main leadership lessons from my surgery?  A good leader prepares people for what is coming; a good leader develops and is part of a good team; and a good leader focuses on doing what only he or she can do!

Pacing

We were working cows at the ranch last week.  The cows are penned, sorted, doctored, and then turned out.  I have seen this ballet of work a hundred times in my life, but it never grows old.

When we turn the cows out, one man cracks open the gate just wide enough for a cow to go through.  Another man, either or horseback or on foot, stands in the pen, and gently walks the cows toward the gate.  The cows feel the pressure of someone behind them, and they see the narrow escape route.  They run past the man, and out into the pasture.

Why not let them all out at once?  If all the cows saw the gate wide open, they would rush the gate.  What happens when 150 cows try to go through a twelve-foot gate all at once?  Damage.  I’ve seen too many cows crowd the gate and the gate man lose control.  Suddenly, all the cows are running through and there is the sickening “crack” of wood snapping.  One hundred thousand pounds of beef on the move can crack an eight-inch post in two, and demolish a three-hundred pound gate.  The pace at which you let the cows out matters.

The pace of change in an organization matters too.  Some organizations never change because the gate isn’t even open.  Sometimes, the gate is not open enough for people to see a better future on the other side of the gate.  Sometimes, there is not enough pressure to move people toward change.  If there is not a compelling reason “why,” people respond by saying, “Why change?”

If a leader is conflict adverse, they may not wish to build the case for change.  It requires extra work, extra research, and extra risk.  It may be easier to keep all the cows in the pen, but eventually, the cows will die from lack of food and water.

Some leaders want fast change.  This usually is not because of a crisis, but because of the leader’s inward sense of urgency and ambition.  They push hard, and the change happens, but a lot of damage is done in the process.  I heard one pastor described like this: “He gets things done, but he leaves behind a lot a bodies.” 

The environment of your organization is factor in pacing change.  In general, city dwellers are more receptive to change than rural dwellers.  Before attempting change in a small-town organization, you have to earn trust.  People trust people they have known for decades before they trust people they have known months.

Your church or organization itself has internal dynamics that impact change.  Older, established organizations change slower than newer, leaner organizations.  Both businesses and churches have power blocks that must be considered.

I never had a class that taught me about the pace of change.  Knowing the pace of change is more caught than taught.  The only way to pick it up is to be the man on the gate and get run over a few times.  Or be the man in the back and have the cows turn back on you.  One of my favorite quotes from Teddy Roosevelt is from his “Man in the Arena” speech at the Sorbonne:  “…the credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds, who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause…”

Get in the pen, learn to pace change.  Your organization needs it.  Your church needs it. 

The 5Cs of Hiring

Five NFL teams are looking for head coaches.  Here is the scary reality: the decision will rest with the owner, who may or may not have a good framework for hiring.  More than one NFL coach has been signed to a multi-year contract worth millions based on his past record with another team, or his record in college, and an hour or two with the owner.   NFL owners are very rich, successful people and fall pray to what I call “The Gut Fallacy:” The more successful a person has been, the more they trust their gut, instead of trusting a process.

A simple process I use is the 5Cs of hiring.  The first C is Competency.  Can they do the job?  Do they have the training or experience?  If not, do they show evidence of thinking like a person in that position?  Shane Beamer had never been a head coach, or an offensive or defensive coordinator.  When he interviewed with South Carolina Athletic Director Ray Tanner, he handed Tanner an iPad that contained a detailed plan of how he would run the program if he was the head coach.  Tanner was convinced that Beamer had the Competency to do the job, even if he didn’t have the experience.  Two years into Beamer’s tenure as Head Coach, he has proven he knows how to be a head coach.  Make sure your candidate can do the job.

The second C is Chemistry.  I discussed this in last week’s blog post.  Chemistry is about how well a person fits with the team.  Recently we interviewed a candidate for a position.  We all agreed we liked him.  However, we could not picture him on our team.  It was hard to say “no” to him, because he had done nothing wrong.  But we realized if we hired him, we would introduce abrasion to our team that would slow us down.  Wrong chemistry slows you down.

The third C is Character.  Character is both a person’s integrity and his or her personality.  We use several personality inventories that help discover who a person is.  While the Enneagram profile is popular now, we prefer a test called the Caliper test.  It is expensive, but we have found it to be the most accurate portrayal of a person’s personality.  A person’s integrity is difficult to assess, but this is why you should follow up with references.  I once received a phone call from an irate woman, wanting to know why I lied to the search committee of her church. A former employee of our church had taken a position there and apparently had upset people.  She assumed I had lied when the committee called me for a reference.  After a few minutes of letting her express her feelings, I told her that I would glad to confess I lied to the committee if I had done so, but the truth was the search committee never called me.  There was silence on the other end of the call, then she thanked me and hung up.  For the record, I would not have lied to the search committee if they had called me.  Do all you can to find out the real character of the candidate.

The fourth C is Capacity.  Does the candidate have the capacity to grow?  Are they coachable?  We interviewed a candidate who began to tell us how to fix our Groups at church in the first interview.  We had not even shared with him our perspective of our challenges.  Needless to say, we realized he was not coachable.  A parallel question is “Do I have the capacity to coach them?”  I like to think I can coach anyone.  I have several hiring failures to demonstrate I can’t.  Some people make it clear they need lots of social time.  Don’t have that capacity.  Some people are very wounded and need me to counsel them every week.  Not in my wheelhouse.  Some people insist they don’t want to be micromanaged, but are really saying, “Leave me alone and don’t hold me accountable.”  Not going to happen.  Don’t hire someone until you know if they have the capacity to grow and you have the capacity to coach them.

The final C is Call.  We use this word because we are a church and it is good Biblical word.  Jack Welch called this “passion.”  In the secular world, it means, “Will this person see this as more than a job?  Will they commit to your mission?”  In church world, we pray for God’s leadership and direction about who we hire.  We take Call seriously.  No matter how talented a person is, if they do not sense a call to serve this church, this mission, this community, we take a pass.

There are lots of grids out there to use.  The 5Cs work for us.  If any NFL owners would like me to guide them through the process, my fee would be very modest – a lot lower than what it costs to buy out a coach’s contract!

Chemistry...

This morning’s New York Times featured an article about New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll.  For those of you not tuned into the NFL, Coach Daboll has taken the Giants from a team that finished last in wins and losses in the NFL for five straight years, to a berth in the playoffs this year.

The article focused the chemistry of the coaching staff and Daboll’s hiring method.  Most head coaches in the NFL hire people they have met on the coaching journey: friends, buddies, people who shared the vagabond life of a coach.  Daboll has focused on chemistry and competence.  Chemistry is how people mesh on the team.  Competency is “Can they do the job?”

Daboll involves his coaching staff in the hiring process.  They get a chance to interact with candidates.  Daboll askes them to vote; if the vote is a tie, he says, “Let’s think about this a little bit.”  Position coaches participate in the hiring of their bosses, the coordinators.  This approached created chemistry for the existing staff; their voice was heard, their opinion mattered. 

Daboll believes that strong chemistry among the coaches leads to strong chemistry among the players.  He said, “When you’re bringing people in, as a leader, you’re also looking at how everybody meshes.  Because just as important as players are to team chemistry, I’d say the coaches are as important and they have to set the culture and the chemistry.”

The leader is responsible for the chemistry of the team!

My neighbor recently complained about his church staff team.  “They are two good people who refuse to work together,” he said.  That’s a chemistry problem.

In church world, where hiring is often done by committee, the leader must be part of the process.  He or she must be courageous enough to speak up and say, “I do not feel a connection with this person.”  Otherwise, bad chemistry is headed your way.

Firing might be easier in the corporate world, but hours will be wasted in frustration and decision making.  A wise friend told me, “You are better off wanting someone you do not have, than having someone you do not want.”

How do you know if you have good chemistry with someone?  Personality tests can give language to the comfort and the discomfort you might feel in the interview.  Spend time with people.  Patrick Lencioni suggests spending time with people outside the normal interview environment (see The Ideal Team Player).   Involve your team in the interview process.  Respect their feedback.

Chemistry is an accelerator!  It helps your team win!